Input: Cab Pack or Ownhammer?

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It's very important to acknowledge when you can trust your ears. Personally I go through so many IR's that I've taught myself to transition fast. Essentially you need a palate cleanser.

For me it works best to have a reference sound that can be pretty much anything. I'm not sure if this works for everyone but I use it for setting the brightness to things like kicks and snares as well. Snap your fingers, clap your hands, knock the table.. (these are not lyrics for a pop song) Really concentrate on the natural brightness, balance and dimension of real sound. Then set your auditioning volume on a similar level and it's a lot easier to hear what works and what doesn't. It's simple. :)
 
Any of the packs from reputable IR producers will do a great job for you, so it probably comes down to personal preference really.

I personally use ML not only because his IRs sound the best to me (once again, my opinion based on my taste in tones), but also because of the wonderful advice from Mikko and how much he cares for the end user.

When I started out with my XL+ last year Mikko was really helpful and friendly when I asked for some advice not only in regards to IRs, but also the AxeFX in general.

There are plenty of great IRs from the producers mentioned in the thread, they don't cost a heap so you can try a few different packs to find your thing.

For mine, ML suits me best plus I love Mikko's customer service. I'm a very happy ML Sound Lab customer.
 
Will second many of the level-headed responses here.

I bought the SVT ampeg pack from ML, and the Mojotone pack from OH. Apples and oranges, but...

They both sound great for their respective uses.

I'm primarily, overwhelmingly a bass player. I *love* the ML ampeg pack. The mics are all so very different. The sub-kick ir is brutal, and will probably never use it, but I know it's there if I ever need a chest-thumping cab.

As for OH, the Mojotone was perfect. I'm not much of a guitarist, and I don't want to lose focus and fiddle with IRs vs actually recording and writing. I converted an IR, loaded it into my XL, it sounded great... done.

My real test will be purchasing the OH ampeg pack and compare to the ML for bass. There will be similarities for sure, and differences too. In the end it will come down to subjective personal preference.

The one thing I'm realizing for bass (and probably even more applicable to guitarists) -- for me it will come down to learning cab lab and mixing my own IRs. I need to upgrade to the full cab lab and do a ML ampeg mix with the factory aluminum/hartke cab, which I love but has a little too much zing.

Once I buy the OH bass cabs, ill be covered for life. I'm sure a combination of OH or ML and factory cab will deliver what I need. For the cost, I don't think we need to choose one or the other.
 
I like both the FAS cab packs and Ownhammers. And even some free cabs that, to this day, are the basis of my high gain and Marshall sounds. Most of the time I use custom mixes because that's what works better for me. Recently, I even started making "hybrid" custom cabs which uses free IRs as a basis, and on top of that, some tonematching and EQing - however that's for the AmpliFire only (not the Axe), as my Axe-Fx custom IRs don't work as well for it.
Generally I use the FAS cab packs for cleans, boutique (Dumble) and Marshall sounds, and Ownhammer more for high gain.

PS : @swartzfeger : nice avatar ;)
 
I'd like to thank everyone for their input! It may not have helped me reach a conclusion, but it has reminded me what to consider when looking for cab expansions. So far i have had great success with OHs free Mesa V60 and I'll wait with purchasing something until I'm 100% sure. Hope this thread helps others with the same question as me :)
 
I've tried just about everything and favor the OH stuff as to me it sounds more open. Kevin goes to extreme lengths to get accuracy and that is what initially drew me towards OH. But having said that, personal preference and perception of "open" is left up to interpretation. :)
 
erockomania said:
I've tried just about everything and favor the OH stuff as to me it sounds more open. Kevin goes to extreme lengths to get accuracy and that is what initially drew me towards OH. But having said that, personal preference and perception of "open" is left up to interpretation. :)
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Once again. You are an OwnHammer beta tester just like some others in this thread. (Yes I know who you are.) A post like this is not gentlemanly and is IMO against the bro code.
 
Try as many as you can afford and Cab-Lab too. Their pretty cheap if you pick one up when you have a few extra bucks. Sometime I only get one ir out of a Pak or Ownhammer but one good ir is worth the $30-75 to me. Most of the ir's I use are combos made in Cab-Lab, but not all. My two cents.
 
ML SOUND LAB said:
Once again. You are an OwnHammer beta tester just like some others in this thread. (Yes I know who you are.) A post like this is not gentlemanly and is IMO against the bro code.
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If someone is a beta tester, that should be mentioned in his signature. Forum rules.

That aside, beta testers can still give their personal opinion. I would not be a beta tester if that would limit me in any way in stating opinions, including preferences.

Justin York has a "signature" IR set. It's not that strange that he states a preference. Would you object against Bulb participating here and saying he loves the ML IRS, Mikko?

If beta testers of stuff would not be allowed to state their opinion, the manufacturers themselves would also be prohibited to do so. That's logic. You wouldn't want that, would you? ;-)

P.S. I like and use both.
 
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I was referring to being biased and giving your "opinion" by coming across as not having anything to do with the product. This is a public conversation forum where people search for information. For a "scholar" like myself it's very sad to see these situations where the greatest forum on internet is no longer trustworthy. "I've tried everything out there and this one product is the best" is a slogan I'm getting very tired of hearing coming from a specific group of biased people in here. This is a gray area for sure but it's misrepresenting information at least. I can give you at least a dozen quotes of this happening.

The reason I'm pointing this out is not an attack towards other IR producers. It's me making sure people reading these threads know who's opinion is actually trustworthy.
 
Just because someone prefers a product doesn't mean they're biased. Yes, I'm an OH beta tester, but I've also been an ML beta tester. I have TAF libraries, FAS libraries (I still use CP 6), I've purchased a few libraries from RedWirez, and I've purchased stuff from CabIR.eu (which I also have some of their IRs in my unit). I spend countless hours going through IRs because I love being inspired by great tone, and at the end of the day, I can use whatever I want. After trying out everything both as a beta tester AND as a paying customer, it's ok that I prefer OwnHammer. It sounds more organic to me. It sounds more open to me. And in blind IR shootouts, my unbiased FOH guy, unbiased bandmates, and unbiased producers have all selected OH because that's what sounded the best to them. I'm not badmouthing anyone's product. I'm only saying that from my personal experiences, OH continues to be my preference and continues to serve my applications. There's nothing wrong with sharing my preference.

Yes, I have a "signature" library with OH, but you'll notice that in my first post, I pointed the gentleman to the free OH Mesa library. I wasn't trying to sell him MY pack. I thought he would benefit from trying something out and drawing his own conclusions. He ended up liking the OH free library. Is that wrong? No one here is out to get you, Mikko. I'm sure your libraries sell very well, so please don't get upset when people end up liking something non-ML. It's not personal...it's preference.
 
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When did this become a competition? People are people and when I ask the question if A is "better" then B, I almost rely on people giving biased answers. If not they have spent a heapload of money and time testing every single IR in every single pack out there and realistically, only the creators should be able to give an unbiased view. Unless someone is a reviewer. :)
Everyone who is a consumer should be able to throw in their two cents without being labeled as biased. That's my two cents. Or kroners in local currency.
 
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