Headrush MX5 - No Amps Required! For real!

Headrush MX5 - No Amps Required!
Using my Solar A1.6W, Headrush MX5, and Origin Effects Cali76 Stacked compressor I will attempt to make good guitar tones without using amps! It's easier than you would think and gives you more tonal possibilities.
Guitar - solar-guitars.com
IR's - wilkinsonaudio.com/products/gods-cab

[@awvandiver7719]

Ola would be proud knowing you're doing this demo with a Solar guitar 🤘

[@danrebeiz4598]

Love that you figured this out. Just bought mine two days ago and felt like my Strat rig (tube screamer, blues driver, fender Princeton) that worked great in the real world sounded a bit noisy. Gonna try reworking the rig without an amp.

[@brunodias1513]

Hey man, fantastic job! For the quality and content you deserve much more subscribers! I'm a HR pedalboard user since 2018 and keeping finding new features and forms to create great tones. Thanks for this new way to go in chainsignal.

[@DaveBode]

Thanks for the sub!

[@lucas_d]

Holy mackerel, most of those drives sound even better without an amp sim. I just ordered an MX5 so will definitely give these a try. 👍

[@Axiom_Link]

Preamp pedals were designed to be the “preamp” section of the amps they model, like an “amp in a box.” So it makes sense why you can use preamp pedals with a speaker IR. The pedals simulate amps to begin with, so now we’ve got digital copies of pedal box copies of amps. Great video showing this! Also on the tone knob issue, some pedals’ tone knobs are actually high or low cuts, so they would look like they are operating backwards.

[@DaveBode]

Thanks for the comment. I think my point with the tone knob was that it should be labeled as being a cut. I don't understand the need to model everything like the original if it ultimately confuses the user. Headrush also has terrible (near non-existent) documentation, which does not help! Thanks for watching!

[@johnhensley6808]

Just received my mx5, really appreciate your commentary and insights..most definitely agree with your question mark icon feedback, it would be a huge enhancement..really am happy and totally satisfied, with the options and capabilities it offers..not to mention, the education I fully expect to gain, through my own progress..your content certainly is enlightening, and highly encouraging..thanks much, glad to be aboard..

[@DaveBode]

Thanks! Enjoy the pedal!

[@syberwalden]

Thanks for sharing. I was so disappointed with my MX5 and i was planning to sell it. Now it sounds so better. Thanks

[@toneranger]

Hey man, I’m still in the disappointed camp and seriously thinking of getting rid of it, I cannot get even a clean sound out of it, either into an amp or a PS direct

[@syberwalden]

@@toneranger i sold mine in Jan. It seemed i wanted more than MX5 could deliver… i was looking for a multi fx easy to configure and above all good sounding (to my ear) and unfortunately MX5 was not. So i got HXSTOMP and bought @david hislop hxstomp patches ($29) and i’m happy now with my setup… Don’t fall for product youtube reviews. It is a form of business everyone is running and i learnt my lesson (don’t believe anyone). As i spent too much money on the half baked products… with no offence to anyone… just believe your ears…

[@toneranger]

@@syberwalden I had my 1st gig, a wedding, with the MX5 and it sounded atrocious it was embarrassing, I have never had a worse sound in 20 years of playing live, and that's saying something considering the advancements since then, what really bugs me is I bought the MX5 so as not to have to bring an amp and half way through the gig I ended up bypassing the MX5 and going with the AMPs, clean, crunch overdrive I brought it just incase. Appreciate the advice Headrush really need to overhaul the MX5 completely there are too many options that they've completely overlooked the basics. clean crunch o/d, as mentioned, line6 tones have always been so easy and fast to dial in from scratch compared to the Headrush interface. The MX5 for me is a grave disappointment and money down the drain.

[@suhsuhstudio1830]

I think you're on to something with using only the preamp gain and IR's. I've been trying to find that happy medium for recording an overdriven rhythm sound directly into an interface/DAW by testing different methods. Starting with my amp's dirty channel and the amp's direct out, a Line 6 Pod Go, and different overdrive/distortion pedals by themselves, I've found there aren't a lot of major differences. IMO, the biggest part of the sound is finding good IR's to use. I've tried a large variety of IR's and my favorite at the moment are the Ownhammer variety. My latest favorite flavor is the EVH 5150 Overdrive pedal and an Ownhammer Mesa V30 412 IR. Keep experimenting and find your favorites. Thanks for the video!

