Strymon Iridium: use as a IR pedal?

[Cuki79]

The specs of this pedal are IMPRESSIVE


1) Premium stereo high impedance discrete JFET analog front end with
up to 22dB of pure analog gain
2) Load your own impulse responses using Strymon Impulse Manager software. [...] you can browse your computer’s hard drive for any 3rd party or custom 24-bit 96 kHz impulse response wave files of up to 500ms in length that you own.
3) Hybrid IR/algorithmic Room control with selectable small, medium, and
large rooms. Iridium features a hybrid room ambience design that combines 256ms impulse response captures of real rooms for realistic early reflections, with an algorithm for extended decay and modulation.
4) Stereo Input (requires TRS adapter cable)
5) Stereo Output
6) Operates at instrument and Line Level input sources
7) You can bypass either the amp or the IR speaker cab on Iridium if you desire. The ROOM processing is always active in any of these output modes.





8) The center of the program shows Iridium’s 9 Cab Slots (3 per AMP type) and will automatically populate with the contents from the connected pedal’s memory. Each Cab Slot contains 2 mono or 1 stereo impulse response (IR) file along with the respective name for each slot.

Unfortunately it lacks EQ power (parametric EQs, high pass filter): which is compulsory for my need... Well in theory you don't need them with 96kHz 48000pts IR... but I never tried.
They only provide 3-band EQ for the cab IR


PS: I never tried to make 48000 pts 96 KHz IR. Tonedexter studio mode should be around 8000pts...

[jonfields45]

Now if only there was a way for the average acoustic guitarist to engage a service or buy a product where they could generate an IR for such a pedal!

You posted elsewhere an IR that Doug captured from ToneDexter. Do you think that low cut was cooked into the IR or implemented as a separate IIR EQ stage?

Given maybe a preference for a minimum phase IR in my usage to date, is a long IR with all the EQ built-in while maybe possible with the Iridium even desirable?

BTW, that used Steiglitz DSP text arrived two days ago and I've got a used copy of "Mastering MATLAB: A Comprehensive Tutorial and Reference 1st Edition"
by Duane C. Hanselman on its way from the UK (well at least it was a UK used book vender on Amazon).

[Cuki79]

Originally Posted by jonfields45

Now if only there was a way for the average acoustic guitarist to engage a service or buy a product where they could generate an IR for such a pedal!

the average acoustic guitarist does not care about IR and is happy with what is available on the market. Less than 10 people ever asked me a IR... and they all got it.

Originally Posted by jonfields45

You posted elsewhere an IR that Doug captured from ToneDexter. Do you think that low cut was cooked into the IR or implemented as a separate IIR EQ stage?

That question must be asked too James May. However when you capture an IR from a device like Tonedexter if there is a IIR low frequency filter, there is no way a IR file of 2048 pts captures the IIR response properly. Doug probably does not care since Sunnaudio made him a custom-shop preamp with built-in High-pass filters (HPF)

https://sunnaudio.com/products/custo...stereo-pre-amp

Originally Posted by jonfields45

Given maybe a preference for a minimum phase IR in my usage to date, is a long IR with all the EQ built-in while maybe possible with the Iridium even desirable?

Most probably no.

Originally Posted by jonfields45

BTW, that used Steiglitz DSP text arrived two days ago and I've got a used copy of "Mastering MATLAB: A Comprehensive Tutorial and Reference 1st Edition"
by Duane C. Hanselman on its way from the UK (well at least it was a UK used book vender on Amazon).

Congratulations!!

[Petty1818]

I own a really nice boutique Carr Sportsman amp and will most likely be getting a second amp from Dr. Z at some point. However, I have been on the lookout for a lightweight amp that sounds great and has a great cab simulator/line out. I almost got the Revv D20 but glad I waited as this new Strymon pedal will be perfect for shows, especially ones where I play mostly acoustic but just want electric here and there.

On a side note, I have been through so many pickups and so many pedals trying to capture the best tone possible. I recently went back to the Matrix paired with the aura and I can't believe how much happier I am playing live. Just dead simple to set up. I agree, I think only a very few people really want to delve into creating their own IR, it's all about plug and play.

[Rumblefish]

I looked at the Iridium but I'm going to stick with the Helix.

[varmonter]

Originally Posted by Rumblefish

I looked at the Iridium but I'm going to stick with the Helix.

Strymon makes good stuff. But my stomp does this plus more. So like you I'll probably not go this route. As interesting as it is.

[Cuki79]

Originally Posted by Rumblefish

I looked at the Iridium but I'm going to stick with the Helix.

It really depends on what you are looking for.

Helix uses 48 kHz 2048 pts IR, and will reduce any file to this size. Iridium works with 96kHz 48 000 pts I don't think any pedal can do that... Even logidy EPSI does not work with 96KHz files.

