Akai Head Rush Tape Echo Simulator/Loop Recorder

With so much to do, it can't be entirely easy?

There are three modes? Normal Delay, Tape Echo, and Loop. Normal Delay doesn't offer too many surprises. Controls for Feedback, Level, Time Fine, Time Coarse, and a HF Damp to roll off the high frequencies, if you like. There is a tap tempo switch, and if you tap slowly enough, you can drag your delay times out to the full 24 seconds (the knobs only dial more "normal" delay times-which is probably good, because if they swept up to the full time, making small adjustments on the knobs would be impossible). Using the second output jack automatically splits the signal into wet and dry outputs.

In Echo mode, Feedback, Time, Level, and Tap Tempo stay normal. Time Fine becomes Ratio-it controls the volume of how the four heads of the simulated tape delay relate to one another. There is also a Head Gap control, allowing the echoes to come evenly metered or in stuttered gallops. Of the four effect outputs, inserting a cable into any one of them will give that echo a direct out, and the dry signal and the other three echoes will come through the main output. If you're inclined, and have five channels on a mixer, you can create an awesome stereo field with the dry signal and four separate channels for echoes.

In Loop mode, only the Level control works. With the footswitches, you can Start Recording, Stop Recording (playback starts immediately), stop playback, resume playback, overdub new sound onto the existing loop, stop the dubbing and play the loop (adding as many overdubs as you like), clear all overdubs and play the original loop, or erase the whole thing-all controlled by the footswitches. It takes a little getting used to, but I'm hesitant to have more than two switches on a pedal, and the looper is very useable as it is.

Maxim 1-never buy an "emulator." Analog delays sound like analog delays, and tape echoes sound like tape echoes, and never the twain shall meet. This is a digital delay and looper with some nice features, and (lucky us) Akai didn't add any obnoxious chorusing to simulate tape flutter. Say it simulates tape echo, if it helps you face the world, but it is a digital delay, and it's a pretty good one.

Maxim 2-don't let anyone sell you the "It reproduces your sound exactly. It's digital!" slogan. Remove the blinders? for your signal to be processed digitally, it must go into an analog to digital converter. It is then "Processed," and the digital signal goes through a digital to analog converter, and back out (that is two conversions and some processing, assuming there are no analog components to boost, tweak, and phase-correct your signal before the digital processing. I'm leery of people who claim "exact" digital delays, especially from stompboxes running under $200). Personally, I find the Boss DD-5 to be a very mechanical and shiny reproduction of my sound? which is not bad, but I don't like it to be my only option for delay. The Akai offers a high frequency roll-off, which would defeat the DD-5's overwhelming coldness, but even WITHOUT the high frequency damping, the Headrush doesn't have that overly metallic sound. The damping is still a nice feature to queer your echoes, if you like, but you don't have to do it.

The sounds are smooth, and the digital conversion is hi-fi, as slick as you'll find on any pedal, and smoother and more real-sounding than most. The trade-off is a little bit of noise on the floor? not bad, not even bad enough to stop me from recording with it, but it does exist (the Headrush may be smoother than the Boss DD-5, but the Boss is quieter).

The real reason I bought the Headrush, though, is the real-time looping functions, and the looper works remarkable well. Being able to split the signal from the pedal, with the Effect Out playing the loop, and apply effects separately, chalks up lots and lots of real-time user-friendliness points for me. Good timing for the start and stop of the initial loop is essential, but not too difficult to master, and punching in overdubs is effortless.

I like Akai gear, and I haven't had any of their stuff fail on me. I haven't had the Headrush long, but I trust it.

Never talked to them

The Headrush makes my world a better place. Simply because I can randomly lay down chords, melody, bassline, and set them all running on an endless loop in under thirty seconds, it should win a songwriting tool award. I love being able to run endless dubbing of melodic lines, blurring out into infinity? it's a beautiful effect in itself, especially if the loop is just a little out of time with the song, so that the "end" of the phrase being looped never turns the corner with the last phrase played.

