Yes yes yes! I primarily play in church/worship venues and am blown away by how simple yet amazing the Iridium is. I just replaced my amp with it... no more carrying my heavy amp to and from church!
For those that were struggling with the iridium like I was, a few key notes: 1- I'm pretty sure all the IR's that were used here were all stock and it just goes to show that it truly is an amazing pedal. Awesome job from Strymon 2- I know that the stock IR's aren't the best for some, and some choose to go with third party IR's, and ofc there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. HOWEVER, I speak for those that either choose to stick with ALL STOCK IR's, or can't afford other IR's (which is totally understandable) there're a few things you guys can do 3- 1 of the methods you can use is take a look at the settings displayed in the video and copy what Brian and Bradford had done, and tweak from there 4- You can go the traditional method and start going through each of the amps and cabs starting with all the knobs at noon and really deep dive and get to know the amps and cabs. This will take some, but really helps to see how everything reacts and can help you zone in on the sound you want 5- if you need more headroom, level trim, bypass stuff, etc, the iridium has secondary functions that allows you to tweak it further to help sculpt the sound you want I know I'm super late to this, but just in case if there're those who just purchased an iridium, I hope this helps, cheers
We've been using Vox AC15s for our guitars at church, we keep them isolated and mic'd up with 57s. Having a real tube amp seems to be a constant battle of changing out tubes and parts that seem to constantly be wearing out due to heat and heavy use (one of them just failed, and that's why I'm "amp" shopping). Also it's a huge pain any time we want to move any of them. It seems like we can never get the settings and mic placement right to where we had it to begin with. That reason alone would be enough to get one of these pedals. Also, an AC15 mic'd with a 57 is kind of a low standard when it comes to having a tube amp and micing it up. The sounds we are trying to emulate are made with higher end boutique amps. To get a sound similar to what this thing puts out it would cost an arm and a leg to have access to these vintage tube amps, their cabs, and the mics/pre's they used to capture them. My conclusion: for all my hassling, I can't make the analogue gear I've got (that has cost me more than this pedal) sound nearly as clean and good. I'm going to be replacing our AC15s with these. This is way more practical/cost effective. I wish this technology had existed a long time ago.
We’ve been going ampless for almost a year now. The iridium is loved by everyone that’s used it. It’s a fantastic option if you can’t have a tube amp and don’t want to get rid of your pedal board.
@@brandonschroeder6831 exactly my thoughts, anyone can walk up with their pedal board and quickly get a great tone. The house will have a very consistent stereo sound to work with without the hassle of isolating amps and wear and tear. Fantastic tool for churches, makes me want to play again in church cause it would be so easy.
Well said. I still have my tube amps but I’m not using them as much for sure. I own and have owned boutique hand wired blah blah blah and they fail from time to time. Fuses go out, tubes do as well...even had an output transformer go out on me once. My suggestion is get something like the iridium if only for back up. You don’t even have to mount it to your board...but it’s there if you need it.
Love the video guys, and I love the Iridim, it’s simple point and shoot. I used to be a Tweaker, but all that tweaking just takes away valuable time from playing and playing better. We guitar players can tend to hide behind effects. Look at our guitar heroes, hardly any effects, and no multi effects. Iridium is perfect...for some of us:)
Nice work! The video does a great job of detailing the Iridium strengths and weaknesses. But it also highlights the magic combination of the 76, the Capistan, Big Sky, a good overdrive and the Iridium. Organic, earthly tones right from the git-go.
Alright. Here’s a thought: 5 minute tone challenge. You and Bradford each have 5 minutes with each modeling platform to create the best sound you can from scratch. Kemper, Helix, Axe FX III, Iridium + Pedals. Then compare the tones!
i think it's greatest strength is that it just sounds good. plain and simple. It was either this or a Kemper and I went for the Kemper stage for more of an amp like feel. Hopefully I won't be disappointed! Edit: ...not disappointed in the least. The Stage is king.
I’m seriously thinking about buying one. I’ve been a HX Stomp user for about nine months now. I feel like it would free up DSP so I could use more effects
I've already picked up the Iridium and I absolutely love it! It's replacing my HX Stomp for amp & cab modeling. Like Brad, I like the tactile quality that it has. Just plug in, turn a couple of knobs and you're good to go. As far as feel goes, I don't have them side-by-side to compare but I think I'd give the edge to the Iridium over the Stomp. I really like the way it responds to playing dynamics and different guitars.
Hi Ken. Are you using the Iridium for recording or live? If you are using it live ... are you going direct to the board? Using a direct box? Thanks for your response.
I have the Iridium for a couple of months now. Love it. I use it instead of my brunetti singleman 15. I think it would be useful to add a 'aux in' on MKII to practice at home.
Gonna be hard not to get this "pedal"....wow. I'll be lugging a 45Lb Fender Deluxe Saturday night, wishing I had one of these in my gig bag instead. Great review guys!
So I just recently bought one to build a back up rig because I was having some issues with my Helix LT. I’ve gotta say that this pedal blew me away. I’ve loved the Helix, but I’m not a tweaker and have found myself spending far too much time trying to tweak even your awesome patches. The simplicity of the Iridium is perfect for me and it takes my analog pedals extremely well including my old Line 6 M9. Only downside is I find myself wanting to buy new pedals again! This just might become my main rig!
ive pulled the trigger on one...in the end it was the simplicity of the iridium over the tweakability of say, an HX stomp. Seems a lot easier to get a good useable sound out of the iridium. I have friends who pull up killer sounds with the STOMP, but the more I read into it it seems you do have to be good at tweaking and fiddling. I'm terrible with tweaking and fiddling. I just get a sound, tape it down and go. Thanks for the video guys! Liked and subscribed.
Thanks for the video on this. I've been looking for a solution to replace the current worship set up at church (my board to an old Fender Blues Deluxe miked). We all battle the stage volume and I could never push the amp.I've watched every review of this product since its release, and this is the one that really proved this is a multiple amp solution in a pedal format. I never had any intention replacing my pedals with a Helix or like unit ( I am of the same mindset as Bradford). I have on on order and will update. Thanks!
