Akai Professional E2 HeadRush

The Akai Professional E2 HeadRush is a guitar pedal that puts three functions in one enclosure: a 16-bit digital delay, a tape echo emulation, and a looper¹. A Mode Select button toggles digitally between Normal Delay, Tape Echo and Looping modes, so one box covers the ground of a delay pedal, a tape-style echo and a looping pedal¹.

It is the successor to the original Akai Headrush. Where the earlier pedal had weaknesses in its footswitches and an easily destroyed power supply input, Delicious Audio's 2010 review found the E2 updates those problems and adds a better switching mechanism for its three main functions, all in a compact, tough unit². The enclosure is finished in what Pedal of the Day called "one, sweet, blue-mixed-with-purple pedal"¹.

Delay, tape echo and looper in one pedal

In Normal Delay mode, the Time Course knob adjusts the overall delay time from 0.5ms to 1.45 seconds, and the Time Fine knob allows specific fine tuning of the delay time¹. In Tape Echo mode, Time Course runs from 10ms to 1.45 seconds¹. For longer times, the Tap Tempo footswitch reaches delay times up to 23.8 seconds¹.

Tape Echo mode emulates four tape heads, with a control that adjusts the intervals between them¹. The unit also provides four outputs to simulate tape head echoes, alongside two switches and an in and out loop option².

The looper offers 35 seconds of record time plus overdubs¹. Delicious Audio described the looping as 16-bit quality live sound-on-sound recording, calling the pedal "the simplest, most durable way to achieve outstanding 16bit quality live sound-on-sound looping"²¹.

Where it came from

The E2 HeadRush follows the original Akai Headrush, which did not have the silver tank look of the newer pedal². MusicRadar's coverage of Akai Professional's 2011 Custom Shop pedal line referred to the E2 Headrush among the company's previous guitar pedals³. The original Headrush built a following among loopers, with MusicRadar noting it had "quite a following (including KT Tunstall, and you can't get more mainstream than that)"⁴. A MusicRadar buying guide also noted that the Headrush has onboard delay alongside its looping functions⁵.

The HeadRush name lives on as its own brand, which specializes in electronic gear for active performing and recording guitarists and, alongside Akai and M-Audio, is part of the inMusic group⁶. That brand is covered on the Headrush brand page.

What reviewers said

Pedal of the Day found the pedal approachable despite its three modes, writing that "the E2 HeadRush is surprisingly user intuitive" and that the basics could be figured out in a short amount of time¹.

Delicious Audio's 2010 review was positive on the looping but measured on the record time, noting that 35 seconds of loop time is "not as impressive perhaps as other model pedals on the market but plenty of time to get your loop on"². The same review credited the E2 with fixing the original Headrush's weak points, its footswitches and its easily destroyed power supply input².

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