Headrush Prime - A 2nd Look. Did The Update Fix It? 

As a pro gigging muso, I highly recommend it for live gigs. Everyone's ears are different, and for me, it does exactly what I want. Felliow muso's have expressed interest and serious liking to it and gig punters never ask about what io setting I'm using, or about what you have have expressed as personal dislikes. I'm super happy with my Headrush Core. Each to their own, Use your own ears guys, form yor own opinions.

Love your channel. It's now my favorite guitar channel on RU-vid. Someone who actually calls it they way they see it. Thanks for your honesty.

Yeah, even as a Headrush user, it's safe to say their cloning is still a way behind tonex and kemper, etc. They need a more comprehensive algorithm than the 30 second one they currently use.

Yeah, my amp into loadbox clones have been very good. Can't speak for the ones with cabs. Thanks for your honest review as usual

Not sure why you're having issues with capturing, I've captured over 20 different amps with no issue on the Prime except gain being occasionally too hot on gain and having to redo a couple of captures because of that.

Curious, did you use the same unit when you tried this for the 2nd time? I wonder if the unit you are using is defective? I have done many clones and although they didn't come out as good as the Tonex, I thought it did a "consistent" job and was on par with the Kemper in accuracy. I did amp+cab, amp only, pedals and even captured my Fractal, and the results were the same. I'm no Headrush fanboi. I also own the Tonex, Fender TMP, Fractal AF3 and a former Kemper Stage owner. I sold the Kemper because of the "inconsistencies" in the capturing process. You know what I am talking about there because you are the only person I have come across that has mentioned that! I am also, in the same camp of the opinion that the amp modeling on the HP is exactly as you described and the FX as well. When I purchased the HP I was coming in thinking the amp modeling would probably suck (within minutes of use, I verified that) and figured I would keep it only if it could capture as well as the Kemper but do it consistently. It did exactly that for me, so I kept it. The only downfall was that when making presets it would not save the volume levels of the captures if they were adjusted differently from preset to preset. It has been shelved for months just on that needed update.

Some food for thought...I cloned a Rockman Sustainor...1st past was as an amp and results were way off..2nd pass as a pedal and results were spot on.....????....!!!!

Sounds like you are playing through a kick ass amp in the bedroom next mine

Did you even turn off the stock ir….. when it captures an amp and can you need to turn of the cab sim on the unit

I have the HRP and I’ve cloned several of my amps. Not sure what’s causing your issue, but mine sounds fine. And I’m also a Kemper owner, one thing the HRP has issues with is if there’s a gate in line ?

I have not had this issue doing a full setup clone; mic, cab, etc. I DO like it by the way. You might want to call headrush directly about this issue before making a video about how YOU feel it is not up to snuff. I can't seem to find any other videos having this much of a problem. Tech support first then make a video is usually a great proffesional way of voicing opinions. Great tech support. Call em. : )

I’m sure it’s fine. They’re all fine. Different options close the deal on which one you purchase. I bought a Helix and love it. I’m sure whatever I bought I’d be happy with as long as it has the basic features that are most important. You do a great job

faulty particular unit ?

Cloned my Silvertone 1432 and it made me smile the first time because it picked up so much detailed crap that make me not like the amp. It cloned it so close, now I like the clone because of the novelty of it🤷🏻‍♂️

Is that a bottle of Perrier on your table? So YOU are the one! Nice to meet you. Never seen anyone actually buy it or drink it! Cool 😎

there will be more updates soon, the issues with clones are being resolved. thankfully they seem to realize the problems need fixed. give it another month, that kind of sounds like the tinny bug. i had to clone a amp a few times over before it got a good one in on the original firmware. also sounds like the gain needs turned up a little too, any noise gate built in or not can also ruin a clone.

I use an HR Core and am very happy with the AMP clones. I can see no or very few differences to the originals. But a device is only as good as the person who uses it.

Tonex all the way

Curious if you tried cloning it clean then making adjustments in the unit to match the amp settings.

it sounds like it's compressing the overall sound and it's taking out some of the highs and lows . also both amps sounded similar after cloning i love your mona Lisa painting LOl , I have an older Headrush pedalboard and I tried a Tonex pedal and a Tonex one in the chain that works and looks like theres not a reason to upgrade to prime .

Tough comment. Perhaps the Prime isn‘t the best unit for amp cloning? I‘m not owning a bunch of amps, only one, the H&K Black Spirit and cloned it succesfully in my eyes. Than I put this rigg jn the Headrush cloud and got from a dear US guy an improved version, available for everyone for free…..upsi! Downloaded several riggs meanwhile from the cloud, amazing…and completely free! Taking in account that I‘ve got my Prime here in Germany for 1069€ and the QC is around 1700€: great deal, a pleasure to use it and I‘m happy!

