My opinion on FAS Cab Packs

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Something I learned during the first month of being a member in here: You can never overuse "I think" / "in my opinion" / "IMO" etc. because if you write like normal people talk then you will get attacked. It's like people don't get how other people have their own opinions which is exactly what this thread was about. So what is this about then? Is this about FAS staff members (including you yek) trying to somehow prove that people can not have opinions?

Things are so black and white in here. I'd give this pack an 8/10 score. It's okay! I was let down because from FAS I was expecting a 10/10. Shades of gray and all that.

I don't think anyone has issues with you criticizing the packs, but more so around the implication that Cliff had taken part into a project that was not professionally managed; having a small inkling by observing from afar the genius he has exhibited throughout the years, he would be offended by this assumption, as he should, given all the other professional projects he has been a part of or even created from scratch. I know I would not be very impressed with someone using a picture of unverified nature to assume a whole process was built around it...

This thread is really being blown out of proportion, when all it would take is a simple apology for a misstep...attacking yek in any shape of form is nonsensical IMHO.
 
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Hate to throw fuel on the fire but the sign of a secure, mature individual is an inability to be offended by slights and or criticism's. From what I see here, Clarky is the adult in the room.
 
Clark, I value your opinion because you've spent a lot of time with IRs and your comments have resonated with me in the past. I took your post for what it appeared to be... a customer expressing an opinion about a purchase and speculating about the IR capture process.

I'm not an IR expert but this reminds me of the sample libraries from the 80s where you'd buy "professionally" recorded/produced/mastered samples only to find that they pretty much suck. "Professional" means next to nothing to me although it may be a sign that the product will be "better" than others due to the experience behind it. I was fairly close to attempting exactly what has been done with the IR packs. The resources are present (mics, preamps, room, etc.) but finding all of the amps and cabs at the same time would have have been difficult. I was pleased that they announced the cab packs and will try them instead.

At $20 a pop, I can't really go wrong and I guess if you consider them 8/10, there must be at least something in there worth $20 :0)
 
I think its a fair criticism to say that when you express the opinion that FAS made a mistake by blocking the microphones with each other or blocking them with tape, that is either being naïve or a tad knee jerk?

That really is my criticism of the OP. The "I don't care for these IR's" discussion is totally valid and I like discussions like that. No complaints about not liking the IR's as far as I see it.

But it crossed the line for me, when it went on to explain that putting objects between the microphone and speaker would not be good practice. The disclaimer really doesn't "undo" all that for me either.
 
What the hell, everyone else is throwing opinions here, I'll list some of mine:

1. Clark knows his stuff.

2. Clark makes great guitar tones, reinforced by steady supply of great sounding CLIPS.

3. Cliff knows his stuff.

4. Cliff's strategy for the cab packs is perfect (hire respected pro engineer to mic cabs in pro studio).

5. $20 is cheap, especially for us wealthy Axe-Fx owners.

6. Aerosmith is amongst my fave bands of all time.

7. Guitar tones on Aerosmith records don't even make my top ten. Their vast success had nothing to do with the skills of the guy who put mics in front of their cabs. Also, there are plenty of guys on this forum and 10-yr-old kids on the internet who can play better then Joe Perry. Hell, I can probably play better than Brad Whitford.

8. These are just IRs, regardless of how they were made and who did it. If they must be judged publicly (and lets face it, everything must, because internet) then I'd like to see judgement on audible merits. But 99.9 % of internet community judging is biased.

9. Clark seems to be the type who enjoys going against the grain. I'd like to believe he's just calling it as he sees it, telling it like it is. That would be valuable, and even maybe noble. But what if it's just more bias, to the opposite of fanboy-ism? What if he WANTED to NOT like these IRs, so he could stand out from the crowd, appear more expertly, self-validate his own IRs and mostly.. show everyone how he's SO NOT a fanboy like everyone else is. I remember when he was trying hard to convince everyone the Ultra sounded every bit as good as the II and prove it with 'guess which' clips. I'd question.. why?

10. I wish I could learn how brevity works.
 
Yeah, I have to retract that. I'm not sure it's a V30 in the JCM800 Mad Oak set.

If you could inquire about that with Cliff or M@, that would be great! Maybe you'll have better fortune finding out this info... and then you can update the Wiki page with that info :). I did try asking M@ directly via a forum thread/posting but to no avail with a reply. Thanks Yek.
 
I saw where this was going a few nights ago and started to post something to try to defuse it, but I was tired and everything I typed managed to be confusing.

Here's what I know for a fact. Communication is largely non-verbal. I could say "you suck" about 10 different ways using inflection, tone, cadence, eye contact, hand gestures, etc., and none of those times would it be offensive. I type it on the screen and all you see are the words. Absolutely none of the message has been delivered and received. That's not disputable....it's fact.

Here is what I know as pure personal opinion. I've watched some of Clark's videos. He uses the same type of vocabulary as he posts for the most part. What he says can be the exact same words as what he types and they are two different messages. When you hear him say it is funny and inquisitive....you read it and it comes across a bit more like a swift kick in the giblets. I automatically apply my patent pending "Clark filter" to everything he posts. Basically I read it as if he was saying it to me in person.

