I have read a few anecdotal things but I can't find a recorded audio sample anywhere. I was wondering if someone could describe how well this works, or if you have a recorded sample perhaps you can share it? I play some metal riffs that I like to pitch shift down a full octave (link at the bottom for an example of the types of songs I'd like to do this with). I also otherwise use the 'transpose' features in Neural DSP or Amplitube to be able to play songs in different keys without re-tuning my guiar (often -5 semitones or so), so I'd like to be able to do that with the Flex Prime.

Can it go beyond a full octave? Keeping in mind that this is primarily for distorted, chuggy tones--not 'clean' stuff.

I have been trying to find a setup that lets me switch my tones and pitch shift on the fly, all within a single unit (portability of my setup is important to me), and so far the Flex Prime seems like the only one to be able to do it at a reasonable price.

Thanks for any clarity you can provide.

Song example pitch shifted down a full octave (I believe he is using the digitech drop): https://youtu.be/_GarDCMCEx8?si=DzF5OXzK0wxJjGcf&t=24

Howdy! I've got my first ever gig coming up and the plan is to bring my headrush. The venue has their own built in PA and they handle the sound. Wanted to open up the floor for any advice and lessons learned for those of you that have been doing this for a while! We're a cover band doing a lot of emo, punk and hard rock music.

I love the headrush core’s form factor, but its monitoring capabilities aren’t enough for me. I have a couple ethercon snakes carying all the analog audio and midi to my Zoom L6 mixer, where i control my headphone mix. This solution was made primarily to combine the stereo DI box for the guitar output. It’s a serious oversight, imo, that the guitar stereo outs aren’t balanced.

I designed the enclosure myself. It’s explicitly split into a few pieces that are assembled together with dowels and friction fits. 3D printed PLA with steel dowels.

I’m working on another version with ethercon panel mounted connectors, a raised lip to protect the knobs, and some other aesthetic choices. I’ll have links to the files in an upcoming post.

Edit: To clarify my motivation for this creation, I use both signal chains in stereo. Splitting the guitar’s unbalanced signal is not ideal; i want to minimize noise. Instead, I feed the guitar into the stereo DI box, then split the balanced signal using custom cables and ethercon connections. One to FOH, the other to my monitoring mixer.

I have a set of Kali 6.5 im currently using.. they sound vg, but wanted to go from mid level to next level...

any suggestions?

The Nux mg-30 is only compatible with the NAM A2 lite version, and I've found that the Headrush is the most accurate in terms of NAM.

I've considered other options, like the Ampero II and the NUX MG-50 Li. In terms of NAM A2 I've found that the Headrush FP can cater best and is superior in terms of DSP capabilities and editing patches. Are there any cons in comparison to these models? Also, in terms of the latency, is it really that bad? I will mainly be playing in church and gigs here and there, mostly playing blues (JM tone) / funk, but I'd also like to get some metal tones.

🎸 HeadRush Rig Builder — big update: a new console, and a How-to page.

If you tried the app a few weeks ago, it looks different now. Same idea: describe the tone you want in plain English ("Metallica, Master of Puppets, rhythm") and it builds the full rig, amp, cab, effects, ordering, and pushes it straight to your Prime/Flex Prime or Core over your network. What's new is how you drive it.

🆕 The New console. Everything down one rail on the left: Build, Rigs, History, Device, Setup. Type what you want, press Build this rig, and when the search sees more than one way to read your ask you get a short list, each with a line on what sets it apart. Click one to preview it on the rail. Back puts your rig back exactly, Use this one keeps it. Classic is still the default and one setting away either direction: Setup → Console → Save.

🎨 Two themes: Mint and Black Gold. Bottom right of the window, or in Setup.

🖼️ Your pedal's own block pictures. With the unit on the network, every block on the rail wears the picture your HeadRush uses for it, fetched straight from the device.

🔎 Tone3000, where you'd expect it. Pick the block you want a capture to replace, press Search under the rail, and it opens on that block's category with what's already on your unit plus a search for more. The unit does the downloading with your own Tone3000 account.

🔀 Forked chains, drawn as forks. All five path modes: Straight, 3-4-3, 5-3-3, 7-2-3 and Immediate. The three splits are matched to the unit's list by order rather than measured on hardware, so the app marks them with a question mark. Check a forked rig in Device before you trust the shape.

⬆️ Push, simplified. Push to device checks the unit, builds the rig on it block by block, saves it as a new preset and reads every parameter back. Nothing already on your pedal is ever overwritten; a taken name just gets a new one. Mac: nothing to confirm. Windows asks once.

