IK MULTIMEDIA

AMPLITUBE X-GEAR PEDALS $299 (each), ikmultimedia.com

Already giants in the tone-modeling world, thanks to the success of AmpliTube, this year saw IK Multimedia move into the effects hardware market with their X-Gear pedal range. The delay, drive, modulation and reverb units come with AmpliTube 5 SE and can be tweaked via a virtual computer version, with 300 presets for saving your favorite tones. The pedals also can be used as a USB audio interface with a stereo out for monitoring and full MIDI implementation. Given IK Multimedia’s track record for creating a real analog experience for digital users, it’s interesting to see them working the other way and bringing that ingenuity to the pedalboard.