What happens to the Fractal Cab Pack 3 when Ownhammer updates their libraries?

[barhrecords]

It may be more cumbersome than mixing the wave files & then converting but I would think you can convert the wave files to ultra res, then bring in 2 or more ultra res files to make 1 mixed file to send to the Axe. Hopefully it will at least be able to do that.

That's what I think too.

Batch convert all your .wav files to .ir (and .syx) files using Cab Lab... then... commence o' festival... and mix

 

[shasha]

Is this even close to accurate?

Cab Pack is almost exactly what it would cost to buy the same collection of IR's from OH directly. Only difference being that you would have to wait for CabLab to be updated for UltraRes conversion and for Kevin to upload all of the longer format IR's....and then of course you have to convert them yourself.

If you buy directly from FAS you can use them now and not have to wait for Cablab or do the conversion.

But if you already bought the product from OH than of course you aren't going to be as compelled to drop another $99.95 for the already converted product. Legally Kevin can't provide the new format, but he can provide the longer IR's.

The only other question is what about future cabinets and drivers. If OH expands one of these packs than you usually get them as free updates. If you buy from FAS it sounds like you are buying what is available as of this moment in time and that is it (which is how it works in most cases in life).

Am I even remotely close because this shit is confusing.

 

[joegold]

It may be more cumbersome than mixing the wave files & then converting but I would think you can convert the wave files to ultra res, then bring in 2 or more ultra res files to make 1 mixed file to send to the Axe. Hopefully it will at least be able to do that.

My guess is that you won't be able to do it that way.
I think you'll need to have two or more UltraRes capable IRs (i.e. IRs longer than 100ms) which you can mix down to a single .IR file via Cab Lab.
And then you can convert that mixed IR to UltraRes.

There seems to be some weirdness going on with Fractals IR file format(s) though.
And I don't really understand it yet so I shouldn't comment further.
But that won't stop me.

There are going to be .IR files and .syx files.
My guess is that if you shoot an IR with the Axe-FX's IR Utility and you want to save it on disk as an UltraRes IR it will get the .syx format.
My understanding is that UltraRes .syx files will not be mixable via Cab Lab.
But at the same time you save that UltraRes .syx file you can also save a non-UltraRes version of the IR in the new .IR format.

Cab Lab will be able to mix .IR format IRs that are longer than 100ms, but I don't know:
1. If the resulting mixed IR can be saved in UltraRes format or not.
2. If these long .IR files can also be mixed with non-UltraRes .syx files.
3. If these long .IR files can be mixed with UltraRes-ready .wav files.
4. If these long .IR files can be mixed with non-UltraRes-ready .wav files.
5. If the resulting mixes of scenarios 2 thru 4 above can be saved as UltraRes .syx files.

As far as 3rd party companies still getting purchases from Axe-FX users in the future is concerned, speaking for myself, I'll probably just continue buying the .wav files from them and converting them to UltraRes myself with Cab Lab, because I'm cheap and that will be cheaper as well as way more flexible.
Remember that you can use these .wav files in a DAW too, .wav files that are at even higher resolution w/o compressing them than UltraRes files.
And if they do get UltraRes licenses from Fractal I hope they still provide the .wav files too w/o any extra $.

And hopefully there won't be anything sneaky going on, like if the UltraRes IRs that Fractal sells directly are somehow higher quality than UltraRes files we make ourselves via Cab Lab.

 

[plyall]

I have a related question (or possibly not, as the answer will determine) - what about those of us that bit down and bought the OH speakers for the upfront 'kickstart-like' pricing? I still have in excess of $100 credit at OH - will they be reselling this cab pack as well?

It just seems that if those of us who had faith in OH early on could muster together the early $$, that there should be some way to be able to benefit from OH's collaboration with FAS. Right? Or should I prepare for 'incoming'?

Thanks! :numbness:

 

[Genghis]

My guess is that you won't be able to do it that way.

And I don't really understand it yet so I shouldn't comment further.

And that probably would have been enough right there. From what I remember reading (and I'm not gonna search ever thread to find the quote), you can get the IR files and mix them, and I think it even said somewhere you will be able to mix raw wave files somewhere. Maybe not in the first release, but I think it was in the plan at some point. And for a final disclaimer, I COULD BE WRONG, but I believe it was in one of the recent posts from the man himself that I get this information.

And hopefully there won't be anything sneaky going on, like if the UltraRes IRs that Fractal sells directly are somehow higher quality than UltraRes files we make ourselves via Cab Lab.

After all Cliff has done to make this thing the best product available and his endless pursuit of excellence I really don't know why you would even suspect anything "sneaky". Hasn't he shown that his end goal is the relentless pursuit to get the best tone possible? I really don't know why you're trying to drum up some conspiracy theory out of this. In my opinion that is just downright insulting.

 

[joegold]

I'm not trying to drum up anything.
You're the one who's being insulting.
I'm just trying to get some information.

Perhaps "sneaky" was a bad choice of words.
There's so much confusion associated with the proprietary aspects of the new UltraRes format right now and the paranoid guy in me just looks to the worst scenario, that's all.
Someone once said: If you always expect the worst you'll never be surprised or disappointed.