A bit old but thanks for the great feedback. I bought the Iridium to replace my 40 watt Fender Deluxe. Too much amp for the house and for our small church. Going to give modelling a try once more.
I've bee using kemper as a pedal platform. Got my Iridium last Friday..... Today I sold my kemper :) If you are using any Helix-product as pure pedal platform, then consider the Iridium. Just my 5 cents.
Iridium not even a consideration for me as I love the sheer versatility of HX stomp, with its much wider array of amps, effects and compatibility. But more power to you.
Derek Anderson more amp like in My opinion. Actually the «room» control is amazing. That really gives you the amp in the room feeling. And the matrix control(bass/mid/treble is like an amp. Set and forget. But i have to say that the Kemper has amazing tone, and in the end I sold it because it’s quite big as a pedal platform compared to the iridium.
Derek Anderson yes, but they are incredibly close. Some people has profiled the iridium and they really sound the same. It’s down to the controls that give you the amp like experience and the room control knob :)
Great video and I'm a huge Irridium fan....but...you're looking at $1,000 of Strymon pedals here plus almost $700 for The Cali + Duellist. And that really does put you in the Kemper range. And that's OK tone wise but there are limits to this board in terms of presets.
The Iridium is great for people who have a ton of pedals they don't want to get rid of, and don't have the time/patience/understanding to dial in a HX Stomp.
Selling my TwoNotes Torpedo Live to buy this thing. I really only needed the TwoNotes for a "silent stage" but My AC30 takes up so much stage real estate that I need it somewhere else off stage. But if its off stage I can't adjust the levels/gain/EQ on the amp. Plus moving this thing around is cumbersome. This does exactly what I need without having to pull up a menu or having everything preset. Presets don't work in a constantly changing environment. I need to be able to adjust settings quickly, most of the time live on the spot. Besides the price tag, this is whats kept me away from the Kempers/AxeFX/HXStomps. Plus I don't need or want everything that is offered in Kempers/AxeFX so why pay for what I'll never use? Wow this was a shorter paragraph in my head
I think as a full platform, helix/axefx/kemper kills! but for those of us who just LOVES pedals I think iridium is a FANTASTIC way to go. I was quite stunned and amazed at how good the iridium was when I first plugged it in.
Sounds good but no XLR outs, no USB interface, no FX loop. I’ll stick with my Helix which can sound just as good. Yeah, you may have to spend a little more time to dial in what you want but it’s totally doable. Much more versatile.
Think I will part ex my Line 6 HX Effects (I also have a L6 Stomp) for an Iridium & a few other bits & bobs for a Specular Tempus, Greer Lightspeed & a quality compressor. I prefer simplicity practice. Might even try out a Boss GT1000 - I know the multi FX units don't have the character & quality of top $ pedals, but might be a useful plan B
Total Fender/Dumble tube amp slappy and not a huge Strymon fan... just tried the Iridium... WOW!!! NEVER thought I would say this but Iridium sounds amazing and will probably replace my tube amps. Tried a Kemper & Helix and too much fiddling and didn’t sound as good as Iridium. Best part is- I can play through headphones, still get my Deluxe reverb tones and not disturb the wife at night. The room dial really sounds like an amp in the room... doesn’t feel disconnected as I had feared.
Okay, this video sold me. Just seeing the sheer simplicity and ease of use dialing in go to tones, is enough for me for certain sets I play in, not to mention the ability to practice without killing the ears of neighbors.
The Strymon is good, but expensive. If anyone is after a really good, cheaper alternative that creates classic clean to mild driven tones, check out the Joyo American. Bang for buck, it's unbeatable. Sure, it can't really compete for features, but sonically, it's pretty damn good. All my backing tracks use it as a DI into the daw.
I have both the Joyo and Iridium. The Joyo is an awesome clean Fender type pedal platform. I use it in my fly rig at church, haven’t taken an amp to church in a couple of years. It takes distortion and drive pedals well! That w DI to FOH is great. This set up also got me out of a jam when my amp crapped out on me at a cover RnB gig. The Iridium is on another board (I have several) that I use for recording and getting other drive tones out of it. I also use the 3 button multi switch on the Strymon to really open up the capabilities of the Iridium. So I have a fender clean on the bypass on/off , a Marshall dirty on the favorite side, and on the multi switch I have a Vox clean, Vox distorted lead tone (which is killer BTW gain wise and a Marshall clean tone. 5 of the most primary tones in various genres w the effects pedals that you like make for a very comprehensive board. I’m about to make a primarily all Strymon board w iridium, Sunset, Orbit, Zelzah, Ultraviolet. I wish Strymon made a reverb/ delay pedal w a regular sized footprint ala Keeley Caverns or Nux Atlantic. I don’t know what they’re waiting for to do that. That’s the I piece of gear that these guys haven’t done! I’m not trying to get a huge ass Big Sky 4 my limited reverb needs. The Flint seems cool, but no delay as I can glean. It’s a great time to be a guitar player right now, I’ll tell ya that! Strymon, Nux and Flamma are killing the game right now!💯🫡✊🏾
Wonderful video, you are both excellent guitarists. I bought the Kemper Stage at the end of 2020. I have learned that I hate reading manuals and messing with menus. I am seriously considering selling my Kemper and buying the Iridium. Simplicity is what I want and I too am tactile.
Why either/or? You could use the Iridium as your amp modeler and then the stomp could act as your effects unit doing overdrive, delays, etc. You could create a mini board with the two.
