Boss IR-2 Amp and IR Cabinet Simulator - Why you need this on your board

[@CasinoGuitars]

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[@30years2late]

What’s the reasoning for the zoom in of the settings if you’re not gonna edit it to work correctly?

[@Unfunny_Username_389]

ikr

[@kevinmayo152]

I just got one! I love it because I can quickly and easily go from my amp setup to my iPad, pedals, effects loop and all. I play at home in a common area and headphones are often needed to keep the peace. Honestly, no one needs to hear the noises coming from my guitar! 5 stars.

[@faethe000]

What does your ipad do in this scenario?

[@thomas79marshall]

How did you get one when it hasn't been released yet?

[@faethe000]

@@thomas79marshallIt was released over a week ago. Plenty of places have them in stock.

[@Spetsnazty]

@@thomas79marshall yes it has. They are only available at dealers physical locations currently. I have one.

[@Spetsnazty]

@@faethe000it plays music through the pedal into your headphones. Or KZbin if you’re trying to learn. There are also other things I think it can do. But I’m not sure that’s just one that I know of.

[@Gutch220]

the only thing is, each amp isn't 2 channels. The red is whatever you set it to last, and the green is whatever you set it to last. So green can be a 'brown' setting while the red can be 'twin' setting.....or both red/green can be set to the same modeling with two different settings.

[@gren3515]

thank you!

[@garyatkins4479]

Yup .. he didn’t read the manual .. I laughed when he said green and then red channel of the amp setting .. that sir does not exist . You just flipping between the two saved presets

[@deanjantzen5098]

Yep. Was stopping here to see if someone else said that yet. There is no “green” or “red” for each amp.

[@BobbyGeneric145]

​@@garyatkins4479yup, you didn't hear him say "i didn't read the manual". Ffs, its an off the cuff initial reaction. Start your own channel and make a more accurate review.

[@18JR78]

Use a boost pedal or a drive. Done...

[@gt96g]

Hoping to see one of these for bass in the future. Seems like a great idea relative to the form factor and cost.

[@Metalbass1979]

I totally agree.

[@Gutch220]

also, one over-looked factory setting is the amp-type setting that you can choose. The default is the direct LINE signal, but there are like a dozen different amp-type settings that are optimal for whatever you're putting the audio signal into. For example, the INPUT/RETURN of a JC-120, or Katana, or 1x12 combp, 2x12 combo, 4x12 stack, etc. I haven't experimented with these much, but the option does exist beyond the direct line signal that is the default for audio interfaces, computer programs, a PA, etc.....this is all in the manual.

[@coffeedudeguy]

I’m guessing Direct is the one to use with acoustic IRs?

[@Gutch220]

@@coffeedudeguy I would guess so, but you can always experiment. I doubt it would be treated like a regular acoustic guitar since you're playing an electric guitar that is emulating an acoustic, so you could always adjust the pedal settings to your taste. The manual says for the default factory setting of the LINE signal: "use this setting when connecting to a PC audio interface, keyboard amp, mixer, or digital recorder" So you could leave it as the LINE signal, but if you were, lets say, using an acoustic IR into a JC-120's loop RETURN, you could choose this option on the IR-2 pedal. But if you were playing an acoustic IR into a console, or PA or something, you'd almost certainly just leave it as the direct LINE signal and adjust your sound in these devices.

[@coffeedudeguy]

@@Gutch220 I think I get it now. I'm thinking more along the lines of occasionally I would play an acoustic guitar through my main pedalboard, so I could just switch over to that mode using the IR-2 instead of having a another acoustic guitar pedal take up space on the board. Will have to try it out for sure, thanks!

[@goryburk]

I just dished out a about $150.xx More and bought the Boss ME-90. It's got 11 amp models with other effects (basically a whole board with the amp modeler). It can be used with a computer and Boss tone central or in a stand alone just using the knobs and switches. There are several ways to hook it up. I use the left and right line outputs directly into my Audio interface. I have to say I love it. Boss is doing a great job with their pedals and effects.

[@patdelaney]

Wow - nice - Boss have killed it, I love the simplicity - no parameter overload. Now if they could do a bass version - oh yes please🤔 (SVT, B15, Aguilar etc etc)

[@maxine2798]

You get some bass amps in the IR 200. Don’t forget Trace Elliot.

[@FreakyraymanNOTOW]

You can use a guitar amp+cabinet modeler for bass too!

[@ogmakefirefiregood]

I have the Boss GX100. The amp models are fantastic. The effects are great as well. Best pedal I've ever experienced.

