M-Vave IR Box review

[InkCow]

I was playing with mine yesterday, it’s crazy how good it sounds, especially for under $30.

If there was some way to disable the IR on the 1/4” out, it would replace my NUX MLD, no question.

 

[stubbsonic]

I can't remember if I already posted this here. Someone was musing about installing a ground-lift switch-- which would actually not be very difficult or expensive to do. There's room for a mini/micro 1PDT switch to lift/connect ground. But I see now that they make a $12 USD adapter that lifts the ground.

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/GLT255--hosa-glt-255

 

[JengDoe]

The latency seems pretty good. I did a test and it seems to be around 2 ms which is close to what they claim for the pedal.

For comparison, the BOSS IR-2 has 0.5 ms.

 

[dave_bass5]

I got one of these recently but sent it back. It's a nice little unit but I didnt like the sound quality. To my ears (and I was using headphones) it had a slight hollowness to it. Ive heard much better. I even loaded IR's that ive used with mu Nux MLD preamp but it was still there.

 

[stubbsonic]

had a slight hollowness to it. … I even loaded IR's that ive used with mu Nux MLD preamp but it was still there.

Were the global HPF and LPF wide open (the wee knobs)?

 

[dave_bass5]

Were the global HPF and LPF wide open (the wee knobs)?

I tried everything. Made no difference. It wasn't noticeable through a speaker, in fact I was really impressed with it, but once I had the headphones on (my usual way of playing at home), it started to be noticeable. 5 different IR's and lots of tweaking.

 

[stubbsonic]

I had only tried the headphones when using it as an audio interface- where they sounded fine (apart from L&R being swapped). Need to check. Possibly some parallel dry cause phase issues.

 

[Keitor]

One of the online manuals says that the power interface is "positive inside and negative outside" which directly contradicts other references I've seen, including the ink on the unit itself!

Power is center negative like most pedals. Thats how I'm using it. I'm not willing to see if it will work the other way

Looked up on to this thread for this…

I’d recently ordered one of these and started to read the manual, that “positive inside external outside” seems to be very unsual, but I’m glad to read about your experiencies on it.

Haven’t you got any issues on its powering until this date?

 

[stubbsonic]

I can confirm that power is tip (center) negative, as it shows on the unit.

 

[stubbsonic]

I'm curious what other IR Box users think of the noise levels. I've been in some contexts where it is quiet, and others where it is a bit hissy.

The hiss isn't unreasonable-- for the price-- but it's not as quiet as other digital pedals. Just wondering what you all think.

 

[GotGroove]

I'm curious what other IR Box users think of the noise levels. I've been in some contexts where it is quiet, and others where it is a bit hissy.

The hiss isn't unreasonable-- for the price-- but it's not as quiet as other digital pedals. Just wondering what you all think.

I was going to type that so far, mine's pretty quiet. But since everyone's asleep at this hour and it's quiet outside, I figured there's no better time to test it. So I hooked it up to my PA and I have to admit, in complete silence I can just hear it. It's not something I'd notice during rehearsals or even with cars and people passing by my house, but there is a very soft hiss that I don't hear when I hook up my MS-60B+, with or without my SB-2.

It's so soft, I could easily have mistaken it from an combo hooked up to a PA with the volume still open. I haven't noticed it when setting for rehearsals where people are chatting and setting up their own gear so I doubt I or anyone else would notice it at a show.

Of course, now that I know it's there, I'm going to have a hard time trying to 'unhear' it. Thanks @stubbsonic

 

[InkCow]

I'm curious what other IR Box users think of the noise levels. I've been in some contexts where it is quiet, and others where it is a bit hissy.

The hiss isn't unreasonable-- for the price-- but it's not as quiet as other digital pedals. Just wondering what you all think.

I haven’t used its DI, but I don’t think I have noticed any noise using it as an interface, although I also don’t know that I would have noticed, either.

Can you try to isolate it? Could it be the EQ? Or the cab sim? Or a particular IR?

 

[stubbsonic]

IR was bypassed. Only EQ. I assumed the noise was all from the analog parts, pre & post processing. I might mess with it more. The ac gtr I was using is pretty noisy too.

 

[Keitor]

Arrived and already dropped on my board!

I’ve changed the factory presets for the DB15 and B15 that Redwirez sells on it BigBox Bass pack, sounds pretty nice!

 

[stubbsonic]

I was gonna say you could ditch that Boss EQ, but I can see how having a graphic at the ready is pretty essential.

Yesterday, I was playing a solo ac gtr gig. The IR Box was a bit too noisy for that scenario. Tried the EQ2. Could get the iOS editor to link to it, so I had to edit on the box. not fun, but got the job done.

 

[Keitor]

I was gonna say you could ditch that Boss EQ, but I can see how having a graphic at the ready is pretty essential.

Yesterday, I was playing a solo ac gtr gig. The IR Box was a bit too noisy for that scenario. Tried the EQ2. Could get the iOS editor to link to it, so I had to edit on the box. not fun, but got the job done.

Honestly, it's really useful giving me those deep mid-bass sounds when I need them. It's also helpful for getting that fretless bass sound with my Jazz Bass.

 

[stubbsonic]

Well, I just meant that the 9-band EQ in the IR Box is might do what you need, if you didn't mind bending over to change presets on the IR box. But maybe you want to be able to switch stuff on/off quick and get boost, etc.

 

[NeilJazz]

How do you change EQ settings on the IR box directly? I thought it was only accessible via the App.

 

[stubbsonic]

Correct. Only editable from iOS/Android via Bluetooth or macOS/Winows via USB. And because the BT connection isn't super robust, it could be kind of a hassle on a gig. If the EQ was something that could be set in advance, you can certainly dial in a very specific kind of spectrum well in advance. But I suppose you could also "burn" your favorite EQ into your IR, as well.

 

[Temcat]

Just bought this thing. Was wondering if I could downgrade from ShiftLine CabZone X. I'm fairly new to IRs, and with only headphones at home and no PA to field-test it, I'm not sure how it all *should* sound. The best and most scientific thing I can do is to compare how the same IRs sound on both devices, and this is something I haven't got around to doing yet.

The CabZone X has a couple of stock IRs from CabZone Bass (don't remember which ones), and the IR Box is loaded with about a dozen IRs from ShiftLine HD IR Pack, the rest is stock. As far as first impressions go, I'm not sure I like the M-VAVE box as much. The two IR's I have on CabZone seem to sound better—in the headphones, that is—than just about anything I have on the IR Box, including all their stock bass IRs (those starting from #26). The exception is the stock IR #19, described as "Based on Diezel V30-SM57-Cap specification". It's not even for bass but sounds most pleasant. Not sure if it translates to playing through a real PA.

I'll try to give an update when I "cross-pollinate" the boxes with the respective IRs.