Need Help Understanding Cabinets and Ultra Res etc

joe1871

joe1871

Inspired
Hey All,

I am a somewhat casual user of the Axe. With life getting in the way, I don't have the time to spend on deep dives to get better handles on this stuff.

I do understand that changing cabinets has a direct and significant effect on your tone. I have a lot of software that effects the tone on my Axe, but I am kind of wandering around in a fog when it comes to understanding which cab is best, and why. I look at these massive lists of cab IR's and I wonder who has the time and the patient family/neighbors to audition them to select which ones are good and which aren't. And of course, like everything else, this is subjective - my good sound may not be yours.

I am wondering if there is any resource like Cooper Carter's class, or even a white paper, that explains and lists out the IR's and what is good for what. I realize I am not likely to want an 8" speaker when rocking out, but there are so many 12" cabs, I have no idea where to start. And what is "UltraRes". I see many references to it, especially lately, but I don't understand what it is and if I want it. I think I'm supposed to want it, but why?

I know there will likely be a lot of "RTFM" answers to this, and I realize I should be more familiar with this part of the world of Axe, but I need a little help.

Thanks
 
joe1871 said:
Hey All,

I am a somewhat casual user of the Axe. With life getting in the way, I don't have the time to spend on deep dives to get better handles on this stuff.

I do understand that changing cabinets has a direct and significant effect on your tone. I have a lot of software that effects the tone on my Axe, but I am kind of wandering around in a fog when it comes to understanding which cab is best, and why. I look at these massive lists of cab IR's and I wonder who has the time and the patient family/neighbors to audition them to select which ones are good and which aren't. And of course, like everything else, this is subjective - my good sound may not be yours.

I am wondering if there is any resource like Cooper Carter's class, or even a white paper, that explains and lists out the IR's and what is good for what. I realize I am not likely to want an 8" speaker when rocking out, but there are so many 12" cabs, I have no idea where to start. And what is "UltraRes". I see many references to it, especially lately, but I don't understand what it is and if I want it. I think I'm supposed to want it, but why?

I know there will likely be a lot of "RTFM" answers to this, and I realize I should be more familiar with this part of the world of Axe, but I need a little help.

Thanks
Click to expand...

A mix of your experience with real cabs and microphones, what you know that your favorite guitarists are using, a lot of trial-and-error, and asking for recommendations for a particular tone at this resourceful community.

Here is a good introduction:
 
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For me, it's ears only. I mean, some of my favorite IRs would never be ones I'd think to try in the real world, but something about the way they were captured just works perfectly for me. I really think, a good basic strategy is to set amp controls relatively neutral on BMT, set the gain and MV in the ballpark of where you want to be, presence and depth at zero, and start playing back a loop in the appropriate style, scrolling through IRs until you're remotely in the ballpark. Then I think it's pretty easy to dial in everything else, with as many controls as we have in the Axe FX III.

This is just my M.O., and it might be total crap for someone else haha, so take it with a grain of salt, but it totally works well for me. :) Best of luck finding a method that works well for you!
 
Yep I hear ya, coming from only ever playing one amp for decades to Fractal land was overwhelming for me too. I personally use TV Mix 7 from @2112, it’s a great shot using a mix of mics. Then I tune the amp to suit the IR, rather than going hunting for an IR that suits the amp. Low cut at 80, high cut 8k, bit of smoothing, and then close the lid and forget about it!
 
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@Cooper Carter made a sweet sweet patch recently that instantly became my main gigging tone as well… so I guess you can use expert presets as a starting point.
https://forum.fractalaudio.com/threads/perfect-edge-of-breakup-tone-60-second-sounds-4.174531/

As for ultrares, that’s an IR that captures the sound of the whole room. Normal IRs capture the speaker up real close, so you have to add reverb (unless you want that really close studio sound) and maybe play with the room parameter. Ultrares is mainly to get closer to the fabled ‘Amp in the room’ sound, as opposed to the mic’ed cab sound we hear on records and at concerts. If you’re playing live you wouldn’t use this, and I have never been unhappy with my headphone/IEM sound, and if you’re on III MkI you can’t use it anyway (for now at least). There is a lot of fuss in the AITR thread about it if you’re interested. I’d love it to be available as a MkI user but will survive if it isn’t. So while you’re in pursuit of your own IR strategy I’d give the Ultrares question a miss!

(PS Cliff if you read this I’d still love it on MkI!!! Don’t take my contentment with MkI as a vote against having Ultrares available!!! 😁)
 
Pick a cab IR that you like, and go with it.

With millions of combinations of amps and cabs it just is too much. Don't sweat this 'full-rez' thing.

You will stumble on combinations that blow you away. It might take months or years.

Play your guitar. These tone things are tiny and stupid compared to that.
 
tysonlt said:
@Cooper Carter made a sweet sweet patch recently that instantly became my main gigging tone as well… so I guess you can use expert presets as a starting point.
https://forum.fractalaudio.com/threads/perfect-edge-of-breakup-tone-60-second-sounds-4.174531/

As for ultrares, that’s an IR that captures the sound of the whole room. Normal IRs capture the speaker up real close, so you have to add reverb (unless you want that really close studio sound) and maybe play with the room parameter. Ultrares is mainly to get closer to the fabled ‘Amp in the room’ sound, as opposed to the mic’ed cab sound we hear on records and at concerts. If you’re playing live you wouldn’t use this, and I have never been unhappy with my headphone/IEM sound, and if you’re on III MkI you can’t use it anyway (for now at least). There is a lot of fuss in the AITR thread about it if you’re interested. I’d love it to be available as a MkI user but will survive if it isn’t. So while you’re in pursuit of your own IR strategy I’d give the Ultrares question a miss!

(PS Cliff if you read this I’d still love it on MkI!!! Don’t take my contentment with MkI as a vote against having Ultrares available!!! 😁)
Click to expand...
You meant FullRes ;)
 
A good place to start is to match the cab/amp combo to its real world equivalent. I.e. Class A TB model to an AC30 2x12 cab etc.

These are tried and tested combinations so it's a good starting point. Also if you click on the cab number field (so it becomes highlighted) in Axe Edit in the cab block you can use your up/down arrow keys to very quickly go through them, means you can avoid opening the picker menu which can be a drag.
 
There's really no substitute for auditioning a lot of the cabs. You'll be told to just learn what speaker type, cab type, mic type and mic position you need for a particular application and narrow your search. This works to a point, but if you search with your ears, you'll find lots of speakers, cabs, mics, and positions that work better than the obvious choices, and that you'd never consider by going the orthodox route.

For example, I found out that the 1x cabs work much better for me than 4x12s for my Marshall tone, and that there is life beyond 57s and 121s. I've even found a couple of V30 cabs that I like, and I didn't think I'd ever say that.
 
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