Stock Cabs Don't Sound Real?

Birdy

Inspired
From my experience with my XL+, the stock cabs really don't work for me.
They sound nothing like micing a real amp, whether I'm the one micing it, or some random guy on YouTube.
The majority of the cabs are very boomy in the low end, muddy or hollow in the midrange, and fizzy on the top end.
They're also kind of roomy (in a bad way), and not "in your face".

If I want to create a new tone, I always find myself decreasing the speaker size, adding a bunch of dephasing, air, and preamp drive, exporting that as a new cab, and using that as my new starting point for the tone.
(Or just going for a tonematch)

Again, I'm comparing it to micing a real cab in a studio.
Not an amp in a room, not a mix, not a live show.

Am I the only one who's experiencing this?


Now before you ask, I've tried all stock cabs with many different amps, different guitars, different presets, different volume levels, different monitors, different firmwares, with/without mic sims, and my settings are all correct.
 
Probably the thing that let's down the ll is the lack of cabs. The lll has over 2000 and the new York Audio and ownhammer stuff is superior I think.
 
What are you listening to the axe with?
Studio monitors.
(just for the record, same deal with headphones as well)

Probably the thing that let's down the ll is the lack of cabs. The lll has over 2000 and the new York Audio and ownhammer stuff is superior I think.
I’ve tried some 3rd party cabs, though not many.
They’re usually more on the thin/fizzy sound rather than boomy, but still bad compared to a simple mic on a cab.


I found that my Ultra and II/XL+ sounded stellar once I replaced the stock cabs with purchased IR's :)
Same answer as the quote above :)
 
Can you record and share some examples?
  1. Is your Global EQ flat?
  2. Is your Poweramp modeling on?
  3. Is you Cab modeling on?
  4. Other Global settings edited?
  5. Are you adjusting the Cab block 'Low' and 'High' cuts as needed?
 
The best 3rd party cabs are York Audio ®️
I’ll check them out tomorrow.

Can you record and share some examples?
  1. Is your Global EQ flat?
  2. Is your Poweramp modeling on?
  3. Is you Cab modeling on?
  4. Other Global settings edited?
  5. Are you adjusting the Cab block 'Low' and 'High' cuts as needed?
Like I said, all my settings are correct, so:
1. Yes
2. Yes
3. Yes (obviously)
4. No
5. Yes
 
If you have a mic’ed amp you’ve recorded that you want to match post a clip along with the details of the amp and the capture path. Easier to hell if we know what your reference for good tone is.
 
If you have a mic’ed amp you’ve recorded that you want to match post a clip along with the details of the amp and the capture path. Easier to hell if we know what your reference for good tone is.
I’m not taking about matching a specific sound, that’s very easy to do with the tone match block or even 3rd party EQ match and IR makers.
I’m talking about creating a tone from scratch, without having to rely on tone matching.

I’ll try to explain myself better.
I’m not talking about good/bad tone, because that’s subjective of course.
I’m talking about the difference in sound between micing a real cab, and using the stock cab block.
Which one of them is better is irrelevant, what I’m talking about is the huge difference I find between them.

I don’t have access to amps I recorded in the studio right now (because of the quarantine), but again, there isn’t anything special about my recordings, just play your favorite gear demo channel on YouTube, doesn’t even matter which one as long as they mic a cab.


Okay, just checking.. How about a clip?
A clip of what? A stock preset?
 
I’m not taking about matching a specific sound, that’s very easy to do with the tone match block or even 3rd party EQ match and IR makers.
I’m talking about creating a tone from scratch, without having to rely on tone matching.
We have no idea what good sounds like to you if you don't provide us with a point of reference. We can post clips until the cows come home, but we're just guessing at what you want to hear if you don't provide us with a reference point for what you're after.

I don’t have access to amps I recorded in the studio right now (because of the quarantine), but again, there isn’t anything special about my recordings, just play your favorite gear demo channel on YouTube, doesn’t even matter which one as long as they mic a cab.
Got a stem from a session you can share maybe? Doesn't have to be much.
 
