Impulse Responses

[KHAAAAAAANNNNNNN!!!!!!!!]

This is how you summon Jay:

• Guitar speakers are not transducers
• Speaker and cab systems are completely nonlinear in response and are time-variant
• IRs must be at least 10 sec long to even begin to capture the response of a cab
• Close-miguel'd IRs are completely sufficient to prevent the capture of ANY reflections
• Reflection-free IRs are a myth
• Since sound travels faster in solid mediums, ground-plane IR measurement captures sound waves through the floor before the ones through the air, causing comb filtering in the final IR

There we go. He'll be here any minute.

 

[KHAAAAAAANNNNNNN!!!!!!!!]

York M25, M65, Bassman, Vox AC-30 and the $1 Mesa. I have the DV-77 as well, but I couldn't find anything to use it with that I didn't like something else better.

 

[KingsXJJ]

York M25, M65, Bassman, Vox AC-30 and the $1 Mesa. I have the DV-77 as well, but I couldn't find anything to use it with that I didn't like something else better.

Mmmm. KHAAAANNNNNNN!!!!! Is this someone’s alter ego?

 

[Jarick]

I have hundreds of thousands of impulse responses on my computer from pretty much everyone. Spent a ton of money on it over the years. Spent a ton of time going through them.

Honestly, I am burned out with IR's...there's some I like and way more I don't. I like some from Ownhammer and some from York, but I can't say they are always consistent (i.e. sometimes I prefer one brand over another). I also don't always love the same mix of mics across the board. It's hit or miss.

Right now I am primarily using a Strymon Iridium with the stock cabs and that's just fine. I mostly use the Marshall model with the stock Ownhammer GNR, which was pretty close to one of my favorite IR's. When I use my Fractal FM3, I've been using the legacy German V30 cab and that seems to work pretty well for whatever I want to do. I try and avoid aftermarket IR's if possible now so I don't tweak.

 

[Steinmetzify]

Grabbed a couple from York Audio the other day.

Mesa 4x12 and a VHT 4x12 with PE50s. Diggin em.

 

[bigcupholder]

I started with OH years ago and never found them any better than the stock Helix cabs - they went too far the other way, with overly hyped bass and scooped mids. I had decent results blending the two though.

I've since switched to York and bought a ton of their packs (listed most to least favorite):
Mesa OS
Marshall MV30
Orange
Mesa 212 ($1)
Creamback 212
DV77 212
Marshall M25
EVH
Bogner V30
Bassman
Marshall T75
PE50

As you can tell, I really like V30s. I clearly bought too many V30 packs out of curiosity and could easily get by with just the Mesa OS for everything medium to high gain.

I go back and forth on the DV77 as I find it only suits a very particular tone in a particular mix. The Orange also has a strong character to it, but it's one I enjoy more often. I haven't found any use whatsoever for the T75 or PE50 though.

 

[Whizzinby]

I started with OH years ago and never found them any better than the stock Helix cabs - they went too far the other way, with overly hyped bass and scooped mids. I had decent results blending the two though.

I've since switched to York and bought a ton of their packs (listed most to least favorite):
Mesa OS
Marshall MV30
Orange
Mesa 212 ($1)
Creamback 212
DV77 212
Marshall M25
EVH
Bogner V30
Bassman
Marshall T75
PE50

As you can tell, I really like V30s. I clearly bought too many V30 packs out of curiosity and could easily get by with just the Mesa OS for everything medium to high gain.

I go back and forth on the DV77 as I find it only suits a very particular tone in a particular mix. The Orange also has a strong character to it, but it's one I enjoy more often. I haven't found any use whatsoever for the T75 or PE50 though.

York IR’s are like crack, hard to shake. lol

That $1 Mesa pack is fire. So versatile. Such a steal.

Never jived with the D77 but everyone seems to love it.

 

[James Freeman]

I've been playing with IRs today trying to find what sits better in a mix and still sounds good and full without other instruments.

I found a good sounding rock drum track at 120bpm imported it into my daw, next I double tracked guitars panned L/R with Helix Native 5150, inserted NadIR with Dual Mono routing so I can choose one IR that affect both sides, and started scrolling through IRs to find the "best" one.

What I found was quite surprising, all my favorite IRs from the 'Summary' and 'Quick-Start' folders I always use when I play without a backing track did not sound right to me, they were too dark in a mix.
I had to go into the Mics folder and manually find the best mic and position for that particular cab and speaker, and I found that brighter IRs worked much better in a mix but also had to avoid narrow frequency peaks that became way more audible without the backing track and also did not sound good.

My quest has a long way to go still, I now know that I need to dig dipper in the folders I did not dare to go in.

 

[Stone]

York audio and Ownhammer both have some great IR's

 

[the swede]

I've been playing with IRs today trying to find what sits better in a mix and still sounds good and full without other instruments.

I found a good sounding rock drum track at 120bpm imported it into my daw, next I double tracked guitars panned L/R with Helix Native 5150, inserted NadIR with Dual Mono routing so I can choose one IR that affect both sides, and started scrolling through IRs to find the "best" one.

What I found was quite surprising, all my favorite IRs from the 'Summary' and 'Quick-Start' folders I always use when I play without a backing track did not sound right to me, they were too dark in a mix.
I had to go into the Mics folder and manually find the best mic and position for that particular cab and speaker, and I found that brighter IRs worked much better in a mix but also had to avoid narrow frequency peaks that became way more audible without the backing track and also did not sound good.

