I bought one yesterday from a clueless retailer who didn't know they weren't supposed to be released until today. I can attest it's everything Henning says it is! I put it into the effects return of my solid state amp and it's a whole new animal now. Highly recommend
I have a question, do you disable the CAB IR? Do you loose the power amp emulation tone by going into FX return? I plan on using it in that very same way.
@@Javier-qk7ms Hi at the time I was using a Katana Artist and since it was a power amp and speaker I would go from the Send of the IR-X then to my delay/reverb pedal and out of there into the Power Amp In on the Katana. For a non Katana you would use the effects return. This allows you to use the amp power amp/speaker. The only time I think you would still want power amp emulation on the IRX with no IR is with things like the Seymour Duncan Powerstage. I don't think they emulate power amps, but I could be wrong on that point. The send on the IR-X bypasses both the power amp emulation and the IR. If you use the Out on the IRX you can bypass the IR but not the power amp emulation.
Oh snap! With the hold for fx on/off you could…well sort of…use it as another channel on your amp. More realistically an easy (pre)amp change between songs with that press/hold. This thing is great though. Thinking of how to use it w/o any sort of newfangled drive pedal… You could EQ Ch1 for clean cleans and for med gain use the boost, EQ Ch2 for high gain. Or if it sounded better for your purposes, EQ Ch2 for med gain and boost it for high gain. That’s exciting to me bc I have a hard time setting up my channels/pedals for all 3 with only one EQ on my amp. But I’m the weirdo that likes to go from Fender cleans to 5150 chonk.
I doubt Dave Friedman needs help from Tone King or anyone else to copy/mod/create clean preamp circuits. A tube preamp pedal like the IR-X is better suited for circuits where much of the gain, distortion, and general mojo comes from the preamp tubes. The popular clean amps like the classic Fender circuits have very simple tube preamps and their mojo comes more from their tube power amp sections, which can only be digitally simulated in a pedal like this.
I’ve been looking at Line 6, Kemper, Fractal etc. and other Preamp/IR pedals for months and the IR-X absolutely changes everything. My prayers have been answered!
after 10 years of strictly playing Kempers (since 2014!), I just got the IR-X, plugged it in and holy hell... I have forgotten how to play my fu&§%ing guitar properly! This thing is really amazing and for me the missing link to a modern silent stage environment !
I previously owned a ($499) Victory V4 "all valve" preamp pedal, yet had to part ways with it due to unforeseen finance woes. Currently I've been using a Vox Valve Energy (KORG NuTube) Silk Drive as a means to subjectively liven up amp sims, and also as a way to incorporate various front of amp analog pedals direct into my interface without clipping concerns. For the most part? It's been somewhat doing the trick, although I must admit that the Victory V4 had an overall more convincing analog "feel" to it. Typically I try to avoid jumping right onto most shiny new gear hype trains, and TBH? I genuinely didn't even have an interest in looking into this Friedman IR X till just yesterday. Needless to say?! Hello jaw... Meet the floor! Holy shit! Bwahaha!! As a currently unfortunate apartment dweller? This preamp/IR solution seems to check all of the requirement boxes that, just a few days prior, I would of inherently associated with something like a REVV G20, or either a Captor X + actual amp rig! I mean... ✅Fully analog 12AX7 front end running at proper voltage (Marsha-Marsha-Marsha!) ✅ FX loop ✅Minimal DSP cabinet IR round trip latency w/ 3rd party IR support ✅5 pin MIDI & USB functionality Dude?!!! I'm F'N hyped!!! LMAO! Very seldom do I become this overwhelmingly impressed with a piece of hardware initially, but I gotta admit... This thing looks freakin' badass IMO! Me likey. Me wanty. Me wanty soo hard! Bwahaha! I'm glad I instinctively hesitated on the overall hype a bit, and seemingly waited to view your in depth demonstration, along with your invaluable "2 cents". Mostly because within the subsequent deluge of YT guitar content creators? Your voice/opinion is always the one that I truly value and respect the most. 🥰Daaaaaaawwww!🥰 Haha! Now if you will excuse me? I need to go whore myself somewhere for a quick $500!!!😅 ROTFLMAO!!! Love you HP!! P.S. Oscar says: "Bork!" He's such a good boy! 😘 ✌🤟🖖
Good stuff, Henning. And thanks for introducing that new-fangled Tube Screaming thing. If enough people start talking about it, it may just go somewhere.
Thank you for the review. I had a Dean Markley RM150 Solid State amp with a 12ax7 preamp drive back in the 90's, way ahead of it's time. Awesome amp and delivered quite well without pedals or with. This box, to me, seems like that re-invented. nice review. Thanks!
Why he didn't give the option of storing 10+ ir's is beyond me. It's digitally stored, small storage demands and would have made this so much more versitale. Having to go back and forth to a computer is just so silly to experiement and have fun with different cabs.
