Legacy Vs. Dyna-Cabs

[unix-guy]

The mic preamp doesn't make that much difference as you will soon find out.

Dun Dun Dunnn!

 

[yek]

Let The Speculation Begin

 

[roodboy]

Although Im not exactly where I want to be with dynacabs yet Leons move of changing alignment @20ms seems to be part of whats missing to me

 

[yek]

Love the DynaCabs. Mic Position/Distance have become my main "tone" controls.

BTW, while I was blown away by the Soyuz (condenser) on its own, I need also that sizzle from a SM57 (Dynamic 1).
When comparing 'Condenser+Dynamic 1' to 'Ribbon+Dynamic 1', I fell in love again with the latter.
It's a traditional and trusted combination for good reason.

 

[Roby Rocks]

Could that be because you are $elling your IRs?

no. in the presets that I sell, I use only factory-IR (except acoustic sim).
Legacy cab, for my ears, sounds much better, more realistic. Custom or Factory IR.

 

[Randalljax]

Let The Speculation Begin

Probably York Audio / Drbonkers and 3rd party vendors do not use the same mic pre

 

[Randalljax]

Although Im not exactly where I want to be with dynacabs yet Leons move of changing alignment @20ms seems to be part of whats missing to me

Yes I think it makes it a bit more natural to have slight phasings
Chris Baseford talked about this recently in his stream
Saying I would never place a 57 and Royer in the exact same spot because in the real world. Physically how could you do that ?
They might be close but they are not both in the exact same spot on the same speaker because that would be pretty much impossible

 

[State of Epicicity]

The real world lack of phase alignment is something I'm romantic for, it's huge to me (that's what she said). I realize there are engineers who work to get mics in phase with each other, but I disagree about this being a superior and 100% desirable practice in guitar tone.

In my youth I first read about Metallica's amps being mic'ed using the natural phase relationship to cancel certain frequencies with placement alone, and that got me experimenting later. When I had early movable mic sims in the aughts, I loved them specifically for the ability to recreate the effect of the real world phase relationships mics have. I still like to use the various movable mic plugins for that very reason. Don't like the tone? Just move one of the mics, and you're not only changing frequency response, but often phase too, and you can get the thickest low mids and most beautifully round fuzzy warmth. To me it's the closest way to recreate the warmth of an amp in the room using headphones.

 

[sprint]

Let The Speculation Begin

Will do - I speculate that sooon, we could see new cabpack IRs captured with a different mic pre from what previous DCs have been captured with.

 

[Greg Ferguson]

Also noticed much of the Gift of Tone series presets all use IRs not dyna cabs.

I suspect that is due to the majority of the GOT presets being released for Christmas 2022, three months before Dyna-Cabs were first released as beta in March 2023. Given the lead time to gather the presets they were probably frozen four months before the release.

 

[RobAustin]

Loving Dyna cabs! Much quicker to get the sound I want. Used to hate scrolling through loads of IRS but now can pick a cab that is in someway related to the amp I’m using and 9/10 it’s a great fit and I can get a usable tone within seconds.
Favourites are the Class A 2x12, AC20 1x12, Brit Tv and Ev speakers. Condenser mic is fantastic for detail and also in favour of the Dynamic 2 (sm7b). Combo of these is killer!

 

[Steven Persson]

This seems to be a common thread - if i'd found a few IRs that worked perfectly for me across all my presets which I felt were 100% dialed in, I suspect I would not likely be keen to spend much effort on DCs - but when the door feels open to further preset improvement, they are worth the effort imo, particularly with the cablab4 added value.

Yeah, my experience is that it's easier and faster to know what works especially if you use the same IR brand e.g OwnHammer as they seem to be very balanced across the diffrerent IR:s; for example, the 05 position is equally bright whether it's a Mesa, Marshall, Vox, Diezel etc. Usually it's the low end and mid that needs to be tailored a bit.

 

[holgar]

About the speculation:
Having more Dyna Cabs with more midrange punch in the unit would be great. Ideally some that were shot in such a way that they can sound full with a single microphone and as transparent as before.
I find operating the Dyna Cabs in the device much easier and more convenient than in Cab Lab.
But life is not a wishful concert and Fractal's previous decisions have resulted in the best product on the market.

 

[Orvillain]

Pre's can make a difference, even with all controls flat, but the difference is usually subtle and it isn't the first place I'd look to make tonal changes (other than the built in EQ on said preamp) - you'll get way more variation on the core tone by changing the microphone or moving it around, than you would by changing your preamp.

 

[holgar]

They sound scooped due to the Mic Preamp used on the captures. I’ve personally found that to revive the mids I like to blend two mics and position one further out than you might be used to. I blend a Dynamic and a Ribbon putting one inner-mid to mid cone and the other around cap edge. This brings back the mids the Neve scoops out but keeps the openness and life I feel the Neve adds to the capture. A lot of IRs you are used to were probably captured with an API (I believe most of the FAS captured Legacy IRs were captured with an API which is more mid focused).

Here is my version of the four channels I'd use of a JVM as a preset. Try both Channel A and Channel B no the cab block. Channel A places the Ribbon over the cone and Channel B places the Dynamic over the cone. I think both of these work with my guitars. I play primarily humbuckers (PRS 85/15, PRS 58/15LT, and PRS 58/15LT+).

Hi millman,
thank you for posting a nice preset with a Legacy cab on channel C to compare. I am too on the search for a Dyna Cab with full mids and soft treble and took the Friedman GB. If you want to try four of my variations of a Greenback Cab in your preset with added Drives instead of Flanger and Phaser:

 

[nicolasrivera]

The mic preamp doesn't make that much difference as you will soon find out.

Interesting comment Cliff.

At our studio we have Neve, API,Chandler and Focusrite preamps and we can patch 1 mic to all of them at the same time and record/monitor the signals of the desk. They all have a different sound or character, my personal favorites are the API and Chandler for electrics.

 

[mattrg470]

I haven't really spent enough time on the Dyna-Cabs to prefer/dislike them over the legacy IR's. However, if the annoyance to the Legacy IRs is the interface, could they not be ported into a Dyna-Cab style interface.
E.g You select the 3 Monkeys 4x12 - You have 5 Mic Options (57, 121, 421, 906, A51) - You have the various mic locations (A,B,C etc)
Of course the Mic Placement choice isn't up to you, as it's been predetermined, but it would feel the same as the Dyna-Cab.
Just a thought.

 

[Thomas Obester]

if axe III came to me with dyna cabs option only, it would be already packed and returned.

anytime I compare my patches, YA and OH IR’s eat those DC’s.

YMMV

 

[Yorke2112]

Initially loved Dyna-cabs, then went back to IR's for some reason, mostly stock or York Audio. Then went back to Dyna-Cabs, which seem less boxy or harsh.

 

[guitarzen]

A bit late to this thread, but I absolutely love the York IRs. For me, I've compared them to Dynacab, legacy, other vendors, and for my sound they sound great. Punchy, not harsh, full. For amateurs like me, having a professionally mixed IR blend of mics utilizing an experts ear helps me get there faster. I really only use a few of each speaker/cab combo type, plus a few from Leon and keep it simple.