Another V10 Preview

I've found, personally, that no SINGLE IR sounds perfect to me. I always struggled until I forced myself to use TWO in every patch. Seems like a pain, especially considering the mountain of options, but I narrowed down a few for my personal sound that I find seems to work an all amps. Currently, I'm rocking a C12N combined with a Greenback G12M 25. The Greenback gives a lot of bottom and top, and the C12N fills in the mids. Gives lots of body to the tone of my strat. (keep in mind, I use redwirez cabs...they are amazing)

Single IRs tend to sound weak in one EQ area or another, combining really fixes the problem. In the real world, players do this too...but at the frustration mess of having to mic both speakers at gigs.

I very often use two cabs and often it is the same cab with different mics and maybe a bit of delay on one mic.
 
Also, one control I find invaluable with the Axe's CAB block is the Air knob. It single-handedly can liven up almost any IR and really add punch and clarity to the overall sound. I always incorporate it at least a little bit. It's like a dedicated presence control for your speaker cabs.

Personally, I usually start by picking out a cab that suits what I'm looking for in the bassier frequencies, then just slowly turn up the Air knob until the sound balances out. Works every time.
 
SYSTEMATIC PRODUCTIONS - Official Website - Mixing Guide

It's not free, costs $20 AUD, which is about $20 here in the USA. I think it's worth every penny (no I'm not affiliated with the author in any way, I just like the book). The book gives a lot of great insights on how to use compression, EQ, etc on guitar.

Does this book seem specifically oriented to metal or would you recommend it for a more general audience?
 
Sounds incredible Cliff. The second clip sounds like the Axe FxII cause I know it can sound clearer and more pristine than the modeled version.
Version 10 coming out! WOW we can't thank you enough!
 
I am just waiting for my custom electric to be made. Should be complete by March :).
Seriously I want to experience the awesomeness completely with my Axe FxII. These new vintage additions
are killer,the new modelling technique is awesome. Would be awesome to play some jimmy herring type of stuff on this amp.
 
Single IRs tend to sound weak in one EQ area or another, combining really fixes the problem. In the real world, players do this too...but at the frustration mess of having to mic both speakers at gigs.

I'm really digging the combination of speakers I have right now:
EVM 12L and ASW KTS70 (=G12H).

The ASW supplies the vibe. Works well with all my favorite amp models.

And the EVM is great for clean tones, and for stuff like synth sounds and even acoustic. And it really lets each amp model's own characteristics shine through, better than any other guitar speaker.

The IR equivalents of those speakers work just as well. I've mixed those IRs, with various mics, into a single HiRes IR. Lets me stick to just a single IR in all presets. While retaining the specific tone of each amp. Love it.
 
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Keep in mind that in the studio and live (but especially in the studio), there is a ton of PEQ applied to real amps/cabs. A lot. And since the AxeFx is designed to emulate real world amps/cabs/mics, why wouldn't it be any different?

I think it's a good idea for all guitarists, especially those here who are using the AxeFx to handle all the amp/cab/micing duties, to read up on music engineering and production. It gives one an insight on how guitar is recorded and edited to fit in the mix. The tools to do that are all in the AxeFX, you just got to learn how to use them. So many people feel that EQ is an evil device that should never be used. If that were the case, then pretty much every well respected studio and live sound engineer would be "wrong" and I'm sure that's not the case. Instead, we should embrace these tools and learn how to use them properly to enhance our sound. Here's a great ebook that I recently read that has a lot of great how to's for guitar processing:

SYSTEMATIC PRODUCTIONS - Official Website - Mixing Guide

It's not free, costs $20 AUD, which is about $20 here in the USA. I think it's worth every penny (no I'm not affiliated with the author in any way, I just like the book). The book gives a lot of great insights on how to use compression, EQ, etc on guitar.

Long story short, I don't think having to use EQ is a bad thing. In real life you can't expect to throw a mic in front of a cab and expect it to sound perfect without any tweaking (EQ). And since an IR is supposed to be an accurate representation of a real speaker/cab through a mic, I don't see why it would be any different than real life. The AxeFx gives us all the tools we need to tweak our sound. Might as well use them!

In the studio, the first maxim should always be that the source should sound good on its own. If EQ is needed, then it should be a sweetener, not a fixer. Engineers spend days sometimes getting just the right mic and position precisely for this reason. Live, the answer isn't so simple, as the acoustic environment isn't as ideal as the studio.

I view EQ as a last resort, and 99% of the time as a cut rather than a boost. A lot of problems can be fixed with compression, audio editing, etc.

You've raised a great point about guitarists needing a degree of sound engineering training to get the most out of the unit, though. The interaction of the guitar (and all of their individual subtleties) through the Axe is so open to variation, that recognition of where the tonal change is happening is very necessary.
 
I very often use two cabs and often it is the same cab with different mics and maybe a bit of delay on one mic.
I have done this for a while a stereo cab that is the same cabe twice then a use an SM57 and a R121 mic. I read an article Scott mentioned a few years ago about producers you should know. Every single one of them said guitar tracking for them always starts with an SM 57 and a ribbon mic usually a Royer 121. I started doing it immediately and immediately loved the results. Using that and using hi/low cut my tone is always mix ready. I have sound man saying things like now I get disappointed when a guitar player does not have what you have and your rig always sounds so perfect I never do anything to you just move the fader up and down
 
I need to explore the mic sims more.

