An Affordable Impulse Response Pedal // Sonic IR Demo

[@SONICAKE]

We are so pleased that you love our products!! Thanks, Alex.

[@joebowbeer]

3:09 IR Processing: 24bit, 44.1kHz, _1024 points_

[@TroyShahanMusic]

I’ve played electric guitar for over 25 years. Running a Sonic Cake IR through my PA (Newer Mackie board w/Bose line arrays) is the best I’ve ever sounded. The sound is just very present, and accessible. I use no amp, and I’m in the mix better than I have ever been. Forget searching through expensive tube amps, hauling heavy amps, or insanely technical/expensive tube replacements. This is the amp for me :-) I’ve stopped using my Peavey XXX, and my Boss 2x12 Katana because of this $60 tiny pedal. AMAZING!!!

[@BOBANDVEG]

What pa you use?

[@rayclark6596]

That review is the quality we are looking for and earned you a new subscriber.

[@neogeo8267]

For under 100 you can get the FLAMA stereo IR pedal with a proper foot switch and more options. I just picked one up but would love to see your review of the same

[@AlexPriceMusician]

Depends on what you need I suppose. That looks like a good pedal too. The high and low cut I'm not sure are too useful as an IR that measures a cab just has that built in, but it looks interesting. What does the latency knob do?

[@neogeo8267]

@@AlexPriceMusician from what I can tell so far, it adds a deminished echo to the input before the cab processing to give sort of an accompaniment to the sound. I've got a few Public domain ir now and playing around with it. Wish it had a dry bypass to allow mixing of the original dry into the output, I guess I can use the second channel for that but it will take a mixer to make that work I think. Very interesting pedal so far. Was considering also the possibility of looping it back into itself left to right as each channel can have its own independent ir so it's really two processors in one.

[@MikeColeVocals]

This definitely looks like a great little IR loader. I’ve been searching around for one but have always been a bit gun shy of cheaper stuff. This looks really promising for direct applications.

[@AlexPriceMusician]

It seems like it works well. For me the only concerning factor is the plastic potentiometer shafts - just try not to kick it I guess.

[@MikeColeVocals]

Yeah, the plastic pot shafts are a bit of a worry for sure! Could be a bit of a problem if you’re not careful.

[@kittipongp7519]

Can it work with acoustic ir ?

[@AlexPriceMusician]

@@kittipongp7519 yep!

[@leftofzeroofficial]

I'm still using my old pod xt live and the cabinets have always been the weak link, this might be what I'm looking for to go direct at gigs, bypassing the awful impulses in the xt live and running my output into this. Great video !

[@richardtremblay7634]

You can tell it holds its analog footprint. When you went back and forth, you can definitely here the digital cold sound from the helix. Can’t believe that little thing can do that. What’s this sorcery? ! ?

[@henrikhansson1]

I hope this comment is a joke. Right?

[@MS-Patriot2]

@@henrikhansson1me too. It’s got a DSP inside with a 9mS latency, you can feel it, like playing into an aggressive compressor. Sounds good, just lacks the immediacy of direct to a valve amp.

[@picker63028]

Best video on this pedal so far. Yes I would consider one for my rig.

[@jovanradojkovic5167]

Thank you for this great video man, i wanted to buy some ir loader fo my Zoom g3xn, but I didn't wanna spend a fortune on it, and now I decided to go with this Sonicake ir. Works for me and my needs. Again thank you bro 👌💪🤘

[@neogeo8267]

Id love to get my hands on decent acoustic violin IRs, just got electric violin which is why I found out about ir in the first place.

[@BIGTREESJOE]

check out 3 Sigma Audio. They have a large set of violin, viola, and cello IRs in various sample rates. Not free, but inexpensive

[@AlexPriceMusician]

3Sigma's bundles are fantastic. I have the Martin D45 and one of the cello ones. I've had a few successful attempts lately at capturing my wife's Strad design and mine which is Guarneri dimensions. If you've got an interface and a mic, you can create your own too - kzbin.info/www/bejne/hZjQfWivabGAmZo

[@felipemartins2310]

i would also like to use it with the violin, but i worry about latency. I saw a video that shows it to have 9ms latency. Would it be a bother?