As a straight delay pedal, I'm glad to have it in my arsenal. The Headrush is more organic sounding than my Boss DD-5 and has cleaner operation than my analog delay. Though I still prefer the DD-5 for several applications, Boss's pedal has special settings for tap tempo and wet/dry out, and will never let you split a dry line and a delay signal with a tapped tempo? the Headrush will let you tap-tempo any time, and the signal is splittable with up to five outputs.

Though it is not a perfect piece of gear, and it can't really emulate a tape delay, this is a great little echo box and looper, and it sells - new - for under $200. I couldn't be happier.

Its pretty damn easy to use..I mean if your Retarded then this Pedal is not for you.

I have a Yngwie Malmsteen Fender Strat and a Marshall Mark II 50 watt head with a Marshall 4x12 Cabinet(this is pretty much Malmsteen's exact setup). Its not noisy on any of the Settings though my Setup. I can get a Good sound like Pink Floyd stuff. My favorite solo to play is Floods by PanterA and the delay with this thing is Perfect.

I just got this Pedal so I can't really tell ya Yet.

I told ya I just got this Fucker.

I love this Thing. I was iffy on buying a 170 dollar pedal Cause i'm kinda of a Cheapy but i said FUCK I brought a 1400 dollar Guitar right i want The Phat ass Setup!! anyway this thing is badass i use of alot of solos and even on Clean..With alittle Chorus and This Delay pedal you can get some Killer Clean sounds man..Like Pink FLoyd shit all the Way!

Very easy to use... Functions for looping are a cinch- you shouldnt even need the manual! The Mode selector should have been an additional footswitch so Modes could be changed without having to bend down!

Some have complained about excessive noise... but i find its pretty quiet with my rig. The tape echo simulation is solid... Sounds good and cheesy, like almost every tape machine I've ever heard... that's the point right? The extra outputs for the tape mode seem to be an unnecessary luxury, but man, does it sound sweet! The traditional delay mode is not very flexible... I have heard much better, with smaller boxes and even older racks... My 16-year old Ibanez Digital Delay Rack has it all over the Headrush. Small quibble... this thing is realy geared for looping and retro echo sounds (in fact i say get rid of the Standard Delay Mode and expand some other features like Looping time) Tap feature works great in live settings. Looping sound quality is EXCELLENT with no discernable degradation in sound, even after half a dozen layers...Believe me, you low budget looping geeks, you will not want to put this box down!!!

No problems whatsoever.

I tried to call Akai just to get some info about future models of the Headrush. Good luck finding a usable number. Emailed weeks ago and havent heard back yet. Bummer.

Despite the packaging this is quality box. I bought it primarily for the looping feature and i have been thrilled with it. If you have given up ever finding a Jamman or dont foresee coughing up $1,000 for the Oberheim Echoplex, WITHOUT QUESTION, this is the route to go. I have tinkered with the Line 6 Delay Modeler and apart from the Reverse Function, the Headrush is superior. Expand the overdub looping time, add a reverse function--- and for goodness sake--- have an "Infinite Hold" feature for the Dealy Modes!!!! and this thing is near perfection- for the price, its still unbeatable!

This thing's the easiest effect i think i've seen. the knobs are clearly marked, big enough to grab with your toes, only the mode selector switch needs to be bigger. there was a manual, but i didn't need it.

i'm using this in a chain with 8 other effects into a 65 deluxe reverb. the only noise is the 60 cycle hum in every guitar rig. the effect perfectly recreates the sound of my guitar. what more could you ask for?

it's been on the road with me for two years. not a problem, not even from the ac adaptor. backup? why?

no idea, never needed it.

i play music not heard on this planet yet. i've been playing for 20 years, and all my gear is top of the line. if someone stole it, they would die. the tap tempo works perfect, the knobs are big, the selector switch was easily changed out to a bigger one that i can hit with my foot. the sampler does not lag (an earlier revue said this), much like you have to practice playing with a metronome to get perfect timing, you have to train your foot to hit the start/stop PERFECTLY in time or the loop's off. and the four outputs? NO IT"S NOT FOR AN AMP, IT'S FOR A PA!!!! nothing sounds as cool as each tape head going to a different speaker on stage. i usually use mine so that the first head is on a low stack stage left, head 2's high stack stage right, then the other 2 heads are diagonally across from each other. try it, you'll like it.

