Looking for Friedman IR-J opinions?

[* velcro-fly *]

Dammit. You bastard, lol. I was looking a the Powerstage 200 yesterday and reading reviews and trying to think of what would be a good sounding, light solution for gigs. Im planning on using my Orange Dual Baby but the Seymour Duncan with the IR-J would be killer.

I happen to know where a Powerstage 200 is for sale hahaha

 

[Randy R]

Just picked up one last night. So far I am blown away by it. Great piece of gear

 

[* velcro-fly *]

A lot of useful info in this thread. Thank you guys. You've convinced me not to buy the IR pedals and stick with amps.

Its not an either or. Would I prefer the IR-D over my amps for regular full time gigging? No. Is it a killer option if for some reason you need to go direct or have a silent stage ? Yes. Is it hands down the easiest most compact backup you can bring out with you to a gig? No question. In a blind test would it fool the vast majority of people listening as to IR-D or a full fledged amp? Absolutely, fooled my own band mates first time I fired it up. Its not the be all end all, but it cant be written off that easily

 

[cragginshred]

Owned a J and X. Both have waaaaay too much compression on the dirt ch. Both can nail the friedman plexi channel. But ch 2 sounds sooo different it was a deal breaker. The OD boost on the j was super weird sounding and useless to me.
Here is a vid I made of the X -as always I provide sound clips when able rather than tons of words. Last words here -No matter what Pete Thorn or whatever influencer makes it sound like through a DAW, it will not sound like that in your rig. Similar to modelers they all record really well but that does not sound the same in your room.




More rock tone here

 

[romanianreaper]

Owned a J and X. Both have waaaaay too much compression on the dirt ch. Both can nail the friedman plexi channel. But ch 2 sounds sooo different it was a deal deal breaker. The OD boost on the j was super weird sounding and useless to me.
Here is a vid I made of the X -as always I provide sound clips when able rather than tons of words. Last words here -No matter what Pete Thorn or whatever influencer makes it sound like through a DAW, it will not sound like that in your rig. Similar to modelers they all record really well but that does not sound the same in your room.




More rock tone here

What are you using now? I know you've tried different amps and really know good tones.

 

[gibsonash]

Tried the J and X at the same time , i kept the X

 

[jchrisf]

This will be a cool option if it ever comes
https://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?threads/synergy-modular-thread.1864485/post-41552299

 

[andefalko]

I've had both the Ir-j and Ir-X, I like the Ir-x a bit more

 

[Reverend Bow]

I've had both the Ir-j and Ir-X, I like the Ir-x a bit more

Just more versatile, or?

 

[cragginshred]

What are you using now? I know you've tried different amps and really know good tones.

JEL 50w, Slo 30 and on the waitlist for the Jose!
Gigging with Fm3 mostly! The draw for me to the J or X was frustration with dialing in a basic amp tone on the Fractal -always so close but never 'there'
Fix was a buddy who got the Fm9 and has better ears than me came up with a killer tone and now I'm using that -hear below (Splawn amp model which was never on my radar but buddy chose it)

 

[gibsonash]

Just more versatile, or?

Yes

 

[Reverend Bow]

Yes

Thank you

 

[romanianreaper]

JEL 50w, Slo 30 and on the waitlist for the Jose!
Gigging with Fm3 mostly! The draw for me to the J or X was frustration with dialing in a basic amp tone on the Fractal -always so close but never 'there'
Fix was a buddy who got the Fm9 and has better ears than me came up with a killer tone and now I'm using that -hear below (Splawn amp model which was never on my radar but buddy chose it)

Sounds good!

 

[Matte23]

I won't be of much help relative to the IR-J, but I've owned and gigged the actual JEL25 head, owned the IR-X, and currently own and have gigged the IR-D. The JEL25 head was underwhelming, didn't do it for me but to be fair it was in a fight with my Wizard MC25 and really was just there as a backup just in case. When that just in case moment arrived it was painfully obvious what was a better amp (at least to me).

The IR-X into a Fryette Powerstaion was a monster but after I added the Powerstation it was just as dumb to cart around that much gear so back to a backup head I went.

The IR-D was a recent thing that I run into a Seymour Duncan Powerstage 200 and out to a regular cabinet. So far that has been outstanding, kind of a mind fuck actually. I've used it on two different gigs in the last month when I couldn't have my regular rig there and it has performed perfectly.

So if I take my JEL25 experience and compare it to my IR-D experience, the IR-D will win hands down. The IR-J apparently has a built in tube screamer circuit (could be wrong about that) but based on the two actual channels on the IR-D and how you can set it up, I think the IR-D might be the most versatile of all of the IR series, especially since you can hit it with a pedal. The IR-D with a clean boost up front is a monster. You can also find the IR-D much cheaper on the used market than the IR-J.

I wouldn't buy the IR-X again, I would probably check out a full 50 watt JEL head, but at least for me the IR-D is the winner out of all those choices.

Check this very good comparison:

How it sounds with Headphones with cab ir for study without disturbs the neighbours?

 

[heath]

I have the IR-J currently and it is my favorite of the three IR-_ pedals, with the IR-D being a close second. I started with the IR-X when it first became available in 2023, but quickly determined that it was not what I was looking for. Too thick and smooth. I found the BE and JJ amps that way too though.

The IR-J sounds more like a slightly goosed up JCM800 in highest gain mode, but I prefer it in the lower gain mode and hit it with a MXR classic overdrive (set to the ZW mode, so more Boss SD-1 than TS9) as a boost. The J feels more amplike to me than the others I tried, but the IR-D is close, it just doesn't have enough gain on tap.

I purchased these as a way to get away from using my aging, modded ADA MP1 live. Its getting long in the tooth and in fact just blew a power transformer that I am struggling to find a replacement for that is not in Europe and can't be shipped due to laws and tariffs. The IR-J does a good job, but so does my Tonex.

How it sounds with Headphones with cab ir for study without disturbs the neighbours?

This is probably the place where it struggles most. There is a horrible 60 cycle hum unless something is plugged in to the standard outputs. I use a little headphone amp after the main output instead of IR-J headphone output.

Overall, its a great unit that seems to be reliable. I wish it was a little more "snarly" in that 2k frequency range, but other than that it rocks.