[@BIGTREESJOE]

@@felipemartins2310 No, I do not believe 9ms would be noticeable at all. That would be equivalent to the latency of someone talking to you from about 3 meters away

[@felipemartins2310]

@@BIGTREESJOE ok, very good!

[@danielhornbeck6588]

I had to muddle through dozens of vids to get here... You actually KNOW how to properly dial up a tone.

[@AlexPriceMusician]

Thanks Daniel - I agree, a lot of demos on the internet of modelers being played by people who are great musicians, but haven't quite gotten the hang of the product yet.

[@kevinmyles6369]

Great pedal! Like it a lot. Cool acoustic IR bundle. Awesome video! Sub'ed 👍👍

[@BIGTREESJOE]

It's a shame that no one makes an IR pedal as deep and flexible as the thafknar AUV3 iOS plugin. It supports IRs long enough to include significant reverb effects, not just 23ms cabinet/instrument body IRs.

[@AlexPriceMusician]

Especially for violin IRs! Capturing a great recording of a violin relies heavily on the reflections in the room, which is why strings are usually mic'd 2ft+ away. I'm sure translating that to an IR would work similarly.

[@robertdouble559]

Just throw a reverb after the IR. Convolution reverb if you really want a "real" sound.

[@user-qf7hn3yh3f]

Thanks for video. Now I definitely know what to do 😊

[@MartinKaltwasser-cx9il]

Hey! Thanks for the great Review! I have a question: I just bought a Darkglass B7K. Is it possible, to go out of the XLR D.I. of the B7K into the Input of the Sonicake IR via an Adapter (XLR to 6,5 Jack) ? Will this work? thanks in advance

[@michaelgarbett4088]

Wow!! Your video quality is incredible!

[@ClaudioMayrink]

Hello Does the SONIC IR Pedal have a BYPASS preset? How can I BYPASS this pedal? Thank for help

[@AlexPriceMusician]

Hi - no official way to bypass it, however if you connect it to your computer and delete one of the IR files, that number associated will now pass the signal through unaltered.

[@ClaudioMayrink]

@@AlexPriceMusician Great. I thought exactly this way. So glad this idea will work. I tried NUX MINI STUDIO for 2 weeks. I confess I didn't like it very much. So I bought the SONIC IR (I'm waiting for it to arrive). Watching videos the sound seemed better to me. Perhaps the simplicity of the product it favors the tone. Thank you so much.

[@AlexPriceMusician]

Let me know how you like it! I've been using this lately with my acoustic rig.

[@johnmccaleb2122]

Excellent demo. I wish others would do it the same. Kudos

[@PabloLaFrossia]

Great video! Is the XLR out from the Sonic IR line or mic level? I'm assuming the Helix is putting out line level signal, but the manual on the Sonic IR is not clear. Also, did you find yourself raising the preamp gain on your interface at all when using the Sonic IR? Thanks again!!!

[@CurranLong]

plugged into my mac but not showing up as disk. any help?

[@davidgoode7416]

Great video, thanks

[@pyratoothNL]

Excellent review, comparison and instructions. Thank you.

[@AlexPriceMusician]

Glad it was helpful!

[@goncalomartins9090]

This is a good review, my question if you can help me is, do you notice much diference of the sound impact of the IR on Libra or Naddir in the PC and on the Sonic IR pedal? I em searching for this question everyhere and i cannot find it... It is well know that are some devices or even software that doesn't guarantee the quality of the IR like the Lbra or Naddir software does. And i wanted to know if you notice some major diferences from Libra or other good IR loador to the pedal. It conserves well the IR? Thank you very much

[@KonradSkowronski]

I bought legit IR's for acoustic guitar at Worship Tutorials, loaded them but they don't work. I used 24/44,1 files roughly 3-15 kB and they just don't work. I don't know what's wrong?

