Headrush frfr

[drawback]

I"ve just heard about Headrush frfr . They seem like they might make good keyboard speakers, come in 8' also.

 

Nice prices.

 

Anyone?

[JKS111]

Unfortunately, I own a couple of 8s - they sound fairly good a low volumes but they"re stunningly underpowered for live gigs even as monitors. I"d love to find out if/how anyone has had a positive live experience with either the 8s or the 12s.

 

[timwat]

The cabinets are reported to be manufactured by Alto, and seem to be in line with Alto's price point.

 

I've been surprised and impressed by Alto - one of the bands I MD for uses them for mains and monitors, and the clarity seems to punch above their affordability, at least to my ears.

 

But I'm curious if there is anything substantially different between these Headrush models and a similarly-spec'd Alto model. Guitar player reviews seem to state that these Headrush cabs "feel more like an amp than when I played by amp modeler through a powered PA speaker" - but I'm wondering if that's just placebo affect?

 

A couple reviews speak of using them with keyboards to great satisfaction. Interesting.

[ABECK]

My bro had the headrush pedalboard and 2 cabs for his guitar rig....for about 2 weeks. He said it felt nothing like a traditional tube head/2X12 cab setup.

[MAJUSCULE]

Weird model name.

[EscapeRocks]

My guitarist has the Headrush Pedal, and the cab, setup in front of him like a monitor.

 

He uses it in smaller venues. On the large stages he uses his normal Mesa Boogie. That headrush sure seems to put out plenty of punch on gigs.

[cphollis]

It certainly looks like a lot of bang for the buck, in a reasonably easy-to-schlep package. It appears identical to the Alto model as well, also at the same street price. A word of caution, I couldn't find a frequency response curve for either. That -- and the lack of a DSP -- makes me think it's not exactly a smooth-responding unit. It looks like it could get quite loud.

 

While I'm sure it'll be suitable for many guitarists (especially at that price), I'll wait until someone who's super-picky about AP sounds tries it out. No amount of EQ can save a bad-sounding speaker.

[timwat]

Certainly, full range flat response means different things to electric guitar vs. acoustic piano:

 

[cphollis]

Interesting chart, so thanks @timwat.

 

That being said, I've come to prefer an absolutely flat frequency response for APs -- unless the venue has a specific resonance that needs to be tamed.

[stoken6]

Can someone explain to me what makes a FRFR speaker? It sounds like what we in keyboardland call a powered speaker. (QSC, Yamaha, EV etc.)

 

If a guitar player plugs their Kemper, or Helix, or whatever, into a QSC K12.2 say, how would they feel about the sound and response?

 

My fellow guitar player got the Line 6 Powercab FRFR to go with his Helix - I'm not sure how it differs from an "ordinary" powered cab. OK it's got the voicing capabilities, but they're built-in to the Helix as well (and they turn the cab into something hardly "FR" and definitely not "FR")

 

Cheers, Mike.

[Reezekeys]

It seems odd they wouldn't mention its suitability for keyboards anywhere, only push it as a reproducer of guitar modeling sounds. I would think that makes the pool of potential customers smaller, but I'm a piano player â wtf do I know about marketing.

 

One thing I do know â my days of carrying a 36lb powered speaker are long gone, no matter how low the price! I read that my old QSC K8s are 27lbs but for some strange reason they seem to gain weight as I get older!

[seratone]

I have 2 Headrush FRFR 08's - although they're fine for acoustic guitar and vocals for a folk band I play in - my old rock band got back together after a 7 year break.

 

I tried using them as monitors - Not only did they have a hard time keeping up - only the B3 patch sounded any good. I'm using a Nord Electro 4d and a version of a Korg Triton for pads. The pads made the bottom end feel like these little speakers were being rattled around in their cabinets.

 

Trouble is I didn't bring long enough speaker cables and they were right under my rig - perhaps running them about 8 feet behind me would have been better. I was also running them in stereo - which is cool for the leslie effect - but it might have tightened it up in played in mono...

