Which amp-in-a-box pedal?

[metropolis_4]

I think I’m gonna build a small pedalboard around one of these, but which one?

Just looking to use it like a single channel amp. Running clean-ish and hitting it with pedals. Total old school approach.

The only one I’ve actually tried was the ACS1 and I thought it was not great, but I hear the new update is a game changer for it.

 

[Southpaw-DD]

I've tried a bunch and kept the Iridium and IR-X. I think for pedal platform I'd pick the Iridium!

 

[laxu]

I vote for the Iridium, with a few caveats:

• You want 3rd party IRs for it. I use a mix of York Audio and ML Sound Lab. The stock ones are fine and might work alright at live volumes, but otherwise I prefer something else.
• It won't do higher gain sounds on its own very well even on the Marshall model. The right 4x12 IR, with the right overdrive pushing it can sound great. Cranking the gain on the Marshall model makes it too compressed for my tastes.
• If you want more than "current knobs + 1 preset" behavior, you want MIDI control which means something that works via TRS MIDI. LuminiteFx stuff is of course great here.

As long as you want classic Fender/Vox/Marshall sounds with some pedals to take it further, it does more than enough, is very easy to use and sounds good doing it.

 

[Boudoir Guitar]

I think I’m gonna build a small pedalboard around one of these, but which one?

Just looking to use it like a single channel amp. Running clean-ish and hitting it with pedals. Total old school approach.

The only one I’ve actually tried was the ACS1 and I thought it was not great, but I hear the new update is a game changer for it.

I had the ACS1 and was not impressed. I've read about how much the firmware improved it and my feelings were (1) Yeah, it better be a massive improvement and (2) Uh, all these people talking about how much it improved the pedal didn't sell it as fast as they could with the OG firmware so...not really an opinion I'm gonna trust.

I vote Ruby. The Woodrow I had was REALLY good at what it does.

 

[metropolis_4]

I vote for the Iridium, with a few caveats:

• You want 3rd party IRs for it. I use a mix of York Audio and ML Sound Lab. The stock ones are fine and might work alright at live volumes, but otherwise I prefer something else.
• It won't do higher gain sounds on its own very well even on the Marshall model. The right 4x12 IR, with the right overdrive pushing it can sound great. Cranking the gain on the Marshall model makes it too compressed for my tastes.
• If you want more than "current knobs + 1 preset" behavior, you want MIDI control which means something that works via TRS MIDI. LuminiteFx stuff is of course great here.

As long as you want classic Fender/Vox/Marshall sounds with some pedals to take it further, it does more than enough, is very easy to use and sounds good doing it.

That all sounds good to me. I’ve still got a ton of York IRs, and I’m not looking for high gain.

Current knobs +1 is kind of what I’m looking for.

I had the ACS1 and was not impressed. I've read about how much the firmware improved it and my feelings were (1) Yeah, it better be a massive improvement and (2) Uh, all these people talking about how much it improved the pedal didn't sell it as fast as they could with the OG firmware so...not really an opinion I'm gonna trust.

I vote Ruby. The Woodrow I had was REALLY good at what it does.

I wasn’t impressed either, but curiosity gets to me. I heard they completely rebuilt all the amp models from the ground up in the new firmware based on feedback from users.

 

[aivoryuk]

I've had the iridium and currently have the IRX.
I really liked the iridium but eventually sent it back as had also ordered the FM3.

I'm surprised they haven't done another one with some higher gain amps etc.

 

[la szum]

Man, I tend to not dig the whole get your amp in a 3 x 5 enclosure, but that UA Lion
sounds righteous.

Kind of want one. Probably just living vicariously through your thread.

 

[norminal]

HX Stomp

 

[Mongillo19]

Have you thought about the Kemper Player? I know you were a big Kemper fan and you could build a pedalboard around it

 

[kartikg3]

If you had HX Stomp on the list I'd have noted for it. Sounds like a no-brainer. I voted for the Boss IR-2. I haven't played through it, but from the reviews put there, it seems to be such a solidly designed, straightforward thing. They seems to have thought about a lot of scenarios while designing it.

 

[kartikg3]

 

[metropolis_4]

Have you thought about the Kemper Player? I know you were a big Kemper fan and you could build a pedalboard around it

I thought about it, I want this to be simpler though. I really just want a single amp WYSIWYG and maybe a toggle between that and one saved preset.

