Boss IR-2 Amp & Cabinet Simulator

Pro guitar sounds as takeaway

The IR-2 packs the inspiring sounds of classic tube amps and mic-driven speaker cabinets into a standard stompbox footprint, giving you easy access to studio-quality tones on quiet stages, flight dates, recording gigs, and practice sessions. Backed by decades of BOSS tonal expertise, each selection delivers the same expressive nuance and dynamic touch response of a real amp and cabinet. The sound quality is also top-notch, thanks to advanced DSP, 32-bit floating point processing, and a 96 kHz sampling rate.

Inspiring tones for every style

Eleven solid platforms cater to every guitar amp taste, from famous tube combos to vintage and modern stacks. There are also several original BOSS amps, including a high-gain Brown type that originated from the Katana series. The amps are all paired with curated Celestion Digital IRs, which deliver an instantly polished sound. If you prefer to use cab IRs from your own collection, you can load them into the pedal via USB-C and a dedicated app.

IR-2 Guitar Amplifiers and Cabinet IRs

Company and product names in this document are registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective owners. These names are used because it is the most convenient way to describe the simulated sounds.

Instant sound

The IR-2's intuitive interface has you ready to play in seconds. Simply select an amp type and adjust the sound with the familiar amp-style controls. Then turn the Ambience knob to add some natural spaciousness and depth if desired. You can connect your other pedals to the IR-2's input, just as you would with an amp. If you want to take it a step further, you can use the send/return loop to add mod, delay, and reverb effects to the chain after the amp sounds. The TRS return jack supports stereo operation, so you can send stereo effects to the IR-2's audio outputs.

Play and record anywhere

Adding the IR-2 to your pedalboard significantly expands its versatility, giving you a complete guitar sound solution wherever you play.

Rehearsal and production

Plug in headphones and enjoy top-quality guitar tones for every practice session, whether you're playing at home or on the go. And prepare for upcoming shows with the same pedalboard setup you'll use on stage. Audio playback from a computer or mobile device is supported via USB-C, so you can jam along to songs from your music library and follow along with lessons from YouTube and other sources.

Stage Performance

Get a great stage sound and perform with consistent tones at every venue. By feeding the IR-2's outputs into a house PA system, you get a studio-quality signal that's unaffected by the performance environment. And if you need more than one amp sound while you're playing, you can switch between two IR-2 amp/cab setups with the footswitch or an external footswitch.

Recording

The IR-2's USB-C connector lets you send the audio from your entire rig directly to music recording software. Add tracks for full productions in a computer DAW. Or connect it to your smartphone and capture inspiration on the go. You can listen to audio from the IR-2 and your software through headphones, so you don't need to use a separate audio interface.

- Sampling Frequency
96kHz

- AD Conversion
24 bits + AF method
* AF method (Adaptive Focus method) is a proprietary method from Roland & BOSS that vastly improves the signal-to-noise (SN) ratio of the AD and DA converters.

- EN Conversion
32 bits

- Processing
32-bit floating point

- IR cabinet data format
Mono, Maximum 500 ms, 44.1/48/96 kHz, 16 bits linear/24 bits linear/32-bit floating point

- Preset IR cabinet
11

- User IR cabinet slot
11
* These are the same slots as the preset IR cabinet.

- Nominal Input Level
INPUT, RETURN: -20 dBu

- Maximum Input Level
INPUT, RETURN: +7 dBu

- Input Impedance
INPUT, RETURN: 1 MΩ

- Nominal Output Level
OUTPUT A (MONO), OUTPUT B, SEND, PHONES: -20 dBu

- Maximum Output Level
OUTPUT A (MONO), OUTPUT B, SEND, PHONES: +7 dBu

- Output Impedance
OUTPUT A (MONO), OUTPUT B, SEND: 1 kΩ
PHONES: 44 Ω

- Recommended Load Impedance
OUTPUT A (MONO), OUTPUT B, SEND: 10 kΩ or greater
PHONES: 44 Ω or greater

- Bypass
Buffered bypass

- Controls
Type of knot
GAIN knob
TREBLE knob
LEVEL knob
MIDDLE knot
AMBIENCE knobs
BASS knob
Pedal switch

- Indicator
CHECK indicator (Used for indication of Channel and check battery)

- Connectors
INPUT jack, OUTPUT A (MONO) jack, OUTPUT B jack, SEND jack: 1/4-inch phone type
RETURN jack: 1/4-inch TRS phone type
CH SEL jack: 1/4-inch phone type
DC IN jack
PHONES jack: Stereo miniature phone type
USB port: USB Type-C(R)

- Power Supply
Alkaline battery (9 V, 6LR61 or 6LF22, commercially available)
AC adapter (PSA series: sold separately)

- Current Draw
160mA

-Expected battery life under continuous use (These figures will vary depending on the actual conditions of use.)
Alkaline: Approx. 3.5 hours (6LR61)

- Dimensions
73 (W) x 129 (D) x 59 (H) mm
2-7/8 (W) x 5-1/8 (D) x 2-3/8 (H) inches

- Weight (including battery)
450g
1 lb

- Accessories
Leaflet ("USING THE UNIT SAFELY," "IMPORTANT NOTES," and "Information")
Dry battery (9 V, 6LR61 or 6LF22)

- Options (sold separately)
AC adapter: PSA series
Footswitch: FS-5U
Dual footswitch: FS-6, FS-7

* 0 dBu = 0.775 Vrms