I bought an iridium this past fall, was tired of lugging an amp into small gigs. Didn’t know the ins and out of it just new it sounded great through the PA. No more amp in the van. Love it.
Tried one. Not for me. The Humboldt Simplifier is more my speed. I can use it for the wet in wet/dry or wet/dry/wet with an amp for the dry. No latency. And I understand it because no digibollocks. It loves gain!
What’s the basic difference between and impulse response and an analog cab sim? What type of impulse response do I need for my Mooer, Hotone, Two Notes, etc? What length of IR should I use? What exactly do they simulate? Do they include the effect of the air? Mics? Or is just simulating what happens before the sound hits the air? If so how does it interface with cabinet simulators that model things like mic placement. Why not analog? 1:04 What type of IR should I use? 2:47 Sample Frequency? 3:10 IR Length: 4:20 Parallel IR’s 5:06 Comparing IR cabs and speakers 5:50 Examples of parallel 7:29 Examples of IR length 10:16 What’s the difference between cheap and expensive IR loaders? 13:26 More examples of IR length with room IR’s 14:37 Video links: ruclips.net/video/i770M9pM0_k/видео.html pete thorn How long does an IR have to be: ruclips.net/video/h4pXbFYCWGw/видео.html Guitar speaker frequency response: wgsusa.com/blog/what-guitar-speaker-frequency-response-charts-really-mean Info about Celestion impulse response: www.celestionplus.com/ir-mic-mix-info/ I’m using this impulse response mostly in this video: www.celestionplus.com/products/guitar-irs-by-speaker/g12m-65-creamback/ Go waaaayyy off into the weeds regarding bits, samples, and etc: ruclips.net/video/cIQ9IXSUzuM/видео.html For even MORE fun: www.xiph.org/video/
What I needed to understand was: Why would I need 'to impulse response' for? in the first place... I mean, 'modelers', emulators and other amp/cab modeling systems have existed since the 90's and if anything, they're waaay more expensive now... Kemper, anyone?
@@wampler_pedals I see Brian, it just seems to me this "setup" is leaned more towards the recording enthusiast/semi-pro muscician and not for your regular picker/strummer who just loves to "bask" before a classic good old tone...
Thanks for making this so easy to understand. Sometimes, although googles is said to be your best encyclopedia, but often the answer there are harder than rocket science.
It’s like that song says “don’t know what you got til it’s gone” . If we never heard 500ms I feel 20ms is fine. Definitely something missing though. Thanks for coming back to making videos . I was pretty bummed when you weren’t sure if and when you’d be back. Really informative as I’m looking into an IR loader to go with my hd500x.
To me the shorter IRs using the room mic just sounded more like moving that mic closer to the amp, making it sound more like a close-mic'd amp. Different, but I wouldn't neccessarily say bad. For just jamming at home I wonder if I'd like the longer room mic sounds better for it's impact on the ear, but how he added a bit of reverb on the tracks seem'd to work pretty well even for the very short ms IRs.
Good explanation, Brian. Right on the money. I use some of the Celestion IRs in my DAW and they are great. IR convolution is also used for reverb. The way I think about room mic IRs is they are like a room reverb, basically. So they will be more susceptible to sound changes due to shorter sample lengths. It's almost like shortening the tail (or maybe predelay?) of a reverb.
Great video and explanations! For the comparisons, I'd prefer to have them right after each other (without any talking in between). Hearing memory is short...
On the topic at the end of different IR loaders sounding different due to circuitry... It's true for software too. I've tried nearly a dozen, maybe more honestly, IR loading VSTs, and found they all vary in sound and quality. The best sounding one I've found is the MeldaProduction MCabinet honestly... and lets you go a bit further in altering the sound and trying to get it to sound even more real (or fake).
I like analog for live. It's tweakable to each room, which is important as a bass player. Plus, I'm less likely to need/want reverb characteristics, so that nullifies a bit of the advantage of an IR.
Very interesting. I'm completely new to using Impulse Response's. I use a Boss TAE with my Fender Princeton, which has the ability to load third party IR's. The few that come with the Boss TAE do sound very good through the Princeton's 12 inch speaker. Must try loading some after market IR's.
"Why do people keep talking about it?" Because we live in a dystopian nightmare in which amps are forbidden. I'm barely even joking. Many venues (most, if not all of the smaller clubs in Sydney, and a lot of pubs as well) want silent stage, not even a damn cab is allowed onstage let alone my rather modest full amp rig consisting of one or two 15watt combos (Blues Jnr/Bassbreaker15/Laney Cub12r), wet/dry if I can use two, but I've only been able to try this in our jam room. I'm dying to try my little wet/dry setup in a real, live context. The chances of that happening are slim-to-none. IRs may be the way of the future, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. Thanks to Brian for making this easier to understand.
@@Eventual420 Joking aside, even with a real kit, most venues want you to DI the guitars & bass to FOH, foldbacks or in-ear for monitoring. I knew our scene was moribund when all the Blues guys started using Kempers. Apart from the venues that host international acts as well as a few local ones, you almost never see "LIVE BAND TONIGHT". A few "inoffensive" acoustic bands (read between the lines on that one) play near where I live and, maybe one or two pubs and/or RSL clubs might still have real live music. It's very depressing.
Thanks for the video! This looks like an answer to the recent Pete Thorn video about impulse response length. He basically claims 20ms is all you need. It's all very confusing.
Okay I think the reason I was confused about IRS is I didn't even know what they went on. So I am still using my original sans amp from the 80s with the toggle switches I have it about three settings that I use depending on which amp I plug it into. The super reverb deluxe has its settings the 1985 Peavey musician 3 has its own settings and I always play my guitar clean to get the best clean sound and then I know when I overdrive it with that pedal I'll get what I want and then I just use other pedals to give me anything else I need from Carson to reverb or whatever so I kind of like use it as a pre-channel input if that's a thing. But I never thought about that in terms of like the terminology. I bought a VTEC about 15 years ago or 10 years ago or so and it didn't sound as good as I wanted to until I put an mxr EQ in front of it 10 band. But this did help me understand what all this IR is about in the first place. I'm 60 so I don't really like to talk to technical but obviously with everything getting smaller and smaller and smaller in more digital guys like me are going to be a buried soon so it won't matter
Some IR based speaker/cabinet simulators and modellers feature power amp emulation. I would be really interested to hear an analogue device that emulates different power amp output sections. The power amp is an important part of the sound and feel, particularly when it comes to vintage amps. While I think most people would agree that IRs are more convincing than analogue speaker/cabinet simulation, to my knowledge there aren't any analogue devices dedicated to power amp emulation to compare to the digital power amp emulation built into some modellers/IR loaders.
It is my understanding that impulse responses basically use FFT to map input frequencies to output frequencies hence why a sine sweep is often used to generate this mapping. Do you ever think about extending the background programming / mathematics (or having say, a computer science major investigate for you); the prospect of also mapping a third variable (ie, mapping amount of harmonic content to input level) so that you could create IR's for more complex things such as distortion / fuzz etc? Perhaps this is already what Kempers do?
