Friedman IR-X sounds great whether IRs are on or off!

[romanianreaper]

It is the craziest thing but thru my Orange Super Crush 100s in stereo, I can have the cab emulation on or off and both sound killer when using the "Send" on the IR-X. Was expecting the IRs to sound harsh thru my guitar cabs but sound great.

Am curious how big of a difference it is running into an FR speaker. Pretty impressive box for sure.

 

[marshallmel]

I tried one into a Seymour Duncan power stage and then into a Marshall 2x12. Couldn’t really say I was digging it and I really wanted to like it. I’d give it another go and ditch the power stage because I think that is what was fishy in the set up. I was thinking it might have something to do with IR’s on going into a real cab but your post makes me think it’s the SD power stage.

Glad you’re digging yours.

 

[Corey James]

It is the craziest thing but thru my Orange Super Crush 100s in stereo, I can have the cab emulation on or off and both sound killer when using the "Send" on the IR-X. Was expecting the IRs to sound harsh thru my guitar cabs but sound great.

Am curious how big of a difference it is running into an FR speaker. Pretty impressive box for sure.

I agree. The IRs are pretty fantastic as well

 

[GrimTrigger]

It is the craziest thing but thru my Orange Super Crush 100s in stereo, I can have the cab emulation on or off and both sound killer when using the "Send" on the IR-X. Was expecting the IRs to sound harsh thru my guitar cabs but sound great.

Am curious how big of a difference it is running into an FR speaker. Pretty impressive box for sure.

Glad you’re enjoying it! Several users here on RT seemed unenthused about it.

IRs essentially act as a filter - they remove frequencies without adding any - so it makes sense to me that leaving the IRs on doesn’t sound harsh through a real cab. I recall Cliff from FAS challenging himself to mimic a decent IR using only the filter block on the Axe Fx 3. I’m sure this is what underlies analog cab sims like the Palmer units or the Suhr ACE.

 

[Soundstorm]

The IR isn’t on the FX send, just the direct out iirc

 

[GrimTrigger]

The IR isn’t on the FX send, just the direct out iirc

Looks like you are correct, it wouldn’t make sense to send an IR through an FX loop chain.

Here’s the manual.

 

[romanianreaper]

The IR isn’t on the FX send, just the direct out iirc

There definitely is something with the IRs when I go from the send out to only the return of the amp because I can flip thru the three cab settings and the tone changes. I wonder if it is just some EQ adjustments? Sounds killer and I guess it is convenient in case someone forgets to turn something off, lol.

 

[Corey James]

I am using this as a preamp for my axe3 when I only have 20 minutes to grab a guitar and I don’t feel like firing up a real amplifier.

When recording, it’s amazing how similar it sounds to my BE100. I could absolutely sell that amplifier, I just don’t want to.

 

[Soundstorm]

There definitely is something with the IRs when I go from the send out to only the return of the amp because I can flip thru the three cab settings and the tone changes. I wonder if it is just some EQ adjustments? Sounds killer and I guess it is convenient in case someone forgets to turn something off, lol.

You should be able to long press one of the foot switches to bypass the IRs completely, you can try that and see what it does

 

[romanianreaper]

I am using this as a preamp for my axe3 when I only have 20 minutes to grab a guitar and I don’t feel like firing up a real amplifier.

When recording, it’s amazing how similar it sounds to my BE100. I could absolutely sell that amplifier, I just don’t want to.

I've never owned a BE 100 but have had two Friedmans and this thing definitely captures that for sure. Takes boosts great too!!

 

[romanianreaper]

You should be able to long press one of the foot switches to bypass the IRs completely, you can try that and see what it does

Oh yeah that is what I'm saying, when I long press and whether on or off, sounds killer!

 

[Elric]

It is the craziest thing but thru my Orange Super Crush 100s in stereo, I can have the cab emulation on or off and both sound killer when using the "Send" on the IR-X. Was expecting the IRs to sound harsh thru my guitar cabs but sound great.

Am curious how big of a difference it is running into an FR speaker. Pretty impressive box for sure.

Leaving an IR on wouldn't sound harsh, it'd sound the exact opposite; like a blanket over the speaker. In general, the excessive filtering from an IR diminishes the sound of a cab because the cab is rolling off the same frequencies the IR is and they double down in an uncool way.

You probably like dark sounds or your back end signal chain (power amp/speakers/cab) sucks somehow.

Sometimes the effect is less notable at low volume too, so it could be the volumes you are playing at as well. In general, I'd turn off unless you feel it is the only way it sounds good.