Strange question imho. The HX Stomp has so much more features and possibilities than the Iridium. You can't really compare the two with eachother. It's a no brainer to add the HX Stomp to your pedalboard. Unless, you have a crew that carry 19 inch rackmounts with midi controllers and all for you around. All you need on your pedalboard is your favourite stack of two OD pedals, your favourite distortion/fuzz pedal, a delay, a reverb and the HX Stomp for everything else. This way you can cover all grounds, ecspecially as a session guitarplayer. The HX Stomp is also an amazing backup in case some of your gear fails. Save your money buying multiple pedals for modulation you sometimes need for a paticular song, like chorus, flanger, phaser, tremolo, vibrato, rotary and ring modulator. Also save space on your board.Take a piece of JJ Cale his advice.... Travelin' Light: ua-cam.com/video/k3mrpVwpeFY/v-deo.html
But can the hx keep up in terms of tone and feel. I'm seriously doubting it. Yes it has more features, but for people using a pedalboard it's a nice option.
I'm getting one of these. I'm going to sell my Headrush Gigboard most likely.... (which I do like... bought it for the simplicity over the HX Stomp and others) This is way more like setting up a great sounding amp... just a few knobs.... no endless and stupid (for me) tweaking and scrolling...
I play small clubs where only vocals are going thru the PA. So I am building box to fit the Strymon. A Unity 200 watt Class C half rack size amplifier. A ROLLS MP13 preamp. Studio clean products but affordable.It will go thru a Celestion NEO Creamback in a small open back cab. I will have a Wampler EQuator EQ at the front of the chain to flatten the celestions sound if need (as I am not using the flat response of a Studio monitor) it will all be in what looks like a head sitting on my celestion cabinet. Not on my board and easy access just like a conventional amp head. I even have plan to have the face of the Strymon facing forward. I plan it all to look like a real amp head! The whole rig will be about $900.00 USD complete.
I believe I will get one based on your review. I use a Fishman loud box with my Ovation balladeer and this will allow me to use my Fender Stratocaster through the same amp. I am 72 years old and I am my own roadie. I must minimize my gear to get around. This pedal is exactly what I have been looking for. No need to carry a forty pound amp around. Yea Strymon.
I understand that usually the amp is the last thing in the chain, and assume this is why you have reverb before the amp simulator. However, when the "amp" is a pedal, it makes more sense IMHO to hear the distortion in a simulated space, than to hear distorted reverb.
If someone buys the iridium to go along with the hx stomp, I don’t see the difference in thought as to buying an external driver or wet effect. “But the stomp has amps already!” Yea and it also has reverb and drive pedals but most of us have those external to the stomp. We do it to save blocks and dsp!
Sounds Amazing, but i'm running simply a tele with the Boss Katana 50. Buying a 400.00 pedal as my first one would not be the best way to get the wife to warm up to future purchases HAHA. Great video thanks guys!
Was this clipping on your interface? Either that or the unit has a weird "crackling noise" on some sustained notes. 03:11 is a good example of what I'm talking about
Late to the party. Own the iridium and LOVE IT!!!!!! Is will say David Hislop IR’s takes it to the next level. Biggest downfall I will say is I ran my pedalboard in stereo and sometimes want to run into my amp mono. After several emails to Strymon I wondered why (even with iridium not engaged) summed to mono adds 6db of boost which SUBSTANTIALLY added noise floor to my sound. This sucks because I bought this to run stereo into my home interface but also possibly mono into my amp without the iridium engaged when the families is not home. CANT DO THAT WHEN IT ADDES MASSIVE NOISE FLOOR!! After all that I still use the iridium but now run my pedalboard mono because of that one issue. bad design there on that part Strymon!!!
Have you tried using 2 Iridiums for a stereo dual amp style set up? I’m Curious how The round and chime would sound together compared to just dual cabs.
Great demo! I have an HX Stomp (and Helix) but would love to try the Iridium. I lean on the Helix most of the time, but trying to bring together a board with the Stomp and the Strymon trinity. A big consideration for me is that although I mostly play electric in church, I also bring in mandolin or acoustic guitar occasionally. Helix can do that. I haven't heard anyone talk about acoustic instruments through the Iridium. Doesn't seem to be a match in that sense. Anyway, thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Instead of bypassing the whole Iridium, you can probably have a preset that just bypasses just the amp and has one of the “cabs” loaded with an acoustic/mandolin/whatever IR like the Fishman Aura does.
Such great tones. I just purchased the iridium and have been messing with it since. Can't stop playing. Thanks for this review. I was on the fence about which one to get, since HX stomp is only another 200 bucks away. But I'm glad I pulled the trigger on this unit.
The Iridium is the best invention of 2019 is just amazing!!! The sounds are sooo good, I can't wait to have mine. Btw I was going to get the HX Stomp then the Iridium comes out just on the right time, before I made a purchase, and I had my mind so made up to get the Stomp, but once I heard the quality and ease of use, I said forget the stomp, my plan was to use it to replace my amp, so the Iridium is perfect since I was going to under use the stomp big time. Thank you guys for this review.
I think this will most likely replace my Radial JDX Direct Drive, which I've been using to play silently at home and running direct at church at times. This will probably replace my Blues Jr. as well. The only downside I see is that I will have to use a DI in order to run directly to a mixer. It'd be nice it has balanced output.
Well I’ll be darned. The day after I commented on your helix content, you come out with this masterpiece. Thank you for taking criticism even though I was a little rude. Please accept my apology
I own, among other amps, a Vox AC30, a Fender 1962 brown face Concert (w/harmonic tremolo), a 1969 Fender Deluxe Reverb, and 1982 Marshall JCM 800. Obviously, in a small church setting, I can't use any of these amps. At least not on stage. I have been using my Line 6 Pod X3 Live to go silent on stage. It is getting somewhat outdated by now, so I am looking for a solution. I think I have found it. For $400 this thing can't be beat. I am a traditional amp guy (none of those amps I mentioned are as old as me). Strymon always makes high quality pedals and this one is no different. I was curios as to what it would sound like with effects other than drive in front of it. This video answered that question. My next pedal.
I have a Strymon Iridium and have a quick question. I'm trying to connect from Boss RV-5 Reverb stereo output into Strymon Iridium stereo input. The problem is there's only one input spot for Iridium. I know there's a stereo switch knob on the top, but how can you plug the two stereo output into one stereo input spot? Thank you!
