IR vs Cabinet Block

[Haljon]

Hello all,

 

I'm new to all of this and am not sure I understand the difference between a IR and a cabinet block. Can someone clear this up for me?

 

Thanks,

 

Haljon

[phil_m]

Functionally, they're doing the same thing (for the most part). The Line 6 cab models are actually based on IRs along with some other processing magic. The main difference is that a single IR file is kind of like a sonic snapshot. It gives you that can with whichever mic and whatever distance it was at when the IR was created. You can't edit any of those parameters apart from loading a different IR file. That why commercial IR collections have hundreds or thousands of files associated with them. The Line 6 cabs are dynamic in the sense that you can select different mics, distances and other parameters all in the cab block without digging through a ton of files.

[PeterHamm]

If you can make your Helix sound great with the built-in cabs as I can (hint: change the mic, learn how to use hi and lo cuts, and mess with mic distance and early reflection)... then no need to load up on IRs imho.

[Haljon]

Functionally, they're doing the same thing (for the most part). The Line 6 cab models are actually based on IRs along with some other processing magic. The main difference is that a single IR file is kind of like a sonic snapshot. It gives you that can with whichever mic and whatever distance it was at when the IR was created. You can't edit any of those parameters apart from loading a different IR file. That why commercial IR collections have hundreds or thousands of files associated with them. The Line 6 cabs are dynamic in the sense that you can select different mics, distances and other parameters all in the cab block without digging through a ton of files.

So basically, they both do the same thing and should go last in the chain, but you can edit the cab block (mics, mic placement and the other options) but not an IR because it is a representation of the set up of 1 mic and 1 cab at that moment. A different mic or cab or mic placement would require a different IR that captured that set up. Correct?

[phil_m]

So basically, they both do the same thing and should go last in the chain, but you can edit the cab block (mics, mic placement and the other options) but not an IR because it is a representation of the set up of 1 mic and 1 cab at that moment. A different mic or cab or mic placement would require a different IR that captured that set up. Correct?

 

Basically correct, although, there's nothing saying they have to go last in the chain. If you want stereo effects with one cab or IR, you would actually have to put those after the cab/IR block.

[Haljon]

Basically correct, although, there's nothing saying they have to go last in the chain. If you want stereo effects with one cab or IR, you would actually have to put those after the cab/IR block.

Thank you for responding. This clears it up for me. !!

[shanecgriffo]

yeah, just think of helix cabs as a cab and mic that you can go into the room and tweak around a bit, move the mic etc.. the IR is like - the engineer did the work for you.. if you dont like the sound tell him to go back and try something different (load another IR) 😉😂