I would probably just use one if they only gave me one. I don’t need many options, just a decent one. I usually simulate v30’s since thats what my real cabs all have
Maybe you should learn to play guitar instead of flipping presets :) all kidding aside, I wonder how many presets Gilmore, Beck, Page, Hendrix... ever needed during their prime 😀
Gilmour and Hendrix had distinct setups including pedals and amps. Beck...yes, he could make a cigar box guitar out of an amp sound glorious. Since the Friedman pedal has 6 cabs built in, it obviously was intended to be played with to match a player's needs...so asking for IRs to be part of the pedal isn't so unreasonable. P.S. I'll work on my practicing. Cheers
Watched a demo/review yesterday. Totally underwhelmed! 😞 Thank you for at least getting some tones out of it that I liked! The treble thing is just too harsh for my ears and sounds like a bee traped inside a nasty, fizzy 8 inch speaker thing from the 90s
Ht metal, Dept 10 Blackstar, Victory preamp pedals, Revolt pedal, IRX : you can't always get what you want lol (Stones) so be happy with what you have :)
Your reviews never cease to be thorough and entertaining. The song at te beginning was as fitting for the review as it was tasty to listen to. Thank you so much for the never ending efforts!
Is this better into a FRFR using the IRs or into a real powered cab with the IRs disabled? Not sure if I should consider the Fender FRFR with this, or a Boss Katana etc
Always enjoy your videos and your humor. I lived in Heidelberg for 5 years and miss that German attitude. I appreciate your honesty and integrity. Keep it coming.
in the clean channel it sound not very mellow, with good ears you can say it's not a tube amp so, it's a marketing products for customers not able to buy a 1500€ Friedman head... better use a Orange stomp box (220€) and a tube power amp like a Mooer (330€) connections for loop and cabinet the debate is open
@26:02 That saucy chord change....the tone, the fatness, you evil german genius! Sounded so good, I wanna get me one of these. My wallet will scream in pain, but the GAS voices in my head will be pleased....for now.
Feels like every single knob is positioned in the reverse order. Gain-Bass-Mid-Treb-Vol-Boost makes sense. Maybe he did it backwards because pedalboards layouts are kinda backwards like that?
Great demo (as usual I should say) ! What's the guitar you're using? The goldtop seems to be a' Heritage, but what about the other one ? It's gorgeous 😍 (sorry if you tell about it but I may have not heard)
You know, the new TS thing... there is a secret device, it is red, and it sounds wayyyyy better than the green one! It was in a secret japanese lab for 40 years!
Wondering if the latency between this and the ox box would be too different to use in stereo together. If anyone has resources or data on phase alignment guidelines for guitar signals, I'm open ears.
I think the question is more like should you get this for 620, or the Bluguitar Amp1 for 800-900, or the real deal Marshall SV20H for 900. I think 620 is too expensive when the others are so close.
@@saarangnarayan123 Thomann prices for Sweden (also in EU) is 620€. Since all EU countries have different VAT, there will be slight differences in price. All prices listed was from Thomann though so if your country has lower VAT, all prices I listed will be lowered so the relation between them are the same.
@@Tanax13 I see. Didn’t realise that tax would make it SO different. The prices I quoted for UK and US are from retailers based in those countries (Andertons and Sweetwater)
If this is a synergy module in a different format, I cannot help but wonder the immense possibilities of where this would go in the future! Should be great fun! (I ordered mine this morning!)
@@EytschPi42 definitely more than just a module, but I meant that if it’s derived from the module circuits, then it’ll be a great thing to see more modules being presented in this new format!
that TS9 thing is fixed at a very annoying frequency (sounds like a fixed 2.5.kHz) it should have had a variable frequency so people can choose. I hope it doesn't catch on, there would be a lot of very annoying music produced.
Does it have fans for ventilation or how does it avoid overheating the internal electronics with the preamp tubes which are still there releasing real heat?
Quick (and necessary) question: how would you compare this to the UA Dream and Ruby or the Victory V4 (that also uses tubes)? Cheers and congrats for the video! 👏👏👏
I am curious to this as well. I’ve got the Dream and Woodrow and I feel like the reaction to drive pedals is just lacking something. This pre with the OX Pedal that came out yesterday seems to be the combination of the best pieces of gear we’ve seen yet for pedalboard only guys.
I don’t know the Victory. The UA stuff is killer, but it’s modeling and really doesn’t do gain well… it sounds like the original amps cranked up… fuzzy fuzzy and broken. Only great for edge of breakup, if anything, for me. The Friedmann goes in a whole different direction… and FX loop etc etc. Can’t really compare them.
@@EytschPi42That makes all sense... I'm lucky (and crazy) enough to have the Dream and Ruby so I would like to know if this new pedal is a step forward in this regard. But as you say the UA pedals are modelers, so they can not compare to the Friedman and the Victory V4 (that I'm more leaning towards given the price). Any chance for you to review in the future these pedals / amps from Lee's brand? 😊😂😅 Cheers (and thank you for your quick response and attention provided) 👌
Promised myself "no more equipment" and now my question "how can I not get one of these"... while looking for a proper answer... I just ordered one. Thank you. One doesn't always need all the right answers...
