Question for Mikko......

Coldsummer

Experienced
......and anyone else suitably qualified to chime in!

I've just purchased cab pack 18 and am really enjoying trying out the different IR's and mixes, I'm getting some really nice warm results yet with plenty of clarity and punch. One of the main benefits I'm finding is that these IR's help some presets cut through the mix better without altering the basic tone of the preset which is really useful. I'm planning to try cab pack 8 next.

However, I've always been a bit overwhelmed by the IR thing to be honest. I think maybe it's because I've never been in a studio environment and experienced the real life practice of recording different speakers using a variety of mics and placements so it feels alien to me and I often feel that I'm shooting in the dark especially when faced with a mass of IR's and I simply don't know where to start apart from trying each one in turn. Because of this I tend to go for the custom mixes first just to narrow down the choices.

So my question is, can you give me (us) a brief summary of the characteristics of each different mic and placement, and perhaps which sounds/situations each one would suit? I know it's a huge can of worms and it can be subjective but a push in the right direction would be really helpful to me so I have some idea of a more 'informed' starting point rather than aimlessly auditioning random IR's until stumbling upon one.

I know there will be a lot of eager souls at this point just wanting to utter the immortal 'use your ears' but that really doesn't help and isn't what I'm asking.

Anyway, any helpful answers would be very appreciated!
 
Good question! I take my miking very seriously and you should know that I've built a microphone robot that is able to fine tune mic positions down to under a millimeter while I'm able to listen to the sound in a control room.

I believe in sweet spots. That's not a mic position I could describe by words since it varies from speaker to speaker. A lot of it has to be kept a "business secret" like how far the mics are from the cab and if they're angled and how much. I can tell you that my mic positions are mostly somewhere inbetween what people might call Cap-Edge and dead center. And different mics require a different mic technique. I go for "the most pleasing sound" which I know is an opinion but I've created a science for it. Balanced, clean, cutting, articulate, smooth and most importantly they have to sound great on high volumes.

I shoot a lot of IR's and test them before they end up in the final Cab Pack. The ones that end up in the pack are all pretty damn good since about 50%-70% of the IR's shot don't make it through. The creme de la creme have their own folder "Ace" in all of my packs. Those are the sweetest sweetspots according to my creed. The other IR's might have cool characters to them and their beauty lies in their perfect imperfections.

Miking with your eyes creates quantity over quality and that's not my thing. Even with my qualitative approach people are easily overwhelmed by the amount of IR's. :)

Side note! Before you get Cab Pack 8 you should know there will be a Brit Collection released this month that includes Cab Pack 8 among many must have cabs: http://forum.fractalaudio.com/threads/ml-brit-collection-the-mothership.105956/
 
Back
Top Bottom