Watch Paul Riario try out the full IK Multimedia AmpliTube X-Gear range of guitar pedals, the “most versatile world-class tone machines for studio or stage”

IK Multimedia has been making waves with its first-ever line of hardware effects pedals, the AmpliTube X-Gear range, announced this past summer.

The feature-packed line is comprised of four pedals – the AmpliTube X-Drive distortion, AmpliTube X-Time delay, AmpliTube X-Space reverb and AmpliTube X-Vibe modulation – to cover all your guitar processing needs. And to show you just how well they manage this, we set resident guitar guru Paul Riario up with the full X-Gear range to show off the myriad sounds and features at your fingers – or, make that, your toes.

“These pedals feature an onboard state-of-the-art DSP and include 16 custom high-end algorithms per pedal culled from the most popular IK Multimedia AmpliTube models,” Paul explains.

From there, he runs through some quick stats: “The X-Gear line is built-to-last and housed in a lightweight aluminum chassis designed and made in Italy,” he says. “With a pure analog dry path and selectable true or soft bypass, the guitar’s tone will ring true no matter how simple or sophisticated the signal chain becomes.”

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Features include up to 192kHz internal processing with four times oversampling, as well as a 5Hz–24kHz frequency response to capture the full sonic spectrum of your guitar.

Additionally, each X-Gear pedal is loaded with a virtual version, as well as a copy of AmpliTube 5, for seamless transitions between your physical pedalboard and digital rig.

“But what I really think is very cool about these X-Gear pedals is how easy they are to navigate through and then start to tweak,” Paul says.

Indeed they are. For starters, all four pedals feature a similar layout and control set, with knobs for choosing models, presets and parameters, as well as an easy-to-view large display screen.

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From there, each pedal has its own fine-tuning knobs: drive, volume and a three band EQ on the X-Drive;  time, feedback, filter, mod and mix on the X-Time; speed, depth and three band EQ on the X-Vibe; and time, pre-delay, color and mod mix on the X-Space.

Other features include USB compatibility for use as an audio interface, comprehensive MIDI implementation abilities and an expression pedal input port, which can be assigned to control any parameter.

But as Paul states after conjuring up a wide variety of tones, textures and effects out of the four units, “what I love most about the new X-Gear pedals is the intuitive interface that allows you to easily tweak and save settings on the fly using the control knobs.

And, he continues, “IK also includes five cabinet impulse responses in each pedal to connect directly to the PA.

To sum it all up, Paul says, “If you’re one of the many players who use AmpliTube or someone looking for pedals packed with premium effects, then the high-performance IK Multimedia X-Gear pedal line is an absolute knockout.”

To check out the full X-Gear range, head to IK Multimedia.