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

monquixote

If they are arm cores rather than DSPs you can expect high latency.

Digital_Igloo

gibsongretschfan said:

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.

Not suggesting one of those guys is an InMusic/Akai/M-Audio/ALTO/Alesis/Headrush employee, but some verbiage (which has since been edited) implied early access to a unit.

Voxman

Far too early to know if the Headrush and support will be any good.  For those buying now Helix/LT is the safer bet.  In 12 mths time who knows. If nothing else hopefully Headrush and other new similar stuff will help to get Helix prices down..not really much true competition for similar units at similar price points. 

digitalscream

Voxman said:

Far too early to know if the Headrush and support will be any good.  For those buying now Helix/LT is the safer bet.  In 12 mths time who knows. If nothing else hopefully Headrush and other new similar stuff will help to get Helix prices down..not really much true competition for similar units at similar price points. 

Unless the Headrush comes down further in price, I don't see that happening. The Helix LT already undercuts it by £50, Kemper have said they won't be releasing a cut-down version of their hardware and Fractal have no desire to compete on price (beyond imposing limitations on their tech with the AX8 and FX8).

What might happen - with the Headrush and Helix LT invading their space in the market fairly heavily - is Atomic dropping the price of their AmpliFIRE 12. Let's face it...the £90 difference between AmpliFIRE @ £759 vs Helix LT @ £849 isn't really something most people would spend more than a couple of seconds considering if they were aiming to buy something in that price range.

John_A

What I'd like to see is a 'grab n go' Helix super light, about m9 size, no fancy display for £349, already have a Helix, but would buy somthing like that, the current LT isn't cheap enough to buy as a backup

TimmyO

There are some  folks who seem to have bought the full set of 3 Helix devices :-/ 

Americans are odd sometimes. 

John_A

TimmyO said:

There are some  folks who seem to have bought the full set of 3 Helix devices :-/ 

Americans are odd sometimes. 

Sometimes?

Digital_Igloo

TimmyO said:

There are some  folks who seem to have bought the full set of 3 Helix devices :-/ 

Americans are odd sometimes. 

After this Line 6 stint is over—whenever that is—I could probably write a doctorate thesis on the social mores and buying habits of discerning guitarists in America. We're a really odd bunch.

digitalscream

Y'know, it's occurred to me that this whole debacle is perfect PR for the Helix LT, given that it's the only credible alternative at that price point. All Line 6 have to do is sit back and watch while Headrush shoot themselves in the feet and kneecaps simultaneously.

VJIves

Without wanting to trawl through that whole TGP thread, is there an exact moment where news of the Helix LT drops and the whole site loses its mind?

Digital_Igloo

digitalscream said:

Y'know, it's occurred to me that this whole debacle is perfect PR for the Helix LT, given that it's the only credible alternative at that price point. All Line 6 have to do is sit back and watch while Headrush shoot themselves in the feet and kneecaps simultaneously.

I'm quite fond of the Amplifire 12. Great guys, too.

TimmyO

digitalscream said:

Y'know, it's occurred to me that this whole debacle is perfect PR for the Helix LT, given that it's the only credible alternative at that price point. All Line 6 have to do is sit back and watch while Headrush shoot themselves in the feet and kneecaps simultaneously.

It looks like it's been a really really horrible coincidence of timing.

On the one hand though Line 6 had the foresight to understand that pricepoint and go after it after nailing the main Helix product. 
On the other, it has always looked like the Headrush was some sort of tweaked older product with vague marketing words used to obfuscate what's under the hood. 

If Line 6 hadn't done such a good job then Headrush may well have got away with it. <insert ScoobyDoo scene here> 

Cabicular

Turns out it took line 6 that long to release the Helix for a reason...

Digital_Igloo

Cabicular said:

Turns out it took line 6 that long to release the Helix for a reason...

You mean LT? IIRC, it was fully defined and designed in late 2014, six months before Helix Floor/Rack/Control were even announced. We didn't officially pull the switch until we knew what numbers the family could pull in. Obviously, if Helix sales tanked, LT development would've been mothballed.

There was no "strategic schedule" involved; LT simply shipped when we were done with it.

Drew_TNBD

The only thing that piqued my interest with the Headrush was their looper feature set. But with my iPad connection kit, the Helix, and some looping software... it blows everything else out the water.

Jonathanthomas83

@Drew_TNBD would you be kind enough to explain how you go about looping?

Drew_TNBD

Jonathanthomas83 said:

@Drew_TNBD would you be kind enough to explain how you go about looping?

I was going to make a video on it, watch this space!

Jonathanthomas83

Awesome! :-)

menamestom

Drew_TNBD said:

Jonathanthomas83 said:

@Drew_TNBD would you be kind enough to explain how you go about looping?

I was going to make a video on it, watch this space!

Interest registered ;-)

I was playing my Infinity today, it's the one thing holding me back selling everything and going for the Helix.  But I have an ipad and would hapily use it in favour of the Infinity if it can cover much if the same ground.

Jonathanthomas83

menamestom said:

Drew_TNBD said:

Jonathanthomas83 said:

@Drew_TNBD would you be kind enough to explain how you go about looping?

I was going to make a video on it, watch this space!

Interest registered ;-)

I was playing my Infinity today, it's the one thing holding me back selling everything and going for the Helix.  But I have an ipad and would hapily use it in favour of the Infinity if it can cover much if the same ground.

You and me both!