That sounds great! I'm wondering how you got the reverb and delay that wet with that much gain to sound good ahead of the Iridium. I just got mine in yesterday but will have to do some work to get that dialed in. Great demo!
@@dykeneuk as USB no. I use both together. The iridium into the Helix stomp using send/ return blocks. Dann the Helix into the computer as audio Interface and master Volumen. And headphones from the stomp
@@felipegomabrockmann2740 I'm planning just the same. But I was wondering how the HX stomp takes the Iridium. Something I've noticed is that the HX stomp has a full range sound what makes it sounds less organic (that's why many use an eq in it). Is putting the Iridium in the Stomp's loop cause any sort a like behavior on the Iridium? Did you tried the Iridium at last?
Any chance you guys would ever demo a Walrus ACS1 and/or do a side-by-side comparison of the Iridium vs ACS1? Thanks and love your videos! God Bless you guys!
I have the Line 6 HXFX which I’m finally starting to feel comfortable using live. I just bought the Iridium to use the amp and cab simulation when I don’t want to use my Badcat Hotcat 30. I’d like your opinion on how best to pair the HXFX with the Iridium? All I see are videos with the Stomp pedal.
I like it a lot but that break-up distortion ain’t quite there, I don’t think... it’s a bit harsh. That BluGuitar Amp 1 is closer but more expensive, bigger, not stereo in... which are down sides. I wonder if the Iridium II (I’m guessing there will be one) gets that much closer.
I've been playing through a Mesa Studio 22 for years. The only thing I see missing on this for me is an effects loop. I always put my delay and any modulation effects in the Mesa's effects loop. I could also see maybe seeing a version with both an effects loop and maybe one more 'favorites' button. On this version, I was kind of disappointed that the other foot switch was a bypass and not another saved favorite option - so you'd have three (or four A - B - A+B or none with none possibly equal to bypass) options with two footswitches instead of really just 2.
Watch Rhett Shull’s discussion of both boxes at the end of his review of the Iridium, 60 Cycle Hum does intelligent commentary as well. The guy on the right just missed the boat entirely, the guitarists comment about simple on stage nails it.
Hey guys! I'm playing more rhythmy electric in worship. I have a Gretsch Duo Jet and a few pedals with an AC 15. I'm looking to start into amp modeling and effects. Where would you recommend I start?
Yes yes yes! I primarily play in church/worship venues and am blown away by how simple yet amazing the Iridium is. I just replaced my amp with it... no more carrying my heavy amp to and from church!
For those that were struggling with the iridium like I was, a few key notes:
1- I'm pretty sure all the IR's that were used here were all stock and it just goes to show that it truly is an amazing pedal. Awesome job from Strymon
2- I know that the stock IR's aren't the best for some, and some choose to go with third party IR's, and ofc there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. HOWEVER, I speak for those that either choose to stick with ALL STOCK IR's, or can't afford other IR's (which is totally understandable) there're a few things you guys can do
3- 1 of the methods you can use is take a look at the settings displayed in the video and copy what Brian and Bradford had done, and tweak from there
4- You can go the traditional method and start going through each of the amps and cabs starting with all the knobs at noon and really deep dive and get to know the amps and cabs. This will take some, but really helps to see how everything reacts and can help you zone in on the sound you want
5- if you need more headroom, level trim, bypass stuff, etc, the iridium has secondary functions that allows you to tweak it further to help sculpt the sound you want
I know I'm super late to this, but just in case if there're those who just purchased an iridium, I hope this helps, cheers
We've been using Vox AC15s for our guitars at church, we keep them isolated and mic'd up with 57s. Having a real tube amp seems to be a constant battle of changing out tubes and parts that seem to constantly be wearing out due to heat and heavy use (one of them just failed, and that's why I'm "amp" shopping). Also it's a huge pain any time we want to move any of them. It seems like we can never get the settings and mic placement right to where we had it to begin with. That reason alone would be enough to get one of these pedals. Also, an AC15 mic'd with a 57 is kind of a low standard when it comes to having a tube amp and micing it up. The sounds we are trying to emulate are made with higher end boutique amps. To get a sound similar to what this thing puts out it would cost an arm and a leg to have access to these vintage tube amps, their cabs, and the mics/pre's they used to capture them. My conclusion: for all my hassling, I can't make the analogue gear I've got (that has cost me more than this pedal) sound nearly as clean and good. I'm going to be replacing our AC15s with these. This is way more practical/cost effective. I wish this technology had existed a long time ago.
wondering how you made out, and if you were able to make these work in your church setup, and if you're happy with them.
so how have things been so far?
We’ve been going ampless for almost a year now. The iridium is loved by everyone that’s used it. It’s a fantastic option if you can’t have a tube amp and don’t want to get rid of your pedal board.
@@brandonschroeder6831 exactly my thoughts, anyone can walk up with their pedal board and quickly get a great tone. The house will have a very consistent stereo sound to work with without the hassle of isolating amps and wear and tear. Fantastic tool for churches, makes me want to play again in church cause it would be so easy.
Well said. I still have my tube amps but I’m not using them as much for sure. I own and have owned boutique hand wired blah blah blah and they fail from time to time. Fuses go out, tubes do as well...even had an output transformer go out on me once. My suggestion is get something like the iridium if only for back up. You don’t even have to mount it to your board...but it’s there if you need it.
Love the video guys, and I love the Iridim, it’s simple point and shoot. I used to be a Tweaker, but all that tweaking just takes away valuable time from playing and playing better. We guitar players can tend to hide behind effects. Look at our guitar heroes, hardly any effects, and no multi effects. Iridium is perfect...for some of us:)
Let the guy explain why he likes the Iridium 😂, you kept cutting him off to express your love for the stomp. I will most most likely buy the Iridium.
Right lol
Best Iridium review thus far. Thanks
Nice work! The video does a great job of detailing the Iridium strengths and weaknesses. But it also highlights the magic combination of the 76, the Capistan, Big Sky, a good overdrive and the Iridium. Organic, earthly tones right from the git-go.
Alright. Here’s a thought:
5 minute tone challenge.
