HeadRush's 5.1 release notes tell you to back up every rig, setlist, model preset, clone, loop, and impulse response file before you update the firmware. That instruction sits above the update steps, in bold, and it is easy to scroll past.
The unglamorous part is that it comes with a second warning most people ignore. When you finish moving files across USB Transfer, you have to properly eject the HeadRush drive from your computer first, because file corruption may occur if you skip it.
Then you tap Sync on the device and leave it alone until it finishes. Pull the cable during that window, and you can lose the very rigs you were trying to protect.
Dropbox is the one nobody mentions, and it is better than it sounds. You open Dropbox from the Browse menu, the pedal shows you a login code that expires in five minutes, and you type that code into dropbox.headrushfx.com on a phone or laptop before authenticating with Dropbox itself. After that, HeadRush treats the folder like a USB drive.
HeadRush Cloud is the route to be careful with. It is free, it is on the device, and it looks like a backup destination, but HeadRush's own support documentation says it immediately shares whatever you upload to the wider community.
The same caveat covers HeadRush Remote. The web editor lets you push a rig up without walking through the full Cloud interface, which is faster and just as public.
So the Cloud is a publishing tool sitting where a backup tool should be. Use USB or Dropbox when backing up rigs before a firmware update, and save the Cloud for tones you actually want strangers playing.
The device restarts on its own when it is done. You confirm the version two ways, either on the boot screen as it powers up or in the INFO tab of Global Settings.
The USB route exists for anyone whose pedal cannot see a network. You download the Firmware Updater from the HeadRush site or your account, unzip it if your computer does not do that automatically, connect the USB-B cable, start Firmware Update on the pedal, select Yes, then click the update button in the desktop app. Windows 10 or macOS 11 and a USB 2.0 host port are the floor.
One warning applies to both paths. Do not power anything off mid-update, and if you are jumping up from an older firmware, expect to re-pair Bluetooth afterward.
None of that existed before the August update that put TONE3000 on the touchscreen, so a unit still sitting on 5.0.1 will show HeadRush Cloud with nothing from TONE3000 behind it.
Once you are in, NAM files move around three ways. They download and share through the Cloud both as standalone files and bundled inside rigs, and they also travel over USB Transfer or Dropbox, which is how you load a capture that was never uploaded to TONE3000 in the first place. Files carry a .nam extension, and Atkinson's own walkthrough moves them by connecting the USB cable, opening Menu and then USB Transfer, and dragging the file straight onto the device.
Downgrading deserves a note of its own. Clones created on newer firmware will not open on older versions, so rolling back after a bad experience can strand the captures you made in the meantime.
Older boxes are a separate story. Pedalboard, MX5, and Gigboard never got 5.1 and never will, though a reverse-engineered community mod does run NAM inference on Pedalboard and MX5 by replacing the stock Anxiety OD block. It is unofficial, it may void your warranty, and its own authors tell you not to flash a Gigboard you are not prepared to lose.
The unglamorous part is that it comes with a second warning most people ignore. When you finish moving files across USB Transfer, you have to properly eject the HeadRush drive from your computer first, because file corruption may occur if you skip it.
Then you tap Sync on the device and leave it alone until it finishes. Pull the cable during that window, and you can lose the very rigs you were trying to protect.
The three backup routes are not equally private
A USB drive is the plain option. Plug one in, open the Menu, select Browse, tap into the rigs and files you want, and hit Export. Restoring runs the same way in reverse, with Load and then a save back to the unit.Dropbox is the one nobody mentions, and it is better than it sounds. You open Dropbox from the Browse menu, the pedal shows you a login code that expires in five minutes, and you type that code into dropbox.headrushfx.com on a phone or laptop before authenticating with Dropbox itself. After that, HeadRush treats the folder like a USB drive.
HeadRush Cloud is the route to be careful with. It is free, it is on the device, and it looks like a backup destination, but HeadRush's own support documentation says it immediately shares whatever you upload to the wider community.
The same caveat covers HeadRush Remote. The web editor lets you push a rig up without walking through the full Cloud interface, which is faster and just as public.
So the Cloud is a publishing tool sitting where a backup tool should be. Use USB or Dropbox when backing up rigs before a firmware update, and save the Cloud for tones you actually want strangers playing.
Wi-Fi is the shorter of the two update paths
The Wi-Fi route takes about four taps. Open Menu, then Global Settings, then the Wi-Fi tab, switch it on, and pick your network. Head back to Menu, choose Firmware Update, tap Via Wi-Fi, and select Yes to download and install.The device restarts on its own when it is done. You confirm the version two ways, either on the boot screen as it powers up or in the INFO tab of Global Settings.
The USB route exists for anyone whose pedal cannot see a network. You download the Firmware Updater from the HeadRush site or your account, unzip it if your computer does not do that automatically, connect the USB-B cable, start Firmware Update on the pedal, select Yes, then click the update button in the desktop app. Windows 10 or macOS 11 and a USB 2.0 host port are the floor.
One warning applies to both paths. Do not power anything off mid-update, and if you are jumping up from an older firmware, expect to re-pair Bluetooth afterward.
TONE3000 sits behind an inMusic Profile
The library is not open by default. You open the main menu, select HeadRush Cloud, and scan the on-screen QR code with your phone to sign in or create an inMusic Profile, and only then does the full TONE3000 catalog appear on the touchscreen.None of that existed before the August update that put TONE3000 on the touchscreen, so a unit still sitting on 5.0.1 will show HeadRush Cloud with nothing from TONE3000 behind it.
Once you are in, NAM files move around three ways. They download and share through the Cloud both as standalone files and bundled inside rigs, and they also travel over USB Transfer or Dropbox, which is how you load a capture that was never uploaded to TONE3000 in the first place. Files carry a .nam extension, and Atkinson's own walkthrough moves them by connecting the USB cable, opening Menu and then USB Transfer, and dragging the file straight onto the device.
Downgrading deserves a note of its own. Clones created on newer firmware will not open on older versions, so rolling back after a bad experience can strand the captures you made in the meantime.
Older boxes are a separate story. Pedalboard, MX5, and Gigboard never got 5.1 and never will, though a reverse-engineered community mod does run NAM inference on Pedalboard and MX5 by replacing the stock Anxiety OD block. It is unofficial, it may void your warranty, and its own authors tell you not to flash a Gigboard you are not prepared to lose.
