Anyone running an IR of their own cab live?

C

ConnorGilks

Experienced
Anyone running an IR of their own rig live?

I run a cab on stage live, but I wanted to make an IR of my power amp and cab to have the option of running to FOH in addition to my cab. This means if I tweak my tone, I know how it will sound at FOH because of my cab. It provides a nice consistency and helps get rid of clutter on stage with a mic, mic stand and cable to trip over. :lol

Here's my question, is there anyone who has done this? Not just running a cab and an IR to FOH, I mean is anyone running an IR they made of their own cab to FOH? How do you like it? Does it sound like your cab? Do you add some air/verb to help the sound be closer to the cab sound or do you leave it the way it is to sound more like a close-mic'd signal?

Thanks everyone.
 
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I do that and it is perfect.
I shot several IRs with a measurement mic. Some close at the speaker and some from a distance. Then I mixed the IRs till I had a mix that sounds just like my cab.

Output 1 goes with the IR to FOH and Channel A of my Matrix power amp into a monitor.
Output 2 without cab sim to channel B into the Cab.
 
fenderbender said:
I do that and it is perfect.
I shot several IRs with a measurement mic. Some close at the speaker and some from a distance. Then I mixed the IRs till I had a mix that sounds just like my cab.

Output 1 goes with the IR to FOH and Channel A of my Matrix power amp into a monitor.
Output 2 without cab sim to channel B into the Cab.
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That's awesome! By measurement mic I'm assuming you mean the type of mic you use to measure acoustics in a room and such. Any reason to use that over any other mic? Is it just flatter response? Which one did you use?

Blending several is a great idea I hadn't though about, thanks for that idea. How many did you blend? Did you have specific setups in mind that you wanted to capture at? For example, right on the grill, another 3 inches back, another 5 feet back, and so on? Doesn't capturing from farther back mean you capture more of the room you're making the impulses in?
 
ConnorGilks said:
By measurement mic I'm assuming you mean the type of mic you use to measure acoustics in a room and such. Any reason to use that over any other mic?
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Depends on whether you want the result to sound like your cab or like your cab through a specific mic. If you don't want the flavor of your mic to come through, use a neutral mic.
 
Rex said:
Depends on whether you want the result to sound like your cab or like your cab through a specific mic. If you don't want the flavor of your mic to come through, use a neutral mic.
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Yeah that's what I figured, I'm just curious as to why that hasn't been done more. But I guess it makes sense, a neutral mic isn't really what we want when recording. I might have to do build a bunch of IR's, some with a measurement mic and some with a 57.
 
I used the beyerdynamic MM1 and got great results. I wanted it to be neutral to capture the Sound of my cab as I hear it.
I also used the ir for Recording and it is one of my favorite IRs for that.

In the end it was just 2 IRs that i Mixed. One at the grill and one from 1 Meter. If I remember correctly it was 70/30 %
 
ConnorGilks said:
Yeah that's what I figured, I'm just curious as to why that hasn't been done more.
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I think yek does that, if I remember right.


ConnorGilks said:
...a neutral mic isn't really what we want when recording.
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Depends. :) If you want to send FOH an accurate representation of what you hear on stage, maybe you don't want it colored by a mic.


ConnorGilks said:
I might have to do build a bunch of IR's, some with a measurement mic and some with a 57.
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No need. There are mic sims built into the cab block. Capture your IR with a neutral mic, then dial up a 57 in your cab block.
 
I forgot about that, cheers Rex!

Thanks FB, I'll try this out next time I get a chance! When you run the IR to FOH, do you do anything to the signal? A touch of reverb for life maybe? Or did the distance of the 1 meter capture help you with that already? Do you find the FOH is true to what you hear on stage?
 
The 1 meter IR was just for tone. You won't get room with that. I just tried different things and this way it works for me. Just try and see if it works for you too. The IR is the last thing in the chain and it gets the same signal as the cab. I use a touch of reverb but also for the real cab.
I always have "my" sound. at rehearsal, on stage and from FOH.
The FOH guys are always blown away, too. Which is nice, especially after the look they give you when you tell them you go direct. ;)
 
I do. I have a Fender Deluxe Reverb that I used before getting an Axe, and I was never happy with my clean tone until I shot my own IR of my cab. I did it with different mics at different positions, then blended them in Cab Lab until I found the sound I wanted. Now I'm very happy with the sound.
 
I just put an old 1950's Jensen Alnico speaker that had a complete overhaul and hemp recone into my H&K 1x12 cabinet that had a V30 (hate them) in it. The cab now sounds totally awesome, so I definitely plan to shoot my own IRs, even though I'm technically challenged. *LOL* Right now all I've got lying around are a DOD Stagehand 265, an SM 57, and an ART MP preamp, so I'll probably need to get some better gear.
 
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I tried shooting IRs for the first time tonight. Got it working, but my IRs are all too dark compared to other IRs and to my cab. I'm using an SM57 right on the grill in front of the cone. Don't know how to make it any brighter.
 
Thanks everyone.

So now I'm wondering, is it a good idea to capture an IR that sounds like my amp in the room and use it as is? Wouldn't it be a bit weird if my other guitarist is going through the PA via a 57 on his cab and I'm going through via an IR of an "in the room" cab sound? Wouldn't that sound a bit weird to have a close-mic'd sound and an "in the room" type sound through the PA? I feel like the guitars wouldn't mesh as well. Should I create an IR of my cab "in the room" and then use the mic modeling in the AxeFX II with that IR?
 
I don't think you'll want much room sound in your IR in your house feed. The venue is already a room, so you'd have a room in a room. Might sound weird. Or good. You'll never know until you try.
 
I just run FOH with my home brew cab sim because I think the Recto 2x12 is about the perfect cab.
 
So maybe look at capturing the IR as if I was miking a cab for recording (same distance and angles and such) but just use a flat microphone like a measurement one then? I guess I'm just a bit confused. If I'm making an IR of my cab then essentially I'd have to make an IR of it close-mic'd. So I wouldn't be getting the same sound I'm getting on stage, I'd just be getting a consistently mic'd sound every night, right? I could settle for that.
 
That's where I'd start, but there really aren't any rules. I'd just try to avoid including the room's influence in your IR. I don't think that would translate well at the venue.

Let's say you play live with a 4x12 in your backline. The only way to truly let the audience hear exactly what you're hearing is to give each audience member his own personal set of four speakers, aimed at the back of his knees from six feet behind him, with a box behind him that's as wide and deep as the stage, and another box in front of him that's as big as the venue, and give him about 30 dB of isolation from everyone else's personal set of speakers that's aimed at their knees. You just can't duplicate that with electronic processing.

Instead, capture the flavor of your cab with neutral mics at various positions, and blend them to get as close as you can to the sound of your cab. Like fenderbender did. Then let the venue do what it will to your sound. It'll sound like your cab would sound at that venue.
 
So essentially I'm just taking out the coloration of a typical microphone by using a measurement microphone, so it's still a typical IR sound just slightly less colored? I guess it'll still be quite a bit closer than using an IR someone else made. Thanks guys, I'm excited to start this process! :)
 
ConnorGilks said:
So essentially I'm just taking out the coloration of a typical microphone by using a measurement microphone, so it's still a typical IR sound just slightly less colored?
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Pretty much. Significantly less colored, I'd say. Go for it!
 
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