...
The Ampli-Firebox is a beautifully utilitarian pedalboard or gig-bag rig solution. Find out more about this Editors' Pick award winner here.
Emerging solidly from Atomic’s amp-modeling wheelhouse, the new Ampli-Firebox ($299 direct) aims to deliver the most compact and form-factor-familiar live modeling tool yet. Its success in that realm might just make it a first-call solution for many players in search of a backup amp or all-in-one virtual rig for fly dates, or both. The unit contains the same tech created by Studio Devil for Atomic’s more fully featured Amplifire 12, all packed into a rugged 4.5” x 3.5” x 1.5” pedal with eight knobs, three toggle switches, and two footswitches, with both ¼” and XLR outputs (one 3-way toggle assigns cab simulation to either or both, so you can run a ¼” cable to your backline amp without sim and an XLR feed to front-of-house with sim), input for standard 9V center-negative power supply (included), and a USB out to connect to Mac or PC, where all the deep-dive setup takes place.
To be clear, the Ampli-Firebox is ready to go right out of the box: plug it into your amp or PA, select from the nine factory-loaded presets, and away you go. To really tap this thing’s potential, though, connect that USB cable and download Atomic’s Editor software for Mac or Windows, and you access fine-tuned adjustment and pairing of the available 14 amp models (many of the usual suspects, and some interesting alternatives); related cab sims (to which—great bonus—you can add third-party IRs in WAV form); the clean boost or overdrive, fuzz, or distortion model assigned to the Boost footswitch; and the parameters for compressor, EQ, delay, and reverb effects. There’s also a handy A/B Mode that converts the Enable button’s otherwise on/off function to a channel-switching