Need Help Streamlining My Redwirez IR Mixing Process

Warrior

Warrior

Power User
Trying to streamline my Redwirez IR mixing process and I'm hoping for some help.

Am I supposed to be copying the IR Sysex files into the ir-mix-specs folder and then running the mixer or should I be able to leave the files where they at and list my recipe in the mix text doc and then run it?

If so, I could probably use some advice on organizing my IR folders correctly.

Right now I've got the following folders in my Red Wire Impulses folder:
BIGBox
BIGBoxBundle-RefFarField
CelestionBlue12-RefFarField
Speakerbox
mixIR

Within each of these are:

BIGBox
44.1 KHz-16bit
etc...
etc....
Axe-Fx
Marshall1960A-G12Ms
etc....
etc.....

BIGBoxBundle-RefFarField
RedWire Impulses
BigBox
44.1 KHz-16bit
etc...
etc....
Axe-Fx
Marshall1960A-G12Ms
TC30-Ref-FarFields
Marshall 1960....
etc....
etc.....

CelestionBlue12-RefFarField
RedWire Impulses
Speakerbox
44.1 KHz-16bit
etc...
etc....
Axe-Fx
Celestion-Blue12
etc....
etc.....

Speakerbox
44.1 KHz-16bit
etc...
etc....
Axe-Fx
Celestion-Blue12
Shure SM57
etc....
etc.....
CelestionBlue....

mixIR
ir-mixes
ir-mix-specs
etc...
 
Warrior said:
Trying to streamline my Redwirez IR mixing process and I'm hoping for some help.

Am I supposed to be copying the IR Sysex files into the ir-mix-specs folder [...]
Click to expand...
No. The IR Mixer uses the WAV files, not the Axe-Fx-proprietary SysEx files.

Warrior said:
[...] or should I be able to leave the files where they at and list my recipe in the mix text doc and then run it?
Click to expand...
Yes, or you can create your own text doc in the "ir-mix-specs" folder. The resulting IR mix will be named whatever you name the text doc, and will be put into the "ir-mixes" folder. In the "mixIR" folder, check out the "mixIR User Guide" (PDF or RTF) -- it explains everything.

After you have the mixed IR (a WAV file), you'll have to run it through a special WAV-to-SysEx converter for it to be in the Axe-Fx format. The IR Mixer doesn't do this. Probably the most used option is AlbertA's IR converter, found here...
http://guitarlogic.org/index.php?action=tpmod;dl=item9

And fwiw, here's my file structure...
redwirezfilestructure.jpg

...the "C:\Program Files\Red 5 Group (Redwirez)\" part of it is just where I decided to put it (I manually created the Red 5 Group folder) -- yours could be in a different root location, but the basic structure should be similar.
 
This is very helpful. Thank you for taking the time to do this.

Still got a question though!

I'm using the Speakerbox collection as well as both FF collections. How do this fit into the folder so that they will be accessed?

So I don't use the Axe-Fx files?
 
Warrior said:
[...] I'm using the Speakerbox collection as well as both FF collections. How do this fit into the folder so that they will be accessed? [...]
Click to expand...
Don't have Speakerbox, so I'm not sure. I imagine having the "Speakerbox" folder at the same level as the "BIGBox" and "mixIR" folders is correct.

For the FarFields, those are an add-on. It looks like you unzipped them into their own folder. Each of their folders has a "RedWire Impulses" folder in the unzipped folder. Drag that back out to the existing root RedWire Impulses folder -- it should tell you something like "there's already a folder with this name, overwrite existing files?" and click "yes" or "okay" or whatever. In other words, when you're done, the far field IRs should be just another IR option under each of the cab/speaker folders. In my screenshot, you can see the "TC30-Ref-FarFields" far-field IRs folder under the "Marshall1960A-G12Ms" as an example.

Warrior said:
[...] So I don't use the Axe-Fx files?
Click to expand...
For mixing the IRs, no.
 