You and Bradford each have 5 minutes with each modeling platform to create the best sound you can from scratch. Kemper, Helix, Axe FX III, Iridium + Pedals.
Then compare the tones!
Oh that would be fun
Worship Tutorials plz make it happen!
Still waiting on this! It would be awesome
i think it's greatest strength is that it just sounds good. plain and simple.
It was either this or a Kemper and I went for the Kemper stage for more of an amp like feel. Hopefully I won't be disappointed!
Edit: ...not disappointed in the least. The Stage is king.
how do u like your kemper stage? I want a solution for playing with headphones in living room and on speaker when possible
But how do you know that if you didn't try the Irridium lol this coming from a Kemper guy
@@aguitarhero007 from word of mouth from those I trust. It sounds good, but has the same feeling as any other modeler.
@@joshuabenton3785 that's kinda dissapointing
@@aguitarhero007 what is? their opinion on the matter or me choosing the Stage over the Iridium?
I guess U2's Edge became the archetype for electric guitar in church music into the next century.
Sunday Bloody Sunday ; )
Bought one in June. Awesome tube amp sounds! Easy as anything to dial in. Works great with all your favorite pedals.
I’m seriously thinking about buying one. I’ve been a HX Stomp user for about nine months now. I feel like it would free up DSP so I could use more effects
I've already picked up the Iridium and I absolutely love it! It's replacing my HX Stomp for amp & cab modeling. Like Brad, I like the tactile quality that it has. Just plug in, turn a couple of knobs and you're good to go. As far as feel goes, I don't have them side-by-side to compare but I think I'd give the edge to the Iridium over the Stomp. I really like the way it responds to playing dynamics and different guitars.
Hi Ken. Are you using the Iridium for recording or live? If you are using it live ... are you going direct to the board? Using a direct box? Thanks for your response.
Stephen Lennartz I’m interested to know this as well.
Best part of this video: Bringing back the Hosanna riffs 🤘
Thank you gentlemen, I love the review. I made the decision to purchase the item based on your review.
To my hears it sounds more natural than the HX
Best guitar reviews on UA-cam! Excellent work.
Now that I’ve owned a Helix LT for almost 2 years, I couldn’t imagine switching to a unit without the same EQ capability as the Helix.
I have the Iridium for a couple of months now. Love it. I use it instead of my brunetti singleman 15. I think it would be useful to add a 'aux in' on MKII to practice at home.
Gonna be hard not to get this "pedal"....wow. I'll be lugging a 45Lb Fender Deluxe Saturday night, wishing I had one of these in my gig bag instead. Great review guys!
So I just recently bought one to build a back up rig because I was having some issues with my Helix LT. I’ve gotta say that this pedal blew me away. I’ve loved the Helix, but I’m not a tweaker and have found myself spending far too much time trying to tweak even your awesome patches. The simplicity of the Iridium is perfect for me and it takes my analog pedals extremely well including my old Line 6 M9. Only downside is I find myself wanting to buy new pedals again! This just might become my main rig!
ive pulled the trigger on one...in the end it was the simplicity of the iridium over the tweakability of say, an HX stomp. Seems a lot easier to get a good useable sound out of the iridium. I have friends who pull up killer sounds with the STOMP, but the more I read into it it seems you do have to be good at tweaking and fiddling. I'm terrible with tweaking and fiddling. I just get a sound, tape it down and go. Thanks for the video guys! Liked and subscribed.
My main takeaway is that Duelest sounds phenomenal! No but really, great job guys, good sensible overview without the “HX stomp killer” attitude.
Seth Stanley yes it does!! Thanks man! Stomp is amazing. Iridium is amazing. Use what you want tho. Always :)
And I thought I spent money on equip . These guys are puttin up big bucks .
Great video. Really helpful, practical explanation with minimal playing - just enough to get a good idea. Thanks!
Thanks for the video on this. I've been looking for a solution to replace the current worship set up at church (my board to an old Fender Blues Deluxe miked). We all battle the stage volume and I could never push the amp.I've watched every review of this product since its release, and this is the one that really proved this is a multiple amp solution in a pedal format. I never had any intention replacing my pedals with a Helix or like unit ( I am of the same mindset as Bradford). I have on on order and will update. Thanks!
Dale Hobbs you could consider the Mesa Cab Clone. I use one with my tweed blues deluxe. Works fantastic.
A bit old but thanks for the great feedback. I bought the Iridium to replace my 40 watt Fender Deluxe. Too much amp for the house and for our small church. Going to give modelling a try once more.
Excuse me sir, an update would be great! Thanks :)
The iridium is perfect for who (like me) doesn’t want to dive into softwares. I love Strymon.
I've bee using kemper as a pedal platform. Got my Iridium last Friday..... Today I sold my kemper :) If you are using any Helix-product as pure pedal platform, then consider the Iridium. Just my 5 cents.
Iridium not even a consideration for me as I love the sheer versatility of HX stomp, with its much wider array of amps, effects and compatibility. But more power to you.
How is the feel compared to the Kemper?
Derek Anderson more amp like in My opinion. Actually the «room» control is amazing. That really gives you the amp in the room feeling. And the matrix control(bass/mid/treble is like an amp. Set and forget. But i have to say that the Kemper has amazing tone, and in the end I sold it because it’s quite big as a pedal platform compared to the iridium.
@@pabomex so you feel like the irridium has a more amp like feel than the Kemper?
Derek Anderson yes, but they are incredibly close. Some people has profiled the iridium and they really sound the same. It’s down to the controls that give you the amp like experience and the room control knob :)
Great video and I'm a huge Irridium fan....but...you're looking at $1,000 of Strymon pedals here plus almost $700 for The Cali + Duellist. And that really does put you in the Kemper range. And that's OK tone wise but there are limits to this board in terms of presets.
The Iridium is great for people who have a ton of pedals they don't want to get rid of, and don't have the time/patience/understanding to dial in a HX Stomp.
Have you guys thought about doing a video of the HX effects and the Iridium?
