New Friedman IR-X preamp

[MirrorProfiles]

I really hope its the Naked preamp, and not one of the more similar BE/Plexi voiced ones. JJ and DS are kind of JCM800 based and could be cool too.

I'd imagine given the number of Friedmans out there that are already BE derived (BE100, SS100, Phil X 100, JJ100, Butterslax, Runt) having something with a different preamp style would be an awesome way to expand an existing amp.

 

[Whizzinby]

I really hope its the Naked preamp, and not one of the more similar BE/Plexi voiced ones. JJ and DS are kind of JCM800 based and could be cool too.

I'd imagine given the number of Friedmans out there that are already BE derived (BE100, SS100, Phil X 100, JJ100, Butterslax, Runt) having something with a different preamp style would be an awesome way to expand an existing amp.

I wonder too, since the power amp modeling and editor were developed in-house by someone with BAD, if this won’t queue up a lot of the BAD amp makers already doing Synergy stuff. Of course Synergy do go outside of their own amps (800, IIC+, 5150 etc.) but I bet the success of the IRX has all of them wanting to queue up, if the idea proves to have legs.

 

[DrewJD82]

I really hope its the Naked preamp, and not one of the more similar BE/Plexi voiced ones. JJ and DS are kind of JCM800 based and could be cool too.

I'd imagine given the number of Friedmans out there that are already BE derived (BE100, SS100, Phil X 100, JJ100, Butterslax, Runt) having something with a different preamp style would be an awesome way to expand an existing amp.

I’d LOVE a Naked preamp!!!!

He just needs to do a Billy Howerdel sig amp, damnit.

 

[MirrorProfiles]

I wonder too, since the power amp modeling and editor were developed in-house by someone with BAD, if this won’t queue up a lot of the BAD amp makers already doing Synergy stuff. Of course Synergy do go outside of their own amps (800, IIC+, 5150 etc.) but I bet the success of the IRX has all of them wanting to queue up, if the idea proves to have legs.

wouldn’t surprise me.

I’d (selfishly) prefer to try and keep the products in a closer family - as rad as IIC+’s and Uberschall’s are, the poweramps are worlds apart from a Friedman and the appeal for me would be to expand my existing amp with some additional preamp voicings. I’m sure a lot of the Synergy stuff would suit the Friedman poweramp as it’s fairly close to a standard Marshall style one, which is the basis for a ton of amps.

I’m obviously looking at this from a selfish perspective as most users are probably using the built in poweramp features and I’m after something slightly different.

I’d LOVE a Naked preamp!!!!

He just needs to do a Billy Howerdel sig amp, damnit.

I’d go nuts for those Howerdell tones for $500ish. The Naked was his signature in all but name right? They did a few runs of those, not sure how many they sold though. Guessing not enough to put them into regular production, but I think it’s possible to custom order them if you ask Dave nicely. I’m pretty sure the amp’s design was specifically from a Billy request and i’m not aware of anyone else using that amp

 

[Whizzinby]

wouldn’t surprise me.

I’d (selfishly) prefer to try and keep the products in a closer family - as rad as IIC+’s and Uberschall’s are, the poweramps are worlds apart from a Friedman and the appeal for me would be to expand my existing amp with some additional preamp voicings. I’m sure a lot of the Synergy stuff would suit the Friedman poweramp as it’s fairly close to a standard Marshall style one, which is the basis for a ton of amps.

I’m obviously looking at this from a selfish perspective as most users are probably using the built in poweramp features and I’m after something slightly different.

I assume they’d model the power amp of the new amp in question for each of these, not use the BE100 poweramp model for everything. Its a total guess on my part obviously, but I’d bet they can turn around a new power amp model much quicker as they refine their processes doing more of these.

 

[Whizzinby]

And it would be kinda cool, maybe, if as they model new power amps for these, they made them selectable in the editor for any pedal in the line. Sort of mix and match the power amp emulation, to pair with whatever analog preamp pedal you own.

 

[aivoryuk]

wouldn’t surprise me.

I’d (selfishly) prefer to try and keep the products in a closer family - as rad as IIC+’s and Uberschall’s are, the poweramps are worlds apart from a Friedman and the appeal for me would be to expand my existing amp with some additional preamp voicings. I’m sure a lot of the Synergy stuff would suit the Friedman poweramp as it’s fairly close to a standard Marshall style one, which is the basis for a ton of amps.

I played the Fractal FM3 IIC+ through the Friedman IR-X power amp simulation and it sounded great to me.

 

[MirrorProfiles]

I played the Fractal FM3 IIC+ through the Friedman IR-X power amp simulation and it sounded great to me.

