Should You Buy The Strymon Iridium? 

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I own one. It's PERFECT. I got so sick of tweaking, configuring, and dialing up software librarians, menu diving, etc. I just want to pick an amp and play guitar. I have a medium size pedal board with all the effects I need. At some point tweaking saps your creativity. And the 3 included Iridium amps are the only amps I care to play through.

Dude, what an intro! That track is sick!

No one is demoing gear like you. Your intro tunes are just incredible. The layering and tonality of the parts are perfect. Kudos.

Shooot man! You’re introjam was just INSANE! Teasing a new axe and a new pedal for EVERY. SINGLE. PART. 😎 So inspiring to hear you play!

The Iridium's UI is perfect for me: quick, easy and intuitive to use. The sound and features give exactly what I need: amp and cabinet simulations. And based on what I've heard from several demo videos, it sounds pretty awesome too. I hate pedals which have lots of menu diving to them. I want all my controls available right there in front of me when I start writing music.

Well said, Rhett. I've been using Helix LT (an incredible product, and one you helped me decide on) for over a year now, and I went from PA speaker, to PowerCab, to bypassing the amp models altogether and running Helix in front of a traditional amp (gasp). All of this, only to cycle back to building a rig that incorporates lessons I've learned from using modelers/multi-effects into a more "traditional" setup. I agree that it's about preferred workflow, how "tweaky" you are, and what inspires you to play. I like the simplicity of an amp or amps that just gets straight to the sounds I like to hear, and a gigbag-sized pedal that mimics that experience, for situations that call for an alternative or backup to your amp (sessions with limited isolation, stage-noise-free casino floor gigs, or catastrophic mid-gig amp explodey-fails). Price point is tough, but actually seems about right considering the quality of Strymon's products, and the context of their pricing for the rest of their lineup. Dead on, and fair. Thanks for another great demo.

I love the tones I’m hearing so far. For my personal taste Strymon nailed it with the inclusion of room reverb - that is my biggest gripe with modelers and going direct!

Rhett - I grabbed one of these during the Covid stay-at-home order, mostly so I could learn more about it and jam quietly from home. I am BLOWN away by how real this thing sounds, even just threw headphones. It's infinitely more articulate and clear than my mic'd up tone at church (my primary gig space) on my Fender Twin. I don't miss playing around with mic placement at all. There's less ambient noise, no ducking needed, and I sound, on stage, like I do in my bedroom. This was a game changer purchase and really got me out of a playing slump in a huge way. I CANNOT RECOMMEND THIS TOOL ENOUGH!

Thanks for the great review! I'm "dipping my toe" into the digital world with a Two Notes Cab M. It's for a similar player as the Iridium. It does have an XLR out, software that allows you to tweak microphones and mic placement, and it also takes a direct amp in level signal so you can bypass the amp sim and just use cab sim. Good results so far. I'm tempted to go with a headrush, but I do like my Strymons, Analogman KOT, etc... So, kind of a hybrid approach for me.

Rhett, I've been following your videos for quite some time now here in Finland 🇫🇮 I've really enjoyed your gear reviews etc. and they have definitely helped me figure out how to solve issues in a live setting, for example. Keep it up, you're doing a great job and are an inspiration to a lot of players worldwide 👍

Over the last year i really like where you're headed with tone exploration.

Rhett, I was talking with the folks at Strymon about various ways I am wanting to hook things up. I heard you comment about disabling IRs and I'm sharing what I heard from them. Hope it helps! "One thing you CAN do is place a mono 'null cab' IR as one of the IR's of the cab slots, but leave a standard IR cab on the other side. This will allow you to send the amp and cab signal to one side (PA) and just amp modeling to the other ('wet' amp)."

The cab modeling can be bypassed by holding down the bypass switch while powering the pedal and then turning the drive knob to select the power up mode (normal, amp bypass, cab bypass). Great video though!

Thanks for this really great review. Another huge advantage of the HX Stomp is the preamp only models which sound awesome hooked up in 4CM to the clean channel of my Granger CG50 head. It really gives you a chance to make ‘hybrid’ rigs and keep your power amp section in tact.

Love Jet! Thanks for adding that clip!

Ok, I have heard more types of guitar tone that made me go "I want that" in that intro than in my entire history of watching music related videos on RU-vid.

I’d really like to see some side-by-side comparisons using the same IR’s where someone dials a tone in on the iridium, then reproduces it on the stomp. Go through several settings for each model. That would give us a much clearer comparison of the amp modeling in each.

great demo and great playing! and jeez, your video quality and production is top notch. Great work!

