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Post by longscale on Jul 26, 2021 17:09:59 GMT -6
Wondered if anybody has given this box a listen as a hardware reverb box?
Most all of my reverb needs have been in the box plug-ins for quite a few years now but I've been having some fun with this pedal on guitar. I removed it from my guitar pedalboard and I'm giving it a go for a HW insert. I like it on my guitar rig quite a bit. I just got the cabling together today to give this a listen as a PT hw insert.
I've never had any substantial time with a 244 so I don't know how this pedal compares. I also don't run any UA gear - so I don't have the ability to compare this to their 224 plug-in. Curious if others have experiences with these offerings and can share their thoughts.
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Post by longscale on Jul 21, 2021 17:37:42 GMT -6
Repeater has been my goto for simple to use sounds great delay. I wanted to like Timeless 2 (and I own it), but in general if I don't spend consistent time with it day after day I get lost in the interface causing me to spend more time than I want. I'm not a power user of it - and my delay needs are in general quite simple. It will be hard to unseat Repeater based on that UI usability alone; not to mention I'm happy with the sound.
I see that they have a new interface in Timeless 3 so possibly that could address the issues I've had with 2. I'll pull the demo and give it a run since the sale has an attractive upgrade price.
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Post by longscale on Jul 21, 2021 17:25:17 GMT -6
I ended up buying Sound ID. It seems a bit buggy to me. Systemwide sometimes works and sometimes doesn't. I have not been able to figure why it works only some of the time. I opened a support case but they are not very responsive right now. From what I understand, they are flooded with support tickets. Has anyone had good success with Sound ID? I'm on windows with a Lynx Aurora 16. The systemwide appears to use a windows driver instead of an ASIO driver. Not sure what that's about or if I should care. When it works, Sonarworks is super helpful and a gamechanger in my mixes. I just wish it would always work. I have it on a couple systems. For my main studio machine, I stayed with Reference 4. I didn't want to risk the headache. I tried their demo and did not have good luck with it at all. It was quite buggy (macOS) where Reference 4 has been solid. I did open a support ticket, but my demo time ran out before much came of it. So I've uninstalled it and I'll stick with 4. I noticed no sound differences between Sound ID and 4 fwiw. Hope they improve the software quality over time, but I'll be quite slow to upgrade after this experience (likely only will do so if 4 stops working). 4 has everything I need - and has been very helpful in my room, so I do wish them the best and I hope they are successful in the future.
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Post by longscale on Jun 10, 2021 21:00:07 GMT -6
Upgraded my Mac trash-can to 11.4 tonight. Having some serious flashbacks to the 70's listening to records (vinyl). Running Hi Res Lossless to my converters. R.E.M's Murmur sounded quite good. Was fun. I listened to the entire album, something as of late I almost never do anymore. I'm quite happy with this.
My only beef is I wish they offered a bulk, dump everything I've downloaded and upgrade button.
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Post by longscale on Sept 26, 2020 20:20:36 GMT -6
Thanks ragan - good tips all around. I can't wait to try them all out tonight.
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Post by longscale on Sept 26, 2020 20:17:37 GMT -6
Two things. You can turn down the output gain in ProQ3 on the righthand side to prevent clipping. Also, you can highlight all of the EQ points and drag your curser to reduce their gain simultaneously. Pure gold tip! I did not realize I could select all at once and drag them all. That is exactly what I needed. Thank you. This board is the best ever. If I take a good reference source (from a CD) and create a profile of that (save it) and apply it to my own recorded guitar parts I tend to like the match(ed) eq version much better. So I've been trying to figure out how to get closer to that sound on my own. It just seemed to me an opportunity to learn how to capture/produce a recorded sound I like better than what I'm currently getting. I figured I'd do the same thing on a mix someday too - in that case trying to learn what EQ moves I need to do in order to get a sound I like more (using the match EQ as the teacher if that makes any sense at all). I'm not against just using the match EQ, version but I wanted to also learn from it too. Thanks for the tips. Very much appreciate it.
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Post by longscale on Sept 26, 2020 13:20:46 GMT -6
I've not tried the ELOP+, but I have an old orig ELOP. I never really warmed up to it. I don't really like it on the 2-bus, and for tracking it never quite got me excited either. It works and if applied gently and can be cool. I wanted more of a color optical if I'm honest (la2a).
