Lately, I have found myself trying external IRs via my DAW and the more I tried, the more satisfied with the results I got. There are tons of free and paid IRs on the internet that sound completely different and so good in specific guitar tone scenarios. First and foremost, we are guitarists, and we want other players to find the right product for them. So we take into careful consideration everything from budget to feature set, ease of use and durability to come up with a list of what we can safely say are the best pedal amp on the market right now. As you may have already understood from the article, I’m very impressed with the Impulse! I think it’s one of the best designs I have ever seen for an IR pedal. Extremely affordable, on-point design that just gives you what it claims. Sounds Crispier?

With its ultra-compact, mini pedal format form factor, you can actually fit this in any pedalboard or setup without even noticing it’s there! Simplicity Once I accidentally left these settings in the previous positions and couldn’t believe my ears as I was hearing huge rumbling sounds that led me to investigate the external IRs first.Featuring simulations of all the big name cabs, including AC30, Twin and Deluxe Reverbs, and Bassman, and so on, as well as all the key mics and placement options, there is so much scope for tone sculpting here. The NUX Solid Studio IR & Power Amp Simulator also features USB inputs to enable users to import their own impulse log in case any of the other options weren’t enough. Impulse Responses are useful because they allow you to try out a huge array of guitar sounds that you wouldn’t normally have access to.

Did we really need a custom extension for IR rather than wave files? I don’t think so, not sure how I can export these .uli files and use them somewhere else. In theory, I should be able to do that as I paid for them, right? But not sure if these work in a standard IR loader plugin. Conclusion For pedal platform IRs, I find them almost useless as they sound pretty weird when you just add a drive or a distortion pedal in front of the Impulse. Of course, you should test this yourself and come up with your own conclusion. No Fast Scrolling Also common nowadays is for a multi-effects unit to double up as an audio interface or amp modeller. These USB-enabled devices can be plugged into one of the best laptops for music production, allowing you to record songs into a digital audio workstation ( DAW) like Ableton Live or Pro Tools.When TC Electronic released the original PolyTune pedal in 2010, they revolutionised the way we tuned our guitars and basses. Fast forward to 2022and they have done it again with the Impulse IR Loader!Featuring25 built-in IRs, 12 official Celestion cab models and 99 IR slots, the Impulse IR Loadermakes the process of working with impulse response files effortless. Simply drag and drop your favouriteIRs over USB or use the dedicated IR organizer for PC and MAC.The Impulse IR Loader will take care of the rest and ensure you sound like the best! Orange aren’t newbies when it comes to putting amps on pedalboards – as you will see later in this list – however they have kept things relatively rudimental until now. Enter The Guitar Butler. Bass players may be familiar with the ‘Butler’ name, with the Bass Butler a serious contender in the bass preamp game and now Orange have made it their mission to offer the same level of pre-amp flexibility for guitarists. With two switchable channels – clean and overdrive – featuring the full range of authentic Orange tone, this is a comprehensive tonal workhorse that gives bags of options to suit almost any playing style. If you want to adjust the low shelf, just press the left arrow button, and adjust with a single knob and the same goes for the high-frequency adjustments as well. You can trust Guitar World Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing guitar products so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test. Impulse responses are usually saved as generic .wav files. Many companies, producers and artists release their own impulse responses that allow you to accurately replicate their sounds. Alternatively, you can create your own – more on this later.

FEATURES True bypass, standard 9V power supply (100mA minimum), colour-changing LED indicating noise-gate activity You also have Two Notes products such as C.A.B. M+, but again they give you a lot such as reverbs, tuners, a clean preamp…etc If our list of the best pedal amps was based on appearances alone, this would easily take the top spot. And while that is one of the best things about it, Milkman Sound’s The Amp has more to offer than just good looks. A class-D, solid-state power amp with a proper 12AX7 preamp tube, it offers between 25 and 100 watts of power. I also hear built-in Celestion IRs a bit crispier than expected. But I’m not sure if this is a design flaw or anything. I have also no clue whether an IR should exactly the same going through a plugin vs going through an IR loader pedal. Also, I believe this should be tested with as many IR loaders as possible for a more solid conclusion. Acoustic and Pedal Platform IRsFirst and foremost, we are guitarists, and we want other players to find the right product for them. So we take into careful consideration everything from budget to feature set, ease of use and durability to come up with a list of what we can safely say are the best pedal amps on the market right now. Line 6 in 1996 launched an audio plugin for Pro Tools called Amp Farm with dozens of (digital) emulations of amps and cabs. Soon after (in year 1998), the company debuted its first hardware product that embedded that software in a roundish red box called Pod. That day, the world could almost hear the jaws of the community of tone seekers drop in unison: that new effect was destined to widen the sonic palette of every single electric guitarist in the world (and, soon enough, of every bass player as well).

With a massive 300 effects and over 50 amp sims built-in - plus loads more to be added via firmware updates - HeadRush has painstakingly modeled pretty much any stompbox and amplifier you can think of. There’s some serious depth on offer here and the ability to create your own ‘scenes’ essentially making it work like a multi-switcher, makes it a great choice for the gigging guitarist.For something containing a wide range of classic amp/cabinet combos (eight cabinets, eight microphones and three power amp tube simulations), the NUX Solid Studio IR & Power Amp Simulator is actually simple to use. NUX has really tried to cram as much into this box as possible, leading it to look complex and sophisticated. That said, you should find it fairly straightforward once you get your head around the layout.