What a fantastic take on Hear My Train a Comin! Thumbs up for that intro!

You never let me down. Was literally watching an Andertons review of this when your new video notification popped up!

During the video I thought the same thing! They will come out with a “big box” version of the iridium. The iridium was just a test the waters kinda thing.

I'm thankful the tasteful strymon team did the job of selecting good sounding cab impulses and reverbs for us (matched to each amp, that's genius!). Limited options is what we deal with when using a real amp. Surgical mode takes me out of the music most of the time and we have other tools and better places to find the exact fit come mix time. Thanx for the review, looking forward to getting one of these myself!

I’ve been planning on some kind of modeling purchase and had my eye on a stomp to allow silent practice when kids roll around but this thing changes the game. It seems simple, small, and gets you a great sound quickly.

The Strymon really had a modern Hendrix vibe to it! I definitely loved the tones that were possible with it, although you did make both sound really amazing!

That has to be the best RU-vid intro ever! I could listen to it over and over!

Very fair and balanced demo. Wonderful tones! I believe the Iridium is destined for my pedalboard. I'd been dithering but you have explained so well about the different types of guitarists and their wants and needs.

Ominous zoom...cue well thought-out hunch. Great playing as usual. I have to look through your channel to get a rundown of some of your guitars. I love that you have a uniquely curated selection of axes that show up in your videos!

I just want to take a moment to appreciate that opening guitar part to the JET song you did. What a tone 🔥

That fuzz tone on the novo at the start was incredible

Rhett. It was great to meet you in person yesterday at the PRS event (the English guy from near Gatwick). Have been curious about the Iridium and appreciate your insights....Ray

It was nice to hear you demo this! The demos on their channel were FULL of 50 or 60 cycle hum and it made me question it. THIS video however, absolutely in love 😍

I think this is a good route for those of us who already have an interface but have yet to be able to get good sounds through other direct options

The opening music was incredible!

Thanks again Rhett - Great intro music and view from 30,000 feet of this pedal. I really like the simplicity of it. I own a Helix and although it's insanely deep, I get a little worn out attempting to easily dial in a tune-appropriate amp tone for a DI rehearsal or a quick recording before the idea fades. Probably going to pick one up, but you're right - really pricey for what it does.

Great vid Rhett. Great playing as always! I might have to add this to my pedal arsenal. Strymon makes some awesome gear and I know from your vids that you’re a fan of their products. Keep it up. Your vids are much appreciated.

That opening track was INCREDIBLE!

I see a trend of new amp modelers coming out lately that don't have little green screens that require menu diving.

I plan on getting the HX stomp, but that’s largely due to the fact that I am trying to have a back up/practice rig where I don’t need to pull out my big pedal board to practice. But Strymon products are just so darn amazing! Still blown away with my timeline and blue sky, every time I play them, and I have had them for 5+ years.

Hi Rhett, hello from England. Really enjoying your videos, very informative and your playing is of course awesome. Been looking at these little units vs the simplifier, Walrus, Bluguitar etc for home headphone playing and I think the tone you got at 5:40 just made my mind up! Keep producing this kind of great content, it’s very welcome.

now we bassists need one!! SVT, flip top, Sunn and acoustic 360!!!

Was trying out one of my buddies HX Stomps for demos but got tired of having to constantly tweak. Then another buddy let me try out his iridium and I bought it off him cause it is literally plug and play. So easy to fit in a mix with very little tweaking

I watched this video and have now subscribed, I love the way you break things down, you are very easy to listen to and Ive come away from this video wanting an Iridium not because youve just made it sound good for the video (which is ehat most do) but because I feel you gave an honest, in depth and unbiased review and it spoke to me. I am now checking out your other videos!! Thanks for your efforts!!

Your tone in this was great! Really loved the opening jam.

I don't usually comment on these videos man, but just wow, that intro music!

That intro track - woah! Tone!

Great video. Being a new item we are all still learning its functions. Leaving the on button down red light is normal green will disconnect the amp and amber will take out the cab function. Leaving it free to use as a OD pedal. Love your helix video.

I did buy one for use in church and now my pod go collects dust most of the time. Definitely money well spent as an Amp replacement and an Amp backup. Thanks for your videos and keep them coming please!

Thank you for this! Definitely getting a new pedal... HX Stomp it is.

Definitely want one. I’m exactly the type of player you’re talking about. I want something easy that I can drop in and start playing. I only wish they had put in an XLR out.

Rhett killing-it with that intro. Great playing & guitar tones brother. oNe LovE from NYC

As someone who really enjoys watching different YT vids on music and gear, your intro is my new favorite. That was smokin’!