Now we don't have that same type of filter that we can apply to everyone on the internet so if someone comes on here and is acting out of line I tend to be one of the bullies who steps in and tries to set things in order....typically with some passive aggressive jabs....I'm good at that. But when I read Clark's posts about 90% of the edge is knocked off of anything that he writes. If I didn't do that I'd probably think that he was just a colossal douche-bag. :)

Conversely if I ever posted like I speak in real life I'd be banned within the first sentence.

So yeah, Clark comes off as opinionated and highly critical....with the Clark filter engaged. But it's not malicious. If it was I'd have blocked his posts a long time ago. I've actually PM'd him in the past and while we aren't BFF's I like the guy. He can get people riled up and to be honest I think that a little bit of it is for effect, but just a little bit. When he asks questions it's coming from how he sees things and he's got a pretty unique perspective. He may not be technically right about every single thing that he ever says, but I do think that there is a genuine desire to learn if you can get past the way that it comes across in plain text. And I really think that his perspective does him a lot of good in how he tries to get to where he is trying to go in terms of sound. He's got his own thing going on and I like that about him. He's serious about this; more so than some of us are.

Doesn't mean that he is always right about everything. Doesn't mean that what he says is the definitive in regards to anything. It usually means that it works for him though.

To me Clark is enthusiastic, creative, energetic and highly critical. Great traits to have if you are trying to get something done. Not really great traits to have if you are posting on the internet and don't want to piss everyone off in the process. :)

So yeah I have a very opinionated view of Clark and it's pretty positive. If I didn't feel like I had gotten to know him over the years on here I'd probably think very little of him. But it's just like getting to know anyone in life; you get used to how they are and you get used to them to the point that you don't have to even really hear the words to know what they are feeling and saying. I honestly think that the online world that we live in causes a lot more discourse because of just how much is lost in the message from just reading it. I mean how many threads do you have to read where you get to the end and you ask yourself "what in the hell just happened...how did it get from point A to just complete trainwreck within a few pages?" I'd wager that if 90% of those discussions were face to face that they would take a fraction of the time and usually end in agreement or understanding.

It just sucks when you see it happening between people that you like and respect.
 
There is also the cultural difference. Clark is, as I recall, from Krypton ... oh wait ... Finland. Culture, manners, behaviour and language change from location to location and between social entities. It isn't even a matter of border between countries. So what may be regarded as disrespectful, naive or just idiotic should have meant something completely different - as shasha stated above.

An anecdote:
We in some parts of Switzerland are speaking Swiss-German, which is a dialect (some say it is a language - I disagree). We use the word "huere" to reinforce whatever follows (equivalent to "very", "extremely", or "f*cking"). Literally translated to German, the noun "die Hure" means "whore". So a German friend came over to pay us a visit and asked me: "Why are the Swiss people saying <slut> in every sentence?"

Another anecdote from a professor at law school:
When he was working as a police detective, a Brazilian guy was brought in for questioning because he was caught smuggling drugs. The professor was nice and cool-headed - as always - during the interrogation. At the end, he told the guy that he didn't believe a word he said and that they were going to press charges. The Brazilian suddenly started to yell, accusing the professor of jerking him around by being "so nice" - he should have punched him in the face at the beginning if he thought he was lying.
 
I have to agree with both above posts.

I was going to just say "You suck, Shasha! :D" but thought better of it. ;)

I'm Irish (originally), and we have a way of insulting folk unintentionally, referring to family members in less than glowing tones and generally being abrasive towards each other that makes outsiders scratch their heads until they get that we don't like to hug or kiss cheeks in greeting. If I referred to people here in that way I would be in Bannedsville in half a post. For instance, if I call someone 'special' on here, it's a compliment. If I call an Irish person 'special' I might get punched because it means mentally retarded to us! :D

So, I have to intersperse my posts with loads of smileys and grin faces to make sure that folk don't think I'm a 'douche', although I don't get what's wrong about being a bag of fluid...... ;) :p

How I combat my inner child going on a tantrum is that I read every post like I have the person in front of me with a great big grin on their face as they say it. That works when they're being nice, but when they're trying to insult me much hilarity ensues!

Let's all just hug, call each other names, get drunk on some mighty craft beer and lumber off into our respective corners of the net to sleep it off.

It works for Irish people!
 
I think a lot of people are looking at this thread in the wrong light.

For example, here's me in relation to this thread:

Homer Popcorn.jpg

Once you remove emotional reaction from interactions on forums, you can enjoy everything a whole lot more. It's not like arguing is going to "win the internet".
 
I'm in the middle. I disagree with attacking techniques used when we really don't know what they did to record the packs.

I was in the market for a modern IR pack, and was choosing between OH and Fractals. Being a local, I know I wouldn't choose Mad Oak to record heavy or modern stuff, I've never been thrilled with what I've heard from there. So I went with Ownhammer.

That's the thing with engineering. It's not an exact science. Personal preference, gear choice, it all adds up to a unique sound or approach at every studio. Some might like the way they do things. Some may not. The answer, however, is NEVER "you're doing it wrong!". There is no wrong.
 
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