SONICAKE IR Pedal Speaker Cabinet Simulator Impulse Response Loader Guitar Bass Effects Pedal Sonic IR

Product Information

The name ‘pedal amplifier’ can mean many things. From a guitar pedal that sounds like an amp; models the speaker output of an amp; or is essentially an amplifier head, in a pedal format. Every one of these has their place, but also have very specific jobs. What to consider when choosing a pedal amp Though the HX Stomp is limited in terms of its controls on the front, it’s highly customisable, and offers a broad palette of professional-grade effects to explore. For the guitarist that wants specific modulations, delays or a cab sim on tap ‘just in case,’ the HX Stomp is a smart, compact solution, and the capacitive footswitches make assigning and editing a relatively error-free procedure - it’s unlikely you’ll need to refer to the manual much at all. And if you don't need the amp models and fancy a few more footswitches, there's also the HX Effects.

Read more about our rating system, how we choose the gear we feature, and exactly how we testeach product. Related buying guidesuser IR slots with support for mono and stereo WAV files, up to 32-bit floating point/96 kHz resolution, and 200 or 500 ms length Did we really need a custom extension for IR rather than wave files? I don’t think so, not sure how I can export these .uli files and use them somewhere else. In theory, I should be able to do that as I paid for them, right? But not sure if these work in a standard IR loader plugin. Conclusion So whilst you might never get to record an album at Abbey Road, you can try out an Impulse Response made within one of the studios and instantly hear how your guitar would sound in that space, through the same rig and with the same mics that were used to capture the Impulse Response.

The volume of an amp is determined by the power amp, which is required to bring the preamp to life, and vice versa. The benefit of a power amp in a pedal, is that you (often) reduce the size of your rig immensely, making it super easy and lightweight to transport. For pedal platform IRs, I find them almost useless as they sound pretty weird when you just add a drive or a distortion pedal in front of the Impulse. Of course, you should test this yourself and come up with your own conclusion. No Fast Scrolling

Who Is It For?

In terms of effects, there’s a lot of choice from a traditional standpoint although some may find it a little conservative as there aren’t so many modern, complex reverbs and delays. We love the layout which makes it great for live performance, and like the Quad Cortex the footswitches double as knobs for easy adjustment. It looks incredible and there’s even a matching FRFR speaker to go alongside it. As a result, it offers a respectable amount of headroom – though if you are looking for more, its bigger brother, The Amp 100, gives up to double the output power – as well as some great, warm tube tones, making it a good choice for players who have struggled to find that in purely digital options. Milkman Sound’s The Amp also runs on variable power, making it a much more user friendly option for those looking for a road-friendly power amp. This dual-channel preamp offers versatility with its two fully independent foot-switchable channels. Channel one covers the spectrum from bluesy, British-voiced cleans to a robust Plexi-style roar. Switch to channel two, and you'll instantly recognise the higher-gain Friedman signature voice, characterised by its percussive punch, note clarity, and enduring sustain. Both channels come equipped with their own independent and highly customisable boost circuits, effectively giving you access to four distinct channels with a simple tap of your foot. You may ask “ Why would having lots of impulse response options give you that flexibility?“. If you just do some research and watch some comparison videos, you will understand the reason.

When it comes to finding the best pedal amp that strikes just the right balance, look no further than the Strymon Iridium Amp and IR Cab Simulator. Not only does it offer a range of amp and cab combinations with versatile EQ controls including room ambience, it’s also compact and easy to use. I also hear built-in Celestion IRs a bit crispier than expected. But I’m not sure if this is a design flaw or anything. I have also no clue whether an IR should exactly the same going through a plugin vs going through an IR loader pedal. Also, I believe this should be tested with as many IR loaders as possible for a more solid conclusion. Acoustic and Pedal Platform IRs With a massive 300 effects and over 50 amp sims built-in - plus loads more to be added via firmware updates - HeadRush has painstakingly modeled pretty much any stompbox and amplifier you can think of. There’s some serious depth on offer here and the ability to create your own ‘scenes’ essentially making it work like a multi-switcher, makes it a great choice for the gigging guitarist. Line 6 in 1996 launched an audio plugin for Pro Tools called Amp Farm with dozens of (digital) emulations of amps and cabs. Soon after (in year 1998), the company debuted its first hardware product that embedded that software in a roundish red box called Pod. That day, the world could almost hear the jaws of the community of tone seekers drop in unison: that new effect was destined to widen the sonic palette of every single electric guitarist in the world (and, soon enough, of every bass player as well). The short answer is yes. As with the hardware described above, many DAWs have built-in IR solutions. While some plugins specifically let you use impulse responses (Amplitube, Positive Grid BIAS), they’re more commonly found in convolution reverb effects. What is convolution reverb?

Also common nowadays is for a multi-effects unit to double up as an audio interface or amp modeller. These USB-enabled devices can be plugged into one of the best laptops for music production, allowing you to record songs into a digital audio workstation ( DAW) like Ableton Live or Pro Tools. An impulse response (or IR) is a sonic measurement of the sound of a speaker, room or microphone in relation to a sound source. In guitar terms, this is usually your amp. I can easily recommend the TC Electronic Impulse IR Loader to anyone looking for a compact IR pedal with killer design principles! You can trust Guitar World Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing guitar products so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.