How about using the Null IR mixed with this method? I think that would be what you are referring to as a "dummy" cab. You'd have all the normal cab block controls without the IR filtering since its a null IR.
This is how I simulated speakers back in the 90s. Series Butterworth lowpass filters and 1/3 octave eq. Very similar to the Red Box and Palmer.
It lacks character, but sounds up front and in your face. IRs can be the opposite; too much comb filter character. I used to blend a Palmer IR with other IRs, but the Dephase parameter made this obsolete for me.
Sending to a cab makes sense to me. More control and variety.
Analog speaker Sims that I've tried in the past generally have a characteristic sound that I've never cared for--something that screams out "THIS IS A DI!!." This makes me wonder why it's working this time. Maybe the 5k rolloff is sharper than the typical cab Sim.
...the Filter block replicates the rolloff but lets the natural response of the speaker come through.
Brutal honesty: It’s only because Cliff Initiated the thread. I will take an IR any day over any other tech I have heard to date... Long term possibility of an algorithmic Cab block is very intriguing though and Cliff is the only person that can make that happen.Years ago i think I asked about a cabinet simulator block and was told that it didn't make sense when you could use cab blocks.
Years later here we are and now everybody loves it.
Not everyone.Years ago i think I asked about a cabinet simulator block and was told that it didn't make sense when you could use cab blocks.
Years later here we are and now everybody loves it.
Try this:
Make a patch with no cab block.
After the amp put a Filter block. Reset to make sure all parameters are at default values.
Set the type to Lowpass.
Set the Order to 4th.
Set the Freq to ~5000.
Set the High Cut Freq to ~5000.
Adjust the Freq and High Cut Freq to taste. For more aggressive tones increase both to 6000 or so. For warmer tones decrease both to 4000 or so.
Now, to add some "character" put a Graphic EQ or Parametric EQ block after (or before) the Filter block. Boost 125 Hz a little. Play around with some of the midrange and upper midrange bands to change the character of the tone. This is what I used:
31: 0.0
63 Hz: 0.6
125 Hz: 4.57
250 Hz: 0.25
500: 0.0
1K: -5.0
2K: -2.27
4K: 1.95
8K: -1.0
16K: -5.77
The reasoning behind this is that there is no such thing as a "flat" speaker. All speakers, even really expensive monitors have peaks and dips in the response. That's why they all sound different. The primary thing a guitar speaker does is roll off the highs aggressively at somewhere between 4K and 6K Hz. The Filter block replicates the rolloff but lets the natural response of the speaker come through.
In Cliff's post I notice the 'voicing' GEQ roughly follows a general closed back speaker/cab curve; the 125Hz resonant bump, a little bump in the high mids, etc. Interesting that the 4K bump is bracketed by the adjacent bands which are pulled down a bit.
The EQ pattern doesn't look like a speaker impedance curve much, since speaker impedance rises at higher freq.Yeah this pattern looks a lot like an impedance curve of a guitar speaker... Only less spikey on the low resonant frequency.
Speaker impedance stuff is already taken care of at the Axe-Fx's amp block.1.The boosted 125 hz is close to the low resonant frequency (LRF) of a real cab (80~120Hz range I believe for 4x12). So is it save to say that a boosted LRF and High Resonant Frequencies makes it sound more like a cab in the room?
2. Would it help if the Low resonant frequency (LRF) of the amp block in this case would also be set to 125 Hz like you would do when matching a real cabs LRF in conjunction with the axe-fx and a solid state amp?
3. Why not boosting the 125Hz a lot more with a smaller range to mimic the impedance curve more?
4. Can you get faster distortion on the low resonant frequency or is this already built in....? (I believe at the resonant frequencies an amp/speaker also distorts more easily!?)
https://forum.fractalaudio.com/thre...g-speaker-cabinets.135191/page-2#post-1599277I’ve always thought a problem with IR’s is they are static, its how the speaker responded at a given output level at a given moment. There is no way to dynamically change an IR to date, though I think the now mostly forgot Nebula software tried to do soemthing to that extent?
Use the rotary block?Perhaps this could be the solution to how to do emulate a rotary speaker cabinet, because its dynamic nature and capturing a single IR only results in on position of the drum and/or rotor.
You’d need a bunch of different IR’s taken over it’s cycle of rotation, and then dynamically cycle through them, which isn’t possible.
If we could dynamically adjust the EQ to respond in real time to what happens as it rotates, it seems to me we could have improved rotary speaker emulation with regards to how it would be perceived from a stereo source?