Recommend by a friend. Big improvement over my MX5. Much cleaner sounding. The rigs I had purchased fir the NX5 wirk on the Core. A lot of the technology for usage was similar to the MX5.

I still have a lot to learn about the Core. Ther definitely is a learning curve.
Looking forward to exploring this more.

I bought a Headrush Core as a practice tool (with headphones so as not to piss off the neighbors). First off, the Headrush Core is extremely intuitive and user friendly. I have only had to reference the manual/YouTube on one of minor issue I had. Second, the tone you will get out of it rivals that of real tube amps, just don't expect it to sound that way out of the box, you will have to adjust the presets or create your own rigs.

If I had one quibble it would be with the noise gate set up on the presets out of the box. But it is easy enough to adjust.

I have not used the vocal settings, and likely won't. I do plan on capturing some pedals and amps in the near future.

Can't speak to it for live performances as I won't be using mine that way - I use it strictly for practice in the home. I can see though that it would work well for for live performances, especially with the ability to create set lists made up of rigs you select.

Bluetooth connections and Wi-Fi connections are easy to set up and use. Being able to stream a song from the service of your choice via Bluetooth makes playing along with your favorite songs easy.

I love it. I wanted to give it a few weeks before I made a review. The touchscreen is easy and big enough. To do everything. I don't wanna say it's self-explanatory. But it is after you watch enough videos. I've used it through my headphones, studio monitors, and the four chord method on my amp. Sounds great on everything. There's a lot of great sounds in the cloud. I've been using tone X for a for a couple of years and I have nothing bad to say about it. I just was looking for something new and I feel like it's easier because you don't have to use the computer.

I love this pedal. Does so much more than what I need. Bassist and vocalist so its nice that I can create a rig to accommodate what I need out of my bass and vocals in the same setup. Ton of presets already come installed but very happy to see that there is a community where you can download and share rigs. Firmware updates also make me happy and feel like they didn't just make a pedal and forget about the consumer after they buy it. Interface is pretty easy to navigate. Touch screen feels very nice. Tons of parameters you can change to dial in exactly where you need. Easily one of the best purchases I've made in my inventory. Oh yeah, the auto tune is great, BTW.

I like it! Reasons whyI Ease of use! ( if you can operate a smart phone you can operate this)The amount of features! Price point! It sounds good! I wanted something that I could get started, and not have to take a class to operate. And this gave me what I wanted!

I am new to using a multi-effect unit versus a pedal board, but I must say, the Headrush Core is way better. The ability to dial in the exact sound you want without buying a ton of pedals is awesome. Also the included Antares Auto-Tune for vocals is amazing. Having ability to set up different rigs for electric or acoustic guitars and vocals all in one unit makes it easy to play through several sets with ease. The unit itself is very well built with all operations made straight forward and easy to use. Highly recommended!

I play guitar and bass with the HeadRush Core; all presets sound good. I also use pedals using the FX send/return output/input, and it works awesome. I loaded up the Marshall JCM 800 amp head with a cab and used a tube screamer pedal or my boss SD1 in front, and it sounds way better than the pedals the Core comes with; it sounds more realistic, especially when using the HeadRush FRFR-112. I highly recommend this.

Got it as a Christmas present and it's the best bang for buck tons of rigs and really fun to play especially when my laptop is connected to it I can mess with the rigs without being on the floor can also connect iPad to it too.

Don't understand why this unit doesn't get enough Love. I shied away from these pedals for the the longest time and then finally got one and I think it's Awesome! I've had Fractal FM3, Line 6 HX stomp, Boss GT CORE, Zoom, Hotone Ampero 2, NUX... The Headrush is the best bang for your buck pedal out there period and sounds Amazing!!!

I've been playing headrush since 2017, and at that time I think the superior user interface and amp modelling put it at or above the Line 6 Helix.

With this new generation Headrush, the addition of clones and super clones and the desktop Wi-Fi editor have certainly elevated the potential of the unit. I just used this live with bass guitar, and the tone sounded and felt so good and sounded so realistic. I was able to use a 4x10 and 1x15 cab IR in parallel chains which really elevated my tone.

However, I did use an outboard compressor pedal as its digital compressors just don't do it well without a lot of noise. For electric guitar, I find that the reverb and delay effects sound cheap and processed when head-to-head with the Line 6 Helix.

Finally, Headrush needs better infrastructure for finding and buying super clones. This is a cool addition to the unit, but I find thar navigating all of the user super clones on the unit to be frustrating and would prefer a separate computer based website to find the best clones.

