IRs

[Chistopher]

I just procured a Boss IR-2 and the general consensus is that it sounds considerably better with custom IRs.



I bought the introductory 212 V30 pack that York sells for $1. What would be the best way to fill this up with IRs without going over the top?

212 V30 would definitely work for Crunch and Brit at the very least. Twin, Tweed, and Diamond I could probably get away with a single IR pack for those with a 212. Clean would be a JC-120 probably. The higher gain settings I'd probably try those out first before I put too much thought into it.

 

[Mincer]

I didn't even realize you could load this with IRs. How many can you throw in there? The IR rabbit hole is deeper than any other, though. There are 10s of thousands out there. I'd look for a great old 4x12 and a good 2x12 for cleans.

Is the ambience knob reverb?

 

[Rex_Rocker]

I have a few OwnHammer and Celestion packs, but my favorite are the Josh Middleton IR's. I haven't tried using them for anything other than chugg chugg stuff, but I really like them. I don't see why they wouldn't work for Rock or other genres where V30's (or another couple different speakers) are desirable. They're just a couple of Mesa cabs and a Marshall cabs with some different speakers. Ver mix-ready.

My pet peeve with IR packs is them having too many. I kinda hate it when packs come with 1 million impulses out of which like 2 are usable. Like, why would anyone want a 1x12 with a Redback mic'd 6 inches off-center and off-axis with an R121? LOL.

 

[Chistopher]

I didn't even realize you could load this with IRs. How many can you throw in there? The IR rabbit hole is deeper than any other, though. There are 10s of thousands out there. I'd look for a great old 4x12 and a good 2x12 for cleans.

Is the ambience knob reverb?

Ambience knob is a subtle reverb. Every individul amp model can be loaded with a single IR at a time that you can swap from your computer

 

[Chistopher]

I have a few OwnHammer and Celestion packs, but my favorite are the Josh Middleton IR's. I haven't tried using them for anything other than chugg chugg stuff, but I really like them. I don't see why they wouldn't work for Rock or other genres where V30's (or another couple different speakers) are desirable. They're just a couple of Mesa cabs and a Marshall cabs with some different speakers. Ver mix-ready.

My pet peeve with IR packs is them having too many. I kinda hate it when packs come with 1 million impulses out of which like 2 are usable. Like, why would anyone want a 1x12 with a Redback mic'd 6 inches off-center and off-axis with an R121? LOL.

Yeah, I suppose I'd rather have em them not have em, but it's kinda crazy to pay $15 for a pack if the added cost comes from paying a guy to place a mic no one's heard of in a different room from the cab.

 

[Supernautilus]

IRs are indeed a rabbit hole. Thankfully I anchored myself before I got too deep. I settled on York after trying a few other brands and they have served me well. I started using them with an Iridium and continued using them after I switched to a Two Notes Cab M, eschewing the unit’s built in DynIR system. I own a few different packs but lately I’ve settled on the M25 Greenback pack, which works with just about everything. YMMV.

 

[Chistopher]

Yeah, I can see that. I'm going to try to keep my self to a maximum of 3 IR packs for now. With the $1 demo, I've got two left. I'm thinking either Blackback 412, Greenback 412, 5150III for high gain, and maybe Creamback 212 for lower gain stuff.

Man, I wish there was a place I could do an shoot out, short of just guessing based on past experience with the actual cabs.

 

[Supernautilus]

Yeah, I can see that. I'm going to try to keep my self to a maximum of 3 IR packs for now. With the $1 demo, I've got two left. I'm thinking either Blackback 412, Greenback 412, 5150III for high gain, and maybe Creamback 212 for lower gain stuff.

Man, I wish there was a place I could do a shoot out, short of just guessing based on past experience with the actual cabs.

I mean, I guess it depends on what kinds of sounds you’re going for, but they all sound pretty good. I can give you some quick impressions if it helps.

I have a couple Fender packs. No complaints but I don’t use them much. I have the Mesa OS and Trad packs. Good for hard rock or metal, as you would expect. Same with the Marshall V30 and M25 packs. Classic rock and metal all day. The Creamback pack is popular for its versatility, which I would agree with. It’s similar to the Greenback except a little smoother. Hope that helps.

 

[ehdwuld]

So when you mic a single 12 in a 1x12 cabs
or you mic a single 12 in a 4x12 cab

It sounds practically the same does it not?

6 inches from the speaker , there is soo little difference


And speaking of IRs
Does anyone have a link to where one could download these

I find folks wanting $10-20 a pack

 

[Mincer]

When you dig deep into IRs, I've found that many sound like slight EQ tweaks of each other. In my Fractal, they have some convolution modeling of speakers and mics, which sound more realistic than the 10000 IRs I've found.

 

[Supernautilus]

Yeah, I can see that. I'm going to try to keep my self to a maximum of 3 IR packs for now. With the $1 demo, I've got two left. I'm thinking either Blackback 412, Greenback 412, 5150III for high gain, and maybe Creamback 212 for lower gain stuff.

