Headrush FRFR users out there?

    Hi guys,

    Gonna stop buying profiles. In facebook they sound awesome, on my kemper stage and headrush frfr 112 they sound, thin and lifeless and very trebly.

    Thought I had some output parameters wrong of CAB turned off of input sens not adjusted properly. Nothing of this. Checked it more than once.


    I play the gibson traditional with high output pickups and mostly 80's rock: black sabbath, led zeppelin, deep purple, iron maiden.


    My clean and blues sounds are OK. My crunch and lead not.

    Bought the Bert Meulendijk, MBritt and Iron Maiden patches. Thin and trebly, alle of them!!


    My headrush is the problem? No, tried them also on a Mission FRFR because I thought that it was the headrush.

    Headphones? mwaahhh... not the sound I want to hear.


    Looking for some tricks or adjustments because I know it must be there...somewere....

    I have had the HR 108 and while that is a different animal, I did not think that there was a good representation of the profiles. I did a video on it as well.


    External Content www.youtube.com
    Content embedded from external sources will not be displayed without your consent.
    Through the activation of external content, you agree that personal data may be transferred to third party platforms. We have provided more information on this in our privacy policy.

    People make different experiences, obviously. I have a Headrush-112 and never had the impression of too much bass. On the contrary, as you said: "thin and lifeless and very trebly" - depending on the profiles. Mostly, profiles (commercial or free) I tried came with way too much gain (for classic rock sounds), and they seemed muddy, frizzly. I always put down the gain until I hear the real sound of the amp. And this estonishing, what the Kemper is able to do. Then I make my own sound of a profile I may like. Adding some more gain as the clean profile, boost, soft shaper or distortion then makes a good sound for lead. And one other thing I noticed: to sound good, the Headrush must be supplied by enough amp or output volume, or it's own volume must pushed a bit.

    I have the 108 and think it sounds good. Bass heavy but I don’t have it lifted off the ground.


    One thing I will say: some days it sounds good. Some days, dull. I wonder if it’s the Kemper or the FRFR. Haven’t spent enough time to figure it out.

    I too have the Headrush 108 and I think its ok, a bit like jfischer518 said its ok as an entry level.

    I bought it for when I had the HeadRush Pedalboard which was a nice unit but not really on the same level as the KPA, but then it is half the price.

    I chose the FR108 as opposed to the 112 as id heard it displayed less bass. I find the MB profiles ok with it but some of the Vox profiles have little to no life in them.

    Watching the ToneJunkies video Michael Britt indicated he was impressed with the Headrush. Im sure he knows better than I do.


    I have the Kabinet on order, not sure when I'll see it mind given everything going on.

    However when I do I'm hoping for a significant upgrade on the Headrush.

    'You can lead a horse to water, but a pencil must be lead' - Stan Laurel

    I have the 112 and I thought it was a tad bass heavy.. just took some global setting adjustments. I chose the 112 because I would rather throttle back the bass than to be left wanting more. Some of the metal amp profiles need to have the presence and highs cut down a tad but I don’t have any real complaints for $320 to my door and it’s as loud as I’d ever need.

    Same problems as original poster! Like... am I missing something here with these modellers? Videos sounds great but when i wire these things up i feel like I'm playing tin foil. Someone please tell me the something I'm missing in these setups..? Have the headrush FRFR 108. NOTHING sounds even okay through that. ran the Kemper through th FX loop (poweramp) of my Boss Nextone Artist 1X12 and then it was like... okay. i was able to adjust the Clean sens and Dist Sense to actually get a playable and dynamic clean tone. I havent met a Kemper profile yet that is 1/10 as responsive as even a Hot Rod Deluxe. Yes yes yes I get it- these are MIC'd cabs. I am hearing the mic through the cab yada yada... all i know is that either everyone is having a different experience with this stuff than I am, given how they enjoy it, how popular and more widely used these things are, or EVERYONE is playing a joke on ME. Not sure which feels more likely at this point. The amp modelling world is gaslighting me like crazy. HELP.

    Quote from absolute value

    Same problems as original poster! Like... am I missing something here with these modellers? Videos sounds great but when i wire these things up i feel like I'm playing tin foil. Someone please tell me the something I'm missing in these setups..? Have the headrush FRFR 108. NOTHING sounds even okay through that. ran the Kemper through th FX loop (poweramp) of my Boss Nextone Artist 1X12 and then it was like... okay. i was able to adjust the Clean sens and Dist Sense to actually get a playable and dynamic clean tone. I havent met a Kemper profile yet that is 1/10 as responsive as even a Hot Rod Deluxe. Yes yes yes I get it- these are MIC'd cabs. I am hearing the mic through the cab yada yada... all i know is that either everyone is having a different experience with this stuff than I am, given how they enjoy it, how popular and more widely used these things are, or EVERYONE is playing a joke on ME. Not sure which feels more likely at this point. The amp modelling world is gaslighting me like crazy. HELP.

    Are you talking about a guitar rolled-off volume knob type of response from the Profiler or a pick-pressure dynamic type of response? Those two are easily comparable. I would look into the Kemper Kabinet before trying any other FRFR system. The Headrush cabs are mediocre at best.


    You have to take into account that some dynamics can get lost or even exacerbated in a mix, and that's when tweaking to the mix and the EQ will help.


    Oh yes, and Welcome to the Party!

    Larry Mar @ Lonegun Studios. Neither one famous yet.

    Edited once, last by BayouTexan ().

    I traded for a powered Kemper toaster back in the spring of 2019. I used it with a few traditional guitar cabs at first and while I wasn't knocked out it seemed like it had promise. Researched FRFR options (no Kemper Kab/Kone back then) and settled on the Yamaha DXR10 based largely on a glowing review it got right here on the Kemper forums. Within a minute after I powered it up I was hooked. It was totally plug and play for me. No tweaks. No adjustments. I ordered a second DXR10 because I wanted a wider sound stage. I haven't looked back. Interestingly, the guy who recommended the DXR10 moved on to a Headrush FRFR and from there to the Kemper Kab. A buddy uses two Headrush 108 FRFR cabs that he raves about. I have never heard them in person but they get excellent reviews.


    When I read threads like this I wish I had something constructive to offer but my experience was so completely different I don't know where to start. I don't even know how to tweak this thing. It really has been a plug and play experience for me.

    I agree with what's been stated above. I have the FRFR 112 and if anything there was far too much low end from it. I'll also add that besides the low end I was never crazy about the sound I got from it in general. I picked up a used Friedman ASC-12 and the difference was night and day. Granted its a fair bit more expensive and weighs a metric ton, I think the sound it produces justifies the price. I keep the volume around noon and keep the low cut turned on and that's it. Just plug in and start playing.

    I have two FRFR 112's setup in stereo. I gig with them. They're great for the price and very accurate sounding for FRFR. The trick is to put them on plastic milk crates. It sounds silly but that works. It actually works for many speaker cabinets that have plastic casings instead of ply wood. Takes the excessive bass out and brings it back to what you'd hear if you plugged in good studio cans. For whatever reason it works better than PA stands for me since it brings the speakers to the correct height to what my ears expect i guess .....


    I hope that helps someone ....