Cab Pack Bundle Worth It?

Tundrastruck

Tundrastruck

Member
Just curious...

Looking at trying some Cab Packs and wondering should I purchase the CAB Bundle for AX8 or go with a couple OwnHammer Packs.

Any thoughts or suggestions based on experience?
 
I agree with post #2, definitely a rabbit hole.....................I went down that hole. Bought many packs. I use about 3 irs from all of them - period. But thats me. I mean OH, ML and others have cabs in the factory presets.
 
Rabbit Hole sounds like an understatement. More like a Vortex of endless doom! LOL Just watched a video on Own Hammers California Duo series IR's over 7600+ IR's WTF.....? Is every pack like that? How the hell do you find what you want? LOL Really curious now, but hesitant with all the IR's included. Every possible combination there.
 
Tundrastruck said:
Rabbit Hole sounds like an understatement. More like a Vortex of endless doom! LOL Just watched a video on Own Hammers California Duo series IR's over 7600+ IR's WTF.....? Is every pack like that? How the hell do you find what you want? LOL Really curious now, but hesitant with all the IR's included. Every possible combination there.
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Perhaps keep an eye on the development of the Player Packs from OwnHammer. Fewer IRs in these (less option paralysis!), lower cost, and people have been raving about them so far (The Marshall and Recto ones came out recently).
 
I have the California Duo and it covers my needs and then some. Great speakers and mics to choose from, $30 well spent for me.

As far as finding what you want, I've spent enough time with mic positions on cabs to know the core sound I like so once I found this in the IR's, it's the first one I try with any mic or speaker. Also, after listening to all of the mic positions, I know which direction to go if I'm needing a bit more or less of something.

They do include a few mixes with each speaker/mic combination that makes it easy and eliminates a lot of searching.
 
Tundrastruck said:
Every possible combination there
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That's what I like about using Cab Lab with the Duo pack. It gives you the ability to mix the speaker and mic position combinations you want. Yes, it can be a never ending rabbit hole, but when you get a mix that does it for you it's so worth it.

EDIT: Keep in mind that there are IR's included in the Cal Duo such as back of cabinet and room mics that enhance the close mic options when using an IR mixer like Cab Lab.
 
Tundrastruck said:
Just curious...

Looking at trying some Cab Packs and wondering should I purchase the CAB Bundle for AX8 or go with a couple OwnHammer Packs.

Any thoughts or suggestions based on experience?
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Totally worth it, if your using the right gear. e.g. If you're using a "real amp combo" or "real cabinet", it's not going to do anything for you. With that application you would be turning the cabinet simulator off.

IR cab packs are great when paired with DI recording or FRFR cabinets.

I switched to FRFR cabinets. Totally worth it. If you're going to go for it... go all the way and make the investment.

Word of caution, buy high end gear, it makes a difference. Not all FRFR cabinets sound the same.
 
Sharka said:
Totally worth it, if your using the right gear. e.g. If you're using a "real amp combo" or "real cabinet", it's not going to do anything for you. With that application you would be turning the cabinet simulator off.

IR cab packs are great when paired with DI recording or FRFR cabinets.

I switched to FRFR cabinets. Totally worth it. If you're going to go for it... go all the way and make the investment.

Word of caution, buy high end gear, it makes a difference. Not all FRFR cabinets sound the same.
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I'm using two QSC K10's... and I don't know much about this stuff. But man... it's pretty sweet right out of the box. Imported a couple IR's in to the AX8 and tossed together a couple patches. The amps and Cabs on their own are almost good enough. Haven't had a chance to run anything through Cab Lab yet, but so farI have a full plate and a lot to keep me tinkering. This stuff is awesome!!
 
I've spent a couple hundred dollars on speaker impulses. It's a big improvement over factory cabs in terms of flexibility but it can be confusing.

If I were to recommended just one it would be the ML Bulb Zilla pack. There are several different speakers captured and some options but not overwhelming. Can do everything.

Otherwise what style of music do you play? I like Ownhammer stuff but it depends on what you are after. The Marshall checkerboard and the Mesa Recto cabs are great but more for medium to higher gain.
 
I'm personally into Rock, Country, Blues... Andy Timmons, Satriani, Vai, SRV tones. Nothing too heavy like Metal or Djent though after watch Rabea Massad play he's peaked my interest in that genre. personally I don't think I have the technical ability to pull it off. Other than that I like to keep it simple, but love to play with effects.
 
