Hi, long time no see.
It's been years I didn't put my hand on an Axe-FX but I followed Cliff's evolution with great assiduity and interest. Now Cliff has reached a point where I can't hear the axe as an amp simulator anymore.. It's just the real deal with different types of circuitry and hardware. What an amazing journey, really!
Yet when it comes to the cab simulation, we are still stuck with the old 3rd party IR model. Not that IRs can't do a great job, but I expected at some point that we would get some IR generators with algorithms allowing to make an IR from nothing, just based on what we want it to sound like. And free ourselves from those painful banks of IRs which makes everyone sounds like they recorded in the same few studios with the same few cabs.
So I wonder, are you guys satisfied with the current 3rd party IR thing? What do you think is the future of cabinet simulation?
A few answers going in and out of the lines......brevity isn't a strong point of mine...
Me personally, between my own IR's and the ones made for us, I have no issues with them, am completely happy and if I do have issues, I just mic my favorite cab up and record or play live that way. Though I can see the interest with the whole modeling thing as well as with amps.....I think the user base WAY over-thinks things and relies strictly on comparisons that shouldn't be compared.
For example, though an Acura NSX is a killer car, it's NOT and never will be a Ferrari. If I want the Ferrari, I have to buy it. I also have to drive the NSX differently than I would a Ferrari because again, it's NOT a Ferrari. Now when we talk about cabs, amps and modeling.....we have been given "the flavors" of these cabs and amps. You have to use them for what they are, not what we wish they were. If you want something specific, I think it can be dialed in with Fractal products....but if you want a real cab or amp, that's where you have to be.
Another case in point...when I create custom presets for people, they send me a list of all the gear the artist they want me to cop used. None of that to me is helpful because the amps and cabs we have will always behave differently. I had a guy send me all this info for a Satch sound. None of the stuff he shared worked when I created the preset. When he heard the sound I created, he couldn't believe I used what I used. In the modeling world, you use what works....don't even look at the names. You can't look at it with a strictly "modelling" frame of mind, and I think way too many are stressing themselves out thinking that way. Even with cabs.
Anyway....sorry, a little of track there, but still in the essence of.....
Another problem is we are presented with too many choices. Remember when you saved up your money for one amp and one cab that you loved? You, me and everyone else survived and came up with killer tones. Now because we have so many choices, we have statements like "free ourselves from those painful banks of IR's" LOL!!!! I'm not knocking you brother speed, I'm just trying to make an obvious point.
To me in this incredible world of technology, less is sometimes more.
I don't say that from a lazy perspective, but from a teacher, artist, musician, engineer.....the more I have to read and understand while taking time to learn a bunch of new techniques or go through banks of stuff, the less I get done. It's nice to have all these options, but in a real world situation for the professional, it can be a hindrance if you allow it to be.
For the studio guy, the choices are important. But even there...how much can you charge a client as he goes through 300 IR's trying to create a tone? It's hard enough to run a studio when people can go out and buy DAW software. You have to keep things affordable. This is why you hear what sounds like the same cabs recorded at the same studio. If something works....heck, you have to stick with it. Look at EZDrummer...one of the most familiar drum sounds in the amateur industry. It just worked.....and everyone had good drum sounds out of the box.
Options that have options that have options, though groundbreaking, can definitely pull you out of your groove. My sanity check is I choose a few IR's of my own that I like, a few stock or bought IR's and I call it a day. My IR's actually work in my cabs live, so I've been able to kill two birds with one stone there. Choices are great....choices taking over our lives because there are so many.....eh, to me that is and always will be counter-productive. Case in point....how many have spent more time tweaking and experimenting with their Axe Fx over actual playing and getting work done? I'd be willing to bet more than will admit to it.
Choices can help you win, or beat the balls off of you. LOL!