Where to begin? After doing IR's for you guys for over 8 years now I must admit that I've always been intrigued by the idea of presets as some of the most asked questions related my IR's is that people also want my amp settings. IR's are a major part of your tone but it's still a part of it, not the entire sound. So on top of the normal Cab Packs from 2019 forward ML Sound Lab is going to be releasing AMP PACKS!
These Amp Packs however are very different to what most presets out there are. As much as I love modelers I also love real tube amps and I love dialing them in to perfection following the same philosophy that I have for IR's. To put it in one word: BALANCE. When you match these incredibly well balanced amp settings with the perfectly balanced IR's that we make you will get a perfect sound for any situation be it live or in the studio. "They just always work." So are these presets or what?
A = AUTHENTICALLY
M = MATCHED
P = PRESETS
Don't get this mixed up with tone matching. This is not just EQ. For the Fractal users this is about fine tuning advanced amp parameters and fine tuning pre and post EQ settings within the amp block so that the Axe-Fx III, II and AX8 not only sounds like my real life tube amps tweaked to perfect balance but they also feel and react the same way. Also it's not my plan to take up extra CPU nor use extra blocks to limit your options but to give you amp settings that you can use with your existing presets and rigs. Personally I'm just not interested in creating effects, reverbs etc. settings because I doubt they can be used in all circumstances and hold their value.
The focus and promise here is to ensure that all the debate about "does a modeler sound like a real amp" jumps out of the window because these sound, feel and react exactly like the real amps do. The presets go through all gain stages that the real life amps provide and they're all in perfect balance. The first amp that we're making is probably the most difficult amp to model. Super tight with a lot of gain when needed. I know the biggest problem I've ever had with Fractal modeling has been to get the palm mute sound of this amp to sound right and I finally found the solution. I promise you when you hear the comparisons between my real amp vs these presets you'll truly see the power and need for these.
Another cool thing here is that the cabinet used for MEGA OVERSIZE was used with the real amp when making this Amp Pack which means that the amp is very realistically being loaded down by the exact same speakers that you have in that pack so combining those IR's with this amp pack will give you the most realistic experience possible.
Man I'm excited and I can officially state that the presets are ready. Still making sure that the AX8 and Axe-Fx II sounds like the Axe-Fx III versions before I can launch these.
They'll be out very soon. Be sure to follow.EDIT: Here's a walkthrough of the first Amp Pack:
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