KVR Audio

rpc9943 · Post by **rpc9943** » Sat Oct 18, 2014 2:20 pm

I have decided cab sims are the coloring I have been seeking. I have tried lepou and boogex... what is the optimum free option of choice? I am excited of the possibilities.

sbj · Post by **sbj** » Sat Oct 18, 2014 3:15 pm

This one is great: http://www.igniteamps.com/en/audio-plug-ins

Edit: it is the one called Nadir

Jafo · Post by **Jafo** » Sat Oct 18, 2014 3:21 pm

Nebula is the cab sim holy grail, some say. Mercuriall is almost as realistic, and much easier on the cpu. I also like CabEnhancer.

rpc9943 · Post by **rpc9943** » Sat Oct 18, 2014 5:11 pm

I own nebula but it has a lot of lag if I use the reverb version... Does it load IR's?

blueman · Post by **blueman** » Sat Oct 18, 2014 5:22 pm

Cabinet simulation is the weakest link in the chain right now, when it comes to digital simulations of guitar rigs. There is so much interaction--between the cabinet, the amp, the speaker, and the room--that is lost because cab sims, at least the ones that use impulses, are only able to take a static (fixed) picture of that entire event.

I haven't had much experience with nebula, but I have tried almost everything else on the market. To my ears, right now, ReValver 4 and Redwirez impulses have the best cabinet emulations. Recabinet is also decent. Some folks really like Torpedo WOS cabinet simulation. From my experience, Line 6 pod farm and Amplitube cabs are ones to avoid, with the exception of Amplitube's Orange cabs which are excellent.

As always, ymmv

AC222 · Post by **AC222** » Sat Oct 18, 2014 5:39 pm

blueman wrote:Cabinet simulation is the weakest link in the chain right now, when it comes to digital simulations of guitar rigs. There is so much interaction--between the cabinet, the amp, the speaker, and the room--that is lost because cab sims, at least the ones that use impulses, are only able to take a static (fixed) picture of that entire event.

I haven't had much experience with nebula, but I have tried almost everything else on the market. To my ears, right now, ReValver 4 and Redwirez impulses have the best cabinet emulations. Recabinet is also decent. Some folks really like Torpedo WOS cabinet simulation. From my experience, Line 6 pod farm and Amplitube cabs are ones to avoid, with the exception of Amplitube's Orange cabs which are excellent.

As always, ymmv

Hi blueman,

I agree with your assessment. I do have the Nebula cabs and they do sound a little bit fuller and blend with the signal better than most IRS but there's latency and it's a pain to scroll through presets when other sims/impulses have an actual GUI where you can adjust mic position parameters more easily. Plus way more cpu hit on top of that.

Do you have any opinions on WOS vs. Revalver? I wasn't a huge fan of Redwirez cabs (just personal taste) but the Revalver 4 clips I am hearing online sound pretty impressive versus other cab sims.

Cooker · Post by **Cooker** » Sat Oct 18, 2014 5:41 pm

rpc9943 wrote:I own nebula but it has a lot of lag if I use the reverb version... Does it load IR's?

Nope but you should use the normal version not the reverb then there should be no lag.

AC222 · Post by **AC222** » Sat Oct 18, 2014 5:56 pm

Cooker wrote:
rpc9943 wrote:I own nebula but it has a lot of lag if I use the reverb version... Does it load IR's?
Nope but you should use the normal version not the reverb then there should be no lag.

Thanks. Good tip. Nebula is confusing as heck. The advice I was always told was to use the reverb version for everything.

itneveris · Post by **itneveris** » Sat Oct 18, 2014 8:06 pm

Here are a bunch of free cab impulses

https://mega.co.nz/#F!5wlhGKoT!ce8973VbX3MrVTnADXz3hg

Cooker · Post by **Cooker** » Sat Oct 18, 2014 8:46 pm

AC222 wrote:
Cooker wrote:
rpc9943 wrote:I own nebula but it has a lot of lag if I use the reverb version... Does it load IR's?
Nope but you should use the normal version not the reverb then there should be no lag.
Thanks. Good tip. Nebula is confusing as heck. The advice I was always told was to use the reverb version for everything.

Cool, that is actually correct but only if latency isn't an issue like mixing mastering...though the quality on normal version for cab.s is really good, after recording I don't switch to reverb vers. for rendering.