[Docbop]

There page keeps saying designed for guitar and bass which to me say midrange heavy to cut through. So are they going have enough range for keyboard I doubt it. Work for monitor but wouldn't use them alone on a gig, be better off with a powered PA speaker that has bigger range.

[Morrissey]

The cabinets are reported to be manufactured by Alto, and seem to be in line with Alto's price point.

 

I've been surprised and impressed by Alto - one of the bands I MD for uses them for mains and monitors, and the clarity seems to punch above their affordability, at least to my ears.

 

But I'm curious if there is anything substantially different between these Headrush models and a similarly-spec'd Alto model. Guitar player reviews seem to state that these Headrush cabs "feel more like an amp than when I played by amp modeler through a powered PA speaker" - but I'm wondering if that's just placebo affect?

 

A couple reviews speak of using them with keyboards to great satisfaction. Interesting.

 

I researched this awhile back - the Alto TS series, the Headrush and the Alesis Strike e-Drum amps are almost 100% identical. I recall there was just one non-cosmetic difference -- I think the Altos have a mic preamp or different gain structure for microphone input.

 

 

It seems odd they wouldn't mention its suitability for keyboards anywhere, only push it as a reproducer of guitar modeling sounds. I would think that makes the pool of potential customers smaller, but I'm a piano player â wtf do I know about marketing.

 

One thing I do know â my days of carrying a 36lb powered speaker are long gone, no matter how low the price! I read that my old QSC K8s are 27lbs but for some strange reason they seem to gain weight as I get older!

 

Nearly identical products -- Alto, Headrush, Alesis Strike -- rebranded and marketed for different purposes! Fortunately prices of all are about the same, so doesn't seem the company is trying to exploit one type of musician as having deeper pockets than others.

[Morrissey]

Unfortunately, I own a couple of 8s - they sound fairly good a low volumes but they"re stunningly underpowered for live gigs even as monitors. I"d love to find out if/how anyone has had a positive live experience with either the 8s or the 12s.

 

 

What is your signal chain into the speakers? Some of my lower gain keyboards sound wimpy through my Alto 8 but adding a mixer or whatever to increase the gain into the speaker fixes the problem.

[EscapeRocks]

As a mentioned in this thread a couple years ago... ....

 

My guitarist runs a Line 6 Helix into the Headrush FRFR 112. It sounds GREAT!! He uses it as his guitar monitor on stage, and feeds FOH/Monitor desk from it. We get very good reports from FOH how good the guitar tone is.

 

Messing around one day we ran my keys into it. Not good, no matter how I adjusted eq, etc...

[Docbop]

Unfortunately, I own a couple of 8s - they sound fairly good a low volumes but they"re stunningly underpowered for live gigs even as monitors. I"d love to find out if/how anyone has had a positive live experience with either the 8s or the 12s.

 

 

I was still playing bass years ago when the inexpensive 2000 watt class D amps came out and many amp makers started using them. Bass as well as powered speakers and home stereo amps. Bottom line they all claim 2000 watts but in testing they vary drastically. Some of the powered speakers when test came out at half the power. A lot more to it than the amp module they use.

[Dave Bryce]

Can someone explain to me what makes a FRFR speaker? It sounds like what we in keyboardland call a powered speaker. (QSC, Yamaha, EV etc.)

You are correct, sir.

 

FRFR stands for Full Range Frequency Response - basically, guitars marketing-speak for a PA-type speaker.

 

Guitarists are used to having speakers with a very focused sound/frequency range. If you run something like a POD through a guitar cab, the spectrum of sound is limitedâ¦but if you run said POD through a PA speaker instead, you get much more flexibility.

 

I do the same thing with a Strymon Iridium and my pair of Line 6 L2t.

