Software "MIKKO" - Next Gen Cab Sim | Shoot your own IR's [ML Sound Lab]

Third party software for Fractal Audio products.
And I think I could live the rest of my life happily with these cabs. But if you ever considered making some AC30 Celestion Blues I would buy them in a heartbeat.

+1 on that and maybe a bass cab pack. I think I’d likely not need anything beyond that. I am so excited about trying this out, 96% sure I’ll be purchasing this week.
 
Hey @ML SOUND LAB !

I figured out how to set up MIKKO with the Axe-FX III when the Axe-Fx III is the audio interface. It works, but there is some noticeable latency, even at low buffer setting. I'm using the free version but you would still be able to make IRs with the paid version, despite the latency. Here's how I did it. If there is a better way, please let me know!

  • Create a typical preset. Input 1 is at the beginning of the chain and Output 1 is at the end. Run a cable between these blocks. Place an Amp block in the chain. Leave out the Cab block or have a Cab block present but on bypass. If you have a Cab block present on bypass, make sure the Cab block is set up with “Thru” as its bypass mode.
  • After the Amp block, place an Out 2 block. Immediately after the Out 2 block place an In USB block.
  • Launch the standalone MIKKO software. Click on “Options”. Uncheck the box by “Feedback Loop”. For “Audio device type” choose “ASIO”. For “Device” choose “FAS USB Audio ASIO Drive Axe-Fx III”. Under “Active output channels” choose “OUT 7 [In U Block L] + 8 [In U Block R]”. Under “Active input channels” choose “IN 3 [Out 2 Block L] + 4 [Out 2 Block R]”. “Sample rate” should be “48000 Hz”. As for “Audio buffer size”, the lower you go, the lower the latency, but you’ll get some instability. The lowest I can go is 16 samples, but I get a zipping sound when I move the mic around in MIKKO. Even at 16 samples, there is a noticeable latency.
  • Finally, go the front panel on the Axe-Fx III, go into “Setup” and select “I/O”. Go to the “USB/AES” page. The “USB 7/8” will probably be turned all the way down to -40.0 dB. If you turn it to -20 dB, that seems to provide a good level without overloading the Output 1 block on the Axe-Fx III.
Thank you for this! I'll look into this today and make a tutorial video.
 
Man. I really love this plug - especially the "Sure" cab.

When saving to an existing preset there is some "funny" nonsens words like this :

View attachment 56701View attachment 56702
It's with the 1.0.1 update.

And I think I could live the rest of my life happily with these cabs. But if you ever considered making some AC30 Celestion Blues I would buy them in a heartbeat.
Thank you for showing the weird text part. What os/daw are you running? Some people had this in the license view.

New cabs will be coming!
 
I bought this yesterday and it’s just what I needed. Very easy to adjust the sound to my taste. Thanks Mikko!

I noticed some bugs. Sometimes the plugin changes the cab type by itself, or I’m not sure if it happens when I change the mic type or select another mic of two mics, but suddenly I notice the cab has changed. That happened several times. Also if you choose one of your saved custom presets, sometimes it shows the preset name but mostly it just says custom preset.
This is new - we'll look into this. Existing presets turn into "custom" presets once you change something.
 
Here's the video tutorial as promised for two different ways to run the standalone version of MIKKO with your Fractal unit. I'm not 100% sure if the Axe-Fx II, AX8 and FM3 will have the same exact routing options but you should find something similar. Here's the tutorial:



Thanks for the video Mikko. Your method is a little different that my attempt, and it also results in better perceived latency and stability!
 
Tried the demo - absolutely great! - what's kept me away from most IR packs is too many files to wade thru (I've only been getting the Celestion ones because they keep the number of files fairly reasonable and intuitive to sort through). Even the stock Axe3 cabs, though well organized and tag-able, I find too numerous for easy selection and not obvious wrt mic positions / mix content (pretty well impossible to provide all this in a file naming standard).

Mikko solves all of this. I was able to get a cab sound I like in 5 minutes - I'm sure it selected 100 mic/mic position files in the background based on the selecting / moving around I did in that 5 minutes - would have taken me an hour the old way and I would have lost interest 1/2 way thru.

Awesome.

Just be careful MB does not come after you about that logo :)
 
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Thanks Mikko for your efforts, but this doesn't work for the Axe-Fx II. And to be honest I haven't got a clue how to go about getting it to work.
I'll get an Axe-Fx II wiz to cover this - I want this to be as easy as possible for everyone. I can't remember how you use the USB with the Axe-Fx II. Did you have to go to I/O settings to choose a different input or output?
 
Tried the demo - absolutely great! - what's kept me away from most IR packs is too many files to wade thru (I've only been getting the Celestion ones because they keep the number of files fairly reasonable and intuitive to sort through). Even the stock Axe3 cabs, though well organized and tag-able, I find too numerous for easy selection and not obvious wrt mic positions / mix content (pretty well impossible to provide all this in a file naming standard).

Mikko solves all of this. I was able to get a cab sound I like in 5 minutes - I'm sure it selected 100 mic/mic position files in the background based on the selecting / moving around I did in that 5 minutes - would have taken me an hour the old way and I would have lost interest 1/2 way thru.

Awesome.

Just be careful MB does not come after you about that logo :)
Thank you sprint for the praise and nice words. That 5min and hundreds of IR's sentence is exactly what this is all about. Doesn't it make IR files in folder feel like an 80s ms-dos computer?
 
I'll get an Axe-Fx II wiz to cover this - I want this to be as easy as possible for everyone. I can't remember how you use the USB with the Axe-Fx II. Did you have to go to I/O settings to choose a different input or output?

I/O USB is set to output 1. This works fine in my DAW, however the standalone doesn't. I can't figure out why. They made the Axefx III really simple, cause encase you don't remember the 2 only has, send, return, fxloop. It's probably something simple we're all overlooking.
 
It could be done - yes. That was my original idea to also make an IR shooter program that integrates with this UI.
This feature would be awesome for capturing speakers I own and being able to bottle those genies.... :)

I have a Weber 6A20 combo kit with a Weber Grey Wolf AlNiCo 12" (offset to the preamp side to clear an oversized output transformer), which I built my VZA Simone circuit into, and it's a great sounding cab. I also have a Hartke 4x10" loaded with Blue Pups....

20190723_143336.jpg
 
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Man. I really love this plug - especially the "Sure" cab.

When saving to an existing preset there is some "funny" nonsens words like this :

View attachment 56701View attachment 56702
It's with the 1.0.1 update.

And I think I could live the rest of my life happily with these cabs. But if you ever considered making some AC30 Celestion Blues I would buy them in a heartbeat.
+1.

Also, Weber Blue Dogs, AlNiCo preferred, if you can find them. Both are awesome speakers....
 
I just got word from our very own Zach Munowitz who uses an Axe-Fx II:

Hey Mikko! The standalone version works for me. If I choose Input and Output as Axe-Fx II, select Front L and R, uncheck Mute Audio Input, it passes audio fine.
 
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