Speculum Speculorum
Power User
Hey guys.
First off, total respect for Fractal Audio and everything they're doing for the modeling community. I love my Axe-fx II and it makes recording a breeze for me. That said, the following pertains only to recording guitar direct. I doubt very much that anyone playing live would notice much of a difference at all due to changing circumstances, volume, etc. Also, this is just an opinion. And as such YMMV. So here it goes.
Up until very recently I was an ardent follower of UltraRes cabs and was perfectly happy being that way. But I was persuaded, after much haranguing, to try bypassing the cab block completely, and us long (500 ms) IRs in my DAW through an IR loader. "Fine. I'll try it."
So I run Logic Pro X, and there's a handy dandy little thing in there called "Space Designer" that can also load .wav file based IRs. I loaded in my go-to OH cab and started playing. I noticed pretty immediately that there were some significant differences. The lows and mids sounded richer and fuller. The highs sounded less papery and brash, and the overall balance and response seemed more natural. The definition of the cab resonance was better, and I could "feel" the amp and cab responding more than before. The thing that stuck out to me most though, was that at about 1000 hz on up, the UR cab tends to have this "crinkley" sound that sticks out, especially when multi-tracked. Upon layering of many guitars (particularly of the hard rock/metal variety), this zone tends to start to pile up and sound... well... digital. The long file is much more smooth through this region and helps to tame this zone, it seems.
Now, were these differences so striking that I think the cab block and UR technology is useless? I wouldn't go that far, no. But I will say that it was different enough that for important recordings I won't be using it any more. Also, my needs are simpler than some. Obviously this won't work for people who use complex post-cab effects. I am fairly simple in my post cab stuff and have access to long stereo files as well. I tend to run things similar to an amp and cab - effects loop going through to the cab, so since I have the ability to use stereo files I'm set.
I am now using MixIR2 which came with the RedWirez BigBox back when I bought it. Any IR loader will do, as long as it has the ability to load stereo files. Also, an added bonus. You no longer have to worry about running out of cab slots!
First off, total respect for Fractal Audio and everything they're doing for the modeling community. I love my Axe-fx II and it makes recording a breeze for me. That said, the following pertains only to recording guitar direct. I doubt very much that anyone playing live would notice much of a difference at all due to changing circumstances, volume, etc. Also, this is just an opinion. And as such YMMV. So here it goes.
Up until very recently I was an ardent follower of UltraRes cabs and was perfectly happy being that way. But I was persuaded, after much haranguing, to try bypassing the cab block completely, and us long (500 ms) IRs in my DAW through an IR loader. "Fine. I'll try it."
So I run Logic Pro X, and there's a handy dandy little thing in there called "Space Designer" that can also load .wav file based IRs. I loaded in my go-to OH cab and started playing. I noticed pretty immediately that there were some significant differences. The lows and mids sounded richer and fuller. The highs sounded less papery and brash, and the overall balance and response seemed more natural. The definition of the cab resonance was better, and I could "feel" the amp and cab responding more than before. The thing that stuck out to me most though, was that at about 1000 hz on up, the UR cab tends to have this "crinkley" sound that sticks out, especially when multi-tracked. Upon layering of many guitars (particularly of the hard rock/metal variety), this zone tends to start to pile up and sound... well... digital. The long file is much more smooth through this region and helps to tame this zone, it seems.
Now, were these differences so striking that I think the cab block and UR technology is useless? I wouldn't go that far, no. But I will say that it was different enough that for important recordings I won't be using it any more. Also, my needs are simpler than some. Obviously this won't work for people who use complex post-cab effects. I am fairly simple in my post cab stuff and have access to long stereo files as well. I tend to run things similar to an amp and cab - effects loop going through to the cab, so since I have the ability to use stereo files I'm set.
I am now using MixIR2 which came with the RedWirez BigBox back when I bought it. Any IR loader will do, as long as it has the ability to load stereo files. Also, an added bonus. You no longer have to worry about running out of cab slots!