I bought one just to copy it with the HX Stomp. I run it in front of a jcm800 clone clean channel. I really get the same excat tone and responsiveness with the hx stomp. No difference whatsoever, same feel, tone, characteristics. Let me tell you it’s a great preamp, wow… but nothing a good modeler cannot do.
The I/O on this thing misses the mark a bit. Running this into a Seymour Duncan PowerStage or Orange Pedal Baby type rig for example, you'd have to choose to deactivate the IR balanced out or use the Send - effectively getting rid of 1 of the 2 outputs/features. Why not also include a normal output for going into flat power amps?
@@EytschPi42 True. I'm sure Friedman thought of a standard output and left it out for space saving reasons, or other design limitations. I'd personally ditch the 3.5mm headphone output.
You can go like this : Friedman send -> mod/delay/reverb/ -> splitter signal or left output of stereo pedal -> return Friedman. And the right out of your stereo pedal goes to your amp ( Seymour Duncan, pedal baby, etc)
Is it better then the tonex pedal? I was planing to buy one and now I'm not shure if this could be better, specially because I anyway just play british amps... And like always: Thank you for your honest opinion and not just producing advertising videos covered as reviews!
Habe einen gekauft und das Ding hört und fühlt sich echt gut an. Ich bin speziell begeistert vom Kanal 1, für mich der beste Clean und Crunch Sound den ich bisher hatte.
It is just GREAT ! Thanks for the review. Next: the same concept could be extended to the other amps in the line of Boutique Amp distribution / Synergy ?
there is at least one with a real tube inside , which i also use... the old b.k. butler tube driver... beautiful sound. not that modern as the friedman, ok... but it is 300 bucks for the butler... to 600 for the friedman. testplay would be fun i guess... i try. thx for your "Demo" man 🤣😂😋
Using the guitar volume is another really nice feature for this, plus you can get really nice spank with a bit of compression. Nice review - always enjoy your input.
@@EasyHeat they used a small lithium battery soldered to the board to hold the memory. It eventually corroded on the board and caused a short. It really did hold its own with anything on the market at that time.
@@ogmakefirefiregood Components are always the deal breaker. Just like early 2000 Korean capacitors. When one weak link leaks or fails? It's FUBAR for the PCB ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Thanks brother. Now I don’t have to wear out my JJ jr head. I was into VHT/Fryette. And Friedman. I can’t explain it in words but they both compress in the right spot. Other amps compress in the wrong way. I can’t explain it. But now everything is on my pedalboard.
What keeps me from buying this is you can't bypass the pedal. I need Fender, Vox, and Matchless tones also. I play in a variety band and need all sounds in history.
I am thinking of ordering this and loop this as well as loop my iridium to my line6 hx fx. This gives me my favorite amp simps in physical format to take on the road.
By the way. Im using this with the Harley benton iso 2 pro and it delivers enough Power on the 500ma labeled outputs. No hiss etc. And it works well with the cheap harley benton poweramps as well.
Thanks for the great review! Maybe Friedman should have opted for 1/8 TRS to allow full sized XLR! (But unsure if that would have given enough clearance within the chassis).
I know the power amp section is digitally modeled but does it need to be cranked to sound good or is the power section always in the “sweet spot” and volume just makes it louder?
Question✋ The Uafx lion has that sensation of an amplifier and Power amp and speaker air movement already confirmed...! But it seems that Freadman doesn't have this Power amp response and the air displacement of the speakers!?
Thanks for this review, I actually just ordered one of these and the new UAD OX stomp, it’s gonna be interesting using the 2 together and see what tones I can get .. maybe you can do a future video with those 2 together?
Is there a difference from this and a tube Amp line out to soundcard?? I play my supro blues King direct into the Daw and it works exactly line a preamp into my favorite plugin. Other devices (like Palmer Eins) could be like this?? What this device adds more than a tube Amp w line out other than more space and less weight?
Channel 2 is based on the BE preamp. The HBE would be more suited for today's metal. But you can probably get close to classic metal with a boost or eq pedal in front.
do i get it right? to run it through a cabinet on stage it has to be either an active one, like fa ender tone master fr12 or i use an aditional power amp? the pedal doenst have a real poweramp-section like the victory pedalboard amps who have 180m watt class D poweramps built in, right?
Well you “reviewed” the crap out of that. You were enjoying yourself so much, that it must be good. 42 minutes of pure rock. I must look into that Ibanez (I hope I spelt it right) Tube Screamer. Never heard of it 😂 Great review!
Wait, you have a Starbucks at 42 Gear Street now? Dang! Oh yeah, great pedal. I wondered in on Dave a few months back and saw and heard this being ironed out. It was pretty exciting but I kept my mouth shut about it. But now I don't have to. So, yeah, pretty great! Honestly, the price is better than I figured it would be, too.
