I grew up as a kid playing guitar in the 80's and wouldn't trade it for anything, but damn I would have killed to have all of the cool gear available today at my disposal. Great time to be a guitar player these days. Pretty cool to know you can basically walk into a gig with all the gear you need in a backpack and not give yourself a blown disc in your lower back hauling heavy amps around.
I don’t think of myself as all that old, but I see this video and I wonder “how can something like this EVEN EXIST??!!” It’s almost scary. But I love it! Like YOU always say: What a time to be a guitarist!
Finally, after a lot of You tubing I bit the bullet and bought my first modern Pedal board. Headrush. MX5. No idea about IR's etc but will religiously follow your video's. Thanks.
Nice and informative demo ! Would be interesting to hear some playing patches you tweaked a little bit since now you were just playing presets I assume . For my taste presets are always a little "over the top" since they want to show off "what the unit can do".
DAMN RIGHT.....soooo wished I could get one of these...be all ya need for a LONG TIME ..... AND SOUNDS great as well...not "frizzy or twanggy" like some processors do.Headrush is Da Bomb Dig a dee Babyyyyyy!!!!! Stay Safe All....PEACE ...and you LUCKY SOULS enjoy your musical processing Journeys........Would LOVE to see some of em ya'll....COOL VIDEO PEDAL GUY!!!!! AS Usual!!
Scott, thank you so much. You’ve always been super helpful and knowledgeable. It looks like it’s the one for me! One question, I like a polyphonic octave with a Mimiq for a 12 string sound. Does the MX5 have a way to accomplish this?
Sure thing. It has an octave effect but it would take some experimenting to get the result you’re looking for. Are you going for an acoustic or electric 12 string sound?
To keep from lugging a 12 string electric around for 3 songs per set I currently use a stereo POG and I get a decent enough sound. So mainly for electric.
great video. I'm trying to pick between the headrush mx5 and a pod go. I've watched nearly every video I could find on both and I'm not closer to deciding. Both units have pros and cons that make it very hard for me to pick between
The overall design looks like it somehow can squeeze another footswitch before the built-in expression pedal similar to the ampero, but having a midi in and out at that small footprint is a big plus. Good thing to have another option in the small mfx pedal market.
Good feedback. It just really completes the family of Headrush I think. All that power for $399 is pretty hard to beat. Plus if you want additional footswitches the Ampero Control should get the job done.
Very cool. I just found you because I did a search on Headrush and you popped up.. Great video. I sub'd. Excellent info and sound samples and review. I wish I could find one that had excellent pitch shifting like the H9. I may have to get an H9 as I don't see any other way to get those cool tomes like Steve Vai and EVH, etc. Thanks man. Tim. Indiana USA..
I prefer the Hotone Ampero, even if it's a dark horse in the modeling unit sweepstakes (I use the Ampero only for direct recording). If the MX5 has the same sounds as the original Headrush, it doesn't make much sense to me at this date. PS - I have the Avid Eleven rack which was the precursor to the original Headrush unit which has "some" good useable sounds. Of course all this stuff is a matter of personal taste and what you're looking for soundwise.
Great video thanks for the video kind of on the fence but I might finally be able to afford one so that's a big plus I think I'm just going to do it in next month or so . 🤘🤘 Checking out more of your channel thanks .
I just bought one of these and was watching videos on the unit; what I could find, as it was being shipped... and the one glaring UI issue I'm having is figuring out how to assign the stomp pedal button to pedals other than those in the factory presets... I'm surprised there's not just a check mark in the settings for the pedals for it to be assigned to the stomp box. UI on these audio things are weirdly lazy in 2021... it's like they still are using UI design from 2006
I have a basic and what could be a dumb question. If I have multiple effects in my rig (let’s say 5 or 6) and I’m in the middle of a song and need to turn one off and another on “quickly” how many stomps and hold-down combinations do I have to go through to accomplish this? -From a current HRPB user.
I have a question. I need something extremely simple to take to gigs, which would allow me to store multiple setups for different styles and songs. Is this what I need?
Well, as far as sound goes I can get a great sound out of all these options. However, my one pet peeve about L6 is that the Looper lacks in features as it doesn't run independently of the presets. This is something that the HeadRush family does really well and that makes a difference to me and the way I approach them. Hope that helps.
This is a great intro review. For a newbie to modeling, this seems like it would be the best purchase (under $1K or so) on the market right now. I want not only to try using studio monitors through a computer for a different sound (basically so I can have less volume than my tubes) and also for recording (and silent use with headphones). I only have a Microsoft Surface right now which does not have a lot of inputs/outputs built in. Would this work ok with a PC considering it would act as not only an amp and effects unit but also an audio interface for a DAW? Apologies, my knowledge on the digital world when it comes to guitar is wayyy behind, I have always been an amp and pedal guy, but at this point in life might need to turn down a bit. Are there free profiles online like the Kemper also? Thanks again, great vid.