[@martysradioshow5979]

Wow its a complete demo thank you

[@JoeHasGas]

I'm getting a hotone 5150 solid state 5 watt head. Can I use this in to the amp cab input?

[@AlexPriceMusician]

The cab simulation should happen after the amp head.

[@fanigallagher]

Some say it got a latency, do you experience it ? How long is the latency ? Thnks

[@AlexPriceMusician]

About 9ms - not noticeable on its own.

[@mowhoudin]

Both DI and 1/4 inch cable guitar are affected? The bypass deleting one IR It´s cool but Is there a way to use the 1/4 inch not affected so I can plug It and use my amp in the stage and use the DI for Console/PA?

[@JoiaDiaz]

Do you happen to have a demo on the acoustic IR ?

[@boobooau]

Good demo of a good product. Thanks

[@vio4jesus]

Thanks for your videos. Have you tried the TC Electronics IR Loader? I 'think' TC Elec may be a bit more well known company. They have an IR loader that same 'small' pedal size. Any thoughts?

[@AlexPriceMusician]

I'm sure it works great! Yes, they're a little more well known. I own 7 or 8 Sonicake pedals though and think they're just as good - they just don't have Behringer's advertising budget.

[@andre.schwantes]

Is to possible to load and run reverbs IRs in this pedal?

[@ClaudioMayrink]

Hi there... I would like to know. Is the P10 output affected or is this just an input link? Is output P10 a bypass or is P10 affected by IR? Regards.

[@PavelRedBoyLynxTretyak]

Hi! I have about 9ms latency on my sonic ir when play, it's uncomfortable! Do you have? Maybe my pedal is broken?

[@AlexPriceMusician]

That’s normal. There is a/d and d/a happening so 9ms may be high when compared to products in a higher price range, but in my mind that is still totally acceptable. Most people (myself included) will not notice 9ms. However if you’re stacking this with other digital effects, it can start to add up. A good rule of thumb is that generally good musicians are able to starting recognizing latency when it hits around 15ms.

[@AlexPriceMusician]

*10% off discount code:* If you're thinking of picking up the Sonic IR, Sonicake reached out and set up a discount. The code is my name, no spaces: AlexPrice Here's the link to their website - bit.ly/SonicIR - you can apply the code at checkout. If you'd rather purchase through Amazon, you can still do that - amzn.to/43l5oSP

[@jhernandezdmd]

Thank You Alex! Great review! I just got one in order to improve my acoustic guitar sound. I have a question; Where would you place the IR in the signal chain for an acoustic guitar which is going to get some reverb, EQ and maybe some compression? I'm using an Alvarez MD60BG with an LR Baggs Lyric pick up and using my Line 6 Pocket Go for my effects : ) Thanks Again!

[@AlexPriceMusician]

Hey Juan - I would put the impulse response right at the start of the signal chain. You want to affect the dry, unaltered sound of the guitar before you pass it on to other effects. Sometimes I'll place an EQ beforehand but most of the time that is afterwards if I need it.

[@cgonzt5636]

Thanks for the review.. Awesome playing style. Nice sounds! Though I’m not sure if it’s bec of IR loader or Line6 in itself has good tones already. I own old multieffects like Zoom G3 and thinking if adding an IR loader in the end of pedalboard can improve tone quality? Actually I’m skeptic how different is this IR pedal today vs those amp/cab sim found in old multieffects. If it’s just about tone eq difference, I would skip bec I can edit in soundboard console. But if you’re talking about real tone difference, like getting inspired to play bec you’re really hearing big improvement then I will definitely get one.

[@musicman4christjesus]

I also ordered one. I have a G3 as well and love it. I have it on my pedalboard right after my volume pedal. So I use it to play all my delays and reverb etc after the volume pedal. Before the volume pedal I have my Joyo American Sound pedal as my amp Sim and all my other drives. I'm planning to place the Sonicake IR loader right after my American Sound Amp Sim pedal but before the volume pedal.