Thanks for this demo- good to hear a versatile excellent player on this preamp. That Huber guitar is really nice also.[25.5" scale set neck ?]. I wonder if this preamp can be a little sweeter with 803S or different tubes where it will give a clearer Carlton/ EJ/ and a lighter overdrive version of Overdriven Chords - like EVH but even a little less gain . For lighter overdrives - is a pedal or tube pedal into channel 1 maybe better ? ALSO - I understand there is no ground on the pedal [ 2 prong plug ] - How are you keeping it so quiet = nice for studio = my interest to get one . Thanks - you have gotten some excellent tones and can really play and are studio savvy - so hence my questions . Thanks.
I've never liked pedals with a lot of knobs. There should be a maximum of 3, IMHO. When it comes to overdrive or distortion. But thanks anyway. I always liked your style of presenting material, so punkish and with jokes. -)
You, Michael Nielsen and Pete Thorn have me convinced: I may need this. I thought the same as you: This and a H9/H90 and you're done. I personally would use a Boss GE-7 in the front, but that's just me. It would make a lot of other gear redundant, but that's life, I guess.
If you want to run its output to FoH but still want some stage sound, would you just run a ABY splitter in the effects loop and run 1 output to (for example) the effects return of an amp and 1 back to the unit for the IRs and then the output to the board?
Ol’ Friedman’s got that covered for ya :) The balanced 1/4” out can send the IR’d signal to FOH while you simultaneously run the fx send to the fx return of an amp
Because its real!
Dave has a great ear for what sounds AWESOME. Because he’s real.
I bought one yesterday from a clueless retailer who didn't know they weren't supposed to be released until today. I can attest it's everything Henning says it is! I put it into the effects return of my solid state amp and it's a whole new animal now. Highly recommend
I have a question, do you disable the CAB IR? Do you loose the power amp emulation tone by going into FX return? I plan on using it in that very same way.
@@Javier-qk7ms Hi at the time I was using a Katana Artist and since it was a power amp and speaker I would go from the Send of the IR-X then to my delay/reverb pedal and out of there into the Power Amp In on the Katana. For a non Katana you would use the effects return. This allows you to use the amp power amp/speaker. The only time I think you would still want power amp emulation on the IRX with no IR is with things like the Seymour Duncan Powerstage. I don't think they emulate power amps, but I could be wrong on that point. The send on the IR-X bypasses both the power amp emulation and the IR. If you use the Out on the IRX you can bypass the IR but not the power amp emulation.
Oh snap!
With the hold for fx on/off you could…well sort of…use it as another channel on your amp. More realistically an easy (pre)amp change between songs with that press/hold.
This thing is great though. Thinking of how to use it w/o any sort of newfangled drive pedal…
You could EQ Ch1 for clean cleans and for med gain use the boost, EQ Ch2 for high gain. Or if it sounded better for your purposes, EQ Ch2 for med gain and boost it for high gain.
That’s exciting to me bc I have a hard time setting up my channels/pedals for all 3 with only one EQ on my amp.
But I’m the weirdo that likes to go from Fender cleans to 5150 chonk.
Good stuff! Tone King should work with Friedman to create a device with the same layout for the cleaner sounds.
I doubt Dave Friedman needs help from Tone King or anyone else to copy/mod/create clean preamp circuits. A tube preamp pedal like the IR-X is better suited for circuits where much of the gain, distortion, and general mojo comes from the preamp tubes. The popular clean amps like the classic Fender circuits have very simple tube preamps and their mojo comes more from their tube power amp sections, which can only be digitally simulated in a pedal like this.
@@jonathansmith2710 they already work from the same factory.
Been waiting for this for ages! Ordered it the second I knew they were available!
Henning, your mixes always sound great. If you ever made a course on recording / mixing guitar, I’d buy it in a heart beat.
I’ve been looking at Line 6, Kemper, Fractal etc. and other Preamp/IR pedals for months and the IR-X absolutely changes everything. My prayers have been answered!
Best line ever! 'I don't even know if it is released yet?' 'Its called a TS9' LMFAO
after 10 years of strictly playing Kempers (since 2014!), I just got the IR-X, plugged it in and holy hell... I have forgotten how to play my fu&§%ing guitar properly! This thing is really amazing and for me the missing link to a modern silent stage environment !
Why the Boost led is by the gain knob and not near the boost... UI is pretty messed up
I previously owned a ($499) Victory V4 "all valve" preamp pedal, yet had to part ways with it due to unforeseen finance woes.
Currently I've been using a Vox Valve Energy (KORG NuTube) Silk Drive as a means to subjectively liven up amp sims, and also as a way to incorporate various front of amp analog pedals direct into my interface without clipping concerns.
For the most part? It's been somewhat doing the trick, although I must admit that the Victory V4 had an overall more convincing analog "feel" to it.
