Favorite Acoustic Impulse Response (IR) models?

[Rivers]

Looking to use a IR with my acoustic guitar and wanted to hear what your favorite IR models are, and at what blend levels (70% piezo/30% IR?) do you guys set them at?

Thanks.

[martingitdave]

Two of our members have written custom IR software and can likely help you develop your own custom IR. Jon Fields and Cuki79. Another member, and sponsor I believe, developed the Tondexter. James May. Read his posts too. They are a wealth of knowledge on the subject.

[Rivers]

Originally Posted by martingitdave

Two of our members have written custom IR software and can likely help you develop your own custom IR. Jon Fields and Cuki79. Another member, and sponsor I believe, developed the Tondexter. James May. Read his posts too. They are a wealth of knowledge on the subject.

Ahh would be cool to hear their opinions! I'll be using the IRs' on the Quad Cortex.

[martingitdave]

My guess is that they will all say a custom IR for your guitar will be best. The blend is dependent on the venue and volume. And that the Tonedexter is the best product on the market. However, Cuki and Jon have different algorithms and approaches for the software and hardware. James developed and sells Tonedexter (cool huh?) but his posts have always been honest. All three are electronics gurus with advanced degrees. They are to be trusted.

They have forgotten more than I will know on the subject.

[Rivers]

I've always wondered if and when using an impluse response (set to 100% mix), if the acoustic guitar used makes a difference to the tone output? assuming they are using the same type of strings.

[mixsit]

Originally Posted by Rivers

I've always wondered if and when using an impluse response (set to 100% mix), if the acoustic guitar used makes a difference to the tone output? assuming they are using the same type of strings.

Fishman Aura here. No image for my Takamine -older EN-10C. Dove in with what was there..
Within the first couple of 'banks I had two or three that worked just fine. Picked one.. moved on :>

Most of the images actually sounded quite nice. -All different tone 'contours, but nice enough.
Playing up and down the neck poor matches really stood out. Sections along the neck losing volume primarily.

As for the 'mix, pretty much near full up 100%. Point being -a nice tone w/o the 'quack thank you :>)

[jonfields45]

To my ear with the understated IR I prefer and calculate with my relatively simple code, I recommend 50/50 IR/bypass for a K&K style SBT and 75/25 for a UST.

Unlike electric guitar speaker cabinet IRs which are directly measured, acoustic guitar IRs are calculated. There are basic assumptions to the math that are only mostly true. Then you add decisions made by the code author to prune out noise and close mic’ing anomalies. Finally our hearing evolved to clearly distinguish whispers at low volumes. Our hearing boosts voice frequencies at low volumes. What sounds right at low volumes will sound like too much bass at higher volumes (it’s more complicated in detail).

I think many of us have experienced a pickup that sounds awful direct recorded, but is (more?) acceptable amplified in a live sounding room. Ambience can be a great equalizer. This might give you a bit of insight to the wide range of user opinions on those ubiquitous factory coax (the least good sounding but cheapest) USTs. But stacking an IR on top of room ambience can be too much.

ToneDexter is attempting to understand and compensate, under your control with relatively few knobs to twist, all of this so that the IR you captured and loved at home is stage ready. This is a big step up from the microphone hassles of a dual source pickup or an external mic, which can be competitive in low feedback potential venues.

I think the obvious advantage of a simple passive bullet proof SBT in your guitar where both can be passed someday to your grandchildren, and all the complex heavy lifting on the floor in a nicely over designed ToneDexter pedal is the way to go.

If you want to put an inexpensive featureless cabinet IR pedal to work, I like my IRs.

[lkingston]

The NUX Optima Air is pretty good at capturing IRs that you can immediately use in other devices and software.

I’m using my Optima Air captured IR in my Helix Stomp XL, in Positive Grid’s FX2 app running on my phone, and with the Nembrini IR Loader plugin on my PC or iPad Pro.

I have also tried numerous free and commercially done IRs, but my own IR sounds far better with my Yamaha NTX-5 than any of these.

