I recently hab trouble finding the sweet spot in my Cab settings. It was like nothing had the mids and the response I was looking for. I used IRs from Redwirez and Ownhammer and I don't want to bash what they are doing, but I guess they are doing something wrong or telling us lies or something else (no blame, but searching for a reason I had that trouble with their IRs...).
So I decided to make a little experiment, which I thought would not end in good results. But I tried and it was just the right step to "my sound" with more than great results. I shot a lot of IRs of my own cabinets. Exactly, I did this:
I shot:
- 16 IRS of every speaker I have in combination with a mic and a cabinet. (each Centimeter one IR, from edge to cap, on axis and angled)
- I've got 2 speakers (Celestion V30 and Celestion G12M Greenback), 10 suitable mics out of the locker (cheap ones and expensive mics; ribbons, condensers and dynamics) and 3 different cabinets (1x12 open back, 4x12 straight closed back, 4x12 slanted closed back)
- So all in all I've shot about 1920 IRs, of which I could choose exactly the one I need for a sound.
- I know it's a bit overkill to shoot that much!
My obversations:
- All the bass and treble that annoyed me in those commercial IRs is gone. It just sounds like it sounds in real life, on stage and in the studio when you mike a cab.
- No need for all those virtual parameters like high cut, low cut and proximity anymore. It's all captured right in the "real" IR. Choose IR, perhaps adjust delay when going stereo and start playing.
So my advice for you is to shoot your own cabs (with a method that suits your power amp) and enjoy playing your real cabs. They are so much better than what they offer you for money.
By the way: My favorite IR is my "4x12 straight V30 SM57 on axis 13cm" IR.
Again, I don't want to blame the commercial IR factories to do something wrong intentionally but something is quite different in their IRs and mine. I don't know what it is.... if you know it, tell me....nevertheless, try it!
I hope this helps if you have trouble with IRs.