I am finding the entire process to be PITA. As it is now you have manually edit text file and get the path and filesname correct, run the ir mixer, use another program to convert to syx then you have to push it out the Axe. Seems simple enough, but not when there are endless combinations to try. It would be great it there was a drag and drop interface with with mix paramters that could mix and convert and push it out the a user slot all in one go.

I just knew I shouldn't have purchased bigbox and started down this path again. I've been at a couple hours already and I have had quite enough mxing. When I mess with the already converted irs on a single ir basis I have found nothing remarkable yet. Onward....
 
> It would be great it there was a drag and drop interface with with mix paramters
> that could mix and convert and push it out the a user slot all in one go.

+1 for sure

- John
 
The online mixer is now available. Mike gave a link on one of his recent posts. You put in you email address that you used to buy, and they send you a personalized link that allows you access to all of the IR's you purchased. It's very fast and easy.


EDIT:

Info at the bottom of the page:

viewtopic.php?f=15&t=10988&start=90
 
Charlie Wardick said:
I am finding the entire process to be PITA. As it is now you have manually edit text file and get the path and filesname correct, run the ir mixer, use another program to convert to syx then you have to push it out the Axe. Seems simple enough, but not when there are endless combinations to try. It would be great it there was a drag and drop interface with with mix paramters that could mix and convert and push it out the a user slot all in one go.
Click to expand...

Yup. It's a hack. Real software takes time and money to develop. I've taken the approach that for some people having something is better than nothing. Clearly, other people would rather wait for something more refined.
 
For people really wanting to streamline the IR mixing process I would advise mixing in a DAW until I have the time to come up with a better interface. For people just wanting to bake (and maybe tweak) a published mix recipe, then the online mixIR is for you: http://www.redwirez.com/getmixirlink.jsp.

For DAW mixers, I've created a Reaper project you can download here: http://www.redwirez.com/ir/mixIR-Reaper-Project.zip

Reaper is free to download and evaluate for 30 days.

Here are the basic steps for mixing up an IR in Reaper using this project:

To get your mix right:
----------------------

* Click on track 5 (Audition Track)to highlight it.
* Click on the Insert menu option, then click on Media File
* Find a 48KHz 24 bit recording of your amp with the cab block turned off and load it
* Click on the little green FX button on track 1 (IR1), the effects chain is loaded with ReaVerb
* Click on the File item in the Impulse Generation box
* Click on the Browse button to find your IR.

NOTE: The trim item automatically trims the IR to 22ms, which is about what the Axe-Fx allows, so these should sound the same in the DAW as the do in the Axe-Fx.

* Repeat for IR2, IR3, and IR4. Be sure to unmute the IR track if your are using it by clicking the little "M"
* Hit the Play button and mix to taste

NOTE: Do not let the Master track level go over 0.0 dbFS. You will see a red clip indicator if you do

* Hit Stop


To generate an IR from your mix:
--------------------------------
* Mute the Audition Track and unmute the Dirac Pulse track.

NOTE: TURN DOWN YOUR MONITORS OR HEADPHONES because the pulse is a loud click.

* Hit Play and adjust the volume slider on the Master track until it gets as close to 0.0 without going over on the click.
* Hit Stop
* From the File menu select Render

NOTE: In this project I've set up a custom render that starts at 0:02.000 and stops 23ms later, so it just renders the relevant part of the IR saving you from having to trim the IR manually to remove silence from the start and end

* Close the subsequent pop-up
* Your rendered file is the mixed IR
* Convert it to sysex and load it.

Hopefully this will help some of you who feel you absolutely must mix IRs to get the sound you want.
 
Mike,
The web based mixer seems to be working just fine. Thanks! Please keep up the great work on your IRs!

- John
 
redwire said:
For people really wanting to streamline the IR mixing process I would advise mixing in a DAW until I have the time to come up with a better interface. For people just wanting to bake (and maybe tweak) a published mix recipe, then the online mixIR is for you: http://www.redwirez.com/getmixirlink.jsp.

For DAW mixers, I've created a Reaper project you can download here: http://www.redwirez.com/ir/mixIR-Reaper-Project.zip

Reaper is free to download and evaluate for 30 days.

