I'm definitely the minority here... I purchased one and I'm gonna gig with it this Sunday.
Don't mean to hijack the thread but here's my little thought on the Iridium (one of the greatest jazz bar in NYC!! )
TL;DR - I'm quite impressed.
Disclaimer: I'm not a strymon fanboy. (Though I do own an El Capistan. Lol) Just a curious guitar nerd wanting to try different gears as they come out. Who isn't?
Also, I've tried the HX stomp before so I'm kind of giving a "comparison" of the sound. Not the platform. Cuz there is no way this can replace our axe fx rig..... or can it...? Dum dum dum!!!!!
Sound:
I plugged it to my mixer with Yamaha HS7's. I'm quite stunned at how good the sound is. That's what I've been telling my other musician friend. Quite impressed that this thing sounds this good. It sounds less tamed and more raw. Through the recording it may come up as brittle or buzzy but it actually does sound very much like (similar) amps I've tried. I have a vox type amp and it captures the sound, the vibe and the feel of the vox very nicely.
I think all three (HX Stomp, AxeFx ii, Iridium) in the context of a live band sound amazing (I haven't tried the iridium live, yet.) We all know it's us who are audiophiles but not the audience. So I'll report back on this after my service this weekend.
(Also, That's why I'm putting the below category. Not live but for the bedroom players )
Headphone out:
So, I've been an axefx user for quite sometime now and I know how my axefx sounds. AMAZING. But never got the headphone out to have the same sound or feel I get from a PA.
I tried the HX Stomp as well. The sound was very good too. But a bit more tweaking was required than My axe. Couldn't get myself bonded with the headphone outs either..
Now the iridium. The first time I plugged it in. I listened to it out of the headphone jack. Never had a modeller where I actually enjoyed what I heard out of a headphone jack that instantaneously.
Feel:
I know feel is something we all look for. Lot of us attribute "feel" to how good the modeller is. We guitarists long for it cuz it makes us play better. Or at least that's what we like to believe. Haha.
The first thing you notice with Iridium is it has a really nice touch/pick responsiveness to it. You guys should definitely gotta try one. It really does have a nice amp-like responsiveness to it.
Pedal platform:
If you are still pedal users like me Iridium does take pedals really really well. I have few overdrive pedals and a fuzz pedal and wanted to kind of push the iridium with many of them turned on and I'm happy to report it doesn't fart out.
Amp-switching:
This is something I'm hoping strymon will fix. There's a bit of a volume drop of the first amp when I switch to another amp. It's not an instantaneous switch. So can't do that during live (say, for your solo section you want to engage a different amp.)
I know this is not a comprehensive review but thought my fractal family might be interested in it.
Have a great day y'all!
Don't mean to hijack the thread but here's my little thought on the Iridium (one of the greatest jazz bar in NYC!! )
TL;DR - I'm quite impressed.
Disclaimer: I'm not a strymon fanboy. (Though I do own an El Capistan. Lol) Just a curious guitar nerd wanting to try different gears as they come out. Who isn't?
Also, I've tried the HX stomp before so I'm kind of giving a "comparison" of the sound. Not the platform. Cuz there is no way this can replace our axe fx rig..... or can it...? Dum dum dum!!!!!
Sound:
I plugged it to my mixer with Yamaha HS7's. I'm quite stunned at how good the sound is. That's what I've been telling my other musician friend. Quite impressed that this thing sounds this good. It sounds less tamed and more raw. Through the recording it may come up as brittle or buzzy but it actually does sound very much like (similar) amps I've tried. I have a vox type amp and it captures the sound, the vibe and the feel of the vox very nicely.
I think all three (HX Stomp, AxeFx ii, Iridium) in the context of a live band sound amazing (I haven't tried the iridium live, yet.) We all know it's us who are audiophiles but not the audience. So I'll report back on this after my service this weekend.
(Also, That's why I'm putting the below category. Not live but for the bedroom players )
Headphone out:
So, I've been an axefx user for quite sometime now and I know how my axefx sounds. AMAZING. But never got the headphone out to have the same sound or feel I get from a PA.
I tried the HX Stomp as well. The sound was very good too. But a bit more tweaking was required than My axe. Couldn't get myself bonded with the headphone outs either..
Now the iridium. The first time I plugged it in. I listened to it out of the headphone jack. Never had a modeller where I actually enjoyed what I heard out of a headphone jack that instantaneously.
Feel:
I know feel is something we all look for. Lot of us attribute "feel" to how good the modeller is. We guitarists long for it cuz it makes us play better. Or at least that's what we like to believe. Haha.
The first thing you notice with Iridium is it has a really nice touch/pick responsiveness to it. You guys should definitely gotta try one. It really does have a nice amp-like responsiveness to it.
Pedal platform:
If you are still pedal users like me Iridium does take pedals really really well. I have few overdrive pedals and a fuzz pedal and wanted to kind of push the iridium with many of them turned on and I'm happy to report it doesn't fart out.
Amp-switching:
This is something I'm hoping strymon will fix. There's a bit of a volume drop of the first amp when I switch to another amp. It's not an instantaneous switch. So can't do that during live (say, for your solo section you want to engage a different amp.)
I know this is not a comprehensive review but thought my fractal family might be interested in it.
Have a great day y'all!