shasha
Fractal Fanatic
....and it works frickin great!
iProductions Audio » Products
Release Notes: Version 1.09 – 15/02/12
- Mixed-IR is saved also as AXE II .syx file (zero padded)
- Decrease font size option
- IR names on IR-Mixer as tooltips
New Product Release IR-LAB II
- Supports AXE FX II IR libs
- Mixed-IR is saved as AXE II .syx file (2040 samples)
- New audio engine (supporting AXE II IRs)
I started to post something about this the other night, but I got sidetracked and it got too late. Its late again, but I'm determined to get the word out on this tool because I believe in it.
I have a feeling that not too many here are aware of this program and I know that the whole tone matching thing has kind of taken over everything, but what I think that we've been focusing on "what if" and not on the capabilties that we already have. One of the biggest issues with 'profiling' is that the cab is baked into the file for the most part and the quality is determined by the person who performed the process. And once its done its pretty much use it or delete it because you can't do much with it to fix it. That is one of the things that the AxeFX really stands out from the crowd....custom IR support. We've got a bunch of great free IR's floating around, but even better is that we've got two ridiculous sets of libraries to choose from in Redwirez and OwnHammer.
But if you are like me (and God help you if you are), then you are probably not going to want to use just one cabinet. In a 'real' studio no one uses one mic to record, it's going to be a couple of mics. That's the point of having eleventybillion different IR's in these fantastic libraries to choose from. Of course the maximum number we can use in a single patch is 4 and that's if we use 2 stereo cabs. But what's even cooler is having the ability to mix up to 10 of those IR's and then create a single one.
This does a few things; first it's going to sound fuller in most cases. Secondly it's going to put less of a strain on the AxeFXII itself because it's only one IR. Thirdly it will require less user slots be taken up with custom IR's. Mixing our own custom IR's is something that is easy to do and has a huge impact. And yes I like the stock IR's, but most of us aren't factory preset type of guys in my experience. I mean we keep asking for all these additional features and stuff, it seems silly to not utilize something as powerful as this.
I'd been without my Ultra for so long and then when I got my AxeFXII I was devestated to hear that IR-Lab wasn't compatible with it as I had just started digging into it when I sold the Ultra and got on the wait list. Well I just got an email the other day from iProductions saying that it was updated and lets just say that it is so nice to be able to sort through and select IR's without digging through hundreds to thousands of individual files in order to do some auditioning or mixing. I don't know if I got smarter or they improved it, but I was able to really dig into this thing and got some nice cab mixes set up really quickly and easily. There were a few that needed something here or there afterwards, but what is really cool is that you can load the recipe back into the IR Mixer part and it reloads all the cabs and adjustments right where you left off.
I did however run into a couple of small issues; nothing major in the end, but they did cause delays and here are some lessons learned and tips.
First thing is that the folder structure has to be exactly right or it won't see the IR's. I ran into issues with some of the libraries that I converted from AxeFX generation one files (the OW library wouldn't scan properly for me because of this).
The folder structure has to be exactly like this for the RW library:
W:\Impulse Repsonse Library\Redwirez\Marshall1960A-G12Ms\Red Wire Impulses\BIGBox\Axe-Fx II\Marshall1960A-G12Ms\ (and then the folders for each of the mics)
For the OW library it has to be exactly like this:
W:\Impulse Repsonse Library\OwnHammer_Impulse_Responses\112-GTR_Thiele_BLU\Axe-Fx-II\ (and then the individual IR's)
The next tip is that even with the ability to sort through and select the files to load based on cab, mic, position, distance, etc, you still really don't know what the hell you are doing unless you've spent time recording cabs in real life with some of these microphones. Someone posted a link to the Dialing In Your Tone guide on the RW website (look for the PDF near the top). This is great because they have a little chart in there with the mics and basic starting points and a description of what each mic sounds like in general. So I can go in there and read that an R121 its going to give me unhyped upper mids and a lot of proximity effect (nice and bassy as I get closer) and I can start with the cap IR's at either 2" or 4".
So you can set the filters for Marshall1960A-G12Ms, R121, cap, 2", hit the button and it will find it for you automatically.
Then what I do (and this is just my workflow) is load that into the first slot. Then I'll go ahead and open the IR Mixer. Load a clip of audio that was recorded with no cab (48kHz 24-bit) using the amp I want to go with and hit play. Then I can slide the fader for the first IR slot. If it sounds good I'll load it into the last slot. Then I'd probably search for a mic that would compliment that, so if I had something like the R121 I'd look for something with more high end and upper mids and less proximity effect, so perhaps an SM7, capedge 0" (from the chart, not because I know this stuff by heart). Load that into the first slot, adjust it by itself and then maybe bring the R121 to see if I'm getthig somewhere. If I like it then I'll load it in to the 9th slot. I know that I could probably load them a bit differently, but I like having the first slot used for previewing a file. Main point here is that I'm referring to that chart throughout and looking for a description that addresses what I'm missing or looking for.
I can experiment with positions and distances to get more or less of what I'm looking for, but these are all safe starting points.
After about 4-5 IR's on average (I can't recommend highly enough to get some room or ambient IR's in there to fill it out) then I start seriously mixing and then save it. Once it's saved the recipe is saved in a little text file that can be shared on here for others to use (which is great since these files can't be shared without violating the terms of ownership) and like I said earlier you can reload a recipe to tweak it some more. It also saves a wave file and of course our AxeFXII syx file which loads right into the AxeFXII, no fuss, no muss.
