Akai Headrush2 - Opinions?

[jehza8]

I've heard the original Headrush both live and on recordings: liked the results of both. Curious though about actual user experiences...

Care to share?

[yakuza]

bump I'm also interested in the headrush

[jehza8]

I saw about five on stage last night between Pelican, Young Widows, and Russian Circles.

Hasn't anyone tried this pedal?

[daddyplayedsax]

I've got one, what do you need to know? It does a good digital-delay-pretending-to-be-analog sound, a good tape echo simulation but not as good as a dedicated simulator and the looping is the easiest of any I've tried. It's also about half the price of the DL-4.

[ironpyro]

I had the original headrush and sold it to buy the headrush 2 because I needed a little more recording time.

IMHO, it's the best looper on the market because it's very simple and straight forward to operate. I've had the RC-20, boomerang and Jamman, but returned them all after a week. They had a lot of bells and whistles, but in the end all those extra features were useless to me and just got in the way. They have a lot more record time, but not worth it.

Plus the headrush has a really cool delay/tape echo sim w/tap tempo.

[jehza8]

Thanks, very glad people have some experience with the pedal.

The looper sounds easy (bonus) and useful, but what do you think of the delay sounds? Honestly, I probably wouldn't use the tape echo sim much in a live setting, so what do you think of the basic delay function?

[orangekick]

The only looper that I have owned that I enjoyed more than the Headrush was the LoFi Loop Junky, but that was a whole different pedal. I love the delay sounds in the Headrush. The tap tempo is killer and the whole thing is easy to use and you can change most of the settings with your foot if you have a mind to.

[S-L-A-C-K-E-R]

The only looper that I have owned that I enjoyed more than the Headrush was the LoFi Loop Junky,

What other loopers have you owned? Why did you like the Headrush more than them?

I'm also interested in this thread. I'm looking for a looper and I recently ruled out the headrush but I'm willing to bring it back into the running if I can be convinced that it is better than other loopers.

[El Gallo Negro]

Thanks, very glad people have some experience with the pedal.

The looper sounds easy (bonus) and useful, but what do you think of the delay sounds? Honestly, I probably wouldn't use the tape echo sim much in a live setting, so what do you think of the basic delay function?


Strictly in terms of delay sounds, it sounds better than the DD20, which I also own and use. Side by side, the DD20 comes off as congested, whereas the Headrush is very clear, while still retaining warmth. The regular delay mode has a tone knob that I always keep on the darkest setting, and yet the delay still comes across beautifully. It also sounds to me that it doesn't affect your base tone, which the DD20 does.

For my use, the Headrush lacks only 2 things: It needs more loop time, even 1 minute with overdub capability would be enough. And with all of the outs it has, I wish it had a second normal/mix out for running a stereo rig. It has one mix and one effect only (which is useful for sending a loop to a dedicated loop-amp), and then a bunch of outs for the various simulated tape heads.

Apart from those 2 things, if you're looking for a simple tap-tempo delay/looper with great sound quality, the Headrush is excellent.

[jehza8]

Strictly in terms of delay sounds, it sounds better than the DD20, which I also own and use. Side by side, the DD20 comes off as congested, whereas the Headrush is very clear, while still retaining warmth. The regular delay mode has a tone knob that I always keep on the darkest setting, and yet the delay still comes across beautifully. It also sounds to me that it doesn't affect your base tone, which the DD20 does.

For my use, the Headrush lacks only 2 things: It needs more loop time, even 1 minute with overdub capability would be enough. And with all of the outs it has, I wish it had a second normal/mix out for running a stereo rig. It has one mix and one effect only (which is useful for sending a loop to a dedicated loop-amp), and then a bunch of outs for the various simulated tape heads.

Apart from those 2 things, if you're looking for a simple tap-tempo delay/looper with great sound quality, the Headrush is excellent.

Thank you, that was an extremely helpful explanation!

[El Gallo Negro]

No problem.

[John Phillips]

I agree with all of the above. I tried one extensively recently, and although it had to go back, I'll get around to buying one.