Thanks for watching. Well, a couple of things to consider. 1. The Headrush doesn't have an editor software for your PC. It's only on the HR itself. So, the only reason you would connect it to your PC is to record, which is fine. 2. There are absolutely tons of free presets out there. There are also hundreds if not thousands of IR profiles that can be purchased or in some cases offered up for free. The HR MX5 includes 300 in the box as is.
@@ThePedalGuy Thanks, yes I realize that the only reason you would connect it to a computer is to record, download upgrades, or third party IRs, etc. Some people dislike that but I think its a plus for people like me who are used to plugging any playing. Is the touch screen very responsive and easy to use at such a small size though?
Hey Scott, great video mine is on its way, im thinking of putting it threw two of the headrush frfr 108 speakers for a stereo effect any thoughts on how that will sound?
I would use the MX5 as a recording only pedal because I have a Kemper, but I'm thinking about getting the Line 6 Native Helix software for recording. The MX5 is awesome if you're a guitar or bass player gigging on Broadway in Nashville and doing 3 or 4 gigs a day & night and need a compact rig. The MX5 sounds really good!
I have a Gigboard now. Other than screen size, this seems like a better value. I need an expression pedal. Most run $120-$160. Is it smart to sell my Gigboard and buy MX5; or spend the extra and keep Gigboard? Thoughts?
I really like the clean looking design of their pedals. This one is just so simple looking to operate. I owned a Gig Board model and sold it, not because I didn’t like it though. I just like to try different options. Does this offer acoustic IR’s and acoustic amp models built in? I’m interested but the NUX MG-30 offers so much in the way of acoustic products I’m not sure about paying more for the Headrush unless it also has acoustic capabilities.
Thanks for the question. The HR does have an Acoustic sim built in. Admittedly, it's not as versatile as the MG30 in this regard but I got some pretty decent acoustic sounds out of both units.
Thx for the review ! I'm just wondering if there is some kind of a built in "drop tune" feature ? I currently use a digitech drop which I just can't live without but if the headrush had that thing built in that would be great !
I have the GigBoard, the bigger version. Drop Tune tracks much better than the Drop. I had a Line 6 HX Stomp. This is much more user friendly, and I don’t need extra pedals with this. With the Stomp I did.
I actually just tried an MX5 at GC for a couple hours earlier for this very reason and it does pitch tracking way better than any other Multi-FX unit I've tried before. I usually put a pitch shifter in front of an octaver to give me a CKY sound without having to retune to D standard and those two effects either are pretty big DSP hogs, create a lot of latency, or don't mesh well together and I was very impressed how little latency there was, how well it tracked power chords, and how good it sounded. There were a couple of times I heard a tiny bit of artifacting on the octaver model but the drop model was super solid. I was even more impressed since I tried this exact situation on a Headrush Pedalboard a while ago when they were relatively new AND a Gigboard when those came out and it was absolutely unusable on both, I'm talking like 30ms or something of latency. This little unit must be more powerful or they did some killer updates with the software or some combination of both because I didn't expect it to handle that scenario so well. I own or have owned a GT-100, GT-1, HX Stomp, G5, G1XFour, and G3 and I can say the MX5 handles this situation better than all of those. About as much latency as running a Drop into a MicroPOG.
Thanks. I've answered this a few times already in the comments section. It really comes down to a matter of taste. Please listen to all of the demo vids out there on both units and you'll find your answer 😉
Thanks for this review.... I want to resume to play the guitar after 20 years of inactivity. I got the original PSA1 rack edition coupled with old SGX2000 first edition. I want something more compact mostly for blues (SRV style) and funky music. Your sound demo was to much targetting "big sound" for me no hard to get from any multieffect. Do you plan to release some other sound demo with this new little guy ? Thanks a lot.
Forgive my naivetivity, I own a Les Paul with a small amp since the early 80’s which spent more time is storage than my home. I recently gave it to a friend to fix it. Bottom line, I’ve not played it in…20-30 years? I’ve owned a 6-string acoustic Takamine guitar for 25 years and love it but I’ve recently bought a Strat and I’m completely ignorant to pedals and effects. I’m looking for anything that can make any of my guitars sound like a piano or keyboard, is there anything out there you’d suggest? I’ve also got a 12 string Takamine. Thank you.
No problem. What you're asking about is a MIDI guitar. That's not what the MX5 does. There are MIDI guitars out there like the Jamstik. I am planning on a series to cover this topic in the near future. Hope that helps.