And it would be kinda cool, maybe, if as they model new power amps for these, they made them selectable in the editor for any pedal in the line. Sort of mix and match the power amp emulation, to pair with whatever analog preamp pedal you own.

Do we know if the power amp emulation is anything more than EQ curves? I kind of feel like its an area where they'd go with something "close enough" so it doesn't add a ton of expense for the last few % of accuracy. Like I dont think the poweramp behaviour is the main focus of the unit so my expectations there are fairly low.

Either way, I'd expect each unit to have its own specific poweramp voicing, which is fine but I'd rather pair these with real poweramps, and ideally the ones closest to the real deal. Another one I'd quite like would be a 5150 II that I could run into my 5150 Block Letter. I suppose a IIC+ into my Mark III power amp would be fairly tasty. Bogner XTC and Helios would presumably be pretty good with any Friedman / Marshall style poweramp.

 

[aivoryuk]

Do we know if the power amp emulation is anything more than EQ curves? I kind of feel like its an area where they'd go with something "close enough" so it doesn't add a ton of expense for the last few % of accuracy. Like I dont think the poweramp behaviour is the main focus of the unit so my expectations there are fairly low.

Either way, I'd expect each unit to have its own specific poweramp voicing, which is fine but I'd rather pair these with real poweramps, and ideally the ones closest to the real deal. Another one I'd quite like would be a 5150 II that I could run into my 5150 Block Letter. I suppose a IIC+ into my Mark III power amp would be fairly tasty. Bogner XTC and Helios would presumably be pretty good with any Friedman / Marshall style poweramp.

I couldn't say with 100% accuracy but I was going back and forth between just the FM3 pre amps and then with the Friedman power amp (level matched) and it definitely sounded and felt like there was something good going on and not just an EQ curve.

 

[cragginshred]

Ok as promised, this is what is sounds like unleashed in the room. No DAW processing just an iphone. Pic of board and setting is in the vid

 

[Elric]

Do we know if the power amp emulation is anything more than EQ curves? I kind of feel like its an area where they'd go with something "close enough" so it doesn't add a ton of expense for the last few % of accuracy. Like I dont think the poweramp behaviour is the main focus of the unit so my expectations there are fairly low.

Agree... I suspect the DSP power of that device (the IRX) is pretty low. Some of it will be eaten by the IR handling. Also, frequency response (i.e. IRs, EQ) can "fool" a lot of folks. So I'd guess it does some compression and filtering that's been tuned to the preamp. Compared to the complexity of something like a Fractal or Helix model that power amp sim is probably pretty primitive, I'd wager... The fact that it cannot be turned off in the IR loader and the fact that almost no parameters that would be related to negative feedback (presence, depth) are exposed even when using the editor, feels telling.

Maybe they do something clever like mimic reactive impedance, too. That would make sense.

That said, it is clearly sufficient to sound decent, but that is hardly a surprise, really, given that a preamp into a carefully chosen IR does not need a power amp emulation at all to sound good to most.

Either way, I'd expect each unit to have its own specific poweramp voicing,

Yeah, there's no point in having it there if it is not going to be tuned at all if the line is going to expand. IMHO. Heck, just tell the customers it is mimicing a 'Mesa' or whatever, even if all you change is the Freq response.

which is fine but I'd rather pair these with real poweramps, and ideally the ones closest to the real deal. Another one I'd quite like would be a 5150 II that I could run into my 5150 Block Letter. I suppose a IIC+ into my Mark III power amp would be fairly tasty. Bogner XTC and Helios would presumably be pretty good with any Friedman / Marshall style poweramp.

Yeah, w/ IRL power amps it is hard to determine which ones are a big deal and which ones are not doing much until you start feeding them different preamps, etc, and the speaker cab is probably dominates perceived outcome in many rigs. Operating point can become a thing with power amp sections (i.e. MV vs NVM amps). In the end, I prefer power amps that are mostly staying out of the way but have some control over the very low and high end (i.e. presence/depth), TBH.

 

[MirrorProfiles]

, I prefer power amps that are mostly staying out of the way but have some control over the very low and high end (i.e. presence/depth), TBH

totally agree with everything you said, and this too.

If there was some extra controls for a power amp I’d choose:

- Presence
- Depth
- NFB
- 3 way switch for presence frequency
- 3 way switch for resonant frequency

I think that would cover basically everything. Those could easily be dumbed down into names presets

 

[ejecta]

I wonder too, since the power amp modeling and editor were developed in-house by someone with BAD, if this won’t queue up a lot of the BAD amp makers already doing Synergy stuff. Of course Synergy do go outside of their own amps (800, IIC+, 5150 etc.) but I bet the success of the IRX has all of them wanting to queue up, if the idea proves to have legs.

