Blind test! Guess the amp!

  • Thread starter Deleted member 27494
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Maybe I’m alone, but I can ‘most times’ hear the difference in a real life situation in the room when comparing IR’s with a real cab and speakers and mic.
Maybe just me, I dunno…
I realize I will probably get slammed all over for this but I really don’t care…
 
SQUAREHEAD said:
Maybe I’m alone, but I can ‘most times’ hear the difference in a real life situation in the room when comparing IR’s with a real cab and speakers and mic.
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What does "in the room" mean if you're comparing IR's to a mic'd cab? Generally "in the room" means cab to ear, no mic, no IR.
 
saxxamafone said:
Exactly.
Playing different amps through the same IR is no different than playing different amps through the same cab/speaker, mic and mic pre setup
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Man, I don't know.
I've shot out a lot of amps, recording with a room mic/camera, mic'd up cab, and with a Suhr RL through IRs.
The amps through the RL and IRs have a bit of homogenization compared to mic on cab, imo.
For instance, a Suhr Hombre and a DRRI sound quite a bit different in the room and mic'd when cranked through the same cab.
But they sound and react remarkably similar when going thru the RL into an IR.
Some intricacies are lost when real speakers are taken out of the equation.
Just my experience while recording at home.
I also found there to be a difference in feel and sound using the Fryette Power Station that so many claim retains the feel and sound of amps, so maybe it's just me.
 
LPMojoGL said:
Man, I don't know.
I've shot out a lot of amps, recording with a room mic/camera, mic'd up cab, and with a Suhr RL through IRs.
The amps through the RL and IRs have a bit of homogenization compared to mic on cab, imo.
For instance, a Suhr Hombre and a DRRI sound quite a bit different in the room and mic'd when cranked through the same cab.
But they sound and react remarkably similar when going thru the RL into an IR.
Some intricacies are lost when real speakers are taken out of the equation.
Just my experience while recording at home.
I also found there to be a difference in feel and sound using the Fryette Power Station that so many claim retains the feel and sound of amps, so maybe it's just me.
Click to expand...
Awesome, sounds like you've done a lot more testing than I have with this.

Ahhh the thing I forgot about with IRs and amps is the reactive load itself... that could be a reason why you're finding more amp similarities in the IR space compared to the real cabs?
I'm guessing that reactive load would be the same regardless of amp used and regardless of IR used.
And that reactive load would certainly be influencing the tone.

Devil is in the detail it seems :)
 
saxxamafone said:
Awesome, sounds like you've done a lot more testing than I have with this.

Ahhh the thing I forgot about with IRs and amps is the reactive load itself... that could be a reason why you're finding more amp similarities in the IR space compared to the real cabs?
I'm guessing that reactive load would be the same regardless of amp used and regardless of IR used.
And that reactive load would certainly be influencing the tone.

Devil is in the detail it seems :)
Click to expand...
Right, the common load may be the overriding factor in the sameness that is heard with different amps.

What LPMojoGL has done is great and may serve his needs but to know the difference between the sound of IR's vs mic'd speakers a meaningful comparison would need to be between a mic'd speaker against and IR of that exact mic'd speaker set up. Play through the amps into the cab, record the mic'd signal and take a feed from the power amp out, feed it through the IR of the same speaker+mic setup and record each of those signals to different tracks. When you listen back you're getting a true comparison of IR versus speaker+mic.

After that the questions are, (1) is there a difference, (2) is the difference noticeable, and finally (3) does the difference matter? The first question is objective, the second and third are subjective.
 
buddachile said:
After that the questions are, (1) is there a difference, (2) is the difference noticeable, and finally (3) does the difference matter? The first question is objective, the second and third are subjective.
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#3 is a big one for me.

At the end of the day I can't record live cabs where I am so I'm looking for a reactive load with good IRs to get me as close to the real thing as possible.

A tube amp with load and IRs has got me closer than an all in 1 modeler (in my experience).

All I want is the best tone I can achieve that inspires me to write and record music, that's the main goal.
If I end up getting 95% to what a real mic tone is, that will be good enough for sure.

Since I'll never get to do the A/B test, I probably won't know or care (hopefully).
 
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