Over-engineering my silent practice rig: IR-J + VP4

deepskyone

deepskyone

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In best TGF tradition, I have been on a multi-year quest to overcomplicate a simple thing at great expense: how to practice guitar through headphones in a way that does not totally suck.

My requirements are:
  • Great amp tone with high-gain options (bonus points for NOT having a million different options)
  • A few great effects, e.g. drives, reverb, delay
  • All outboard gear; no computers involved (except for loading IRs etc.)
  • Small footprint
I am looking for something that gets out of the way so I can get to playing without endless tweaking.

Things I have tried so far:
  • Boss Katana: horrible undefeatable cab sim (sold)
  • HX Stomp: I suck at dialing it in and doing it on the device is tolerable at best. Still the reigning champion (what I use at the moment)
  • Plugins: I really like Mr. Bogren's AmpKnobs for example but the goal is to get away from the screen. Otherwise I'll be lurking here instead of practising.
  • BluGuitar AMP1 Iridium + pedals + UA OX: best sound and easiest to dial in so far. The AMP1 Classic channel boosted by an SD-1 is :chef but it needs a load and an additional IR loader to be useable for silent practice. I had two units and both exhibited annoying fan noise. The OX has great speaker sims and a phenomenal room sim but the WIFI-only UX is horrible and gave me all sorts of trouble (all sold)
  • Fractal FM3: the on-device UX is definitely an acquired taste and I spent most of the time I had the unit auditioning one amp model after the other. I found it easier to dial in than the HX, though. Possibly because of better defaults (sold)
  • Tonex One: No, just no.
  • Yamaha THR30IIW: had it for a few months now and I really wanted to like it because it's so simple. Sounds great when played loud and even not too bad when turned down but the headphone out is complete horse shit. My theory is that the impedance is way too high because low-impedance cans are unusable and even with 250Ω the lows are attenuated and everything becomes boomy (still have it but on the chopping block)
  • Friedman IR-X: easy to dial in and sits in the loop of my HX Stomp. The sound is not exactly what I am looking for but being limited to a single two-channel amp is quite liberating paradoxically (still have it)
Things I have not tried:
  • A tube amp: I have been interested in the Revv G20 and the Engl lunch box heads because of the integrated loads and IR loaders. But I am not sure if it's worth the hassle. I am sure a tube amp sounds better in the room and turned up loud but through headphones 🤷‍♂️ also my practice space is in the attic and gets uncomfortably hot in summer already. Don't think I need an additional space heater.
The plan:
  • Exchange the IR-X for an IR-J: since both the Classic channel of the AMP1 and channel 2 of the IR-J are based on modded JCM800 circuits, I might like this even better than the IR-X
  • Exchange the HX Stomp for a VP4: from what I have seen so far the on-device UI and foot switching capabilities of the VP4 look great. Not being able to run stereo effects and 4CM at the same time is a bit of bummer but I am not sure whether I need either

The question:
Is this insane? If yes, how insane is it?
 
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trust engineer GIF
 
The IR-J + VP4 will certainly sound great, but...

The real problem here is probably headphones.

I know this is not what you asked for; but I do believe it might be part of your issues with being dissatisfied with the gear you've had so far.

Get a really good pair of nearfield studio monitors and I really do mean "near"; then you can still play quietly at low volumes and it will sound excellent.

Or perhaps you alrready own such things?
 
IR-X (or J or D) in 4 cm (I have X and D soooo great)
VP-4 (I use UAFX DelVerb at the moment sounds great but VP-4 would be more flexible)
KMA Endgame (Stereo Room ambience, Stereo IRs with 500ms length, AI based doubletracker that sound great in headphones, 2x headphone out, BT connect to Smartphone /Tablet for Backing track or Aux in, Stereo XLR Out to FOH/Interface at mic or line level, optional PowerAmp Sim with EL34/6L6/KT88 but would be double here with IRX)
Ditto+ Looper until the VP-4 gets a looper. to practise to own loops.

just my 2 cents best hp practise I ever had

Edit: you can connect a nice powered speaker ( check for no or superlow latency). I use a minirig or 2x1029a genelecs
 
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Not insane! I'm on a similar quest and feel like I'm fading back to amps with reactive load or something like the IR-X if I can find the right tonez. I have a VP4 arriving tomorrow or Saturday and an IR-X / IR-D on hand to try out.

I'm leaning towards selling my FM9. While it sounds great and has been my favorite "all-in-one", I'm fighting the cabs and IRs all the time and sucking up time in those rabbit holes.
 
deepskyone said:
I have a pair of iLoud Micros (aka iTurd Micros in JT parlance) but they live on my desk and I'd be open for suggestions 👍
Click to expand...

I don't want to cost you more money or blow your budget though, so I am reticent to suggest monitors that I'm using; but yes, you can do better than iLoud Micros.

Just look at the frequency responses of monitors that you're interested in and try and get something that's properly flat so that you can reproduce the sound of your modellers, tube preamps through IRs as was intended to be heard.
 
deepskyone said:
how to practice guitar through headphones in a way that does not totally suck.
Click to expand...
I've used the Archetype Petrucci NDSP plugin for that very thing, and it was fantastic. If that particular one isn't your style, they have many choices, although you do need an interface. I used my Axe III.

The effects are great, yet don't have a ton of tweaking options, so you don't get bogged down in that regard.

I bought the stand-alone version, which doesn't require a DAW, and has a metronome (not available on the DAW versions) with all sorts of time signatures, and options to set different sounds to various beats, so that's also a great tool for practice.

Edit: sorry, I guess I didn't read your entire post before I posted. I still think it's a great practice tool, though YOU have to keep yourself away from the screen. Set a preset, and get to work! :beer
 
norminal said:
I love my little iLoud Micros. They’re perfect for my little desk/practice area.
Click to expand...
They definitely sound bigger than they look. What annoys me about them is the short and stiff proprietary connection cable. I originally wanted to put them on mic stands but then realised that the stupid cable would hang in the air.
 
TSJMajesty said:
I've used the Archetype Petrucci NDSP plugin for that very thing, and it was fantastic. If that particular one isn't your style, they have many choices, although you do need an interface. I used my Axe III.

The effects are great, yet don't have a ton of tweaking options, so you don't get bogged down in that regard.

I bought the stand-alone version, which doesn't require a DAW, and has a metronome (not available on the DAW versions) with all sorts of time signatures, and options to set different sounds to various beats, so that's also a great tool for practice.

Edit: sorry, I guess I didn't read your entire post before I posted. I still think it's a great practice tool, though YOU have to keep yourself away from the screen. Set a preset, and get to work! :beer
Click to expand...
No worries, in fact I am still considering this as an option. Running the plugins on an old laptop and putting it in airplane mode.
 
IR-J + VP4 for headphones...
Are you running the VP4 into the IR-J? Then you're going to lose stereo from VP4.
Are you running the IR-J into the VP4? Then you're going to need something to drive the headphones.

I say IR-J + VP4 + HX Stomp!

Whatever you use, I'd recommend you try some room/ambience reverb in there for headphone use.
 
If you're looking at the IR-J and the VP4 then you would be reliant on the headphone out of the IR -j as the VP4 doesn't have one unless you connect it to something else.
When I had the IR-X the headphone out was a bit noisy and you lose the stereo of the VP4

I would buy IR-J into a stomp
 
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