I personally think the Syn1 with a UA OX stomp would be a great rig that yes is more pricey for sure but already have access to a great preamp selection and built in effects to the Ox Stomp. I may actually give that a try at some point soon.

Again the Friedman IRX was a good little unit just didn’t work for me. YMMV

 

[hemmelight]

Welp, I couldn't resist and one of these arrived today.

I really like the Fractal FM9 + Fender FR-12 combination, but I still love the feel of analog and toobz when I want that. First impressions (running the IR-X into the FR-12) is that it really does feel analog. I haven't tried using the IR-X with proper studio monitors yet, but the FR-12 seems to love it.

The "digital veil" you get with modelers is something I can feel even when running the Fractal into a power-amp + real cab. Hard to describe, its one of those "if you know you know" sorta things. Almost as if there's a glass window between the sound and your speakers? Sounds like wanky BS but I don't know how else to convey it. I don't really feel that separation at all with the IR-X, even when using the balanced out into an "FRFR" speaker. It feels remarkably like a real amp with this setup, and much better than I was expecting. Nice! Still need to try running it into a power-amp + my real cab, though.

I used the included wall wart power supply at first, which funnily enough is actually "Diezel" branded on the underside. Must be the same ones that ship with the little solid-state mini amps from BAD. I read somewhere (maybe on The Other Place?) that Dave says you can actually run the IR-X off one of the Cioks DC7's 9V / 660mA outputs and it should be totally fine... so I tried doing the same with my Cioks SOL and everything appears to be hunky dory. I couldn't detect any obvious changes in sound or headroom levels.

Really digging this so far and much prefer it to the Pink Taco V2 I had. This is more flexible and doesn't seem to have the same annoying high frequency spike that was killing my ears. This thing has a crazy amount of sustain and gain on-tap if you want it. Feels great under the fingers.
Channel 2 is the MVP so far, but I'm still finding my sweet spot for Channel 1.
Real tube amps are sexy but this box has enough tubes in it to fool my dumb monkey brain.

 

[Whizzinby]

I read somewhere (maybe on The Other Place?) that Dave says you can actually run the IR-X off one of the Cioks DC7's 9V / 660mA outputs and it should be totally fine... so I tried doing the same with my Cioks SOL and everything appears to be hunky dory. I couldn't detect any obvious changes in sound or headroom levels.

That’s awesome. I think I’m going to pair up the QC with the IRX and was hoping to be able to power up both the DC7.

 

[Spaced Out Ace]

I'm using the first channel as a clean Marshall preamp for some distortion pedals. I am planning on getting a Fryette PS-2A and a cabinet (possibly a Bogner Uberkab with T75/V30 in an X pattern). Cab IRs are fine, but I think I need an analog option.

 

[hemmelight]

That’s awesome. I think I’m going to pair up the QC with the IRX and was hoping to be able to power up both the DC7.

Welp, scratch that. For whatever reason it was working totally fine the first time I tried it... but I powered everything up again a few hours later and I was hearing a short buzz at semi-regular intervals coming through the speaker. Almost like when you tap the guitar cable with your hand. Swapping the IR-X back to the wall wart instead of the SOL fixed it. Damn.

Might have to get one of those current doubler things to be safe, I guess.

 

[Achilles]

It's the 21st century and we can have on-line meetings with participants all over the planet communicating audio-visually with each other in real time via huge chunks of metal and software orbiting the planet and being launched into space on top of multi-stage rockets.

Yet.......

 

[aivoryuk]

Welp, scratch that. For whatever reason it was working totally fine the first time I tried it... but I powered everything up again a few hours later and I was hearing a short buzz at semi-regular intervals coming through the speaker. Almost like when you tap the guitar cable with your hand. Swapping the IR-X back to the wall wart instead of the SOL fixed it. Damn.

Might have to get one of those current doubler things to be safe, I guess.

I had something similar over the weekend and think it may have been the IR-x plugged into my computer - once I took the cable out and then plugged back in it seemed to disappear. Not sure if that is the case for you.

 

[Jarick]

Mine powered up using a single 500ma connection but didn’t seem to sound as good and/or there seemed to be some power issues. I got a current doubler cable for it like my HX Stomp.

Mine has been a little unstable with the app freezing as I select or load different impulses. Unit itself is fine but the app connection isn’t.

Still enjoying it with the HXFX but haven’t had much time to play.

I didn’t realize you could extract the impulses to use in other devices. I may have to try them on the axe fx…