I don’t particularly like the NUX Optima Air live because there is no blend control. With the Helix or FX2 running on my phone, I can set a good sounding blend (with quite a bit more pickup than IR). The only way to do that with the Optima Air would be to calculate an IR with the blend baked in.

[martingitdave]

Originally Posted by jonfields45

To my ear with the understated IR I prefer and calculate with my relatively simple code, I recommend 50/50 IR/bypass for a K&K style SBT and 75/25 for a UST.

Unlike electric guitar speaker cabinet IRs which are directly measured, acoustic guitar IRs are calculated. There are basic assumptions to the math that are only mostly true. Then you add decisions made by the code author to prune out noise and close mic’ing anomalies. Finally our hearing evolved to clearly distinguish whispers at low volumes. Our hearing boosts voice frequencies at low volumes. What sounds right at low volumes will sound like too much bass at higher volumes (it’s more complicated in detail).

I think many of us have experienced a pickup that sounds awful direct recorded, but is (more?) acceptable amplified in a live sounding room. Ambience can be a great equalizer. This might give you a bit of insight to the wide range of user opinions on those ubiquitous factory coax (the least good sounding but cheapest) USTs. But stacking an IR on top of room ambience can be too much.

ToneDexter is attempting to understand and compensate, under your control with relatively few knobs to twist, all of this so that the IR you captured and loved at home is stage ready. This is a big step up from the microphone hassles of a dual source pickup or an external mic, which can be competitive in low feedback potential venues.

I think the obvious advantage of a simple passive bullet proof SBT in your guitar where both can be passed someday to your grandchildren, and all the complex heavy lifting on the floor in a nicely over designed ToneDexter pedal is the way to go.

If you want to put an inexpensive featureless cabinet IR pedal to work, I like my IRs.

A thoughtful and insightful response. And, you’ll not be surprised that I’m in full agreement.

[Rivers]

I'm planning on purchasing 3 Sigma's Acoustic IRs and it's interesting to note that they recommend on setting it a 100% IR mix.

I got this from one of their responses in their YT video below:
"Always 100% is how they're intended to be used. Blending in the bad piezo signal would somewhat defeat the purpose of using them. If you were to use them as a blend you'd need to flip the phase on one of the signals, but I don't recommend using them that way."

[jonfields45]

Originally Posted by Rivers

I'm planning on purchasing 3 Sigma's Acoustic IRs and it's interesting to note that they recommend on setting it a 100% IR mix.

I got this from one of their responses in their YT video below:
"Always 100% is how they're intended to be used. Blending in the bad piezo signal would somewhat defeat the purpose of using them. If you were to use them as a blend you'd need to flip the phase on one of the signals, but I don't recommend using them that way."

They probably built-in a measured amount of bypass into the IR possibly along the lines I mentioned above.

[lkingston]

Originally Posted by Rivers

I'm planning on purchasing 3 Sigma's Acoustic IRs and it's interesting to note that they recommend on setting it a 100% IR mix.

I got this from one of their responses in their YT video below:
"Always 100% is how they're intended to be used. Blending in the bad piezo signal would somewhat defeat the purpose of using them. If you were to use them as a blend you'd need to flip the phase on one of the signals, but I don't recommend using them that way."

I bought their Yamaha nylon string guitar IRs for use with my Yamaha NTX-5 crossover guitar. They sound good, but I prefer the IR I captured myself with the NUX Optima Air.

They may have calculated in a blend. I’m not sure, but I still feel like I need a blend control live.

I can see using an IR for a YouTube video or livestream with no blend. When I am listening to it at home with no ambient background noise, the IR does sound better.

For live performance in a room with an audience, I would rather have a blend of IR and pickup (or just a pickup without an IR at all) rather than a full IR. It is just too much at 100%.

Just my perspective of course.

[lkingston]

The Sigma IRs definitely have some calculations going on in their impulses.

What makes this obvious is that when you look at the graphic waveform, you can see that the IRs for different pickups have exactly the same peaks and valleys, but that different areas of the waveform will be raised or lowered. The IR made for one pickup will have the bass frequencies boosted while another will have them lowered for instance.