Making a IR for Dt25

[CraigGT]

I'm just floating an idea here,

 

I'm using a Helix with a DT25 using L6 link and I'm still finding that I prefer the sound if I turn off the cab in the Helix and turn on a cab in the amp.

 

But what if there was an IR that in effect turned the DT25 into a FRFR? That could just be dropped in last in the chain and then you could use all the cabs in the helix to their full effect.

 

Would that be possible? I've no idea how an IR is made.

 

Craig

[cruisinon2]

I've no idea how an IR is made.

 

Me neither, but what I do know is that a speaker is either FRFR, or it isn't. No amount of digital fairy dust can induce FRFR performance from a speaker not physically capable of generating it.

 

You can go the other way....like the Stagesource "electric guitar mode" which limits the response of a true FRFR speaker, thereby mimicking that of one with a narrower range, but you can't create what isn't there initially.

[CraigGT]

But an IR transforms a FRFR into a 4x12 so why couldn't the reverse be true?

 

Craig

[cruisinon2]

But an IR transforms a FRFR into a 4x12 so why couldn't the reverse be true?

 

Craig

Because a speaker is either capable of generating certain frequencies or it isn't. Cutting out frequencies that are actually there is easy...that's what "electric guitar mode" does. The digital equivalent of throwing a wet blanket over the speaker, if you will. But you can't force a speaker to generate frequencies which are beyond its innate physical capabilites.

 

It would be like trying to pump a 4K color image into a sh*tty old black and white TV from 1968, or putting racing slicks on a '72 Pinto and expecting to win the Indy 500...you can't exceed any device's maximum level of performance.

[phil_m]

But an IR transforms a FRFR into a 4x12 so why couldn't the reverse be true?

 

Craig

 

Because the frequency response of a guitar speaker/cab is simply a physical property of its construction. It can only accurately reproduce frequencies within a certain range, so if you're trying add sonic information outside that range it won't work. It's why trying to get an acoustic electric to sound good through a traditional guitar amp is pretty much impossible. If you start off with an FRFR system, on the other hand, the IR is really working more in a subtractive manner. It's actually filtering the signal and making it so what the speaker is reproducing is more guitar cab-like.

 

Basically, a guitar cab is limited frequency playback system, and that's a built-in limitation. It's not a perfect analogy,  but it's a bit like trying to create an enlarged picture if you're starting with something like a jpeg compressed to a small size. You can't add detail that's not there.

[CraigGT]

Good point Phil, 

 

Like I said, I was only thinking out loud.

 

Craig

[gunpointmetal]

You could probably make an IR that would give you "flat response" for the particular speaker, but it would never be "full range". Having a flat response IR WOULD probably make using other cab models/IRs more pleasant, but in changing the response that way, you're probably also going to limit the efficiency of the speaker.