Man, I wish there was a place I could do a shoot out, short of just guessing based on past experience with the actual cabs.

Oh, I forgot to mention before, there is a huge YA thread on TGP. Lots of knowledgeable folks over there. If you have any questions about the IRs, I recommend asking over there.

https://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?threads/york-audio-impulse-response-library.2105291/

 

[Chistopher]

So when you mic a single 12 in a 1x12 cabs
or you mic a single 12 in a 4x12 cab

It sounds practically the same does it not?

6 inches from the speaker , there is soo little difference


And speaking of IRs
Does anyone have a link to where one could download these

I find folks wanting $10-20 a pack

https://www.yorkaudio.co/product-page/mes-212-v30-limited

This link gives you a few IRs for $1. Outside of that its like you said, $10-$20.

 

[beaubrummels]

I didn't even realize you could load this with IRs. How many can you throw in there? The IR rabbit hole is deeper than any other, though. There are 10s of thousands out there. I'd look for a great old 4x12 and a good 2x12 for cleans.

Is the ambience knob reverb?

I would presume it's the sonic equivalent of moving the mic back from the cone. If it doesn't change the EQ of the speaker sound in addition to adding room sound, then it's just reverb.

So when you mic a single 12 in a 1x12 cabs
or you mic a single 12 in a 4x12 cab

It sounds practically the same does it not?

6 inches from the speaker , there is soo little difference

The air space behind the speaker changes the settling time of the transducer, which changes the response, detail and EQ character of it. Open back, closed back, 4x12 cab, 1x12 cab with the same speaker will sound different.​

 

[Chistopher]

I would presume it's the sonic equivalent of moving the mic back from the cone. If it doesn't change the EQ of the speaker sound in addition to adding room sound, then it's just reverb.

Yeah, it seems like they were probably originally planning to use it to blend in a room mic, but things changed.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

So when you mic a single 12 in a 1x12 cabs
or you mic a single 12 in a 4x12 cab

It sounds practically the same does it not?

No. It does not. And the difference is not subtle either. Much like mic'ing the speakers in the angled half of a 4x12 sounds different than the straight half. The sound bouncing around inside the cab has a saying on how the mic'd sound ends up sounding.

 

[ehdwuld]

hmm I compared two speakers in my new HB 2x12
it has a slanted top
the one on top had an artifact under gain that I didnt like

say that may have been speaker placement?

 

[Rex_Rocker]

hmm I compared two speakers in my new HB 2x12
it has a slanted top
the one on top had an artifact under gain that I didnt like

say that may have been speaker placement?

That could be it.

But also, every speaker sounds slightly different, even if they're the same model and the same batch and whatnot. They're made of paper which is an organic material, so there is slight variations within production.

Here is a video where he goes in-depth comparing like 50 samples of the V30:

I personally prefer mic'ing speakers in the angled half of my 1960. The bottom half has something nasal/horrible going on in the low-mids, probably because of standing waves and comb filtering inside the cab from the baffle being completely parallel to the back panel.

They mention something about it in this video.

That being said, though, I've heard perfectly usable tones from straight cabs and/or straight halves of angled cabs. Not sure why some cabs have it more than others. But I do remember my friend has an Orange straight cab that sounds OK in the room, but completely unusable mic'd up (IMO) because all speakers have that hollow/nasal thing going on under the mic.

 

[ehdwuld]

my buddy said he had a set of Peavey subs that were un-useable for that very same reason some years ago

he ended up putting fiberglass insulation in behind the speaker that made them sound awesome

probably why those boutique speaker guys use the egg crate foam on the inside back panel

 

[donaldr]

When you dig deep into IRs, I've found that many sound like slight EQ tweaks of each other. In my Fractal, they have some convolution modeling of speakers and mics, which sound more realistic than the 10000 IRs I've found.

IR is convolution modeling, maybe Fractal is using better recorded IRs.

From Fractal Wiki:
Normal Res(olution) – 1024 samples, 20 ms. This length normally suffices to capture the essential sound of the speaker cabinet, without so-called room reflections. You can often use Normal Res without having to worry that the sounds is worse than when using HiRes or UltraRes.

HiRes – 2040 samples, 40 ms. This doubles the length of the IR, allowing it to store more informatin after the first 20 ms. Whether that's desirable or not is open for discussion. HiRes IRs use more CPU than Normal Res, and also more than UltraRes.

UltraRes – up to 8000 samples, 170 ms. UltraRes speaker IR processing is a Fractal Audio proprietary technique which enhances the spectral resolution of an IR without adding CPU burden or storage requirements. Its length allows more information to be captured in the IR, especially in the lower frequencies. UltraRes requires more CPU power than Normal Res but less than HiRes. zz0.olctlbxqdgzz

 

[donaldr]

I'm using a free Marshall 412 cab IR that I really like. How can I share it?