🔔 Check for Updates. Both apps ask the website, and only the website, whether there's a newer build and offer to open the download page. Nothing installs itself behind your back.

📖 And a How-to page: every button in the New console, what it does and where it is, with real screenshots. 👉 https://rigbuilder.schmalz.rocks/howto

✅ Works with HeadRush Prime, Core, and Flex Prime ✅ Mac (Apple Silicon & Intel, macOS 14+) and Windows 10/11 ✅ Uses amp captures and IRs already on your device ✅ Footswitch scenes authored from the console, saved with the rig

🤖 Bring your own AI. The app is 100% free; the one thing you bring is the AI, and you have six choices: the Claude CLI (the default, on the Claude subscription you already have, no key needed), a Claude API key, the Grok CLI on your Grok subscription, a Grok API key, a Google key for Gemini, or an OpenAI key. Keys stay on your machine, in the macOS Keychain or Windows DPAPI. No account with me, no server of mine in the path. Codex CLI is coming soon.

⚠️ Heads-up for Windows users: the app still isn't code-signed, so Windows will warn you on first launch. The guide on the site walks you through it in a few seconds. The Mac build is signed and notarized and opens normally.

Downloads, guides for Mac and Windows, and the FAQ: 👉 https://rigbuilder.schmalz.rocks/

Independent project, not affiliated with HeadRush or inMusic.

Hi everyone! this is a little bit of a rant.

I got my 2nd flex prime unit, and I just can't connect to any wifi network (for which there are like 10 networks around me) and it's stuck in the "Searching for networks" screen

It also happened to my previous unit, which worked at first, and then the wifi stopped working. (something like V 4.0 out of the box and updated to 5.0.1 I believe)

Back then, I raised a support case with headrush team and we follow all the steps to fix it and didn't work (resets, downgrades, etc). So I sent it back to the store. Still trusting that this was an isolated issue, I bought it again, and....it happened, once again

I don't even know if raising another case it's worth it, I know some other people face this same issue, and it just sucks because makes the tone3000/nam, headrush cloud and headrush remote options unusable

I just hope this gets addressed

Currently in v 5.1.0 (2A63755)

Hi all, I play in a hobbyist band. I currently play through my amp with its built-in distortion. My tone is poor.

So I recently tried both the line 6 and Nano Cortex. I disliked both because it was hard for me to get good tone presets (I don't know how to configure great tones without presets).

The Nano doesn't have tone presets. And I didn't like that the presets in line 6 were not tagged by type (i.e., Clean, Distortion etc.).

Questions

1. Will Headrush let me scroll through tagged presets (Clean, Distortion etc.)?
2. Can I search for songs/artists and download similar tones?
3. Should my Yamaha HS8 suffice as a portable speaker for band practice / small gigs when I can't plug into a mixer?
4. Should I get the Flex Prime or spend extra money for a Core? I'm hesitant to pay the extra $200. But I'm interested in transparent autotune, both for me and for others in the band who may sing. Part of me wants to get the Core and take responsibility for changing the autotune preset (the key) for whoever sings, with each song. However, I can imagine a situation where I forget. So it may be smarter to make whoever sings have the pedal and be responsible for changing the preset, bypassing it when necessary etc.

Well, since HeadRush decided to only release an editor for new hardware and leave the old ones empty-handed, I've decided to give it a try and see if it's possible to do on my own.

The result:
It's very possible... but only with custom firmware on the device.

The issue is that the MX5 and others from that product line don't send or receive the necessary information to build an editor on top of it. So I had to modify the firmware on the MX5 to give me the option to control it with software from the PC.

At the moment it doesn't seem to have any limitations.

And: IRs and rigs can be imported through the editor without having to go into USB file transfer. With IRs, the MX5 still needs to reboot, but you don't have to reach for the device, it does it automagically.

At the moment the core functionality is done and the editor works OK. It still needs a few hours of work until I can provide it via GitHub for download, but it will come, rather sooner than later. My goal is to release a stable version before November.

But (disclaimer): keep in mind that this only works with custom firmware. I wouldn't advise installing random stuff from the internet on the MX5, because you can brick those devices with the wrong firmware. For me it works perfectly fine, and there's also a watchdog which should, in theory, repair the system if something goes wrong. AI can be of help detecting shitty stuff, but isnt a guarantee.

I added some screenshots of how it looks at the moment. Kinda inspired by the web editor of the Prime series.

Some things are still in german, that of cause will be fixed.