Our band made the decision to move towards silent stage setup. We came to this decision after talking with venue owners and other musicians about better controlling overall volume. The idea was to move from traditional amplifiers, cabinets, and floor monitors to guitar/bass/keyboard "processors" and In-Ear-Monitor systems.

After much research and talking with our Sweetwater rep, I purchased the Headrush Core unit. It delivered within a few days; I unboxed it and immediately started playing the factory rigs thru my headphones. I was blown away with the sound. I then started building my own first rigs for a Clean, a Rock, and a Rock Lead sound. Very simple to understand and building a signal path is no different than creating your own pedalboard, except no screws or velcro;) We had our first band practice yesterday with the silent stage setup and could tell no difference in our overall sound quality.

I am extremely satisfied with the Headrush Core. It is of well-built metal construction, has a user-friendly interface, plenty of helpful Videos on the manufacturer website as well as YouTube, and has almost all of the amps, cab, overdrive, distortion, and tone altering effects that you need.

My back is thanking me, a lot less heavy equipment for load ins and load outs. My ears thank me, no more standing in front of loud amps and monitors. My wife thanks me, no more 3-hour early setups and sound checks, we can also now get home at a decent hour after the show. Thanks Headrush and Sweetwater!

I recently reviewed this pedal in collaboration with Sweetwater.

I am a solo/acoustic musician that performs professionally and needs to travel light so this appealed to me as it is half the weight of the Headrush Prime.

I really like the pedal and think with a few firmware updates it could be incredible.

Take a look at my video for more of my thoughts and some playing through the electric and acoustic sounds.

Great piece of kit. Esp for price.
Dial up a sound. Rhythm guitar patches have matching lead sounds a button away.
I record direct to DAW, sounds really good. Responsive to touch and guitar volume & tone changes.
Easy to tweak. Love that touch screen.
Thanks for all of your help Yuval! Been going to him for 20 years.

I really couldn't ask more out of the Headrush Core. It's very intuitive, sounds great and I love having control of my vocals on the same board. The service at Sweetwater was great as always.

I ordered the Headrush Core from my Sweetwater Sales Tech, Kris E. and he overnighted it for me, had it the next day!!!!
Out of the box, the Core was so easy to use, program and play. The amp models, cab, IR's and effects are spot on.. if you get one of these pedals, I suggest that you join a Facebook Headrush group, or some sort of user group.
Awesome pedal, great service from Sweetwater too.

I have only created a couple of rigs so far one is based on the Fender Princeton, the other a Super Reverb. They both sound excellent. The interface is straight forward and pretty easy to get around in. I have been a Line 6 user since the HD500 which is to say over 10 years. I have a helix and I think the Fender amp emualtions are better in the Headrush. I bought this for the form factor, it easy to haul around and is about the same size as a PodGo. I was also able to use my old Boss expression pedal with it. I have only gigged with it once but so far I'm pleased with my purchase.

Amazing!!! BUT...The vocal harmonizer needs work. I've owned TC helicon harmonizers for years and the Headrush Core sounds weird in comparison. It almost sounds like a doubling effect with the harmonies. I'll continue to mess with it but like a few other reviews I have read, the vocal harmonizer not great. Everything else is WOW. Hopefully a future update will fix this issue. For now I will have to bring my Helicon pedal to cover harmony.

It delivers on plug in everything and more. Fun for practicing and for trying out new sounds. Thoroughly enjoying it.

Does everything I need with exception of "auto key recognition" in the vocal section.

As of firmware 3.1.2 The MIDI on this unit is useless. Blocks are not on/off toggle switches as the manual says, they're single value. Usually MIDI 0-63 should turn a block off, and MIDI 64-127 should turn it on. NOT THIS UNIT.

MIDI from 0-64 does nothing, MIDI 64-127 will alternate on and off, depending on whatever state the stomp you're trying to control is. It simply switches it's state to the opposite of what it was. So when you're programming your MIDI sequence on your computer, there is NO way to know if your effect will be turned on or off.

No direct way to control scenes via MIDI.

No rig up or rig down (next preset, previous preset) via MIDI.

No banks in Program Change, so you're stuck with only 128 presets. This is in spite of the fact that the pedal memory can do more than 128 presets.

CC48 generates a spike in the pedal DSP processing and will make your screen flicker. Try it if you own one, it's hilarious.