I don’t want anything like a Stomp here either

 

[metropolis_4]

If you had HX Stomp on the list I'd have noted for it. Sounds like a no-brainer. I voted for the Boss IR-2. I haven't played through it, but from the reviews put there, it seems to be such a solidly designed, straightforward thing. They seems to have thought about a lot of scenarios while designing it.

I was just looking and it seems like they’re nowhere to be found right now. I like the concept a lot, but they seem to be super popular and sold out everywhere

 

[Enchilada Jones]

IR-2 is not as good as the IRX or the UA Ruby, Woodrow, Dream 65 or Lion.
Of all those, and a few others, the IR-2 lasted a couple days before I returned it and used those funds toward the UA Stomp as a dedicated IR ‘tool’ and no regrets there either. The others are still here and probably will be long term.

i think I like the Marshal vibe of the Lion a bit more than the IRX so it would be my choice and it is a little bit smaller. They both are great sounding and lend themselves to the ‘treat-it-like-an-amp’ mindset. However, if you think you prefer the more modded sound of a Marshal, then I’d say IRX.
The Lion or IRX into (or after) a Strymon Volante is a killer rig.
The Kemper Player however has gently shoved the Lion (or IRX) + Volante from my number one portable ‘it’s all I really need’ spot to number two because it’s smaller, a USB interface, has more variety in amps, has effects, yet can be used as an amp and it only needs one power supply. Oh, and it can play a profile of the Lion or IRX too if you can find one lol!
And if you have a Powered Kemper Cab you have the best lightweight rig ever conceived.

 

[Enchilada Jones]

It’s kind of surreal if you think about it. We have seen the last decade of development bring out all kinds of smaller better amp in a box offerings. Really good stuff.
So Christoph Kemper says, ‘I’ll see your decade of cutting edge development and raise you with a bit of what I thought of 15 years ago!’

 

[laxu]

Man, I tend to not dig the whole get your amp in a 3 x 5 enclosure, but that UA Lion
sounds righteous.

Kind of want one. Probably just living vicariously through your thread.

IMO it sounds no better than the Strymon Iridium + 3rd party IRs. The Lion is just adjustable more like the real Marshall whereas the Iridium is a little bit of a weirdo in how the drive settings translate to a jumpered amp. Ends up with more normal than treble volume so it tends to work best with a bit leaner sounding IRs.

I don't like UA because they are just so limited for digital pedals. I hoped the Lion would be e.g JTM45/Superlead/JCM800 type pedal because that would have been great. The 3 flavors of Superlead are not that drastically different with the same settings and like always, most of the real sound shaping is in the cab sims. Which again are severely limited, I think I liked maybe two of them when I tried the Lion.

 

[Sascha Franck]

Note: This is *not* exactly a recommendation, but you might want to consider an Amplifirebox in case you can get away with the company (which is why this is not a recommendation). Can be a very simple WYSIWYG box, but in case you want, you could get another channel out of it, plus it has some tweaking options to optimize certain things (I'm personally using their BMan, but to avoid low end flubbyness I have a pre-amp low cut and sort of compensate for it by adding some low mids after the amp).
But then, there's the company - and I wouldn't likely buy another of their offerings myself. Ok, maybe used, I've already seen some good offerings for the AFB MkI on the 2nd hand market.

 

[Sascha Franck]

And fwiw, others than that, yes, get a Stomp. If all you need is a pedal platform, you could stick with one patch and control it WYSIWYG style from a tablet/phone (I'd happily elaborate) or an external MIDI knob controller. IMO the HX series are taking pedals extremely well. And with the stomp you could possibly mimic, say, a Fender amp by adding some spring reverb or tremolo to the patch.

 

[ragingplatypi]

If you’re really going “old school” I would theoretically say the UA Dream or Iridium would be the right choice because most pedal makers are using a fender as a reference amp.

However, watching John Nathan Cordy’s intro on this video makes me fixated on the IR-X (and getting some lessons).

 

[JiveTurkey]

If you’re really going “old school” I would theoretically say the UA Dream or Iridium would be the right choice because most pedal makers are using a fender as a reference amp.

However, watching John Nathan Cordy’s intro on this video makes me fixated on the IR-X (and getting some lessons).

I am low key waiting to see what other amps they will give the IR-X treatment to