Strymon Iridium setup

I had an Iridium. If you go through your interface and out to monitors, it should be very little latency. If you go through your computer, then you will probably noticed some lag.

I would suggest getting a mixer. Then you can go Iridium into mixer, out to monitors. You can feed the interface for recording... Or what I did was use the usb out on my mixer (didn't need an interface). This worked well.

For a home studio, I can't stress enough how integral a mixer is.

I ended up selling my Iridium and getting a captor x to use my tube amp. The Iridium was impressive though.

It's a bit of a rabbit hole to set up though, as you get unbalanced 1/4 inch outs.

A couple of things I learned along the way:

It's important to run the Iridium in stereo. The room effect is what makes it sound life like rather than sterile digital. That's in stereo.

Also, IME, the Iridium needs to go straight into the mixer. I tried having my looper and other effects between it and the board, and the impedance caused a slight alteration of tone and dynamics. The looper was high headroom, true bypass, analogue dry though, yet it still affected the signal. I think the low impedance out of the Iridium wants to see the mixer. Again, subtle, but it took the magic away.

That magic is what makes the Iridium worth paying for imo.

 

The THR certainly keeps things simple.

Yes, if you have a mixer, you can jam with multiple audio sources. That's basically what they do. And allow you to "mix" the signal levels.

You might be ok if you have an interface. As long as there is a direct monitor jack on it, you should be good. This allows you to avoid latency.

For recording, the software will have lag correction options.

The Yamaha is pretty good. If you go the other route you'll have to invest in:

Iridium, interface and/or mixer, monitors, more cable (yeah it's not exactly cheap), etc. So a lot of money. Unless you are serious about a great home studio setup, I'd be tempted to spend that money on a great amp or guitar... Lockdown won't be forever!

That said, I really love having my setup at home. It's an investment I can enjoy for years and years.

 

I have the Iridium, and LOVE it, but you might want to check this out as well, just came out in and competition, the Walrus Audio ACS1

https://www.walrusaudio.com/products/mako-series-acs1-amp-cab-simulator

This guy compares them

 

I use mine as an amp sometimes. I am in a country band where everyone is mic’d through the PA. I take this pedal board to rehearsal and I don’t need to take an amp.


I usually take an amp to gigs and bypass the Flint and the Iridium.

 

I've an Iridium on my pedal board for emergencies and use at home.

I also run it through a mixer - I run the Iridium into a Flint and then into my mixer.

Not sure whether it sounds as good as my real amp but good enough that I use it every day and listen through monitors or headphones.

I also have a Two Notes Cab M which is also great but only has one style of amp (I use it for DI work). Lots of others out their including the Joyo American which is more keenly priced.

It's another rabbit hole.

Good luck.

 

I’ve just got one, I’ve been using it with headphones to practice with a klone and delay going into it and I’m very impressed. It’s really easy to get the sound I want.

I’ve also tried some recording, just through a cheap Behringer interface into Logic and it came though sounding great.

Looking forward to trying it though the PA after lockdown!

 

If you do that, there will be. On your Focusrite interface you must sent to the monitors (or headphones) the input, not the output back from your computer.

 

And if you want to listen to the recorded track while playing (and recording your guitar), you should send to the monitors both the input with the guitar and the output from the computer. Be just careful to mute the guitar track into your DAW so that you do not hear it twice with a delay...

 

I am a hobby player and very occasionally record. I have a BFVR and was looking for a Marshall head for some variety. I recently had some GC points built up and rolled the dice on the Iridium figuring I could resell it, since Strymon stuff holds their value. I will not sell it anytime soon. I like it a lot. I have no need for the "Round" setting, but find the Vox sound appealing and really like the Marshall. It makes the VR a totally different amp. The different cab settings are surprisingly distinct. I really like the room effect; the first night I plugged in, I was using it only through headphones and kept looking around because I couldn't believe the space it created.

OMMV of course, I'm just a guy who plays for fun and is no expert on any of this stuff.

I also own the THR10ii, and it is a solid little modeler with a bluetooth feature that I love, but I find the Strymon to be a big leap forward. Fwiw, I've had the Flint, Deco, Timeline, and El Cap and thought they were all sweet. Cool sounds and endless tweakability if that is your thing. And when it came time to sell, I got all my money back. You can't go wrong.

 

Good info in this thread thus far. I keep going back and forth about the Iridium or getting a Two Notes Torpedo. I love the simplicity of the Iridium vs the Torpedo. I don’t want to get swallowed by endless tweaking.

 

I have both an Iridium and a Torpedo 'Captor X'.
Though there is plenty of stuff to tweak on the Torpedo, it's very easy and intuitive whether you use the phone app or the 'wall of sound' computer app - which function seamlessly by the way. No more work than accessing the Iridium's dual function knobs and switches.
If you want to use your amp heads, the 2-Notes stuff is great (or the UA 'Ox').