Dang. This unit is super impressive and the tactile nature is very appealing!
Selling my TwoNotes Torpedo Live to buy this thing. I really only needed the TwoNotes for a "silent stage" but My AC30 takes up so much stage real estate that I need it somewhere else off stage. But if its off stage I can't adjust the levels/gain/EQ on the amp. Plus moving this thing around is cumbersome.
This does exactly what I need without having to pull up a menu or having everything preset. Presets don't work in a constantly changing environment. I need to be able to adjust settings quickly, most of the time live on the spot. Besides the price tag, this is whats kept me away from the Kempers/AxeFX/HXStomps. Plus I don't need or want everything that is offered in Kempers/AxeFX so why pay for what I'll never use?
Wow this was a shorter paragraph in my head
Coach Beard is killing it on guitar.
I think as a full platform, helix/axefx/kemper kills! but for those of us who just LOVES pedals I think iridium is a FANTASTIC way to go. I was quite stunned and amazed at how good the iridium was when I first plugged it in.
Yep - that’s exactly how I see it. They all fit a certain niche and they’re all very good at what they’re intended to do.
Awesome guys... I really found your video informative and cool.... appreciate the work and upload... thanks
Sounds good but no XLR outs, no USB interface, no FX loop. I’ll stick with my Helix which can sound just as good. Yeah, you may have to spend a little more time to dial in what you want but it’s totally doable. Much more versatile.
Why would you want an FX loop? It’s a power amp and a cab sim, not a preamp pedal. FX loop is for placing pedals in front of power amp anyway
Does have usb
Just ordered from Sweetwater. I hope we are successful with implementing it in our system.
Think I will part ex my Line 6 HX Effects (I also have a L6 Stomp) for an Iridium & a few other bits & bobs for a Specular Tempus, Greer Lightspeed & a quality compressor. I prefer simplicity practice. Might even try out a Boss GT1000 - I know the multi FX units don't have the character & quality of top $ pedals, but might be a useful plan B
Never been more excited for a video
Many videos on the Iridium, but this is one and the one by Rhett Shull are the only ones that make me want to buy it!
PanicKJ hey hey! Thank you!
Unfortunately when I add up the cost of the pedals, power supply, cables, I remember why I got the Helix to begin with, it is so much cheaper!
But thankfully I have Worship Tutorial presets for my Helix so it sounds fantastic as well!
Total Fender/Dumble tube amp slappy and not a huge Strymon fan... just tried the Iridium... WOW!!!
NEVER thought I would say this but Iridium sounds amazing and will probably replace my tube amps. Tried a Kemper & Helix and too much fiddling and didn’t sound as good as Iridium. Best part is- I can play through headphones, still get my Deluxe reverb tones and not disturb the wife at night. The room dial really sounds like an amp in the room... doesn’t feel disconnected as I had feared.
DANG! Well that's awesome to hear!
Okay, this video sold me. Just seeing the sheer simplicity and ease of use dialing in go to tones, is enough for me for certain sets I play in, not to mention the ability to practice without killing the ears of neighbors.
The Strymon is good, but expensive. If anyone is after a really good, cheaper alternative that creates classic clean to mild driven tones, check out the Joyo American.
Bang for buck, it's unbeatable. Sure, it can't really compete for features, but sonically, it's pretty damn good. All my backing tracks use it as a DI into the daw.
I have both the Joyo and Iridium. The Joyo is an awesome clean Fender type pedal platform. I use it in my fly rig at church, haven’t taken an amp to church in a couple of years. It takes distortion and drive pedals well! That w DI to FOH is great. This set up also got me out of a jam when my amp crapped out on me at a cover RnB gig. The Iridium is on another board (I have several) that I use for recording and getting other drive tones out of it. I also use the 3 button multi switch on the Strymon to really open up the capabilities of the Iridium. So I have a fender clean on the bypass on/off , a Marshall dirty on the favorite side, and on the multi switch I have a Vox clean, Vox distorted lead tone (which is killer BTW gain wise and a Marshall clean tone. 5 of the most primary tones in various genres w the effects pedals that you like make for a very comprehensive board. I’m about to make a primarily all Strymon board w iridium, Sunset, Orbit, Zelzah, Ultraviolet. I wish Strymon made a reverb/ delay pedal w a regular sized footprint ala Keeley Caverns or Nux Atlantic. I don’t know what they’re waiting for to do that. That’s the I piece of gear that these guys haven’t done! I’m not trying to get a huge ass Big Sky 4 my limited reverb needs. The Flint seems cool, but no delay as I can glean. It’s a great time to be a guitar player right now, I’ll tell ya that! Strymon, Nux and Flamma are killing the game right now!💯🫡✊🏾
Wonderful video, you are both excellent guitarists. I bought the Kemper Stage at the end of 2020. I have learned that I hate reading manuals and messing with menus. I am seriously considering selling my Kemper and buying the Iridium. Simplicity is what I want and I too am tactile.
Why either/or? You could use the Iridium as your amp modeler and then the stomp could act as your effects unit doing overdrive, delays, etc. You could create a mini board with the two.
True. The HX Effects would be a better solution for that, though.
Make a video with time-based effects before and after the Iridium.
Ask nicely
before AND after. good idea
Are u mad? Why would you place any other effects or pedals after power amp and a cabinet?
@@dawngteahnamte7971 Different sound
Dawng_500 reverb after, like you do in a recording studio. whatever i hate reverb anyway.
Strange question imho. The HX Stomp has so much more features and possibilities than the Iridium. You can't really compare the two with eachother. It's a no brainer to add the HX Stomp to your pedalboard. Unless, you have a crew that carry 19 inch rackmounts with midi controllers and all for you around. All you need on your pedalboard is your favourite stack of two OD pedals, your favourite distortion/fuzz pedal, a delay, a reverb and the HX Stomp for everything else. This way you can cover all grounds, ecspecially as a session guitarplayer. The HX Stomp is also an amazing backup in case some of your gear fails. Save your money buying multiple pedals for modulation you sometimes need for a paticular song, like chorus, flanger, phaser, tremolo, vibrato, rotary and ring modulator. Also save space on your board.Take a piece of JJ Cale his advice.... Travelin' Light: ua-cam.com/video/k3mrpVwpeFY/v-deo.html
But can the hx keep up in terms of tone and feel. I'm seriously doubting it. Yes it has more features, but for people using a pedalboard it's a nice option.