I convinced myself out of using them some time ago and haven't given them a fair shot.

Richard
 
Currently, I'm rocking a C12N combined with a Greenback G12M 25. The Greenback gives a lot of bottom and top, and the C12N fills in the mids. Gives lots of body to the tone of my strat.

Tyler, would you mind sharing the particulars (mic & mic position for each)?

Terry.
 
Tyler, would you mind sharing the particulars (mic & mic position for each)?

Terry.

Keep in mind, I've joined a new band which means I only use my Strat with low-output pickups now, so the speaker choices are for that guitar...

With that said:

- Basketweave G12M25
- 0"
- SM57
- Cap Edge
- Off Axis

- Jensen C12N
- 0"
- R121
- Cap
 
I very often use two cabs and often it is the same cab with different mics and maybe a bit of delay on one mic.

You could just add the ability to select two different mics on a single cabinet, (I am assuming you are using your mic models and not two separate IRs).
 
I'm really digging the combination of speakers I have right now.
An EVM 12L and ASW KTS70 (=G12H)

The latter supplies the vibe and works well with all my favorite amp models.
And the EVM is great for clean tones, and for stuff like synth sounds and even acoustic, and more than any other guitar speaker it really brings out each amp model's own characteristics.

This works as well with the IR equivalents of those speakers. I've mixed those IRs, with various mics, into a single HiRes IR. Lets me stick to just a single IR in all presets. While retaining the specific tone of each amp. Love it.

Yek, have you already shared or do you care to share that HiRes IR? If on AxeChange could you please post the link. Thanks bud.
 
When you say 'combined'

I'm assuming you are referring to using utilities like OH's and combining two cab IRs right?

I'm really digging the combination of speakers I have right now.
An EVM 12L and ASW KTS70 (=G12H)

The latter supplies the vibe and works well with all my favorite amp models.
And the EVM is great for clean tones, and for stuff like synth sounds and even acoustic, and more than any other guitar speaker it really brings out each amp model's own characteristics.

This works as well with the IR equivalents of those speakers. I've mixed those IRs, with various mics, into a single HiRes IR. Lets me stick to just a single IR in all presets. While retaining the specific tone of each amp. Love it.
 
Youre right, there are tons of other IR's out there and I've tried a lot of them. BUT I still haven't found the one that satisfies me 100%. As you've written in the mentioned Thread "Fractal IR's" ....



.... is exactly what I mean. I'm really thankful for all your updates and improvements but I felt like the IR's are fallen a bit by the wayside compared to everything else.
My personal preference would be a IR library that doesn't need a PEQ afterwards. I do have good results with self-made IR's but not every cab works with every amp and that's the point here. If I would like to stay with one amp and cab I wouldn't use the AXEII. I don't have the money yet to buy the perfect cab for every amp-sim and make a IR out of it. That's where I hope that you and the Fractal Team keep an eye on as you've done it with all that amazing Amp-Simulations.
So I haven't seen the IR-Thread before as the Forum is a bit chaotic (Why no Future Firmware Section or something similar? I prefer playing with the axe fx instead of searching the forum for news ;-) ) but I'm really nosy about what's coming next and maybe all the IR complaining was for god's sake

I sometimes dis-like certain IR's on their own. This is due to us all having our own opinion of what is "Great" and what is "Good" and what is "Poop"
So you really have to Experiment and there is hundreds of ways to get there.
Lately I have been finding the R121 Mic to be my Secret Sauce to suit my Taste.
I have even been putting it on the New V2 Ownhammer IRs that I bought.
I was really liking the Ownhammer 412-GTR Bogner 12M with different Amps, but once I got close I usually had too much Sizzle and I tried Low Passes and High Passes in the Cab section which was working but not perfect. So I decided to kill the Low Pass and High Pass and Started experimenting with using the Built in Mics even though the Ownhammer IR already has the Mic inclusive. Something about hitting the R121 made it light up and I had what I wanted.

So basically getting Your Idea of Perfection is most likely already in there. You just have to find it.
 
Yek, have you already shared or do you care to share that HiRes IR? If on AxeChange could you please post the link. Thanks bud.

When you say 'combined' I'm assuming you are referring to using utilities like OH's and combining two cab IRs right?

Cannot share the IR itself, contains copyrighted IRs.

The mix recipe (for example to use in AOM DSP):

BasketweaveG12H30s-R121-CapEdge-3in
BasketweaveG12H30s-SM57-Cone-0_5in
BasketweaveG12H30s-U87-CapEdge-2in
MarkIIC_EV12L-R121-Cap-4in
MarkIIC_EV12L-SM57-Cone-0_5in
MarkIIC_EV12L-U87-CapEdge-2in

In equal amounts.

These are Red Wire IRs. Similar results can be obtained by using OwnHammer IRs.
 
I very often use two cabs and often it is the same cab with different mics and maybe a bit of delay on one mic.

That's the micro delay in the Cab block isn't it. What's a typical value to be used for that parameter?
 
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