Does the Quad Cortex use impulse responses for their cabs
or are they simulations?
I think a lot of the cabs sound great, better than a lot of IRs
I have tried and was wondering if that was because they ae IRs also.
It uses IRs. Theyāve just done multiple snapshots in different places with each mic.
I disagree on the quality of the cabs/IRs point though. They might be comparable to other modelers but there are much better IRs from third parties. Also you have to take into account that most of them were done before launch over 3 years ago so theyāre probably a bit stale and dated. I think the same could be said about the cabs in the plugins.
I think that depends entirely on personal taste.
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Cool, if you like muddy IRs.
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It probably depends a lot on the genre or style youāre working in, I find some of the stock cabs are great for low/mid-gain tones. Could definitely use more bass cabs, but there are some very usable IRs amongst the stock offerings
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I agree, I can usually match whatās available with commercial IRās on the QC with some low/high cuts and tweaking the EQ a bit. That being said, I do have some favorite V30 IRās that are commercial from York Audio but YMMV. For the most part, the stock IRās sound great and are very versatile IMO.
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I donāt think micing cabs has changed much in the last three years, or even a decade or two. People are still searching for tones recorded several decades ago. A lot of the cabs were done by professionals like Nolly and ML. I think they sound great and I love being able to tweak them by simply moving a virtual mic around.
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I like the built-in speaker sims. I would use those before jumping into 3rd party IRās. Because, why would Neural make lesser quality IRās compared to third parties? I donāt understand why some of you reach that conclusion (other than subjective opinion, which is fine). If you watch videos of Neural showing how they captured amps and speakers for the QC, you can see they really used top notch studios, engineers and equipment to do so. Recording equipment did not get any better in the last 2 years as far as I know. I would be genuinely interested to hear why 3rd party IRās are so superior. Not trying to start a fight:) I am really curious, maybe I am missing something.
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I think what it probably comes down to is that we each have our own personalized rig containing a LOT of variables that create our signal chain.
NDSP canāt test the process with every conceivable type of strings, guitar, pickup, cable, speaker, headphone etc. To achieve our personal tone preference, a lot of factors are involved and I think some folks just find the stock IRs donāt respond with their gear the way others do or theyāre used to.
Itās not āuser errorā exactly- just user preference as translated thru all the other components of their particular signal chain.
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Theyāre just muddier and darker than others I have. Also Iām not a fan of moving the mic around, Iād rather go for an IR which tells you the type of sound (what Ownhammer does), pick two and blend them. Also if you want to see potentially what the difference can be, watch the followingā¦
(30) Make your modeler sound like a REAL AMP [the easiest & most effective way] - YouTube
This thread sent me down the rabbit hole of categorizing and auditioning the ridiculous amount of IRs that came with the TJ everything pack.
The beauty of the QC - why not use both IR and cab sim? Iāve done that for a few presets. Sounds great. Iāve also gotten great results with just cab sim and just using IRs. Iāve found the cab sims to be slightly darker on my monitors at lower volumes but through a PA they sound perfect. Some brighter IRs Iāve found too bright through a PA. Same in the mix - partially about your environment too.
Thatās also why Iāve got recording presets and live presets, to make small tweaks to accommodate different environments.
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The great part is when using Cortex Control to quickly audition IRs, captures and amps. This makes categorizing, auditioning and related so much easier and enjoyable IMO!
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^^^ This. The stock QC IRs tended to sound too dark for me with my studio monitors at home, so I switched to ML Sound Lab to make custom IRs that are much brighter. The ML Sound Lab IRs I created sounded great at home, but then they wound up being too bright when playing live and going into FOH. Your playing environment makes a huge difference.
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No doubt, thatās a real time saver! Cortex control is awesome on so many levels.
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Exactly. Anything with a boost in the upper highs or thatās louder can give the impression that it sounds better. Even if you apply a subtle and clean boost in front of your amp, chances are youāll feel it sounds better, but is it really better? Itās all about psychoacoustics, the same phenomenon that occurs in audio mastering. My students at SAE always perceive mastered tracks as sounding better until I have them listen to the unmastered version at the same apparent level.
Itās a matter of personal taste, and thatās perfectly fine. I own York IRs, and I like them for some purposes, while I prefer the stock ones for others. I believe they are equally good and useful.
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As others have already answered the IR question, I would just add that the stock IRs are high quality. It really just comes down to individual taste and how each player ādecodesā the IR question. Having tried both 3rd party IRs and stock IRs, I really donāt hear a significant difference. Sometimes what we hear is partially the result of what our expectations are. You canāt discount psycho-acoustics. You canāt discount individual biases and how those biases and expectations affect perception. Itās a thingā¦kind of like thinking your car is running better, after you just waxed it lol. I do like the flexibility of being able to tweak the stock IRs, which you canāt do with 3rd party IRs. But I get that some people will like 3rd party IRs better. Iāve tried some really fantastic ones and also some that ended up sounding like ass lol. So it can cut both ways. All of this is, of course, perfectly fine. You use what works for you and you discard what doesnāt. If you dig the stock IRs, use 'em. If you donāt, there are tons of high quality 3rd party ones you can try. And provided you go with a reputable company, I donāt think youāre going to be disappointed. Cheers!
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