easy

bigest problem: the original signal is always louder than the effect signal. so if you use it as a loop recorder, the loops are not as loud as the stuff that you play. i use the headrush for bass and i wanted to use it as a loop recorder: have you ever hard the bassline getting quieter while playing the same line ? that sucks ! anyway, it's a good tap - delay. i also dont't undersand for what the hell the tape echo has four heads: ever seen a bass/guitar-amp with 5(!) inputs ?

O.K. - theres a little switcher for chosing the efect type which is a bit instabil

Damn ! I tried to get this little problem with the difference beetween the original & the effect signal fixed. so my headrush came to the akai service in germany because it was new and i had guarantee for it. It took 2 month for them just to find out that eveything is "O.K" with it and that the original signal always has to be louder !

i'm playing all kinds of music. very often i play freely improvised music with a lot of space to use efects. i bought the headrush as a sample recorder beause there was no way to get a lexicon jamman. in fact i can't use it as a loop recorder and no it's only use is as tap delay. i had a boss delay pedal before and it was much smaller, cheaper and more stabil. so as a delay there are much better ones. a friend of mine uses the line 6 delay (the green one) which also has this sample mode and cost only a little more (offering much more of good efects.) I think that one is defintley the better choice !
And once again: the german akai serice sucks !

Like most sampler/delay units, it's intuitive as far as you are familiar with the variety of knobs and ranges. The layout is neat and not cluttered. The manual is useless but with some perseverance, you'll be coming up with cool sounds in no time. The on/off on the delay, once you get the hang of it, is really simple--but I swear that there is a miniscule lag between the end and the start of a sample phrase. I swear! The green/red lights are very informative and clear. You always know what's coming!

As others have reported, for the loop setting the initial signal is as good as it gets. But after repeated layering, the sound breaks up. This can be good if you're into tones that sound like a dull chainsaw. I love Damp effect on the delay setting which can make your echoes sound ghostly.

Solid--beautiful. I use two other delay units (Digitech 2sec and 8sec echo) and I'd still have faith in the Headrush to do its job.

My only gripe is that the level does not go beyond 50/50 mix in the two delay settings. This means that your original signal will always be at least on level with the delay. This is a limitation, especially for those who like to manipulate the delay signal for feedback repeats.
But for the money, this is top notch: delay, tape echo, and sampler. You gotta be kidding!

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i've just read too many reviews to let this go. as a general rule, put all of your time based effects (delay, phaser, flanger yadda ya) in the effects loop of your amp so they come after your pre-amp. don't put compression in your effects loop unless you really know what your doing with your rig, and wah and distortion sound strange in their too.

took acouple of hours to work out - haven't quite got into tape echo yet as mostly play live at small gigs thru amp alone - once timing on looping was sussed I love it.To the non-guitarist in the crowd they have no-idea what's going on - spin right out when you put the guitar down and parts are still playing.

for me it's ok,but I have a old modified dodgy fender head that was given to me when I bought my 1st $1000 guitar - when I get a better amp setup truth will avail.so far so good but crackles a bit with wah pedal.Works petty well with big muff though.Only have Fender Cyclone but holds up OK.

delay is pretty standard,and looping depends pretty much on own confidence to get timing right but gets muddy after more than 6 loops or so.Again so far so good for my needs - I play in Australian indie/experimental band.Could be a problem for dependance if you were,say,in a 3-piece,but again comes down to own ability/confidence

never had to call them

For me,with limited budget,I'm happy with it overall.I find it helpful in that some songs now don't need a 2nd guitarist,so for our experimental band its great - leaves other guys free to manipulate other devices!In right environment with more amps/better P.a's etc Tape echo might be cool,but haven't quite got there yet.

Took a few minutes to figure out. The echo and delay were pretty intuitive, but the looper took some practice to latch on to. Most of the problem was lining up the loop to sound seamless, but that came with practice.