I have a pedal board I have built. I plan on running both my Tele and my acoustic (with under saddle mic ) thru it. As far as acoustic goes, it had sounded phenomenal thru my Fishman amp, and also when I used the Fishman as a stage monitor with the DI going to a PA. Now, I have recently added a Tube Amp modeler pedal, and playing the electric thru it sounds nice clean...but the Fishman doesn't sound great when I turn up the distortion. I have decided to go with a A/B Y box sending my 'monitor' signal to a powered speaker... and the other is for the PA. My question is this, should I be looking at CAB sims, for when I have the electric... (the modeler has tweed, marshall, and calif) going....? And...is there, and should I be interested in an Acoustic CAB SIM for when I am playing that ? thanks
Hey Brian! A fan of your tech talks, love the graphs, circuit layouts and whatnot. I have a small feedback. I've been lately paying attention to all the little subtitles you use. They are super shortly on screen (which is of course the idea but), so short that it's sometimes very difficult to even pause on those frames successfully. Usually it's not important stuff - sometimes it is relatively important or interesting. In this video it's actually a bit problematic when there's the table of contents with timestamps. Information like that should probably be up for a couple of seconds so you have time to process what you're being shown and to decide if it's worth pausing or not. The best way to have that would actually likely be the table in the description where you can conveniently click the timestamps to jump to place in video right away (like you have). And perhaps just mention that the timestamps for different topics are in the description. Or have just the topics be quickly on screen like a lecture would have, without timestamps, for enough to eye through them. So please consider making those flashing subtitles/comments/jokes be on screen just slightly longer to be able to process them and pause on them. Even the thought of listening to talk about impulse responses bored me, but this was actually an interesting episode and I was happy to have the learning materials in the description. Mostly to learn digital recording software and audio stuff. Keep up doing great work, really like your channel! You know your job.
I’m a bit confused. What preamp are you using? Or, are you using an amp mic’d to DAW then modifying the signal using IR’s? Just a bit confused on signal path here!
Are you saying that, whatever space a cab is in gives the air in that space it’s pneumatic attributes? Further, the air acting as a “weak spring” pushes back on the cone with a “durometer” and depth of potential travel determined by those attributes? Or something else/in addition to?
Late suggestion. I like the stacked knobs on the Boss Para EQs, but I like the 'Q' switches on the Empress ParaEq I saw you demo in another video (from 2016!). Would have liked those features on the Equator pedal. For a dual pedal, how about an "EGO-quator"? Kinda like the Rockett IQ Comp, but Para instead of graphic? More controls for the comp, like ratio? I was trying to find a recent post of yours where you were asking for dual pedal ideas, but I couldn't find it.
Hey guys I'm just curious I'm rather new to home recording, actually just have a laptop a 2i2 3rd gen and a guitar with active pickups lol (DAW is FL studio) My amature question is, I wanted to get one of those di boxes with a cab Sim I was looking at the Solid Studio nux pedal for cab/amp emulators but how would that fit in my digital effect chain (in the daw) if that is a in line effect? So the chain would sorta go like; Hardware.. Guitar/DI-cab pedal/ XLR to interface line in, then; Software.. Input 2/MB comp/TSE808/emissary head. I know I'm probably not explaining this the best lol but that means the cab placement (di box) would be in front of the software effects, which would.mess the tone up(?) Or is there something else I'm missing? lol
I have one. It's meh. Sorry, maybe you will love it. You'll need a preamp pedal. The mini version sounds better in demos so idk. I run my delays, tremolo, and reverb after the Solid Studio, if that helps, a year late lol. Only for jamming, I never used software or a PC with recording software
I assume that bass would require a longer IR? A low E bass note is about 41hz which would mean the wavelength would be a bit over 24ms, and longer if you are tuned down. So would you say that the bare minimum length would be 1000ms divided by the lowest note on your instrument in hz, or am i getting it wrong?
Thanks for making this video. Very timely for me, as I'm starting to get in to IRs and virtual mic'd cabs for recording. My computer isn't very powerful, and I'm trying to see how well I can get good guitar sounds recorded directly (and quietly) with an external preamp and (Wampler!) pedals.
@@mattgilbert7347 I've got a BluGuitar Amp1. It's actually a full amp, and sounds good with pedals, but I'm not crazy about the Record/headphone out on it. I've got a SansAmp pedal, but I'm not crazy about the direct recorded sound on that, either. Tonight I plan to borrow my friend's Mesa/Boogie Studio Preamp and see how that sounds going direct.
Ted Andrews I run my Amp1 (speaker out jack to DI box with 20db attenuation) and run Two Notes Wall of Sound IR’s in DAW and it sounds great. I agree the Rec Out isn’t as good as using IR’s and seems more geared for feeding a PA in a live setting. Amp1 has some great tones in it. Can’t beat the weight also!
@@stevethebeeline44 Thank you!!! I really appreciate the info. I was going to experiment with trying the speaker out on the Amp1. I'll definitely try it. I've been eyeing the Two Notes products. They look like they really have their act together with the cab simulations. Does their Wall of Sound plugin use a lot of CPU?
@@tedgalog here is a video for you. Thomas Blug explains this exact topic really well and at 3:33 shows him using the Amp1 Speaker Out with a DI Box (20db Reduction down to line level) and going into IR's in DAW. I'm a big fan of the Two Notes Wall of Sound (Celestion Pack is great!) and haven't found it heavy on CPU power. When monitoring the Guitar/Amp DI signal through your DAW with an IR plugin on the guitar channel just make sure your buffer size is low (about 256 or less). Less than 10 milliseconds of latency is fine and guitar will still feel realistic without too much of a delayed feeling from the latency. More than 10 milliseconds and you start to really notice the lag! DI box with 20db pad is the cheapest option but if you wanted a hassle free set up the BluGuitar's Blu-Box or Two Notes Cab M would be good IR loaders that would have your IR's direct before your DAW. You can also monitor Direct through your audio interface this way removing any latency for a more immediate feel. So a few options to choose from. Cost effective: DI box on Amp1's speaker out with a 20db pad monitored in DAW through IR loader Plugin (Wall of Sound/Red Wirez) Direct options: For simplicity: BluBox For Tweaking IR's: Cab M Future Proofing IR use: Two Notes Torpedo Captor X - 1. Reactive Load Box to use with Tube amp 2. Virtual Cabinet 3. Attenuator & 4.IR Loader Thomas Blug explaining Amp1 with DI box 20db pad and IR's at 3:33: ruclips.net/video/l04iLQ5QtrE/видео.html I'd say grab a DI box with a pad and start experimenting with Amp1 and the Two Notes Wall of Sound! If you have a tube amp that you love really have a look at the Torpedo Captor X. Having a real amp cranked and going into an attenuator and letting IR's do the work of the speaker and microphones is absolutely revolutionary for recording guitar at home. It's 95% the experience of being in a studio and having a live room and then a separate control room. Good times we live in!
There's a RUclips video from Kristian Kohle where he shows that using a "loadbox" on the output of a tube amp has a significant impact on the output stage of the amp (and consequently on the tone), independent of whatever IR you're using. Do you think that adding a reactive load would do something for a generic amp, or only for a fully cranked high gain tube amp like Kahle was demonstrating?
That mic'd amp in the room sounded amazing. Tight. Crunchy. Loud. The IRs sounded a bit...eh...in comparison. I need an IR and attenuator and load box. Does such a thing exist? If it can be used to record with that'd be ideal. Idk anything about this stuff I'm using a Humboldt Simplifier. It's analog and doesn't confuse me.
Very helpful! I had never seen anyone demonstrate the difference between all the different millisecond levels. Also: Animals at the end like Henning? LOL
The Marshall Origin 20c, like many other amps, has an emulated cab sim output. Could one use an IR on an emulated out? Or would they not play together nicely for some reason beyond my present understanding?
Nowadays Impulse Reponse is a big hype. Now, how is it different from the absolute traditional all-time copied SansAmp? And from DAW programs like GuitarRig ? I remember tweaking between mics, cabs, etc, ten years ago in these. How is it now different? Thanks for the video, super interesting info.