Typically I try to avoid jumping right onto most shiny new gear hype trains, and TBH?
I genuinely didn't even have an interest in looking into this Friedman IR X till just yesterday.
Needless to say?!
Hello jaw...
Meet the floor!
Holy shit!
Bwahaha!!
As a currently unfortunate apartment dweller?
This preamp/IR solution seems to check all of the requirement boxes that, just a few days prior, I would of inherently associated with something like a REVV G20, or either a Captor X + actual amp rig!
I mean...
✅Fully analog 12AX7 front end running at proper voltage (Marsha-Marsha-Marsha!)
✅ FX loop
✅Minimal DSP cabinet IR round trip latency w/ 3rd party IR support
✅5 pin MIDI & USB functionality
Dude?!!!
I'm F'N hyped!!! LMAO!
Very seldom do I become this overwhelmingly impressed with a piece of hardware initially, but I gotta admit...
This thing looks freakin' badass IMO!
Me likey.
Me wanty.
Me wanty soo hard!
Bwahaha!
I'm glad I instinctively hesitated on the overall hype a bit, and seemingly waited to view your in depth demonstration, along with your invaluable "2 cents".
Mostly because within the subsequent deluge of YT guitar content creators?
Your voice/opinion is always the one that I truly value and respect the most.
🥰Daaaaaaawwww!🥰
Haha!
Now if you will excuse me?
I need to go whore myself somewhere for a quick $500!!!😅
ROTFLMAO!!!
Love you HP!!
P.S.
Oscar says:
"Bork!"
He's such a good boy!
😘
✌🤟🖖
Good stuff, Henning. And thanks for introducing that new-fangled Tube Screaming thing. If enough people start talking about it, it may just go somewhere.
Thank you for the review. I had a Dean Markley RM150 Solid State amp with a 12ax7 preamp drive back in the 90's, way ahead of it's time. Awesome amp and delivered quite well without pedals or with. This box, to me, seems like that re-invented. nice review. Thanks!
Why he didn't give the option of storing 10+ ir's is beyond me. It's digitally stored, small storage demands and would have made this so much more versitale. Having to go back and forth to a computer is just so silly to experiement and have fun with different cabs.
I would probably just use one if they only gave me one. I don’t need many options, just a decent one. I usually simulate v30’s since thats what my real cabs all have
Maybe you should learn to play guitar instead of flipping presets :) all kidding aside, I wonder how many presets Gilmore, Beck, Page, Hendrix... ever needed during their prime 😀
Gilmour and Hendrix had distinct setups including pedals and amps. Beck...yes, he could make a cigar box guitar out of an amp sound glorious. Since the Friedman pedal has 6 cabs built in, it obviously was intended to be played with to match a player's needs...so asking for IRs to be part of the pedal isn't so unreasonable. P.S. I'll work on my practicing. Cheers
Looks great. Only thing is really missing is like a per channel assignable reverb or maybe the fx loop is channel assignable.
Watched a demo/review yesterday. Totally underwhelmed! 😞 Thank you for at least getting some tones out of it that I liked! The treble thing is just too harsh for my ears and sounds like a bee traped inside a nasty, fizzy 8 inch speaker thing from the 90s
I hope you weren't listening to the review on your phone or soundbar :)
Ht metal, Dept 10 Blackstar, Victory preamp pedals, Revolt pedal, IRX : you can't always get what you want lol (Stones) so be happy with what you have :)
Your reviews never cease to be thorough and entertaining. The song at te beginning was as fitting for the review as it was tasty to listen to. Thank you so much for the never ending efforts!
Is this better into a FRFR using the IRs or into a real powered cab with the IRs disabled? Not sure if I should consider the Fender FRFR with this, or a Boss Katana etc
I’m using mine with the Line 6 power cab 112 plus and it sounds killer; tons of bass so I have to run the bass knobs below noon
Definitely interested in this one. Sounds great, nice and simple, and I think they priced it right.
Always enjoy your videos and your humor. I lived in Heidelberg for 5 years and miss that German attitude. I appreciate your honesty and integrity. Keep it coming.
in the clean channel it sound not very mellow, with good ears you can say it's not a tube amp
so, it's a marketing products for customers not able to buy a 1500€ Friedman head...
better use a Orange stomp box (220€) and a tube power amp like a Mooer (330€)
connections for loop and cabinet
the debate is open
@26:02 That saucy chord change....the tone, the fatness, you evil german genius! Sounded so good, I wanna get me one of these. My wallet will scream in pain, but the GAS voices in my head will be pleased....for now.
Feels like every single knob is positioned in the reverse order. Gain-Bass-Mid-Treb-Vol-Boost makes sense. Maybe he did it backwards because pedalboards layouts are kinda backwards like that?
Great demo (as usual I should say) !