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Post by longscale on Sept 26, 2020 13:03:23 GMT -6
bluegrassdan I remember watching your Vintage Speaker Matching vid some time ago. I'm not sure what I liked better - the sound matching of the speaker, or the guitar playing. Nice work.
The issue I have with ProQ3 is that the match profile I apply to my source track wants to rip my head off (on the top end). Plus adding that much EQ also causes the track to flip the Over Lights in PT as well. I can go in and tweak some of the EQ points to help reduce that (or provide a better source sound!), but I miss the percentage Fine Tune type control where I can just dial the entire EQ matching down a bit to find a good middle ground. Ozone makes that easy. I'm gonna have to think hard about spending that sort of $$$ for more software (once my ozone demo runs out). I've been on a no more buying sw plugins kick lately....
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Post by longscale on Sept 25, 2020 22:28:48 GMT -6
Been playing around with match eq. I like the sounds it offers. I've been trying to learn from it. Trying on my own (without match EQ) to hit my reference sound samples. Been attempting EQ (hw) on the way in (tracking) and also using hw EQ insert or plugins on recorded tracks. I've not been doing that in the context of a mix. I'm only doing this on individual source tracks. Right now edge of breakup or slightly overdriven guitars is my primary focus. I've used ProQ3, and Ozone (Advanced - my trial runs out soon) for the EQ match that I then try to learn from. While I like ProQ3 as an EQ I'm either using it wrong for match, or I miss the Ozone Fine Tune controls. I like the sound of Ozone match eq overall better in no small part because of that feature/control.
Anybody mess with EQ matching and have any wisdom or experiences to share?
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Post by longscale on Jul 31, 2020 19:34:49 GMT -6
While typically I'm using an iPad and the Avid Control App with PT for anything where I'm at the mic (away from the mix position) and want to control the DAW; I did build a simple little 9-key keyboard so that when I'm at my mix position I can use that as a transport. It is nice to have dedicated/programmable buttons to smash instead of the keyboard or mouse. I also stuck LEDs under the keys for those times when I want to add some drama/mood to the simple little HW controller. I used this kit: keeb.io/collections/frontpage/products/bdn9-3x3-9-key-macropad-rotary-encoder-supportA fun little project that did not take a bunch of skill to build. If you don't want the fun of a build then I'd suggest a simple numpad.
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Post by longscale on Mar 6, 2020 22:52:44 GMT -6
There is a whole bunch of fun in a Page. I'm running it into an Iridium with some cool York profiles. This thing likes to be pushed by another pedal. Lots of sounds to be had that way. Love the touch of the pedal. The dynamic range and feel is quite good. It is fun to play.
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Post by longscale on Mar 5, 2020 14:18:01 GMT -6
Whatever you do - do not look at this website: bluechippick.netI warned you. ;-) Expensive as all get out. I was skeptical. Then I tried a few. I love them. For Mandolin I'm sold. I've tried very very hard not to fall in love with them for guitar (based on price) and stick to my cheap Fender Heavy's. I like the bluechip picks quite a bit, and they seem to last forever. I don't have much of a problem keeping a few around (not having them get lost), but I'd not want to try to keep track of them on a live stage. Picks can make a giant difference in sound. Very much worth playing around with. Typically it is a very cheap (other than bluechip picks!) way to get fairly large differences in sound. imo
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Post by longscale on Feb 6, 2020 22:20:29 GMT -6
OwnHammers new pack has 24bit, 96k IR’s. Yes they do. I have the (r)Evolution pack and I'm trying to find the time to explore it all. it is deep. many choices. sounds great to me. I've mostly been messing with the Vox cabs in it. The Haas files are fun and sound good.
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Post by longscale on Feb 6, 2020 22:17:28 GMT -6
ragan : simply drop your IR from the browser into one of the 9 cab slots via the Impulse Manager (with your Iridium connected to your computer via USB). Let me know if you need the DL link for the Catalina beta; it is working well on my MacOS 10.15.x machine, while the officially released 1.00 Impulse Manager available via the Strymon website does not work with Catalina. Thats odd. FWIW I'm running Catalina (10.15.3) and the Impulse Manager version 1.00.0 here. It sometimes drops the midi sync - but in general remains solid (unlike PT which is starting to irk me).
