Hx fx- impulse response questions

[AdamAndroidFG]

Im new to the hx fx and could really use some recommendations and help regarding impulse responses.

 

I run my guitar through a bbe sonic maximizer and then through a vox Ac50 ( with upgaded tubes, and V30’s :) ) 

I run the hx fx in 4cm.

My band rehearses D.I. Into the mixer ( drummer plays a roland TD30, so its really nice) 

but its still important for me to use the AC50

as the tone is incredible and regardless of the fact we all use “ in ears” live and in rehearsal im using a moderate amount of amp volume on stage and blending it with my D.I. Signal into the P.A./monitors.

 

Thats why i was really excited to use impulse responses.

 

Heres where i can use some help/recommendations and opinions.

 

1. Ive played around with placing the IR block before and after the Fx loop 1 block.

so far I prefer it placed after, but i cant really tell much of a difference.

Anyone have any info or experience with this?

what is your preference?

 

2. I downloaded a bunch of IRs . I have some “speaker”  ones (the allure pack) and those all seem pretty useable. 

 

One of the best results ive had so far is the V30 IR (from allure)

 

I have the mix set to 100 and the volume somewhere around -6.5 -8.0 db

 

I also find it totally necessary to use the low cut feature as the bass frequencies  easily start to overdrive.

 

Changing IR,s the confusion/frustration/doubt starts to set in.

 

Heres some examples- 

Acoustic guitar resonace ir’s i have , including this hollowbody ir i have sound absolutely funky.

Maybe they are crappy idk but its led me to believe that IR’s work best emulating something similar to your sound. 

I mean i run v30s out of my cab.

So running a V30 IR after my effects loop block seems to make my D.I. Signal sound alot more like my amp and that is a wonderful result.

but trying to make it sound like a jazz box, or a hummingbird acoustic, is experimental and probably wont yield good results.

 

However, i did load a gods cab (its like a 6505 with a mesa cab and a sm7b mic)

 

it needed a ton of low cut. 

And it really overdrove my signal easily. But at -8.0 db lvl with 100mix and a low cut, when i added a distortion, i got a killer sound. 

I mean awesome metal tone.

 

some feedback or personal experience on this would be a godsend.

 

3. So to some it up into some more direct questions.

 

whats with the overdriving?

are some of these ir,s supposed to be distorted?

where as some are just clean cabinet/mic “simulations” (or moments in time whatever you wanna call it)

-8db seems awful low for a level setting should i be looking elsewhere?

 

what kind of mix and level do you guys use?

Is 2048 samples always better?

 

Anything pertaining to using impulse responses with hx fx in 4cm especially settings would help alot.

If in the end i can properly add an IR to all my presets resulting in my DI sounding more realistic and just having better tone altogether i would be very happy.

 

just dont know if im doing it right.