BOSSIR-200 Amp and IR Cabinet Pedal

Like other Boss pedals, this one takes a shotgun approach to sound variety. Those familiar with the SY-1 Synth or the Digital Delay 00-200 will understand what it means to have perhaps a little too much packed into one pedal. It's a bit overwhelming at first. The sounds range from amazing to absurd, and there are 128 presets, each defaulting to a unique combination. All of them can be changed and customized. I think the goal is not so much to provide a person with so many great options, but that enough options are available that a person is guaranteed to be able to find a few combinations that they like a lot. Then you save them, and you use them a lot.The downside of this design is the simplicity of its interface, really. Its function greatly outnumbers its knobs and buttons, which means some difficulty in navigating through menus and sub-menus. Though it doesn't come with a user manual, one is available for download from the manufacturer. Yes, you definitely need the manual. Again, there are a lot of great options available, but it takes time to learn, and not every parameter is useful to every player. Customizability with this pedal is extreme. If you don't find something that you like, then it's probably your own fault. All of the fussing with menu functions is only at the beginning, when you first get it. Once you adjust it the way you like it, then its regular use is as simple as stomping the up and down buttons, and that's it.Default settings have about half of the presets dirty and half clean, and the two kinds are all mixed up. All of the default volumes are loud, but some are considerably louder than the others. Default reverb is very low on all presets. Default send-return function is disabled across the board (I highly recommend using the send-return function. It gives a much clearer sound). All of this can be adjusted as needed.For people new to cabinet/amp simulators, keep in mind that this unit must be placed at the end of the chain, and it must be injected directly into the P.A. system or used with a flat response monitor, like the Headrush FRFR-108, for example. It won't sound right if it's plugged into a regular guitar amp. The advantage to it is the ability to effectively switch between a variety of different amps without having to lug around or spend money on a variety of different amps. This makes it a very safe purchase, because for a relatively low cost a person can practically own an entire store of guitar amps, and then one can sort through them all at home and find the best ones to use regularly.I started out with the Donner Incredible V, which was pretty good and a lot cheaper, but because the cab/amp simulator is the most important pedal in the chain I decided to fork over a little more money to make sure I wasn't selling myself short.

I've always been interested in amps in a box. I've had an original Rockman (great, but just one sound and noisy), a Johnson J-Station (very good, very noisy), a Line6 POD (lousy, IMO), two Vox Tonelabs (really good; can't remember why I sold), an Atomic Firebox (too much work), a Styrmon Irridium (too much work) and now the IR-200.For my purposes, the IR-200 is the first one I'm really enthusiastic about, but whether you'll like the IR-200 depends on 2 things: The type of music you play, and most importantly, how you plan to hook the unit up. Rest assured, no box is going to be optimal for playing Death Metal on a 7-string and Bossa Nova on a nylon string. Just as no single amp would work for this.So that this review does not go on for pages, I'll summarize. (1) Stand alone. Used by itself, the IR-200 sounds pretty good; probably dependent on the headphones. The IR-200 has reverb and the amp models include compression and overdrive so you're covered there. But if you use delay, chorus etc you'll have to add those into the unit's loop.(2) As a computer interface. About the same as stand alone, but if you have GarageBand or Amplitube or some such, you can mix in addtional effects.(3) In front of a computer interface. In other words, send the IR-200's output to an input box like a Focusrite, and then into your computer. This, I think, is the sweet spot, although I'm not sure why 2 input devices in a row sounds better.(4) Guitar to IR-200, IR-200 to pedalboard, pedalboard to USB interface (Focusrite) to computer. The best of all worlds. Sounds great, surprisingly quiet and you get to use your pedals.(5) Guitar to IR-200, to combo amp. Sounds like a very good multi-effects unit but does not turn a Princeton Reverb into a Marshall stack or vice-versa.(6) Guitar to IR-200 to power amp, to speaker cabinet. Haven't tried.(7) Guitar to IR-200 to PA. Haven't tried.So that's what you can use it for, and that's what I know. I can also tell you the display is great, and despite the extra features it's easier and quicker to use than the Irridium. Soundwise, the Styrmon is darker so either the Strymon is warm and fat and the IR-200 is bright and shrill...or the Irridium is muddy and dark and the IR-200 is chimey and crisp. Both sound better and more forgiving with humbuckers than single coils, but either can be dialed in. I spent about 20 minutes getting sounds I liked from the IR-200 and an entire evening to get one pretty good tone from the Irridium. Since then, I've gotten a lot of fun tones from the IR-200 but for me the Strymon was a one-trick pony. To each his own.About the interface; I dislike unnecessary complexity in all forms (won't go anywhere near MIDI, for example) but I had no trouble at all with the IR-200's programming. And the display really helps! TheIR-200 is bigger and and more expensive than the IR-2, but to me, it's worth it, to be able to see what I am doing. Secondary functions and menus aren't that bad when the pedal shows you what's going on. The only thing I use my computer for is backup.

I have been thinking about getting a more professional amp but still get the sticker shock when I start pricing what is available. I do have a twin speaker amp however the tone is not quite there. It would also be good to be able to use headphones or plug in to a computer.I bought the IR 200 to hopefully help my old amp out, be able to use headphones, and to try plugging in to a PA system when I go to a Jam session so I don't have to drag my amp along.The settings and nuances of this pedal were a bit daunting at first however there are a ton of YouTube videos on this pedal to check out. Of course with the Boss pedal you can save a lot of profiles so you can dial them up later. So far I've been able to add some extra attitude to my old amp and when using the headphones I can definitely pick out the different cabs (sounds great, too).The price on this pedal is not exactly cheap but it is far cheaper than buying a professional model amp. For many this could be a great solution for using PC speakers and not have to get an amp right away.