Personal choice, The Headrush (including this new MX5) or a Line6 LT? Im tryin to do My own research but Im curious about ur opinion. Im trying to focuz on post sound quality mostly. They seem very similar & it looks like it could come down to how MANY options I want since they sound very similar. Thoughts?
Hi. Thanks for the question. Just want to make sure I understand the ask. You are looking for an opinion between the Helix LT at $999 vs the MX5 at $399? Well, it's kind of an Apples to Oranges question as the LT has a lot of power at that price point. A more accurate comparison would be against the main HR Pedalboard. I do like the sound quality of what I have heard in the Helix family, although it is a little limited to the HX Stomp XL. However, all along, my pet peeve about L6 in general is the way that they do the looping as it doesn't run independently of the preset like it does with HR/NuX/Hotone....
@@ThePedalGuy thanks for the opinion. I guess for me it's not about the price it's more about the quality of the rigs in the boards. Line 6 obviously has more choices and options but I have found that that doesn't always mean the better quality so I was really curious as which you would prefer I suppose in general I guess the Head Rush or the Line6 products sound quality wise.
@@NoiZeTribe4Life if mobility is important, then mooer ge250 and this headrush mx5 are the best ones to get. you can even think of mooer ge300. you will need less time to get the sound you want with mooer compared to L6 products. but L6 Helix LT is the milestone at its price range. It is like getting a notebook and a desktop computer. If you want a full product to use like a desktop computer and do not need to move it around, then get the Helix LT. If you like mobility, you want your device in your bag while you are going to friends/cafes/other locations, then keep it simple by getting headrush or one of the mooer products.
Hi there simply great review as always. 👍 I do have a couple of questions, is there a difference between this device and gigboard by headrush? What are the Differences besides there size? Also which device is bettter at amp modeling, the NUX MG 30 or the MX5? Sorry for the many questions.
Thanks Angel. Appreciate your feedback. Aside from the size, the main difference that I can see with the Gigboard is the lack of an expression pedal and a few additional controls. I will plan to do a video to lay out the differences for my subs. As far as the MG30 goes, it really comes down to what your ears tell you. Have a listen to all the demos out there and you'll find the right answer.
Hey man if you’re on the fence of which one of these to buy, I just want to mess you up some more-haha. First really consider the dimensions, just from this video unless his hands are humongous, this thing has to be seriously small, it appears both of his hands cover the whole unit? I went through a small headache and finally came to decide upon the MG 30 but they sent me a unit that was supposed to stay on the Chinese mainland. I was bummed because the sounds were super good and it felt really good to play. My initial interest was to have better reverbs and to not have to bring out my big pedal boards for a home recording, along with a dedicated clear stereo path. Immediately my Home recordings and through my busking set up everything sounds way better. I never got to play it thru a tube amp so can’t help there. I would say the MG 30 appears to be bigger than this, Although it is smaller than appears on camera, but the main thing I didn’t think about it was the little expression pedal. Besides a small footprint for my size 11 there’s not a lot of “throw” in the expression pedal. Because of availability and the language mistake I went ahead and got a pod go. I’ve had it a few weeks now and I’m pretty much on the fence about sending it back. It seems a lot if not all have a thing going on with the rotary encoders, namely the two main ones in between the view and action buttons and between the two page buttons. There’s been numerous inquiries about spinning the knob and nothing happening, and then catching up, and this is with me slowly turning it, Not just grabbing it and wildly wringing it. I apologize for going on & on, I just happen to be updating it while I’m viewing on my phone. It has so many features and definitely capable of sounding great but I frequently miss the plug and play abilities of that little MG 30, and I’m sure I would’ve liked it a lot more if I had the ability to Tweak The presets a little. I definitely like the availability of the pedal guy here, Plus he’s only a couple cities away from me, in case there’s a problem. Maybe your best bet is to terret down and pull the trigger on one and just unwrap it carefully. If it doesn’t meet your expectations wrap it back up nicely and exchange it, until you find the one you like.
@@LTJR. Thanks man, I did pull the trigger and ordered it through Musician's Friend. I should getting it Tuesday. I should tell you I have the Line 6 Helix and it is absolute beast. I was looking for something different and portable. That is why I couldn't decide between the MX5 or MG 30. Stay tuned. Oh, let me ask you, do you play with headphones on? I need a good set of over the ear headphones. Thank you for replying.
@@ThePedalGuy Thank you. Do you play or practice with headphones. I need a good pair of over the extra headphones. I use the AKG K553 MKII Professional Headphones. Thank you.
Thanks for sharing. I feel that HR is probably making the right moves at the moment. There are some really choice updates planned, so the tech is just going to get better.