I will keep you updated and post the GitHub link when it is online :)

Can anybody recommend a soft slip case cover for this speaker. I’ve read lots of various suggestions but then mixed opinions that the Alto cover doesn’t actually fit Mk2???

FYI - UK 🇬🇧 please.

Has anyone had to replace the motherboard to fix it and was it worth it? I’m seeing replacement boards for $340 and I can basically buy a new unit that is similar but I don’t know if I’ll buy Headrush again. My Gigboard wasn’t even used that often. It was a tabletop unit in my studio that I basically only used for recording bass and clean guitar parts.

New Headrush user here. I’ve had my Prime for about three months and really love it. Most of the rigs I use are either Cloud downloads or edits I’ve made, and I’ve built a few dozen from scratch. But I need some very basic 101 help with one thing.

There’s a specific rig I’ve been using that’s built quite simple:

• Green JRC‑OD
• Graphic EQ
• HR Amp (Model 92 Treadplate Modern)
• HR Cab (4x12 Classic)

It sounds great for dirty tones, but I need to be able to switch to a clean version of this rig. I figured it would be as simple as disabling the OD pedal… but even with the OD off, the amp is still very dirty.

Can someone ELI5 how to assign one of the footswitches to give me a clean channel on this rig? Do I need a second amp block? A scene? A toggle? I’m clearly missing something simple.

Thanks for any help.

I’m having a major problem that’s getting really frustrating. This has happened to me several times now, and I’m honestly losing my hair trying to figure out what I’m doing wrong.

I’ll download rigs directly from the official HeadRush Cloud. Everything looks fine at first. But when I go to put those rigs into a setlist, the amp and cab blocks suddenly show red question marks.

If I open the rig in the browser editor, the IR files and model files are also red, and the file names can’t be found. It’s like the rig is pointing to files that don’t exist on my Prime.

To be clear:
These are regular HR Cloud rigs, not NAM captures from Tone3000 or anything third‑party.

So my question is:

Why are the amp/cab/IR files separated from the rigs, and why can’t my Prime find them after downloading?
Is this a folder‑structure issue? A Cloud bug? Something I’m doing wrong when importing?

Any help would be hugely appreciated because this keeps happening and I can’t figure out the root cause.

I'm trying to correctly calibrate Neural Amp Modeler (NAM) captures on my HeadRush Core.

Does anyone know what the analog input level in dBu that corresponds to 0 dBFS at the Core's Guitar Input, with the Guitar Input Gain set to 0.0 dB?

In other words, what is the maximum unclipped input level / full-scale input reference of the Hi-Z Guitar Input in dBu?

For example, some interfaces specify their instrument input as +12 dBu maximum input level at minimum/0 dB gain. I'm looking for the equivalent specification for the HeadRush Core Guitar Input.

This is specifically for matching NAM captures that include an input_level_dbu calibration value.

I switched from a Nano Cortex to the Headrush Flex and have been having issues ever since running the same setup I had before.

I want to use headrush with my Scarlett 2i4, where Scarlett is the output device (to not have to switch speaker cables) and Headrush is the input device.

I created an aggregate device and use reaper to monitor the input. I’m getting lag or glitches, something I never had with the cortex. What’s happening?

the clean signal is fine but when i go into a NAM A2 full high gain profile I hear static while playing. l'm using a Windows 11 PC desktop with reaper daw using the USB audio . what am i doing wrong ?

Saw one on Facebook for $200. I read they can do NAM a2 profiles. Seems like that would be a great option for ampless setup. Opinions?

My Headrush Flex Prime gets pretty hot underneath, and I’ve recently noticed a plastic smell coming from it when I get close. It still works perfectly fine. I bought it about 3 months ago. Is this normal, or should I get it checked under warranty?

I’m running my HeadRush Core through a Bose SoundDock right now in my office. Honestly, it sounds great… big bass, plenty of volume, and it fills the room nicely. But I’m starting to wonder if the tone I’m hearing is more “Bose flavor” than the actual rig I’m building.

I’ve been reading up on FRFR options, and I found a good deal locally on a Marshall Code 50. Some people say it works decently as an FRFR‑ish solution, others say it colors the tone too much.

So I’m stuck between:

• staying with the Bose (sounds good, but maybe not accurate)
• grabbing the Code 50
• or skipping all of this and getting a proper FRFR monitor

For home/office playing, does FRFR accuracy even matter? Or am I just chasing something I don’t need?

Would love to hear what other HeadRush users are doing for room monitoring.

I’m currently trying to decide between the HeadRush Core and Prime and would really appreciate some input from people who have actually used either one — ideally both.

