Feature:
I bought this pedal because it had all of the features that I wanted and is not too complicated. There are other delay pedals on the market that have more options, but all I really need is a tap tempo switch, a level control, and a feedback control. I don't want to have to twiddle a bunch of knobs on stage to get a simple delay sound. The tape simulator with separate outputs is nice, but unnecessary. The looper works well, but the loop time is a little short.
Quality:
I can't really say how reliable this pedal is because I returned it due to the awful level of noise, but it seems fairly well-built. I'd be comfortable gigging with one.
Value:
This pedal is essentially worthless because of the noise issue. If it actually produced a usable sound, it would be a great value.
Desirability:
If you just want a nice, shiny, "sexy" pedal, this delivers pretty well. The color and finish are very appealing and it generally looks very pretty. Just don't ever plug it into an amplifier and turn it on, and you'll be fine
Sound:
The tone of this pedal is fine, in that it accurately reproduces the tone you put into it and doesn't make your guitar sound harsh or digital like some delay pedals. This is why I originally purchased a HeadRush.
However, the pedal is noisy to the point of being completely unusable. I run a pedal board with 8 pedals, and the HeadRush is noisier than my entire pedal chain combined. I tested it with nothing plugged into the input, used different power sources, different amps, etc. I even swapped it out for a new unit in the hopes that it was just defective.
The bottom line is that this pedal produces an extremely loud hiss that is nearly as loud as the guitar signal itself. Maybe in a studio environment at extremely low gain levels with all of the treble rolled off it would be acceptable, but it sounds absolutely awful when plugged into a tube amplifier (even with nothing plugged into the pedal input).
Ease of Use:
Again, this pedal delivers all of the basic features you would expect from a combination delay/looper, while maintaining an easy-to-use interface. It is pretty easy to set up and start playing without having to break out the manual
Support:
I sent a polite email to Akai support about the noise issue, and after waiting for about a week received a condescending email stating that this is not a noisy pedal, and that I must be doing something wrong. I replied with a detailed list of troubleshooting steps I had taken to narrow down the source of the noise. I never heard back from them after that.
Overall:
I exchanged the HeadRush for another delay pedal after trying two units, both of which were noisy to the point of being unusable. It's a shame because I really like the design and features of this pedal, and the actual guitar tone that comes out of it is very true to the original. If they could get rid of the deafening white noise, I would highly recommend this pedal.
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