What's the guitar you're using? The goldtop seems to be a' Heritage, but what about the other one ? It's gorgeous 😍 (sorry if you tell about it but I may have not heard)
Nik Huber
This "New" TS-9 thing from Ibanez, is almost as old as you Henning. 😆 ;o) 🐅
Hi Henning. What are your thoughts on this vs. A Two Notes Revolt? Please note that this will likely be combined with a Two Notes Cab M+.
You know, the new TS thing... there is a secret device, it is red, and it sounds wayyyyy better than the green one! It was in a secret japanese lab for 40 years!
I'd love to see a comparison between this and the Blackstar Dual Drive now🤌
Wondering if the latency between this and the ox box would be too different to use in stereo together. If anyone has resources or data on phase alignment guidelines for guitar signals, I'm open ears.
I think the question is more like should you get this for 620, or the Bluguitar Amp1 for 800-900, or the real deal Marshall SV20H for 900. I think 620 is too expensive when the others are so close.
You make a good point
i think the marshall head is at 1700...i just checked prices
Not sure about that 620. It's 595 in EU (Thomann), 550 in the UK, and 500 in the US.
@@saarangnarayan123 Thomann prices for Sweden (also in EU) is 620€. Since all EU countries have different VAT, there will be slight differences in price. All prices listed was from Thomann though so if your country has lower VAT, all prices I listed will be lowered so the relation between them are the same.
@@Tanax13 I see. Didn’t realise that tax would make it SO different. The prices I quoted for UK and US are from retailers based in those countries (Andertons and Sweetwater)
Balanced out is „Klinke“ because it can also be „unbalanced“ and go into a real poweramp instead of the FX out :)
I really wish you DEMOed it through a pwer amp and CAB. NO ONE seems to do that in the Demos.
Sounds reminiscent of Marshall Mode 4 tone that I always loved. It’s the closest to it I’ve heard.
Those green pedals aren't that new. I've seen them around for at least the last couple of years.
That TS9 pedal is a cool gimmick, but I really doubt it’ll take off.
It won’t
19% tax? Thats a lot. But I care more about having good sounds than I do about a variety that modelers offer.
If this is a synergy module in a different format, I cannot help but wonder the immense possibilities of where this would go in the future! Should be great fun! (I ordered mine this morning!)
It’s more than that
@@EytschPi42 definitely more than just a module, but I meant that if it’s derived from the module circuits, then it’ll be a great thing to see more modules being presented in this new format!
Setting the bar high, synergy needs to update their syn-1 and syn2 decks with these features to stay competitive!
that TS9 thing is fixed at a very annoying frequency (sounds like a fixed 2.5.kHz) it should have had a variable frequency so people can choose. I hope it doesn't catch on, there would be a lot of very annoying music produced.
Let’s hope
Does it have fans for ventilation or how does it avoid overheating the internal electronics with the preamp tubes which are still there releasing real heat?
So does it plug into a computer then an amp or into pedals and then an fx loop? This seems complicated
Henning this pedal into the ampn1 iridium would sound damn good you think?
Quick (and necessary) question: how would you compare this to the UA Dream and Ruby or the Victory V4 (that also uses tubes)? Cheers and congrats for the video! 👏👏👏
I am curious to this as well. I’ve got the Dream and Woodrow and I feel like the reaction to drive pedals is just lacking something. This pre with the OX Pedal that came out yesterday seems to be the combination of the best pieces of gear we’ve seen yet for pedalboard only guys.
I don’t know the Victory.
The UA stuff is killer, but it’s modeling and really doesn’t do gain well… it sounds like the original amps cranked up… fuzzy fuzzy and broken. Only great for edge of breakup, if anything, for me. The Friedmann goes in a whole different direction… and FX loop etc etc.
Can’t really compare them.
@@EytschPi42That makes all sense... I'm lucky (and crazy) enough to have the Dream and Ruby so I would like to know if this new pedal is a step forward in this regard. But as you say the UA pedals are modelers, so they can not compare to the Friedman and the Victory V4 (that I'm more leaning towards given the price). Any chance for you to review in the future these pedals / amps from Lee's brand? 😊😂😅 Cheers (and thank you for your quick response and attention provided) 👌
Any chance to compare with Tsakalis mothership?
ordered one, it seemed to sound better than the helix model. also wouldn't be bad to capture with my prime.
should add i had issues and returned it. did not play well with my stuff.
Killer playing Henning!
Promised myself "no more equipment" and now my question "how can I not get one of these"... while looking for a proper answer... I just ordered one. Thank you. One doesn't always need all the right answers...
Little know fact, TS9 is named for Taylor Swift’s 9th album, Evermore. It’s all over that album.
It’s subtle.
ts9 joke maybe funny one time,.. if that,....
Nice to hear it in a mix at the beginning and not ultra metal
I bought one just to copy it with the HX Stomp. I run it in front of a jcm800 clone clean channel. I really get the same excat tone and responsiveness with the hx stomp. No difference whatsoever, same feel, tone, characteristics. Let me tell you it’s a great preamp, wow… but nothing a good modeler cannot do.
