Headrush Looperboard - User Reviews

Started by admin, April 19, 2019, 01:07:49 PM

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admin

Greg Gibbs Raincoat wrote>

Picked one up today. I've only played it 15 minutes or so. I have a couple of observations.

1. The guitar presets are garbage.

2. It's physically huge. It's hard to imagine that they could have made it 25% smaller.

I'll dig in more later.

admin

Greg Gibbs Raincoat wrote>

Day two impressions.

- Fantastic looper.
- FX implementation is not great. VoiceLive 3 has better quality and more tweakable.
- It has some software glitches.
- it is still really large. For something this large, I really wish it was a one stop shop of guitar processing and vocal processing. More floor space for dedicated guitar/vocal stuff seeks ridiculous.

More thoughts later

admin

Greg Gibbs Raincoat wrote>

As a Helix owner, I've had fantastic luck with Quantiloop running on an iPad plugged into the Helix's USB via the camera adapter. I'm debating returning the Looperboard and sticking with the Quantiloop solution. The lack of serviceable guitar amps and effects is a real bummer, even if only for jotting down ideas. Seems Headrush could have at least thrown in a handful of amp models you could swap in and out.

Chasing down my dream looper has been a long saga. 5 years ago it would have been the Boomerang Rang 3 with the ability to store and recall loops. Small, versatile, creative tool with precision looping.

Quantiloop is close, but it requires iPad, footpedal, usb hub, cables, charges, camera kit, etc...

Latest EHX looper doesn't allow varied length synced loops. Just fixed. ****ers.

Looperboard looked like a homerun, but I'm still hung up on the size and Rather worthless effects.

Another couple of things that bug me about it.

1. There is no Clear All button or ability at all. You have to erase each of your 4 tracks individually. Any live-looper or loop creative knows you just want to quickly get a fresh palette to start again. Annoying.

2. The shortest possible loop is 1 second. Sometimes I like to set a really short glitch type repeats as a drone. Can't do it.

I'm pretty sure by Firmware 2.0 or 3.0 this will be the end all be all looper. Not quite yet.

admin

QuoteDude705 said: ↑
Page 31 of the User guide..

Clear:
Use footswitches 3–6 to permanently clear all audio from a looper track. If there is no audio on a looper track, the option will be grayed out.

Also look at page 39. First page of the global settings under "Hold Function" you can configure switches to clear looper track.
Greg Gibbs Raincoat wrote>
Which clears individual looper tracks one at a time, not a Clear All. 3-6 are the individual tracks 1-4.
Another related frustration is, in Sync Mode and Serial/Sync Mode if you have track 1 defined as your tempo track, you can't delete and replace that until 2-4 are deleted. Weird. Seems like once that initial length is determined, you could just just replace that track with one of the same length.


admin


https://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?posts/28429981/
Greg Gibbs Raincoat wrote>

Returned my Looperboard to Guitar Center. For me, it isn't ready for prime time. I'll revisit it after future firmware updates.

1. Too big
2. Poor effects implementation. It's all based on preset channels in which components aren't easily swapped. It could use many more guitar carryover from the Gigboard.
3. It's more of a looper for someone replacing a band with prerecorded parts than it is a creative looper.
4. 1 second minimum loop. 5 minute maximum. Pedal/Gigboard have neather of these restrictions.
5. Could use more knobs for adjustments as the touch acuteness becomes conversions.
6. No ability to have a template for new loops. You have to configure it each time.
7. No Clear All for loops. They must be cleared individually.
8. No feedback, sound-on-sound Wow! Why? The Fade option is lousy.
9. Bounce never worked properly for loops of different lengths.


I could probably name more. Bummer... I'm sure future updates will address most if not all of these.
I was hoping for a bit more of the gigboard's tones and drag and drop functionality. Maybe in future firmware releases, perhaps


Kuron

Quote from: admin on April 25, 2019, 12:31:47 PM
4. 1 second minimum loop. 5 minute maximum.
I have absolutely no use for a looper, so perhaps I am missing something in the logic of having five minutes as the max length?

admin

https://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?posts/28457020/
Ian Eric wrote>
Nope. This thing is not ready for prime-time. Not even close. It's missing some of the most basic functions that a "performance looper" should have. Functions that my trusty Boss RC300 has, even though it's a 7+ year old design:

* No ability to create empty loops of pre-set lengths. This is so basic, it's scary. On the RC300, I can pre-set track lengths based on bars/time signature. Track 1; 2 bars of 4/4. Track 2; 24 bars of 4/4, etc. Headrush rep told me I can "record empty tracks" to achieve this. That's ridiculously clunky, and truthfully doesn't even work because then it won't quantize.