NO MIDI OUT of ANY sort, except program change by preset but again, no banks. If you were thinking about controlling other stuff from these pedals like you would do on any Helix, not gonna happen.

You can control the pedals directly via MIDI, but if the CC message is too long, the pedal will perform its alternate function instead (so for example when you're trying to control pedal 5 you risk going into the tuner instead). On a tempo of 120, your CC can't last more than a 2 1/4 notes otherwise that will happen.

Also the USB Audio out cannot be routed independently to any output, it comes out of all of them simultaneously, no way to do anything about it, so if you were thinking about implementing backing tracks, forget it.

It's everything I want tonally, has all of the effects I want, and allows me to have more pedalboards than I could fit in a car trunk. The operating system and CPU are identical to the flagship Headrush Prime, but not the size of a coffee table. The small footprint is ideal for limited stage floor space. It is well constructed and seems very durable. Its 7-inch touchscreen is definitely a concern, since I have smashed tablets before and I am leery of accidentally dropping objects and incurring damage, so I am using a piece of plexiglass laid over the screen while it is on the floor. Of course, I can't use the touch screen when covered with plexiglass, but it's on the floor and I can't reach the touch screen anyway...it's hands-free time at that point.

There is scaled-down form factor definitely costs you some switches, but the benefit is a reduced size and weight. Setlists and Scenes make up for the lack of foot switches on the Core. If you organize it correctly (read the manual), it will accomplish what you need during a live performance. You'll just need to adapt to a different workflow.

Also, on-board treadles always seemed out of place to me, and that is one of the reasons I didn't purchase the Prime. I think having the expression pedal built into the chassis is unnecessary, being just another point of mechanical failure and places your shoe precariously close to the touch screen. Getting an external expression pedal for the Core is not an inconvenience at all since they are cheap and replaceable. So, the Core's lack of a built-in treadle means no accidental knob kicking or screen stomping.

I'm amazed at the quality, let alone for the price, and would highly recommend the Headrush Core for any gigging musician. For recording, it can absolutely do its job, if the studio lacks a wall of amplifiers and cabinets to select your desired sounds.

Genres? It's not a screamy metal unit, unless you want it to be one. It can do whatever you want and isn't branded as solely a rock/metal machine. It's very versatile and would satisfy any guitarist regardless of the colors they're after. But yes, it metals, and you don't need a forklift to haul it around.

I've explored the Core's vocal capabilities while running karaoke at home. Placing it either in front of the mixer or in an effects loop works great, and the quality is good. Without a deep dive into its features, I cannot comment on everything, but for general enhancement of a dry microphone, it's like night and day.

It even has 10 bass presets to make the fat string guys feel like musicians too. I'm sure they sound decent, but I haven't tried them.

Closing thoughts: Why is the Headrush Core not more popular? Lack of reviews? Well, here's mine. 5 stars. Perhaps I will do charity work for the guitar community and create a video review.

I love Headrush pedals. So easy to use and you really can get any sound you need with them if you spend the time building your rigs. I already have the Gigboard, but I bought this one for the vocal effects.

There is some work for Headrush to do here as some users already pointed out on YouTube. Harmonies are all over the place. Super glitchy and almost unusable. Same with the autotune. It's nowhere near as smooth as the real Antares Autotune is. I'm hoping they'll release a firmware update that will address these issues.

I haven't tried the amp cloning yet, but there seem to be mixed reviews on that as well.

It's still a great pedal and I'm going to keep it. So many amp models and effects to choose from. Overall function just needs to be tightened up a bit.

I like it...I really do. Guitar, vocals, backing tracks through the practice tool, it really seems to be able to do it all...But, as the saying goes "Jack of all trades, master of none." This thing has the potential to kick every other modeling devices butts. It seems though, that this is still largely a "beta" unit. The only updates thus far have been bug fixes. The vocal effects still aren't what was expected. There's no one "set it and forget it," setting. Vocals need to be tweaked for each and every song you're performing.

That being said...it DOES sound great. It has all the I/O you'll need. The lack of a desktop editor isn't such a big deal for the Core as much as the prime, because the Core can fit on a desk. Editing on the screen is very intuitive and easy to figure out. Like all complicated pieces of technology, it would benefit the user to read the manual to find answers to the most common questions.

Great sounds, versatile, quality, built tough, light weight. Love it!

I can't say enough great things about this gear. I have been using this at home at jams and recording. The Core does a great job at cloning. It is great to not have to make multiple trips to the car when I go play . This has to be one of my best purchases in a long time.