Also with the Ownhammer stuff there is a quick start folder that has their picks for favorite microphones and mixes so it's not quite as overwhelming. With the big packs there are sometimes multiple speaker combinations which you can ignore.
 
Jarick said:
Also with the Ownhammer stuff there is a quick start folder that has their picks for favorite microphones and mixes so it's not quite as overwhelming. With the big packs there are sometimes multiple speaker combinations which you can ignore.
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Yeah, luckily I checked the video before trying to figure it out how to get the iR's into the AX8. I used the quick start folder, easie peasie. I'll try the others at a later time, but right now I'm stoked with the selection there is now.
 
I'm no professional, but I think factory cabs are great for everything. I didn't feel the need to buy new cab packs at all. Also the latest Celestion pack comes with the v8.02 beta is very very good too.
 
Cato said:
I'm no professional, but I think factory cabs are great for everything. I didn't feel the need to buy new cab packs at all. Also the latest Celestion pack comes with the v8.02 beta is very very good too.
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I don't think anyone who buys a cab pack necessarily feels the factory cabs aren't any good. Quite the opposite for me, the factory cabs gave me a solid point of reference of which speakers I preferred with each amp I was using. If the factory cabs give you exactly what you need, by all means save your money and use them. Cab packs are a great option if you are used to a different sound/tone coming from the mic.

Ultimately, for me, the deciding factor for looking at cab packs was the different mic placement options rather than one mix or instance of a particular speaker, cab and mic. With my 'real' cabs I spent a lot of time experimenting and figuring out the best mic placement to get the tone I was looking for. The cab pack allows me to do virtually the same thing with all of the IR's they shoot with each mic. The cab pack I eventually chose has all of the mics I am familiar with (plus a few more) and the speakers I found myself using the most.
 
I'm saying this with the caveat that I do use a couple Ownhammer IRs...unless you're absolutely convinced you need a specific speaker/mic/cab option which isn't represented in the included IRs, I'd save your money. If you are a studio musician, producer, or engineer perhaps it would be worth your while to have a large collection just in case. My main presets all use factory cabs.
 
I don't think it's so much about wanting a "specific" combination of microphones, speakers, and placement as it is getting a variety of tones.

Different microphones, mixes of microphones, and microphone placement all change the tone of a particular cabinet and speaker very drastically. SM57's for instance are kind of bright with a lot of midrange while R121's are darker and smoother but have much more low end. Mixing those mics can get the "best of both worlds" (or if done improperly can sound really bad). And if a mic is closer to the center of the speaker, it will be much brighter while moving towards the edge it will be much darker.

Factory cabs have one (sometimes two) selections for a given tone for a particular guitar cabinet and speaker. If that combination is what you are looking for, perfect! And there are sometimes multiple brands which gives different options for that cabinet and speaker. So there is a wide variety in the factory cabs.

But with a cabinet pack, you get a lot more tonal options for a particular cabinet and speaker (sometimes a few speakers). Typically, you'll get several different microphones, microphone mixes, and mic placement for each microphone. So you can really hone in on the sound you are looking for.

There are a lot of options in those packs. I checked and my ML Bulb Zilla has over 300 impulses and my Ownhammer 4x12 Checkerboard (from their website) has over 600. But both have included folders with their favorite impulses for each microphone and their favorite mixes to simplify things.

I have an interesting thread in the cab section about IR's and a lot of people say they find one IR (or a combination in stereo) to play with ALL their amps. Michael Britt apparently shoots all his profiles through the same speaker and cabinet. I think that makes a lot of sense from a live standpoint.

Personally, I'd rather have a single good cabinet pack over the factory options. If I'm going to settle in with one or a few IR's, I want an IR with a wide range of fidelity that doesn't have so much character that it only sounds good with one amp. So my favorite combos are, for ML the Zilla V30 Mix and Zilla Greenback M Mix (from the Bulb Zilla pack), and for Ownhammer the Marshall Greenback M75 OH1F mix and the Mesa Recto V30 OH1F mix (from the Core Tone bundle). That mix of a Greenback and V30 is really versatile, and you have IMO a smoother sound with more high end (if you need it) than stock cabs.
 
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