Dumb question about IRs

[flydav]

Hello

 

Yesterday was my first dumb topic and it went great...as I said already I'm new to the digital world and the HX stomp xl in particular.

I play jazz and downloaded IRs of the polytone and the thiele evm12L cab which alone has a ton of wavs. Now my first question is do I import every wav to the X edit or just a few to try and then delete those I don't like (if possible at all) and then import a few more? I believe the number of wavs is NOT unlimited...How do you guys do?

I was gonna buy some polytone IRs by dr Bonkers but the website won't let me checkout and even the contact page won't work...do you know if there is another way to contact the guy? Thanks!

 

 

[flydav]

Forgot...is there any Amp or cab IRs worth downloading for jazz guitar? Either free or not...any opinion on the chop tones? Kinda expensive but are they really worth?

[DunedinDragon]

Each of those WAV files represents different configurations of microphones and microphone placements that were used to make that particular IR.  Generally not all of them will be relevant to you and you would tend to settle on the ones that fit the kind of sound you want given whatever amp you decide to apply it to.  When I was using IRs I ended up having way more IR entries in my list on my Helix than I ever needed.  That all disappeared when I started using the new Helix cabs that are actually IRs but you can easily adjust the mic and mic positions without having a ton of different IRs loaded

[flydav]

On 2/5/2025 at 9:35 PM, DunedinDragon said:

Each of those WAV files represents different configurations of microphones and microphone placements that were used to make that particular IR.  Generally not all of them will be relevant to you and you would tend to settle on the ones that fit the kind of sound you want given whatever amp you decide to apply it to.  When I was using IRs I ended up having way more IR entries in my list on my Helix than I ever needed.  That all disappeared when I started using the new Helix cabs that are actually IRs but you can easily adjust the mic and mic positions without having a ton of different IRs loaded

Is there any sampling frequency you would suggest? I noticed many are the same thing but with a different frequency.

 

[DunedinDragon]

On 2/5/2025 at 4:38 PM, flydav said:

Is there any sampling frequency you would suggest? I noticed many are the same thing but with a different frequency.

 

IR's aren't really audio files even though they're distributed as WAVs.  They capture the "impulse" of the sound as it interacts throughout the room it's recorded in with the specified mic.  But, of course that affects the audio frequencies when you play audio through them.  The mic and the position of the mic when capturing the impulse response have different effects on the sound coming out of a given cabinet.  For example if it's captured near the center of the speaker cone it will be brighter than if it's captured at the outside rim of the speaker which will be darker.  That's just the physics of sound from the speaker.  Distance from the speaker and angle of the mic have similar effects.  You can of course add EQ after the sound of the IR, but I generally just depend on the mic and the position and maybe a couple of small EQ tweaks at the end of the signal chain if needed to correct something.

 

IRs are used for other purposes as well such as recording orchestras to recreate the natural reverb in a performance hall.  In fact I have one such plugin from Spitfire Audio that captures the environment of AIR Studios at Lyndhurst Hall in London that I commonly use on various instruments such as percussion or string ensembles.

[flydav]

So going back to the original question should I select  them all and import them to the HX edit or just a few at the time? Then what should I do delete those that I don't like? is it even possible?) In order to save space...do I need to? or keep everything? What do you do if you had 5 IRs each with all the variation? Do you import everything or just a bunch, try them and then import more? Thanks!

[SaschaFranck]

Import as many as possible (the overall limit is 128) and go through them. A good way to do so quickly would be to place a looper block as the first thing in the signal chain and record something into it. That way you don't have to play, so you can concentrate on editing and listening.

 

Fwiw, I don't think you need to worry much about IRs when playing jazzy stuff. The "new" cabs (came with the second to latest firmware) are absolutely excellent. The same goes for the rather new Super Reverb amp. Using that and the matching cab should really get you a very decent jazz sound, given you feed it with the right guitar.

Here's some noodling bits (not exactly authentic jazz, but hey...) with just the Super Reverb and its matching cab, used an old Ibanez 335 clone (a real jazz box would get you even more authentic jazz tones easily):

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Gd9s9IHC302UnQY0atJGGhuTzbiTFsd5/view?usp=sharing

 

I also have a self-"shot" (and mixed) IR that IMO is doing a great job for live purposes. It's a bit more mid-rangey than most cabs, simply because I feel that's what's needed in a live setting. Feel free to try it out as well (there's 2 IRs in the file, one is a little brighter):

https://drive.google.com/file/d/128SMeXg2tvsyG3Y7Px07GZqDL0LyrYcs/view?usp=sharing

 

[flydav]

On 2/6/2025 at 12:13 AM, SaschaFranck said:

Import as many as possible (the overall limit is 128) and go through them. A good way to do so quickly would be to place a looper block as the first thing in the signal chain and record something into it. That way you don't have to play, so you can concentrate on editing and listening.

 

Fwiw, I don't think you need to worry much about IRs when playing jazzy stuff. The "new" cabs (came with the second to latest firmware) are absolutely excellent. The same goes for the rather new Super Reverb amp. Using that and the matching cab should really get you a very decent jazz sound, given you feed it with the right guitar.

Here's some noodling bits (not exactly authentic jazz, but hey...) with just the Super Reverb and its matching cab, used an old Ibanez 335 clone (a real jazz box would get you even more authentic jazz tones easily):

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Gd9s9IHC302UnQY0atJGGhuTzbiTFsd5/view?usp=sharing

 

I also have a self-"shot" (and mixed) IR that IMO is doing a great job for live purposes. It's a bit more mid-rangey than most cabs, simply because I feel that's what's needed in a live setting. Feel free to try it out as well (there's 2 IRs in the file, one is a little brighter):

https://drive.google.com/file/d/128SMeXg2tvsyG3Y7Px07GZqDL0LyrYcs/view?usp=sharing

 

Thanks a lot! I appreciate that...I'll give it a try!

[arislaf]

On 2/6/2025 at 1:46 AM, flydav said:

Thanks a lot! I appreciate that...I'll give it a try!

Grab my irsnfor free. https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/7ue49gtvccl407r9wjk8g/ABfnR3VXUGbiZDUV45j7VfE?rlkey=n00gkmq6e2g8630a5vmjuhf4y&e=1&dl=0