I personally find that the iridium works so much better for me. I would rainman the fuck out for hours when I had the Helix, just turning knobs but never actually playing, because I kept trying to find the perfect sound. For me, it makes more sense to take a simple but great sounding piece of gear, and find a way to make it work, then have unlimited options and tweakability. And speaking of tweaking, the Helix can be a soul stealer. I once spent 30 hours tweaking, and auditioning different mics trying to get a perfect sound, only to forget to save my settings in the end.

great video buddy. Would you believe - I never tried a strymon. I should put that in the bucket list. They seem top notch!

Aloha Braddah and thanks for the demo of this pedal....nice job of it! You helped me to get closer to the reality of the price of the pedal with a much better informed mindset on the capabilities of it. The HX Stomp (don't know much about it and others similar)adds a higher level of flexibility but difficulty and bench time. This is more simple, plug and play. Mahalo for the time you put in to bring this to our ears!

Phenomenal intro, Rhett!

had this come out 3 years ago i'd still be rockin my 60 lb pedal board with this at the end.

You sir have sold me on the Iridium. I’ve watched almost every video, and this one by far is the best. Thank you!

Loved the video and the review. Specially when you talk about pros and cons. I work as a Guitartech for a major act in Brazil and although he understands how Kempers, Fractals & etc can help, specially on flying gigs, he just can’t even think about it. Since we are have amps off stage, I think the Iridium can be a way in into this world of virtual amps and cabs for people who wants to see and understand all the knobs and parameters just by looking at it. Also agree that Strymon must be coming up with something big. Thank you and remember: there’s no plan B

I’ve been waiting for this video all week. I immediately liked; I knew it was gonna be great

I just picked one up, loving it so for. The local dealer I shop at in Austin had gotten two on Wednesday, sold one that day, I got the the other yesterday. Amps and cabs sound superb to me. I feel like it is much more responsive to touch and dynamics than other modeling hardware/software that I've used, as well as responding much more dynamically to analog overdrive pedals than any modelers that I've used. It's not quite like driving the input of real tube amp, but it's damn close. I was just playing through my Analogman Sunface into the Plexi setting and damn it sounded great. So yeah, being able to just put it at the end of my existing pedalboard and plug into my audio interface for recording is huge to me. And as far as recording, I've been using plugins for a long time (years ago I used the old red bean-shaped Line 6 Pod, which actually worked really well IMO). The problem with plugins are a) they're not real intuitive to use, and even if you know exactly what you want there's a bunch of mousing around, loading stuff, menus etc, b)they take up a lot of processing power on your DAW workstation, c) it's not always easy (or good-sounding) to integrate existing hardware pedals, and d) they can lead to severe option paralysis. The Iridium has solved all of those for me, so I was pretty much sold on it as soon as I saw some of the demos. I'm not averse to more complex technology at all, but I'm certainly also happy when I can just turn three or four knobs, get a great sound and hit record. As far as price, the other recording option I was considering was something like the OX box, so this (while a very different solution) was far more affordable. What I haven't liked so much: it doesn't respond to all pedals and all pedal settings equally well. I believe that the analog JFET preamp is largely what makes it so sensitive and responsive to input dynamics, but I think (but don't know) that once you kind of hit it hard enough to blow through the available headroom, it starts to do less-than-pretty things to the signal that's being sent to DSP. It likes my Tumnus and JHS Twin Twelve a good bit and mostly responds just like (or very close) my tube amps. J Rockett Dude, not as much, I've got to tweak it a good bit to get it sounding right(it's fine with all my modulation, delays and reverbs). The other major gripe (and Strymon addresses this in their FAQ) is that if you try to just use it alone with headphones powering it with a wall wart, it's not grounded and has pretty bad 60hz hum. Strymon suggests just plugging the output into a grounded amp (even not turned on) which will then ground the Iridium. So big bummer if you were hoping to just set it on your couch and practice with the TV on or something. It's still usable, just get ready for a loud ass hum if you've got the drive cranked and you lift your hands off the strings. Plugging it into my pedalboard power supply instead of the included wall wart also did the trick.

I’ve been running a Helix floor the last 4 years. It takes the joy of playing away from me because there are too many options. I just want to play, twist a few knobs, and get into it. Now, with the future of Tubes looking grim, I’m going back to a traditional board with an iridium and running into my headrush frfr monitors.

Very informative. This is a 10/10 video. And the guitarwork is EXCELLENT(that Ry Cooder slide riffing😍). I just purchased a Flint, now i must own an Iridium.

