I'm actually in the middle of mixing my band's album. We have real amps but using a loadbox just so we're not blasting cabs in the same room we're recording in. Even though the differences are subtle, it definitely adds character and realism compared to just a plain IR from the best IR companies you can find.
I love the idea of using this to further enhance my favorite IRs, which already totally transform the experience of playing through my favorite amp sims. Can't wait to give it a try!
Nicely put, that we're finally at a point where digital and analog technology is starting to meet. Awesome work! Both of you's! You and Bogren Digital.
I have to agree, I heard it the same way. I struggle sometimes with flat sounding amp sim tracks. Listening on my tv (a tv that makes everything sound the same) IRDX actually gave the dynamically flat sounding DI some speakers-ish dynamics. Pretty cool. I’m not usually one to play nice with marketing but I absolutely heard it in the video. I’ve tried expanders in the past to achieve something similar but that’s usually a total fail lol. I look forward to checking this out on my monitors/treated room later.
I already had the sub zero amp from bogren. I found this by accident when I left it on and continued using my own IRs in IR Libra. I was thinking wow this amp sim sounds killer. Started toggling IRDX on and off and I was surprised. Even using it before Libra it was sounding different. Instantly bought it to use after my other amp sims.
It's instantly making the guitars sound wider, but in a realistic way, not artificial like a stereo widener plugin. I wonder if it's doing different processing on left/right sides?
when I could see you enable and disable it I could hear it. so I closed my eyes. Still definitely heard it! It dose help the guitar poke through the mix in all the right places without overtaking the mix.
I'm on the fence of wanting to buy this. I downloaded the free trial to try it out, and having experimented for only an hour. It's definitely noticeable when you are just using a single guitar, but really, really hard to notice in a mix. I personally feel like you should have it set to 150 on the 'intense' option when in a mix, only then it feels like it adds to the guitar. I'm going to mess around with it for a few more days before making a final decision. This software is a great idea though!
It's subtle but it does add that little sauce to it that gives it a more analog feel. These guys having the lower octaver on throughout the entire song it seems? Love that guitar tone
It feels to me like it could potentially add problems while mixing. It's cool to have additional dynamics in a guitar signal when playing, but at the end of the day I'd still go in again and have some stray frequencies notched out or add some compression to the guitars when mixing to keep them in check (especially on palm mutes), so it would kind of negate the effects I added with using that plugin. Also, I feel like you could achieve the same effect or "feel" with a dynamic EQ and/or a multiband compressor/expander after your IR, which would be controlled by an envelope (or maybe even an LFO, if you want it super random) to make very small moves based on your input signal. You could even add some multiband distortion dynamically with that method. I think Bogren Digital is doing great with trying out new stuff like this, but I think I'll save those 39 bucks, as I feel like I could recreate the same effect with stock plugins I have in my DAW. Just my two cents and my opinion though.
I’ve tried the demo extensively with crunch, hi-gain, clean… it doesn’t do much and It will make the mix more difficult ( it adds pulsating low end below 150Hz (ie the absolute last thing you want to add - that’s why we use sm57 ) ). The only significant changes are above 6kHz and will only add harshness you’ll have to roll off later Basically that thing is a light de-sm57-ifier (for real : the added frequencies match the cut off point of the microphone) so I guess it can have some use to increase slightly the feel of an amp for practice. But by all means DO NOT add that in your mix ! This is trouble.
It is very noticeable for me personally, it ads life to the guitar; I can definitely hear an expander there, it is interesting that intermodulation distortion sounds good. Usually it makes the sound worse, well done for them, now I'm curious if it can work on other materials as well, not only guitars.
its great for people who arent engineers and mixers and want something to work without effort. pretty standard concepts for people who know how to do this with eq and distortion
@@RaytownProductions Thanks for the reply. I did see Jens had replied to someone on the release video saying it was specifically tuned to guitar but should work on bass too and that he had recently used it on a vocal, though I am assuming that is very much dependant on the style. I felt pretty much the same as yourself in regards to different sources and it also didn't work on the 2bus, but it is always worth testing these things just in case. Thanks for the heads up video about this though, it is appreciated!
