Lancaster Audio released an updated version of their free IR loader, now named Pulse 2. This new version was developed jointly with Aurora DSP, a Polish company specialized in plugins development. This new version brings the capability to load and mix up to 4 IRs and the possibility to export the resulting IR, that you can use for example on your multi-fx device : a Line6 Helix, a Kemper, a Quad Cortex, a Tonex Pedal … or from your favorite IR loader device (TC Impulse, Mooer Radar, etc…). This updated version is a “straight to the point” IR loader and could well become your next go-to loader…

Free loader

Just as the previous version, Pulse 2 is completely free : simply register an account on lancasteraudio.com , grab Pulse 2 and check-out for free : you will then get access to the download links, and you will be able install the plugin on Mac OS or on Windows.

As you can see from the package install on Mac OS on the screenshot above, Pulse 2 comes in AAX, VST3 and AU plugin formats, as well as a standalone application.

Plugin features

So this plugin is an IR loader, able to load and mix up to 4 IRs, that you can use in mono, dual-mono and stereo modes :

Each IR can be switched on or off, can have its phase reversed and has HPF, LPF and OFFSET settings. The central pad allows you to graphically mix the IRs, much like the Libra plugin with its cartesian mixer. When the auto-align option is enabled (which is the case by default), IRs are aligned automatically and individual offset controls are disabled. Below the mixer, you get a frequency or a time graph of the IRs, as well as access to a handy 4 bands EQ :

Last -but not least :)-, Pulse 2 allows you to export the resulting IR as a new .wav file :

You can select the bit depth (most IR loaders will load 24 bits IRs) and sample rate (44.1 to 192 kHz). On my own tests, the resulting files seem to be 92 ms long, which is usually more than ok for guitar IRs.

Conclusion

The IR rendering sounded very good and accurate to my ears, so congratulations to Lancaster Audio and Aurora DSP for bringing this free plugin to guitar players and producers. If you are looking for a no non-sense, simple and good quality plugin with the ability to export your processed IRs, go and grab it ! And I personally enjoy having the IR frequency graph : it is a very handy and nice feature to visualize the overall balance of the IR and check on the IR low-end and high-end…

Check lancasteraudio.com to download Pulse 2 and be sure to check their website content, as well as Aurora DSP website here : https://auroradsp.com, which offers free and paid plugins.

Change Log

  • April 17, 2025 : typos and formatting