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Cab Impulse Response Megathread

#481
Hey @dr bonkers - can I say from the start that I meant no ill by my comments. I really do dig some of the packs I've brought from you, and to be honest the ones that didn't work for me may have been poor choices on my behalf. I should have mentioned that. I do appreciate that you jump on here to discuss your products.

Definitely happy to answer. Just some context - the majority of my tone I get these days directly from my pedalboard. If I play in a live band situation my rig is bass - pedalboard - poweramp - Ashdown ABM cabs. Pedalboard chain is bass - tuner - compressor/mild overdrive (Billy Sheehan Deluxe) - preamp pedal (Aguilar Tonehammer) - IR loader (Shiftline Cabzone X - which also terminates as a DI out, headphone out and unaffected 1/4 inch out). The only way I utilise IRs is either rehearsing in headphones (bass into pedalboard with over ear headphones plugged into IR loader) or some gigs I go ampless, i.e. I DI straight from IR loader to mixer desk/PA. I never use the IR files through my onstage rig - I use either 1 or 2 Ashdown ABM 410 cabs as my stage speakers.

I will admit that at this point in time I have only used the IRs I thought were harsh sounding through headphones, either playing solo or along with music files (the IR loader also has an aux in that I can connect to my cell phone). I do play with mild overdrive, but I don't use much in the way of EQ - if anything I usually cut a little with the Tonehammer's treble which is shelving EQ around 4khz. I guess the headphones may accentuate the IR in a way that makes it sound harsh - the 115 cabs I've purchased didn't seem to have this (from memory the B15, Sunn 215 and Aguilar DB115), but again I guess the 15 inch cabs won't have the same EQ response as a 810.

What I will definitely do is try a few of the 810 cab IRs in a live situation straight to a PA and let you know how I go.
 
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#482
jcburn said:
Hey @dr bonkers - can I say from the start that I meant no ill by my comments. I really do dig some of the packs I've brought from you, and to be honest the ones that didn't work for me may have been poor choices on my behalf. I should have mentioned that. I do appreciate that you jump on here to discuss your products.

Definitely happy to answer. Just some context - the majority of my tone I get these days directly from my pedalboard. If I play in a live band situation my rig is bass - pedalboard - poweramp - Ashdown ABM cabs. Pedalboard chain is bass - tuner - compressor/mild overdrive (Billy Sheehan Deluxe) - preamp pedal (Aguilar Tonehammer) - IR loader (Shiftline Cabzone X - which also terminates as a DI out, headphone out and unaffected 1/4 inch out). The only way I utilise IRs is either rehearsing in headphones (bass into pedalboard with over ear headphones plugged into IR loader) or some gigs I go ampless, i.e. I DI straight from IR loader to mixer desk/PA. I never use the IR files through my onstage rig - I use either 1 or 2 Ashdown ABM 410 cabs as my stage speakers.

I will admit that at this point in time I have only used the IRs I thought were harsh sounding through headphones, either playing solo or along with music files (the IR loader also has an aux in that I can connect to my cell phone). I do play with mild overdrive, but I don't use much in the way of EQ - if anything I usually cut a little with the Tonehammer's treble which is shelving EQ around 4khz. I guess the headphones may accentuate the IR in a way that makes it sound harsh - the 115 cabs I've purchased didn't seem to have this (from memory the B15, Sunn 215 and Aguilar DB115), but again I guess the 15 inch cabs won't have the same EQ response as a 810.

What I will definitely do is try a few of the 810 cab IRs in a live situation straight to a PA and let you know how I go.
Click to expand...
Thanks so much for this info. This really helps me with my work.
 