+2db around 8kHz ... isnt that the main difference that we hear? at least thats what I find pretty noticable 😉 Some EQ match comparison would be interesting
I have the Sub-Zero plug-in, typically I will make an IR with Mikko 2, then load it into the Sub-Zero with irdx. This plug-in could probably speed up my workflow by allowing me to just bypass the IRS in Sub-Zero and put this after mikko. I'm trying to learn how to get my own harmonic saturation and customize, though I understand that that is static and doesn't change the way that this core plug-in does.
Plugin doctor shows absolutely nothing and audible with saturation on and dynamic response in this plugin))) a strong effect is achieved by the animation of the oscillating speaker in the plugin, and a bunch of strong fools looking at it)))) 40 euros for static bell +1.5 db on 10 khz and animation of dynamic - so great business )
@@destroyka1 I’ve noticed a slight bass boost in the bottom. I ran a spectrogram not plugin doctor tho. The top shelf is definitely the worst offender
There certainly is more going on than just what you describe (I show it in the video) but that being said it's subtle compared to 99% of tools for guitars. For audio purists that demand every last detail, this is pretty magical
@@RaytownProductions Is this magical? Then it certainly devalues the meaning of magical. It's like when someone calls a fart from one of the Kardashians historic!
The truly cynical way to work with plugin doctor is to match some curves: add an expander, add some saturation and see if you get the sound without spending a dime.
All this technology to fix the issues that come from using said technology. If a band and a producer can't get together and mic their amps and drum kits and make it all sound great I'm a mix, they both need new careers. Another thing, is this actually what is considered a great song these days?
Now we've gotten to the point where you can't tell if it is a IR or a real Amp, and now I'd like to see the Amp fanboys who say it's not like a real Amp 🤣🤣🤣
It kinda adds what’s a sm57 removes. You’ll get a little bit more of the bass phasing and the top end you’ll have in front of a real amp. You know the things recording engineers desperately try to get rid of.
@@Etienne.6329 yeah, I’ve been doing ab tests of the amp+loadbox to IR against the real reamped cab from the same session - not many people can tell which is which, just some colleagues who know what to listen for (real room reflections in pauses). The fact that this plugin even makes eq adjustments moves makes me very suspicious. I dont know what bogren is isolating here with neural network but it seems like a complete bullshit. it does seems to make a guitar stand out more but so would any saturator/eq. and it doesn’t compress, at all, in the video dude pushes it way too much into internal clipping, thats the only thing changes dynamics besides saturation (and no, speakers do not saturate!)
It adds top end and removes 39 euros from your pocket.
😂
It certainly does increase the top end a touch haha! But I do love what it does to my guitars 🤘
😅😅😅
That's the real truth. Use an eq, pump the highs just a touch and add a saturator. 39€ will stay in your pocket. Happy ending.
@@matteomidas638please do and make a video for comparison.
I'm actually in the middle of mixing my band's album. We have real amps but using a loadbox just so we're not blasting cabs in the same room we're recording in. Even though the differences are subtle, it definitely adds character and realism compared to just a plain IR from the best IR companies you can find.
I love the idea of using this to further enhance my favorite IRs, which already totally transform the experience of playing through my favorite amp sims. Can't wait to give it a try!
Nicely put, that we're finally at a point where digital and analog technology is starting to meet. Awesome work! Both of you's! You and Bogren Digital.
Best review / introduction to this plugin I've seen. 100% I will buy this. I'm already a big BD supporter and they never disappoint
I got the distinct sensation of speaker movement while listening to it. That subtle whoosh of air with every chug.
would you get that sensation without reading the advert is the real question 😂
I have to agree, I heard it the same way. I struggle sometimes with flat sounding amp sim tracks. Listening on my tv (a tv that makes everything sound the same) IRDX actually gave the dynamically flat sounding DI some speakers-ish dynamics. Pretty cool. I’m not usually one to play nice with marketing but I absolutely heard it in the video. I’ve tried expanders in the past to achieve something similar but that’s usually a total fail lol. I look forward to checking this out on my monitors/treated room later.
You felt a fart.
I already had the sub zero amp from bogren. I found this by accident when I left it on and continued using my own IRs in IR Libra. I was thinking wow this amp sim sounds killer. Started toggling IRDX on and off and I was surprised. Even using it before Libra it was sounding different. Instantly bought it to use after my other amp sims.
