Boss delivers a beautifully simplified but still incredibly potent Amp & Cab Sim via its Compact IR-2 Amp & Cabinet pedal

Nov 30, 202308:00 by

Stefan Karlsson

Amp and Cab IR SimBossPreAmpUtility+-

2023-GPX-Boss-IR-2-Amp-&-Cabinet-700.jpg

Boss has really pushed the boat out with its super neat and actually incredibly potent compact IR-2 Amp & Cabinet simulator. You get 11 superior quality amp types - loaded with Celestion Digital IRs - as detailed below. For a simply huge range of sounds - with the minimum of fuss. You don’t quite have the granularity of some of the more advanced IR pedals - where you can define mic placement down to the centimetre - what you have is instant satisfaction though - and you can deploy this simply as a Digital Preamp if you wish - in fact you can use it as a Pre Amp Only / Cab Only or Both together.

And regardless of how exceptional the factory default Celestion Digital IRs are - you can connect the IR-2 IR Loader App via the USB-C port - and upload and assign your own IRs!

This kind of gives you the maximum variations and impact in the simplest form factor possible.

Another cool Boss innovation here is how you can create separate and wholly different settings and Amp Types per the Green and Red Channels - flipping back and forth between two unique profiles of settings.

Boss definitely likes to do thins its own way - which is often the industry standard way too - so you have Mono input, and Stereo Output - and if you want to run Stereo Modulations into the mix - you need to make use of the Stereo capable Send & Return FX Loop.

As I’m accustomed to front-loading most of my effects - I would significantly have to re-wire my signal chain to make use of said configuration - versus something like the Stymon Iridium - where I can just go full stereo in at the front.

Most though will prefer the more industry standard Boss FX-Loop approach - while it aptly illustrates how different players and rigs can have quite different and idiosyncratic preferences and requirements.

I feel this is one of Boss’s smartest compact digital pedals yet. And I might just get this in to to use solely as a Multi-Drive / Preamp - rather than use it to its full advantage. There’s certainly a lot going on for such a small package.

I personally am all for pushing air these days - so I don’t currently have need for an IRs Amp & Cab Sim - but were I in the market - this would surely be my first stop-off!

You also have a Mini Headphones Jack on the rear of the pedal - for monitoring purposes - or even silent playback as such.

The pricing feels pretty spot on at $199 | €209 | £181 - and all those who have ’field-tested’ this pedal seem to really love it.

I guess at the compact level it’s really between this Boss IR-2 and the Walrus Audio ACS1 - which is usually twice the price at $399. I really think Boss is onto yet another winner here!

AMP TYPES

CLEAN : Minimal Gain
TWN : Fender Twin Reverb
TWEED : Fender Bassman 4 x 10
DIAMOND : Vox AC30
CRUNCH : MDP - Multi Dimensional Processing Crunch
BRIT : Marshall 1959
HI-GAIN : MDP - Multi Dimensional Processing Hi-Gain
SLDN : Soldano SLO-100
BROWN : EVH / Peavey 5150
MODDED : MDP - Multi Dimensional Processing Extreme Gain
RFIER : MESA/Boogie Dual Rectifier

CABINETS AND IRs PER TYPE

CLEAN : 1x12" Celestion V-Type | Closed Cabinet | Royer R-121 Mic | File : V-Type 112 C R-121 Balanced Celestion.wav
TWN : 2x12" Celestion A-Type | Open Cabinet | Sennheiser MD421 + Royer R-121 Mics | File : A-Type 212 O Lo-Gn 421+121 Celestion.wav
TWEED : 4x10" Celestions G10 Gold | Closed Cabinet | Royer R-121 + Shure SM57 Mics | File : G10 Gold 410 C Lo-Gn 121+57 Celestion.wav
DIAMOND : 2x12" Celestion Blue | Open Cabinet | Sennheiser MD421 + Royer R-121 Mics | File : Cel Blue 212 O Hi-Gn 421+121 Celestion.wav
CRUNCH : 2x12" Celestion G12-65 | Open Cabinet | Sennheiser MD421 + Royer R-121 Mics | File : G12-65 212 O Lo-Gn 421+121 Celestion.wav
BRIT : 4x12" Celestion G12M-Heritage | Closed Cabinet | Sennheiser MD421 Mic | File : G12M-Heritage 412 C MD421 Balanced Celestion.wav
HI-GAIN : 4x12" Celesiton G12M Creamback | Closed Cabinet | Sennheiser MD421 Mic | G12M Creambk 412 C MD421 Balanced Celestion.wav
SLDN : 4x12" Celestion Vintage 30 | Closed Cabinet | Sennheiser MD421 Mic | V30 412 C MD421 Balanced Celestion.wav
BROWN : 4x12" Celestion G12M-Heritage | Closed Cabinet | Sennheiser MD421 Mic | G12M-Heritage 412 C MD421 Balanced Celestion.wav
MODDED : 4x12" Celestion G12K-100 | Closed Cabinet | Sennheiser MD421 Mic | G12K-100 412 C MD421 Balanced Celestion.wav
RFIER : 4x12" Celestion Vintage 30 | Closed Cabinet | Sennheiser MD421 Mic | V30 412 C MD421 Balanced Celestion.wav

* You can connect the USB-C Port to a computer or similar device and use it as a USB audio interface, or connect the dedicated IR-2 IR Loader app to load the IR files you like - in place of the Celestion Factory defaults.

Controls - Ambience (Reverb : Room / Hall / Plate) [Bass], Level [Middle], Gain [Treble], Type : Clean / TWN / Tweed / Diamond / Crunch / Brit / Hi-Gain / SLDN / Brown / Modded / RFIER, Short Press = Green / Red Channel Select, Long Press / Hold = Bypass.

Ports - Send, Return, Input, Output A (mono), Output B, Channel Select, Phones port on real, USB-C for IR-2 IR Loader!

KEY FEATURES

Choose from 11 premium amp Types paired with Celestion Digital IRs and instantly tweak your sound via simple controls. Use the mono/stereo loop for post-amp effects and plug in headphones for monitoring and quiet practice. And with onboard USB-C, you can easily interface with music software and load in your favorite cab IRs.

Premium amp emulator and cabinet IR loader in a BOSS compact pedal
Exceptional audio quality with 32-bit floating-point processing and 96 kHz sampling rate
Eleven different amp types and high-quality cab IRs from Celestion Digital
Can be used as a Pre Amp Only / Cab Only or Both together
Simple user interface with Level, Gain, Bass, Middle, and Treble controls
Can flip between Green and Red Channels - each with different Amp Type, and their own Separate Ambience, Bass, Level, Middle, Gain, and Treble settings
Short press changes Green <> Red Channel, Long press / Hold switches pedal on and off / bypass
Ambience effect with dedicated control [Room / Hall / Plate]
Mono input and stereo outputs
Mono/stereo loop for patching in mod, delay, and reverb effects after the amp emulation
Headphones jack for practice
USB-C for recording and audio playback via a computer or iOS device*
Switch between two amp/cab tones with the pedal switch or an external footswitch
Dedicated IR-2 IR Loader app (macOS/Windows) for loading your own cabinet IRs
Amp and cabinet sections can be turned on/off independently for isolated use
BOSS five-year warranty
Dimensions : 73 (W) x 129 (D) x 59 (H) mm
Weight : 0.45kg
MAP / RRP : $199 | €209 | £181