The I/O on this thing misses the mark a bit. Running this into a Seymour Duncan PowerStage or Orange Pedal Baby type rig for example, you'd have to choose to deactivate the IR balanced out or use the Send - effectively getting rid of 1 of the 2 outputs/features. Why not also include a normal output for going into flat power amps?
Using the send will work and is a minor inconvenience. The back panel is already really full. But yes… would have been nice.
@@EytschPi42 True. I'm sure Friedman thought of a standard output and left it out for space saving reasons, or other design limitations. I'd personally ditch the 3.5mm headphone output.
Yeah but I would have had to bitch about that not being there
@@EytschPi42 Haha, touche!
You can go like this : Friedman send -> mod/delay/reverb/ -> splitter signal or left output of stereo pedal -> return Friedman. And the right out of your stereo pedal goes to your amp ( Seymour Duncan, pedal baby, etc)
Is it better then the tonex pedal? I was planing to buy one and now I'm not shure if this could be better, specially because I anyway just play british amps...
And like always: Thank you for your honest opinion and not just producing advertising videos covered as reviews!
If you only play Brit Sounds anyway, then get this instead of the ToneX
@@EytschPi42Danke für die Antwort!
Habe einen gekauft und das Ding hört und fühlt sich echt gut an. Ich bin speziell begeistert vom Kanal 1, für mich der beste Clean und Crunch Sound den ich bisher hatte.
It is just GREAT ! Thanks for the review. Next: the same concept could be extended to the other amps in the line of Boutique Amp distribution / Synergy ?
Three months later and it looks like Soldano is going to be the first to jump on the bandwagon.
there is at least one with a real tube inside , which i also use... the old b.k. butler tube driver... beautiful sound.
not that modern as the friedman, ok... but it is 300 bucks for the butler... to 600 for the friedman.
testplay would be fun i guess... i try. thx for your "Demo" man 🤣😂😋
I think this is everything I was hoping the Twonote Revolt was going to be.
Using the guitar volume is another really nice feature for this, plus you can get really nice spank with a bit of compression. Nice review - always enjoy your input.
Which one do you like better, the Friedman or the UA Lion?
not telling!
Great review. The media influx worked on me and I ordered one.
I had a Peavey Tubefex with two 2ax7. It was the best sounding rack unit I ever had. It gave up on me 10 years ago. This thing might fill the void.
I'm a huge Peavey nerd, and the Tubefex was way ahead of it's time IMO! Sorry to hear it failed.
@@EasyHeat they used a small lithium battery soldered to the board to hold the memory. It eventually corroded on the board and caused a short. It really did hold its own with anything on the market at that time.
@@ogmakefirefiregood Components are always the deal breaker. Just like early 2000 Korean capacitors. When one weak link leaks or fails? It's FUBAR for the PCB ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Thomann has it in stock in 15 - 19 weeks... How insane is that ? So, actually, NO, i cannot go buy this thing.
Thanks brother. Now I don’t have to wear out my JJ jr head. I was into VHT/Fryette. And Friedman. I can’t explain it in words but they both compress in the right spot. Other amps compress in the wrong way. I can’t explain it. But now everything is on my pedalboard.
You give me nervous poops
What keeps me from buying this is you can't bypass the pedal. I need Fender, Vox, and Matchless tones also. I play in a variety band and need all sounds in history.
In that case you should probably play a modeler
thats because its not a pedal. Its a an amp you can step on
I am thinking of ordering this and loop this as well as loop my iridium to my line6 hx fx. This gives me my favorite amp simps in physical format to take on the road.
Yeah that is one of my gripes with it but if you have a solid AB Y splitter you can use that to run into the IR-X and your amps
By the way. Im using this with the Harley benton iso 2 pro and it delivers enough Power on the 500ma labeled outputs. No hiss etc.
And it works well with the cheap harley benton poweramps as well.
So do you buy a synergy module + power amp or do you buy Friedman IR X and a power amp for a compact live amp setup?
I had a Victory Dutchess. This is a step in the right direction for a higher gain unit.
Can somebody plug an acoustic into this thing and see how it sounds?
NO, that would be horrible
Thanks for the great review! Maybe Friedman should have opted for 1/8 TRS to allow full sized XLR! (But unsure if that would have given enough clearance within the chassis).
Just picked one of these up. This is by far the best review of the IRX that I’ve seen.
I know the power amp section is digitally modeled but does it need to be cranked to sound good or is the power section always in the “sweet spot” and volume just makes it louder?
Basically a synergy module in a box. Everyone is a sucker for new gear. Not me.
Thanks a lot ! Great review, how do you compare with Synergy Be/Bb module ?
Question✋ The Uafx lion has that sensation of an amplifier and Power amp and speaker air movement already confirmed...! But it seems that Freadman doesn't have this Power amp response and the air displacement of the speakers!?
Yes
Thanks for this review, I actually just ordered one of these and the new UAD OX stomp, it’s gonna be interesting using the 2 together and see what tones I can get .. maybe you can do a future video with those 2 together?