My quest has a long way to go still, I now know that I need to dig dipper in the folders I did not dare to go in.

Can’t remember if you use Helix or not… but…
Try comparing a helix stock cab vs an equivalent IR (a greenback for example) in a mix. It is… interesting. I’ll pass on stating my own findings, because it’s irrelevant.

 

[bigcupholder]

Can’t remember if you use Helix or not… but…
Try comparing a helix stock cab vs an equivalent IR (a greenback for example) in a mix. It is… interesting. I’ll pass on stating my own findings, because it’s irrelevant.

My grand conspiracy theory is that Line 6 intentionally made the stock Helix cabs extra pronounced in the upper mids in response to the old myth that modelers can't cut through a mix like a tube amp.

I'm really interested to see what the revamped cabs are like in the next update but I always felt that the stock cabs were underrated. The biggest issue IMO is that the dual cab block needs a mono block after it to merge the different mics whereas most people using IRs are using a mono pre-mixed IR. Otherwise the typical 57+121 combo is totally usable in the stock cabs.

 

[the swede]

My grand conspiracy theory is that Line 6 intentionally made the stock Helix cabs extra pronounced in the upper mids in response to the old myth that modelers can't cut through a mix like a tube amp.

Or unintentionally.. we will never know. It may just simply be a product of the way the cabsim works, they are IRs but built into a EQ/Filter modeling thing, that’s based on the mics… I don’t know really. It has an overall sound character. There are some of the cabs, very few actually that have a strong negative to this character. One being Uber V30 for example.

I'm really interested to see what the revamped cabs are like in the next update but I always felt that the stock cabs were underrated.

Same here, exited. And I mostly use the stock cabs now. I don’t really care anymore about what they are supposed to model, I just go for the sound I want and it’s not hard to get there with them. For me. But im old, I have wax in one ear and the other is making weird clicky noises.

The biggest issue IMO is that the dual cab block needs a mono block after it to merge the different mics whereas most people using IRs are using a mono pre-mixed IR. Otherwise the typical 57+121 combo is totally usable in the stock cabs.

Exactly, a product of the signal chain and block design. I like the dual cab block but it should’ve had a internal mono/stereo option. It sounds alright but there’s also a subtle weird thing going on when summing it with a mono block.

 

[James Freeman]

The biggest issue IMO is that the dual cab block needs a mono block after it to merge the different mics whereas most people using IRs are using a mono pre-mixed IR. Otherwise the typical 57+121 combo is totally usable in the stock cabs.

If it is anything like Metallurgy, we will be able to mix and pan two IRs/Cabs hopefully in a single block without splitting path.

The Quad Cortex already does something very similar to Metallurgy (or is it the other way around?) and I assume Helix 3.2 will catch up.
Cordy talks about the QC's better cab block in his latest QC video (link) compared to the old Helix cab block.
Screenshot form his video;

 

[Alex Kenivel]

I have wax in one ear and the other is making weird clicky noises.

Ever gotten your ear canals cleaned out? I had a ball of wax built up in my left ear the size of my pinky nail giving me trouble. I went to the doctor and they used what seemed like a handheld waterpick to squirt water into the ear, break up the wax and flush it out. It took a while and a few rounds but it was such a relief..

 

[the swede]

Ever gotten your ear canals cleaned out? I had a ball of wax built up in my left ear the size of my pinky nail giving me trouble. I went to the doctor and they used what seemed like a handheld waterpick to squirt water into the ear, break up the wax and flush it out. It took a while and a few rounds but it was such a relief..

My good wife has order home something, and we're gonna try it in the week. Its some fluid that should be in for 1 hour or two then rinsed out. Apparently I may have to do that 2-3 times. we'll see...

 

[ragingplatypi]

My latest IR adventure is enhancing the sound of the piezo on my x-bridge. I’ve got a Martin and Taylor going in stereo to try to create a dual mic’d sound and naturally do some of the eq’s work.

 

[James Freeman]

Redwirez closing down.

To quote LaXu from the other place:

Not surprised. I haven't heard anyone mention them for years and they haven't been riding the constant product release marketing hype train like other IR vendors do.

With which I totally agree.


Also, OwnHammer releasing the same Mesa 4x12 with Vintage 30 over and over and over and over and over and over again.



In my opinion this business of selling IRs is not limitless, of course people will have enough of 4x12, Greenbacks, V30s, SM57s.
Let's be honest for a moment, can you NOT get a good sound with the trillions of IRs you have now?

 

[jay mitchell]

In my opinion this business of selling IRs is not limitless,

The market is small, there are far too many players, and the product is too easily pirated. It's been that way for more than a decade.

of course people will have enough of 4x12,

Most of which sound a lot more like 1x12s than 4x12s.

Let's be honest for a moment, can you NOT get a good sound with the trillions of IRs you have now?

Bbbbut, there might be a "better" one out there.....

 

[Baba]

Can’t remember if you use Helix or not… but…
Try comparing a helix stock cab vs an equivalent IR (a greenback for example) in a mix. It is… interesting. I’ll pass on stating my own findings, because it’s irrelevant.

I'd be interested in your findings, if you don't mind.

 

[the swede]

I'd be interested in your findings, if you don't mind.

Sure! I can’t provide any audio example because i really don’t record tests… at all.
But subjectively to my ears I find it very easy to “fit” stock cabs in a mix. I’m not saying that I think they are better than IRs, or that I think IRs is better, generally speaking. I currently use both so… whatever fits for me.