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#485
dr bonkers said:
I hope you don't mind a bunch of questions so that I can help as best I can:
  • What are you using to monitor when playing the IR files? If you are using a conventional bass cab like the GK-410RBH, then that cab itself is super bassy and mid scooped. All of my files are recorded flat, so your cab monitoring is probably accentuating the bass hump and mid scoop of the cab as captured in the IR files. My files are really designed for FRFR or flat PA or studio monitoring.
  • Did you try dialing your sound using your amp's tone stack while monitoring the IR file? Think of the IR file just like hooking up your amp to a different cab. You would turn the tone stack knobs until the cab sounds good, so applying the same principle here with IR files really helps.
  • Are you using the mixes with tweeter or without tweeter? Depending upon the strings, bass, and amp settings, the files with a tweeter included may be way harsh for your current monitoring setup.
  • Are you making these judgements when listening with a full band playing or not? These files are designed to sit well in a band mix as the demos on my site illustrate.
Click to expand...

No problem at all, and thank you for weighing in! Apologies for the long winded answer.

Ok, let's start at the start. I use a lot of dirt in my signal chain, and seeing no live engineers are willing to Mic a bass cab, I'm always stuck with fizzy nasty bass in FOH. Enter my IR journey. Gear in Australia is stupid expensive, so I opted for the Hotone Omni IR to sit after my effects send, getting a preamp signal (with a passive attenuator in between, otherwise line level post-EQ from active bass just clips like mad). I'm monitoring through my studio cans and A/B'ing between IR and my live cab (GK 410 RBX, basically an RBH without the dumb shape, sounds closer to a Mesa 410PH than a GK RBH due to the port locations). My live cab has the tweeter all the way off, and I boost between 1k and 3k at a couple of stages in my pedals and amp's preamp, I err on the side of an upper-mid dirty clank (similar to Justin Chancellor of Tool or Bill Gould of FNM). Signal chain is like so...

Active Stingray or Jazz bass> pedals including tuner, OD, fuzz, para-eq for upper-mids, delay > GK 1001RB II amp w/ mids slightly boosted, highs slightly cut, bass/low mid flat, contour and presence centred > regular output to GK 410RBX with tweeter defeated and effects send > passive attenuator (Loopi Pedals Amplifier Vol Control to avoid clipping into IR) > Hotone Omni IR for direct feed of cab sim IR to FOH. My stage cab sounds huge and has a beautiful upper mid presence, with a little top end as I don't like the tweeter fizz with my dirt. I've also tried going dorect from pedals to the IR loader, taking the GK amp preamp out of the equation, same results, just a little less hot.

This is purely a stage use scenario. If I use IRs during recording I do it in software later. These IRs show similar behaviour in software using Lancaster Audio Pulse as an IR loader with a DI recording of the aforementioned signal chain, minus the cab and IR pedal. Pure DI from my amplifier.

The Dr Bonkers Mesa 810 IRs with the power amp in the sample are, as documented in the manual, super wooly and pretty much no good for my usage case. I find similar results with the HypeReal and Choice packs, but are a step in the right direction. The single mic w/DI IRs (no tweeter) seem to get me closest, but still heavily scooped in the upper mids and with tonnes of rumbly bottom and hissy top, the nicest ones being these IRs:

8X10_MBGR-B_4033_SM81_PZM_DBS
8X10_MBGR-B_D12_D12_PZM_DBS
8X10_MBGR-B_1L_AT4033_Cap_200ms_MicDI_DBS
8X10_MBGR-B_1L_D6_Cap_200ms_MicDI_DBS
8X10_MBGR-B_1L_D6_Cone_200ms_MicDI_DBS
8X10_MBGR-B_1L_D12_Cone_200ms_MicDI_DBS
 
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#486
Fazz1977 said:
No problem at all, and thank you for weighing in! Apologies for the long winded answer.