I love this thing. My setup is: '63 Gibson Melody Maker > Big Muff > Dan-Echo > Headrush > Silverface Twin Reverb (I also have one of the echo heads running into a Fender Princeton). The sole reason that I bought this pedal was because of the band Don Caballero. Ian Williams had stacks and stacks of guitar parts twisting in and around eachother, and I wanted to be able to emulate that. The pedal itself has five outputs: a dry signal, a wet signal, and then three extra outputs for the echo setting. If you have enough amps, you can plug each of the heads into them and the guitar will ping itself around your room. Sounds badass to me. However, I mainly use the looper setting, so I'll talk about that. The pedal faithfully keeps your guitar sound. The first six or seven guitar overdubs remain clear and distinct, but once you get to about a dozen, the bottom layers start to muddy and eventually drop out with each added layer. However, that sort of disorientation has a neat effect, and after a while, everything just sort of turns into one tangle of sound. That's a good thing, by the way.

I haven't had any problems with it. It's made out of metal, and seems solid enough. I've never been one to jump around on stage, so I'm not too worried about kicking it or landing on it weird. It looks like it could take a certain degree of punishment, but since I spent $200 on it, I usually lean towards the side of overly cautious.

I really love this thing. I tend to play slower instrumental stuff (Papa M, Bedhead, Godspeed You Black Emperor), and this thing allows you to fill up as much or as little space as you want. While it's certainly not a Boomerang, and doesn't allow you to fade things out, it is, hands down, the best guitar effect that I've ever purchased. This thing is a catalyst for songs. Even if you're just playing lead over a three chord progression or if you're constructing, brick by brick, cities of guitar parts, it really adds a new level to improvisation and creativity.

It's quite easy to use--I find the response of the footswitches to be very quick. It's easy to dial in the amount of dullness in the delay sound you may desire. Looping in time (in live situations) is always difficult, but that has nothing to do with the machine and everything to do with you and/or your band not being able to play perfectly in time.

What I want to add here is a note about what this pedal (in a live context) does that no other pedal (including the Line 6 DL4) can do. It combines the ability to tap a tempo while the unit is off AND provides tape-delay-type dampened-high delay sounds. A small thing to some, but for me it's crucial. I can't stand exact digital delay sounds but also want to be able to have delays longer than what an analog delay can provide . . . AND, I want to be able to tap the tempo in anticipation of kicking it in. With the Line 6 delay box (which I also have) you have to kick it on and THEN tap the tempo . . . but it's too late by then if you're in the middle of a song and while you're tapping on the Line 6 to change the tempo you get all these weird digital mutings in your sound which is a SERIOUS buzz-kill. And the response of the Headrush's tap switch while the unit is engaged is great too--you can change the tempo of the delay without a noticeable muting of your signal. As for the quality of the delay sound, it's not quite as cool as a real tape echo or an analog delay--but it's very good . . . and you have the option of how much sharpness you subtract or add to the delay--something you can't do with a tape echo or analog delay. All this being said, I'll have to echo (sorry) several former coments and say that it is indeed a noisy pedal and I haven't found a way to quiet it down . . . it makes a sort of hissy whooshing sound basically at all times--not too loud, and certainly fine for live applications, but probably too much for recording a really quiet song.

It's been great. I've toured with it, thrown it around with an unadvisable amount of abandon, and never had a problem.

Never had to contact them.

I love this pedal, mainly for the reasons I discussed in the "Sound Quality" section. I play spacey indie rock and it really does a number on feedback . . . since you can roll out an exact amount of the highs, it doesn't freak out, but still encourages the feedback and you can easily get different notes laying over eachother. I thought when I bought the Line6 DL4 that it would take its place, but the Line6 just lacked the responsiveness I need for live situations . . . I felt distanced from it in a way you would expect with a rack item but not a pedal (it's all those damn split-second pauses between presets and different tapped tempos, and not being able to tap a tempo in advance). Anywho, if you have similar needs as I do (longer than a second delays with an analog sound that you can tap before or after kicking on without losing your vibe) then this pedal is a must. If not, well, it's still very cool.