Are the stock cab IRs enough.

maxolla

maxolla

Inspired
hi all
I keep reading about cab packs as well as the cab tools. Is everyone in agreement that buying new ones is a must or are the stock IRs In the ax good enough? Also is blending IRs with the cab software a must?

Thanks for your opinions. :D
 
How many guitars are enough ?

Is an L6 POD "enough" or does one need an 11 Rack ? Is that still not enough ? Does one need an Axe II ?

People that have cab packs, that enjoy spending time tone shaping etc are obviously going to tell you "NO", the stock cabs aren't enough. Obviously though not every single Axe owner is buying cab packs, just as there are surely still Axe owners who are happily using FW9, while the forum faithful are updating to the latest FW19 beta.

There are some great IR's in the factory offerings, and if I had to, I could happily live with the. However, there are also some very nice cab packs, and as I am a bit OCD about options, and have the disposable income for such things, I buy most of them, and have CL etc

That said, I still use some of the factory offerings quite often.

Your OP message asked if "everyone is in agreement" and I'm pretty sure that no, not every single Axe user is working only with cab packs
 
yes they are enough...if u make professional recordings, know soooo much about mixing, guitar cab micing etc...than maybe
you could get alot out of the 3rd party IRs, cab packs etc...but beside these the black box itself is more than anyone would ever need. in a traditional rig people have 1 amp, 5-6 pedals...thats all...think whats all inside in axe.
 
lqdsnddist said:
How many guitars are enough ?

Is an L6 POD "enough" or does one need an 11 Rack ? Is that still not enough ? Does one need an Axe II ?

People that have cab packs, that enjoy spending time tone shaping etc are obviously going to tell you "NO", the stock cabs aren't enough. Obviously though not every single Axe owner is buying cab packs, just as there are surely still Axe owners who are happily using FW9, while the forum faithful are updating to the latest FW19 beta.

There are some great IR's in the factory offerings, and if I had to, I could happily live with the. However, there are also some very nice cab packs, and as I am a bit OCD about options, and have the disposable income for such things, I buy most of them, and have CL etc

That said, I still use some of the factory offerings quite often.

Your OP message asked if "everyone is in agreement" and I'm pretty sure that no, not every single Axe user is working only with cab packs
Click to expand...

This is one of the soundest responses I've ever read on this forum. Kudos. Ps I have a ton of cab packs and still use many standard irs.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
For myself, the tones I enjoy, I use standard low res IR's. I even prefer them over the included ultra res IR's, but that's just me. Never felt the need for a "cab pack".
 
I think for clean tones they are enough, However on the distorted tones, I get my best tones out of added cab packs.
 
Yes they're, but I am the mind that nothing is every enough, innovation comes through that thought process so.. But for some it is more than enough..
 
Have you exploited all the factory cabs yet? You can blend 2 different cabs in many ways and one or more combinations will sound perfect with this amp/effects preset while a different one will sound awesome with another amp/effects preset. Fully explore what you have first then, move on from there.
 
I only use stock cabs and find them more than enough for playing live. I don't want to be using too many IRs as I don't want my basic tone jumping around much while playing and giving the sound guy a headache as I move from song to song. I mostly stick to one. Having said that, I can see the case for wanting to explore as wide a range of them as you have the time for. I spent quite a time auditioning the factory IRs to get the best match to my amp of choice and the sound in my head. I had a few that were 'good' but was just chasing that last 5%.

This brings us to the next problem: the law of diminishing returns. There are hundreds of IRs you could audition and hours you could spend down that rabbit hole and how significant would the gains be? Let's face it, the difference between a large number of them are subtle enough to be lost in a busy mix and definitely subtle enough to be lost if 99.9 percent of an audience. For these purposes I've found the factory options more than adequate to cover the options.

If you're a 'golden ears' producer, working on the next multi-platinum album with a band whose music is subtle enough that it matters, I'd imagine you'd like to geek out at this. For the enthusiast who enjoys the nerdy element of sitting at home tweaking away (and I know I do to some extent) this is its own reward and I'm not knocking it at all. In my mind it's like the rest of the myriad fiddling options given to us by this box: just because you can doesn't mean you must. After all, how many of us buy a real cab and then get all angsty about needing lots of different speakers for it and worry about not having enough mics for it? You get a cab you like and make it work with everything else.

