Cab Packs - are they necessary?

Reading through all of the various responses, I can't help but to think that conflicting responses mean that these are great problems to have. In my limited time with the Axe I think the reason I love it the way I do is that the tone I'm going after absolutely can be achieved, and there's a lot of different ways to achieve it.

You've got the right idea.
I 100% agree that the IRs you use WILL make the biggest difference to your tone without digging through adv.params all day long.
...but the catch is that you'll dig through IRs all day long instead, until you find the ones that suit you the most.
I've gone through all the freebies I could find (great stuff already in the box for cleans & crunch tones), then I picked up some of the OwnHammer HGEs and never looked back. For all things high gain, that's the place to look IMHO.
And yes, CabLab is a MUST! It's another can of worms, no doubt, but well worth it, and for the cost of a few packs of strings.
 
It's too hard for me to comment here without sounding like I'm promoting myself. :D Try my free IR's... they are... really good I guess: http://forum.fractalaudio.com/axe-fx-ii-user-cabs-irs/86371-clark-kents-teh-dollar-sound-irs.html

Now if this IR thing is new to you then you need to read this notice: DO NOT JUDGE AN IR BY REPLACING YOUR EXISTING IR. Create a new patch... all your tweaks in the current patch are tweaks for the other IR that you won't be using so those tweaks will end up sounding like crappuccino.
 
Try my free IR's... they are... really good I guess

Indeed they are... for you
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For me..? Not so much...
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Neither one of us is right or wrong
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Absolutely no.

Fractal Audio's "freebies" cover about everything i could imagine to need. TAF Shadows MIX is the perfect match for Recto1, Marshall 4x12 Pre-Rola 25W just shines with every Marshall amp sim and 4x12 Vox Beatle is soooo good for VOX sims.

So i got my High Gain, Crunch and Clean tones covered perfectly without going to the rabbid hole with all the ir's and mics and mixes. I'm happy to say this, 'cause I've been there and i've bought a punch of Ir packs, but in the end... I really didn't "need" them.

It's just too easy to get lost making all the "ir tests" and "mis tests", that you'll find yourself tweaking the AFXII more than enjoing playing with this magic box.

But the best thing is, that we have all the options. This is just my advice. Checkout the freebie Irs, pick your favourites and enjoy playing your guitar.
 
Absolutely no.

Fractal Audio's "freebies" cover about everything i could imagine to need. TAF Shadows MIX is the perfect match for Recto1, Marshall 4x12 Pre-Rola 25W just shines with every Marshall amp sim and 4x12 Vox Beatle is soooo good for VOX sims.

So i got my High Gain, Crunch and Clean tones covered perfectly without going to the rabbid hole with all the ir's and mics and mixes. I'm happy to say this, 'cause I've been there and i've bought a punch of Ir packs, but in the end... I really didn't "need" them.

It's just too easy to get lost making all the "ir tests" and "mis tests", that you'll find yourself tweaking the AFXII more than enjoing playing with this magic box.

But the best thing is, that we have all the options. This is just my advice. Checkout the freebie Irs, pick your favourites and enjoy playing your guitar.

Great sounding recording. If you don't mind me asking, what do you use to get that professional sound to your overall recording? I'm using Reaper and Superior Drummer but struggling to get that polish on my recordings. Any help would be appreciated!!
 
Indeed they are... for you
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For me..? Not so much...
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Neither one of us is right or wrong
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Hmm... that's weird. I dunno what it is for some people's setups but for me I can always get a proper tone with my IR's in just 1 minute. That includes searching for an amp and of course leaving everything on noon because it simply works. Examples of different genres:




I haven't used more than two blocks for ANY OF MY SOUNDCLOUD CLIPS. :)

I would love to challenge you to give them a try and like I said... don't put them in your existing patch but create a new one. All that hard work you've done to your patch has most likely been compensating a bad IR. :)
 
Not arguing with you dude, I can more than fully appreciate the work you do
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All that hard work you've done to your patch has most likely been compensating a bad IR. :)

Back the bus up through... there's no prior work in the patch or compensations taking place. My last preset building session came from a blank sheet and reset blocks only. The process of wading through tons of IRs just brought plenty of, "Meh, that's not working for me". I've already acknowledged how one is often listing to a switched IR in comparison to the previous one and that can throw your references off, so again, I'm mindful of that.