Ok, let's start at the start. I use a lot of dirt in my signal chain, and seeing no live engineers are willing to Mic a bass cab, I'm always stuck with fizzy nasty bass in FOH. Enter my IR journey. Gear in Australia is stupid expensive, so I opted for the Hotone Omni IR to sit after my effects send, getting a preamp signal (with a passive attenuator in between, otherwise line level post-EQ from active bass just clips like mad). I'm monitoring through my studio cans and A/B'ing between IR and my live cab (GK 410 RBX, basically an RBH without the dumb shape, sounds closer to a Mesa 410PH than a GK RBH due to the port locations). My live cab has the tweeter all the way off, and I boost between 1k and 3k at a couple of stages in my pedals and amp's preamp, I err on the side of an upper-mid dirty clank (similar to Justin Chancellor of Tool or Bill Gould of FNM). Signal chain is like so...

Active Stingray or Jazz bass> pedals including tuner, OD, fuzz, para-eq for upper-mids, delay > GK 1001RB II amp w/ mids slightly boosted, highs slightly cut, bass/low mid flat, contour and presence centred > regular output to GK 410RBX with tweeter defeated and effects send > passive attenuator (Loopi Pedals Amplifier Vol Control to avoid clipping into IR) > Hotone Omni IR for direct feed of cab sim IR to FOH. My stage cab sounds huge and has a beautiful upper mid presence, with a little top end as I don't like the tweeter fizz with my dirt. I've also tried going dorect from pedals to the IR loader, taking the GK amp preamp out of the equation, same results, just a little less hot.

This is purely a stage use scenario. If I use IRs during recording I do it in software later. These IRs show similar behaviour in software using Lancaster Audio Pulse as an IR loader with a DI recording of the aforementioned signal chain, minus the cab and IR pedal. Pure DI from my amplifier.

The Dr Bonkers Mesa 810 IRs with the power amp in the sample are, as documented in the manual, super wooly and pretty much no good for my usage case. I find similar results with the HypeReal and Choice packs, but are a step in the right direction. The single mic w/DI IRs (no tweeter) seem to get me closest, but still heavily scooped in the upper mids and with tonnes of rumbly bottom and hissy top, the nicest ones being these IRs:

8X10_MBGR-B_4033_SM81_PZM_DBS
8X10_MBGR-B_D12_D12_PZM_DBS
8X10_MBGR-B_1L_AT4033_Cap_200ms_MicDI_DBS
8X10_MBGR-B_1L_D6_Cap_200ms_MicDI_DBS
8X10_MBGR-B_1L_D6_Cone_200ms_MicDI_DBS
8X10_MBGR-B_1L_D12_Cone_200ms_MicDI_DBS
Click to expand...
Which studio cans are you monitoring through?

Most studio cans are not remotely flat. If you were monitoring through near field monitors, far field studio monitors, or FRFR, you will get a much better experience with my files, as you could really dial in your amp and not need to compensate for the curve that the headphones impose.

My files really are not designed for monitoring though headphones or cabs like some people try to do. If a set of files does sound good through headphones or bass cabs, the files are probably EQ compensated for those situations. If those types of files work for you, that's totally cool.

I record everything with no EQ or compression.

What the cab did in my room with a certain mic is what you are getting in my file.
 
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#487
I've been using a NUX Solid Studio for about a month or so and have been happy with its stock IRs even 'though they all are guitar cabinets. Fiddled with it for a while and found a sweet spot with a Marshall 1960 cab and U97 mic and EL34's in the power amp simulation. Used it on a gig too and sounded good. I had a plan to make an IR of my Ashdown ABM410 but since I didn't use the NUX between the amp and the cab I thought I'd "survive" with the stock presets. Maybe then when someone makes me an Lab Series L2 preamp pedal (the amp I use 90% of the time).

Thanks to this thread I tried Shiftless IRs and found some quite usable ones (for example Hartke XL 410 sounded surprisingly good, maybe it helps that you can't see the cab...:D).
Then I was wondering if anyone had captured the old Acoustic 361 cab since I love the tones John Paul Jones got with one especially with the '52 P bass and of course Jaco's great sound and many many others. Found out Dr. Bonker's Acoustic 301 IR pack and had a go...
Well, I have never played through one or actually seen one but the very first mix I tried sounded good and "right". The only problem with it is that I haven't found any that I didn't like or sounded bad but I guess (or hope) I can settle for a few after a while.
Anyway, with the sound there I made this short Jaco -style clip. I don't usually play in that style and don't have any aspirations as I know there's people who do that brilliantly but the sound was so good and inspiring that it was easy to make it. I didn't even play a Jazz but a Frankenstein double-P Telecaster.