Thanks for the video... Does anyone know if this product will sync its in built looper with a beatbuddy via the midi, and does that mean we can record the beatbuddy on the looper with this function or just be able to play along with whatever is recorded on the looper staying in sync with the BB or neither... many thanks in advance
@@ThePedalGuy Wow thanks for the super quick reply!!!! oh what a shame, I'm still looking for the ultimate multi FX pedal for my needs. Have the MG300 although really amazing the actual audio quality through headphones is a little too thin sounding for me, it emulates the tubes very well but unfortunately I find it lacks in tube warmth or fullness/depth. Have a GE200 which is sort of inferior sounding to the MG300 but once Mooer's free downloadable GNL file samples are loaded and there's so many even too many to choose from) it sounds really good better than the MG300 having a much more fuller warmer tube like sound, but the GE200 looper is extremely poor. Getting back to the HR I suppose the BB loop could be recorded directly onto the unit or I could easily create a wav file loop on my pc using mixcraft (excellent multi track recorder with the ability to splice sound tracks for loops).
No the looper doesn’t have that functionality in any of the Headrush boards except the looperboard of course. I know it’s been requested several times so maybe soon.
So I was wanting the nux mg 30 but now that I’ve seen this for only a hundred more what do you think is the better overall choice? I’m into Metal and hard rock so the acoustic part doesn’t really matter,thanks for the advice in advance.
It's a tough question to answer, as you get more processing power with the MX5 and more IRs, so there will certainly be a tonal difference. As you follow my channel, you know I like both of these brands a lot so I would suggest simply listening to my demos and the other ones out there and decide for yourself. Go with what sounds better to you.
I do what I can 😉 The expression pedal is a bit compact. However, if it really is an issue you can always get an external expression pedal in the future.
Oh wow!!! Does it sound like the big brothers? I was about to buy the POD GO, but this stuff looks much more awesome :-) I know that you'll probably post another videos about it, but I'm very interested in - what happens while rig switching, is there a delay or not? Or maybe there is the "fadeout" option like in the big one? - I assume that MIDI in/out allows to connect external controller to expand for example stomp mode?
It sounds as good as the pedalboard and gigboard, just in a smaller footprint. As far as switching presets, yes it performs exactly the same way as the original does with regards to effect tails. There’s a list of midi cc’s that the mx5 will respond to so you can add external midi controllers to the rig in order to expand the capabilities. Hope that helps. More vids to come.
I don’t quite agree as the price point is different and there are plenty of brand loyalists on both sides of this. The mg30 is on the way and should be hitting the US soon
Here's my take on the MX-5. Don't bother trying to dial in a good tone without Custom IRs. Even then the Helix and PODGo products are way better in the amp tones before it hits the Custom IRs. The only way to get a good tone out of the MX-5 is to use a great Custom IR because the amp tone is not that good. Also, the amp selection is a handful of amps with some slight variations. You get what you pay for and the MX-5 is cheap. Mine got returned and I had high hopes for it since it was based on the Eleven Rack product line.
I would have a listen to the audio demos on both, look at the feature sets, and then make the choice. There's a ton of Ampero demo material out there, including my channel. Plus, Pete Thorn just released a MX5 demo yesterday that I think sounds pretty decent.
@@ThePedalGuy in context, I'm looking at it as a computer appliance, and it is missing features that almost any modern computer device has (backups, propagation, etc).
@@ThePedalGuy I need a wide stereo spread (as big a sound as possible.) I play solo instrumental stuff. No drums, bass, etc. So the guitar has to be interesting. I know there are devices that can help with this too.
@@davidwoods358 ah ok. Yea, it can do that just fine. Working with the internal mixer of the MX5 and a stereo set of amps or FRFR's should give you a good result.
I have the mx5 in stock. Personally I like them both. Just remember that the mg30 is $100 less and has two processors while the mx5 has four so it’s not quite a fair comparison
@@ThePedalGuy well..processors aside the mg30 "could" sound better..i mean from what i read the mx5 is the same tones as the 5 yrs old headrush.I would have expected them to update the amp models and effects in that time?
I just added the features to the vid description. The tech specs are on the last page of the MX5 manual which can be downloaded from the Headrush website.
@@ThePedalGuy That was nice of you to do all that work. What is missing is important. Resolution of A-D D-A converters. Sampling of converters. Resolution of processor. In the end the ear is what counts to most and truthfully a guitar does not have the widest bandwidth. But still very important. Thanks for all your work...
0:31 Price is the actual amount of money given in exchange for a product/service. A price point, on the other hand, is a point on a scale of possible prices for a product. So, I gather you work for this company then?
