Guitar tone specialists HeadRush have just released their newest processor, called the MX5. A pedal-format device, the MX5 is said to deliver a “huge range” of modern and classic guitar amp, cabinet and effect tones, as well as the ability to store a practically unlimited number of your own impulse responses.
In terms of user control, the MX5 boasts a four-inch colour touchscreen display, three footswitches, a treadle expression pedal and a pair of rotary encoders for navigating parameters and presets, the idea being that you can perform detailed editing using the touchscreen and encoders, and then use the pedals for on-the-fly effect and preset switching. HeadRush tell us that switching of sounds is handled gracefully, with no gaps when changing patches, and with reverb and delay tails smoothly spilled over into the new sound. The expression pedal, meanwhile, is freely assignable to any of the MX5's parameters, has adjustable tension, and sports a traditional toe-switch for turning effects on and off.
In addition to the many live- and studio-oriented effects, the MX5 can operate as a fully-featured looper pedal.
The I/O provision is generous, comprising as it does a quarter-inch instrument input, a balanced stereo output pair, a stereo aux input and headphone output (both on mini-jacks), 5-pin MIDI I/O, and a stereo effects loop on unbalanced quarter inch jacks. These last I/O allow you to connect your own guitar pedals, and the loop point can be placed anywhere within the MX5's internal signal path. Finally, a USB port allows for the transfer of IR files and presets, and also lets you use the MX5 as a recording interface.
The HeadRush MX5 is available now, priced at $399, and an in-depth SOS review is already under way.
