Input: Cab Pack or Ownhammer?

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lokmund

lokmund

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As i have searched through the onboard IRs many times now I find myself questioning if I am really content with the sounds I'm getting. For the most part I am, but I always feel like the cabs I tend to use lack something in some way. Can't explain it.

So after looking for expansions for my User IR section (and finding out Cab Lab 3 Lite exists!) I'm now considering these options:

CP13 or CP19
OH 412 ORNG or OH 412 MES-ST

The latter are a lot more friendly priced, which is always a bonus. The number of IRs don't matter as long as the quality is there. Since I have literally no friends or acquaintances with an Axe FX I need input from the great mass collective of Fractalnauts. Other IRs/CPs will be evaluated if some of you have other things I should check out!
 
All recent IR's produced by Ownhammer and the Cab Packs sound great. There's samples of the Cab Packs included in the latest firmwares (read the release notes to see which ones been added) and there's demo's of the Ownhammer cabs you can download. As to which one will sound the best to you - with your ears, playing through your speakers, using your guitars and your fingers, with your musical preference.... You really have to buy a couple of try them out.

I personally tend to prefer the Ownhammer cabs. My latest find is the 212-BOG-OS in a stereo cab with one of the Vintage 30 IRs panned hard left and a Greenback IR panned hard right using the Dirty Shirley with moderate gain. Sounds awesome to me.
 
lokmund said:
As i have searched through the onboard IRs many times now I find myself questioning if I am really content with the sounds I'm getting. For the most part I am, but I always feel like the cabs I tend to use lack something in some way. Can't explain it.

So after looking for expansions for my User IR section (and finding out Cab Lab 3 Lite exists!) I'm now considering these options:

CP13 or CP19
OH 412 ORNG or OH 412 MES-ST

The latter are a lot more friendly priced, which is always a bonus. The number of IRs don't matter as long as the quality is there. Since I have literally no friends or acquaintances with an Axe FX I need input from the great mass collective of Fractalnauts. Other IRs/CPs will be evaluated if some of you have other things I should check out!
Click to expand...


Try out the free library on the OwnHammer website. It's the Mesa ST with the 60 watt vintage 30. I'd load up the mixes in the Quick Start folder and see how you feel about them. My favorite is the OH1-05 mix which is a 57/121 blend. It's a great cab, and if you dig the sound and feel of the free library, then you'll have a better understanding of what OH has to offer.
 
Any of the cab packs, because they're made by people who actually use them and stand behind their product.
As opposed to...
Well, I don't want to start a war, but some pretty disappOinting things have been said by sOme Other IR makers...
 
The Last Romantic said:
Any of the cab packs, because they're made by people who actually use them and stand behind their product.
As opposed to...
Well, I don't want to start a war, but some pretty disappOinting things have been said by sOme Other IR makers...
Click to expand...
if you are referring to Ownhammer, Kevin uses an IR loader in a daw instead of the cab block in the Axe, just his preferred workflow. He definitely uses his product.
 
Ok, so I am confused... has something been said that would elude to the fact that Kevin at OH doesn't use his own IR's? Even if it were true does it mean he cares less about his product than anyone else? I've had a few exchanges with Kevin and I can say that he's committed to his product, and his customers happiness with their product.

All of that aside... I look at someone like Justin York that not only uses OH IRs but has a pack in his name. Even if Kevin doesn't use his own products pros are and that speaks to something...
 
Honestly, get both, both are great. I bet you wont be disappointed, they work differently in a mix. Where you might not like the other you might like the second. Discussions like this are funny, it always leads to be giving people that ask this question a ONE AND ONLY option. "Get this, THIS, is the best." Well, hope you try 'em both.
 
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stm113 said:
Ok, so I am confused... has something been said that would elude to the fact that Kevin at OH doesn't use his own IR's? Even if it were true does it mean he cares less about his product than anyone else? I've had a few exchanges with Kevin and I can say that he's committed to his product, and his customers happiness with their product.

All of that aside... I look at someone like Justin York that not only uses OH IRs but has a pack in his name. Even if Kevin doesn't use his own products pros are and that speaks to something...
Click to expand...