[@howardpoulin23]

How does the IR pedal work on at the end of a signal chain going directly into a board without an amp?

[@clintwhite3021]

Might be a bit muddy and stale as proper preamps are actually quite bright, react to playing dynamics and have some natural compression. You can certainly find brighter IRs that are meant to be used that way though or load one in a DAW and EQ it 😊

[@danueltuason6970]

By deleting 1 ir will it be totally true bypass or buffered bypass?

[@dispersemedia]

Can you use both outputs simultaneously and is there an option to turn off the IR on the unbalanced out?

[@AlexPriceMusician]

They can be used simultaneously, but they'll be the same signal.

[@thenumber1bobo]

2550 is the silver jubilee. So wait, is this an amp sim? Or just a cab sim?

[@AlexPriceMusician]

Just cabs - IRs won’t do amp simulations.

[@13StJimmy]

This might be just what I’m looking for. I have a bunch of IRS from the Alesia Midiverb 2 and would love to put them in a pedal, especially for the Bloom setting. Idk off hand how long it is and if it’ll work but if anyone’s tried it let me know!

[@AlexPriceMusician]

No, sorry. Cabinet and acoustic IRs are incredibly short. The pedal doesn’t have enough memory for a reverb IR.

[@wrenchposting9097]

blackpilled again...

[@tanvir1113]

Can i use this with my line 6 pod 2.0 ? Any suggestions?

[@AlexPriceMusician]

Definitely, just disable any cabinet simulation and place the IR loader after the Pod.

[@tanvir1113]

@@AlexPriceMusician Thank you.

[@BluesSky]

good review, thanks.

[@BillAltman]

Nice, got one on the way

[@benjam9035]

As a solo musician that plays acoustic half the time and a hollowbody with some overdrive the other half, Would this be a good option? To load an IR like a VOX and one for an acoustic & use it in place of a DI box & just be able to switch out guitars? Thanks for your informative video!

[@AlexPriceMusician]

Yes! I think it'd work great for that.

[@benjam9035]

@@AlexPriceMusician It has replaced my bass amp as well…

[@musicman4christjesus]

If I use this effect in my pedalboard can I still use the reverb pedal?

[@AlexPriceMusician]

Absolutely. Experiment with it before and after the IR

[@musicman4christjesus]

I ordered one! Do you have a link to where I may find any free or low cost IRs? Can I use IRs with Amp section and speaker responses all baked in? Or am I limited to using only Cab style IRs?

[@AlexPriceMusician]

IRs typically only emulate the frequency response of a speaker cabinet. Most companies that offer IRs have a free bundle you can download to try out. Check out York and Ownhammer. The IRs that this pedal comes with are decent though.

[@musicman4christjesus]

@@AlexPriceMusician thanks I was checking out the Ownhammer irs like the Revolution bundle but they are 200ms..Will the pedal auto truncate them and will they sound okay?

[@AlexPriceMusician]

200ms may be over the limit. I noticed that some longer IRs wouldn’t load on the Sonic IR, not sure what the exact measurement of time is. Honestly, a cabinet IR has no business being any longer than 25ms though. I don’t know why Ownhammer IRs are so long.

[@MichaelStoneham]

I surprised they didn't include a bypass on/off switch and the ground switch. Especially if it has a Di out.

[@musicman4christjesus]

From what I read you can load a blank or place holder IR and put it on a slot and that would be your bypass slot.

[@danueltuason6970]

​@@musicman4christjesuswill it be true bypass or buffered bypass?

[@musicman4christjesus]

@@danueltuason6970 I think it's true bypass when you assign a slot for an empty cab.

[@danueltuason6970]

Thanks!!

[@accentontheoff]

Beginner here to this kind of thing. Does this unit contain amp sims or just cabinet sims via IRs. If the latter, are you using the Helix amps. Thanks in advance.

[@AlexPriceMusician]

Just cabinet simulation. IRs don’t carry information like saturation, just EQ over time. Yes, I believe I was using Helix amps for the demo

[@accentontheoff]

@@AlexPriceMusician Got it thanks.