They've got a nice video on their website showing you the basic function and workflow. I can't recommend strongly enough giving this thing a whirl if you are serious about using either or both Redwirez or Ownhammer. I don't even want to think about doing this stuff with indiviidual files.
iProductions Audio » Products
Release Notes: Version 1.09 – 15/02/12
- Mixed-IR is saved also as AXE II .syx file (zero padded)
- Decrease font size option
- IR names on IR-Mixer as tooltips
New Product Release IR-LAB II
- Supports AXE FX II IR libs
- Mixed-IR is saved as AXE II .syx file (2040 samples)
- New audio engine (supporting AXE II IRs)
I started to post something about this the other night, but I got sidetracked and it got too late. Its late again, but I'm determined to get the word out on this tool because I believe in it.
I have a feeling that not too many here are aware of this program and I know that the whole tone matching thing has kind of taken over everything, but what I think that we've been focusing on "what if" and not on the capabilties that we already have. One of the biggest issues with 'profiling' is that the cab is baked into the file for the most part and the quality is determined by the person who performed the process. And once its done its pretty much use it or delete it because you can't do much with it to fix it. That is one of the things that the AxeFX really stands out from the crowd....custom IR support. We've got a bunch of great free IR's floating around, but even better is that we've got two ridiculous sets of libraries to choose from in Redwirez and OwnHammer.
But if you are like me (and God help you if you are), then you are probably not going to want to use just one cabinet. In a 'real' studio no one uses one mic to record, it's going to be a couple of mics. That's the point of having eleventybillion different IR's in these fantastic libraries to choose from. Of course the maximum number we can use in a single patch is 4 and that's if we use 2 stereo cabs. But what's even cooler is having the ability to mix up to 10 of those IR's and then create a single one.
This does a few things; first it's going to sound fuller in most cases. Secondly it's going to put less of a strain on the AxeFXII itself because it's only one IR. Thirdly it will require less user slots be taken up with custom IR's. Mixing our own custom IR's is something that is easy to do and has a huge impact. And yes I like the stock IR's, but most of us aren't factory preset type of guys in my experience. I mean we keep asking for all these additional features and stuff, it seems silly to not utilize something as powerful as this.
I'd been without my Ultra for so long and then when I got my AxeFXII I was devestated to hear that IR-Lab wasn't compatible with it as I had just started digging into it when I sold the Ultra and got on the wait list. Well I just got an email the other day from iProductions saying that it was updated and lets just say that it is so nice to be able to sort through and select IR's without digging through hundreds to thousands of individual files in order to do some auditioning or mixing. I don't know if I got smarter or they improved it, but I was able to really dig into this thing and got some nice cab mixes set up really quickly and easily. There were a few that needed something here or there afterwards, but what is really cool is that you can load the recipe back into the IR Mixer part and it reloads all the cabs and adjustments right where you left off.
I did however run into a couple of small issues; nothing major in the end, but they did cause delays and here are some lessons learned and tips.
First thing is that the folder structure has to be exactly right or it won't see the IR's. I ran into issues with some of the libraries that I converted from AxeFX generation one files (the OW library wouldn't scan properly for me because of this).
The folder structure has to be exactly like this for the RW library:
W:\Impulse Repsonse Library\Redwirez\Marshall1960A-G12Ms\Red Wire Impulses\BIGBox\Axe-Fx II\Marshall1960A-G12Ms\ (and then the folders for each of the mics)
For the OW library it has to be exactly like this:
W:\Impulse Repsonse Library\OwnHammer_Impulse_Responses\112-GTR_Thiele_BLU\Axe-Fx-II\ (and then the individual IR's)
The next tip is that even with the ability to sort through and select the files to load based on cab, mic, position, distance, etc, you still really don't know what the hell you are doing unless you've spent time recording cabs in real life with some of these microphones. Someone posted a link to the Dialing In Your Tone guide on the RW website (look for the PDF near the top). This is great because they have a little chart in there with the mics and basic starting points and a description of what each mic sounds like in general. So I can go in there and read that an R121 its going to give me unhyped upper mids and a lot of proximity effect (nice and bassy as I get closer) and I can start with the cap IR's at either 2" or 4".
So you can set the filters for Marshall1960A-G12Ms, R121, cap, 2", hit the button and it will find it for you automatically.
Then what I do (and this is just my workflow) is load that into the first slot. Then I'll go ahead and open the IR Mixer. Load a clip of audio that was recorded with no cab (48kHz 24-bit) using the amp I want to go with and hit play. Then I can slide the fader for the first IR slot. If it sounds good I'll load it into the last slot. Then I'd probably search for a mic that would compliment that, so if I had something like the R121 I'd look for something with more high end and upper mids and less proximity effect, so perhaps an SM7, capedge 0" (from the chart, not because I know this stuff by heart). Load that into the first slot, adjust it by itself and then maybe bring the R121 to see if I'm getthig somewhere. If I like it then I'll load it in to the 9th slot. I know that I could probably load them a bit differently, but I like having the first slot used for previewing a file. Main point here is that I'm referring to that chart throughout and looking for a description that addresses what I'm missing or looking for.
I can experiment with positions and distances to get more or less of what I'm looking for, but these are all safe starting points.
After about 4-5 IR's on average (I can't recommend highly enough to get some room or ambient IR's in there to fill it out) then I start seriously mixing and then save it. Once it's saved the recipe is saved in a little text file that can be shared on here for others to use (which is great since these files can't be shared without violating the terms of ownership) and like I said earlier you can reload a recipe to tweak it some more. It also saves a wave file and of course our AxeFXII syx file which loads right into the AxeFXII, no fuss, no muss.
They've got a nice video on their website showing you the basic function and workflow. I can't recommend strongly enough giving this thing a whirl if you are serious about using either or both Redwirez or Ownhammer. I don't even want to think about doing this stuff with indiviidual files.
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