Headrush MX5 BBD Delay is kind of terrible! Send help! Helix BBD Delay tested!

[@davidwoods358]

The best part of my little MX5 is the touch screen and the ability to move any block to any position is awesome. I have found quite a few of the Headrush effects to be a mystery as to why they have to be so complicated to work with, some, with too many options that don't seem to even be necessary.

[@DaveBode]

Comparing Headrush to Line 6 HX or Helix and Fractal Audio, it doesn't really get more simple than a Headrush pedal. Whatever the controls are on a Headrush unit, there are roughly 1.5 more parameters on the same Line 6 effect and 10-20 on a Fractal Audio effect. It also kind of sucks that HR refuses to put out a guide explaining what every parameter does. There are several posts in the forums about it and HR hasn't responded to them. One user took it upon himself to create an un-official parameter guide, which is nice but has a high chance for error. He was explaining an effect to me in a post I created on the forum and he explained it incorrectly. So now HR users are left with a guide that a good-hearted jabroni is creating and some of the information could/will be incorrect. I am guessing HR parent company, inMusic, is trying to maximize proffits by slashing development and support for thier brands. I created a support ticket for Headrush asking a simple question about the output level of the MX5. They responded saying that they were overwhelmed with support requests and they wouldn't be able to answer this question. Which controls do not make sense to you? Happy to answer a few questions.

[@davidwoods358]

@@DaveBode Thanks for that in depth reply.

[@joeromero7165]

I really wanted to like the Headrush. Love the UI and user experience. But I couldn't use the wet effects because the volume drop was so bad. They were unusable.

[@DaveBode]

The most annoying part about Headrush is the complete lack of communication with it's forum users. I have posted several issues like this and they haven't responded. One post I made about the insanity of the Ratio control on the Air Delay was commented on by an official Headrush account.... 18 months and 2 software updates ago. I would guess they have very little resources to devote to further development of any of the Headrush products. I just bought an Fractal Audio FM3. Poking around on the forums tells a remarkably different story. I saw a post about latency and one of the Fractal commented right away. He said that he would look into it. Then commented back right away saying that the developers had found an additional 32 samples of latency that shouldn't be there and this issue would be patched in eithe the next release (which was a week away or something) or in the very next build. It's that kind of attention that has me interested in Fractal. They are like the Reaper of hardware effects.

[@georgemavimbela]

@@DaveBode Ya HeadRush seem not to improve in engagement with their Customers

[@dariovaldivieso1161]

No hay videos con traducción...muchas gracias profe...q gran ayuda con este monstruo de pedal...gracias

[@donbazarov]

Could it be that feedback control on headrush imitates logarithmic characteristic vs linear correlation on helix? Don't know if that makes sense, but with real world equipment I imagine that having A pot instead of B would lead to similar behavior

[@DaveBode]

Linear vs Log pot. Makes total sense. The point is that the delay is kind of useless. Especially with the differential between the first and second repeat. Thanks for watching!

[@donbazarov]

@@DaveBode personally I use BBD as a slapback delay and it does that job decently. My main issue with MX5 is lack of visual representation of controls on effects like compressor and EQ. Even on my cheap Nux MG30 you could see the curve on graphical eq and immediately get an idea of how these settings will affect your tone. And it didn't even have touch screen! Same with parametric EQ, on mg30 you see the traditional faders that are easier to understand. IIRC compressor GUI was only visible from PC software, but again, threshold plot that lets you see the compression in real time would be very helpful. So many things that could make use of big touch screen...

[@louaguado995]

Maybe a bbd (bucket brigade delay) supposed to work that way? You should have compared it with the analog and digital delays on the same pedal to compare it.

[@JAPDEV]

Hello, I am a newbie as a guitarist and I have acquired a headrsuh mx5, total disappointment (perhaps because I am very new), my headrush I don't know if it is defective :D but it doesn't sound good, the bass sounds terrible, it lengthens, and very low I try to equalize but nothing helps, I suppose it's a configuration thing, but I can't know or find a place to configure it in a standard way, could you tell me a tutorial that would help, I've searched on KZbin but nothing helps me, thanks for your video.

[@DaveBode]

Here is a link to my last backup of the MX5 with all my patches. Download it and copy over some of the patches to your MX5 (drive.google.com/file/d/1qQuI__l4abUlhopzZMUza5Dm-n8uMHgV/view?usp=sharing) One thing that will help is registering your pedal and downloading the free Celestion IRs (celestionplus.com/redeem-serial). There are download and installation instructions here (kzbin.info/www/bejne/j6OpaZ-bf7mDb7M). For any of my rigs that have missing IRs, load one of those selection IRs. If you still think they sound terrible, it is likely either your monitoring setup or your guitar. You should be using something fairly neutral to monitor the MX5 like basic studio monitors or decent headphones. If your guitar sounds terrible, try a different guitar. If you find that the rigs sound much better with a different guitar, you might be able to put an EQ as the first block and adjust the frequency response of your own guitar on all the rigs. If that's the case, EQ it to sound better, save the EQ as a preset, and re-arrange all the rigs to have that EQ as the first block. It is important to correct your guitar's frequency response with an EQ on the first block!