So, if you enjoy tweaking and have the time for it: go for it. If you just want to get on with playing the damn guitar, what's in the box will suffice.
 
I've spent a pretty big chunk of money on almost every cab pak available , and find myself using factory cabs with the exception of one or two, so yes they are enough ! Spending the time necessary you can hone the aftermarket IR's into specific needs though. My issue has been time ! I found my playing suffering because of all the time I spent on tweaking left no time for practice! (It's a big rabbit hole and if you get caught up in it (with no practice time, very frustrating)you will lose more than you gain! I will revisit custom mixes soon,but for now, mo practice for me! the factory Ir's sound good !
 
Yes, they are all you need. That being said i've purchased my share of packs. It's an inexpensive way to support Fractal and others who are furthering the technology that allows me to find & create great tones.
 
If Fractal was selling "new amp sims" would you buy them? There are literally unlimited ways to mic a cabinet and FAS is saturating the importance of IRs more than anything ever has. Therefore IRs and mic-ups are literally getting more attention now than ever before.

Your IR choice is the most important part of your signal chain. If you take that Groove3 mix lesson of how I build my professional mixes you'll see that after choosing the right IR there is no need for post processing.
 
jakbur said:
Have you exploited all the factory cabs yet? You can blend 2 different cabs in many ways and one or more combinations will sound perfect with this amp/effects preset while a different one will sound awesome with another amp/effects preset. Fully explore what you have first then, move on from there.
Click to expand...

Blending in the ax costs in terms of cpu. Isn't it true that blending with the cab edit program saves on cpu as apposed to using two cabs in axe?
 
RDH said:
My issue has been time ! I found my playing suffering because of all the time I spent on tweaking left no time for practice! (It's a big rabbit hole and if you get caught up in it (with no practice time, very frustrating)you will lose more than you gain!
Click to expand...

My thoughts exactly. You can spend many hours, even days, exploring settings in the Axe Fx alone. Add to that, endless combinations of IR's, and it can become daunting. Great, if you have the time, but I simply do not.
 
ML SOUND LAB said:
If Fractal was selling "new amp sims" would you buy them? There are literally unlimited ways to mic a cabinet and FAS is saturating the importance of IRs more than anything ever has. Therefore IRs and mic-ups are literally getting more attention now than ever before.

Your IR choice is the most important part of your signal chain. If you take that Groove3 mix lesson of how I build my professional mixes you'll see that after choosing the right IR there is no need for post processing.
Click to expand...



Well said Clark. I have one of your IRs that seems to be one of my favorites called "Clark Kent's gift to mankind". So I might have answered my own question but thanks to all for your wisdom. I would say that too many options can get in the way of creating music for me anyway. On the other hand using FRFR has made tweeting a must because of my desire for the "in the room" feel. I have found that there is a necessity for some tweaking to get that feel from the IRs. My particular favorite is rolling the highs and lows off via the high pass and low pass filters in cab block. I'm particularly interested in the idea of how some have said that blending mic and cabs with the IR edit software has produced more of the "amp in the room" feel.

After hearing all of the evidence I think I'm going to start with Cab edit first and then add some custom IRs.
 
For me, they are not enough. When developing a potential new patch, I'll use a stock cab first. However, when re-amping in my DAW, I use third-party impulse responses exclusively. I load the impulses using a plugin IR loader. This gives me greater flexibility and more tonal options to fit the mix better.
 
I've purchased several cab packs here and from other like Ownhammer. Truth is ,I use the included ones 85% of the time, so is it worth the time, money and energy? Generally no, based on my 15% utilization. Of course the lure is the NEXT one will be THE ONE where utilization will increase, but it doesn't for me.

An IR is an EQ filter, you can accomplish the same end result with the tools within the Axe if you put in the effort. Is it less effort to play with your EQs and cuts or trying out 500 IRs?
 
I too keep thinking ir is basically eq. We hear bass treble and in between. I've begged for some sort of ir modeler in the axe. You choose a very flat full range spectrum and adjust some sort of ir equalizer to taste


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
maxolla said:
Blending in the ax costs in terms of cpu. Isn't it true that blending with the cab edit program saves on cpu as apposed to using two cabs in axe?
Click to expand...
Yes but, on the CPU strained patches I find cutting one of the 2 cabs resolution down solves the problem unless you are in the studio and need UR! I do use CL3 and buy IRs but find that setting different cab block parameters on two cab blocks yields sound not possible otherwise!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom