Headrush Prime

This is my first full-fledged modeller/effects board, or however else one might prefer to call it.

I found myself torn between this model and the Quad Cortex. I was fortunate enough to test out the Quad Cortex for a few days prior to ordering this one. Ultimately, the decision was swayed by the impressive "vocal abilities" of the HeadRush Prime, along with its size. In both of these aspects, the HeadRush seemed to better cater to my needs.

The pre-loaded rigs didn't make a significant impression on me right out of the box. Fortunately, it was a straightforward task to build my own rig. I found the process of setting up scenes, songs, and playlists particularly enjoyable. The functionality offered was perfectly aligned with my requirements.

One of the modeler's standout features is its modern, intuitive user interface. The inclusion of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth capabilities is an added advantage, significantly enhancing its overall value.

The spacing on the footswitches is adequate, and they appear to be quite durable. At home, I run the unit through studio monitors, and in other settings, I plug it straight into a PA system.

Once you immerse yourself in fine-tuning this device, you'll find many gratifying hours spent constructing your rigs and scenes. It's genuinely fun to experiment. The looper works splendidly for looping a few riffs and then adjusting the settings, adding effects pedals, and so on.

In order to purchase this, I parted ways with my 50W Plexi and 4x12 cabinet. Thus far, I'm not harboring any regrets. Of course, it doesn't quite replicate the same in-room sound or filling effect of a traditional amplifier, but its ease of setup, superior sound quality, and overall utility make it a more fitting choice for me.

I had it for almost a month. To be honest, this device has several strengths:
+ amazing practice options, very convenient to use something via bluetooth or easy to download from the dropbox and use the practice tool for learning. The metronome helped a lot too. But changing the BPM is not very convenient and comfortable.
+ very good effects on board + ready-made effects presets are also good and save time.
+ almost all vocal effects are good, they were used at one karaoke gig.
+ very user friendly interface.
+ easy to use scenes, very flexible.
+ amazing looper, the best on the market. Lots of storage space.
+ re-valver amps sound good.

And now about the cons and why I returned the device.

- Stock amps Headrush and Ir don't sound good for the price.
- Amp clones get tone and bite, good, but camper sounds better, more real and richer. (I'm a high gain guy, so less gain is fine.) So, my main point that drew me to this device was false.
- many bugs like insta shutdown when using wifi, especially when trying to upload rigs or captures. (It scared the hell out of me the first time it happened). Or a bug when you are using captured amps have a volume drop until you activate the preset(scene) again or touch the clone's head.
- when using clones and revalver the DSP is high and if you switch scenes in the same preset, you may experience a slight delay. Not very big, but noticeable. So I've been playing clean/gain, so that's important to me, and I've also heard strange noises a few times when switching, like bubble sparks.
- Sounds very good when played through regular speakers. But when you're playing with the whole band, on a good FRFR cab , sound can be much better. I have a hlix lt for comparison. If played solo, HR Prime sounds fine, but on rhythm riffs it sounds much thinner and without juice. The feel of the amp in the room is crap. It means more for high gain, low gain and cleans.
I tried adjusting my sound with the EQ and when I thought it was good I just did an A\B between the helix, with the same IR, I got really sad and decided to return.
- And encoders feel not very reliable and light.

So, as a conclusion, this device is very good if you need an all-in-one. For playing at home and maybe if you are a solo musician and play outside.
Unless you are using a lot of high gain. Solo sounds good, vocals are good for live performances. But it lacks the stability and rich sound I need on H-gain.

So after extensive testing, this thing is complete garbage.
Vocal harmonies don't track AT ALL. Like, not even close. And there is an audible click when you engage or disengage them. So the harmonies are totally useless.
And the looper, while packed with features nobody will EVER use like half speed, double speed and reverse, lacks the simple functionality to select WHAT TO LOOP. If I can't tell it to loop my guitar but not my vocals or vice versa, the looper is also totally useless.
The guitar tones are alright, I guess. I tried cloning three of my drive pedals. One was kind of close. The other two were not remotely in the ballpark. It does a reasonably passable Twin Reverb. The JCM800 patch is terrible. The AC30 patch is even worse.
I expected SO much more from a $1300 processor. I REALLY wanted this to be the unit that finally retired my TC Helicon Voicelive 3.
It isn't.