Here are the basic steps for mixing up an IR in Reaper using this project:

To get your mix right:
----------------------

* Click on track 5 (Audition Track)to highlight it.
* Click on the Insert menu option, then click on Media File
* Find a 48KHz 24 bit recording of your amp with the cab block turned off and load it
* Click on the little green FX button on track 1 (IR1), the effects chain is loaded with ReaVerb
* Click on the File item in the Impulse Generation box
* Click on the Browse button to find your IR.

NOTE: The trim item automatically trims the IR to 22ms, which is about what the Axe-Fx allows, so these should sound the same in the DAW as the do in the Axe-Fx.

* Repeat for IR2, IR3, and IR4. Be sure to unmute the IR track if your are using it by clicking the little "M"
* Hit the Play button and mix to taste

NOTE: Do not let the Master track level go over 0.0 dbFS. You will see a red clip indicator if you do

* Hit Stop


To generate an IR from your mix:
--------------------------------
* Mute the Audition Track and unmute the Dirac Pulse track.

NOTE: TURN DOWN YOUR MONITORS OR HEADPHONES because the pulse is a loud click.

* Hit Play and adjust the volume slider on the Master track until it gets as close to 0.0 without going over on the click.
* Hit Stop
* From the File menu select Render

NOTE: In this project I've set up a custom render that starts at 0:02.000 and stops 23ms later, so it just renders the relevant part of the IR saving you from having to trim the IR manually to remove silence from the start and end

* Close the subsequent pop-up
* Your rendered file is the mixed IR
* Convert it to sysex and load it.

Hopefully this will help some of you who feel you absolutely must mix IRs to get the sound you want.
Click to expand...

Wow - that's cool. And it works. :D

Back to the rabbit hole tommorrow, eh? Whew.
 
If you guys havent spent the $60 to buy Reaper, its well worth it.
Thanks for the tutorial Mike! Awesome!
 
Made a slight change to the Reaper project. I slid the dirac pulse one sample to the right which allows the resulting IR to start at or near the zero crossing. Doesn't seem to make an audible difference, but it's prettier.

BTW, this technique is the same as the one used by AndrewSimon, a couple of months ago. The only difference is that I set up the routing in Reaper and Reaper allows you to specify the render size, which is kinda cool.
 
GuitarDojo said:
If you guys havent spent the $60 to buy Reaper, its well worth it.
Thanks for the tutorial Mike! Awesome!
Click to expand...

Outstanding. I bought Reaper long ago; at $60, it's a no-brainer. I like it better than Samplitude or Cubase, which is where I come from. Reaper is outstanding and for the price of a license, ridiculous ROI.
 
This is awesome! So Reaper has an IR 'player' built in! I love this program!

Great stuff, Mike!!! I was just busy writing an email to you about how to do this, so this saved me the sending and you the answering!!!
But having a ready-made project is even better than I expected! Thanks a 1,000,000.
 
Just an FYI, the project I posted is specifically set up to audition and render IRs for the Axe-Fx. It cuts everything down to 22ms which is about the Axe-Fx limit. So, don't use this project if your end result will not end up on the Axe-Fx.
 
Mike, thank you SO MUCH for putting this together. I downloaded it last night, fixed up the paths to those you referenced in the sample project, mixed it and came up with an AMAZING sounding IR. It sounds so real and so alive that I'm speechless!

One question - how does one accurately go from the settings in Reaper into a text format that can be fed to the IR Mixer? It would just be good for sharing patches.

Thanks again!

Mark
 
I put up a little calculator that does the conversion between percentages and dB. Feel free to check my math :) It's not my strong suit.

http://www.redwirez.com/pcalc.jsp

It makes a couple of assumptions. First, all of your IRs should be normalized to the same level. Our IRs are all normalized to about -0.03dB. You need to feed the dry signal to your IR tracks at the same level. The project I posted does this. Third, you need to make sure you're not clipping the Master buss when you're mixing.

If these criteria are met then you should be ok converting between the two.
 
Thanks for putting up the calculator, Mike. I was ball park guessing what the % to db ratio, so this really helps me out!
 
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