I am a Fender Princeton Reverb player/owner, do you recommend the DSM Humboldt Simplifier Amp for nice cleans for an amp sim? (for situations where I cannot bring my amp onstage)
Math says you can make a single IR that sounds exactly like the four stacked in parallel. Math also say that an IR can only capture a linear, time invariant system. Meaning no IR's of distortion, compression or modulation pedals. It also means that it will not capture speaker breakup or compression, only the linear part. But the idea of swapping out speakers with the click of a button is easy for marketing to sell, even if not entirely true.
Sorry for the dumb question as i am new to this.....but can i use this for a live rig?? It sucks that i have to bring my amp and cab to a gig all the time...gets way to heavy LOL
Is there a way to make a custom blended IR for the Iridium? I have the V2 Fred pack from Valhallir. Their IR are just one mic. They also have separate Room mic files as well. Can I stack the Two files and combine it some how and then use it in stereo on the iridium. Instead of just having two single Mics or one mic on the L and the room on the R which sounds a bit weird.
Very informative! I think it's fair to say that a cab IR is a "mic'd cabinet in a room". So I think it's important to know how the IR was made. In other words, it's not good enough just to know that it's a 2x12 Jensen cab. I think you also have to know which mic was used and what kind of room it in when the IR was made. Am I off base on this thinking? How important do you think this detail is for live performance?
Hi, thank you for the vid! I have a DV Mark amp head for guitar, I want to run it into my audio interface to get a studio quality sound.The amp has a pre out connection at the back. Can I use a cab Impulse response to make the amp sound better? I be tried to run an amp directly into the interface before and it really sounded bad
If the IR is close miked and short, it doesn't need to be... it's 'close miked'. Add your own 'room' later with 'normal' reverb, or a 'convoluted' one... which is where this tech all came from.
You're on the money with DAW vs. dedicated hardware. The dedicated hardware is specifically for people who want to take that IR out on the road. People are going crazy about all of these attenuators that have IR loaders built in, and I don't get it. To me they're like those old TVs with a VCR. Two functions in one box. I'd rather have a box for each function, that way you can replace or upgrade one function without having to replace all of them. If you just want them for home use, get an attenuator with a line out and use IRs on your DAW.
For many people using DAW may lead to unacceptable latency. Also, if I want to use the gear for daily practice with heqdphones on my amp, there is great value for me in not having to turn on the computer and firing up daw. If I only have 1 hour to practice, every minute counts.
@@klapaucjusz1 That completely depends on the DAW and IR loader plugin. I have a couple IR loaders (freebies) that run multiple 500 ms IRs in real time with no noticeable latency at all. Then I have another one that is only useful for post production since it can't keep up in real time.
@@shorerocks There were TVs with radios, record players and there's probably a place for beer in there somewhere: www.curtis-mathes.com/curtismathes3in1.htm
which audio software do you use to parallel stack impulse responses so that you may produced One impulse response - with the characteristics collectively which then can be loaded into say for example a two notes or nux?
It would be great if you made a video talking about using IR loaders after a preamp type pedal, for playing without a real amp, only the pedalboard going direct to phones or speakers. For example, I use a mooer radar after my multi fx preamp, so I dont need a real amp. Mooer makes those micro preamp pedals to go along with the Radar as well. I wonder what other pedals do the same preamp simulation type thing, that can be placed before IR loaders, maybe there are good analog ones? Thanks in advance anyway.
There are no rules how to use your devices. You might find a completely unknown universe by making weird combinations with your devices and experimenting with them. If you want to simulate standard guitar -> effects -> pre-amp -> effects loop -> power-amp -> cab -cycle, then you probably want to have the chorus before power-amp- and cab-sim but it might be awesome. Reverbs sometimes simulate spring reverb inside an amp and other times they simulate a room or are just an effect so ... put them wherever you want.
So more length = more expensive? Then please solve this mystery for me. There's been precisely one stompbox made for loading reverb IRs. It was back in 2014 (a long time in digital years). It was the Logidy EPSI. It hold 6 second IRs and sounds fantastic. How were they able to offer such a thing at a very modest price back then when no other maker has put out an IR loader capable of hosting long reverb IRs since? DAW users know reverb IRs are amazing. Guitar players would love to use them live. Why is there only one reverb IR hosting stomp box (now apparently out of production)?
Longer length requires more sophisticated algorithms and usually can have longer processing latency. As in case of EPSi, one mode for "reverberation" IRs with latency on par with DAWs and second mode for lower latency with shorter length. In most compact pedals etc. manufacturers just relying on built-in functions of DSPs, which is significantly simpler to develop, than custom convolution algorithm that can achieve longer length on the same hardware. For example St.Rock REACT:IR load box have IR loader with support of 180 ms IRs at 1.3 ms overall latency with rather cheap DSP due to custom convolution.
@@LucifdeLuther Thanks. But shouldn't DSPs - which are specialised for signal processing - achieve these long IRs with lower latency than a DAW using a CPU? And the EPSi was quite capable of putting out long reverb IRs for low enough latency for live performance. Why aren't we seeing more.
@@thecaveofthedead Usually DSP just provides direct convolution which is inefficient with long kernel length, if someone wants longer length - fast convolution must be considered. It rather sophisticated algorithm that does not come right out "of the box".
I had a Radar that was ruined in a lightning power surge. I replaced it with a Hotone Binary IR which was much better in terms of the stock IRs and the software.
Dude, for me is the best piece of gear i've bought. I bought some essential pack of IRs on Choptones and loaded them onto the Radar... It made my poor boss me25 sound amazingly good!!!!
Is it Something you ‘feel’ vs. hear? I can’t even imagine replicating a 50’s Gibson GA-40. Nothing sounds quite like it this circuit and a low wattage alnico Jensen. For that matter, it feels completely different than any of my other vintage amps. Thanks-You always give good explanation. I know more now than when I started my inane comment. There must be a hell of lot of folks that just record for fun. This seems aimed at headphone players or recording geeks. Im way out of my wheelhouse. I thought just finding the right guitar and amp combo was difficult. Who says guitar is dead?
You might be misunderstanding a bit... impulse response isn’t replicating the guitar amp, it’s just a speaker and cabinet replication. You would still need an amp or preamp of some sort.
Wampler Pedals -thanks for being gentle. I find it hard finding my way through all of this electric jungle. Certainly a big thanks for clearing it up. I speak and it reveals volumes of what I don’t know. It’s all been an expensive mess and I’m a lazy reseller so heaps of gear piles up. Keep making these vids because you do one of the best jobs out there in this market disguised ‘just a guy and a guitar’ market.
@@GIBKEL You know how when you go to a gig, the sound guy sticks an SM57 in front of your amp and does a crappy job so your amp sounds great but through the PA it sounds like garbage? An IR loader lets you bring the sound of a great cab with a great mic in a great studio with you to the gig, so all the sound guy has to do is plug you straight into the mixing desk.
So really, in regards to length, not much difference with IRs that are just one mic in front of the cab, but a very large difference for the “room sound” IRs?
This is actually a very interesting topic for me right now. I bought a mooer radar recently and have been using it with a modded boss ds1 on my pedalboard, but the sound just isnt that grat. Yesterday i bought my big rack amplifier which has a seperate preamp inm it and run that into the mooer with my pedals up front. it sounded soo amazing. iwasnt used to that anymore (my rack is way too big for home use). so now im desprate for a clean tube preamps to take my pedals into the impulse response. I would love something in pedal format and have looked at the kingsley stuff which was recommended for me. But im a student and these pedals areent necessarily cheap. For that money i can easily buy a used fender blues deluxe or a peavy classic 30 and just use the FX out for my Impulse responses and have a nice amp as well. But that still is the same price. Does anyone know a nice alternative that i have missed or any tipps in general? Thanks in advance, greetings from germany.