[@Studio22mix]

Yepp, I have that same one and I really like it too. A shame that you don’t hear about them that much on guitar channels because it’s a nice piece of gear 👍🏼

[@davereichert]

I'm guessing it wasn't intentional, but when you were cycling through settings, the overlaid graphics were not updating to show the knob/switch positions.

[@AutismRocksOfficial]

2XL behind you put a smile on my face 🙌

[@TheSoulmatesFamily]

Got it wrong about the green & red channels. You can save one amp settings on green and one on red.

[@GuitarQuackery]

Man, I love your playing. You blow me away. I do watch your conversations with Baxter, but now that I realize what a great player you are, I look forward to watching more videos of you playing.

[@28mmRPG]

WOW!! Thats pretty darn sweet sounding!

[@erifkind]

The only thing this pedal is missing is XLR stereo outputs so it can be a direct box when you’re playing live.

[@loudguitar]

The only thing keeping me from buying one.

[@skittlybeepbop13]

What does that mean?

[@loudguitar]

@@skittlybeepbop13 It means that if you want to run direct into a PA you will have to have a direct box or if you want to run in stereo, two. They cost more than the pedal.

[@kingswayguitar]

1/4" to xlr exists

[@jongreenhalgh]

wont be a clean send to the board @@kingswayguitar

[@jonthehermit8082]

Pretty cool, I’ve owned the ir 200 since it came out and haven’t had any want or need for any kind of modeler or ir since, this would serve most of its uses, still got full use of my beloved pedal board.

[@williamsporing1500]

I have a board with an ir-200 and HX effects….it’s all I need

[@jonthehermit8082]

@@williamsporing1500 great stuff man, tons of stuff you don’t need as well.

[@cartermartin6284]

The Boss IR-200 is nice because it includes bass amps/cabinets!

[@injeralover]

How is this different the the Line 6 POD? Interested to hear a comparison.

[@simon_patterson]

I agree.

[@prodajie]

Thinking of adding this in the loop of my GX-100 to free up some DSP for more space echo's.

[@TechnoRiff]

That's a nice sounding amp/cab sim, and for the price and small form factor, unbeatable right now. Personally, I would also consider its more expensive and larger big brother the IR-200 that offers way more parameters and 128 preset memories. It's great to be able to recall numerous settings that one has painstakingly worked on easily. That was the same logic I used when I chose the Boss SY-200 over the SY-1.

[@MrJbangoy]

Yep, this thing ended up making me buy an IR200

[@ProfVonW]

IR-200 Has less amp choices and no plate reverb, if that’s important to you.

[@timlaine6268]

I like it, but would choose the ir200 over it.

[@TechnoRiff]

@@ProfVonW Great points. It looks like the IR-200 has 5 guitar and 3 bass amps to the IR-2's 8 guitar amps. The IR-200 has a "Studio" ambience mode that adds "air" by simulating a studio off-axis ambience mic (had to use Bard to get that info) - in place of the IR-2's "Plate" mode. Reading thru a product's manual before buying it can often help (most are usually available online these days).

[@chadjackson1132]

Yessss I have the IR-200 and it’s my main live amp now.

[@jalexander192]

how does it react with an overdrive before it?

[@DeplorablePepe]

So do you plug this into an amp or can you go direct into a PA system with it? Do you run your delay, compressor and other pedals before it? Do you need a powered cabinet for it?

[@thelovacluka]

I think you can do both. Into amp or into PA.

[@lazersheep]

How come the knobs never move on the graphics?

[@supernothing77]

I just wanna say I did not realize you were such a professional lovely sounding guitar player. Super tasteful, nice touch, musical, controlled, mature

[@RonGusky-ei5em]

Great video, I’m hoping to get to your shop again this summer

[@adrianmcgrath1984]

I think Boss have done really well with the connectivity. There are boxes out there that only do one amp, cost twice as much and only have one single 1/4” output. If it’s about convenience, then the flexibility of the Boss is ideal.

[@SvenTheSveed]

Sounds great, for a mini rig I don’t think you can go wrong.

[@justinbreeden7922]

Why put up an overlay if it doesnt show where the knobs actually are?

[@CinderB]

If I have a pedal board with a stereo out how do I input it in this one?

[@Burkhimself]

Would’ve liked to hear you on an LP for some of the amps.

[@Shredsofeden]

Can you put this pedal in front of a clean fender amp.With the Cab simulators off!

[@weinerdogcat3101]

Great demo, I ordered one from Sweetwater because of this.

[@BipityBopity93]

Hey just a minor correction, the red and green channel are just the saved sounds. So you can have a tweed on one and the Mesa on the other. Don’t think of it as red channel and green channel on an amp, it’s just two saved amp settings.