 

dB

[JKS111]

I have long since dumped the 8s on a solo artist (acoustic guitar and vocals) who thinks they"re great. I definitely found that boosting the input signal helped a bit but it still seemed pretty weak for a my medium volume bar band. Since then, I"ve gotten a couple ofAlto TS312s (I believe that the TS3XX is nearly identical to the Headrush speakers with a slightly different preamp) for the same kind of gigs and been quite happy with it - decent volume and decent range even if piano sounds a little metallic. It even works for mid-sized outdoor soirees.

[Delaware Dave]

i'm using one, it is my guitar players. he started down a digital rig path but it didnt pan out. the other guitar player now uses a Marshall DSL100 amp. he plays it on 8 to 9, ridiculously loud. i had to dime my EV to keep up. So now in addition to my EV I am also using an FRFR112. I actually like it. Balanced across the audio spectrum. I keep my EV behind me as a monitor and put the HeadRush in front of my keyboard shooting out to the crowd. This band we only mic the vocals and the drums, so in order to be heard I need the extra output. Putting it in front of my keyboard doesnt add to the stage volume behind me nor disturb anyone else on the stage but gets the keys out to the crowd. I let a buddy of mine play a couple of tunes this past Saturday night and had a listen out front, it sounded very balanced to me. I'm either going to purchase his (if he wants to sell it) or look for a pre-owned one.

[stoken6]

Thank you dB for answering my (2019!) question. While I knew what the acronym FRFR was intended to stand for, I was puzzled by the "full range" thing - there's only so much bass you can get out of an 8in speaker. If they were calling them "flat" or "uncolo(u)red" speakers, I would get it.

 

You clarified it for me by saying

basically, guitars marketing-speak for a PA-type speaker.

 

Cheers, Mike.

[Docbop]

Thank you dB for answering my (2019!) question. While I knew what the acronym FRFR was intended to stand for, I was puzzled by the "full range" thing - there's only so much bass you can get out of an 8in speaker. If they were calling them "flat" or "uncolo(u)red" speakers, I would get it.

 

You clarified it for me by saying

basically, guitars marketing-speak for a PA-type speaker.

 

Cheers, Mike.

 

 

Jazz guitar amps and speaker cabs use Eminence Beta series PA speakers because they are clean and don't breakup like regular guitar amp speaker do.

[Delaware Dave]

Thank you dB for answering my (2019!) question. While I knew what the acronym FRFR was intended to stand for, I was puzzled by the "full range" thing - there's only so much bass you can get out of an 8in speaker. If they were calling them "flat" or "uncolo(u)red" speakers, I would get it.

 

You clarified it for me by saying

basically, guitars marketing-speak for a PA-type speaker.

 

Cheers, Mike.

 

 

Jazz guitar amps and speaker cabs use Eminence Beta series PA speakers because they are clean and don't breakup like regular guitar amp speaker do.

I actually thought FRFR stood for full range, flat response, not full range frequency response.

[GovernorSilver]

Guitarists are used to having speakers with a very focused sound/frequency range. If you run something like a POD through a guitar cab, the spectrum of sound is limitedâ¦but if you run said POD through a PA speaker instead, you get much more flexibility.

 

I do the same thing with a Strymon Iridium and my pair of Line 6 L2t.

 

dB

 

Line 6 L2t looks interesting. This might end up being part of the replacement of my Boss Katana 100 as the band rehearsal amp. Another part of the replacement that I have is the Line 6 HX Stomp XL, which, compared to the Katana. has better-sounding amp modeling, FX, and can load IR files which gives me the option of better acoustic-like tones for my electric violin.

 

The Katana as a speaker is ok for my violin sounds but is noisier than my QES Roadtripper guitar amp, and is not a true FRFR, which limits usability for use with the sample players and synths that I sometimes use with the band.

 

I like the L2t's mixer and 6 speaker modes.