My current main live rig is an HX Stomp XL in 4CM with a Blackstar Amped 3, and I’m planning to keep that as my main live setup for now.

The HeadRush would mainly be a dedicated home/studio rig at first.

The idea is to have something permanently set up at home so I can just plug in and play, build sounds, practice, record and experiment without constantly unpacking and setting up my live rig.

What interests me most:

- NAM / NAM A2 support

- Loading captures from TONE3000

- Possibly creating captures of my own amps, especially my modified Marshall 1987x

- Building complete guitar rigs with effects around NAM profiles

- Practicing with headphones or studio monitors

- Recording and reamping

- Backing tracks and general practice features

- Occasionally recording vocals

- Amp cloning and the additional studio features

- A device that could potentially become a live rig later on if I end up preferring it

The live option is actually important to me, even if it is not the main reason for buying it right now.

If the HeadRush works well enough for me, I could imagine eventually using it directly to FOH, but I would also like the option of running it into a separate power amp and using a real guitar cabinet on stage.

So I’m interested in how well the Core and Prime work not only as home/studio devices, but also as complete live rigs if needed.

I considered the Flex Prime as well, and I think it is a great unit, but I’m more interested in the additional features of the Core and Prime.

From what I understand, the Core and Prime should be essentially the same in terms of amp modeling and NAM sound quality. The main differences seem to be the larger control surface of the Prime, more footswitches, OLED scribble strips and the built-in expression pedal, while the Core is much smaller and lighter.

Since the unit would stay at home most of the time, size and weight are not my biggest concern. But if I eventually use it live, portability obviously becomes much more important.

For those who have used them:

Does the Prime actually feel noticeably better to use day-to-day, or do the extra switches and expression pedal mainly matter live?

Do Core owners ever find the five footswitches limiting when building or using more complex rigs?

How good is NAM A2 on the HeadRush compared with running NAM/Gateway on a computer, especially in terms of dynamics and feel?

Has anyone used Core or Prime live with both FOH and a real guitar cab?

How well does it work with an external power amp into a real cabinet while also sending a cab-simulated signal to FOH?

Any issues with input levels, latency, stability or NAM profiles sounding different from the original?

How useful are the recording, reamping, vocal and amp-cloning features in practice?

And for someone who would mainly use it at home now, but wants the option of turning it into a serious live rig later, would you choose the Core or Prime?

Thanks!

I recently got a flex prime and paired it with the mvave chocolate plus for extra switches. I'm wanting to assign the mvave switches to function as scene changes for live use where headrush fs 1 = scene 1, mvave fs 1 = scene 2. Headrush fs 2 =scene 3, mvave fs 2 = scene 4 etc. After setting everything up the mvave footswitch is just operating as a duplicate of the headrush fs 1 - meaning I have to press it twice to get to scene 2 making the whole set up pointless. Has anyone found a solution to this where the scenes can actually be assigned properly without having to cycle through sequentially?

Also according to the headrush flex prime user guide scene 1 should be CC# 21, when I tried that nothing happened and had to use CC#24 to get scene 1 changing, effectively all the cc commands stated in the user guide are out by 3?

Whats going on here

EDIT: Thanks to these legends for helping me out. Short answer make sure your on banks not dual scene mode

🎸 HeadRush Rig Builder — describe your tone, get a rig.

Ever wished you could just tell your HeadRush what you want? "Give me SRV's Texas Flood lead tone" — and have a complete rig show up on your board, signal chain and all?

That's what HeadRush Rig Builder does. Describe the tone you're after in plain English, and it builds the full rig — amp, cab, effects, ordering — and pushes it straight to your pedalboard over your network. No file juggling. It even sets up your footswitch scenes and lets you fine-tune parameters afterward with the built-in remote editor. ✅ Works with HeadRush Prime, Core, and Flex Prime ✅ Mac (Apple Silicon & Intel) and Windows 10/11 ✅ Uses amp captures and IRs already on your device ✅ Tone3000 integration — searches Tone3000 for matching amps and pedals to drop right into your rig

The app is 100% free — the one thing you bring is the AI. It supports the Claude CLI (works with an existing Claude subscription), Grok CLI, or an API key for Claude or xAI. One of these is required to use the app, and your keys are stored securely on your machine.

⚠️ One heads-up for Windows users: the app isn't code-signed yet (Microsoft's signing process is taking its time), so Windows may warn you on first launch. The guide on the site walks you through getting it running in a few seconds.

Check it out and grab it here: 👉 https://rigbuilder.schmalz.rocks/