 

[Genghis]

I'm not trying to drum up anything.
You're the one who's being insulting.
I'm just trying to get some information.

Perhaps "sneaky" was a bad choice of words.
There's so much confusion associated with the proprietary aspects of the new UltraRes format right now and the paranoid guy in me just looks to the worst scenario, that's all.
Someone once said: If you always expect the worst you'll never be surprised or disappointed.

Actually, you may not have intended to be insulting, but it comes off that way... mostly because of the choice of the word sneaky. I on the other hand did intend to come off that way... mostly because of the word sneaky and the way your post insinuates expecting the worst from someone who has always delivered in the past. It just really rubbed me the wrong way, and I apologize for letting it get to me.

My only advice is be a little more patient and all will be revealed... when... wait for it...


SOON!

 

[joegold]

Look...
I don't expect that UltraRes IRs that are derived from Ownhammer .wav files that Fractal sells itself will be any better somehow than UltraRes IRs that I make myself from the same .wav files (assuming that OH makes these same .wav files available to me) via CabLab.

But based on certain unknowns at this time that IS a possibility.

UltraRes is a proprietary format for Cab IRs that can ONLY be used on an Axe-FX II.
You can't use them in your DAW.
You can't use them with a Kemper or any other modeller that allows for 3rd party IRs.
Etc., etc.

We simply don't know yet how Fractal is going to proceed with this.
Cliff has always had certain tricks he's applied to the stock internal IRs, like somehow removing the sonic artifacts of the mic used to take the IR so that we can use mic sims effectively with the stock cabs.
Who knows how the whole UltraRes thing will be implemented as Fractal goes forward?
I don't.
That's why I'm asking.

And we don't really know yet whether OH will make the exact same .wav files that Fractal used to make Cab Pack 3 available to people who bought the same libraries already from OH.
I hope and expect that they will, but I don't know yet.
That's why I'm asking.

I have nothing but thanks, admiration and gratitude to Fractal for this amazing product and the continued development of it all at no extra cost to me.
It's unprecedented in the music equipment manufacturing industry.
I have always wanted to have direct feedback with the people who make the gear I use because in the past they always seemed to make really bone-headed choices in the way that they developed their products.
The interaction here with Cliff, and the fact that he listens and implements his users ideas and at such a rapid pace, is also unprecedented in the music equipment manufacturing industry.
I don't expect anything "sneaky" from him.
But if he does make it so we can only get the highest quality UltraRes IRs by buying them directly from Fractal he's got every right to do that.
I might whine about it for a few days but then I'd get over it and move on.

 

[joegold]

Cliff has always had certain tricks he's applied to the stock internal IRs, like somehow removing the sonic artifacts of the mic used to take the IR so that we can use mic sims effectively with the stock cabs.

Actually, that's not completely true.
I/we don't really know everything that Cliff does to the IRs that are included as stock IRs with the Axe II.
Me saying that basically relates back to a previous fantasy I had of how I thought the majority of the stock cab IRs were done but also to my experience with the now #119 stock IR as detailed below.

Most of the stock IRs that do not have a qualification that they are OH or RW IRs were shot with a TC30 test mic which is flat enough that you can consider it to have no mic coloration at all and makes these IRs suitable candidates for further processing via one of the Cab Block's mic sims.

But I know of one stock IRs that breaks that mould though, #119, the 1 X 12 E12L (V9) IR.
This IR was originally at #8 in firmware 9 and then was removed in firmware 10, but a few users such as myself missed it.
At first Cliff just posted the .wav file and the .syx file from which that IR was derived and it's called "EVM-12L KM84-3in".
Eventually he put it back in a later firmware update where it still resides now as #119 "1 X 12 E12L (V9)".

My understanding is that it's a RW IR taken out of the Speakerbox EVM library.
I own that library too.
There isn't an IR file in there with that exact same file name ("EVM-12L KM84-3in") but there is one called "EVM-12L-KM84-Cap-3in" and I've always assumed that the file that Cliff posted and the file that was used for #119 started out as this same RW file.
But the two IRs sound quite a but different.
The raw RW file is brighter and does not take well to using any of the mic sims.
But both the file that Cliff posted and the #119 cab type DO take the mic sims quite a bit better.
So, either Cliff really has done some sort of post-processing to this IR (e.g. simulating the removal of the tonal coloration of the KM84 mic) or the raw RW file that I own is not the same file.
So, I'm not really sure if Cliff has some magic voodoo he applies to his raw IRs before he loads them into the Axe's stock cab types slots.
But I suspect that he does do something like that with at least some of the stock cab types.

So, again, this makes me wonder if UltraRes IRs created and marketed by Fractal might wind up as being superior in some ways to UltraRes files acquired by some other means.

But I'm just thinking out loud here and am playing devil's advocate.
There's probably nothing to worry about at all with creating our own UltraRes files with Cab Lab and a suitable .wav file.

 

[joegold]

I guess we're not going to get any info about the questions above from Cliff or anyone else at Fractal.

Oh well.

Just have to wait until the new Cab Lab is released and find out for ourselves.

Don't suppose they'd want to give us a hint when that will be?

 

[tomc3084]

Ahhh, the suspense is killing me!