IR Process...what am I doing wrong

M

MikeyB59

Power User
So I got all excited about loading in IR's when reading about the Red Wire impulses. I bought Celestion Blue and Tweed versions. I also downloaded Cliff's pack and a few others. I got Albert's utility and batch converted the 24 bit 48k version of the R121 mic of the Celestion. I then fired up the Axe, hooked up midi interface, brought up a patch, pulled up cabinet one and turned the type to User 1.

I then started Sysex Librarian for OS X which I've used multiple times to upgrade the Axe's firmware. I loaded one of the IR's I'd made and sent it to the Axe. It said it had sent 8k and the midi in light on the Axe briefly lit up. My patch still had no sound though. If I turned the cabinet to any of the Axe list, sound came out.

I then tried the same thing several times with no luck, using some of Cliff's IRs, a couple of other ones people had posted, changing midi cables, different interface, all to no avail. Then I tried doing it with the preset manager of the editor with no luck. I could get the cabs showing in my list and it would show that midi transfer was occurring, but the midi light didn't come on in the Axe.

Is there something obvious I'm missing or have I misunderstood the basic process? Thanks for any help or inspiration you might give.

Mike
 
Hmmm, it sounds like you are doing it right with sysex librarian.

On the Preset Manager, unless you have auto audition turned on I think you have to right click on the cab you put in the Axe-fx slot and choose save to source. It should do it automatically if you have auto-audition on.
 
Sean,

I followed your recommendation on the auto audition as a possible way to do it. My midi input light on the Axe goes on for much longer now (several seconds) and it totally looks like it's loading in the cab to the Axe, but still no sound. Flip to Axe cab, sound. Very weird.

I'll have to try this some more later. Thanks for the tip though. It appears to be sending properly. I'm just not sure why the cab's not taking. Once the cab loads, should I hear sound immediately through the Axe?

Thanks,

Mike
 
MikeyB59 said:
Sean,

I followed your recommendation on the auto audition as a possible way to do it. My midi input light on the Axe goes on for much longer now (several seconds) and it totally looks like it's loading in the cab to the Axe, but still no sound. Flip to Axe cab, sound. Very weird.

I'll have to try this some more later. Thanks for the tip though. It appears to be sending properly. I'm just not sure why the cab's not taking. Once the cab loads, should I hear sound immediately through the Axe?

Thanks,

Mike
Click to expand...


Yes you should hear it right away. If you are on the cab you are loading, you should here it changes as it loads.
 
Well, I'm not hearing any sound under the conditions you describe. I may have to try it with a Windows machine as I've pretty much run all my Mac options. It's weird, cause it all looks to be working and I can upgrade firmware and run the editor with my current midi setup, but no user cabs are loading properly.

It totally looks like the impulse is transferring via the preset manager, but I'm getting silence rather than the lovely variety of tones others seem to be getting out of the IRs I've got.

On the upside, even just using Blackface 2-12 or Boutique 2-12 or Gold 2-12 cabs I'm getting some of the most beautiful clean into breakup sounds I've ever gotten. I recorded a bit today and was completely blown away by how good it sounded. I've never heard my guitar sound better recorded in a Fenderish way. It had so much body, sparkle and definition I could hardly believe it. The Axe is the gift that keeps on giving.
 
Are you sure that you don't have the Cab Block defeated under the Global Menu?

Are you sure that SysEx Librarian is set to output MIDI through the same port that the Axe is connected to?

Are you sure that you're in Edit Mode of the Cab Block on the Axe and that you've got one of the User Cab slots selected before you hit Play on SysEx Librarian?

Try a wider selection of IRs too. The ones in the big .zip file that Cliff supplied don't all work so well.
Try IRs that you don't have to run through the IR Utility first, i.e. IRs that are already in .syx format.
 
Thanks for the suggestions. I have been in edit mode with a user cab dialed up when hitting play and I have used a big variety of premade sysex files. I have the cabinet block engaged which I can tell from turning the value knob to one of the internal cabs at which point sound kicks in.

Seems like I must have some kind of anomaly in my midi interface and/or sysex program because the responses I've gotten indicate that I'm doing what I should be doing.

Thanks for trying to steer me right. I'll try this with Windows and see if I can get cabs to take.

Mike
 
If you're using a MidiSport 2 X 2 interface and you're on a Mac, try using the USB port on the Mac's keyboard rather than one of the regular USB ports. On my new iMac that's the only way the 2 X 2 will work properly.

Also, SysEx Librarian has a Preference for controlling the transmission speed of the MIDI stream that you might want to try.
Try slowing it down.
 
I tried it on an XP machine I have with MidiOX and it was just the same. It's strange because firmware upgrading works. The editor works. The preset manager (insofar as I understand it...kind of a design mess right now) works. What I notice that seems strange is that the midi in light on the Axe only lights up at the end of the transmission for the cab using either sysex utility. Using the preset manager on Macbook Pro it would light the entire time the preset manager was showing that it was sending (using the auto audition method). Still no sound.

I was in a hurry this AM and didn't have time to try a different midi interface. It just doesn't make a lot of sense that it not work though, given that all the other functions that require function sysex midi with the Axe are working fine.

I'll keep trying when I have some more time and see if there's some set of variables that will make it function. I keep thinking there's one obvious thing that I'm missing or omitting from my description but it just doesn't seem that hard.

I've been opening a cabinet in edit mode to user 1 and then sending already made sysex files...the jbl 2-12 and 2-10 cabs and a couple of Fender cabs that others have been raving about. I've done it both with Sysex Librarian on OSX and MidiOX on XP as well as via the preset manager. Don't really know what else to try other than hooking up all the various devices I have that will act as midi interfaces (I have a bunch) and seeing if any will do the job.

Thanks for the suggestion about changing ports and transmission speed. My sense is that these issues would affect my other sysex interactions with the Axe, but I'll keep playing with all the variables until I can find something. Makes me wish the Axe had USB midi though. It can't be expensive if I can buy a complete cable plus interface from Amazon for $11.
 
So I finally got it working with the new editor and my super cheap all-in-one midi interface/cable. No idea what was wrong with the other methods, but using the preset manager in the most recent beta version of the Fractal editor I've been able to load IRs. What a Pandora's Box I've opened.

Thanks for all the advice. I think I was doing it right, but it just wasn't working. Now it does. Sometimes that's how it is with computers and life in general. Persistence and some luck...

Mike
 
I'm a little late to the party here, but glad to hear you got it worked out. I was going to suggest just using AlbertA's utility to load the IR's. I've had no luck with the editor or SendSX, but Albert's utility works like a charm every time. If you're using it to convert anyway, you might as well save a step and just send the IR and it converts as it's sent. Anyway, glad you found a solution. :cool:
 
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