Hey man, yeah, you've come to understand what makes an "all pedal platform" sound good... apart from the cabinet simulation, you need a good "preamp" section, and hopefully a good power amp section (either simulation or real). There are many solutions out there... From what I hear from you, you just want a good clean preamp that would basically improve your sound going into the mooer radar, and dont want to be spending too much money on it... there is some AMT pedals for that, but most pedal ar the "all in one" type... What i do for live playing and i get an amazing sound from it, is using a Hughes and Kettner Tubemeister Deluxe 40 as my preamp and poweramp, and then use the DI out that it has (with the analog cab simulation OFF) and make it go through the mooer radar, with all my pedals in front of the hughes and kettner. It sounds insane, and it is pretty portable considering that the H&K head is about 7kg
@@marcelo_campitelli thank you, that is Grat information :) I have Not looked for Heads, because i was worried about Not having a load on the Power amp but IT seems to Work with the Kettner for you.
@@anastasia0zardonova the head from hughes and kettner already comes with an internal load so you dont need to connect anything to it... if the head sees that you didnt connect anything to the speaker output, it automatically goes into "power soak" mode... It is a really great amp in that sense, plus you get all the sonic benefits from going through the power stage... i have tried it with a mass weber power attenuator connected to the speaker output and then to the mooer radar from the mass weber... or with the power soak from the amp, using the DI (with red box simulation off) and mooer radar after, and i dare to say the internal power soak of the H&K sounds even better than using a mass weber
When a company releases an IR pack that can literally contain hundreds of IR's of the same cab (different mics, positions, "blends" and whatever else... I assume these have not all been actually recorded individually, rather one basic IR has been made using some reference mic (whatever it may be) and then these IR's are corrected by convolution (using IR's of these mics) or EQ to mimic the different mics or positions. Is that true?
I understand why the comments in this video are the way they are. I just want to point something out. This video has some fuckin KILLER guitar sounds!!!! Holy crap!!!
Imagine the crazy good sounds guitar god's like Hendrix could have come up with such tools. All they had were mics and amps, would've taken ages to get a good recorded sound.
Im agree with you Mr Wampler, analog cabsim sometimes wont sound and feel right when plug straight into PA or mixing desk...ive been tried using from amt, ada, and omnicab they all just wont sond like playing on a real amp...it lacks of sustain, thin and harsh...its better to use digital modeller, especially if wanna get a heavy metal tone...Just my 2 cent 🍻🍻✌🏻✌🏻✌🏻
Cab IRs are too linear compared to real cabs IMO, basically being a static EQ curve, whereas physical cabs have resonances, air movement and other factors that change based on the input level. There's a few IR loaders that try to emulate the impact dynamics, but they're still not quite there yet in terms of realism.
Absolutely. The IR represents only the linear response of the system. The AXE FX has speaker compression and other non-linear parameters you can set but they aren't cab/speaker specific. Same goes for microphones but to a much lesser extent. This is why I'm excited for audio system modelling with neural networks, which can be more suited to capture non-linear behavior.
And if you're in a situation where you would realistically be hearing guitar sounds through a cab, that might matter. For everything from recording to stage performance, your sound is going to be going through a mic anyway, so it might as well be the best mics in the world. If you're lucky enough to have a practice space where you can crank up the cab, well, enjoy that for sure...but when it comes time to record, do you want to spend half a day micing cabs or do you want to quickly audition a bunch of options and spend your time on other things?
Welcome to this meeting of the Knickers in a Wad Club. Thanks, Brian for the explanation of how it works. So much of the information out there is confusing BS and pseudoscience. It was one of those things where I got back into guitar after a 25 year lay off from playing, I looked at that mountain and said, "nope." And I work in IT and have a BSEE and and MSEE. I just didn't want to invest the time. Now I want to. Damnit! :)
So if I run my left IR as a 121 and my right IR as 57 ( so parallel ) then sum them to mono out of my modeler into my frfr or FOH, it would be like a double mic on my amps cab? Maybe even more accurate because my placement isn't always the best and I actually don't own a 121.
I bought an iridium this past fall, was tired of lugging an amp into small gigs. Didn’t know the ins and out of it just new it sounded great through the PA. No more amp in the van. Love it.
@Mi Movil yes. wampler tumnus.
Iridium sounds good with paisley drive also!
Nice and quiet. No hiss.
Tried one. Not for me.
The Humboldt Simplifier is more my speed. I can use it for the wet in wet/dry or wet/dry/wet with an amp for the dry. No latency. And I understand it because no digibollocks. It loves gain!
What’s the basic difference between and impulse response and an analog cab sim?
What type of impulse response do I need for my Mooer, Hotone, Two Notes, etc?
What length of IR should I use?
What exactly do they simulate? Do they include the effect of the air? Mics? Or is just simulating what happens before the sound hits the air? If so how does it interface with cabinet simulators that model things like mic placement.
Why not analog? 1:04
What type of IR should I use? 2:47
Sample Frequency? 3:10
IR Length: 4:20
Parallel IR’s 5:06
Comparing IR cabs and speakers 5:50
Examples of parallel 7:29
Examples of IR length 10:16
What’s the difference between cheap and expensive IR loaders? 13:26
More examples of IR length with room IR’s 14:37
Video links:
ruclips.net/video/i770M9pM0_k/видео.html pete thorn
How long does an IR have to be: ruclips.net/video/h4pXbFYCWGw/видео.html
Guitar speaker frequency response: wgsusa.com/blog/what-guitar-speaker-frequency-response-charts-really-mean
Info about Celestion impulse response: www.celestionplus.com/ir-mic-mix-info/
I’m using this impulse response mostly in this video:
www.celestionplus.com/products/guitar-irs-by-speaker/g12m-65-creamback/
Go waaaayyy off into the weeds regarding bits, samples, and etc:
ruclips.net/video/cIQ9IXSUzuM/видео.html
For even MORE fun: www.xiph.org/video/
Thank you, Brian. I actually understood everything in the video (more or less) and I'm a complete dummy on this stuff.
What I needed to understand was: Why would I need 'to impulse response' for? in the first place...
I mean, 'modelers', emulators and other amp/cab modeling systems have existed since the 90's and if anything, they're waaay more expensive now... Kemper, anyone?
@@TVicc for cab sim in this example. Though you can use it for extremely realistic reverb as well if the IR loader can use long impulse responses
@@wampler_pedals I see Brian, it just seems to me this "setup" is leaned more towards the recording enthusiast/semi-pro muscician and not for your regular picker/strummer who just loves to "bask" before a classic good old tone...
@@TVicc if you don't record or mix or perform, you probably have no use for IRs, it's true.
Thanks for making this so easy to understand. Sometimes, although googles is said to be your best encyclopedia, but often the answer there are harder than rocket science.
It’s like that song says “don’t know what you got til it’s gone” . If we never heard 500ms I feel 20ms is fine. Definitely something missing though. Thanks for coming back to making videos . I was pretty bummed when you weren’t sure if and when you’d be back. Really informative as I’m looking into an IR loader to go with my hd500x.