It's much simpler than either the DL-4 (which I owned) and the DD-20 (which I've only tried) but IMO is easier to use and sounds noticeably better than either. One big reason for this is that the direct sound remains analog - unlike the DL-4 which digitizes it (I'm not sure about the DD-20, but I'm guessing it does, from what El Gallo Negro said) - which means that it doesn't mess up your normal tone, even when the pedal is on.

[fatback]

After my DL-4 had two footswitches cave in I picked up an H2 for my simple looping needs. I like it. It's solid, sounds good, and has more loop-time than my DL-4 did. It can't do half-speed or reverse, but the undo feature is a very welcome new addition for me that really opens things up in a live setting. The H2 is a solid box that fit the bill. No dissapointment here.

Heck, I'd even give it a...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v484/fatback2/seal.gif

:D

[A440]

I've been curious about this pedal also

sounds like the buffer is pretty good, which is a plus

I'm assuming this is not true bypass, but you know what they say about never assuming :)

[John Phillips]

No, it isn't 'true' bypass, but it has a decent buffer and doesn't seem to affect the tone much if at all. I'd far rather have that than the DL-4, which is 'true' bypass when off, but screws the tone badly when on due to digitizing the dry part too. I've never quite understood that logic...

[drolling]

Yeah - This is a great pedal, and I've heard unconfirmed internet rumours that Akai's discontinuing it. Wouldn't surprise me, as just about every looper goes out of production sooner or later.

On the other hand, everybody's looping now. With companies like BOSS selling three differnt models simultaneously, they're obviously not expecting the market to saturate as fast as it did with the original Lexicon JamMan - a great product that ended its days being blown out for peanuts by the big box stores about a year after it hit the shelves.

Getting back on topic, I agree w/everything said so far. One other point; as a long-delay based looper, it's one of the few in production that can be set (in digital delay mode) to create loops (up to 23 sec.) that evolve & change, as the oldest material fades and is replaced by new layers of overdubbing - Just try that w/your BOSS & DigiTech pedals!

[jehza8]

Getting back on topic, I agree w/everything said so far. One other point; as a long-delay based looper, it's one of the few in production that can be set (in digital delay mode) to create loops (up to 23 sec.) that evolve & change, as the oldest material fades and is replaced by new layers of overdubbing - Just try that w/your BOSS & DigiTech pedals!

That's exactly what I hate about my original loop station...thanks, glad to hear that's still a function of the pedal.

I think I'm pretty much sold at this point :D

[ironpyro]

After my DL-4 had two footswitches cave in I picked up an H2 for my simple looping needs. I like it. It's solid, sounds good, and has more loop-time than my DL-4 did. It can't do half-speed or reverse, but the undo feature is a very welcome new addition for me that really opens things up in a live setting. The H2 is a solid box that fit the bill. No dissapointment here.

Heck, I'd even give it a...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v484/fatback2/seal.gif

:D
The New Headrush has an undo feature? Cool. I guess I should read the manual.

I like the delay a lot. It's got a high freq roll off knob so you can get crystal clear digital delay, or analog-like delay. This is in addition to the tape sim feature. The fake analog sound isn't the best I've heard from digital delays with HF roll off, but it's not bad.

[A440]

quick question: does the E2 have a Boss style AC adapter jack ?

[Hiwatt Bob]

yeah, it's got an adapter jack--it comes with a power supply.

i love mine. i was just in the market myself. i tried the jamman, DL4, and headrush--the headrush was the easiest to use and sounded the best/clearest. i like Line6 delay sounds because they're kind of colored--but for looping i want it to just be whatever i put into it. the undo function is priceless--major drawback of the DL4 is that it doesn't have this, so you could be building an amazing layered collage--you hit one sour note and it's back to the drawing board. i really like the options on the jamman, but it just sounded like ass--i've heard it uses a crappy preamp. at first, i wasn't even going to use the headrush's delay's--but i've found myself using it more and more for that. given the price, sound, ease superiority--to me there's no doubt this is the best looper on the market right now, for the stuff i do at least.

