Here's where I'm at...
So much of it is about the room an amp sits in.
If You Can Find An HXDA...
- Thread starter László
- Start date
So much of it is about the room an amp sits in.
There are some very highly regarded HXDA profiles on the rig exchange
Use them to your heart’s content. I don’t think you can duplicate the tone on that track.
I will send you one genuine United States of America dollar (yes, $1.00!) that you can frame and hang on your wall if you can 100% duplicate the tone in my track with your digital toaster - or any other modeler.
By ‘duplicate’, I mean that I should be able to chop up the tracks, play the snippets back to back, and they should sound identical in every audible respect, and indistinguishable, including the ‘transition to breakup’ and responsiveness stuff.
Either it can or it can’t; there will be no, “But 90% of the way is good enough.” It needs to be the whole enchilada. Because tone is in the little details.
If you can do it, you will also receive as a bonus, a brand-new set of bragging rights that you can use here on the forum to put me in my place if I so much as hint ever again that modelers can’t do what my amps do.
You are also welcome to try to duplicate 100% my DG30 clip’s tone. I will send you another dollar, and you will acquire even more bragging rights and put-me-in-my-place ammunition.
Here are the microphones I used for each of my tracks: an Audix i5 for the HXDA, and a Sennheiser e945 for the DG30. You might be able to select IRs with those mics in your software. The DG30 used its DG cabinet, ported back, pine with V30s. The HXDA used a PRS Big Mouth 212 closed back (similar in size to a Rectifier 212) loaded with V30s. No doubt your software IRs have many choices of cabs, speakers and mics, and you should be able to find cabs that are very similar.
On your mark, get set, GO! Take your time, tweak those models to your heart’s content, and prove that I have no idea what the heck I’m talking about with this stuff.
If you can’t do it, well, you can buy me a beer.
This challenge is not open to anyone else; it’s here only for dmatthews.
[Next Day Edit: This is kind of a ridiculous post, isn’t it? What was I drinking...er...thinking?]
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dmatthews
Dave's not here
As much as I'd like the dollar (or two) I'm sure you won't need to spend it/them.
1) The profiles are not done with your settings
2) I suck at playing lead.
Now... if I came over to your house/studio, used your mics that you used to record, and created as many profiles as you like, I may not leave with a dollar (or two) but I bet you'd have "that look on your face" like Tim Pierce, Rob Chapman and others did.
Maybe not, I dunno.
Not as badly as I do, I’m sure!
Wait, you’re saying a highly regarded profile of the HXDA can’t do it? Why? There have to be quite a lot of them by now, recorded at any number of amp settings.
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My guess is that there's no freakin' way this guy had the switches and knobs anywhere near your settings, but of course I could be wrong.
Also, I think @justmund here has done profiles of the HXDA, maybe he can chime in!
Hmmm. Well, of course you’re right, it’s anyone’s guess as to what settings were used. Too bad folks don’t simply take pics of the settings and post them with the profiles.
dmatthews
Dave's not here
Here's an idea...
You send me a stem of a direct guitar profile.
I'll send it through the Kemper profiles.
I'll post the results
toothace
Zombie Thirteen, DFZ
Yep...I'm in the basement with no sound treatment except a carpet and a drop ceiling. The AC ducts are at least encased within the ceiling, so I got that going for me
Alnus Rubra
Loving nature’s wonders
veinbuster
Zombie Three, DFZ
That is the heart of the limitation of amps models. A good profiler can model exactly what you hear at one set of settings in the room. Then they could profile some more settings you use in that room. But then if you decide it’s better to move the amp, or otherwise change the dynamics of the room, the model won’t move with those changes.
Guys like me whose ears aren’t as fussy about the details can just find a profiler (like Britt) who has similar tastes and use their profiles and tweak a few knobs if they are so inclined. I think my average price per virtual amp is less than a cup of snooty coffee, so I could have a bit of fun with a week’s worth of HX/DA until I visit one in real life.
That said, I still plug into tubes at home. And I like it.
toothace
Zombie Thirteen, DFZ
That's what life is all about...isn't it?
It’s a curse that I can tell the difference, not a blessing.
The models have solved some of the issues, but the dynamics, and the way the response kind of flattens out at certain upper frequencies, are different enough that it drives me up a wall.
In the Tim Pierce video where the Kemper logo is displayed in the upper left corner, he’s saying how good it sounds, and from what I’m hearing, I’m thinking, this is a great model but it doesn’t sound like a real amp.
I have let certain players use their modelers on projects, like if they’re out of state, and can’t make it to my place. I can slap enough processing on them to sit well in a mix, and I don’t complain unless they sound truly bad (hey, that can happen with real amps, too).
Tucson Thump
Mint Heavy Relic
I know
it's only tubes and glow
but I like it, like it, yes I do.
it's only tubes and glow
but I like it, like it, yes I do.
sergiodeblanc
New Member
- Joined
- Apr 26, 2012
- Messages
- 27,388
I need them to change the name, I don’t love Jimi or Duane... I wonder if I can get Doug to modify it into a Steve Jones/Kerry King model?
dmatthews
Dave's not here
Indeed... most profilers provide scant/basic info on setup. Even more rare is the mic placement.
11top
Cousin Eddie's cousin
But I’m the non-violent type of putz!
Maybe, but you're still just an ol' meanie!
WA Paul
All dogs go to heaven
- Joined
- May 11, 2017
- Messages
- 4,108
This x 1,000!
I can’t crank an amp loud enough at home though - I went through several with low wattage versions and a Fryette (with the HXDA) and the dynamics just aren’t the same. Using the toaster actually gets me closer at the required (allowed?) volume levels I’m constrained to at home. I love playing guitar (I mostly play when others are asleep), but I love my family more. The volume level you get to play at matters significantly to tone whether real amp or toaster!
I would dearly love to have some profiles made by Les in his space! Dave’s direct idea is an interesting one and would address half of the signal capture challenge, but not what I would consider the main challenge I’ve come across with trying out most profiles, which is capturing the room dynamics and the notorious ‘amp in the room’ sound. But, since I play at low SPL levels, what works for most players (M Britt for instance) doesn’t work well for me- his profiles sound very muffled. At stage volumes I’m sure they open up a lot more (but my tweaks to them would sound harsh). I’ve had some luck changing Cabs out to what most would call too bright at their SPL levels, which makes sense to me since with real amps I would often have to turn up presence and bass a bit, along with gain.
I spotted a used Lerxst Chi combo on Reverb and I’m dying to grab it, even though I already know I can’t crank a 15 watt combo (master volume be damned) enough at home