[@sbrave]

I'm going to check out the SLO-100. I use the MX5 with a Mesa 1x12 cab and an OwnHamer cab sim. A lot of the time, it sounds good at home, but bad at gigs, very thin and sh!tty, esp if I take an output to the PA even with the ca sim. Also, the whole thing of having to use 2 of the same amps to switch between clean & dirty without lag has become a hassle, and the levels never really match. Maybe I need to just use a clean amp and a couple of these overdrives as you show here. Thanks!!

[@juanvaldez4043]

Line6 and amplitube behave in a similar fashion. Sometimes I will pull the speakers cab IR to compare what all is being changed or stripped away.

[@opieumprime]

Great content and quality.

[@leorapozao]

Subscribed! Your vids are outstanding!!

[@DaveBode]

Thanks!

[@wyattcollins1544]

Can I use tone examples people have presented on an older headrush pedalboard and put them on an mx5 headrush?

[@DaveBode]

I think so, but I only have the MX5.

[@toneranger]

Hi Dave, your MX5 content is fantastic. I have one 4 months and I can’t get a decent amp sound for the life of me, either through an amp or going direct into a 1200 two way QSC! PA, either clean/crunch/or overdrive. I had the original POD and it always sounded perfect clean or with a creamy sustained distortion. With the MX5 at first I assumed the output setting was set to AMP when going to the Desk from a balanced jack with an XLR at the desk end and vice versa when going to an amp through an unbalanced lead into the amp, but alas no, it sounds awful on either output setting. I cannot get my head around the MX5 and how it sounds so atrocious at least in my hands anyway, in yours it sound amazing full and rounded. I was even trying to get a clean funky Nile Rogers style sound and not a chance, I mean I am going into 1,000usd a piece QSC speakers. Overall I am really extremely disappointed in the MX5, it has lots of potential but any time I plugged a Line 6 POD or Line 6 Amp I got a brilliant sound clean or OD in seconds. Even the cleanest amps sound like some big Bassy Juggernaut from the 50s. Appreciate your content you make it look easy, though I do think Headrush need to make it much much more intuitive to quickly setup the 3 basic presets 80% of guitarists use as soon as you switch it on - clean/crunch /OD/Dist. Cheers for the great content

[@DaveBode]

You are correct, some of the default amp and cab combos are pretty terrible. What has worked for me is the SL-100 and a 57 IR from God's Cab. You can get reasonable guitar sounds with the built-in cabs but the IRs get me the sound I want much faster, and it's usually more balanced. I use mostly the God's Cab IR with a 57. The pack comes with a ludicrous amount of IRs. I ended up deleting all but the 57s. There are so many variations with position and presence, it covers everything. I also think the free Celestion IRs are pretty solid, but I always come back to the 57. I always create my patches with my studio monitors in my treated office. The monitors I use (Behringer B2031A) is an inexpensive speaker, but performs WAY above it's price. Try a few IRs from God's Cab. They are free and I bet you can get some killer tones!

[@toneranger]

@@DaveBode cheers Dave, I will indeed thank you. I had my 1st gig, a wedding, with the MX5 and it sounded atrocious it was embarrassing, I have never had a worse sound in 20 years of playing live, and that's saying something considering the advancements since then, what really bugs me is I bought the MX5 so as not to have to bring an amp and half way through the gig end ended up bypassing the MX5 and going with the AMP, clean, crunch overdrive. Appreciate the advice Headrush really need to overhaul the MX5 completely there are too many options that they've completely overlooked the basics. as mentioned, line6 tones have always been so easy and fast to dial in from scratch compared to t7he Headrush interface. The MX5 for me is a grave disappointment and money down the drain. Thanks for the fantastic content Dave 👍🏻

[@Estraiper]

If I need to connect the pedal to a real amp, should I just turn off the cabinet or Ir in the headrush mx5 and go directly to the amplifier imput?

[@DaveBode]

I haven't run it that way, but if you are going to use an amp model, you probably want to run the MX5 into the effects return of your amp. That will bypass the preamp. Or do whatever sounds best to you.

[@Estraiper]

@@DaveBode so maybe can I just turn off the amp And cabinet of my headrush and go directly to the real amplifier imput?

[@DaveBode]

@@Estraiper I would try and use whatever amp you want in the MX5 without a cab or IR. Plug directly into the effects return of your amp. If you want to use your amp's preamp, don't use any amp or cab in the MX5. If you use reverbs into the overdrive of your amp, it may sound a little rough.

[@Bcwilderness]

nice vid fella just found you subscribed you remind me a bit of pocastpro guy without the coffee cool, great info very usefull for us studio home rats :)

[@DaveBode]

Awesome, thank you!

[@rctony710]

I bought the mx5 for my Marshall valvstate I didn't want to start buying individual pedals but ....I don't get it....you don't need an amp to use mx5? I wanted it for effects... I'll always have the marshal sound obviously so...should I just not use amplifier modeling?

