Cab block -- why 20K hi-cut?

HerrSquid

Inspired
I plugged into my Budda Superdrive II today for the first time in a while. Great amp when it's not acting up.. :numbness:

Playing the Budda dirty, and listening to a comparable-ish Axe-II patch running in my usual FRFR setup, there was a lot of crispy top end from the Axe.

I could knock that excess crispiness right out by adjusting the hi-cut frequency in the cab block to somewhere around 7-8KHz, and it sounded a lot more like the real guitar amp.

I'm pretty sure a cab loaded with 12" guitar speakers doesn't pass any frequencies near 20 KHz. So why does the amp block default to a 20 KHz high cut?
 
I plugged into my Budda Superdrive II today for the first time in a while. Great amp when it's not acting up.. :numbness:

Playing the Budda dirty, and listening to a comparable-ish Axe-II patch running in my usual FRFR setup, there was a lot of crispy top end from the Axe.

I could knock that excess crispiness right out by adjusting the hi-cut frequency in the cab block to somewhere around 7-8KHz, and it sounded a lot more like the real guitar amp.

I'm pretty sure a cab loaded with 12" guitar speakers doesn't pass any frequencies near 20 KHz. So why does the amp block default to a 20 KHz high cut?

Basically 20khz is the same as NO high cut because you can't hear frequencies that high.

By the way, I'm also a SuperDrive II convert... Primarily using the Buttery model to match the clean of the SD II.
 
If you put your ear right up to the speaker of the real amp (like a mic would be), do you hear all those highs? Normally, the sound engineer EQs those out.

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It is the IRs job to get the frequency response right. If it is too bright you might want to try different IRs.

The high/low cut parameters are for additional tweaking. Like, if you would be in a studio with a real cab you might apply high or low cut at the mixing desk.
 
I plugged into my Budda Superdrive II today for the first time in a while. Great amp when it's not acting up.. :numbness:

Playing the Budda dirty, and listening to a comparable-ish Axe-II patch running in my usual FRFR setup, there was a lot of crispy top end from the Axe.

I could knock that excess crispiness right out by adjusting the hi-cut frequency in the cab block to somewhere around 7-8KHz, and it sounded a lot more like the real guitar amp.

I'm pretty sure a cab loaded with 12" guitar speakers doesn't pass any frequencies near 20 KHz. So why does the amp block default to a 20 KHz high cut?

Apples-to-oranges. You FRFR setup is using close-mic'd IRs. They typically have a lot more high frequencies than what you hear at a distance and off-axis from the speaker.
 
First thing I go for is cutting that down sometimes as low as 5k, it makes the most difference when you are loud, it gets rid of that spikey high end.
 
I used to cut that low too but with the new OH Ultra Res IRs and using the live modern cab I don't cut anymore. I "set it and forget it."
 
Yep, I understood that the hi/low cuts in the cab block were basically "off" at the defaults. I was curious what the reasoning was for those defaults.

The comments made me realize I was off axis with the guitar cab the whole time, and the FRFRs are aimed at my ears. Just the way the room is arranged.

I'll go repeat the experiment and stick my head in front of the guitar speaker and see what it's like!
 
I can only guess that by defaulting to "off" you get to hear the IR and your tone stack adjustments unaltered?

Would be strange to have some arbitrary band limited filter setup by default?
 
The high cut defaults at 20kHz so that the frequency response of the IR being used is unmodified. If the tone is to "crisp", then the IR is the culprit, not the fact that the high cut is at 20kHz. If the highs are there, it's because the speaker was reproducing them when the IR was shot. Don't assume that you shouldn't have to turn any knob from its default value. That's why the knobs exist.
 
I'm used to using combos (before the axe anyway), so unless I lie on the floor I never really got a good representation of what a mic hears. :)
 
Bought a used Mark II about a month ago which I play only through headphones and thought there was something wrong with it because every preset sounded like fingernails on a chalkboard until I discovered I had to turn this parameter WAY down.
 
A guitar cab usually doesn't go above 6-7,5kHz, so if you want to emulate a "real" cab, a high cut makes a lot of sense. Usually i always cut around 6(,66) khz in the studio...
 
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