* No sensing of tempo. This goes along with the previous complaint. The RC300 will auto-sense the played tempo, and adjust accordingly. Using the above example, it doesn't matter if I record Track 1 (typically a percussion part) at 112 rpm or 125 bpm. It'll call it "2 bars" and then Track 2 will be 24 bars of that same tempo. No such ability on the Headrush.

* No ability to start recording mid-track except in overdub.

* Stops are not instant. The track doesn't stop until the end of a bar.

* FX thus far are mediocre. Headrush needs to realize that those who PERFORM with loopers are usually acoustic players. A few effects geared toward that would be nice. The chorus on the Looperboard is ...sorry, but it's terrible. Too tremolo-ish.

* FX assigned to "track" (rather than "input") are not monitored. The effect isn't applied until playback.

* The learning curve isn't worth it for what's obviously an unfinished product. Perhaps some of these issues are fixable in menus, but I can't find them. And For $900, I expected a whole lot more flexibility, and the missing features are unacceptable.

Already got my RMA and shipping sticker. Call me when you've grown up, Looperboard.

Elantric

http://headrushfans.com/Thread-Midi-sync-and-metronome

kobeluk wrote>

Hi I'm an ambient guitarist in a post rock band. I have been midi syncing an infinity looper and boss rc202 for a few years with no problems. I have just purchased the looperboard and now I'm trying to use the midi clock functions of it and I'm quite disappointed though for a few reasons.

1. The looperboard can't be the midi clock master.
2. When it's receiving midi clock from my rc202, I can't choose time signatures other than 4/4, which is quite stupid.
3. There's no "rhythm start/stop" function like the rc202. I can only hear the metronome when I record or play a track. Sometimes I just need the metronome fuction to sync with my band mate. I can't do it with the looperboard.


I definitely LOVE the sound quality and possibility of the unit. But its inferior midi functionality is keeping me from using it in live situations. Hope that headrush can fix these problems in upcoming firmware updates....

Elantric

http://headrushfans.com/Thread-How-to-delete-a-backing-track

carvingcode wrote>
Update: Heard back from the Headrush Facebook page. There is a bug in the backing track deletion process and it will be fixed in an upcoming firmware update. I imagined this was the case.

The product is very new (couple months at this point). There will be minor bugs and feature enhancements. That's my experience with just about every piece of hardware/software I've used.

Ludek

#10
Today it was my first day with HR Looperboard. So far very positive impressions. I had a lot of loopers and this one is the most sophisticated of them all. The sound is excellent, possibilities are vast, fx racks are not so bad as I expected ( due to some negative reviews ). Only distortions and amps in the guitar racks are really under par and I will never use them as my connections are rich in possibilities ( VG-99, HELIX, Reason, mic ). Other sections are fun and surely more usable compared to the fx section of the Boss RC 300, 202 and 505. The sound is really good - I had similar positive feelings only when listening to EHX 4500 looper some years ago.
Nevertheless some facts that are not clear to me, maybe to be improved in next updates: global midi sync seems not to be saved as the general option. When I set the slider to midi sync position and push the "enter" encoder, the slider remains in off position when I restart the Looperboard. I have already asked Headrush team on their facebook. If my query is answered, I'll let you know.
Other issue that bothers me, are unclear rules for importing loops -My Looperboard recognizes only thumb drives in both slots but not an external disc ( maybe the powering issue ). The loops that are on my thumb drive appear from the top to the bottom as ones with some diacritics or symbols before the loop name and those are unable to be imported ( error message ). Underneath those ones ( usually a lot of them ) are the ones that work.
It surely will take some time to master the Looperboard but I do believe it will be worth it. If anyone could share his thoughts of the device, I'll gladly join with my further experience.

admin

This Looperboard Facebook Group is important to join - has more information direct from InMusic R&D 
https://www.facebook.com/groups/289977938560240/

MangoRob

Quote from: admin on April 20, 2019, 09:06:00 PM
Greg Gibbs Raincoat wrote>

As a Helix owner, I've had fantastic luck with Quantiloop running on an iPad plugged into the Helix's USB via the camera adapter. I'm debating returning the Looperboard and sticking with the Quantiloop solution. The lack of serviceable guitar amps and effects is a real bummer, even if only for jotting down ideas. Seems Headrush could have at least thrown in a handful of amp models you could swap in and out.

Chasing down my dream looper has been a long saga. 5 years ago it would have been the Boomerang Rang 3 with the ability to store and recall loops. Small, versatile, creative tool with precision looping.

Quantiloop is close, but it requires iPad, footpedal, usb hub, cables, charges, camera kit, etc...

Latest EHX looper doesn't allow varied length synced loops. Just fixed. ****ers.

Looperboard looked like a homerun, but I'm still hung up on the size and Rather worthless effects.

Another couple of things that bug me about it.

1. There is no Clear All button or ability at all. You have to erase each of your 4 tracks individually. Any live-looper or loop creative knows you just want to quickly get a fresh palette to start again. Annoying.

2. The shortest possible loop is 1 second. Sometimes I like to set a really short glitch type repeats as a drone. Can't do it.

I'm pretty sure by Firmware 2.0 or 3.0 this will be the end all be all looper. Not quite yet.
so right ! i cant do anything but rang3 at this point and i thought this might take the cake ! but  the effect implememtation is hard to wrap my mind around , how do i switch effects during performance, how can i assign effect externally without menu scrolling! ?

if only the rang3 had a save to sdcard memory feature i wouldnt even consider anything else, i still believe the rang3 with its size is the most versatile friendly looper ever even without the save option

MangoRob

i got it yesterday, solid looper with a few minuses- (coming from a Rang3) im still unsure how to assign my fav chosen effects to external switch 6 for example , cant seem to find anything about that , it seems u pick an effect and ure stuck with it, and u can only use one at a time? .
id like to use this as all-in-one type unit and use the built in effects as i would my pedal board rig, in my rang 3, i use 4 main effect stomp /acoustic guitar preset/crunch /bass/delay
i really wanted to leave my pedalboard at home and just use this for looping /gtr & vox effects

admin

#14
Imho the Looperboard MIDI Implementation is severely restricted very few third party MIDI Controllers comply with this specification

https://www.headrushfx.com/assets/downloads/Looperboard%20-%20User%20Guide%20-%20v1.0.1[3].pdf

For me , the Original Headrush large pedal board  on Firmware 2.1  brings what I need in a looper- now allows loops to be saved to internal memory as wav files , audio backing tracks can be loaded into its 2gb memory space via USB

And full guitar amp modeling with CAB IR speaker sims and far more effects than Looperboard

liothomas

Hi

Just to bump this topic up as Headrush released an update to the firmware of the Looperboard,

https://www.soundonsound.com/news/headrush-announce-major-update-looperboard

More on their website:

https://www.headrushfx.com/products/looperboard

Would you consider it now? Has the firmware update ironed out the cons mentioned in this thread?

Let us know!

admin

#16
LooperBoard is not enough Guitar FX to be an all in one solution and is the size of an ironing board  - its targeted to  folks who have 6 feet of available stage footprint.


Aeros Loop Studio gets more things right IMHO 
https://singularsound.com/product/aeros-loop-studio/

jkstraw

Looperboard V.2.02 is out now.  Completely updated GUI and some new FX (incl. vocal tuner and harmonizer).  For my uses it has been a solid performer (I have been beta testing v2 for a few months).

Some videos coming out on youtube explaining the new update and some of the new fx.

Just an FYI

dreadlobster

This thing is a joke and their customer support is even worse.

I bought it in fall of 2020, fought with it for a few months, exchanged it and then sold the new one. The only advice their support could ever give was "have you tried updating the firmware" which... duh. So many weird little glitches and inconsistencies and bugs, crashed all the damn time. MIDI sync doesn't work, the serial mode plays tracks when its not supposed to, tracks stop and start at random, don't stay in sync, the undo feature was super buggy...

I had brought all the issues to their attention on their forum with videos and logs and everything, just like they said to and with no sass or rudeness. Eventually they not only stopped replying but stopped approving my posts replying to other users as well, with no warning for breaking any forum rules or anything. When I called them out about this on social media they blocked me.

Here's a bunch of videos of the thing glitching and crashing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=747FSoUNEWY&list=PLedh00df-lO5NixUHBmMR9gzRBjLCdTrR

They want people to pay them $900 to beta test this thing.

admin

#19
Thanks for sharing

I got one super cheap , barely touch it because its way too large a footprint for my live bands

So far the new Boss RC-600 seems a solid winner , but get in line - the incoming port in Los Angeles has become a Kurt Russell movie