Please do me a favor. Keep up the good work with your channel and stick to the video length. I know it's a lot of work but the entertainment is fantastic Jarrod! Thank you

Maybe it's because I barely use any high gain sounds, but the clones sound very similar to the amps to me😅. But in either case who would get this specifically for cloning amp?...I have exactly one Vox Amp. And for others I would be able to download it straight from the units cloud with the wifi🤷🏾‍♂️. Same goes for all the other sounds.

Other people are getting decent captures, you can download them. Also, you are writing off the entire unit because of one thing about it. We lived without captures for a long time, and a lot of us still use modelling only. I personally don't care about captures, I want the whole amp or piece of gear modelled. It doesn't mean the whole unit is bad because it doesn't do captures as well as a QC or Kemper. There's still a lot to like about it, and not every musician is as wealthy as you. Most younger musicians are broke as fuck. The modelling is ok, combine it with some nice IR's and you'll have decent guitar tones, a lot of FX etc. The user interface is really good on that thing.

I never had this problem and I profiled a few different amps on mine..

hopefully Fender will add the capture feature to the TMP (and get it right) surprising the HRP manufacture would release this product with it being so bad at the capture feature - nice demo

This thing is crazy expensive for what you get from it. Id just save an extra 300 bucks to get the fender tone master. Also One Question: When you are using Tonex what do you plug it in to when you are using a real life cab? I was thinking just a normal tube head, but I don't know if that will color the sound too much. Thank You!

Oof that’s a tough break for the prime. It kinda sounds like the unit isn’t sending enough signal to the amp for the capture. But it sounds like there’s something else going on…. Wouldn’t know exactly where to start…

Your review bums me out. The Prime has had some overwhelmingly good reviews. I have the Original Headrush pedal board and have never got great sounds. The headrush is great equipment and the interface is awesome but all the rigs sounded hollow or sounding like a 1980s Crate amp connected to a metal zone. I have an old Johnson Millenium amp which is one of the first modeling amps. It has a tube power section so it sounds awesome, but it is aging fast and parts are getting scarce. I was excited to see the Headrush was adding cloning as id really like to clone the Johnson. People hype up the Tonex too but i have been playing with the computer software and havent been digging the models there either. Amplitube seems to have better models even thou its the same company. Im still debating getting the Tonex pedal and trying to clone my amp. Good video, it was good to see an another point of view.

Is that even an accurate demonstration though? We are hearing the cabinet, amp and the full sound of the room when you play the real thing AB’s when you play the cloned version we are hearing what your mic heard then out of a speaker. There’s gonna be some tonality difference for sure right? To me that sounded like what the mic heard.

Oh dear... I did try some some other packs and the peavey invective and evh 5150 soukds v v good , these wound awful

Great video!! I hate these companies that use the first wave of buyers as beta testers instead of paying for testers themselves and doing proper adjustments before release. It's disgusting! Thanks for being an honest youtube channel! Subscribed! ✌️🇺🇸

Your Website DOES NOT have ANY Headrush Prime Captures/Amps/Cabs. Personally, I don't have any more Marshalls, Fenders, Dumbles, or Soldano's!! Couldn't afford them these days! I am dependent on the captures that have already been done. So, I will not be cloning an amplifier. maybe a pedal, but I need something with tones (AND NOT JUST CHUGGA CHUGGA) So, 1300 bucks for the unit, plus a FRFR speaker or use your PA-and THEN....pay for captures that may/may not sound good? Yeaaa....sure...Ok!! The vocal part of this unit is what caught my interest. and every video watched so far glosses over this functionality! How many Amps/Cabs/IR's come with this unit?? Are there any clean tones? or is the whole unit filled with captures set to Hi-gain-I ask because all HRP videos show chugga, chugga, chugga, chugga ad nauseum!!

It's sounds like the signal is out of phase when going into the headrush, Just guessing ?

Yep, they take our money for sure. Heads up all gear makers, get your shit together before selling. Or basically, its false advertising, and you could potentially be sued. and why shouldnt people seek legal advice? You take money for products that aren't as described. Thiev's .

On youtube on phone as playback - most sound same here, but I play much cleaner and would never use any of these tones , including the genuine tube amp tones on exhibition

It's clear that "profiles" are not in this units wheel house. But can you make a decent preset with the amps/effects/impulses within the unit? 99.999999% of people will never profile anything. Even if they own a Kemper, Tonex or Helix. They are just going to use the "gear" within the unit. Does that "gear" sound good? Can you make a great tone with the stuff the unit shipped with?

I have the MX5 when it came out. The PRIME came out after the TONEX so I just decided to keep the TONEX and use that as my profiler. Don't need another Headrush AND another profiler. Modeling is good, this profiling is not. Sorry.