[@Dobroz99]

Thanks so much.

[@CelloCoach]

For the violin/viola, how did you capture it?

[@AlexPriceMusician]

I just made a match EQ with some microphones and the line from my pickup. Send me an email sometime - would love to catch up.

[@lucasbitencourt9701]

Você poderia me falar se esse pedal tendo a saída balanceada se ele trabalha além de conservar o sinal íntegro do instrumento se elimina os ruídos tipo de energia e etc

[@AlexPriceMusician]

It does not have balanced output or a ground lift. It outputs a high impedance signal, typical of other guitar pedals. You might want to consider a DI box if you're regularly using the Sonic IR live. Walrus DI box - amzn.to/3CVsy7B Behringer (cheaper) - amzn.to/3CW2hpM

[@5T3LTH]

If you leave some slots empty can you put longer ir files?

[@AlexPriceMusician]

Slightly, yes. But there is still a limit on each file slot.

[@uptownphotography]

Well done and useful information. I am looking for a decent Speaker Cab IR mainly for recording direct with FX pedals without breaking the bank. I am on the waiting list for the Fractal FM9 (yes that will break the bank) and until my name comes up I need something decent for recording guitar solos...If you have any suggestions please feel free.... BTW: I enjoyed your playing and liking what sounded like the Phrygian scale in some of your improv. Gave you a sub too...Well done Alex. Phil NYC Area

[@AlexPriceMusician]

Hi Phil - check out the Vox Valvenergy series pedals if you haven't found a solution yet. They're tube-based and also come with cab simulation. That's everything you'd need to record direct. I have demos of the Mystic Edge (Vox AC-30) and Silk Drive (Dumble-style) on my channel.

[@uptownphotography]

@@AlexPriceMusician Thanks Alex...I will surely check those out! Appreciated... Phil NYC Area

[@eFiddle]

SUBBED, Great to hear this review from a violin player, may I ask why you only need 1 wav file? I thought you need input file, and output wav too? Is it realistic, that i hope to load this with some wav file, so I can play electric violin, and it will sound like say, a Banjo? I only used guitar effects before, so, am completely new to this IR thing, please help before I buy this.

[@AlexPriceMusician]

Hi - no, you’ll only need one mono wav file. If the file is stereo, it’ll automatically default to the left channel. Think about IRs as a way to change the EQ of your instrument in a very precise way that standard EQs aren’t able to achieve. It’s still going to sound like a violin and no IR will change that. If you want to achieve what you mentioned with the banjo, you need to look at MIDI. There are electric violins built with that in mind (Zeta Jazz Fusion has a model), though you should be able to make it work on your current violin with a piezo pickup and a device that interprets the signal and converts it to MIDI data. Then also a floor processing unit to manipulate that data with a banjo sample.

[@ta04trf]

Have you successfully loaded any third party IRs into this? My unit became dead after attempting to do this and no way to recover it.

[@AlexPriceMusician]

Yeah it worked fine for me. You can see at 9:18. Get in contact with the company. I’m sure they’ll set you straight.

[@ta04trf]

@@AlexPriceMusician Thanks for confirming. Yeah, they sent me a replacement unit and now I have 2 dead units. I'm just going to buy the new TC Impulse instead I think.

[@Fl4ppers]

with videos like this it would be cool to overlay in text on the screen what the exact signal process is going on. Not surprised the lil IR pedal can do that either, the tech has really moved on. I paid £150 for a Mooer Radar a few years back and I'm still impressed.

[@Bl4mmo]

Will this load acoustic IRs?

[@AlexPriceMusician]

Yep!

[@amadeufonseca8410]

😊😊😊

[@doom2kill]

ITS CALLED HX STOMP NOT HELIX!!!! TWO DIFFERENT PRODUCTS.

[@SimonMeunier]

Same sounds in the unit so same deal. Just different user interface

[@liontone]

Found one for $35. I mean… really? Nice low-tech no-frills problem solver.