Cab Impulse Response Megathread

#41
Since so many musicians have been affected by this virus, not only getting ill, but also having gigs, tours, and teaching sessions dry up, I thought I would put together this free cab pack to give you a little joy in your life while we are all sheltering in place: Dr Bonkers In This Together™ Cab Pack IR Collection
 
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#42
dr bonkers said:
I thought I would put together this free cab pack to give you a little joy in your life while we are all sheltering in place: Dr Bonkers In This Together™ Cab Pack IR Collection
Click to expand...

Hi, I'm trying your package right now under JTS Bassforge Rex Brown. I'm really digging the 2x15 Sunn for a warm mid-focused tubey vintage sound with a bit of breakup. Thank you for the great package!

Just a stupid question: since the link within your PDF manual doesn't seem to work (at least for me), I guess we should load the files with the sampling freq and bitrate that match our interface settings, right?

Cheers! :bassist:
 
#43
EmaTheMirror said:
Hi, I'm trying your package right now under JTS Bassforge Rex Brown. I'm really digging the 2x15 Sunn for a warm mid-focused tubey vintage sound with a bit of breakup. Thank you for the great package!

Just a stupid question: since the link within your PDF manual doesn't seem to work (at least for me), I guess we should load the files with the sampling freq and bitrate that match our interface settings, right?

Cheers! :bassist:
Click to expand...
Odd the link was working yesterday when I distilled it.

Yes, you are supposed to match the IR sample rate to your interface/session sample rate.

That's great to hear that you find the files useful.

Thanks so much for using my stuff.
 
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#45
dr bonkers said:
Odd the link was working yesterday when I distilled it.

Yes, you are supposed to match the IR sample rate to your interface/session sample rate.

That's great to hear that you find the files useful.

Thanks so much for using my stuff.
Click to expand...

Awesome work mate! Haven't used IRs before so will be interested to see how the Marshall 8x10 fits with my sound, will have a look at your other 8x10's after to purchase.
 
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#47
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#48
Bumping this for more opinions. And thanks for the free pack @dr bonkers , that rocks! I can't wait to load them this weekend and check them out.

I'm a long time guitar player, just starting out on bass. So I'm hoping to get some guidance about what IRs people have thought were best.

In general, here's an excellent example of the type of alt-rock sound I'm going for - The Breeders/Josephine Wiggs.

 
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#49
soundxplorer said:
Bumping this for more opinions. And thanks for the free pack @dr bonkers , that rocks! I can't wait to load them this weekend and check them out.

I'm a long time guitar player, just starting out on bass. So I'm hoping to get some guidance about what IRs people have thought were best.

In general, here's an excellent example of the type of alt-rock sound I'm going for - The Breeders/Josephine Wiggs.

Click to expand...


I'd be lying if I said I have experience with a lot of IR producers but comparing Lancaster Audio to Dr. Bonkers, our medical professional wins by a landslide. I mostly run Sunn IRs currently for the classic stoner doom sound. Have some more picked up though I'd be lying if I said I've explored them enough.

I would add that cabinets and emulation thereof is not nearly as important for bass as it is for guitar due to the instrument's cleaner sound and the tendency to not use nearly as much overdrive, if any at all. For stuff without distortion or other out of the ordinary frequencies to tame, I prefer to just run without an IR to let the instrument shine through a little bit more.

Anyhow, I can't offer that much input on the song you posted. The highs sound a bit more open than an 8x10" or 15"/18" based cab to me. I'd guess it's either two or four 10" or 12" speakers but I could be way off there. The "industry standard" for bass is an Ampeg 8x10 fridge, I'd never rule it out without trying it or getting confirmation elsewhere.

Another cool thing you can do is use guitar cab IRs and complement with a clean bass signal. Loads of ways to go about it with multiple IRs, crossovers, plain blending, etc.
 
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#50
YawningJorin said:
Another cool thing you can do is use guitar cab IRs and complement with a clean bass signal. Loads of ways to go about it with multiple IRs, crossovers, plain blending, etc.
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Absolutely true - you can combine IR's with a clean bass signal. Or a Guitar IR with a Bass cabinet IR. Phase problems can happen in the mids/highs just like in real life. Phase problems can be detected easy just by muting one or the other cabs. Phase can be corrected with any of the many DAW phase plugins available.

Modelers that include cabinet IR's account for the mid phase differences, and/or they allow you to vary the mic placement on purpose just by dragging it on the screen. Mic placement is probably subtle for bass but more effective for guitars and keyboards (Leslie).
 
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#51
soundxplorer said:
Bumping this for more opinions. And thanks for the free pack @dr bonkers , that rocks! I can't wait to load them this weekend and check them out.

I'm a long time guitar player, just starting out on bass. So I'm hoping to get some guidance about what IRs people have thought were best.

In general, here's an excellent example of the type of alt-rock sound I'm going for - The Breeders/Josephine Wiggs.

Click to expand...

Thanks so much.