I’m not taking about matching a specific sound, that’s very easy to do with the tone match block or even 3rd party EQ match and IR makers.
I’m talking about creating a tone from scratch, without having to rely on tone matching.

I’ll try to explain myself better.
I’m not talking about good/bad tone, because that’s subjective of course.
I’m talking about the difference in sound between micing a real cab, and using the stock cab block.
Which one of them is better is irrelevant, what I’m talking about is the huge difference I find between them.

I don’t have access to amps I recorded in the studio right now (because of the quarantine), but again, there isn’t anything special about my recordings, just play your favorite gear demo channel on YouTube, doesn’t even matter which one as long as they mic a cab.



A clip of what? A stock preset?
have you heard any Axe-Fx recording that uses cab sims that sounds good to you? just trying to figure out what's going on.

if you were to hear a recording of an Axe with its Cab sims that sounds acceptable, then use the same exact preset and it doesn't sound good on your rig, we could get closer to the issue.
 
here is one of Yorks IR


Alright this sounds way better than the stock cabs and doesn't seem to be fizzy like other 3rd party cabs I've tried!


We have no idea what good sounds like to you if you don't provide us with a point of reference. We can post clips until the cows come home, but we're just guessing at what you want to hear if you don't provide us with a reference point for what you're after.


Got a stem from a session you can share maybe? Doesn't have to be much.
Like I said, I don't have any access to recordings since I can't access the studio I work at.
And in my home studio I'm not using a real amp for years now, don't even own one.

And again, it's not necessarily about sounding good, it's about sounding real.
Any specific example I'll give you will just fixate you on one tone and derail you from my point.
You can get a crappy sound with a real mic and cab too, but you can still hear that it's a real mic and cab.

What amps are you using?
Like I said, it's not about a specific amp.
I've tried all of them, literally one by one.

have you heard any Axe-Fx recording that uses cab sims that sounds good to you? just trying to figure out what's going on.

if you were to hear a recording of an Axe with its Cab sims that sounds acceptable, then use the same exact preset and it doesn't sound good on your rig, we could get closer to the issue.
Of course I did hear many Axe recordings that sounded great, though I had no idea what cab they were using, so I don't know if it's stock or 3rd party.
However, there was a little preset pack I bought which sounded identical to the sound demo when I played it on my setup, so I don't believe there's a technical issue (it did use a custom cab though).
 
And again, it's not necessarily about sounding good, it's about sounding real.
And again, "real" isn't a word that describes sound so we can't help you get it.

However, there was a little preset pack I bought which sounded identical to the sound demo when I played it on my setup, so I don't believe there's a technical issue (it did use a custom cab though).
Which pack?

Alright this sounds way better than the stock cabs and doesn't seem to be fizzy like other 3rd party cabs I've tried!


There's no fizz in that and it's a stock IR from a III. So if you like that, you want an IR pack from the store.

Is "less fizz" the sound you want? With what amps?

The better you get at describing what you need, the better the help gets. No way around that. Otherwise it's just guessing.
 
And again, "real" isn't a word that describes sound so we can't help you get it.
Real is not a word to describe sound?
Do you wanna search this forum for the phrase “sounds like a real amp”?
Have you ever used virtual instruments? Some of them sound more real, while others sound more fake.
It is most definitely a word to describe sound, specifically to describe when something is close to the sound it’s trying to mimic or simulate.
 
I think that if you can't find it in the stock cabs you won't find it anywhere else. There are so many stock cabs. If they all sound wrong to you then 3rd party cabs will also sound wrong. Maybe the Axe fx cab/amp modeling just is not for you?
 
I think that if you can't find it in the stock cabs you won't find it anywhere else. There are so many stock cabs.
I'm on the XL+ (not the III), so I have "only" 189 factory ones.
And I say "only" because I think that should be enough.
Anyway, I do "find it" when I tone match, I get great tones which I've used for a few years now and over dozens of songs, both my own and others'.
 
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