Friedman IR-X

It's 588 Euros here in Europe. And hereto to be at ease you'd likely have to add a noise-gate, a compressor, an exp pedal and some effects maybe....IMHO an FM3 would do the job for a bit more but be just as compact
I love the "wooden" sound though, seems a bargain if you only want the amp.
 
I bought one yesterday and made some clips comparing it to my Axe FX 3 if anyone's interested.

IMO it's a very cool unit especially for the price. You get a two channel tube preamp, plus IR loader, power amp sim, and boost. All analog and tube front end, digital back end, and MIDI programmable. It's not competing against the Fractal gear, it's competing against things like the Strymon Iridium type pedals.

Sounds awesome to me with very little fuss. Clean channel is pretty flexible, dirty channel nails all the BE tones of course, takes pedals really well, works with effects really well. I hooked it up in 4 cable method into the Axe 3 and it's just awesome like that. You can use the MIDI switching to change channels too with scenes. Pretty damn cool.

Again, $500 for a two channel tube preamp with footswitch and power amp/IR to go direct, not going to find a lot that can compete with that IMO.
 
Jarick said:
I bought one yesterday and made some clips comparing it to my Axe FX 3 if anyone's interested.

IMO it's a very cool unit especially for the price. You get a two channel tube preamp, plus IR loader, power amp sim, and boost. All analog and tube front end, digital back end, and MIDI programmable. It's not competing against the Fractal gear, it's competing against things like the Strymon Iridium type pedals.

Sounds awesome to me with very little fuss. Clean channel is pretty flexible, dirty channel nails all the BE tones of course, takes pedals really well, works with effects really well. I hooked it up in 4 cable method into the Axe 3 and it's just awesome like that. You can use the MIDI switching to change channels too with scenes. Pretty damn cool.

Again, $500 for a two channel tube preamp with footswitch and power amp/IR to go direct, not going to find a lot that can compete with that IMO.
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exactly this :)
 
Also for my particular use, I've wanted one of the smaller Friedman amps for a while, like the JJ Junior. But I never turn anything up in my house loud, so even a 20 watt tube amp is overkill. I have a Boss Katana that I keep in half watt mode with the master volume below halfway. So if I wanted the Friedman, I'd need to get an attenuator too, then we're talking close to $2500 just for a basic two channel tube amp rig I could use at home.

With the IR-X, I can run it with a couple pedals into the return of a combo amp, or run it in the loop of the Axe FX 3, or run direct into an interface and use plugins, it's very cool. Doesn't replace the Axe FX by any stretch, more complements it. Especially when I start going cross eyed with option anxiety lol
 
Jarick said:
I bought one yesterday and made some clips comparing it to my Axe FX 3 if anyone's interested.

IMO it's a very cool unit especially for the price. You get a two channel tube preamp, plus IR loader, power amp sim, and boost. All analog and tube front end, digital back end, and MIDI programmable. It's not competing against the Fractal gear, it's competing against things like the Strymon Iridium type pedals.

Sounds awesome to me with very little fuss. Clean channel is pretty flexible, dirty channel nails all the BE tones of course, takes pedals really well, works with effects really well. I hooked it up in 4 cable method into the Axe 3 and it's just awesome like that. You can use the MIDI switching to change channels too with scenes. Pretty damn cool.

Again, $500 for a two channel tube preamp with footswitch and power amp/IR to go direct, not going to find a lot that can compete with that IMO.
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Can the power amp / preamp sections be turned off independently of one another?
 
sprint said:
Can the power amp / preamp sections be turned off independently of one another?
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If you use the effect send, it bypasses the power amp and the IR. If you use the regular output, you can bypass the IR but not the power amp. Not sure how much modeling is involved in the power amp, or if it's just a little EQ.
 
Jarick said:
I hooked it up in 4 cable method into the Axe 3 and it's just awesome like that. You can use the MIDI switching to change channels too with scenes. Pretty damn cool.
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would it be possible to run the IR-X in one of the Axe's loops? so... guitar into IR-X, IR-X out into Axe input 2 (so you're not using the "secret sauce" guitar input of Input 1) and then you just load up the IR-X into the grid via Input 2 block and still can use the Axe's effects either in serial or parallel receiving signal from Input 2 block?
 
Sashman said:
It’s not a modeler, it’s a tube preamp.

And yes, it does have a power amp modeling.
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Don't get me wrong, the demonstrations of the unit sound great. I'm sure Dave will sell a lot of them. Hypocrisy bothers me sometimes. couldn't resist. sorry.:)
 
VegaBaby said:
would it be possible to run the IR-X in one of the Axe's loops? so... guitar into IR-X, IR-X out into Axe input 2 (so you're not using the "secret sauce" guitar input of Input 1) and then you just load up the IR-X into the grid via Input 2 block and still can use the Axe's effects either in serial or parallel receiving signal from Input 2 block?
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I saw someone talking about using a tube preamp of some kind (synergy?) with a loop (exactly like you described) on an FM3 for a dual-amp setup. So...I'm guessing that the answer is a resounding "yes".