[@JAPDEV]

Thanks so much!@@DaveBode

[@erikr968]

Both the MX5 and Helix has gotten this completely wrong. It could work in the studio (where overall level isn't critical). However, for live use, it's hopeless if the dry signal level reduces when you turn up the effect level. The dry signal should always be unchanged and independent of the effect level (unless you're looking for some wierd special effect). In short, "Mix" knobs are for studio use, for live you want an "Effect Level" knob. I was considering buying either of these devices, but no. This is a showstopper for both.

[@sebastianbisurgi9970]

Have you ever tried to use the looper? Have fun.

[@DaveBode]

The looper isn't part of my skill set. I have dabled with it. It's passable in my opinion.

[@robertobry9289]

my tc electronic delay pedal has the same issuse

[@timowns2]

I know I'm months late but, you can fix it with the dip switches inside the pedal. It solved it for me.

[@stephenwhitney5576]

So are you still gonna be using the headrush or moving to something else for multi effects?

[@DaveBode]

I tried the Helix and HX Stomp and didn't like the amp modeling. The cab modeling and all the other effects are excellent on Helix and HX Stomp. Returned both and ordered a Fractal Audio FM3. Loved everything about it except that it was a bit underpowered for what I want to do. It is a very powerful processor, but I prefer to use multiple reverbs and layer them from time to time. The FM3 only has one reverb block so I returned that and I am now on the waitlist for the FM9. The MX5 is an ok product that could be turned into a fabulous product if it was supported like the Line 6 products. Trouble is, Headrush isn't a company. It is a "brand" launched by inMusic to cash in on the success of the Helix. They took hardware from Akai (another brand they own) and software from the Eleven Rack (owned by AVID) and created the Pedalboard out of thin air. AVID and inMusic struck a deal 5 years prior to the launch of the Pedalboard to bundle ProTools Express with Akai and M-AUDIO products. inMusic supports the Pedalboard and MX5 just enough to keep sales strong. As far as I can tell, there isn't a development team working on Headrush products full time because there is long stretches of time when there is no support or feedback on the official Headrush forum from anyone at Headrush. 6-9 months can go by with no communication about what they are working or anything in general. But then they pop on before a firmware release to hi-five everyone's suggestions for new ideas and then poop out a firmware that was already in development. I've seen on the Fractal and Line 6 forums that the admin and developers are active and respond frequently and in a timely manor. Especially to bugs and serious issues. There is no such support on the Headrush forum. In fact, there is very little support for the brand because inMusic handles all support issues. I submitted a support ticket on November 10th 2022 asking what the output levels are for the MX5. Output levels are a standard specification on just about every prosumer and professional audio device. Mixers, audio interfaces, effects processors, keyboards, preamps, and more. I asked about it because it isn't listed in the manual, which is hilariously short and extremely light on specific details regarding what parameters actually do. inMusic support got back to me on December 21, 2022 saying they were too busy and overwhelmed with support requests. If I actually needed support, please reply to this email. This tells me that inMusic in primarily focused on quick product sales and not longevity. They launched Headrush with a severely underfunded support system.

[@stephenwhitney5576]

@@DaveBode the boss gx100 seems be pretty good if you haven’t checked it out and hope headrush figures there crap out. I wanted to use it the mx5 for worship but now not sure hahaha.

[@DaveBode]

@@stephenwhitney5576 I use the MX5 all the time for worship! I use a Cali76 Stacked in front of the MX5 and then I go from the MX5 into a Meris Mercury 7. The Mercury 7 is perfect for worship stuff and it stacks very well with the verbs in the MX5. I usually run a basic Air Reverb with most patches and then kick on the Meris for atmosphere cloud textures. The MX5 has some very basic compression options that I was not happy with. The Cali76 Stacked is an outstanding pedal. Although, when I get the FM9 I won't need any thing else. Fractal's compression, delays, reverb, are all outstanding on top of their top-shelf modeling and routing. You can hear a pretty good online mix here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/l4q1oX96arOfmdk. Go to 17:50 to here the Mercury 7 out in the open. Also playing this Sunday with a ridiculously good vocal team. Check it out on the same channel linked above 9AM and 10:30AM ET.

[@Acousticeg]

This is why I didn't buy this unit. Went for the GX-100 instead.

[@andrewgarrettdrums]

I’m between the two right now. How’s the boss treating you?