The key thing to note is that I don't ever say that any of the alternatives are 'bad', they're just not floating in my boat in the same way that two or three factory ones do. That may well be due to preconception and a tainted view, but I tried hard to find something even more golden - I mean after all, who doesn't want that - but it just never panned out that way
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Now, all that being said, I haven't shut the door on any more tweaking... and I absolutely will continue to experiment and try other cabs when reworking my presets following the 16.02 update. It's something that's ingrained in me, just as it is in you, there can always be improvement somewhere, right..?
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Great sounding recording. If you don't mind me asking, what do you use to get that professional sound to your overall recording? I'm using Reaper and Superior Drummer but struggling to get that polish on my recordings. Any help would be appreciated!!

Thank you!
I use Reaper and EzDrummer 2 with MetalMachine expansion pack. For guitars, i double track them and hard pan Left and Right. Then i just use reapers EQ to cut some lows and highs. Bass preset has some dirt to make it sit better in the mix with guitars. I also add some compression and EQ to the bass track. Clean Lead guitar is center in the mix and has same kind of EQ, that rhythm guitars. Finally i add Master glue compression in the master track. So, nothing too fancy i guess. I balance the tracks, so they sound good to me.
 
I use the great cabs given to us by Cliff, Clark Kent, and a few others. The new included Fractal Ultra Res cabs are excellent. So being that I am a leach, I vote no :)
 
You asked 2 questions:

"Are they necessary?" Absolutely not. The quality of the best onboard stock cabs is right up there with the best available anywhere.

"Am I missing out on a whole new world of tone awesomeness?" Yes, sort of, but that depends on you. Yes - if you need a huge variety on tap, or if you need a very specific cab sound you just can't find in the stock cabs. Or maybe you just really enjoy exploring all those different shades and nuances of miced cab tones. Nothing wrong with that, but it's not for everyone. You might value simplicity and use all that time and energy to write songs or work on chops instead.

It comes down to how much time you want to spend looking for that last 0.1%. The rabbit hole is real, you can really get lost in there.

Agree almost workd-for -word!
 
Not much more to be said. For me, still haven't found anything to beat the TV mix for Marshall tones....but I also haven't found anything even close to the 1x12 Alnico Silver from an Ownhammer pack. So do you HAVE to get them, no....but there's def gold out there.
 
Big fat NO! Don't do it. If you are happy with your tone then you are happy with your tone. Don't waste your time going down the rabbit hole. Too many options can be paralyzing and it often is. I'm happy with my Axe Fx tones and so are my band. Keep it simple. I use only two amps (FAS Modern and Double Verb) And two factory cabs. If it aint broke don't fix it. Just keep on enjoying your tone and concentrate on writing some awesome tunes. Don't waste your time on diminishing returns that no one is going to ever notice.
 
I find that I don't use most of the IR's in the paks, but the ones I do find are well worth the money IMHO. Use AE Cab manager to go through them pick out your favs and then you have more choices. I"ve thought I was really happy with a cab till I find one thats better. To me Ir's are everything and can change a so-so patch into something amazing. If you can afford more irs why not have them on hand. I find the Fractal cab paks are best for me, 3,4 and 5 and hopefully 6 soon!
 
Ever been to a place that sold technology for such a cheap price? Ask this to any 25 year old these days and the bored looks and answer to us old farts will always be a yes, i Have. However those of us over 45 just kinda stand back with our mouths open in awe at the things we can play with now. One of these things are cab packs. They are wonderful and "cheap". And for me, they beat playing with little green army men all to hell... And yea you would need to be over 45 to understand the humor there... Sorry but, thats the way it is, as Walter would say.... Yes, thats another one you would need to be older to remember :mrgreen
 
I'm about to drop the dime on my first pack, the Ownhammer Producer Pack. Hope it's worth it! Trying to get closer to a new Fender Blues Deluxe open-back amp I heard recently.

I think a more germane question is: is Cab Lab necessary? Maybe for the tweak-a-holic, or someone who shoots his own IRs, but is it really that useful for those of us who use the IRs that come with the box, and/or the commercially shot ones? This is not a rhetorical question, though it may sound like one. I am really curious.
 
I'm about to drop the dime on my first pack, the Ownhammer Producer Pack. Hope it's worth it! Trying to get closer to a new Fender Blues Deluxe open-back amp I heard recently.

I think a more germane question is: is Cab Lab necessary? Maybe for the tweak-a-holic, or someone who shoots his own IRs, but is it really that useful for those of us who use the IRs that come with the box, and/or the commercially shot ones? This is not a rhetorical question, though it may sound like one. I am really curious.

Have you tried the TAF Fender Room IR included with the FW? It's my first stop for any Fender combos.

Not to say the Ownhammer pack isn't great in it's own right.
 
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