Cab packs methodology

S

Sieve

New Member
So, I've bought a couple of cab packs, like most of you good people, and I was just wondering how some of you manage all the options that come with them ; some packs have huge amounts of mic iterations.

I've picked some cabs that I like, but to be honest, I feel like my choices were guided by chance more than rigor.

In other words, how would one overcome the option paralysis that comes with any given pack?

Do you scroll through every cab and pick the ones that you fancy? Or is it more of a mixing situation, where you reamp and go through the micings to see what fits the mix?
 
Most packs come with some sort of a Quick-Start (Ownhammer) or Ace (ML Audio) folder that contains the producer's picks of the most ideal IR's for most people. Start there and figure out which mics or combinations that you like. If you're like me, you'll discover what you DON'T like first and then you can zero in on what you do. You may discover that you hate the SM57 mic for example. If so, you can leave all those IR's behind to focus on the others. Just don't get into the mindset that you need to make use of all or most of the IR's in the pack. Go into it knowing that you will probably never have a use for 99% of the IR's in the pack.
 
I share the original poster's concern. I bought some cab packs in the past, and frankly I think it was a step backwards because of option paralysis.

Here's how it played out: I would take one of my favorite presets, and would change the selected cab to one of the gazillion IRs in the new pack. Then, when playing a little, I would experience one of two things: either (a) relief at the sudden removal of some unpleasant characteristics of the previously selected cab, or (b) revulsion at the sudden appearance of some unpleasant characteristics. These include boxy, nasal, muffled, and everything else under the sun.

In the end, I would either pick the least offensive option, or go back to the stock cab I had started with in the first place.

I attribute this to the ear's tendency to react strongly to change (from one IR to another). I think in my case I would have to walk away and "reset" my hearing between each cab trial. This means I would spend a lifetime finding one IR for one preset!

In short, I haven't found any way to make my IR purchases worthwhile.
 
What I do:

  1. I give you 6 to 8 hypereal mixes that have a PZM tastefully mixed into different mic/cab IR mixes as a starting point.
  2. If you don't jive with that feel, I give you 6 to 8 IR mixes that I call choice mixes.
  3. Lastly, I give you a list of personal single mic/position IR favorites, if you like single mic IR files, or to "roll your own" mixes as a starting point for such endeavors.

I do this to avoid option paralysis.

When there is a tweeter, I give options with and without tweeter options whenever the cab allows me to do so. That's because there are as many people that seem to love a tweeter as not love a tweeter and I can't alienate one group over the other.
 
I always start with the producer's choices myself and I usually stick with those but that's exactly where my "concerns" start. Sorting through the other iterations by what I like in the producer's mixes is very good advice, though I always feared that by doing so I'd miss out on that one cab that is the exception to the rule.

I guess having too many choices is one of those good problems to have.
 
I have more than "option paralysis": I have IR VERTIGO!
69,000 IR's... and growing
I start using the lucky-random method, then I quickly realize that some cabs or mics are nasty and discard them.

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And there is something that will give you even more "option paralysis" than browsing IR's: Cab Lab!
I've had Cab Lab for several years, I made some random mixes on the first days, but since then I only use it for converting WAV IR's to Axe-FX format. It's a crazy infinitude of possibilities, and this life is not so long :-D
 
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