Did I hear correctly that the headrush prime essentially uses the same avid tech from eleven rack? IF that is the case I wonder if the unit is just not powerful enough and accurate enough to compete with other devices that capture. All I know is that I havent heard a single profile I thought it did a spot on job like the cortex or even the kemper which even thought the kemper colors the sound slightly its still usable and is reminiscent of the amp being cloned. This sounds like if the original bean had a model of a revv and you are just getting the original nintendo version of what should be a modern accurate sound. It just seems low fi. The stock models? They work but none of them sound like a real amp. They sound like a modeler. I love both. But I honestly think my Ampero MP100 sounds better than the headrush. I dont mind the sound of modelers. And I get frustrated with amps. For my needs the cortex has the sound and feel I want. It responds like an amp and player input feels really natural. But the sound is something that almost seems studio ready coming out of my FRFR. It just plays so cleanly under the most extreme gain settings. Maybe its just me. But especially with the next update coming out for the cortex? It may not have an expression pedal but I cant remember the last time I used one even on the units that had them. Great video. Sorry it still sucks. But to be honest and transparent the unit is made by in music brands. They are known for trying to pack features into underpowered units and usually delivering a subpar and flawed product. Just look at how long the alesis strike took to actually be usable. It seems to be an issue spread across all of in music umbrella brands. Especially if they buy out a good company.

Yep those sound pretty bad and as a customer of your Tonex captures I know you've made some sick amp captures. JP2C one is a real highlight.

I think if I ever had a Soldano astro, I would play nothing else. Nothing. Else. Ever.

That’s why we all should stick to real amps. Tube, transistor, solid state - whatever you wanna call them, but there is no cloning, and capturing going to replace any real amp. Enough with the ridiculous content that’s being put out regarding the question “do we really need real amps anymore?” Yes, of we do!

I bought. Hated it. Not sure why you can't capture on it. Super easy. The capture part wasn't bad. Better than quad cotex. 5150 captured great, engl savage was brutal. The effects are juuuuunk on it though. Horrible delays reverbs an chorus. The volume drops on it were super annoying. And it would never save the bias and sag settings on my presets I created. Pos. Every preset installed were for bedroom players that don't know what real efx and amps sound like. Pretty much a toy. Sent this trash back after a few days

Let's put it this way, at least the Revv clone actually sounds like a guitar amp this time... Yeah, no idea why these clones sound as bad as they do. I haven't had the same experience with my own clones (Both my Marshall DSL and my heavily modded Peavey got cloned just fine), so I'm happy with my Prime, but I totally get that if this is what you're getting you'd be angry about that.

This is where Fender could steal the show and add the profiling files to the TMP…c’mon Fender! Headrush products are always disappointing to me too though.

Reading through the comments it sounds like you may have simply a bad unit. That happens as we all know. The head rush dudes should be scrambling to send you another one. If you have the same issues with two of them well then we can then undoubtedly say that this unit isn't for you.

Dude, I wanna thank you for your honesty. I''ve said it before, but it needs to be said again.

Funny how they respond to reviewers. I've had a support ticket waiting for over a month with no response.

Thank you @TONE WARS so much for saving us from wasting many times of $1,299.00!

I loved my old HR gigboard and sold it to get the Prime and so let down I sold it for 1/3 of what i paid brand new. Took a massive bath on this. The stock amps that came with the board are "Ok" every capture sounds absolutely awful. I get better tone out of a Mooer Brown Sound. Bummed, but HR better figure this out.

I’ve heard other people get good tones out of this unit but these sound genuinely terrible lol. That high end artifacting just makes it unusable. No doubt that you know what you’re doing, so based on this I have no idea how other have better luck. Maybe it’s random. It’s too bad because I’ve considered getting the headrush core, the smaller version of this, as a more “mobile” unit than my Helix, which is amazing. Just going to wait for used prices on quad cortex to go down some.

Sucks lol sorry

I think they should have done more testing before release. Sounds horrible.

Yuck!

Dude I have the core and everything g you are saying is true. Haven’t done captures, but the sounds you are getting is what I have been experiencing. I have had it almost a month, and all I do is preset tweaking trying to get it to sound good. The unit is useless. All the stock stuff in it are bad, effects are way over the top and the cloud stuff is really buggy. Honestly it should be nowhere near 1299 for the prime and nowhere near the original asking price for the core. 799 is still too much for the core. It’s pretty bad. The boss gt 1000 blows this thing out the water and it’s cheaper and doesn’t model and boss doesn’t even do updates! Ugh… sorry this is a long bitching comment, but this product pissed me off big time. I really do feel ripped off by headrush. They took all there old crap, jammed it in here and then sold us this. I’m quite pissed. You should show Mike from headrush this comment. Or let me know how to talk to him.

Your Tone Wars Website DOES NOT have ANY Headrush Prime Captures/Amps/Cabs!! Are you on vacation. or have you decided that the Headrush Prime is not worth the effort? I mean, seeing the issues your having with trying to capture? Maybe it's because you have all those amps in the background? Maybe one is hooked up to the HRP and your on the wrong amp? And>> your words>"I'm sick and tired of products...." Me too-also sick and tired of you Tube content that is superficial, one that glosses over issues and never shows the reasons why the unit performs the way it does. In closing: Your Tone Wars Website DOES NOT have ANY Headrush Prime Captures/Amps/Cabs!! Are you on vacation. or have you decided that the Headrush Prime is not worth the effort?