I'm getting one of these. I'm going to sell my Headrush Gigboard most likely.... (which I do like... bought it for the simplicity over the HX Stomp and others) This is way more like setting up a great sounding amp... just a few knobs.... no endless and stupid (for me) tweaking and scrolling...
I play small clubs where only vocals are going thru the PA. So I am building box to fit the Strymon. A Unity 200 watt Class C half rack size amplifier. A ROLLS MP13 preamp. Studio clean products but affordable.It will go thru a Celestion NEO Creamback in a small open back cab. I will have a Wampler EQuator EQ at the front of the chain to flatten the celestions sound if need (as I am not using the flat response of a Studio monitor) it will all be in what looks like a head sitting on my celestion cabinet. Not on my board and easy access just like a conventional amp head. I even have plan to have the face of the Strymon facing forward. I plan it all to look like a real amp head! The whole rig will be about $900.00 USD complete.
I’m selling my stomp to get this and this just confirms it.
Good demo.
Just got one yesterday, sounds fantastic
You guys should make a video with the atomic ampli-firebox! I would love to have your guys’ opinion on some competitors.
I believe I will get one based on your review. I use a Fishman loud box with my Ovation balladeer and this will allow me to use my Fender Stratocaster through the same amp. I am 72 years old and I am my own roadie. I must minimize my gear to get around. This pedal is exactly what I have been looking for. No need to carry a forty pound amp around. Yea Strymon.
That intro was amazing i feel i am someone else in nice place beautiful effects but all in the fingers thankyou
I am going to pair the iridium with the hx effects when I get one and hopefully be in tonal heaven!!
I understand that usually the amp is the last thing in the chain, and assume this is why you have reverb before the amp simulator.
However, when the "amp" is a pedal, it makes more sense IMHO to hear the distortion in a simulated space, than to hear distorted reverb.
The el cap sounds so nice too 😍😍
That lush delays 💕💕💕
Yep! 👌
If someone buys the iridium to go along with the hx stomp, I don’t see the difference in thought as to buying an external driver or wet effect. “But the stomp has amps already!” Yea and it also has reverb and drive pedals but most of us have those external to the stomp. We do it to save blocks and dsp!
No difference. Use iridium to save DSP on amp and cab (maybe reverb) and use stomp for effects.
Sounds Amazing, but i'm running simply a tele with the Boss Katana 50. Buying a 400.00 pedal as my first one would not be the best way to get the wife to warm up to future purchases HAHA. Great video thanks guys!
Haha I also play a Tele through a katana 100, I also own an HX stomp and other pedals
Sounds amazing great review guys!👏🏽
Was this clipping on your interface? Either that or the unit has a weird "crackling noise" on some sustained notes. 03:11 is a good example of what I'm talking about
Definitely their setup
There needs to be less level hitting the interface and or a limiter on the post processing. And the talking needs to be louder.
That’s called “dirty worship verb” 😂
Late to the party. Own the iridium and LOVE IT!!!!!! Is will say David Hislop IR’s takes it to the next level. Biggest downfall I will say is I ran my pedalboard in stereo and sometimes want to run into my amp mono. After several emails to Strymon I wondered why (even with iridium not engaged) summed to mono adds 6db of boost which SUBSTANTIALLY added noise floor to my sound. This sucks because I bought this to run stereo into my home interface but also possibly mono into my amp without the iridium engaged when the families is not home. CANT DO THAT WHEN IT ADDES MASSIVE NOISE FLOOR!!
After all that I still use the iridium but now run my pedalboard mono because of that one issue. bad design there on that part Strymon!!!
Have you tried using 2 Iridiums for a stereo dual amp style set up? I’m Curious how The round and chime would sound together compared to just dual cabs.
Some cabs in the iridium are true stereo!
@@MoviesAndMoreShorts so you’re saying no need to buy 2 iridium?
Great demo! I have an HX Stomp (and Helix) but would love to try the Iridium. I lean on the Helix most of the time, but trying to bring together a board with the Stomp and the Strymon trinity. A big consideration for me is that although I mostly play electric in church, I also bring in mandolin or acoustic guitar occasionally. Helix can do that. I haven't heard anyone talk about acoustic instruments through the Iridium. Doesn't seem to be a match in that sense. Anyway, thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Ron Singley true. You could just bypass the Iridium tho depending on your setup
@@bmitchellmusic Thanks Bradford! Good idea! I'll keep that in mind.
Instead of bypassing the whole Iridium, you can probably have a preset that just bypasses just the amp and has one of the “cabs” loaded with an acoustic/mandolin/whatever IR like the Fishman Aura does.
Such great tones. I just purchased the iridium and have been messing with it since. Can't stop playing. Thanks for this review. I was on the fence about which one to get, since HX stomp is only another 200 bucks away. But I'm glad I pulled the trigger on this unit.
What do you guys prefer with the Iridium for your P&W base tone.....the Round or the Chime? And which cabs and settings?
The Iridium is the best invention of 2019 is just amazing!!! The sounds are sooo good, I can't wait to have mine. Btw I was going to get the HX Stomp then the Iridium comes out just on the right time, before I made a purchase, and I had my mind so made up to get the Stomp, but once I heard the quality and ease of use, I said forget the stomp, my plan was to use it to replace my amp, so the Iridium is perfect since I was going to under use the stomp big time. Thank you guys for this review.
I think that this with an hx effects will be the rig for me.
I've been waiting fir this video
Finally replaced my old Pod HD with this!
Those P90’s sound so good!!
Roger McCoy oh yeah
@@bmitchellmusic What pups? Sounds Awesome!