You mean Joni Mitchell's Big Yellow Taxi 🚕 😁
Brock Barr different era, I mean Cinderella
😂😂😂
To me the shorter IRs using the room mic just sounded more like moving that mic closer to the amp, making it sound more like a close-mic'd amp. Different, but I wouldn't neccessarily say bad. For just jamming at home I wonder if I'd like the longer room mic sounds better for it's impact on the ear, but how he added a bit of reverb on the tracks seem'd to work pretty well even for the very short ms IRs.
I got real excited when I saw that Two Notes with the Wampler name on it. Now I'm sad.... 02:54
I just googled "what do IR pedals do?" and Brian comes up again. Your stuff is so useful. I'm interested for recording
Always glad to help 😊
Good explanation, Brian. Right on the money. I use some of the Celestion IRs in my DAW and they are great. IR convolution is also used for reverb. The way I think about room mic IRs is they are like a room reverb, basically. So they will be more susceptible to sound changes due to shorter sample lengths. It's almost like shortening the tail (or maybe predelay?) of a reverb.
Keep coming back to your channel for the fellow midwesterner vibes! Rock on 🤘
Great video and explanations! For the comparisons, I'd prefer to have them right after each other (without any talking in between). Hearing memory is short...
On the topic at the end of different IR loaders sounding different due to circuitry... It's true for software too. I've tried nearly a dozen, maybe more honestly, IR loading VSTs, and found they all vary in sound and quality. The best sounding one I've found is the MeldaProduction MCabinet honestly... and lets you go a bit further in altering the sound and trying to get it to sound even more real (or fake).
Cool intro shot. Back on topic: I remember Pete Thorn doing something similar, i.e. comparing IR lengths.
Yep, link is on description
I like analog for live. It's tweakable to each room, which is important as a bass player. Plus, I'm less likely to need/want reverb characteristics, so that nullifies a bit of the advantage of an IR.
what about the IR's in the simplifier and simplifier mk2? are they analog or digital?
Very interesting. I'm completely new to using Impulse Response's. I use a Boss TAE with my Fender Princeton, which has the ability to load third party IR's. The few that come with the Boss TAE do sound very good through the Princeton's 12 inch speaker. Must try loading some after market IR's.
"Why do people keep talking about it?"
Because we live in a dystopian nightmare in which amps are forbidden. I'm barely even joking.
Many venues (most, if not all of the smaller clubs in Sydney, and a lot of pubs as well) want silent stage, not even a damn cab is allowed onstage let alone my rather modest full amp rig consisting of one or two 15watt combos (Blues Jnr/Bassbreaker15/Laney Cub12r), wet/dry if I can use two, but I've only been able to try this in our jam room. I'm dying to try my little wet/dry setup in a real, live context. The chances of that happening are slim-to-none.
IRs may be the way of the future, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. Thanks to Brian for making this easier to understand.
What do they tell the drummer? Here's a bucket and some spoons? LIVE BAND TONIGHT, 4 guys standing there while the jukebox plays.
@@Eventual420 What's a drummer?
@@Eventual420 Joking aside, even with a real kit, most venues want you to DI the guitars & bass to FOH, foldbacks or in-ear for monitoring. I knew our scene was moribund when all the Blues guys started using Kempers.
Apart from the venues that host international acts as well as a few local ones, you almost never see "LIVE BAND TONIGHT".
A few "inoffensive" acoustic bands (read between the lines on that one) play near where I live and, maybe one or two pubs and/or RSL clubs might still have real live music.
It's very depressing.
Get a good finger drummer with a pad controller. I'm not even joking. Some of those guys are really, really good.
NEW THINGS EXISTING MEANS OLD THINGS ARE NOW BANNED!!! - Boomers.
Thanks for the video! This looks like an answer to the recent Pete Thorn video about impulse response length. He basically claims 20ms is all you need. It's all very confusing.
Great video -- good explanation wrapped in some cool examples - well done!
Amazing explanation, I'll sharing with all my friends.
Okay I think the reason I was confused about IRS is I didn't even know what they went on. So I am still using my original sans amp from the 80s with the toggle switches I have it about three settings that I use depending on which amp I plug it into. The super reverb deluxe has its settings the 1985 Peavey musician 3 has its own settings and I always play my guitar clean to get the best clean sound and then I know when I overdrive it with that pedal I'll get what I want and then I just use other pedals to give me anything else I need from Carson to reverb or whatever so I kind of like use it as a pre-channel input if that's a thing. But I never thought about that in terms of like the terminology. I bought a VTEC about 15 years ago or 10 years ago or so and it didn't sound as good as I wanted to until I put an mxr EQ in front of it 10 band. But this did help me understand what all this IR is about in the first place. I'm 60 so I don't really like to talk to technical but obviously with everything getting smaller and smaller and smaller in more digital guys like me are going to be a buried soon so it won't matter
It's true that higher sample rates do nothing for accuracy but in DAWs they can give less latency with the same buffer which is really good to me.
Absolutely not true; they are more cpu intensive the higher you go
@@Charvak23 yes, more CPU intensive with less latency, assuming you have CPU power to spare
Higher sampling rates help with reducing aliasing noise. That's pretty much the whole point.
@@dbhammond Convolution one of few DSP things that does not produce aliasing at all.
@@LucifdeLuther True, but you may want the higher sampling rate on your audio for other processing you are doing in your DAW.
I dont see an amp sim. Just reverb used incorrectly... what are you loading your IR into?
Some IR based speaker/cabinet simulators and modellers feature power amp emulation. I would be really interested to hear an analogue device that emulates different power amp output sections. The power amp is an important part of the sound and feel, particularly when it comes to vintage amps. While I think most people would agree that IRs are more convincing than analogue speaker/cabinet simulation, to my knowledge there aren't any analogue devices dedicated to power amp emulation to compare to the digital power amp emulation built into some modellers/IR loaders.
It is my understanding that impulse responses basically use FFT to map input frequencies to output frequencies hence why a sine sweep is often used to generate this mapping.
Do you ever think about extending the background programming / mathematics (or having say, a computer science major investigate for you); the prospect of also mapping a third variable (ie, mapping amount of harmonic content to input level) so that you could create IR's for more complex things such as distortion / fuzz etc? Perhaps this is already what Kempers do?
I have a pedal board I have built. I plan on running both my Tele and my acoustic (with under saddle mic ) thru it. As far as acoustic goes, it had sounded phenomenal thru my Fishman amp, and also when I used the Fishman as a stage monitor with the DI going to a PA. Now, I have recently added a Tube Amp modeler pedal, and playing the electric thru it sounds nice clean...but the Fishman doesn't sound great when I turn up the distortion. I have decided to go with a A/B Y box sending my 'monitor' signal to a powered speaker... and the other is for the PA. My question is this, should I be looking at CAB sims, for when I have the electric... (the modeler has tweed, marshall, and calif) going....? And...is there, and should I be interested in an Acoustic CAB SIM for when I am playing that ?
thanks
Hi there, I am doing more or less the same as you. Drop me a line and I can share my approach with you.
@@dodgeanderson ty got it dialed in
I'd love to get an opinion on the NU X Solid State shown in the video. Intriguing product.
Hey Brian! A fan of your tech talks, love the graphs, circuit layouts and whatnot. I have a small feedback.
I've been lately paying attention to all the little subtitles you use. They are super shortly on screen (which is of course the idea but), so short that it's sometimes very difficult to even pause on those frames successfully. Usually it's not important stuff - sometimes it is relatively important or interesting.
