I think I really hate IRs

recently got an axe fxiii, have had fractal products over the years, axe FX, axe 2, ax8 etc. so have had lots of experience using ir’s. Have also had Kemper and helix so pretty comfortable in the digital world,

Anyways, before getting the axe3, I was using a couple of amps into a load using either uad ox or two notes cabs for cab sims at home, and was pretty happy with the tones I was getting. Role on a few weeks ago, got my axe fx3, and...l was a little underwhelmed. Spent time messing with setting, scrolling through irs and after a while relished I was playing less than I was before... on a whim I decided to create the ultimate mess with shit patch, where I could switch between using a real amp, an amp from the axe fx3, and two notes cab in loop. (The io options in the axe FX 3 are awesome!!!!)

So far for me what I realized, I still don’t like ir’s, I like real cabs and I seem to prefer the two notes cab in the loop and using that for cabs rather than using ir’s. I seem to be able to dial the cab in really easy vs the “next” syndrome of auditioning Irs. Two Notes cab Just seems to sound more natural to me. Maybe that’s just because it’s a sound I more used to recently, but would love if in the axe I could pick a cab, the microphones and just dilal it as your would I’m a real room, moving the mics around until you got you your sound.

Two Notes are IRs. If you prefer the sound of their IRs use the IR Capture Utility and capture your favorites. One less box!
 
Two Notes are IRs. If you prefer the sound of their IRs use the IR Capture Utility and capture your favorites. One less box!

I plan on doing exactly that, I’m away on vacation at the moment but will give that a shot when back. Others also mentioned that two notes are irs also, so I guess what I mean is I find it easier to dial them in using the mic placement vs trying to get an normal ir as close as I want and tweak the available options. One less box indeed, but you gave us so many and so flexible io options that hooking up different gear with the axe FX 3 is a breeze.
 
AFAIK, Fractal applies minimum phase transform to the IRs whereas you can get OH IRs "raw" from OH. I'm guessing this might be the difference heard by @APOGEE123.
The use of the raw IR format these days is all thanks to Cliff. He started the debate years ago and after we started offering both MPT and RAW versions of IR's in the Fractal packs everyone else followed. That's how I remember it at least. Cab Pack 7 was my first Cab Pack and it didn't include the raw format but every pack that came after it also has the raw format included.

The reason 99.9999999% of people still use the MPT format is because it has already become the industry standard for time aligning IR's.
 
The use of the raw IR format these days is all thanks to Cliff. He started the debate years ago and after we started offering both MPT and RAW versions of IR's in the Fractal packs everyone else followed. That's how I remember it at least. Cab Pack 7 was my first Cab Pack and it didn't include the raw format but every pack that came after it also has the raw format included.

The reason 99.9999999% of people still use the MPT format is because it has already become the industry standard for time aligning IR's.
I'm guessing that the 2200+ factory IRs included in the Axe-Fx III are MPT format though, isn't it?
 
Searching for the right IR doesn’t have to be an arduous task. I found the best method is to record a loop, and then cycle through the IRs until I find the one that gives me the tone I’m after. This way, you can concentrate on what you’re hearing as opposed to playing, stopping, switching IRs, and repeating ad nauseum.
 
All the Two Notes is doing with the mic positions is changing to a different IR shot with that given mic position as far as I know. Its like if you had cone edge, 1" from cone edge, 2" from cone edge et al., IR's, you could either scroll through them, or you could have a GUI that shows a virtual mic stand, and when you move it to the left, its changing the IR to the one shot an inch further.
 
The redwirez collection is sorted like that. You have different positions and the distance varies in small steps...so you can pick exactly the one you like. Done right!
Unfortunatly these are not the IRs that I prefer the most.

Of some reason later collections from others are not built up like that, they don't contain small variations. Too bad.
 
The redwirez collection is sorted like that. You have different positions and the distance varies in small steps...so you can pick exactly the one you like. Done right!
Unfortunatly these are not the IRs that I prefer the most.

Of some reason later collections from others are not built up like that, they don't contain small variations. Too bad.


Because I think most users overwhelmingly didn’t enjoy having a folder with thousands of slightly different Ir’s. There is an increasingly diminishing return with too small of variation as it just results in “too many” IR’s

Many folks seem to really love things like ML’s alloy folder where he did the work and picked some choice mixes with different mics and blends and gives you a handful of the “best” sounding options

Then it’s pick one of ten that sounds good, jam on. When you have 2000 ir’s you can spend hours going through them all and find you have no time left to play your guitar.

I’ve probably got 100,000 Ir’s on my hard drive. It’s kind of crazy lol, and in reality I use like 5-10

Less can be more
 
Searching for the right IR doesn’t have to be an arduous task. I found the best method is to record a loop, and then cycle through the IRs until I find the one that gives me the tone I’m after. This way, you can concentrate on what you’re hearing as opposed to playing, stopping, switching IRs, and repeating ad nauseum.