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Post by longscale on Feb 6, 2020 22:10:00 GMT -6
What is the auditioning process? You use their Impulse Manager software. The IRs are on the left and you can drag them into a cab position/slot. From there you can use the arrow keys on the keyboard to flip between them in the IR list on the left. If you are modifying just one slot; say I have a 57 on the L, and I'm wanting to see what pairs with it on the R (421, or a 121 as an example). I drag the 421 IR into the R position, and from there I can then use the arrow keys again to run through the possible choices that I have loaded up in the IR list (up and down arrow keys on the Mac) for just that one channel of the cab, the other side (L) remains the same. I have the USB cable connected to the box and it will just keep up with the changes I'm making with the arrow keys. When I hit on a combo I like I create a "collection" to save it away so I can fetch it quickly at another date (and typically I slap that identifier name into PT (in the "comments" on the track).
Just to be clear when I'm doing multi mic things I do not run that as a stereo spread. I assign L and R to separate tracks in PT and then use the faders to mix the levels how I want (mono signal). You can pull up a dialog in the Impulse Manager and do that mixing there (mod level, bass, treble) by clicking the "i" button in the software too if you wanted to set that balance up for a live rig. It is too easy for me to forget I've done that for recording so I don't mess with that and treat this like a real amp with two mics as I would normally. Old dog, new tricks, hard. Nothing prevents you from running a stereo spread - I'm just used to doing this mic combo thing with a resulting mono image.
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Post by longscale on Feb 6, 2020 21:43:36 GMT -6
I concur! I’ve used some OwnHammer muti-mic’ed “pre-mixed” IRs with fantastic results! On the other hand, I plugged the Out L with a balanced cable into a line level input on my interface...the Iridium has some normal ground hum when monitoring through it’s built-in headphone output, but trying to go line-level out to line-level in to my interface introduces some extra and louder, almost rhythmic, static noise that is nearly impossible to gate out. Any ideas? I’m going to try unbalanced cable out to an instrument-level input on my interface next and see what happens after reading the Strymon FAQs this evening...no bueno for recording if I can’t resolve it. The Iridium only supplies unbalanced 1/4" output. You can set the output level trim in three steps (-10dB, 0dB, +3dB). There is a good FAQ section that covers that on the "support" page. I run mine with 1/4" unbalanced cables to a Hi-Z in on my API 512c's (which is what I typically record my electric guitars with a real amp and mic setup).
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Post by longscale on Feb 6, 2020 19:11:41 GMT -6
Having gone off the deep end with third party IRs I decided to go deeper. I picked up a few packs from York Audio. The Iridium is actually one of the better boxes from a pure spec point of view at 24bit 96k and a 500 millisecond buffer. That beats the Kemper and most others as well (or is equal to something like the two notes torpedo). Not saying this box is better than all others (I've not tried anything other than this and the Kemper) as specs don't always tell the full story. I'm just clarifying that for a IR box alone the quality is nice - and sounds great to my ears. Of the third party IR sellers I've shopped none of them offer anything of higher quality (though they probably would if there was a market for it). Having a Two Notes or something else that allows more flexibility in messing with the IRs could be cool, but so far for a small box I'm impressed and having fun with it.
The software editor makes it easy to organize and load IRs too. You can quickly audition them. Once the idea of this sank in I began loading two different mics into a single cab slot (L and R) and then it feels natural from there to blend. I'm used to doing that with real amps and suddenly it all clicked. Its not complicated to do. Using the MPT IRs I can mix and match and not get any wacky phase issues. Having the ability to blend mic choices or even different speakers and cabinets in this way sounds really quite good too - I'm impressed.
What at first seemed like more complexity and choices with the third party IRs; in the end turned into more fun and sounds out of this box. I'm enjoying it quite a bit.