In this video it's actually a bit problematic when there's the table of contents with timestamps. Information like that should probably be up for a couple of seconds so you have time to process what you're being shown and to decide if it's worth pausing or not. The best way to have that would actually likely be the table in the description where you can conveniently click the timestamps to jump to place in video right away (like you have). And perhaps just mention that the timestamps for different topics are in the description. Or have just the topics be quickly on screen like a lecture would have, without timestamps, for enough to eye through them.
So please consider making those flashing subtitles/comments/jokes be on screen just slightly longer to be able to process them and pause on them.
Even the thought of listening to talk about impulse responses bored me, but this was actually an interesting episode and I was happy to have the learning materials in the description. Mostly to learn digital recording software and audio stuff. Keep up doing great work, really like your channel! You know your job.
I’m a bit confused. What preamp are you using? Or, are you using an amp mic’d to DAW then modifying the signal using IR’s? Just a bit confused on signal path here!
Honestly I forget what amp I was using, but sounds like the Bravado amp. That goes direct into two notes captor, which goes direct into my DAW.
Are you saying that, whatever space a cab is in gives the air in that space it’s pneumatic attributes? Further, the air acting as a “weak spring” pushes back on the cone with a “durometer” and depth of potential travel determined by those attributes? Or something else/in addition to?
thanks Brian 4 your another episode
Hi brian, if you make a pedal like the ones here I'll buy it. Btw you are awesome man.🙌
Good news! I can save some money, as I heard no difference at all between the lengths!
A great video Brian. Now I finally understand these things
Late suggestion. I like the stacked knobs on the Boss Para EQs, but I like the 'Q' switches on the Empress ParaEq I saw you demo in another video (from 2016!). Would have liked those features on the Equator pedal. For a dual pedal, how about an "EGO-quator"? Kinda like the Rockett IQ Comp, but Para instead of graphic? More controls for the comp, like ratio? I was trying to find a recent post of yours where you were asking for dual pedal ideas, but I couldn't find it.
This is a HUGE help, sir; thank you, AGAIN!
Great video Brian.
I bought an MX5 and don't know how to use it. Been playing Bass for 6 months.
Hey guys I'm just curious I'm rather new to home recording, actually just have a laptop a 2i2 3rd gen and a guitar with active pickups lol
(DAW is FL studio)
My amature question is,
I wanted to get one of those di boxes with a cab Sim I was looking at the Solid Studio nux pedal for cab/amp emulators but how would that fit in my digital effect chain (in the daw) if that is a in line effect?
So the chain would sorta go like;
Hardware..
Guitar/DI-cab pedal/ XLR to interface line in, then;
Software..
Input 2/MB comp/TSE808/emissary head.
I know I'm probably not explaining this the best lol but that means the cab placement (di box) would be in front of the software effects, which would.mess the tone up(?)
Or is there something else I'm missing? lol
I have one. It's meh. Sorry, maybe you will love it. You'll need a preamp pedal.
The mini version sounds better in demos so idk.
I run my delays, tremolo, and reverb after the Solid Studio, if that helps, a year late lol. Only for jamming, I never used software or a PC with recording software
I assume that bass would require a longer IR? A low E bass note is about 41hz which would mean the wavelength would be a bit over 24ms, and longer if you are tuned down. So would you say that the bare minimum length would be 1000ms divided by the lowest note on your instrument in hz, or am i getting it wrong?
Thanks for this. I had no idea what an IR was
Thanks for making this video. Very timely for me, as I'm starting to get in to IRs and virtual mic'd cabs for recording. My computer isn't very powerful, and I'm trying to see how well I can get good guitar sounds recorded directly (and quietly) with an external preamp and (Wampler!) pedals.
What's your preamp?
@@mattgilbert7347 I've got a BluGuitar Amp1. It's actually a full amp, and sounds good with pedals, but I'm not crazy about the Record/headphone out on it. I've got a SansAmp pedal, but I'm not crazy about the direct recorded sound on that, either. Tonight I plan to borrow my friend's Mesa/Boogie Studio Preamp and see how that sounds going direct.
Ted Andrews I run my Amp1 (speaker out jack to DI box with 20db attenuation) and run Two Notes Wall of Sound IR’s in DAW and it sounds great. I agree the Rec Out isn’t as good as using IR’s and seems more geared for feeding a PA in a live setting. Amp1 has some great tones in it. Can’t beat the weight also!
@@stevethebeeline44 Thank you!!! I really appreciate the info. I was going to experiment with trying the speaker out on the Amp1. I'll definitely try it. I've been eyeing the Two Notes products. They look like they really have their act together with the cab simulations. Does their Wall of Sound plugin use a lot of CPU?
@@tedgalog here is a video for you. Thomas Blug explains this exact topic really well and at 3:33 shows him using the Amp1 Speaker Out with a DI Box (20db Reduction down to line level) and going into IR's in DAW. I'm a big fan of the Two Notes Wall of Sound (Celestion Pack is great!) and haven't found it heavy on CPU power.
When monitoring the Guitar/Amp DI signal through your DAW with an IR plugin on the guitar channel just make sure your buffer size is low (about 256 or less). Less than 10 milliseconds of latency is fine and guitar will still feel realistic without too much of a delayed feeling from the latency. More than 10 milliseconds and you start to really notice the lag!
DI box with 20db pad is the cheapest option but if you wanted a hassle free set up the BluGuitar's Blu-Box or Two Notes Cab
M would be good IR loaders that would have your IR's direct before your DAW. You can also monitor Direct through your audio interface this way removing any latency for a more immediate feel.
So a few options to choose from.
Cost effective: DI box on Amp1's speaker out with a 20db pad monitored in DAW through IR loader Plugin (Wall of Sound/Red Wirez)
Direct options:
For simplicity: BluBox
For Tweaking IR's: Cab M
Future Proofing IR use:
Two Notes Torpedo Captor X - 1. Reactive Load Box to use with Tube amp 2. Virtual Cabinet 3. Attenuator & 4.IR Loader
Thomas Blug explaining Amp1 with DI box 20db pad and IR's at 3:33: ruclips.net/video/l04iLQ5QtrE/видео.html
I'd say grab a DI box with a pad and start experimenting with Amp1 and the Two Notes Wall of Sound!
If you have a tube amp that you love really have a look at the Torpedo Captor X. Having a real amp cranked and going into an attenuator and letting IR's do the work of the speaker and microphones is absolutely revolutionary for recording guitar at home. It's 95% the experience of being in a studio and having a live room and then a separate control room. Good times we live in!
There's a RUclips video from Kristian Kohle where he shows that using a "loadbox" on the output of a tube amp has a significant impact on the output stage of the amp (and consequently on the tone), independent of whatever IR you're using.
Do you think that adding a reactive load would do something for a generic amp, or only for a fully cranked high gain tube amp like Kahle was demonstrating?
That mic'd amp in the room sounded amazing. Tight. Crunchy. Loud.
The IRs sounded a bit...eh...in comparison.
I need an IR and attenuator and load box. Does such a thing exist? If it can be used to record with that'd be ideal.
Idk anything about this stuff
I'm using a Humboldt Simplifier. It's analog and doesn't confuse me.
Yes, the two notes captor does that
Very Well Done and explained! Thanks for sharing brother!
Be Well Leon!
Thank you !!! This video really helps me understand what these are all about.
Aha.. I get it now. I can do what I want in my DAW, since I don't need it for live use. Thanks, you probably saved me a few bucks :)
Very helpful! I had never seen anyone demonstrate the difference between all the different millisecond levels.
Also: Animals at the end like Henning? LOL
The Marshall Origin 20c, like many other amps, has an emulated cab sim output. Could one use an IR on an emulated out? Or would they not play together nicely for some reason beyond my present understanding?