[@RobJMeronek]

I imagine they’re doing that for guitarists who only need a two switchable channels amp for what they’re playing. Usually a clean and rhythm channels that you can add effects to or even an overdrive pedal for leads. Well done Boss.

[@anniedarkhorse6791]

This has been confusing me, too. Is it the case that when you're in one sound (eg Brown) then you turn the knob to Tweed, you get Tweed then if you click the pedal you go back to Brown? So you are then switching between Brown and Tweed when you click the pedal. I find the manual a but confusing on this.

[@BipityBopity93]

@@anniedarkhorse6791 no. So you make a sound on the green channel, let’s say with the tweed setting, then you click to the red channel and make a sound using Brown. The green channel is now your tweed amp saved sound and the red channel is now your brown saved sound.

[@ChristopherWalker007]

It sounded pretty good to my ears. 👍

[@gregmize01]

definately a home run for Boss and us.

[@blues62751]

Nice pedal Jonathan. Great riffing brother! 👍🎸

[@Bhallmed]

Some one will run this through the Tonex capture software for its own setting. So you have both the tonex and boss settings in one box.

[@cubano100pct]

Can you compare this to the Two Notes Opus?

[@MKong-lv3kk]

Can‘t tell you how much I love this Tele ❤😊

[@stephenjeffrey75]

I could definitely see one of those in the future.!

[@1rocknjerry]

One question I have, can you roll back on the volume on teh guitar to clean it up ? Like a tube amp and modellers?

[@bourbonloftstudio]

Those pickups are killer ! Tasty licks too, my friend.

[@rockkstah2550]

Im getting this pedal for sure! thanks for the post..

[@saleseng]

Glad to see Boss making a compact device with both Amp Sims and cab ir. I have a couple of IR loader pedal sized devices, that I use with my 120 watt Orange Crush Pro head. When not wanting to hear the cab at night if you have an effects loop you can run the send out for the signal to one of these IR cab pedals and pick your particular cab and then listen with headphones to the device works great. Just keep the master on the amp turned to zero so you don’t hear the real speaker cab and you can use the individual volumes on the dirty or clean channel for your volume to the headphones

[@Bryanpjc]

Thanks for the review! Did i miss where you did the Diamond (Vox) setting? To me, that's the standout!

[@fastacesus8499]

You can change the reverb type. Room, Hall, Plate

[@joellebrodeur1015]

Just received one and itching to play around with it.

[@MrDizzygiz]

Great demo, i must say, i think you should check info on your "red side and green side", they are 2 different setting and amp choices, that stays where you leave it before you switch. Just Sayin' ;)

[@terryrintelmann6669]

So..if I run this into a d.i...I can bypass running a amp?..tryin to get away from lugging a amp

[@eoinjennings519]

Love your playing!

[@KoolKatDave]

Awesome pedal, but I wish BOSS would update their boring color palettes. They are sticking with blah blacks, grays, whites, etc. It would be nice to have British Racing Green or even some cool new yellow, red, or orange pedals to break things up.

[@TheZynMan]

Ive been crazy happy with the Mooer pedals that do this, cool Boss is at it as well

[@davidsummerville351]

Great episode! Your demos are invaluable. The pedal graphics are so helpful, love the lighting, audio was excellent. Thanks 😎🤓

[@84kjk]

So this goes through the amp? Straight into the front? Effects loop? I have a Marshall dsl if that matters. So I imagine I’d set the amp to a neutral setting and then use this?

[@cre8ivjay]

Is this typically used through the PA or is it meant to be played through your normal guitar amp (which I would think would color the amp simulation a bit)?

[@ryanshook8284]

What is the use of the graphics in this vid? He tweaks it but it'd be awesome if the graphics where corresponding to what it is exactly we're hearing.

[@myhapylife]

There is no green or red side of the amps its just two presets as snapshot of the knobs.

[@seanrichards9569]

If you kept everything at 12 o’clock, then it sounds like all the hi gain sims are a lot lower level than the clean ones. If you can save and trigger from a laptop with level and gain settings that’s fine, but bit of a concern as a basic foot pedal, as flipping from dirty to clean would be unusable on stage, no?

[@jasoncorganbrown]

When the pedal is off, is it true bypass?

[@johnb5691]

How did the "Diamond" setting sound? I assume it's a Vox sound?

[@dcamnc1]

Yeah Diamond is a Vox on my Boss ME90. It's what I use most of the time.

[@sanchezlabro3177]

Read the manual properly before demoing a product wrong dude

[@TheFeelButton]

It's on my list! Cheers Jonathan!!