[@DaveBode]

A drive pedal into an IR sounds very nice. But the amps are decent too. Options, brother.

[@matthewearl9824]

People have been using some gain panels as preamp’s for quite a while with tube amps and also in the effects loop.

[@DaveBode]

For sure! I haven't seen any MX5 setups using this method. There isn't an effects loop for the amps.

[@matthewearl9824]

Yes for sure. Yeah I meant to say that you are using the mx5 in the odd way as similar as people did in amps. Which is a cool thing.

[@Triumphinchrist1]

I wonder how this sounds when connected to an external amp.The Helix doesn’t sound too good when connected to an amp.

[@Megzamani]

Thank you

[@ymelfilm]

what is the quality of its virtual capo? Useless?

[@DaveBode]

Virtually

[@MelloState]

Seen some people even having amps go into other amps

[@ljsphotos123]

You're fucking amazing! Love from Chicago

[@che2335]

A swiss army knife of tone. Great for a cover band but will i find my tone and stick with it like Angus SRV EJ etc? Prob not. Is that sig tone a major part of what makes the greats great? Id say so bc would they be greats if they played their hits thru a Roland Jazz Chorus completely clean? No. I pose these thoughts as a hobbyist 10yrs from retirement that will never be a great even though I can cover the greats note for note. Edit..this is a great tool for hobbyists who want to cover the greats and sound like them in a very compact package...its great lol.

[@tobins6800]

All the greats sound like themselves no matter what they play on or through.

[@metalheadblues]

Do a high gain video pls

[@jakedemetrius_official]

Can u just plug it into an amp?

[@DaveBode]

You could plug it into an amp and use the MX5 for compression, drive, and time-based effects. That has never been my cup of tea.

[@jakedemetrius_official]

@@DaveBode whats the difference between putting it in the cabinet or the amp?

[@DaveBode]

@@jakedemetrius_official The MX5 has a cabinet modeler block and an IR block. I think the best sounds come from using the built in amp modeling and going into an IR block. Then putting stereo delay and reverb after the IR block. That way you maintain the stereo imaging of the time effects. This video was showing the idea of not using amp models in the MX5 to get some diffrerent distorted/overdriven guitar sounds. That said, I usually always used an amp model for all of my patches.

[@jakedemetrius_official]

@@DaveBode so you can use it on an amp pedal board like a normal pedal? Whats an IR? I apologize I’m very new when it comes to gear.

[@jakedemetrius_official]

Long story short, I’m gigging around with my metal band with an evh amp and saw this online for sale and was interested. Do you think this would be helpful for me

[@rockrep]

Always wondered what was wrong with the Tri Fuzz.

[@DaveBode]

The MX5 is one of the easiest guitar products I have ever used, but Headrush's documentation is incomplete at best. It bet it would make a lot of users happy if they took one day and wrote a proper manual detailing every effect parameter. Lots of folks just return the pedal because they can't get a production-ready sound and the lack of documentation plays a role in that.

[@rockrep]

@@DaveBode Agreed. Took me quite awhile to get good tones with it. I’m glad I didn’t give up though. IR’s helped a lot, although I’ve been returning to use stock cabs more lately. Volume helped a lot. And just time and patience and experience and experimenting helped the most. It’s the most versatile unit I’ve owned by far and the interface, while not perfect (really want the out block output meter visible all the time) is very easy to use.

[@GuitarMan3YT]

I just bought one….stayed up most of the night messing with it….after about 5 hours of frustration.. only finding one clean sound that I liked, cause all the distortions and amps were garbage!!! I boxed it back up and I’m taking it back!!!!

[@DaveBode]

Sorry it frustrated you. The amps are all solid but require some tweaking. High distortion amp dona bit better with IRs.

[@GuitarMan3YT]

@@DaveBode yeah, but for $430 bucks you shouldn’t have to do that, My Fender mustang sounds 10 times better than this…I bought this to record with…. now I don’t know what to do… but thanks for replying, I enjoyed your video.

[@DaveBode]

I don't think there is any modeler/pedal that will make everyone happy out of the box. I thought many of the factory presets were solid. However, after I played through all of them, I deleted them all and started making my own. It also makes a huge difference what you are monitoring your audio with. A good set of studio monitors in a room with proper acoustic treatment is ideal. Second to that is really good headphones or IEMs.

[@GuitarMan3YT]

@@DaveBode I was having a hard time getting the delays and reverbs to sound good also, they were too loud and noisy even after turning the mix almost all of the way down.