Nowadays Impulse Reponse is a big hype. Now, how is it different from the absolute traditional all-time copied SansAmp? And from DAW programs like GuitarRig ? I remember tweaking between mics, cabs, etc, ten years ago in these. How is it now different? Thanks for the video, super interesting info.
CPU processing
And options
I am a Fender Princeton Reverb player/owner, do you recommend the DSM Humboldt Simplifier Amp for nice cleans for an amp sim? (for situations where I cannot bring my amp onstage)
Math says you can make a single IR that sounds exactly like the four stacked in parallel. Math also say that an IR can only capture a linear, time invariant system. Meaning no IR's of distortion, compression or modulation pedals. It also means that it will not capture speaker breakup or compression, only the linear part. But the idea of swapping out speakers with the click of a button is easy for marketing to sell, even if not entirely true.
Very nice explanation sir
Well explained it thank you keep up the good work and God bless
i got the cab m , have not been able to figure how to use it . kind of ok without it.
Sorry for the dumb question as i am new to this.....but can i use this for a live rig?? It sucks that i have to bring my amp and cab to a gig all the time...gets way to heavy LOL
Is there a way to make a custom blended IR for the Iridium? I have the V2 Fred pack from Valhallir. Their IR are just one mic. They also have separate Room mic files as well. Can I stack the Two files and combine it some how and then use it in stereo on the iridium. Instead of just having two single Mics or one mic on the L and the room on the R which sounds a bit weird.
Very informative! I think it's fair to say that a cab IR is a "mic'd cabinet in a room". So I think it's important to know how the IR was made. In other words, it's not good enough just to know that it's a 2x12 Jensen cab. I think you also have to know which mic was used and what kind of room it in when the IR was made. Am I off base on this thinking? How important do you think this detail is for live performance?
Lol, well.... I kind of discuss all of those point in the video in detail so............ I’d have to agree
Any IR's with line 6 spyder into a gamer headset mic?
What overdrive was that on the sample riff? I need one.
It'll be coming out soon ;)
Are the Cab Sim plugins good?
Could I use an Ir loader to emulate something like the tonedexter(400$) Basically making my acoustic piezo pickup sound like a mic’ed acoustic?
Hi, thank you for the vid! I have a DV Mark amp head for guitar, I want to run it into my audio interface to get a studio quality sound.The amp has a pre out connection at the back. Can I use a cab Impulse response to make the amp sound better? I be tried to run an amp directly into the interface before and it really sounded bad
Great video and one question: Should the IR be record in an anechoic chamber to get only the cabinet sound? So as to add after the reverb that I want?
If the IR is close miked and short, it doesn't need to be... it's 'close miked'. Add your own 'room' later with 'normal' reverb, or a 'convoluted' one... which is where this tech all came from.
You're on the money with DAW vs. dedicated hardware. The dedicated hardware is specifically for people who want to take that IR out on the road. People are going crazy about all of these attenuators that have IR loaders built in, and I don't get it. To me they're like those old TVs with a VCR. Two functions in one box. I'd rather have a box for each function, that way you can replace or upgrade one function without having to replace all of them. If you just want them for home use, get an attenuator with a line out and use IRs on your DAW.
For many people using DAW may lead to unacceptable latency. Also, if I want to use the gear for daily practice with heqdphones on my amp, there is great value for me in not having to turn on the computer and firing up daw. If I only have 1 hour to practice, every minute counts.
@@klapaucjusz1 That completely depends on the DAW and IR loader plugin. I have a couple IR loaders (freebies) that run multiple 500 ms IRs in real time with no noticeable latency at all. Then I have another one that is only useful for post production since it can't keep up in real time.
Wait a minute... there are TV's with a VCR player? I am so old, I even can't remember that!
@@shorerocks There were TVs with radios, record players and there's probably a place for beer in there somewhere: www.curtis-mathes.com/curtismathes3in1.htm
I very much agree with you on that. Way more flexibility in the DAW and better sound overall
Thanks. I could hear like slight degradation with 100 ms. 200 was almost on par with 500;)
It is RUclips, you are always hearing slight degradation
@@noname-ng6sj All samples are on RUclips and in the same movie.
Thank you for an awesome and informative video, that was very insightful! 🙏🏻😊
PS: What was the song in the beginning? Thank you, Brian
Thanks... ruclips.net/video/32DEt27wQR4/видео.html is the song
The Iridium is mind-blowing
which audio software do you use to parallel stack impulse responses so that you may produced One impulse response - with the characteristics collectively which then can be loaded into say for example a two notes or nux?
Zilla IR loader can do that. There are several others as well.
Impulse Response Cab Sims Explained Better: "sound is doing what sound does." :)
It would be great if you made a video talking about using IR loaders after a preamp type pedal, for playing without a real amp, only the pedalboard going direct to phones or speakers. For example, I use a mooer radar after my multi fx preamp, so I dont need a real amp. Mooer makes those micro preamp pedals to go along with the Radar as well. I wonder what other pedals do the same preamp simulation type thing, that can be placed before IR loaders, maybe there are good analog ones? Thanks in advance anyway.
Excellent! Thank you
Thanks for this!
Two Notes recommends to put IR device before modulation effects (chorus, reverb etc). Do you agree with that?
There are no rules how to use your devices. You might find a completely unknown universe by making weird combinations with your devices and experimenting with them. If you want to simulate standard guitar -> effects -> pre-amp -> effects loop -> power-amp -> cab -cycle, then you probably want to have the chorus before power-amp- and cab-sim but it might be awesome. Reverbs sometimes simulate spring reverb inside an amp and other times they simulate a room or are just an effect so ... put them wherever you want.
So more length = more expensive? Then please solve this mystery for me. There's been precisely one stompbox made for loading reverb IRs. It was back in 2014 (a long time in digital years). It was the Logidy EPSI. It hold 6 second IRs and sounds fantastic. How were they able to offer such a thing at a very modest price back then when no other maker has put out an IR loader capable of hosting long reverb IRs since? DAW users know reverb IRs are amazing. Guitar players would love to use them live. Why is there only one reverb IR hosting stomp box (now apparently out of production)?
Longer length requires more sophisticated algorithms and usually can have longer processing latency. As in case of EPSi, one mode for "reverberation" IRs with latency on par with DAWs and second mode for lower latency with shorter length. In most compact pedals etc. manufacturers just relying on built-in functions of DSPs, which is significantly simpler to develop, than custom convolution algorithm that can achieve longer length on the same hardware. For example St.Rock REACT:IR load box have IR loader with support of 180 ms IRs at 1.3 ms overall latency with rather cheap DSP due to custom convolution.
@@LucifdeLuther Thanks. But shouldn't DSPs - which are specialised for signal processing - achieve these long IRs with lower latency than a DAW using a CPU?
And the EPSi was quite capable of putting out long reverb IRs for low enough latency for live performance. Why aren't we seeing more.
@@thecaveofthedead Usually DSP just provides direct convolution which is inefficient with long kernel length, if someone wants longer length - fast convolution must be considered. It rather sophisticated algorithm that does not come right out "of the box".
How do you apply those IRs?
How would you rate Mooer Radar´s quality?
I had a Radar that was ruined in a lightning power surge. I replaced it with a Hotone Binary IR which was much better in terms of the stock IRs and the software.
Dude, for me is the best piece of gear i've bought. I bought some essential pack of IRs on Choptones and loaded them onto the Radar... It made my poor boss me25 sound amazingly good!!!!
