ML Sound Lab - Amp Packs TEASER!

Can you tell us more about the nine Presets? Do they have different scenes? Every Channel, every mode?
Sure thing. The Amp Packs come with presets that are completely balanced to be 100% neutral and live/studio ready. The amount of presets varies based on how many gain stages the real amps cover. For this ML Boogey V pack it's 9 different gain stages:

1. CH1: Pristine clean
2. CH1: Edge of breakup
3. CH1: Pushed dirty clean channel
4. CH2: Light crunch
5. CH2: Aggressive rock crunch
6. CH2: Gain maxed on channel two which sounds a lot like a Friedman HBE (this is the main rhythm sound in that release video)
7. CH3: Super tight crunch (think of Dream Theater - Scenes from a memory)
8. CH3: As much gain possibly while keeping the amp tight - perfect for metal and leads
9. CH3: Gain maxed on channel three, this gives you that super liquidy lead sound known as "the Boogey sound"

No effects or scenes for compatibility reasons. These are not your regular presets, these are simply going to give you the real sound of the amps in my collection tweaked to perfection. :)
 
Also, what is the Cab pack as compared to the Amp pack? I'm guessing that certain parts of the Cab pack are already included in the Amp pack?

How do you see the Presets working with continual updates? That is, will you be providing updates with updates to the Axe?

Also, do you know if the Helix pack is compatible with the Helix Native computer plugin?

Thanks for any answers! Really looking forward to this. Sounds great!!!
Thank you buddy! I'm here to answer all questions.

Cab Packs are all about Impulse Responses (IR's) and Amp Packs are A = authentically M = matched P = preset files. There's a sample IR included with the Amp Packs because amps on their own don't necessarily sound too great. :)

As for updates, I own all these modelers and have them in use at the studio. If there is a big significant change firmware that completely changes the sound of these presets we'll most likely do a free update. I have to say that one of the reasons I have been hesitant in doing this during all these years is the possibility of new firmware making the presets obsolete but I've been very happy with not having to tweak presets after firmware updates for about two years now.

Helix preset load up normally for Helix Native. You'll get to compare Fractal vs Helix side by side. :) There are definitely minor differences between the units as you can imagine but I was able to get them very similar. The hardest part was to limit myself to only use the amp blocks since I don't want to take up space from people's presets.
 
Quick play before work this morning - so not loud.

Very happy - I'm basically a Fender/Marshall guy, never got on too well with Boogies (either real or modelled) - in fact I've never kept a preset with a Boogie amp in.

Like these very much, the differences are cumulatively subtle if that makes sense - well worth the money for the '9' preset (instant Luke) if nothing else
 
I picked this up as I've never had much luck dialling in the Mesa's, wow! Really balanced usable tones from start to finish. More playing required!!!
 
Quick play before work this morning - so not loud.

Very happy - I'm basically a Fender/Marshall guy, never got on too well with Boogies (either real or modelled) - in fact I've never kept a preset with a Boogie amp in.

Like these very much, the differences are cumulatively subtle if that makes sense - well worth the money for the '9' preset (instant Luke) if nothing else
Thank you for the feedback! There are definitely some "Marshally" or should I say "Friedmanny" (?) sounds on the channel two of this amp so that'll be presets 4, 5 and 6. Those have a bit more bass and are not so overly tight as the lead channel is known to be.
 
Interesting. As we don't have a Mark V in the Axe FX, is it one of the other Mesa models tuned to sound like a Mark V?
Yes that's exactly what it is. Interestingly enough the IIC++ amp sim is the closest thing to my real amplifier. Advanced parameters needed to be tweaked to match the real amp. The process of matching the amps is actually super difficult and time consuming but the results speak for themselves. I'm essentially feeding the same guitar signal simultaneously to all these modelers and using tricks like phase reversal and spectrum analyzers to really measure that I'm getting the same response no matter if I'm palm muting or letting notes sustain.
 
Thank you for the feedback! There are definitely some "Marshally" or should I say "Friedmanny" (?) sounds on the channel two of this amp so that'll be presets 4, 5 and 6. Those have a bit more bass and are not so overly tight as the lead channel is known to be.

Yep, I hear that - what amp's coming next? I'm in!
 
The Amp Packs come with presets that are completely balanced to be 100% neutral and live/studio ready.

