Long Time coming...need some more "in the room" reviews!

  • Thread starter Thread starter crwnedblasphemy
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crwnedblasphemy
crwnedblasphemy
Well-known member
I've been thinking about this for awhile now....and we just need more "in the room" type reviews. I might step up to the plate on this. I appreciate all the paid or sponsored gear reviewers out there, but the post processing mixes are getting old to me, and doesn't sound like the products that are "so awesome." Cmon man! Not everything sounds like that or similar.

"In the Room" mics are necessary. Not optional.

Rant done. Love ya'll. Peace.
 
Findthetone1 said:
100% agree. No more amp IR demos. The majority of us are home players that want a somewhat true representation of an in the room amp or guitar.
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I live mic literally all my recordings :dunno:

OP, do you mean camera/phone miced or can we use a room condenser combined with something on the cabinet?
 
I nominate an addendum that stipulates the omission of any and all piece of shit stomp box distortions from all amp demos..
Because nothing says lets fuck up the as designed tone of an amp more than putting a shitbox, flavor of the month mush pedal in front of it..
 
I agree . IRS make amps that sound drastically different in room too close on a recording. Not saying they can’t get good tone they just color too hardcore
 
midnightlaundry said:
A MId/Side mic scheme with a close mic(s) would be the shit for a room sound demo..
IR's for demos is comedy..
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i really, really don't like IRs for like "amp demos" either. At least if were talking about demoing an amp, not like demoing your recording skills or showing a song, which is a different thing and i get.

If there's really an interest in this, I might do a video of a couple of my amps
 
I remembered this from last night, so I setup some mics here in the room. I did a Mid/Side deal, but it was a bit phasey in this little 10.5'x11' room. So I just setup a couple Room Mics in front of the Cab, pointing at the wall. It sounds better.

I played the riff Close Miced, and then I repeated it with the Room Mics. You can hear the difference.. I blended them in enough that you can hear them but not so much the it sounds like shit.. Got an amp for me to Demo?? :ROFLMAO:

 
I've been saying this for years. Right after I started saying there should be more in the room sounds, Ola started doing just that. So he does it at least.

The problem with in the room mic videos, is finding the best place for the recording device. For example,, Louis Torres has a thousand amps, and he never mic's a cab. Always in the room sound. But all his videos sound the same to me. I wish he would experiment with different mic positions as well.

When recording with a cell phone,, I find that a good spot is about 5 or 6 feet away from the front of the cab on the floor,, and a few feet to the left or right of it, so it is not directly in front of it. Or even on top of the amp. I do that when I record ideas, and to me I can hear the characteristics of my different amps upon playback.
 
  1. Room sound is extremely variable but a tube amp + IR rig isn't. If you get that head and that IR then it's down to the guitar and your playing that's the difference. You should be able to get the same file, load it and dial the amp close to what you heard in the recording.
  2. The amount of variation among cabs, speakers, and mic placement is far greater than the sum of tonal differences of all amps in existence. That is why 1 works better than option 2. However, if you go with 2...
  3. The fairest test is the stack being sold with two common mics stuck close into the cab. Meaning Orange Cab for Orange Head and Marshall Cab for Marshall head etc. SM57 and whatever is accessible to most people.
  4. Use a looper pedal when demoing stuff to keep your hands free to adjust dials or have someone else adjust while you play.
IMO, amps are VOICED a certain way and have many tones. Marshall JCM800 is voiced like a JCM800 but the tone you get for your amp will be your own. It will be close to the next amp that came off the same line, voiced to JCM800 spec, but can be sonically different and require different dialings from the amp before and after it. Custom is even more variable. Gotta pick which amp you dig the most.

Watch several videos of the same amp. Average them out and keep your expectations there.
 
TheToneDig said:
  1. Room sound is extremely variable but a tube amp + IR rig isn't. If you get that head and that IR then it's down to the guitar and your playing that's the difference. You should be able to get the same file, load it and dial the amp close to what you heard in the recording.
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  1. This. “In the room” for a rapidly growing amount of people is tube amp into a load/ir box through monitors, that’s why so many reviewers use them and why amp companies are now putting them in their amps. I’ve seen some of these youtubers surveys where 85% of the viewers are playing some kind of amp into ir’s.
 
DanTravis62 said:
i really, really don't like IRs for like "amp demos" either. At least if were talking about demoing an amp, not like demoing your recording skills or showing a song, which is a different thing and i get.

If there's really an interest in this, I might do a video of a couple of my amps
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I hate IR's, and that's the majority of what you hear on demos these days. They give off this high end fizz/nastiness that I can't get past. Makes everything sound like a modeler. Its tough to see/hear good demos of amps you're interested in these days. That, or they're playing a 7-string, (and with an IR).
 
napalmdeath said:
I hate IR's, and that's the majority of what you hear on demos these days. They give off this high end fizz/nastiness that I can't get past. Makes everything sound like a modeler. Its tough to see/hear good demos of amps you're interested in these days. That, or they're playing a 7-string, (and with an IR).
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I specifically record everything with real mics for a reason :dunno:

IRs have their place, but i think its kind of lazy tbh - and it makes everything sound the same. That might be because everyone uses the same IR's, and it might be because of IRs themselves, I have no idea.

I could very easily make all of my song demos sound like all the youtube fluff/ola shit if I wanted to, that big shiny modern thing, but i think it takes all of the balls and all of the personality out of these huge badass high gain amps we all love.

I would rather have my recordings be "imperfect" and a reflection of my (moderate) skill level, and still have some upside, than spend much less time and effort on things everyone thinks sound "good" that are forgettable. THAT, i think, is the crux of the issue. IRs make it so beginners can pretend theyre experts. When experts (like medic) use IRs you can tell its a completely different thing.
 
Metalhex said:
I've been saying this for years. Right after I started saying there should be more in the room sounds, Ola started doing just that. So he does it at least.

The problem with in the room mic videos, is finding the best place for the recording device. For example,, Louis Torres has a thousand amps, and he never mic's a cab. Always in the room sound. But all his videos sound the same to me. I wish he would experiment with different mic positions as well.

When recording with a cell phone,, I find that a good spot is about 5 or 6 feet away from the front of the cab on the floor,, and a few feet to the left or right of it, so it is not directly in front of it. Or even on top of the amp. I do that when I record ideas, and to me I can hear the characteristics of my different amps upon playback.
Click to expand...
when i used a cellphone (before I had actual mics), i used it on top of the amp. It captures perfect. Dainbramage taught me that trick. But I have a close mic on my cab and another mic that i can put around the corner of my table that really doesn't seem like it makes sense, but mixing the room mic with the close mic gives a massive sound. sometimes i will put the room mic about 4 to 5 feet away from cab out of direct projection. I like it there too. But a room mic only generally sounds kind of boxy and shitty.
 
I know room mics are variable, so are close mic'n things, because if you don't know certain recording rules/art on proximity effect, or phase rules you need to incorporate, you will come out sounding like shit. Also, I know Ola switches to room sounds in his videos. Kudos. I used to mic my videos with sm58/sm57 all the time. Last two or three I did incorporated IR's. My videos were song play throughs, not amp demos. that's the difference. Not blasting IRs. They are good for recording for sure. I am just saying, for gear demos, they are highly shaping.
 
Interesting, like chippy, I use the power station for stereo as well, but I use it as a wet power amp
 
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