An Idiot's Guide to Making Impulse Responses?

[DannyMcO]

Is there a step-by--step guide to making impulse responses available anywhere that I can use for my Helix and PowerCab Plus?

 

I have a heavily customized Mesa Maverick 2x12 that I'd like to make IRs from. 

 

The Mesa sounds great, but the Powercab's 35 pounds vs the Mav's 97 is definitely a factor, as is the flexibility of amp & speaker models and IRs available through the Helix/Powercab combo and the improved live PA options. So far I'm impressed with the Powecab, but I haven't even really scratched the surface of it.

[Thark]

Hi Danny. Yes, there is a guide on YouTube ... several in fact. The one that I used (very successfully, I might add) is:

 

 

Give it a try. It's really cool!

 

[spikey]

I would move next door to Michael Britt and become best friends with him. ; )

[amsdenj]

If you're on a Mac, and you have Logic Pro X (and why wouldn't you?!), Logic comes with an Impulse Response Utility that makes this pretty easy. See the doc for instructions. It's pretty easy.

 

Note however that there's generally more to it than what's shown in the video above. First there's the cabinet, speaker, mic and room variation. The room will have a big impact on the result, especially as you move the mic further away from the cabinet. Second, many of the IR production companies do other processing on the IR, to phase align them, maybe adding some EQ, Z-modeling for dynamic impedance, and possibly other things they don't tell is. 

 

I've made a few IRs in my garage, and I have to say I was pretty happy with the result. So if you have a speaker you love, try capturing an IR so you can use it with Helix.