Is there a difference from this and a tube Amp line out to soundcard?? I play my supro blues King direct into the Daw and it works exactly line a preamp into my favorite plugin. Other devices (like Palmer Eins) could be like this?? What this device adds more than a tube Amp w line out other than more space and less weight?
You nailed it
It doesnt sound like its for metal.
Channel 2 is based on the BE preamp. The HBE would be more suited for today's metal. But you can probably get close to classic metal with a boost or eq pedal in front.
do i get it right? to run it through a cabinet on stage it has to be either an active one, like fa ender tone master fr12 or i use an aditional power amp? the pedal doenst have a real poweramp-section like the victory pedalboard amps who have 180m watt class D poweramps built in, right?
Yes
I have a 4head vcr cleaner. I will fax it to you to fix the tracking
I‘ll take it!
Anyone knows the midy functions ?? Is It likes a modeller ?? Can i save each sound with different parameters in each Botton of the midi pedalboard?
You can’t save the knob settings
So much better than the Two Notes Revolt!
Sadly yes
@@EytschPi42 Can you elaborate on that? Why Friedman better than Revolt???
@@yoshizukurito my ears the Revolt did not sound good at all. This sounds really organic, juicy and warm. The Revolt sounded kind of synthetic to me
Ownhamer IRs. You’re welcome 😉
Hi - cool review - "Ownhammer" has really good IR's, I use a lot of them in my PodGo ...
"Don't put your tongue on it" I'll try to remember..Lol!
What an amazing thorough review, thank you very much!
How does the IR-X behave with drive and distortion pedals in front of it?
I showed that
Is it a very low wattage Friedman guitar amp? Can someone argue against that? I’m just curious. Not trolling.
No it isn’t. It doesn’t have a power amp
Do you prefer the DSM Simplifier MK2?
Très cool vid Henning ! 🤘🏽
TS9? Poppycock! Never heard os such a thing....
This thing sounds incredible. I've been using Helix the last few years but very tempted to switch to this
Well you “reviewed” the crap out of that. You were enjoying yourself so much, that it must be good. 42 minutes of pure rock.
I must look into that Ibanez (I hope I spelt it right) Tube Screamer. Never heard of it 😂
Great review!
Company with product and $$" can you do a demo review of this new thing we are trying to demonstrate?"
ahm... yes, that is how it works
Sounds like a JCM 800 to my ears
Thank you for another great review, Henning. Any chance you'd do a comparison between the IR-X, Synergy, BE-DLX, and the real HBE100?
I don’t have the HBE100.
I tell ya they‘ll all sound the same and do the job well. Most deciding factor will be the cab they are going through.
Wait, you have a Starbucks at 42 Gear Street now? Dang!
Oh yeah, great pedal. I wondered in on Dave a few months back and saw and heard this being ironed out. It was pretty exciting but I kept my mouth shut about it. But now I don't have to. So, yeah, pretty great! Honestly, the price is better than I figured it would be, too.
Great "pedal"???
Thanks for this demo- good to hear a versatile excellent player on this preamp. That Huber guitar is really nice also.[25.5" scale set neck ?].
I wonder if this preamp can be a little sweeter with 803S or different tubes where it will give a clearer Carlton/ EJ/ and a lighter overdrive version of Overdriven Chords - like EVH but even a little less gain .
For lighter overdrives - is a pedal or tube pedal into channel 1 maybe better ?
ALSO - I understand there is no ground on the pedal [ 2 prong plug ] -
How are you keeping it so quiet = nice for studio = my interest to get one .
Thanks - you have gotten some excellent tones and can really play and are studio savvy - so hence my questions . Thanks.
One of the Unfortunate things is the two prong plug I heard - so how are you keeping it studio quiet.
Not sure about changing the tube.
I do apply a gate in the input channel on my Apollo interface.
I've never liked pedals with a lot of knobs. There should be a maximum of 3, IMHO. When it comes to overdrive or distortion. But thanks anyway. I always liked your style of presenting material, so punkish and with jokes. -)
Except this is not a distortion or overdrive "pedal"!
@@hienvu1714 Partly. But it still buzzes, so what! =))
You, Michael Nielsen and Pete Thorn have me convinced: I may need this. I thought the same as you: This and a H9/H90 and you're done. I personally would use a Boss GE-7 in the front, but that's just me. It would make a lot of other gear redundant, but that's life, I guess.
Got mine yesterday and hooked up 4CM with my H90. Will be selling a lot of gear off…haha
If you want to run its output to FoH but still want some stage sound, would you just run a ABY splitter in the effects loop and run 1 output to (for example) the effects return of an amp and 1 back to the unit for the IRs and then the output to the board?
Ol’ Friedman’s got that covered for ya :)
The balanced 1/4” out can send the IR’d signal to FOH while you simultaneously run the fx send to the fx return of an amp