[uncledevo]

Hate to jump in in the middle of things with this question, but does anyone have experience with both the HR2 and Electro-Harmonix's Stereo Memory Man with Hazarai? If so, would you mind sharing the plus minuses of both and which one you like better and why?

[Hiwatt Bob]

i have both.

they're two different animals. the hazarai has alot more bells and whistles--many of which are really really cool. but imho, the looper kind of blows. it works by you stepping on the switch and releasing it when your loop is over, whereas with the headrush you click once to start and click a second time to start. in terms of timing and getting loops to seam up right--i have much better luck with the headrush style. it really took me a long time to get the hazarai right--and even now, i still mess it up 25% of the time. and starting over is a real bitch as well--you have to bypass it, hold down the loop button for 3 seconds to clear the old one, then click the bypass again to turn it on, then click the loop button to record...that's like 4 clicks + a 3 second wait!! to me this flaw makes it unusable as a conventional looper in a live situation.
i use my hazarai for more ambient/spacier/rhythm-less loops.
if you're looking for a straight up looper--i think the headrush is a much better bet.

[reeced]

Thanks, very glad people have some experience with the pedal.

The looper sounds easy (bonus) and useful, but what do you think of the delay sounds? Honestly, I probably wouldn't use the tape echo sim much in a live setting, so what do you think of the basic delay function?

The tape echo simulation is very good and very controllable. One great advantage is that it's got a separate output for each head, so you can have some great effects by routing to different amps. You can also mute individual heads by sticking a plug into the relevant output.
If it hasn't been made clear, I should mention that the E2 is a delay OR a looper - you can't use both functions simultaneously. Also the "undo" function removes all of your overdubs at once and leaves your original loop running. In overdub mode the total looping time is also reduced - 11 secs on hifi, or 17 secs on lofi.

[uncledevo]

Anybody have experience with both the Headrush 2 and Stereo Memory Man with Hazari? If yes please compare the two. I got the SMMWH, but wonder if I should get a HR2 as well.

[uncledevo]

To add to my previous post, the SMMWH is both a looper and a delay or echo. Can't be both a delay and echo at the same time, but can support either of those functions after making a loop and even overdubbing it.

[uncledevo]

Thanks for the review HiWatt Bob. Didn't catch it as fast as I'd like, but your thoughts are much appreciated. Got SMMWH yesterday. Figured out the looping pretty quickly, including overdubs. Yeah it is a little tricky holding the pedal down while recording the loop, but then its also simple enough for a novice to create an overdub that was useful. If the HR 2 is easier than that, it must be very easy to use.

[Crazyquilt]

I'm always interested in simple loopers. I've got an EDP, but I usually rock a 'Rang. Also have a DL4, and recently got a H2.

I have to mess with it again, but it was incredibly noisy. That was unfortunate, as I really liked the sound of the pedal.

[Seegs]

I have an E2 and got after using the Line DL4 live...I couldn't hang with the metalic sheen that the DL4 imparted on my base tone...I can't believe a lot of guys are using em live...

while the E2 sounds much better in that regard its buffer does add high end to your tone...

mine has some glitches in it and will for no explainable reason intermittently stop playing the loop back...mines out of warranty so I live with it but would never use it live for that reason...

my only other niggle is that the delay time is too short so it has been relegated as a practice/songwriting tool...

all in all for the money its dead simple to use and a great pedal for certain things but if I was gonna do live looping I would choose a more robust option with more delay time...

Chow,
Seegs

[jjones]

The New Headrush has an undo feature? Cool. I guess I should read the manual.

I like the delay a lot. It's got a high freq roll off knob so you can get crystal clear digital delay, or analog-like delay. This is in addition to the tape sim feature. The fake analog sound isn't the best I've heard from digital delays with HF roll off, but it's not bad.

The E1 has the undo feature as well... it will undo every loop but the first one recorded... Great pedal as well but the e2 with longer record time is nice.