The Steel Guitar Forum

I've always used my trusty old Line6 Pod XT for direct recording of steel at home, but now I see the Strymon Iridium and I'm very tempted by its "round" Fender emulation. The "room" knob seems like a good idea, too. Has anyone here tried to record steel with this unit? [center]
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I got one mid 2020 when I was doing so much playing with headphones thinking it would be a direct practice aid. And then I cut my first tracks on it… big love for this thing. It’s nice to not have to mess around with mics in my acoustically-challenged space and bother my wife with endless takes. I haven’t even hooked it up to a computer and download other IR’s yet. Total winner!!

Thanks, Gary. That's what I was hoping. I can relate. I keep my Pod XT at the band barn. Lately I've been practicing through the amp at low volume, annoying the Mrs.. Headphones at home would be a good idea, especially if it had great tone.

I wasn't even aware of IR technology until I started researching this unit. Apparently there are a lot of studio-quality speaker emulations available that can be loaded into the Iridium. JBL D-130s would be nice, I bet.

I've been interested in this unit for a while and have watched many videos. I watched one last night by Rhett Schull that was particularly good. For recording and silent playing I use S-Gear software which works well for me but I like the simplicity of the Iridium pedal.

It arrived today. Best sounding headphone amp I've ever tried! It was easy to dial in a good steel tone with the "round" Fender emulation, cabinet C, and a large room. I saved that on the FAV button and played with the other emulations a bit. Then I inserted the Strymon DIG dual delay pedal. Beautiful!

It's really inspiring to be able to play at stage volume with great tone in headphones, where nobody else can hear your mistakes. I like this thing!

I've been meaning to try out some of these with some different DAW plugins https://eminence-digital.com/collection ... -responses

I wonder if they are the right format to work with the iridium.

The headphone output: Is it stereo?

I looked on their web site at the Iridium pages.
It did not say one way or the other.

Never mind, I found it on their web site, BURIED in the downloaded manual.

It is stereo.
(It does not say if it is true stereo, or is merely the L and R outputs summed together and delivered equally to both sides, though.)
From the manual:

Stereo 1/8 inch headphone output.

and

NOTE: The headphone output provides the same signal as the
quarter-inch outputs.

FWIW, I did not find it in the FAQ section on the web site.

Output is selectable between mono/sum/stereo, the input is 1/4" stereo TRRS. When stereo is selected, headphone output is true stereo.

The DIG has left and right 1/4" outputs. I'll need an adapter cable to run that into the TRS input of the Iridium. I guess this is the one. Any other suggestions?

www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/STP201- ... -ts-3-foot

I have that same Hosa adapter that I use between my Blue Sky and the Iridium. The Blue Sky has separate L-R inputs so you can easily run two separate mono signal paths for 6 string and PSG if you want, split the outputs into separate amps or amp channels if desired. You could do that with the DIG with a second Y cable for the input, two TRS female to TRRS male. I have mine hooked up this way at home for practice so everything can just stay plugged in.

At this point I'm running it in mono until I get the connector. The rig is simple: guitar>volume pedal>DIG>Iridium>headphones. I haven't hooked it up to a recorder or DAW yet. I expect it will perform well.
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Yes, this is a great unit and what I'm currently using for steel. I've used it extensively for guitar. Regarding stereo functionality, as others have said it has stereo in and out (though you need a TRS plug for the stereo input). The unit will put out a "true" stereo signal even with a mono input signal so long as you've got a stereo impulse response loaded. The stock unit comes with some of the IR's in stereo and some not. I've bought excellent IR's from OwnHammer (ownhammer.com) and aside from sounding excellent they are a very nice stereo sound vs many other non-stereo IRs out there including some that ship stock on the unit. The stereo IR's that come stock on the unit are from OwnHammer also. The output summing options via toggle switch are very nice as well - I use this because my pedalboard is wired up in stereo but sometimes I run mono out of the Iridium into a single amp.

Cool! I see a Fender Vibroverb cab with a 15" JBL E130. Good for steel? Is that what Lloyd Green has in his Twin Reverb?

https://www.ownhammer.com/store/index.p ... cts_id=449

Bob, I own that bundle so I will try that 15" impulse response and report back on how it sounds vs the various 12" IRs.

And Bob, regarding the Y-cable. That Hosa one would work fine, though it's bulky and going to create some clutter. If you're handy with a soldering iron you can keep things tidy.

I'm not gigging with it, so the clutter doesn't bother me. Nice solder job.

I auditioned a bunch of the OwnHammer 15" JBL E130 IR's today in the Iridium. They did indeed sound very nice to my ears. I can't say its a huge difference tonally from the 12" CTS speaker, but its got its own voice. I'll need to spend more time with it, but for now I'm going to keep it on the E130 for my steel practice time. Also keep in mind that for each cabinet+speaker combo, you have a TON of different IRs by way if different mics, combinations of mics, eq, etc. that OwnHammer provides in that bundle. I didn't count, but there's easily 100+ IRs just for the JBL E130.

I'm now tempted to try the Eminence IRs for the Paul Franklin and Travis Toy signature speakers. I'd be curious if anyone has tried those with the Iridium yet??

Has anyone been using the Iridium as a DI input to the house PA or acoustic guitar style monitor amps? Or to FRFR speakers?

Also interested in the Walrus Audio ASC1. This is another of these type of amp/speaker/mic emulation units.

Thanks, John.

b0b wrote:The DIG has left and right 1/4" outputs. I'll need an adapter cable to run that into the TRS input of the Iridium. I guess this is the one. Any other suggestions?[/url]

I use this cable between the el cap and flint. The plugs are really low profile. Works great.

https://reverb.com/item/17626063-rockbo ... 11-81-30cm

There is a review of the Iridium in the latest issue of Guitar Player Magazine.

I don't know if it's viewable on line or not.

FWIW they liked it.

THIS JUST IN!!!!!!!!!!!
Duh, dummy self, check the interwebs and do your research before you type. (What a radical concept.)
AAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

Linky dink:

https://www.guitarplayer.com/reviews/st ... dal-review

Brett Lanier wrote:I use this cable between the el cap and flint. The plugs are really low profile. Works great.

https://reverb.com/item/17626063-rockbo ... 11-81-30cm

Thanks, Brett. That looks better than what I'm using. I ordered one.

Anyone using the unit direct to FOH?

Danny, I've used the Iridium to FOH for regular guitar and its fantastic. I prefer the simplicity of this to the Kemper for live use. The reverb knob on it adds a little realistic room vibe which is really nice with direct in-ear monitor mixes... live in the room it probably doesn't make much difference though.

Another great choice is the Tonex pedal that does a lot more IMHO:

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail ... al-modeler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXV0N3YlQyg&t=9s

It seems staggering that they can offer over 1000 IR's that cover all kinds of amps, cabs, effects, amp captures (free software included) and still give you hard controls for things you need to adjust on the fly.

Web site here:

https://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/t ... onex-pedal

"whopping 150 preset slots to store your favorite amplifiers, cabinets, pedals, and full-size rig models. IK Multimedia also grants you access to 1,000 of their Premium Tone Models (accessible via the included TONEX MAX software and the TONEX app), containing near-indistinguishable replications of some of the world’s rarest and most sought-after gear. Still, that’s only the beginning of the TONEX Pedal’s stage and studio utility with 5-pin MIDI I/O, USB audio interface functionality, stereo output, built-in effects, VIR cabinets, "