Cab-Lab 3 Review

shasha

shasha

Fractal Fanatic
So I've been using Cab Lab since the first day that it was released several years ago (doesn't feel like it) so I'm not new to mixing IR's. I've used MixIR2 and AoM and anything else you can imagine. I also used IR-Lab which was kind of a real time IR mixer although it used a raw amp file to playback for tweaking and I loved it; my point however is that I'm kind of accustom to the work flow that Live mode should offer and was looking forward to it. Honestly IR-Lab was probably the best experience because you could set up libraries and sort them, but as more IR packs were released it just got to be too much and when UltraRes was developed it became useless. The old version of CabLab did work very well though so I expected this to be more of the same.

Installation
Went off without a single hitch. I did have to update my iLok manager software and get my user ID and password sent to me because I never needed them after I installed and activated some previous plugins, but that was painless. I've been hearing about some issues with the iLok server, but I didn't experience it. I've logged in several times since then just to try to help others out and I've connected every time. Now the activation code took about 3-4 hours to arrive, but it does clearly state that it can take up to 24 hours and considering that this was the first day that it was released and I bought it late on Friday that's pretty damn good. It didn't feel pretty damn good when I was waiting for it though. :)

Configuration
This was not the best out of the box experience, but most of that can be chalked up to not having a full manual and not really knowing what to expect.

Now it worked exactly like the previous version in that you can send a mix to a scratchpad and test it out. However without a manual it did take some messing around with and question asking here on the forum; especially for Live mode. Let me say this right now....Live mode sucks....until you get it set up right....(more on how good it is later). So without going into a 50 page story about what my problems were and how I solved it I'll cut to the skinny and give you what my tips are:

  • You have to connect from the menu each time you open the app (the dropdown menu that says "Connect" on it is a big hint)
  • Go to Settings->Audio Settings and select ASIO in Audio Device Type
  • In the Device dropdown menu select FAS USB Audio ASIO Driver
  • Go to Show Advanced Settings->Control Panel which opens the FAS Control panel and change the USB Stream Mode to Low Latency and the Buffer size to 128 (this may be too low for some systems, but it eliminates almost 100% of the latency that the default of Safe and 2048 will give you)
  • Close the control panel applet and hit Reset Device and close that window
  • Hit Live mode

Now those tips should get you up and running in Live mode with low latency, but there are a few idiosyncrasies remaining; some of which Cliff is going to have his guys look into next week.

  • You have to manually bypass the cab in the preset you are using to dial in the IR. Now this is supposed to be done automatically, but it is not working for several of us.
  • The levels are lower than the cab block which to me affected my ability to dial it in. My quick workaround was to add about 3-6dB to the output mixer block. This may be just me. Be sure to set it back or you will crap your pants.
  • If you plan on using the processing delay stuff it is a pop out menu and IR's 2 and 3 will go over the graph. Not an issue if you tweak with your ears and not your eyes.
  • Make sure that in the AxeFXII I/O->Audio Menu that you have USB/DIGI OUT SOURCE set to OUTPUT 1 (probably only an issue if you use the digital output for dry via SPDIF or AES)

Now after doing all of that stuff which looking back on it seems pretty obvious; it apparently was not because it took me the better part of a day to get everything up and running.

Usage
Having a couple of years of experience mixing IR's under my belt I can't really speak to how it would be as a new user, but the layout and operation are super intuitive and more importantly everything that I've tried so far works flawlessly. I love the EZ Setup (you can configure the patch for scratchpads in a neat little menu), but with Live mode working it's probably not going to be used. The only thing that I think that it's possibly lacking is a cab browser for viewing what is already installed on the AxeFXII. I can however use AxeEdit simultaneously. Now I'm not doing anything stupid and over the top like trying to do a million things at a million miles per hour on both, but they've been up and running for hours now without a hiccup. Knock on wood.

Impressions
OK, so if I had started out with a clue as to how great Live mode was actually going to work I probably would have worked at getting it set up correctly a lot faster than I actually did. I spent more time using it than setting it up during the honey moon phase. And I'm not belly aching because it was worth the time I spent getting "acquainted" with it. It's so frickin' badass. So far it's living up to the hype around it and far exceeded what I had set as a level of realistic expectations. I mean nothing against anyone, but I know that Cliff is not a software guy so this was up to someone that probably isn't named Cliff....granted AxeEdit has been pretty damn good since the big rewrite, but unless Cliff has his hands all over it there are some reservations on my part.

Kudos to the guys who put this together. Seriously I'm impressed. I can't think of a better way to burn a weekend. :encouragement:
 
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May I add a few words about Cab-Lab as a plugin.
First of all it's the best IR convolution plugin I tried (and i tried them all)
It's very handy to craft your IR mixes using it. In this way you concentrate on sound only, and you don't hear the sound of strings. My workflow is to have IR folders opened beside plugin instance to quickly drag and drop different files.
Then you can save this session and use it in Standalone Live mode.

Things got much easier and faster!!!
 
Detch said:
May I add a few words about Cab-Lab as a plugin.
First of all it's the best IR convolution plugin I tried (and i tried them all)
It's very handy to craft your IR mixes using it. In this way you concentrate on sound only, and you don't hear the sound of strings. My workflow is to have IR folders opened beside plugin instance to quickly drag and drop different files.
Then you can save this session and use it in Standalone Live mode.

Things got much easier and faster!!!
Click to expand...
Yeah, that's a lot like IR-Lab was although it wasn't a plugin, but a standalone app. At the time I was convinced that having something like live mode would be the absolute best way to do it (and I really, really do like it), but to be honest doing it offline like you are doing is actually a great way to do it. I got used to it pretty quickly. But right now live mode in CabLab is just too damn cool.

Now we can just do it either way. ;)
 
are ya'll noticing the ir's sounding beefier in live mode in stand alone cab lap then when it is saved to user and inserted in a mono ultra res cab. I have played with volumes bypassed the cab in the patch, etc but no mater what I have tried the mixed ir doesn't sound as good when it is actually placed in the patch. I assume I am not setting something correctly!
 
paranoid said:
are ya'll noticing the ir's sounding beefier in live mode in stand alone cab lap then when it is saved to user and inserted in a mono ultra res cab. I have played with volumes bypassed the cab in the patch, etc but no mater what I have tried the mixed ir doesn't sound as good when it is actually placed in the patch. I assume I am not setting something correctly!
Click to expand...
It could be some of the settings in the cab block because I actually experienced the opposite. It sounds a bit meatier when it's loaded. Try adding a bit of proximity effect.
 
shasha said:
It could be some of the settings in the cab block because I actually experienced the opposite. It sounds a bit meatier when it's loaded. Try adding a bit of proximity effect.
Click to expand...

I bet you are right!!! forgot about the pre amp an such in the cab is bypassed also! I will give that a try. thanks for the reply. maybe need to use a null cab instead of bypass to correct the volume and simulate any in cab parameters we use as a norm.(when mixing for an already established patch)
 
Hellbat said:
This made me laugh because it's something I would literally get caught doing.
Click to expand...

As in literally get caught forgetting to set it back, or get caught crapping your pants? ...You don't have to answer that, but we'll know your answer if you plead the 5th. ; )
 
Level changes between the plugin and the Cab block also account for many differences. Switch back and forth a few time and adjust them to the same volume. I've found I like to turn the AMP block UP and the CAB block DOWN for best results.
 
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