Matheus Ferreira I’m going to take a shot in the dark and guess that they’re lambertones
I’m pretty sure those are the Lambertones Ristrettos.
Those were Jazzmasters, not p90s
I think this will most likely replace my Radial JDX Direct Drive, which I've been using to play silently at home and running direct at church at times. This will probably replace my Blues Jr. as well. The only downside I see is that I will have to use a DI in order to run directly to a mixer. It'd be nice it has balanced output.
Starlight parts are straight candy.
Blake Rhodehamel thanks!
Well I’ll be darned. The day after I commented on your helix content, you come out with this masterpiece. Thank you for taking criticism even though I was a little rude. Please accept my apology
Sweet Heavenly Jangle on the AC30 settings ... wow
oh yeah. most def.
Bradford Mitchell ordered from Sweetwater... it’s in transit 👍🏼
I own, among other amps, a Vox AC30, a Fender 1962 brown face Concert (w/harmonic tremolo), a 1969 Fender Deluxe Reverb, and 1982 Marshall JCM 800. Obviously, in a small church setting, I can't use any of these amps. At least not on stage. I have been using my Line 6 Pod X3 Live to go silent on stage. It is getting somewhat outdated by now, so I am looking for a solution. I think I have found it. For $400 this thing can't be beat. I am a traditional amp guy (none of those amps I mentioned are as old as me). Strymon always makes high quality pedals and this one is no different. I was curios as to what it would sound like with effects other than drive in front of it. This video answered that question. My next pedal.
sweet! Glad to help! Its very very good. Love it. Blown away every time I turn it on haha
I have a Strymon Iridium and have a quick question. I'm trying to connect from Boss RV-5 Reverb stereo output into Strymon Iridium stereo input. The problem is there's only one input spot for Iridium. I know there's a stereo switch knob on the top, but how can you plug the two stereo output into one stereo input spot? Thank you!
You have to use an insert cable. 2 mono 1/4 to TRS 1/4
That sounds great! I'm wondering how you got the reverb and delay that wet with that much gain to sound good ahead of the Iridium. I just got mine in yesterday but will have to do some work to get that dialed in. Great demo!
I wondered the same thing
It works best if you dial the Iridium in with a pretty clean “edge of breakup” tone and use drive pedals in front of the wet effects to get dirt.
I ordered one Iridium today to replace the HX Stomp
Happy with the Iridium? Does it also work as a USB audio interface?
@@dykeneuk as USB no. I use both together. The iridium into the Helix stomp using send/ return blocks. Dann the Helix into the computer as audio Interface and master Volumen. And headphones from the stomp
But the iridium has replaced the Helix stomp as my amp. That work does the iridium
@@felipegomabrockmann2740 I'm planning just the same. But I was wondering how the HX stomp takes the Iridium. Something I've noticed is that the HX stomp has a full range sound what makes it sounds less organic (that's why many use an eq in it). Is putting the Iridium in the Stomp's loop cause any sort a like behavior on the Iridium? Did you tried the Iridium at last?
@@ulisescerrato8758 I notice, the iridium into the stomp makes the iridium less organic. So you are right. Now I have to buy an real audio Interface.
Any chance you guys would ever demo a Walrus ACS1 and/or do a side-by-side comparison of the Iridium vs ACS1? Thanks and love your videos! God Bless you guys!
How you guys are sending signal from bigsky to iridium? Since it have only one input. I’m planning to purchasing but I have this concern
There's only 1 input jack but its a stereo inout. You'll need a stereo cable.
@@noahfickel thanks bro
I have the Line 6 HXFX which I’m finally starting to feel comfortable using live. I just bought the Iridium to use the amp and cab simulation when I don’t want to use my Badcat Hotcat 30. I’d like your opinion on how best to pair the HXFX with the Iridium? All I see are videos with the Stomp pedal.
I like it a lot but that break-up distortion ain’t quite there, I don’t think... it’s a bit harsh. That BluGuitar Amp 1 is closer but more expensive, bigger, not stereo in... which are down sides. I wonder if the Iridium II (I’m guessing there will be one) gets that much closer.
Great video guys!
Where is the sound coming out? Studio monitors? Guitar>pedals+iridium>interface>studio monitors? I’m new to recording. Any help would be appreciated.
Did I miss what we are hearing all these great sounds through speaker/monitor wise? Thanks.
I think it's going straight into the DAW
Please do a comparison video the Iridium and the stomp!
I've been playing through a Mesa Studio 22 for years. The only thing I see missing on this for me is an effects loop. I always put my delay and any modulation effects in the Mesa's effects loop. I could also see maybe seeing a version with both an effects loop and maybe one more 'favorites' button. On this version, I was kind of disappointed that the other foot switch was a bypass and not another saved favorite option - so you'd have three (or four A - B - A+B or none with none possibly equal to bypass) options with two footswitches instead of really just 2.
Great video! Can it do both front of house and monitors at the same time? Need the monitors as well.
Hi,
Just wondering what your papers preset is on the bigsky? Sounds so good.
Indeed. Great sound, love it! Think more people would like to know that ;)
I bought the Iridium and a Harbinger monitor from Guitar Center to use live at church. Is is possible to get that clear of a sound from a monitor?
Would love to see the settings on the iridium for those of us using this live.
Iridium and HX FX combined would be awesome.
plain amp sound... stomp or Iridium? which is better? does stomp sound good with pedal? thanks
Watch Rhett Shull’s discussion of both boxes at the end of his review of the Iridium, 60 Cycle Hum does intelligent commentary as well. The guy on the right just missed the boat entirely, the guitarists comment about simple on stage nails it.
Iridium or Helix rack? I know Helix can give me a lot, vm but sometimes I can get more creative with less.
Hey guys! I'm playing more rhythmy electric in worship. I have a Gretsch Duo Jet and a few pedals with an AC 15. I'm looking to start into amp modeling and effects. Where would you recommend I start?
Peter C. Wilson HX Stomp would be a great start. Or an HX Floor LT.
Something Like Olivia- nice!