Iridium can do things Helix can't but one might not want this kind of quality.

[Gordon Currie]

What will a 48 thousand point IR do better than a 2 thousand point IR - specifically for getting a better acoustic guitar sound with a pickup?

I thought ToneDexter was 2048 points. Is a Strymon 24 times as good?

At what point do diminishing returns kick in?

[RockerDuck]

You can get a Mooer Radar cab simulator (and IR loader) for around $100

You can also get a Mooer Tone Capture (IR maker) for around $100

I think Strymon is late to the game.

[Cuki79]

Originally Posted by Gordon Currie

What will a 48 thousand point IR do better than a 2 thousand point IR - specifically for getting a better acoustic guitar sound with a pickup?

I thought ToneDexter was 2048 points. Is a Strymon 24 times as good?

At what point do diminishing returns kick in?

You get better definition in the low end. 96kHz will give you «potentially» better high end.

If you don't hear or feel any difference between Tonedexter 2048 pts (standard) and 8192pts (studio mode): forget about 48000pts IR. I personally gave up on long IR with the EPSI very soon but I did not have a proper working algorithm back the ... Never tried since.

So is it useful? I have no idea. But why would Strymon go for it? I mean you have to develop some real signal processing stuff to implement that on a DSP...

[Cuki79]

Originally Posted by RockerDuck

You can get a Mooer Radar cab simulator (and IR loader) for around $100

You can also get a Mooer Tone Capture (IR maker) for around $100

I think Strymon is late to the game.

Mooer radar is 1024pts IR. If Strymon was not able to compete qualitu wise with chinese (Mooer) or Russian (Amt) cheap competitor, they would have disappear long ago.

My DIY IR pedal can do what Mooer pedals do (and more) and it is based on a microcontroller... similar to the AMT pedals. But it sure can not do what the strymon pedal does. They are people who are still ready to pay for higher quality ADC/DAC, proper analog gain circuitery and good DSP chips.

For me it is like comparing a Martin and a Cort. For sure you can play any song with a Cort. But some people enjoy playing a D-28 and are ready to pay for that.

[smgear]

Originally Posted by Cuki79

My DIY IR pedal can do what Mooer pedals do (and more) and it is based on a microcontroller... similar to the AMT pedals. But it sure can not do what the strymon pedal does. They are people who are still ready to pay for higher quality ADC/DAC, proper analog gain circuitery and good DSP chips.

Cuki, what chip/platform are you using? I'm looking for a basic IIR chip that I can use for onboard IR modeling in electric violins/guitars. The AMT chips are cool, but limit the IR length to ~50 ms or thereabouts which isn't long enough for the violin type IR's. I'd appreciate if you could point me in the direction of any chips/platforms that might work. Thanks

[Cuki79]

Originally Posted by smgear

Cuki, what chip/platform are you using? I'm looking for a basic IIR chip that I can use for onboard IR modeling in electric violins/guitars. The AMT chips are cool, but limit the IR length to ~50 ms or thereabouts which isn't long enough for the violin type IR's. I'd appreciate if you could point me in the direction of any chips/platforms that might work. Thanks

I use an axoloti which is similar to AMT chip. I think the ST.Rock is the best for us... however the owner does not respond to my emails. I think there is a minimum order of 10 boards...

I used to have EPSI and AMT devices. Actually I don't use IR since I made my own pickup. JonFields45 revived my interest for IRs and I have a new project related to it.

[Peter Z]

Originally Posted by Cuki79

Actually I don't use IR since I made my own pickup. JonFields45 revived my interest for IRs and I have a new project related to it.

It's really hard to decide in what direction to go. 2 days ago I had my first gig without any IRs involved since years (first Aura). And it was GREAT. I used a D-18MD I bought 10 days ago with a Schatten HFN. Just EQ and a little compression. Never had such a good sound before. Only thing was that the guitar started to resonate a lot as we got louder and that influenced the sound.

Still I think that IRs for acoustic instruments just started and there is a lot of potential in that technology. I really wonder if higher sample rates will improve the sound.

Anyway Cuki, thank you for keeping us updated!!!

[jonfields45]

It seems my IR generation project in Matlab has hit a dead end of not making my HFN sound better, but not any worse either... The frequency plots of my various IRs look like others I've seen at least superficially, but in Reaper and my HX Stomp, they are quite neutral sounding. I guess the good news is they don't need any EQ to not do anything :~).

I've tried longer and shorter segments from the initial sample along with averaging fewer and more of them.

I've got a few bells and whistles in my program; minimum phase and a "don't divide by near zero" options that must work at least OK as those IRs are just as neutral sounding as the ones without.

Maybe the HFN is too good a starting point. I've got a Sonotone equipped guitar headed here tomorrow to make sure I failed...