[@DaveBode]

@@GuitarMan3YT the mix on the MX5 reverbs is weighted on the wet side. On my last unit I was running verbs at 30-45% mix for bigger sounding stuff. On this pedal it's 15-35% maybe. The mix on the some of the delays, like the BBD delay, doesn't work properly. I think there is something with that particular delay. The Air Delay works exactly like any other digital delay, except for the ratio control. That is also coded incorrectly, and I have let Headrush know that. Everything is a compromise. Are there FX units for $400 that have better delays? Sure. Are they as easy to use and as flexible as the MX5? No. I can run several delays and reverbs in one rig on the MX5. Not a lot of other processors for $400 can do that.

[@PozerKiller]

The only thing I don't get is why they fit that wah pedal in it. Is so small that is almost useless.

[@DaveBode]

Works for me.🤷

[@PozerKiller]

You need to have really small feet then 😉 But hey, I believe you.

[@DaveBode]

@@PozerKiller US 10.5. The pedal looks small but it feels fine under my foot. I came from a fuller size pedal on the Line 6 X3 Live.

[@PozerKiller]

@@DaveBode Is there much difference between Headrush Pedalboard and MX5 apart from the size?

[@DaveBode]

@@PozerKiller They have the same processing. The differences are the screen size buttons. More buttons means you can have more scenes within one "Rig" but I have not found this to be an issue. On the MX5 you can use the center and left button at the same time to the next rig and the center and right buttons at the same time to go to the previous rig. For the price, the MX5 is a great product.

[@timbuzick8778]

hot garbage would be a bug sound

[@BillyBlaze7]

it would be cool if this video had a little question mark button that when you engaged it would explain what the acronym's are, instead of assuming everyone knows what they are lol

[@Chinhoyi62]

Sorry dude, but I can't take anyone seriously who has a guitar that looks like yours.

[@DaveBode]

That’s ok. My Solar is more comfortable, stable, and flexible than anything that Gibson, Gretch, or Fender produce. I haven’t needed to tune this guitar in 2 years with many hundreds of hours playing and ludicrous bends on every string. But not everyone like the look of innovation. Rock on!

[@AngeloGuardia]

hating Solar is a thing?... wow

[@kevone-eo6pq]

clown comment.

[@bryanheck5091]

great video, but leave the tone knob of the rat alone, its literally one of the most classic dirt pedals, and that knob being reversed is a part of rock history.

[@michaelmay9059]

I've been shopping multi effects units for about 3 months and have watched dozens and dozens of KZbin videos as well as spent hours reading reviews and owner manuals over PDF. So I had had my sights set on the boss gx100 for about the past month I'm just saving up money to get it. This takes some time for me because I'm married and so while I'm saving money I'm also gradually trying to pitch and sell the idea to my wife that I'll be spending five to $800 on a guitar pedal. Plus I just bought myself a new guitar(Schecter PT special) a month ago. So when I'm at work and not being productive I like to spend a lot of time watching guitar gear and tech videos and I started debating on reevaluating my decision to go with the boss gx100 and maybe start with something that's a little bit cheaper that way I could get it faster, effectively Expediting my rise to Rock stardom. I'm wondering at this point why exactly I felt the need to disclose that array or irrelevant information just to tell you that I've watched way too many multi-fx videos and about 20 on the HR MX5 alone and yours is in the the 90th percentile as far as usefulness to me. At this point I'm about 81.7% sure I will go with the mx5 over the PodGo. Do you or anyone else have any insight or opinions on these 3 units? My main use/function will be home jammin,practice and recording.

[@DaveBode]

I can’t speak to the other pedals, as I haven’t used them. I have used a Pod X3 Live for a decade. One of the things I think you will love about the MX5 is how fast and flexible it is. Creating new “rigs” for songs is very fast and the scene system for changing several things at once. Also the expression pedal can control 4 parameters at once with a custom range for each control. Almost all of my “rigs” use IRs from the Celestion G12M bundle. It was $29 and it comes with way more mic and cab combos than one could need. One of the tricks with any digital guitar pedals is using a monitoring system with a lot of headroom. I use large studio monitors and a subwoofer with DSP frequency correction. When I play live, the FoH and broadcast engineers done need to do a lot to get it to fit in the mix because the sound out of the pedal is 95% what they need.

[@DaveBode]

This is a live example with the pedal from this past Sunday. The online mix was done live by Brian Moore. He is a fantastic engineer! kzbin.info/www/bejne/mpTGeJmboL2YnLM

[@michaelmay9059]

@@DaveBode thank you! Greatly appreciated.

[@kenwheeler4731]

I had a Boss GX-100 and to me the Line 6 POD GO amp sims sounded better. I'm going to try this Headrush MX5.