What is the easiest way to combine impulse responses ?

[koalaboy]

Let's say I have created several stereo Impulse Responses, and want to combine them.

Is there an easy way to do this, and then export a new 'combined' IR ?

[whyterabbyt]

Depends on what format they're in, and also what you actually mean by 'combine'

Non-proprietary IRs will be WAVs for example, so can be mixed or whatever in an audio editor. If its a proprietary IR that can be converted to WAV and back, then try that.

[koalaboy]

All in WAV. By combine, I want to experiment with things such as if they averaged out, or blended between.

I know there is some guitar software to do this, but I was looking for something more general.

(for example: https://redwirez.com/products/mixir3-ir-loader)

[No_Use]

I'd think you can do this in any DAW and process the IRs like you can with any other wav files (i.e sum/'combine' them) and then render them as new IRs.

[koalaboy]

Unfortunately, whilst that may be true, there's no way to hear the effect of the blend whilst mixing, in that way.

[imrae]

MConvolutionMB lets you do all kinds of crossovers and mixes between IRs in realtime. I guess you could always bounce the output to an IR by feeding it an impulse sample.

[neverbefore]

convolution is a linear process so you can combine two convolutions by running them in series - no need to premix the impulses, that reduces your options rather thanexpands them

[Gribs]

Audiothing's Fogconvolver 2 can load 2 IRs and combine them in various ways. What I don't see is a way to export the combined IR's as a single IR.

If you have a convolution plugin already, you can put it on an audio track with the first IR then load the second IR into the plugin and record the sound you get playing the track.

Smoothing the IR would be similar to filtering (low-pass), which you could do using a DAW similar to the above. Same for nonlinear effects - various distortion effects.

If you really want to go nuts, you could buy the "pro" version of VCV-Rack, which includes a pretty cool convolution module. You can buy the plugin host module set, too.

[kidslow]

Many IR loaders offer the ability to combine and generate a new WAV file. Why does it matter if it's designed for guitar? Repurpose for your needs.

The cheapest of them would be Audio Assault aIR Impulse Rack, which can get down to around the $5 price point at times. If you want something more interesting look at StL Tones Ignite Libra or Forward Audio Fairmageddon for visual placement and mixing of IRs. I haven't yet found the perfect combination for my needs but I keep hoping one will sprout up or one of the existing ones will get an update and check my boxes. For now I use aIR and Fog Convolver.

[kevinsparks]

GetGood Zilla cab lets you load and mix several IR's, then export them to a single WAV very easily

[kvaca]

convolution is a linear process so you can combine two convolutions by running them in series - no need to premix the impulses, that reduces your options rather thanexpands them

this!...doing it realtime is much better option...
also you can choose to run them in series or parallel to get different results

[koalaboy]

Why does it matter if it's designed for guitar? Repurpose for your needs.

Unfortunately, this isn't the case. Just testing the demos with a close IR and a 'parking garage' IR for ease of listening, most guitar cab loaders do not work for reverb IRs - I suspect they shorten the length or similar.
Libra seemed a great idea, but playback had very little effect on the input.
faIRmageddon was similar and looked great, but crashed constantly in StudioOne and had the same lack of 'effect'.
aIR Impulse Rack was closer, but with a maximum impulse time of 500ms, which is no use for reverb.

At the moment, it seems that using any convolver in series, or Fog Convolver 2 for dual, or HOFA IQ-Series Reverb V2 for 4 (and other benefits) and then re-capturing a single IR using Melda or Fruity, is the best option I have.

With tools like Accentize Chameleon making it easy to 'emulate' existing reverb, and then FabFilter Pro R-2 being able to 'algorithmize' (roughly) any IR, there is a gap in the middle. I'd love one tool that could do it all, obviously - take several existing 'sounds', capture the 'reverb', and then allow mixing and algorithmic changes... but we're not there yet.

This is not for realism - it's for creative experimentation, where 'roughly' is good enough, but without having to try and manually recreate what I hear from scratch - using computers/AI/tools to help me move to where I want to be. This is the sort of thing that computers should be great at.

I'll keep looking. Thanks to everyone for the ideas/feedback so far

[koalaboy]

convolution is a linear process so you can combine two convolutions by running them in series - no need to premix the impulses, that reduces your options rather thanexpands them

this!...doing it realtime is much better option...
also you can choose to run them in series or parallel to get different results

I appreciate that, but then there's the annoying step of having to re-capture a single impulse at the end. I could record the output and use chameleon again, but that's more lossy than I'd like once I've been making changes.

It is an option though, and one I guess I can use if nothing else is available.

[koalaboy]

Update: I have learned (Yes - too many things to learn) that MConvolutionMB from Melda has an IR button in the toolbar, which will automatically export an IR equivalent to the current settings (with obvious caveats about being 'static').

This simplifies mixing two IRs at least, with a more intuitive capability. I'll keep experimenting.

[neverbefore]

I dont understand your motivation in wanting to combine multiple IRs into a single one for reuse - that seems counterproductive for creative manipulation because once you combine them that's it.