[Stokely]

As an aside, our guitarist uses a big Helix for band gigs, but uses the smaller stomp for practices and for his acoustic gigs. I don't always like how he dials it in (a bit too much hair and too much echo), but it sounds great. I can't see anyone ever complaining that the tone was not amp-like enough, that's for sure.

 

I've played with a few players that have done the "amp dance"... they want to go direct for the convenience but it's hard to let go of the amp. They try direct, back to the amp. Then they try again with something different, and back to the amp. Some of them never escape, some do! . They all complain about the "feel" thing (I've heard the same from leslie giggers). One common complaint is that it feels like playing a recording. Our current guy has had a bunch of head/cabs, combo amps and different direct options, including an analog fly rig. The only one I, as an interested outside observer, thought sounded "meh" was a blues junior combo amp. I do NOT miss having to scrunch his big ol marshall cab on stage. I don't think he was ever able to really crank that head up anyway.

[GovernorSilver]

Yeah I got the HX Stomp XL because dialing in overdriven violin tones has always been a challenge, due to electric violin having different frequency characteristics compared to passive pickup electric guitars. Pedals and amp that have been dialed in for a great overdriven guitar tone tend to make an electric violin sound too brassy - way too much midrange. The other issue electric violin players deal with is dialing up the sweeter tones that peeps associate with a nice acoustic violin. Before IR loaders became commonplace, you could at best get a Jean Luc Ponty kind of tone out of electric violin.

 

So I fiddled around an EQ pedal to cut the mids for driven tones, get the sweeter sounds for certain songs, etc.... until I checked out Matt Bell's demos of his Helix sound pack for electric violin. It was worth every penny to get the Line 6 and get Matt's sound pack, which includes acoustic violin and cello IR files.

[Dave Bryce]

I actually thought FRFR stood for full range, flat response, not full range frequency response.

I"ve heard both, and both workâ¦

 

I got hipped to it by the Line 6 folks when they came out with their PA cabs. People didn"t trust them because Line 6 products with speakers meant guitar sound to most folks, so they leaned into the FRFR thing.

 

Didn"t really work - L2t never really took off they way they hoped. Really great speakers too, IMO. I"m quite fond of mine.

 

As an aside, our guitarist uses a big Helix for band gigs, but uses the smaller stomp for practices and for his acoustic gigs. I don't always like how he dials it in (a bit too much hair and too much echo), but it sounds great. I can't see anyone ever complaining that the tone was not amp-like enough, that's for sure.

I have a Stomp as well. Totally agree on the tone.

 

dB

[stoken6]

Jazz guitar amps and speaker cabs use Eminence Beta series PA speakers because they are clean and don't breakup like regular guitar amp speaker do.

Thanks Dr Bop. Those Eminence speakers may not breakup, but there will be significant rolloff at the treble end, I assume? You would need to add a tweeter to them to make a full-range speaker.

 

Cheers, Mike.

[Docbop]

Jazz guitar amps and speaker cabs use Eminence Beta series PA speakers because they are clean and don't breakup like regular guitar amp speaker do.

Thanks Dr Bop. Those Eminence speakers may not breakup, but there will be significant rolloff at the treble end, I assume? You would need to add a tweeter to them to make a full-range speaker.

 

Cheers, Mike.

 

Most the Jazz cab's I have, have an adjustable tweeter so I can control how loud it is or turn it off. They are alway ported to help with the bass response.

[drawback]

Jazz guitar amps and speaker cabs use Eminence Beta series PA speakers because they are clean and don't breakup like regular guitar amp speaker do.

Thanks Dr Bop. Those Eminence speakers may not breakup, but there will be significant rolloff at the treble end, I assume? You would need to add a tweeter to them to make a full-range speaker.

 

Cheers, Mike.

 

Most the Jazz cab's I have, have an adjustable tweeter so I can control how loud it is or turn it off. They are alway ported to help with the bass response.

 

For interest's sake â which cabinets with adjustable tweeters are the ones you prefer?