[@Funkfreed]

would've been nice if you showed the pedal while playing it instead of a steady image

[@ArkAmps]

unreal value for the money, such a well thought out and executed product, Boss has really kept their name strong by being relevant and affordable enough

[@curtisbrady7827]

Where are people getting this thing? Every place I've checked says you can only pre-order.

[@joellebrodeur1015]

I happened upon a camera shop that carried it on a lark. Ordered the last one Thursday and arrived today. Never thought to check audio/video/camera shops carry some music gear.

[@briancoyne6700]

I would like to hear this pedal compared to the ME90’s amp model sounds.

[@Shredsofeden]

Can you put this pedal in front of a clean fender amp.I imagine you would have to turn off the cab simulators.

[@christopherbenedetto]

What are you playing it thru as far as speakers and amplification?

[@morninglovepa]

I need this answer as well. I’m new to amp sims and IR’s and need it explained to me like I’m 5. I don’t understand them at all.

[@Heartandskullprojects]

What actual amp/speaker setup are you running through the signal chain? Or is this a direct box?

[@Marko9801ZG]

Got mine yesterday, instantly fell in love with twin and tweed sims... Today fell in love with marshall, peavey and vox...

[@thomas79marshall]

How did you get one when it hasn't been released yet?

[@Marko9801ZG]

@@thomas79marshall Boss IR-2 was released and I made my order @thomann on 30.11.2023. - in EU. Got it 2 days ago. It's on backorder almost from the start, and I'm very happy I found out about it the same day it was released...

[@vmx23]

@@thomas79marshallit’s been out for over a week

[@sunburstshredder]

For $200, I don't think you can go wrong! This just might be a Christmas gift to myself

[@drabgothita2884]

BOSS needs to make this for bass (I'm going it get it exclusively for the svt setting)

[@christophernoia5197]

That tele sounds killer

[@MusicStillRules]

i have this running cab mode only in stereo into a tube eq then to a line mixer then to adam audio powered monitors. also have stereo fx unit in fx loop. in front i have guitar into friedman be-od deluxe. it all basically kills my fractal fm3 in terms of a dirty sound. fractal of course has hundreds of tricks as opposed to the boss but i only use a few sounds anyway and love the boss.

[@doctorscoot]

i use a two-notes cab-m, which I find suits my needs. i use an origin effects ‘magma57’ as the preamp, and only the power amp and speaker sim/model in the two notes. i use their Fane speaker sim and EL34 tube model, i.e to emulate a hiwatt. i wish it was stereo - or more to the point, as it has two simulated mics, i wish each mic had a separate output (not even the new one they released a couple months ago has this!). does the boss pedal have an app that allows you to get into this sort of detail?

[@michisauer]

Same here with the opus for bass Ebs preamp into opus I think the torpedo remote is quite overwhelming for beginners, but it's one of these go to solutions.

[@Corporations8MyBaby]

It can’t sound that much”lesser” than any of these things. They all sound pretty right in the stereo speakers. Some “feel” different… probably because of impedance settings. I bought two different brands and ended up using the one with headphones for practice purposes mostly. (I have vintage amps). This doesn’t have that, right? For emergencies only on a live board. That means I’d have to buy a direct box or two. I’d want black panel, tweed and AC models. That’s about it. I do like the effects loop for the delay and reverb. Cool review!

[@TechnoShamanism]

Boss’s marketing department seems to have made the term “Game Changer” a prerequisite to influencers getting one for “review”

[@joellebrodeur1015]

It's a tired phrase.

[@sigma5054]

Awesome play awesome pedal.Green for clean Red for shred😊

[@Sea_Jay]

It's like a Katana in a pedal. Sweet.

[@plaidretinas]

The IR-2 is based off of the GT-1000 using AIRD technology, so it’s better than a Katana. The Katana is based off of a GT-100 using COSM tech.

[@vmx23]

@@plaidretinasthis is a common misconception just because of the sneaky amps. The Katana uses Tube Logic like the flagship Waza Amp and Blues Cube.

[@danwilson9530]

Thinking a good backup too!

[@jefflaliberte6911]

Lovin' that Tele...

[@fajarputranto6410]

soo its a mooer radar?

[@slimsantilli4476]

The S.L.O. sounds so kickass

[@louaguado995]

I think there are modeling pedals that are more versatile for the same price that allows you to switch up the cabinets and microphone types and placements. These all seem to be fixed, unless there's a usb port and software for more precise editing? I'd rather go with a Valeton, Mooer, Flamma, Sonicake, Nux, all make great floor modelers with an expression pedal for $200 to $300

[@harrisbeatsfrankou6304]

The fact Strymon didnt make an Iridium 2...with Two Amps ABY and expression pedal and effects loop was a huge error. All they needed was Riverside Expression style and Topography with a loop like my Ehx Oceans 12 which doubles as stereo in out. This is a gane changer. I tried a Nux Amp Acadeny it was great but I got a Lemon...and sent it back.

