Open Box HeadRush VX5 AutoTune Vocal Pitch Correction Effects Pedal Level 1

I am a backup singer/rhythm guitarist. I struggled with enough output/volume when trying to reach higher notes in my register. This somehow adds a lot of clean headroom and when I hear the high note back in monitors in a correct pitch, it has given me extra confidence and somehow I actually feel confident on my part and with the songs I sing.

I was really hopeful this would tick all the boxes I needed. Light pitch correction, some compression, a little slapback echo and an occasional radio/phone vocal for some Slipknot-esque vocals. It definitely has the fx to do that. However, in real world use, this device is not reliable. Here's why: I updated it to the latest firmware (1.2.2) correctly. When i went to make a preset and save it in their "A/B" mode none of my fx switches would save. Everything was the same on both sides even after making the necessary changes to each side and saving after. Not to mention, the delay ms setting would reset everytime I went to another preset, even AFTER saving the preset. So I decided to not use A/B mode within the same preset and just make different presets in general to accomplish the same task. I thought surely that could be a good workaround. I was wrong. The delay settings still reset every time, even after saving. Everything else saves correctly. Autotune speed and humanization, compression etc everything was perfect except the delay settings. Unfortunately, I obviously I can't have this. Switching presets would reset the delay ms during the middle of a song and destroy the mix with endless repeats. Now, I could just have a defective unit, but having this issue makes it hard for me to trust this product again. I unfortunately had to return it despite having everything I needed on paper. I can't recommend this to anyone until these key issues with presets are fixed.

I have owned the following vocal pedals. T.C. Helicon Voicelive Play, Voicelive Play Electric, Mic Mechanic 2, FLAMMA FV01, BOSS VE-2, BOSS VE-500, and The Headrush Core. Sold all but the Voicelive Play for various reasons. After trying the VX5 Vocal Effects Pedal for several weeks I'm very impressed and it's my vocal pedal of choice. My Vocals are fair not great but with VX5 it elevates my vocals from a perceived score 6 to 71/2 level without much effort. The output for live vocal sounds Professional allowing me to reach a little higher and lower range and without obvious assist detection. No, it doesn't have the sound effects T.C. Voicelive offers like Barry White, Tinker Bell etc., they and other effects may be fun but obvious manipulations. I'm not big in using harmony except for vocal shaping and the VX5 has a somewhat narrow range of shaping my vocal but it sounds pretty good in what it can do. I really like the VX5 it's an Excellent pedal and I'm hopeful firmware updates will continue to improve this pedal. The only down side for me is I can't save the presets I created. This means if the unit does fail and I buy another I would have to recreate all my presets.

This is an update to my initial review about firmware update issues. It turns out that the unit I purchased was functional. The issue was that my antivirus software was blocking access to the Headrush webpage to update the firmware. After a long process of working with Headrush technical support, they did send me a new unit as they did not identify the issue. When the new unit had the same problem as the first, the regional manager for Headrush asked if there was a blocking to the access of the firmware update site. I tried an experiment where I temporarily disabled my Norton 360 and could then access the firmware site via the IP alias. So - my antivirus software was the issue. The headrush support was very good and responsive to my issue - it just took a long time to get up and running. I would give the Headrush support high marks for helping and being responsive. I do think there should be better understanding of how software strategies may interact on end-user's computer systems. The unit itself is really nice and has some very cool features. It is compact but sounds great once you get it up and running.

This item works well. It's simple to use. It's just what I was looking for. It needs to be updated out of the box. The update is simple but it says right on it that if you open the file on your computer that it will say the file is invalid or something like that. The file gets directly downloaded to the unit. Just make sure to follow the instructions. I use Windows and it took me about 5 minutes to update my unit. I did try to open the file and got the message. That's when I read it more carefully and realized my mistake. Personally, I really like this unit because its easy to use and sounds good. I tried a Voicelive 3 and it was more complicated than I wanted. Also the Voicelive can't be updated at all anymore. They completely disabled the updates. I imagine Headrush will keep up with this software for a while because this is brand new. So for me this is exactly what I was looking for. Something I can run my guitar through that sounds good and is simple to use.

I see some bad reviews but they seem to be about getting a malfunctioning product. They are new to the market at the time of this review but mine works as it should. You do need to do an immediate update. It clearly states that if you try to load the update to your computer, it will not work. It has to be updated directly to the unit. Obviously you still need your computer to do that. Im wondering if there is some confusion there or if the product the other buyers received are defective. Im not putting anyone's experience down. I just think people should be aware of that. Just read what it says about the update patch carefully and you will be fine as far as that goes. It was super easy. I use Windows and not Apple so I don't know if Apple is different. The pedal itself works well in my opinion. I dont like these pedal that get too fancy. This one has the perfect amount of options with an ease of use thst I really like. The autotune sounds really good to me. I have a Boss VE-2. I used to have the VE-20 but you couldn't put the guitar through it. I prefer this pedal now. You can put your guitar through it also. I tried the TC Helicon Voicelive 3. It was a lot of functions to try to figure out. The issue that really disappointed me and made me resell within a month, was you can't update it. They completely shut it down at TC Helicon. So I hope they dont do anything like that at Headrush. I doubt it though. Its new tech.and I'm hopeful they will maintain updates for a while. Overall i like Headrush products. I have the Pedalboard and MX5 amp modelers. Also some Frfr speakers. To sum up this long review, I would say the pedal works well and is simple to use and understand. I didn't receive a defective one.