The song clip sounds like an Ampeg VST with some sort of 8x10 with medium room or studio reverb to allow that bloom.

Which 8x10 would get you that sound? Either an Ampeg or Aguilar would be in the sonic neighborhood IMHO. There be some di signal phase aligned and mixed in low volume for clarity.
 
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#53
dr bonkers said:
The song clip sounds like an Ampeg VST with some sort of 8x10 with medium room or studio reverb to allow that bloom.

Which 8x10 would get you that sound? Either an Ampeg or Aguilar would be in the sonic neighborhood IMHO. There be some di signal phase aligned and mixed in low volume for clarity.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I just loaded your SBB 8x10 (Ampeg) and it's hitting the sweet spot. I'm using it with a Strymon Iridium and I was worried that the Marshall amp sim would restrict the frequency range, but no, the low end is definitely there with the IR. And thanks for the tip about mixing it with a DI.
 
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#56
Hey @dr bonkers, thanks for posting that Together pack... That's a class move right there, and much appreciated!

I snagged it, but also wanted to make an actual purchase to send at least a little something back your way, so I also got the Cab Classics Vol 1 pack since I have a PF500/PF115HE as one of my physical amp setups... Finally one that I have a real world reference to! Looking forward to checking out both packs!

I definitely need to explore IRs further, because gigs (pre-COVID anyway) are moving more and more to IEM/ampless, and I have several IR packs downloaded from 3Sigma, Redwirez, some assorted "freeware" IRs and now some Dr Bonkers. The only ones I've ever actually explored are 3Sigma's acoustic upright responses that I use with my NXTa... and they make a world of difference.

Now that I'm self-isolating, I guess I have some time to do some exploration! :cool:

5sg.
 
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#59
Zbysek said:
I have been considering 3Sigma's acoustic upright IRs for my NSD NXT too… I don't have any pedal to upload them to... Which pedal do you use? And which particular IR do you favour? THX
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I run my NXTa straight into my HX Stomp, which can load IRs.

My NS came with NS Traditionals strings so it sounds (and feels) a bit more like an acoustic upright than with the standard strings, but the 3Sigma acoustic IRs still made an immediate and positive difference. The NXTa sounds a bit dry on it's own since it's an electric instrument, and the responses definitely livened up the sound and gave it some really nice character. Not totally like an acoustic upright of course, but a big step closer!

I bought all three 3Sigma upright bass impulses so I could explore and while all three models are quite nice, I like the sound of the Prescott the best and use the 3C response (for "bold low end" and recorded with an Audio Technica ATM 250DE mic). I've included the manual below and also in the Dropbox link so you can check out their descriptions.

Some of the people in the NXT Megathread were wondering as well, so I did some audio samples. The DB link includes samples of all three models, and I did samples for each response going through the different mics (the samples marked 1A-5A) and then I explored the #3 models (my favorite from all three) a bit further so people could see the difference between A, B, and C for low end. Sidenote: the different low end responses are handy to have loaded up, in case a venue is boomy.

Before I got the 3Sigma IRs, I was also exploring with a bit of Delay on the NXT... just a smidge (15 millisecond delay time) so it's more like Reverb. You'll find that audio sample in there as well, along with a dry clip for reference.

And finally, I've been working on some remote collaboration stuff with my main band, and I've got a sample in there with the drum and upright track in there for a horn acapella arrangement of All About That Bass.

Here's the link, hope the audio helps your decision!
Fivestringgecko - NXT Audio Samples


Roxbororob said:
Ive blown so much gas money lately (and have no room left on my board) that I went economy/small. I have a Nux Mini Studio on its way. Does anybody else have one?
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I didn't even know about that Mini... Looks like a nice little IR loader. Some of the cats over in the Great Bass Preamp/DI Thread speak pretty highly of the Nux Melvin Davis, so I'd imagine the Mini would be quality as well. If I didn't have my Stomp, I'd definitely think that one would be worth a try.

I know you've already got the Mini on the way, but for anyone else wondering about IR loaders, the other one I'd check out would be the Mooer Radar. It's a little more expensive than the Mini, but also seems like another quality little unit for loading IRs. Rabea did a Youtube demo here, and speaks quite highly of it as well.

5sg.
 

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#60
@Zbysek - I forgot to mention...

With the NXT in particular, I'm using a strong high frequency cut. The IR loader in the Stomp has built in high/low pass filters on just the IR block, which has been pretty key. I set a low cut of 40Hz right when I started using the 3Sigma responses to dial out the low rumblies. My original clips were recorded with the high cut set at 6kHz, but I've slowly and steadily been dialing that down to get even closer to acoustic upright. Check the All About The Bass sample... I have the high cut set to 3kHz for that one. It really helped dial out some of that high "string on fingerboard" fizziness that you'll hear in the other/original samples.

If the NXT will be your main use for impulse responses, I'd suggest finding an IR loader that has high cut/low cut (LPF/HPF) built in. Maybe the Mooer? I don't quite remember it's features, been a while since I watched Rabea's demo.

5sg.
 
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