[@RMPalm2000]

Will this kill modelers? Maybe low-end ones. There is still a place for more complex rigs like axefx / helix / kemper and they do more. Plus, if you want a dedicated fx loop you'd need to spend more cash for the IR-200 and at that point you'd be better off just waiting for some variant of the hx stomp.

[@Stefan-]

The IR-2 does have a built in stereo effect loop which is placed before the built in reverb . It is of course a fairly basic solution wjich cost only a small part of the ones you mentioned but if all you need is amp (toggle between two amps/IRs) and speaker emulation and reverb you could gig with just this small pedal even on a standard 9 volt battery and you can expand using the effect loop.

[@ginolamendola4084]

Thanks for another awesome video ! I’m sure you can more out of it with different types of guitars also.

[@tjnugent62]

The pedal sounds really good. Boss has done it again! The Cabronita Thinline looks interesting. What exactly is it?

[@bks252]

The Cabronita is a 2 TV Jones pickup telecaster. I have one in gold. Has a 3 way switch and 1 volume knob. Great sounding guitar. Very unique sound for a Tele.

[@tjnugent62]

I made a black one with the Powertron Pickups. I love TV Jones in everything they do. @@bks252

[@michaelogden5093]

What pick are you using?

[@guitarjonathan]

Honey Picks!

[@tommessina5973]

I see a lot of folks jumping on the wagon here, but I hear just too much harshness coming through in the video, maybe just tough to capture well through KZbin. Nice guitar man.

[@marekgitarzysta5193]

It has two footswitchable presets NOT two channels per amp. Both presets can be the same same amp at two seperate settings or two completely different amps

[@petriseppala8669]

Exactly what i was going to say, how he didn´t get that? RTFM 😅

[@MrJireh09]

That 2XL in the back......just great

[@iansmirna5183]

After much hesitation, I got myself one of these. Now I'm getting drowned in an ocean of IR to choose from on the Net to try replacing the stock ones. Any recommendation much welcome, especially for the clean tone (i play only with a clean sound).

[@thatcrazybeat3725]

York Audio

[@matthewblake2258]

i agree!@@thatcrazybeat3725

[@lukebryant1130]

Tone Factor XR IR

[@gokhanersan8561]

The boss house sound : like music coming out of my 1994 PC speakers.

[@Patriot6669]

The little Sony's lol 😂

[@baileywatts1304]

Wish it had a balanced XLR out, but that's certainly not a dealbeaker.

[@the_hippykiller22]

Just go for a HX Stomp. It's 100x what this thing wishes to be.

[@vmx23]

@@the_hippykiller22you are missing the point of the IR-2 like many others. You can’t buy a new HX Stomp for less than 200 bucks.

[@neilwarden]

Sounds not too bad at all. I bought a TC ELECTRONIC AMPWORX DeLuxe a few months back, sounded harsh, I ended up selling. The Boss is £40 more and I imagine will be better value than the TC. I currently use a Tech 21 Blonde (all analog) as a pedal base, the Boss will hopefully be a good investment but doubt I will replace my T21.

[@alexstrums]

Does anybody use this pedal with headphones? I’m currently running my pedals through a Boss Katana mini with headphones. Sounds good but I’m sure the IR2 could sound better

[@anejo333]

give me a LITE version with tweed and twin and i would buy that . sounds great

[@aliZoso]

Ye I think he's got the green and red mixed up, there just different channels, not clean and dirty, it's just as you set them. I've stopped looking at the names of each amp flavor, and just go with what sounds good to me.

[@donald-parker]

I'm a bit confused about the idea of an amp and cab sim without an XLR (or even a TRS) output. Is it supposed go into the front of an amp? Or in the return of an effects loop (bypassing the amps preamp)? Or is it supposed to be used with an FR/FR amp?

[@tomholderness]

the type of connector is irrelevant really, these sort of units in a live situation need to hit a DI box of some kind before going to the desk as the units outputs are unbalanced. If you have a usb interace at home just plug straight into the DI input

[@donald-parker]

@@tomholderness Still confused. Assuming that amp and cab sims come at the end of the signal chain (maybe a bad assumption, but if so, I would welcome some guidance on deciding where it belongs in the signal chain) why does it make sense to require yet another box (a DI box) to be able to use this pedal? In my (admittedly naive) view I would have expected the output of this device to go directly to a PA or an audio interface. Probably stupid, but I am just not groking the intended use.