unix-guy
Master of RTFM
To be honest I've never understood the "amp in the room" thing. All of my favorite tones were always recorded, meaning it was a microphone in front of a speaker. Even in a live setting if a PA is being used, you're still hearing the sound of a mic in front of a speaker that is being projected from the PA.
If you want room sound (e.g., reflections, ambience, etc.), it can be added in the cab block. You can also add a small amount of reverb to simulate room ambience. As someone who grew up using "real amps", I can comfortably say that the Axe FX is more realistic in terms of emulating recorded tones I grew up listening to on recordings. I would imagine that many of peoples favorite tones are from recordings of tones (i.e. a capture), which is a microphone (or microphones) placed in front of a speaker likely being recorded to tape then mixed and possibly processed further.
Even if someone records a "room sound", you are still hearing that through a recording using a microphone which still won't accurately represent the room sound as the microphone will color it. The only way to physically get an "in the room sound" is by physically playing an amp in the room you're in. This can still be achieved with the Axe FX by using it in conjunction with a power amp and a cabinet. Even then, the "in the room" sound (or your perception of it) will depend on where the amp is placed, where you're standing, the size of the room, other objects in the space you're in, your ears, etc.
This video explains it well.
Alternatively, you can also buy an amp and put it "in the room". But why? Unless you're on a stage, have a professional studio, or neighbors that won't call the cops on you when you dial the volume of a 40 watt amp past 9 o'clock...why not use the advantages we have now and stop lamenting over a physical phenomena that isn't ideal in the first place? Your ears will thank you for it.
I've posted many times in the past about how pretty much every tone someone has chased from their influences is a mic'd speaker cabinet and (other than room mics) is exactly what Fractal provides.
Once you come to grips with that, it's easier to let go of "amp (cab) in the room".
Where it's challenging and where many people get hung up is this:
You play with a real amp and cab. You dial things in to your preference. You love it. You don't use monitors when you play live.
In that case, cab in the room is your reference. Anything else doesn't match that experience...
But, nobody else is going to hear exactly what you're hearing because they'd need to be standing right where you are to have that chance. Your bandmates and the audience will hear something different - sometimes drastically different.
So, yeah, chase the recorded tones with IRs and FRFR