Hey, WhoWatt/HiWatt model fans, what's your favorite IR?

[ptsmith]

The only IR I currently have that's a real HiWatt cab with Fane speakers is from Redwirez. I really like their IR's in general and I like their HiWatt but I feel like it has a weird bump in the mid-range. Not sure if that's a real HiWatt things or just how theirs sounds. For those of you who like this amp, what's your favorite speaker cab or impulse response that makes it work?

[rd2rk]

Which of the 649 (+12 Ambient) Redwirez HiWatt Impulses did you feel had a "weird bump" in the mids?

 

I'm certainly no mix engineer, so whenever I use Redwirez IRs I always consult their very excellent download "Dialing in your tone with Redwirez IRs", in which they give a very basic but informative description of the mics and positions and how to use them. Before you let a dozen different anonymous internet experts tell you all about their (totally subjective) favorite IRs, you should have a look at that paper and give Redwirez a chance to do what they've done fantastically for longer than any of the others have been around! After all, you've already PAID for them!

 

Disclaimer - The BIG BOX was my first IR collection. I was overwhelmed! In the years since I've tried 3Sigma, Rosen (now Lancaster), Ownhammer, Celestion and York Audio, as well as a bevy of freebies, FFIRs, and EQs. I always end up going back to Redwirez, except when something from York Audio just works. YMMV.

[codamedia]

3 hours ago, ptsmith said:

For those of you who like this amp, what's your favorite speaker cab or impulse response that makes it work?

 

Let me start with the amp.... I've owned two Hiwatts over my career... and the Helix NAILS IT, but not with the default settings. .

1. Crank the master setting in the amp up to 10.
2. Raise the mids to about 9
3. Raise the DRIVE to about 5-8 for humbuckers, 7 - 10 for singles coils. Adjust to dirt level tastes. 
4. Leave the other "amp" settings.

Now the cabinet

1. The internal 4x12 Fane Who Watt cab is great... it's the default MIC that is not!
2. Change the mic setting to a ribbon.... I use the 121, but all the ribbons are great. 
3. Set the distance to 5"
4. Set the early reflections to about 50%

Too me.... that's a Hiwatt Tone I am very used to and is extremely dynamic to touch and guitar volume. A bit of grit, but not too much. 

Of course.... adjust to your tastes. 

 

 

[MusicLaw]

Really like this configuration!!

[delacloche]

York Audio has issued a Hi Watt lite pack which contains a great selection of Fane sounds.

[malduroque]

On 5/24/2021 at 6:01 PM, codamedia said:

 

Let me start with the amp.... I've owned two Hiwatts over my career... and the Helix NAILS IT, but not with the default settings. .

1. Crank the master setting in the amp up to 10.
2. Raise the mids to about 9
3. Raise the DRIVE to about 5-8 for humbuckers, 7 - 10 for singles coils. Adjust to dirt level tastes. 
4. Leave the other "amp" settings.

Now the cabinet

1. The internal 4x12 Fane Who Watt cab is great... it's the default MIC that is not!
2. Change the mic setting to a ribbon.... I use the 121, but all the ribbons are great. 
3. Set the distance to 5"
4. Set the early reflections to about 50%

Too me.... that's a Hiwatt Tone I am very used to and is extremely dynamic to touch and guitar volume. A bit of grit, but not too much. 

Of course.... adjust to your tastes. 

 

 

Thank you very much for this. I wish we had more favorite settings from folks who have actually owned the amps. I've dialed in the Helix amps to my liking but someone who knows them well can show me (us) settings we might not have thought of as you just did here.

[stapani]

Thanks codamedia. Me kinda oldie also likes this kinda info for starting point to patch-building.

[rd2rk]

On 5/24/2021 at 7:01 PM, codamedia said:

 

Let me start with the amp.... I've owned two Hiwatts over my career... and the Helix NAILS IT, but not with the default settings. .

1. Crank the master setting in the amp up to 10.
2. Raise the mids to about 9
3. Raise the DRIVE to about 5-8 for humbuckers, 7 - 10 for singles coils. Adjust to dirt level tastes. 
4. Leave the other "amp" settings.

Now the cabinet

1. The internal 4x12 Fane Who Watt cab is great... it's the default MIC that is not!
2. Change the mic setting to a ribbon.... I use the 121, but all the ribbons are great. 
3. Set the distance to 5"
4. Set the early reflections to about 50%

Too me.... that's a Hiwatt Tone I am very used to and is extremely dynamic to touch and guitar volume. A bit of grit, but not too much. 

Of course.... adjust to your tastes. 

 

 

 

I never paid much attention to the WhoWatt, thought it sounded kind of lifeless. Your settings bring it to life!

It's not an amp that lots of people use, so it's good to hear some suggestions from someone who's owned them.

Thanks!

[soundog]

This is a useful thread. I like it.

[DunedinDragon]

I just this morning came across a really nice setup with the WhoWatt.  I generally use somewhat the same guidelines mentioned above on the amp setup, but by accident I stumbled across using the Matchless G12H30M25 speakers in a Redwirez IR using a Neumann U47 2 inches off the cap edge with my Strat Elite which uses Gen 4 noiseless pickups.  What a GREAT dirty blues sound!!! Sometimes you just never know where you'll find gold!!!

[ptsmith]

Thanks for all the responses. Thanks especially to codamedia as those settings worked really well for the amp. This post, along with some YouTube videos I happened to watch, actually pointed me back towards the stock cab. I have definitely been of the opinion that the stock cabs were no good and have been using IR's for years. However, when I started using some real metering from inside my DAW (the multimeter in Logic Pro X) and doing some real deal volume matching, I found they sound way better than I remembered. It's always amazing how much volume differences effect your perception of sounds. The stock HiWatt cab sounds really great. I still really like Redwirez IR's but with their HiWatt cab there is something weird in the sound. It's a mid-range honk like a wah pedal left on to my ears. This was only more apparent to my ears when I dialed in the stock Helix cab and a/b'd it with the Redwirez one. 

 

Anyway, I love lots of other Redwirez IR's and I'm going to definitely give the stock cabs more of a chance in the future. I especially like how you can get multiple dual cab blocks in a preset to blend mics. This is more difficult and processor intensive to accomplish with IR's unless you buy their IR's mixing software. 

 

Thanks again!

[John_Sandilau]

Which Redwirez Hiwatt SE4123-Fane IRs are best to use for Gilmour tones? Maybe combinations of IRs or mics and mics placement? Thanks a lot!