OUT OF THE BOX: The BOSS IR-2 pedal comes in one of those cool black boxes. It has a small card with a QR code to access the manual and software downloads online. On Top are four knobs. Three of them are dual-stacked knobs. The outside rings control Ambiance Level and Gain. And the small inside knobs are a three-band EQ: Bass, Middle, and Treble. To the right of those is an Amp selector knob. Here, you can choose one of the 11 included Amplifier models. Included are Clean, Twin, Tweed, Diamond, Crunch, British( Marshall), Hi-Gain, Soldano, Brown, Modded, and Rectifier, each with a matching Celestion cabinet IR. The IR-2 also comes with software to load your own custom IRs. You can load your IR into any of the 11 slots, and with the app, decide whether or not you have a mono or stereo loop and what type of Ambience: Room, Hall, or Plate to go with your custom IR. On the back, we’ ll find a typical 9 Volt DC input, a 1 / 8-inch headphone output, and the USB-C Connector to your computer. On the right side is the mono guitar input, the stereo return for the loop, and a jack for an external switch between the two amp settings. You will find output A & B and the stereo send for the loop on the left side. The pedal can be powered by a 9vDC battery as well.
IN USE: The IR-2 is simple to use, and the stock sounds are really good. I was very impressed with the IR algorithms. BOSS has packed a lot into this tiny but efficient pedal. I was also curious to check out the sounds of the three ambiance / reverb settings. There’ s a room, a hall, and a plate. My favorite is the plate, and it sounds fantastic. Note: when using the onboard loop, the stereo reverb is post-loop in the signal chain. I love that they included this stereo loop. Even though the pedal has a mono amp and cabinet, you can go out of the loop into your stereo delays, modulation pedals, etc., and right back into the IR 2. Then, you can go directly to the PA system, headphones, or USB-C for recording. This loop feature also sets the IR-2 apart from the Amp and Cab simulators I’ ve checked out or have in my studio. Also, most amp-sim pedals are based on one amp model or just a speaker emulation. The IR-2 has the best of both. You can also choose to use the pedal only as an amp modeler or a Cabinet IR pedal.
Next, you can save two different amp settings. The amp settings also automatically save. One will have a green indicator and the other red. These are switchable with the pedal’ s footswitch or via the external jack. To bypass them both, you hold down the pedal to put the pedal in bypass mode. Hit it again, and you are back to your green setting. This is also a remarkable feature of the IR-2. You can have a clean amp like a Fender, etc, and have your other channel set as a Soldano or Marshall. If you play electric and acoustic, you can set the
May 2025 Subscribe for Free... 61