How do you use Cab IRs without a loadbox for amp recording?

So before buying Cab IRs first I wanted to try some free EHV IRs. I don't have a DI that can be plugged between the power amp and the speaker but then I realized as mine is a hybrid setting and the solid state power amp does not overdrive at all (lots of clean headroom with 180 watts mono) I decided to just skip it and plug my AMT SS-20 output (FX Send of a real amp should work) directly into my Focusrite 2i2. So my track is the preamp signal into the EVH Cab IR and I have to say I like it way better than the sound of the Cab Sim output of the SS-20.

Then I decided I wanted to do another comparison and mic my own cab with Celestion 7080 to see how "real" this recorded sound is compared to mic'ing the amp as everyone else does, I used my AKG P220 for this. Again, as my current tone comes mainly from the preamp I don't really need to crank the power amp section to get the tone I like at the room into a signal level usable by the condenser mic. I was surprised to hear the mic amp recorded sound does have the same feel, not the same tone but the feel is the same, I guess it has something to do with how guitar speakers attenuate the higher frequencies. Actually the preamp into Cab IR sounds better to me, I guess my room acoustic and my actual speaker have a lot to do.

So my conclusion was that for my particular rig and recording interface I don't need a load box or a DI box in order to make a silent recording at night and use Cab IRs because I don't get any overdrive/distortion from power amp section. For people using cranked power tubes, I guess they really need some kind of DI to get that power amp signal properly into a recording interface line level or something.

I am not saying this is THE way to do it for everyone, I am not even sure if this may work with different amps or recording interfaces but it seems to work for me and now I feel more confident of investing some money into buying professionally recorded Cab IRs like the RedWirez for example.

Please let me know your comments. Are you taking a different approach to the same concept?
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What style of music are you playing? I've tried running various preamps (ADA MP-1, Peavey Rockmaster, Soldano SLO clone) through an IR and the results are pleasant for clean sounds but rather dull and lifeless (compared to loading down the same preamp through a power amp and load box).

If you like the results you're getting though, roll with it!
 
What style of music are you playing? I've tried running various preamps (ADA MP-1, Peavey Rockmaster, Soldano SLO clone) through an IR and the results are pleasant for clean sounds but rather dull and lifeless (compared to loading down the same preamp through a power amp and load box).

If you like the results you're getting though, roll with it!
Use the tube pre as amp model and adjust speaker resonance and top shelf in the Axe amp speajer taband a pre will work fine.
 
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