Akai New Headrush: looks like a Helix! (Best thread version)

Wazmeister

digitalscream said:

Where are you getting that from? I couldn't find any reference to it, even on their Facebook page!

TGP mate - growing thread there

simonk

Wazmeister said:

digitalscream said:

Where are you getting that from? I couldn't find any reference to it, even on their Facebook page!

TGP mate - growing thread there

Yeah, it's not going well...

Sporky

Much as I enjoy a good pitchforking, it's only just out. Probably best to let the dust settle before drawing too many conclusions - the Helix got much better after a few firmware updates after all.

digitalscream

Just been through all the clips on the main TGP Headrush thread...the Headrush comes out either slightly ahead, or miles behind the Helix depending on which clip it is. It does seem like either the Headrush or the Helix has the calibration on the model "knobs" wrong, but even so...I'm not finding any reasons to buy one in there, and lots of reasons not to.

digitalscream

Sporky said:

Much as I enjoy a good pitchforking, it's only just out. Probably best to let the dust settle before drawing too many conclusions - the Helix got much better after a few firmware updates after all.

True, but...they haven't even announced the launch on their own Facebook page. It seems like they weren't remotely ready - no drivers, no IR pack, no additional models (all promised) - but they figured "hey, let's go for it anyway". Not a good sign, and it's exactly what everybody's been saying was their main concern since they announced at NAMM.

When you're going up against Fractal, Kemper and Line 6 you can't afford to be this casual about it.

Teetonetal

Awfull product launch. For a 999 usd device you'd expect a bit of care of attention to detail of their own launch. Panic reaction to helix LT is what it feels like. Even if it's not.

gibsongretschfan

the guys on TGP are starting to freak out that they have actually pulled the plug on Headrush and are just selling off the hardware units they had already manufactured 

Teetonetal

^hope not. No one wants that and it would suck for all concerned. Hopefully an founded rumour.

guitarfishbay

Does Robinbowes' mate have an account on TGP?

TimmyO

Horrible timing for these guys - spec-wise it looked a bit like a slightly cheaper stripped-back Helix (a good thing) - then the Helix LT happens.

One of the posts in the TGP thread talked about it topping-out on DSP way sooner than a Helix does too. 

More options nad healthy competition is good but they may have been really unlucky from what's been shared so far.

gearaddict

They seem to think loading IRs uses a lot of DSP...if you use 2 at once then certain effects start to get greyed out. Probably fixable but the complete lack of any company presence doesn't give me a warm fuzzy feeling that they will sort out the issues any time soon.

gibsongretschfan

It's not a good sign when the Line 6 team are posting in the Headrush threads more than.... well the Headrush guys aren't posting at all. Even on their own Facebook.

Teetonetal

Guess all that DSP is being taken up for spill over between patches....?

gibsongretschfan

Teetonetal said:

Guess all that DSP is being taken up for spill over between patches....?

Yeah but they were bragging about "quad core" this and that, I think people assumed those were better processors than they turned out to be

digitalscream

gibsongretschfan said:

Teetonetal said:

Guess all that DSP is being taken up for spill over between patches....?

Yeah but they were bragging about "quad core" this and that, I think people assumed those were better processors than they turned out to be

As I've posted here before (and over on TGP), I think they're not DSP chips at all, but rather ARM chips. Quad core ARM chips are cheap as anything these days, especially when they're attached to a low-res touchscreen. Y'know, basically the guts of a tablet.

gibsongretschfan

digitalscream said:

gibsongretschfan said:

Teetonetal said:

Guess all that DSP is being taken up for spill over between patches....?

Yeah but they were bragging about "quad core" this and that, I think people assumed those were better processors than they turned out to be

As I've posted here before (and over on TGP), I think they're not DSP chips at all, but rather ARM chips. Quad core ARM chips are cheap as anything these days, especially when they're attached to a low-res touchscreen. Y'know, basically the guts of a tablet.

I'll take your word for it... could be fairy dust inside these things for all I know

digitalscream

gibsongretschfan said:

digitalscream said:

gibsongretschfan said:

Teetonetal said:

Guess all that DSP is being taken up for spill over between patches....?

Yeah but they were bragging about "quad core" this and that, I think people assumed those were better processors than they turned out to be

As I've posted here before (and over on TGP), I think they're not DSP chips at all, but rather ARM chips. Quad core ARM chips are cheap as anything these days, especially when they're attached to a low-res touchscreen. Y'know, basically the guts of a tablet.

I'll take your word for it... could be fairy dust inside these things for all I know

I'm only guessing, but...look here. From everything they've told us, that easily fits the bill in terms of screen size, resolution and CPU power. It just needs a class-compliant audio interface and a bit of custom gear to handle the switches/knobs and the scribble strips, and job done.

It would also account for why there's so little DSP capacity available after the IRs are running.

As I said, though, this is a total shot in the dark because Headrush themselves refuse to be specific about anything to do with the thing.

Teetonetal

Gotta say, having read through most of the TGP thread, I really could see any reason to buy one of these. So many minor issues vs zero customer support. Would need to give this at least a year and see what happens...

gearaddict

Yeah, given that the Helix LT costs £50 less than the Headrush, buying a Headrush feels a bit insane. At the moment anyway.

digitalscream

gearaddict said:

Yeah, given that the Helix LT costs £50 less than the Headrush, buying a Headrush feels a bit insane. At the moment anyway.

That's basically the size of it. The ridiculous thing is that I could probably forgive the lack of transparency if the product was mostly flawless on release; with that much secrecy, you almost expect that it would be. To not even be able to run stereo amps with IRs, though, on a unit with restricted signal paths (as opposed to the totally open structure of the Helix signal paths) is...madness. It just smacks of a total lack of testing, which means I'm unlikely to ever buy one.