Not exactly sure what the last romantic is talking about. I will say with 100% certainty that Kevin only uses OH IRs. I've tried several different IR producers' libraries. Some are ok, some are pretty good, but I keep going back to OH because they simply sound the best for my applications. Other IR producers have their sound, but I feel like OH has the most accurate sound compared to the real life cabinets I've experienced. At the end of the day, it all comes down to personal preference, and I just prefer cab tones that sound like cabs I've actually tracked before.
 
I avoid these "versus" threads like a plague for a reason. I refuse to talk about other IR producers on this forum anymore. My only wish would be that people who are involved with IR producers wouldn't try and give their opinion in here and portray it as something unbiased. That's IMO very unprofessional, dishonest and it also lowers the quality of information on this forum. I've made it very clear to my beta testers to be kind towards other IR producers and never speak ill of them and for that reason you will not see anyone "jumping to my rescue". Sorry about the dramatic entrance but it had to be said. This happens once a month and it's getting old.

My 100% honest answer is that you have to try them out and see which IR's fit you. Words will be words but no one can tell you which IR's you will like. Most of the sound of the IR will be the cabinet, speaker(s) and microphone technique and those are a matter of taste. If we're talking about IR shoot accuracy you should take a look at this video:



That is comparing a real Mesa Mark IV and a miked cabinet vs the Axe-Fx USA Lead amp sim with the exact same settings and an IR shot of that mic-up using my IR shoot method. So the end result is that they sound extremely similar with very little effort without the need for tone matching or match EQ. I design my IR's to be an extension to the Axe-Fx amp modeling and give the highest level of authenticity humanly possible. This was not meant to be a promo. I simply wanted to point out that you can try those IR's shot with my method for free here: http://forum.fractalaudio.com/threads/free-ml-sound-lab-irs-clark-kent-job-generation-y.103345/

So that's should be enough for you to try out the different methods and make up your own mind. Sorry there are only a few IR's in my free pack but they should be pretty good ones. :)
 
I play my Axe FX as direct to DI in live situations without a cab anywhere and tried both OH and ML with Axe FX, and i can tell the difference for sure, but i don't agree even the slightest bit that the ML ones would not sound or feel as good as OH or better. As said before, both has their pro's and cons for all the stuff, like ALL REAL cabs or setups how you mic 'em in different situations. Debating which is better is so frustrating and in vein if you look the big picture.
 
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I love the Fractal Cab packs and the Ownhammer stuff as well. I favor the OwnHammer stuff slightly because I am not confined with using the IRs within the AxeFx products. I also own a Two Notes Torpedo Live and the Fractal stuff cannot be loaded on it or any other platform for that matter. So if you plan on wanting to use IRs that you pruchased on other platforms, Ownhammer is the way.
 
I think the most differences beside the fact, that every Cabinet and every speaker (even it is the samy type) sounds different, is less the objective quality, but more the philosophy behind the compilation of "packs", spread of the generated sound flavours, feature-set, usability and yes, also capturing methods used. Or as a metapher: It is less the question, if BMW, Mercedes or Audi produce the best cars, but more the question, which car is prefered from an subjective, individual need and point of view...
 
As with anything, similar options breed comparisons. Find a workflow and tone you like and go with it. To save some money, the Axe has some good IRs built in from most of the IR packs out there. See which one jives the best and then go deeper by buying the full pack of that supplier.
 
It also depends on the type of music your playing :eek: You just have to start trying some of them and you will be pleasantly surpriesed man...
 
I think any of:

- Factory Cabs
- FAS Ultra Res Cab Packs
- FAS ML Ultra Res Cab Packs
- OH IR's
- cabIR.eu IR's

Can work for anyone.

All of these will produce professional results.

Beyond that are nuances of taste / fine tuning / personal preference.

In my experience, I just need to play with an IR for a few minutes to get my ears in tune with it. Then I proceed with preset adjustments.

If I rapidly change between IR's, I often "hear" them as being "off" or something wrong. I need time to get my ears adjusted before I move on.
 
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