More advanced methods; I usually drive them right before unwanted noises appear or increase dist. kernel settings if cpu can handle it. Usually good for clean stuff but not recommended if tightness is needed.

electro · Post by **electro** » Sat Oct 18, 2014 9:19 pm

I like the Overloud TH-2 cab sim.

zerocrossing · Post by **zerocrossing** » Sat Oct 18, 2014 10:01 pm

blueman wrote:Cabinet simulation is the weakest link in the chain right now, when it comes to digital simulations of guitar rigs. There is so much interaction--between the cabinet, the amp, the speaker, and the room--that is lost because cab sims, at least the ones that use impulses, are only able to take a static (fixed) picture of that entire event.

I haven't had much experience with nebula, but I have tried almost everything else on the market. To my ears, right now, ReValver 4 and Redwirez impulses have the best cabinet emulations. Recabinet is also decent. Some folks really like Torpedo WOS cabinet simulation. From my experience, Line 6 pod farm and Amplitube cabs are ones to avoid, with the exception of Amplitube's Orange cabs which are excellent.

As always, ymmv

What's not often discussed is that the "warmth" that's often spoken about when talking about guitar amps comes from the interaction between a tube amp's output stage and the load (the speaker). When it's said a speaker or speaker cab is x ohms of impedance, what they're talking about is an average or as they say, "nominal" value, but that impedance number is constantly changing based on the frequency content it's trying to reproduce.

http://www.prestonelectronics.com/audio/Impedance.htm

Anyway, in a true guitar amp simulator, this should be taken into account as it's very important. In the real world it acts as a kind of active low pass filter. A transistor output stage, which is often spoken of as being "cold" in comparison, has no such reaction to the load. In reality a transistor based amp can be more accurate as it does not color the sound in this way, but what we're looking at in these simulations is a pleasant sound, not an accurate one.

So... when you have a tube amp sim and you're running it though a speaker IR you can't have this interaction. As Blueman said, an IR is a static snapshot. I think, what my Kemper Amp Profiler is attempting when it profiles an amp is to send various tonal signals at various amplitudes (damn I almost always type "amplitube.") though the amp/cab/speaker system and then create an amp model based on the differences between what it sent out and what it got back. It's not a static snapshot (well it is in the case of the amps preamp settings) as I'm pretty sure it's taking a lot about how the system reacts to different frequency content at different volumes. I imagine it does this at fixed intervals and then interpolates between them to create the final effect, which, IMO is fantastic compared to using software amp sims and IRs.

That said, there are no rules. If you dig what a cab IR is doing to your signal, then it is good. It's not free by any means, but Speakerphone is phenomenal in my opinion. I also use Amplitube a lot to process drums, synths and other things. I disagree with Blueman there. I think a lot of the Amplitube cab models are great and they way it simulates mike placement and ambience in a room is very good. S-Gear too. I can't be sure, but I'd bet that those to mentioned software amp modelers do model the tube amp/load interaction when processing the signal. Oh I forgot, I also like (not for guitars) Guitar Rig. It's really good for synths IMO.

arkmabat · Post by **arkmabat** » Sat Oct 18, 2014 10:10 pm

Free Marshall IRs here:
http://www.redwirez.com/free1960g12m25s.jsp

Amplitude/Guitar Rig and Revalver all have free versions to get started with as well.

AC222 · Post by **AC222** » Sun Oct 19, 2014 1:46 am

Cooker wrote:
AC222 wrote:
Cooker wrote:
rpc9943 wrote:I own nebula but it has a lot of lag if I use the reverb version... Does it load IR's?
Nope but you should use the normal version not the reverb then there should be no lag.
Thanks. Good tip. Nebula is confusing as heck. The advice I was always told was to use the reverb version for everything.
Cool, that is actually correct but only if latency isn't an issue like mixing mastering...though the quality on normal version for cab.s is really good, after recording I don't switch to reverb vers. for rendering.

More advanced methods; I usually drive them right before unwanted noises appear or increase dist. kernel settings if cpu can handle it. Usually good for clean stuff but not recommended if tightness is needed.

Awesome. Thanks!

robertszalapski · Post by **robertszalapski** » Mon Oct 20, 2014 2:48 am

For free, you can actually use stock EQ to get a sounds that's effective in the mix with no cab simulation. (In one song I actually did DI -> free pedal sim -> EQ and it worked great.

If you're wanting something realistic that goes into the interaction between the power amp and load etc, you probably won't find free. Recabinet is my most recent purchase and it has a range of nice sounds.

Talk to me about cab sims...