Boss Drops the SY-200 Synth and IR-200 Cab Sim

September 17, 2021 · 7 sources

Boss announced two additions to its 200 series compact pedal line: the SY-200, a synth pedal for guitar and bass, and the IR-200, a pedal-based amp simulator and impulse response loader. The SY-200 carried a launch price of $329¹.

The SY-200 built on the earlier SY-1, which Boss described as acclaimed. Boss described the new pedal as "offering a universe of rich, analog-inspired polyphonic tones in a small footprint," and any guitar or bass works through a standard 1/4-inch cable, with no special pickup required².

The pedal shipped with 171 sounds organized in 12 analog-style synth categories, each tweakable through three dedicated parameter knobs, with 128 memories for saving and recalling setups².

Other SY-200 features announced at launch²:

• Two customizable footswitches with press-and-hold operation, assignable to synth on/off, memory scrolling, pitch bend, synth hold, and more²⁵
• Independent level controls for blending synth and normal guitar sounds²
• Selectable modes that globally optimized the synth engine for guitar or bass²
• Full MIDI I/O on 3.5 mm TRS jacks, with cables sold separately²
• Support for up to two external footswitches or an expression pedal²
• Power from a PSA-series AC adaptor or three AA batteries⁴³

The IR-200, meanwhile, was announced as a digital amp simulator and IR loader with 32-bit AD/DA conversion, 32-bit floating-point processing, and a 96 kHz sampling rate. Over 150 hi-res cab impulse responses from Boss and Celestion Digital were on board, and 128 user IR slots accepted mono or stereo WAV files at up to 32-bit floating point/96 kHz resolution in 200 or 500 ms lengths⁶.

Each of its amp types carried responsive gain, bass, mid, and treble controls, and 128 memories stored user setups. Room, Studio, and Hall ambience types were built in, a stereo aux input allowed jam tracks or backing music from a phone or mixer, and the two onboard footswitches scrolled through memories while performing. External control came via footswitches, an expression pedal, and TRS MIDI⁶. Like other cab sim pedals, it offered a stereo output for running into a mixer or audio interface⁷.

Both pedals sit in Boss's 200 series, a streamlined pedal line⁴³.