I did not use the power amp simulator and any other tone shaping devices. The overdrive is Bad Monkey and chorus an 80's Ibanez Digital Chorus.

If there are any other cab IRs that are as distinctive sounding as the Acoustic cab please do not tell me! :D

But tell me which HypeReal mix you prefer and have you used the IR live?
 

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#490
I bought redwirez bass pack, but I didn't find any really good for my purpose. The 810 has way too much low end the 4,5 has to much high end and becomes too noisy with overdrive. The aguilar and ampeg 115s sound too nasaly for me, no matter wich mic I try it.

As of now my favorite is shift lines Mesa R215.

Has anyone tried ML Sound Labs ampg 410 pack?

How about dr. bonkers stuff? I was looking at the aguilar 810, but honestly the sound samples aren't very convincing.
 
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#493
I tried the 3Sigma mesa IRs and thought they were really low in output and sounded harsh.
I think the Shiftline stuff sounds OK to be honest, I just think on the whole most of the cabs they model are a little left of centre. I'm working from home today and decided on my lunch I would run my pedalboard (including IR loader) into a small PA I have here at home. The Shiftline IRs sounded really good - especially the Mesa 215!!! I tried the SVT 810, the Sunn 215, the Mesa 215, the Celestion V30 and the EV EFM12L. All different version of nice!!
I tried the 3Sigma IRs too and stand by my initial assessment - I don't like them....but it would be boring if we all liked the same thing yeah? :hyper:
 
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#494
jcburn said:
I tried the 3Sigma mesa IRs and thought they were really low in output and sounded harsh.
I think the Shiftline stuff sounds OK to be honest, I just think on the whole most of the cabs they model are a little left of centre. I'm working from home today and decided on my lunch I would run my pedalboard (including IR loader) into a small PA I have here at home. The Shiftline IRs sounded really good - especially the Mesa 215!!! I tried the SVT 810, the Sunn 215, the Mesa 215, the Celestion V30 and the EV EFM12L. All different version of nice!!
I tried the 3Sigma IRs too and stand by my initial assessment - I don't like them....but it would be boring if we all liked the same thing yeah? :hyper:
Click to expand...
I don't know, output seemed fine to me, Shiftlines was much lower in output.
It sounds great for me, but guess depends on the pickups, amp, string gauge, everything.
With other IRs somehow the Agros tone didn't come through as nicely, didn't sound as agressive as it could :)
 
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#495
When I read of people having su h diverse opinions on various IR's, it's not just the personal preference but very much also the headphones/monitors which make a considerable difference.

I changed recently from open ear Sennheisers to closed ear Yamaha studio cans and the difference is significant.

Had to reevaluate my fairly large library and resort my prefs.
 
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#496
OldogNewTrick said:
When I read of people having su h diverse opinions on various IR's, it's not just the personal preference but very much also the headphones/monitors which make a considerable difference.

I changed recently from open ear Sennheisers to closed ear Yamaha studio cans and the difference is significant.

Had to reevaluate my fairly large library and resort my prefs.
Click to expand...

Very true - I used very different IRs if I'm practicing through headphones as opposed to going straight to a desk\PA.
 
#497
OldogNewTrick said:
When I read of people having su h diverse opinions on various IR's, it's not just the personal preference but very much also the headphones/monitors which make a considerable difference.

I changed recently from open ear Sennheisers to closed ear Yamaha studio cans and the difference is significant.

Had to reevaluate my fairly large library and resort my prefs.
Click to expand...
My headphones sound much darker than my FRFR monitor. Also I have a cheap Superlux HD330 headphones, should upgrade later on....
 

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