Thank You Brian for this video, it clears alot for me,
can You tell, what is Your opinion on Strymon Iridium
as a pedal platform?
It's a great IR loader for sure.
Is it Something you ‘feel’ vs. hear? I can’t even imagine replicating a 50’s Gibson GA-40. Nothing sounds quite like it this circuit and a low wattage alnico Jensen. For that matter, it feels completely different than any of my other vintage amps.
Thanks-You always give good explanation. I know more now than when I started my inane comment. There must be a hell of lot of folks that just record for fun. This seems aimed at headphone players or recording geeks. Im way out of my wheelhouse.
I thought just finding the right guitar and amp combo was difficult. Who says guitar is dead?
You might be misunderstanding a bit... impulse response isn’t replicating the guitar amp, it’s just a speaker and cabinet replication. You would still need an amp or preamp of some sort.
Wampler Pedals -thanks for being gentle. I find it hard finding my way through all of this electric jungle. Certainly a big thanks for clearing it up. I speak and it reveals volumes of what I don’t know. It’s all been an expensive mess and I’m a lazy reseller so heaps of gear piles up. Keep making these vids because you do one of the best jobs out there in this market disguised ‘just a guy and a guitar’ market.
@@GIBKEL You know how when you go to a gig, the sound guy sticks an SM57 in front of your amp and does a crappy job so your amp sounds great but through the PA it sounds like garbage? An IR loader lets you bring the sound of a great cab with a great mic in a great studio with you to the gig, so all the sound guy has to do is plug you straight into the mixing desk.
Thanks !!! Good info, great video.
So really, in regards to length, not much difference with IRs that are just one mic in front of the cab, but a very large difference for the “room sound” IRs?
Great explanation
Great video, thanks
This is actually a very interesting topic for me right now. I bought a mooer radar recently and have been using it with a modded boss ds1 on my pedalboard, but the sound just isnt that grat. Yesterday i bought my big rack amplifier which has a seperate preamp inm it and run that into the mooer with my pedals up front. it sounded soo amazing. iwasnt used to that anymore (my rack is way too big for home use). so now im desprate for a clean tube preamps to take my pedals into the impulse response. I would love something in pedal format and have looked at the kingsley stuff which was recommended for me. But im a student and these pedals areent necessarily cheap. For that money i can easily buy a used fender blues deluxe or a peavy classic 30 and just use the FX out for my Impulse responses and have a nice amp as well. But that still is the same price. Does anyone know a nice alternative that i have missed or any tipps in general? Thanks in advance, greetings from germany.
Hey man, yeah, you've come to understand what makes an "all pedal platform" sound good... apart from the cabinet simulation, you need a good "preamp" section, and hopefully a good power amp section (either simulation or real). There are many solutions out there... From what I hear from you, you just want a good clean preamp that would basically improve your sound going into the mooer radar, and dont want to be spending too much money on it... there is some AMT pedals for that, but most pedal ar the "all in one" type... What i do for live playing and i get an amazing sound from it, is using a Hughes and Kettner Tubemeister Deluxe 40 as my preamp and poweramp, and then use the DI out that it has (with the analog cab simulation OFF) and make it go through the mooer radar, with all my pedals in front of the hughes and kettner. It sounds insane, and it is pretty portable considering that the H&K head is about 7kg
The mooer preamp pedals are pretty good for having a preamp... or the mooer preamp live for having the "preamps + IR loader" all in one...
@@marcelo_campitelli thank you, that is Grat information :)
I have Not looked for Heads, because i was worried about Not having a load on the Power amp but IT seems to Work with the Kettner for you.
@@anastasia0zardonova the head from hughes and kettner already comes with an internal load so you dont need to connect anything to it... if the head sees that you didnt connect anything to the speaker output, it automatically goes into "power soak" mode... It is a really great amp in that sense, plus you get all the sonic benefits from going through the power stage... i have tried it with a mass weber power attenuator connected to the speaker output and then to the mooer radar from the mass weber... or with the power soak from the amp, using the DI (with red box simulation off) and mooer radar after, and i dare to say the internal power soak of the H&K sounds even better than using a mass weber
My IR's don't sound good to me.
Interesting video and well done.
Phil
NYC Area
Really good thanks!
When a company releases an IR pack that can literally contain hundreds of IR's of the same cab (different mics, positions, "blends" and whatever else... I assume these have not all been actually recorded individually, rather one basic IR has been made using some reference mic (whatever it may be) and then these IR's are corrected by convolution (using IR's of these mics) or EQ to mimic the different mics or positions. Is that true?
Depends on the company but generally no. A lot of CabSim hardware works this way though
If it’s a good IR company, no. All are individually created one at a time just like you would mic and amp in a studio
@@wampler_pedals Damn, did not expect that.
I understand why the comments in this video are the way they are. I just want to point something out.
This video has some fuckin KILLER guitar sounds!!!! Holy crap!!!
Thank you Brian!
Imagine the crazy good sounds guitar god's like Hendrix could have come up with such tools. All they had were mics and amps, would've taken ages to get a good recorded sound.
Im agree with you Mr Wampler, analog cabsim sometimes wont sound and feel right when plug straight into PA or mixing desk...ive been tried using from amt, ada, and omnicab they all just wont sond like playing on a real amp...it lacks of sustain, thin and harsh...its better to use digital modeller, especially if wanna get a heavy metal tone...Just my 2 cent 🍻🍻✌🏻✌🏻✌🏻
What loader are you using? If you said it, I didn't catch it.
Logic Pro x space designer
Cab IRs are too linear compared to real cabs IMO, basically being a static EQ curve, whereas physical cabs have resonances, air movement and other factors that change based on the input level. There's a few IR loaders that try to emulate the impact dynamics, but they're still not quite there yet in terms of realism.
Absolutely. The IR represents only the linear response of the system. The AXE FX has speaker compression and other non-linear parameters you can set but they aren't cab/speaker specific. Same goes for microphones but to a much lesser extent. This is why I'm excited for audio system modelling with neural networks, which can be more suited to capture non-linear behavior.
And if you're in a situation where you would realistically be hearing guitar sounds through a cab, that might matter. For everything from recording to stage performance, your sound is going to be going through a mic anyway, so it might as well be the best mics in the world. If you're lucky enough to have a practice space where you can crank up the cab, well, enjoy that for sure...but when it comes time to record, do you want to spend half a day micing cabs or do you want to quickly audition a bunch of options and spend your time on other things?
I am so confused... In my opinion, Torpedo CAB has the best sound that i have listened, but it has just 40 mm length.
Welcome to this meeting of the Knickers in a Wad Club. Thanks, Brian for the explanation of how it works. So much of the information out there is confusing BS and pseudoscience. It was one of those things where I got back into guitar after a 25 year lay off from playing, I looked at that mountain and said, "nope." And I work in IT and have a BSEE and and MSEE. I just didn't want to invest the time. Now I want to. Damnit! :)
There are two types of IR filters, finite and infinite impulse response. I suspect it is important to understand this.
I liked this video
96k gives more headroom when in a mix
I think SRV and Hendrix would give you a blank stare.
ffffffffinally!!! thanks ;)
Isn't it pronounced "new ex"?
So if I run my left IR as a 121 and my right IR as 57 ( so parallel ) then sum them to mono out of my modeler into my frfr or FOH, it would be like a double mic on my amps cab? Maybe even more accurate because my placement isn't always the best and I actually don't own a 121.
Exactly. But think bigger. You could sum a 112 Alnico and a 412 Marshall with greenbacks.