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Post by longscale on Feb 4, 2020 21:18:00 GMT -6
Happened to be picking up a new guitar and saw this pedal so naturally it had to come home with me. I'm late to the party here - but this things ticks many boxes for me. Simple, small, sounds good, and is fun to play. I like that the format is so small compared to my Kemper. I can pick this guy up and travel with an electric guitar super simple now but still have usable sounds - better than useable. I've been mostly exploring the chime amp setting as the new guitar was a Ric 1993 plus.
I like that the controls are simple - but I did step in it a bit. I purchased the OwnHammer (r)Evolution bundle. Oh my. The good/awesome to having done that - I liked flipping around with the various mics (87, 121) on a 2x12 blues. These IRs sound very very good; BUT OMG there are so many options gah. The lack of options was one of the attractions to the Iridium. I wanted to spend more time playing and less time flipping through pages and pages of options.
Oh and Ragan is not helping my pedal lust - put my name on a Page. In 10 short months I'll get to hear it. I figure it *might* line up with a self Xmas gift. ;-)
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Post by longscale on Jan 22, 2020 19:14:11 GMT -6
I like my 525 on acoustic guitars and on the occasional vocal where it just works. My only real beef with them is I tend to use too much of it - and regret that choice the next day. I totally get seduced by its sound. Totally my pilot error - and one you would have though I could learn to overcome. But for whatever reason they sound so good to me while I'm setting it up - only to listen back the next day and think man I squashed the living daylights out of that and I wish I had not.
I've heard plenty of others who are way better at dialing them in make good use of them on acoustic guitars, bass and vocals. Nice sounding compressor imo. For sure worth a try if you already have one in the room.
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Post by longscale on Dec 5, 2019 21:15:30 GMT -6
Not sure which album but I believe Steve Earle wanted to title one of 'em "1176". I think there is a mixonline article talking about one of his albums where they used 1176s.
I like them on acoustic - for the right sound. I too only have a hardware MC77 that I use. I like the pop I can get for finger style acoustic on something like my J200. Mostly on acoustic I use it for a hair of edge removal and a dash of excitement, and a pinch of pixy dust high end I get. For the latter sound I don't hit it hard. During tracking 4:1 slow attack, fast release. GR until I notice the sound I'm after, then back off a bit. Typically GR is just dancing not hitting anything hard - likely 3dB occasionally. I don't use the 1176 by looking at the GR; I'll only look *after* I'm on the sound I want to sort of peek at what is going on.
I do find it to be a fun play box that is worth trying on anything. Banjo, Mandolin. I like to follow it with a tube opto if I want to round off the edges.
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Post by longscale on Oct 30, 2019 21:05:36 GMT -6
I don't quite know why I took so long to try this but I started putting guitar pedals in front of the Kemper. I've found a few that I enjoy using. Doing this triggered a little more sound creation activity for me in an organic sort of way. Perhaps it is simply comfort zone, where I'm used to screwing with pedals and analog knobs. I do however think it changes the Kemper game for me in that I'm modifying the profile sounds more.
I can 2nd that Bass tones with the Kemper are sweet.
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Post by longscale on Oct 1, 2019 21:03:52 GMT -6
I run a 3.5 GHz 6-core trashcan with PT HD Native TB and I could not be more pleased. I upgraded the RAM to 64GB and the flash is going to get a bump soon as well. I absolutely *hate* fan noise. This format provides me with quiet and is plenty capable of running what I toss at it.
I do not have direct experience with the new mini's or the MBPs. I did run a few generations ago mini for my PT rig (not the HD Native at that time however). It was a i7 quad-core machine. Nice box - but would get loud (fan) when it was running PT. I did run this PT HD Native TB rig with a MBP too (a late 2013 Retina 15-inch). That was a nice rig and you could have the fan stay quiet for some PT activity, but load up the plugins and you would hear the fan loud. Typically the fan ran - and did so enough to push me to buy the trashcan.
I decided to take the plunge with the trashcan over a year ago and I'm still quite happy with it. I added external SSD storage via TB (a Blackmagic MultiDock, 4 SSD slots in a 19" rack format, NO FAN). This is a nice machine for software development too; so that is an added bonus.