But, I haven't tried it.

I wonder if there are latency issues doing that or if the Fractal takes care of the latency of the loop (the DA and AD, at least).
 
marsonic said:
I saw someone talking about using a tube preamp of some kind (synergy?) with a loop (exactly like you described) on an FM3 for a dual-amp setup. So...I'm guessing that the answer is a resounding "yes".

But, I haven't tried it.

I wonder if there are latency issues doing that or if the Fractal takes care of the latency of the loop (the DA and AD, at least).
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Exactly, I will use IR-X with AXE 3 together to have basically 3 amp blocks with option to use those 3 without any gap.
IR-X can be set even as a amp + cab block and everything can be programmed via midi.
There are so many options.
I can combine 1 hi gain amp block from fractal with one Friedman hi gain settings for stereo and then switch without any gap to 2nd fractal amp block set to clean amp model and Friedman set to clean sound and have now 2 clean amps in stereo.
You can also switch between 4 modes on a friedman without any gap.
The options are endless In combination with 2 amp block inside fractal.
You want to have 3 amps at the same time ala Adam Jones ? no problem, etc. etc.
 
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Jarick said:
If you use the effect send, it bypasses the power amp and the IR. If you use the regular output, you can bypass the IR but not the power amp. Not sure how much modeling is involved in the power amp, or if it's just a little EQ.
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I heard your clips on the other forum and I was surprised as I guessed the wrong one.

Would be interesting to hear the Fractal with the power amp off going into the return of the Friedman loop just to hear what the power amp simulation is doing.

And also the just the Friedman pre (send only) going into the tube pre model of the Fractal.
 
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VegaBaby said:
would it be possible to run the IR-X in one of the Axe's loops? so... guitar into IR-X, IR-X out into Axe input 2 (so you're not using the "secret sauce" guitar input of Input 1) and then you just load up the IR-X into the grid via Input 2 block and still can use the Axe's effects either in serial or parallel receiving signal from Input 2 block?
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I dunno, I just ran it in a loop on the axe and it sounded and felt great.

I will say I tried running it in the loop of a Boss GT1000 and it sounded really bright and ugly. Honestly that unit just sounds way too bright in general and I need to get rid of it.

I also ran it with an HX Stomp and it was better than the GT, but not as good as the Fractal. There’s something about the signal path or converters on the Axe 3 that just sound good to me.

I think the Friedman would be really cool with an updated version of the FX8 for effects only. It would also be cool with the FM3 but you may want additional switching options.

The idea of using the Friedman for high gain and gapless switching to a Fractal amp for cleans is cool too. Although the clean channel on the Friedman is versatile and sounds really good.
 
Thomas Obester said:
Exactly, I will use IR-X with AXE 3 together to have basically 3 amp blocks with option to use those 3 without any gap.
IR-X can be set even as a amp + cab block and everything can be programmed via midi.
There are so many options.
I can combine 1 hi gain amp block from fractal with one Friedman hi gain settings for stereo and then switch without any gap to 2nd fractal amp block set to clean amp model and Friedman set to clean sound and have now 2 clean amps in stereo.
You can also switch between 4 modes on a friedman without any gap.
The options are endless In combination with 2 amp block inside fractal.
You want to have 3 amps at the same time ala Adam Jones ? no problem, etc. etc.
Click to expand...
how are you gonna connect / route the IR-X ? my thinking was to definitely go directly from guitar straight into IR-X to avoid any of the limiter / secret guitar input sauce of Input 1 (and also to especially use it with real drive pedals in front) and then get it into the III mostly for effects and not so much for dual amp setups...
 
If Suhr did this sort of thing with all their amps and effects in a box, I’d buy it in a heartbeat. Same with Keeley. Friedman one sounds great in all the vids
 
I ordered one, probably won’t get to try it before business travel this week though I’m sure I’ll log plenty of hours with it.

I‘ve used the fractal, a be100deluxe, and bought this for the convenience of having it on my desk and to try the workflow.

I’ll keep all three options, they are all great tools for different moods.

rock on
 
VegaBaby said:
how are you gonna connect / route the IR-X ? my thinking was to definitely go directly from guitar straight into IR-X to avoid any of the limiter / secret guitar input sauce of Input 1 (and also to especially use it with real drive pedals in front) and then get it into the III mostly for effects and not so much for dual amp setups...
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there are many ways to route the IR-X.
Depends if you want to use friedman PA simulation or not. You either use send from friedman, or balanced out. You can set it in front of fractal or use in the loop or axe..so many options and all are nice :)
 
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