Not in my opinion. Each time you switch IRs your ears have to get accustomed to the sound. What may sound scooped or even comb filtered at first, may sound superior after a short while.
 
Because I think most users overwhelmingly didn’t enjoy having a folder with thousands of slightly different Ir’s. There is an increasingly diminishing return with too small of variation as it just results in “too many” IR’s

Yup I can see that, that’s why moving the microphones is, to me, a lot easier to dial in the cab vs scrolling, loading new ir and checking, which takes more time and I find my ears get all messed up and confused about what I’m trying to achieve..
 
Check out the Fractal wiki..... find the amp you want to use, and check the suggested cab. I think when using Fractal, it's very important to examine WHY you like or don't like something. Also, mess with the Low-Cut and Hi-Cut in the cab block, proximity settings, and even the pre-amp can act as an additional EQ, coloring. I think the possibilities are endless, but that's also the problem, it can be overwhelming. I don't use the same IR's for fender sound vs marshall sound, but I definitely have a handful that I also sort back to.
 
I think the problem with a mic position style GUI to load the respective IR’s would be that you’d need a specific number of IR’s per mic type and position, so when you move the mic 4” right, there is an appropriate IR which relates to it.

Problem would be if a 3rd party pack doesn’t have the same offerings, or how existing ones would work etc.

If FAS had a closed system where there was a fixed number of mics and positions it would work well and that it what Amplitube does with their GUI and some other software emulators, but you can’t add your own with those
 
If FAS had a closed system where there was a fixed number of mics and positions it would work well and that it what Amplitube does with their GUI and some other software emulators, but you can’t add your own with those

The systems could support both like the two notes stuff.

When I’m back from vacation I’m going to try a few things. From some of the comments in this thread I think maybe it’s not so much irs I don’t like but the way the two notes allows you to dial in using mics it’s kinda like dialing in the room. As I’m in a small room and playing position is quit close to my studio monitors it could be that I’m compensating for that...
 
Not in my opinion. Each time you switch IRs your ears have to get accustomed to the sound. What may sound scooped or even comb filtered at first, may sound superior after a short while.
How do you then go about searching for the right IR?
 
How do you then go about searching for the right IR?

Well, I stick to a single IR. :)

But when searching, I find that playing works better than looping. Hitting the strings after selecting an IR allows my ears to reset because of the natural break.
 
From some of the comments in this thread I think maybe it’s not so much irs I don’t like but the way the two notes allows you to dial in using mics it’s kinda like dialing in the room. As I’m in a small room and playing position is quit close to my studio monitors it could be that I’m compensating for that...
How do you like to dial in stuff on Two Notes WoS? Do you place the mics fairly far from the cab? How many mics? Any EQ, comp, reverb, etc. you use as well? There's more to Two Notes than just IRs for a "dialing in the room" sorta sound.

And there's a lot you can do in the Axe-Fx too for a "dialing in the room" sound, other than just flip through IRs. You can mess with Room & Mic Spacing settings in the Cab block's Advanced page. If you're using multiple IRs, you can adjust Mic Distance parameter to give it a sense of space. Some find the Smoothing parameter to help. There's the Preamp page with its EQ, comp/distortion, etc. And you can always use another block entirely like the Reverb block to add a room in.

Two Notes uses IRs just the same as the Axe-Fx. But if you're utilizing Two Notes for more than just its IR capability (by placing the mic far from cab, putting EQ, comp, reverb, etc.), you probably need to do more stuff on the Axe-Fx too than just IRs. And there's options available just the same if not more.
 
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I'm guessing that the 2200+ factory IRs included in the Axe-Fx III are MPT format though, isn't it?
Yes that's true. Personally I hear the difference more when I start mixing IR's in post. Mixing two MPT'd IR's vs raw IR's sounds very different. I mean VERY different. Sometimes it can be good but generally I would say that you get a weird sizzle or "airy" sound when mixing MPT'd IR's while raw IR's sound smooth and creamy just like in real life. My packs actually have the Alloy IR's which are real IR mixes anyways so there's none of that MPT artifact in the sound of the mixes even if you're using the MPT format.
 
Not in my opinion. Each time you switch IRs your ears have to get accustomed to the sound. What may sound scooped or even comb filtered at first, may sound superior after a short while.
This is correct BUT... you can do it with a "neutralizer" sort of like coffee beans at the perfume section. This could be "your favorite guitar sound" that you've loved for years. Also another cool way to do this is to listen to a bunch of music that you like the mix of and then play on top of that and find an IR that "sits". In my experience this leads to not concentrating on small details but the overall sound and that makes things a lot easier. :)
 
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