I kinda have to disagree with this statement because based on my experience as a recording guitarist and live performer with my band, mix ready sounds for recording cannot automatically work and be perfectly translated without tweaking to a perfect live sound. Usually, live sound have to be quite darker because of the high volume and the high end sibilance that it brings. So in general and most of the times, mix ready sound for recordings is brighter and and mix ready sound for live performace is darker.
 
I was a bit excited as I was to try one of the presets.
And... no sound.

I forgot to plug my guitar ! LoL

I went for a short try and I really like these presets :)
Sure, I’ll buy the next amp packs.

Mikko, can you tell what amps are coming next ?
I’d be pleased if you could share the preset you used for the bass in the teaser video.
 
I kinda have to disagree with this statement because based on my experience as a recording guitarist and live performer with my band, mix ready sounds for recording cannot automatically work and be perfectly translated without tweaking to a perfect live sound. Usually, live sound have to be quite darker because of the high volume and the high end sibilance that it brings. So in general and most of the times, mix ready sound for recordings is brighter and and mix ready sound for live performace is darker.


This is something that I ponder on more and more. If I go to a concert and they play ac/dc over the PA before the main band comes on, they are playing it at a similar volume to the main act but they aren't eq'ing the guitars on the CD and my ears aren't bleeding. Probably not the place to discuss this in detail but I see no reason why a single sound couldn't work in both scenarios.
 
I kinda have to disagree with this statement because based on my experience as a recording guitarist and live performer with my band, mix ready sounds for recording cannot automatically work and be perfectly translated without tweaking to a perfect live sound. Usually, live sound have to be quite darker because of the high volume and the high end sibilance that it brings. So in general and most of the times, mix ready sound for recordings is brighter and and mix ready sound for live performace is darker.
This was actually my opinion on the subject for a long time as well but after working on some serious rigs and talking to some of the biggest FOH guys in the industry, I have completely changed my mind and realized that it has never been about guitars needing to be bright in the studio and dark live but instead it's all been about the middles being naturally more dominant. A scooped guitar sound will show it's flaws if it's played loud or quiet. You can try this out easily by playing your guitar and turning the volume of the unit up and down. If your sound is not balanced it will most likely sound completely different on low volume and on high volume the trebles will start to sting if you don't have enough mids.

So sure if you look at the Fletcher-Munson curve it'll look like you'll need more low end for high volumes...
FletcherMunson_Oarih.png

... but in reality you will most likely never hear a guitar sound in an environment under 80-90dB loudness and guitar low end is usually around 100hz so it actually doesn't make a big difference. Even if you do listen to guitar on lower volumes (why would you?) then it's very likely that your sound system is not driving low end properly in which case the way a guitar cuts is once again by the middle frequencies being more dominant. These topics are somewhat subjective but once I started using this philosophy I've never run into any problems live or in the studio.

And just to be clear I'm not talking about that cardboard middle frequency honk. Just be very careful not to scoop your guitar sound because it does sound more hi-fi when you're not tweaking it in a mix context. :)
 
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I was a bit excited as I was to try one of the presets.
And... no sound.

I forgot to plug my guitar ! LoL

I went for a short try and I really like these presets :)
Sure, I’ll buy the next amp packs.

Mikko, can you tell what amps are coming next ?
I’d be pleased if you could share the preset you used for the bass in the teaser video.
Thank you for the feedback. This is all very new to me and the response has been very overwhelming. It's like people don't care about the IR's anymore and it's been only one day. :D I sure hope people realize that it's the combination of these settings and IR's that's the key to it all. :)

Well if you know me you'll know that I have just about every "based on Mesa" amplifier ever created in my amp collection. That being said I've already received a lot of requests from people that are huge fans of some other brands so I may have to visit another brand of amps next. I can't say much more at this point.
 
Mikko !

Care to give us a peak behind the curtain on what Amp packs will be coming in the future ? I'm not really a MESA guy, but I'll bet you've got other things that I'll be VERY interested in ! ;)
 
Mikko !

Care to give us a peak behind the curtain on what Amp packs will be coming in the future ? I'm not really a MESA guy, but I'll bet you've got other things that I'll be VERY interested in ! ;)
Actually I'm taking requests so please let me know (privately is better) what you're interested in. :)
 
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