Boss answer to helix - fx 8 - headrush finally released

Voxman

John_P said:

I like the size - this is what the helix lt should be imo (an ax8 mini would be great) 

Actually the size and weight are a huge plus. The weight is under 8lbs ...almost half the weight of the Helix (14.6lbs) and much more compact. The Helix is even heavier than my Vox Tonelab SE and carrying that in a gig bag with a guitar in your other hand ain't light! So if the price becomes more realistic and assuming the amp modelling is very good I might well be interested!  But its way too expensive and I would have thought £595 was nearer the mark than £895. 

meltedbuzzbox

ICBM said:

I think it sounds good in the demo.

You would ...

mixolyd

I recall when the Katana was similarly revealed with an uninspiring video it was greeted with derision in these parts - not surprisingly given Boss’ history with amp tones - and look how that turned out.

At that price though it’s going to have to take another step up from Katana level tone and that would be a shocker for me given that the life cycle of these algorithms is usually closer to a decade than a year.

Fretwired

I like the look of it .. lets see what Alex Hutchins can do with it .. I tried a Helix and didn't like it (and I'm a Line 6 fanboy). And the good news is the pound has risen sharply against the dollar so maybe the price will come down.

Clarky

Heartfeltdawn said:

Jonathanthomas83 said:

Amazes me that being a Japanese (who as a country, make some beautiful things) company, how they manage to create such dated and uninspiring looking products.

The external PSU really misses the point, doesn't it.

What looks dated about it? Externally it looks good and I'm not going to say the screen is dated based on a couple of pictures. If that looks dated, then the Fractal approach looks positively neanderthal.  

looks don't worry me..
tone and capability are far more important in my opinion

I'd like to try one out to see if it has the ability to do what I need to do control wise
and to see if it sounds any good

Clarky

things worth pointing out about Roland / Boss kit [I have a VG-99 and long before that the GP-16]
it's rock solid kit.. toured it extensively without a single issue..
the MIDI implementation and control side of things are very good.. everything just works as you'd expect it to..
the editors are very good / intuitive
the down side was tone.. the tone [COSM in the VG-99] was ok.. not bad sounding.. I'd have never took on stage if it was bad..
it was just ok / good enough...

my 2120 and Axe-FX are a cut above tone wise
and for all round capability, I've yet to find a unit that can match the Axe-FX

I would love to find a unit that can deliver the tone and capabilities of the Axe-FX in a light weight floor unit
not found one yet though
but if the GT1000 can do all that I'll be a happy bunny

Sporky

I'm a bit bemused by the weight comments. Lighter does not inherently mean better; it might mean less robust or more flimsy.

Too much speculation at this stage.

Teetonetal

Sporky said:

I'm a bit bemused by the weight comments. Lighter does not inherently mean better; it might mean less robust or more flimsy.

Too much speculation at this stage.

I would think a fair chunk of saving will be from having an external PSU, which I'm sure is not included in the Boss' weight figure.

gibsongretschfan

If Strymon made a multi with the Timeline, Big Sky and whatever that other one is called in it for a grand everyone would be all over it. Boss do it and everyone freaks out at the price

guitarfishbay

Sporky said:

I'm a bit bemused by the weight comments. Lighter does not inherently mean better; it might mean less robust or more flimsy.

Too much speculation at this stage.

It’s noticeably physically smaller, so that’s likely a significant part of it.

Agreed we have no idea on build quality yet. Won’t be long until we find out though.

andyoz

I'll probably buy one when the price softens. One thing about Boss is historically their products have a long life cycle and that means alot. Sometimes you don't need the cutting edge, yust want something that you think the manufacturer won't dump on in 2 or 3 years... i.e  bring out the Next Best Thing.

Clarky

Sporky said:

I'm a bit bemused by the weight comments. Lighter does not inherently mean better; it might mean less robust or more flimsy.

Too much speculation at this stage.

most of my gigs are overseas so I have to fly to get there...
light and small means lower fees from the airlines

english_bob

guitarfishbay said:

Agreed we have no idea on build quality yet. 

I think it's safe to assume it'll be solidly built. Roland/Boss stuff has a reputation there that most manufacturers would envy.

Sporky said:

On the upside, I'd bet that it has the internal LFO and envelope follower that the Helix desperately lacks.

Yep. Without those things I don't think it would be accurate to say that they've duplicated the xx-500 stuff they say they have- the assign functions on the DD-500 are a *big* part of what it does. They've also been a staple of the GT-series processors for ages, so it would seem a silly thing to drop.

meltedbuzzbox

mixolyd said:

I recall when the Katana was similarly revealed with an uninspiring video it was greeted with derision in these parts - not surprisingly given Boss’ history with amp tones - and look how that turned out.

At that price though it’s going to have to take another step up from Katana level tone and that would be a shocker for me given that the life cycle of these algorithms is usually closer to a decade than a year.

The katana is awful...

meltedbuzzbox

Sporky said:

I'm a bit bemused by the weight comments. Lighter does not inherently mean better; it might mean less robust or more flimsy.

Too much speculation at this stage.

Carbon fiber?

ICBM

meltedbuzzbox said:

ICBM said:

I think it sounds good in the demo.

You would ...

It's actually not the sort of sound I would want to use, but I don't hear anything bad about it.

dindude

ICBM said:

meltedbuzzbox said:

ICBM said:

I think it sounds good in the demo.

You would ...

It's actually not the sort of sound I would want to use, but I don't hear anything bad about it.

It's just so far removed from the sort of tone you hear and go "wow". I'd go so far as to say it sounds shit.

Sporky

meltedbuzzbox said:

Sporky said:

I'm a bit bemused by the weight comments. Lighter does not inherently mean better; it might mean less robust or more flimsy.

Too much speculation at this stage.

Carbon fiber?

Doubtful - there's no reason you couldn't do it in aluminium or steel at a sensible weight, and the cost would be far, far higher for CFRP.

siraxeman

I'd not even consider this new GT to be lacking in the build quality dept...every single Boss GT in the past have been solid and sturdy...sure they used to have wobbly plastic Jack sockets on their earliest incarnations but for many a year now that' been sorted. I can't see them going backwards there or anywhere else. You can be pretty much assured build quality will be no issue.

It will all really hang on sound quality...is this new AIRD modelling a significant step up from their previous COSM....or is AIRD just a new buzz word. Them saying the xx 500 series sounds are in there sounds rather promising. Wowa  wowa wee!  

bingefeller

To be honest I think there is a certain trend of slagging off Boss products, just because they are Boss.