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Post by longscale on Sept 6, 2019 14:53:24 GMT -6
Tube amps can inspire for sure. I find them more fun to use if I'm trying to write a song by getting inspiration from noodling or a tone, or simply inspired by the volume and excitement of the amp and guitar turned up loud. There is a sameness that I battle as well with the Kemper. I fight it by making my own profiles, and building up a small collection of goto sounds. In that respect I'm using it to pick pre-selected tones that I want to support a song, not using it to inspire me to write a song. But then I get stuck in a that ditch too - where I play back demo's and I'm like welp that is my 59 tweed champ cranked, that is my 65 Vox ac4, that sound is my Matchless Lightning. IOW because the profiles are perfect and I specifically limited myself on purpose I can pick the sounds out quickly (which tends to mean they bore me). If I mic the amp directly - I can still pick out the sounds but unless I've dropped tape on the floor and on the grill of the cab I don't tend to get exactly the same sound back from a live rig. There are way more variables involved...amp settings, pedal settings, mic placement. The Kemper makes that 100% solid every time; which is both a blessing and a curse for me. I suppose what I'm saying is I suck at getting NEW inspired tones from my Kemper from scratch. But I still like the box quite a bit because it gets me playing at hours I'd not be able to otherwise. I've been using the Kemper more on bass too lately and I like it.
What I tend to do now is I record the Kemper along with a direct so I could re-amp later if I really wanted a real amp sound. I tell myself I'll spend the time later to get something really awesome. Typically I just decide my song sucks and move on. rofl
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Post by longscale on Aug 19, 2019 20:37:50 GMT -6
Appreciate the suggestions and tips. My speakers are about as close to the front wall as I can get them at the moment. They are around 6" out. So that is 3" of air, and then 3" of my newly built broadband absorber and then wall. My room is fairly small so I'm sort of in that 80Hz dip land where there is not much I can do about it given the size of my space. I can open the door to the room - and let some bass spill out. I might try adding some corner bass traps on the front wall. I'm not sure at this point given the size of the space there are many good options. But things are not all gloomy here - I think the place sounds better now than it ever has. I'm finding I even enjoy listening to reference material much much more.
I'll push the speakers 3" back at some point so they are basically nearly flush with the absorber behind them - but that will require some major monitor (computer monitor) shuffling to get that pushed back behind the speakers if I remain in that setup. Will be an activity for a rainy day just for fun.
I do have the absorbers off the wall by a little over a 1/2" at the moment (from the cleat at the top, and then rubber spacers at the bottom to maintain that gap). I'll likely try to build some 24x48 6" traps soonish and swap those in or add them to the collection to see what that presents.
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Post by longscale on Aug 17, 2019 17:39:34 GMT -6
I jumped in and built some broadband absorbers. I built four 16 x 48" broadband absorbers that are 3" deep (filled with one layer of Roxul Safe n sound Rockwool). I put two on the front wall (one behind each speaker), and then the other two on each side on the left and right wall basically even with my listening position. I then built one more 16 x 48 absorber but that one I made 6" deep (two laters of Rockwool) that I placed on the back wall near the floor (it actually fit perfectly on the lower shelf of my Yamaha electric piano). The builds were not that difficult and I covered the absorbers with a nice charcoal colored linen fabric and hung them up with a cleat on the wall. I was happy with how they turned out and they look quite nice. The sound difference was subtle but big. The stereo image got larger left and right, and deeper if that makes any sense. It is easier to listen to individual parts - they present in a more focused way now. Its subtle but made me very very happy. I'm encouraged that a small amount of simple treatments made a difference I could hear. I'll likely be going after some corner bass traps next, and trying to convince my wife that hanging a cloud above my head would be ok.
I did run the measurements with Sonarworks post the install of the absorbers. I still have my giant hole around 80Hz, and a fairly good peak around 145 but overall the curve is now much less wiggly and more flat overall (for sure less hash in the low mids). I was happy to see that I could see the results of the treatment on the graphs, and I could hear a difference. I remain very impressed with Sonarworks, and find it invaluable in my crappy room. I'm going to be paying more attention to room treatments over the next few months to see if I can improve things even more from here.
I think my only regret is not going for the 24" wide Roxul and using the 16. If I had to do it over I'd have build 24x48 absorbers instead. Live and learn.
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