Ordered the Friedman IR-J

[fastredponycar]

Mine arrives Tuesday I think. I really liked the IR-D and the X was pretty good too. The vids I've seen so far for this one sound great so I have high hopes.

[Guitarbilly]

The videos I've seen so far sound really good but frankly I have not heard anything that convinced me that I'll like it better than the IR-D. But I know that YT videos only go so far so I want to have it in my hands and find out for myself.

[fastredponycar]

yeah the typical suspects all have their videos and all of them sounding exactly like they always sound. I feel like all 3 of his IR pedals so far are tweaks and iterations on the same fundamental formula. There's I guess only so much you can do with that small amount of space. I liked the drive channel of the IR-X a LOT but didn't jive with the clean-ish channel at all so it went back.

The IRD was a lot more useable for me and I loved it in the studio but was just kinda meh on it on stage. Something didn't sit right with the sound and I brought both my TAE and powerstation and port city cab to the show. I messed with both power amps and ended up just putting it back in my bag and using the Katana/cab and liked the sound a lot better.

[zozobra]

Tbf, if you look under the hood of a lot of the Friedman amps they're all just some minor tweaks on the same core circuit. It's going to sound like a flavour of Jose clipper Marshall.

[Guitarbilly]

I got it today. It sounds really good. The J sounds more open and has more mids than the other 2. The new boost section sounds good too. Better than the ones in the X and D. But I wish there was a gain control for the boost so I could balance the preamp gain and the boost gain a bit better.
It's a great pedal overall but I don't think it will replace the IR-D for me. I have the IR-D really dialed in and I think it works better for what I'm doing.

[Guitarbilly]

yeah the typical suspects all have their videos and all of them sounding exactly like they always sound. I feel like all 3 of his IR pedals so far are tweaks and iterations on the same fundamental formula. There's I guess only so much you can do with that small amount of space. I liked the drive channel of the IR-X a LOT but didn't jive with the clean-ish channel at all so it went back.

The IRD was a lot more useable for me and I loved it in the studio but was just kinda meh on it on stage. Something didn't sit right with the sound and I brought both my TAE and powerstation and port city cab to the show. I messed with both power amps and ended up just putting it back in my bag and using the Katana/cab and liked the sound a lot better.

I've had the opposite experience. On stage, direct, is where the IR-D has worked better for me, it sounds great and it's very simple to use. I haven't tried to use it live with a power amp and cab, because at that point, I'll just bring a head. But for situations where I have to go DI or just don't feel like bringing a cab, the IR-D has been a godsend for me, best DI solution I've heard so far.

In the studio, I just mic my cabs or use the Suhr Reactive Load, everything is already set up and ready to go in my studio and I get better results that way.

[2tallmusic]

But I wish there was a gain control for the boost so I could balance the preamp gain and the boost gain a bit better.
It's a great pedal overall but I don't think it will replace the IR-D for me. I have the IR-D really dialed in and I think it works better for what I'm doing.

Regarding the boost gain - I am wondering if there wouldn't be the option to use the MIDI presets to have more control over these settings by reducing the overall gain in a boosted preset But I neither saw the pedals nor the software IRL so it might be a kind of naiv question.

Spend some time with Pete Thorn's YT-demos yesterday and the IR-D seems to be generally the more versatile option compared with the IR-J. Discovered the Tsakalis Mothership on the same channel and that might be an option I would like to explore in my setup.

[Guitarbilly]

But I wish there was a gain control for the boost so I could balance the preamp gain and the boost gain a bit better.
It's a great pedal overall but I don't think it will replace the IR-D for me. I have the IR-D really dialed in and I think it works better for what I'm doing.

Regarding the boost gain - I am wondering if there wouldn't be the option to use the MIDI presets to have more control over these settings by reducing the overall gain in a boosted preset But I neither saw the pedals nor the software IRL so it might be a kind of naiv question.

Spend some time with Pete Thorn's YT-demos yesterday and the IR-D seems to be generally the more versatile option compared with the IR-J. Discovered the Tsakalis Mothership on the same channel and that might be an option I would like to explore in my setup.

The software doesn't really interact with the preamp, except for controlling the relays for channel switching and boost on/off, very much like it would be on an amp. The preamp and boost circuits are completely analog and the software does not even see their position.

The power amp and IR section are the digital side of the pedal so the software can control their settings, like the Thump, Presence and the choice of IR. But it can't do anything to the preamp, so adding/cutting gain would not be an option.