Rex
Dignified but Approachable
Make both plots at the same vertical scale, and I'll superimpose them.Superimpose both images on top of one another.
Make both plots at the same vertical scale, and I'll superimpose them.Superimpose both images on top of one another.
Successfully? Sure. Accurately? Sort of...
Enough to know that it's wonderfully accurate when a system can be characterized by a single transfer function.How much experience do you have with EQ matching software?
Enough to know that it's wonderfully accurate when a system can be characterized by a single transfer function.
I've had excellent results tone-matching amp rigs. The results were spot-on, to my ears, because there's a single transfer function involved, and the multiple transfer functions presented by the pickups were handled by...the pickups, which were still physically involved.I'm referring to a guitar signal involving all six strings, at times played independently, matched with a high degree of accuracy. If the source tone is in the ballpark of the target, the result can be practically indistinguishable.
I've had excellent results tone-matching amp rigs. The results were spot-on, to my ears, because there's a single transfer function involved, and the multiple transfer functions presented by the pickups were handled by...the pickups, which were still physically involved.
My results with tone-matching pickups themselves have been approximate at best. Useful approximations, to be sure. Even some that were convincing in a live situation. But none that were spot-on.
You do:I'd love to test the theory assuming I had a source of guitar DI recordings with various pickups.
Here are the results of my first test using a Les Paul w/ HB's and an Ibanez V2 series DI sample from the Guitar Vaults collection.
First the original (unaltered) DI's of both:
Next a comparison using the sample of the Les Paul DI after tone matching:
See the next post for samples of the EQ matched DI's processed through Guitar Rig 5.
Nice test with close results. In the tone match, you can still hear the Les Paul's mids come through on the middle strings, and there's a bit more emphasis of the treble timbre on the upper strings (compared to the Ibanez DI), but the results are good enough to be very useful, and about as close as you could hope for given the conflicting tone match requirements of the upper vs. middle strings.
The problem is, which version of the note do you use as a reference? Let’s say you want to find the pickup response for E4. Will you match the response to an open high-E string, or the response to the identical frequency at the 14th fret of the D string, or the response to the identical frequency at the 24th fret of the low-E string, or the response to the identical note played on any of the other three strings? That’s six different frequency responses to one frequency. How do you capture all six responses in one Tone Match?I am missing something. We accept tone-matching as a concept for cabinets, yet not for pickups? I think the # of transfer functions is a red herring in this...
The only difference with tone matching speakers is that you know the nature of the signal before and after the device you're tone matching.
The problem is, which version of the note do you use as a reference? Let’s say you want to find the pickup response for E4. Will you match the response to an open high-E string, or the response to the identical frequency at the 14th fret of the D string, or the response to the identical frequency at the 24th fret of the low-E string, or the response to the identical note played on any of the other three strings? That’s six different frequency responses to one frequency. How do you capture all six responses in one Tone Match?
But in normal use, the Tone Match only has to capture the frequency response of the amp and cab. That's just one transfer function. The six different frequency responses of the pickup are handled by the pickup itself. But if you're trying to tone-match a pickup, you'd have to tone-match all six of those...and two different pickups will have six different differences between those pickups—an impossible task for one Tone Match.The same way it captures the FR of all six strings in a signal that's amplified by an amp / cab in a typical preset.
But in normal use, the Tone Match only has to capture the frequency response of the amp and cab. That's just one transfer function. The six different frequency responses of the pickup are handled by the pickup itself. But if you're trying to tone-match a pickup, you'd have to tone-match all six of those...and two different pickups will have six different differences between those pickups—an impossible task for one Tone Match.