Dude, I love the songs you make for your videos. This video's intro song is awesome, and I LOVE the first snare hit. Sounds like a bomb going off.

It is cool for what it is, I will stick to my small combo amps and traditional peadalboard though. Your point about making it a D.I. too was a great one though.

that intro jam was phenomenal lol

That opening tune is outstanding! Well done!

Awesome review with detailed and simple explanations. Congrats!!!

the lack of tweakability makes it more amp-like

Rhett, you can disable the IRs - page 15 of the manual.

Exactly the video that I needed to see. I saw this in my feed right after putting a deposit on one of these so this was reassuring.

Great overview of a very cool product. As always really enjoyed it. Keith

I watched this video, now I want one..

Been in lock down for a couple of months with my wife and son, in a small apartment. My wife (thank God!) is working from home and my son is going to school remote. I can’t plug in! I just ordered the Iridium and pair of headphones. I’m excited! I normally play through a 5e3 clone. Looking forward to having these three classic amps, and different cabinets at my disposal! Fuzz is a big part of my pedal board. Watching your demo definitely helped me decide. Bonus is, if I get used to it, when I play out I can just go directly into the PA?

Thoroughly enjoyed that intro!

There's that new Les Paul again! So happy to see it in your videos. Sounds awesome with the Strymon Iridium!

Which would you buy, the Iridium or HX Stomp? Edit: YOU CAN DISABLE THE IR’S! There’s a function on the pedal that allows you to run with no cab sim.

Had the HX Stomp. Decided I am tired of tweaking in menus. Iridium is definitely on the radar.

By the way, you make this pedal sound better than any of the other reviews I've heard so far. By far the best and fairest review I've seen on this device.

Just bought one because of your demos. It is the best ir amps out the box i ve heard so far. Great and quick!

It seems so intuitive. It just might be the thing that gets me into this amp-less world (been thinking about the switch for a while)

Damn, at the end of this video, the only thing I want is an ES-335. What a gorgeous guitar. The zoom at 14:30 was hilarious.

Hey Rhett, Great video and love the opening🤘🎸

Great opening sounds and outstanding soulful playing. You put some heat on those strings, brother!

Cool review. You should try a cheap pedal sometime. They've gotten really good. Try an Xtomp Mini and Joyo amp pedals, like the Joyo American and Joyo British.

Hey Rhett! Yes, I want an Iridium. I guess I’m an old school player 🤙🏼 Hey... I wish you would have talked about how it takes boosts and drives vs HX Stomp and especially Kemper. I know I struggle big time with using a Kemper with even my Centaur-type pedals. Just doesn’t respond the way I’m used to amps responding to a Klon. I have a feeling, however, that the Iridium takes boosts/OD’s really well. Talk to me, bro.

Loved this demo and your analysis of the 2 pedals.

Planning on running the Iridium in the loop of my Hx Stomp. I've never been super happy with the amp modeling in it, but love the effects. We'll see....

the only Strymon product I can afford is the Strymon tap favorite

I actually just bought the Iridium for desktop recording. The appeal for me is that it sounds legit, and it's small, flexible and easy to use. That means I can be a musician and not a technician when I'm laying down tracks.

Brother your tone is incredible. So is your playing. You could rock a mean ‘feelin bad blues’ Roy Cooder slide with that sound.

Very helpful and complete review. Thanks for taking the time to do this right.

Dude Rhett! I’m trying to up my RU-vid video quality, and I was wondering what video editing software you use when making these videos. Thanks brother! 🤘🤠🤘

Cool, it's closer to what I'd like as someone who literally has the same plug in and play set up for 30 years, a clean Marshall with reverb overdrive and a wah pedals, I'd run a mile from anything that involves Tweeking, or downloading, same as I did from those multiple effects slabs 20 yrs ago, that stuff requires more concentration than I'm willing to give up for tone.

I have been *very* impressed with the Mooer Preamp Live. Super-nice analog-like interface, *lots* of models, including boosts, small, runs from a 'standard' 9V 4-500mA supply, Bluetooth...and the builtin models sound pretty damn good, at least for hard rock/metal amps. And cheap.

Thank you for your videos. You offer a very honest, balanced view of everything.

Firstly, Rhett: Best Video Intro Ever. Nice playing. Second, for all of us apartment dwellers out there: How does the headphone out sound?

JET sounds awesome on that Novo

Your playing helped make it sound rally good. Those were some excellent tonal choices.

You certainly made this pedal sound great, Rhett. I could certainly see that on my board, either as an amp sim or as the mother of overdrives. Cool toy.