It's instantly making the guitars sound wider, but in a realistic way, not artificial like a stereo widener plugin. I wonder if it's doing different processing on left/right sides?
when I could see you enable and disable it I could hear it. so I closed my eyes. Still definitely heard it! It dose help the guitar poke through the mix in all the right places without overtaking the mix.
It would be interesting to compare these with the similar function in cabinetron
I'm on the fence of wanting to buy this. I downloaded the free trial to try it out, and having experimented for only an hour. It's definitely noticeable when you are just using a single guitar, but really, really hard to notice in a mix. I personally feel like you should have it set to 150 on the 'intense' option when in a mix, only then it feels like it adds to the guitar. I'm going to mess around with it for a few more days before making a final decision. This software is a great idea though!
Amazing Plugin and great video as always!
Thanks for the coupon Ray!
My pleasure! 🤘🤘
Even through my phone speakers I can hear depth, dynamics, punchy and nice high end
It's subtle but it does add that little sauce to it that gives it a more analog feel. These guys having the lower octaver on throughout the entire song it seems? Love that guitar tone
It feels to me like it could potentially add problems while mixing. It's cool to have additional dynamics in a guitar signal when playing, but at the end of the day I'd still go in again and have some stray frequencies notched out or add some compression to the guitars when mixing to keep them in check (especially on palm mutes), so it would kind of negate the effects I added with using that plugin.
Also, I feel like you could achieve the same effect or "feel" with a dynamic EQ and/or a multiband compressor/expander after your IR, which would be controlled by an envelope (or maybe even an LFO, if you want it super random) to make very small moves based on your input signal. You could even add some multiband distortion dynamically with that method.
I think Bogren Digital is doing great with trying out new stuff like this, but I think I'll save those 39 bucks, as I feel like I could recreate the same effect with stock plugins I have in my DAW. Just my two cents and my opinion though.
Best comment on here. cheers.
I’ve tried the demo extensively with crunch, hi-gain, clean… it doesn’t do much and It will make the mix more difficult ( it adds pulsating low end below 150Hz (ie the absolute last thing you want to add - that’s why we use sm57 ) ).
The only significant changes are above 6kHz and will only add harshness you’ll have to roll off later
Basically that thing is a light de-sm57-ifier (for real : the added frequencies match the cut off point of the microphone) so I guess it can have some use to increase slightly the feel of an amp for practice. But by all means DO NOT add that in your mix ! This is trouble.
Finally they did extract it from the larger plugin! Very good.
THALLLL Alan you are unreal!
Sick video Ray! i love this plugin sounds magical to me
That's a great sample track to use. Thanks man! Always love your work!
Checked this for aliasing yet?
It's pretty good. It will alias if you run a high freq tone into it and max it out. But they did a very good job here.
To my ears, it makes the guitars sit in better with synths. I like the plugin.
Seems like plugin removes the 'blanket', sounds less muddy
Great plugin and great review, thanks!
Glad it was helpful!
I'd say yeah fine, it does what it says it does, however, listening to the tracks on my studio monitors, I can't really pick up the difference.
This may sound stupid but this sounds like what I always felt IR were lacking compared to micing a real cab
Could a comparison be made between this and, say, a BBE Sonic Maximiser?
I think they are very different in how they work and are tuned, but I haven't compared them side by side!
Do you know any more artists offering raw tracks?
Unfortunately I don't... More bands should definitely do this though!
You can receive same or maybe even better results by using other saturation plugins like tape emulations or slates virtual console collection.
Where do u put this plug in exactly? Guitar buss end of the chain? Or individual guitar tracks end of the chain? Thanks!
You can do either, but definitely at the end but before any effects like delay or reverb
It is very noticeable for me personally, it ads life to the guitar; I can definitely hear an expander there, it is interesting that intermodulation distortion sounds good. Usually it makes the sound worse, well done for them, now I'm curious if it can work on other materials as well, not only guitars.
I've tried it on everything but didn't show it in the video. It sounds good on bass guitar but not that impressive on vocals or drums...
its great for people who arent engineers and mixers and want something to work without effort. pretty standard concepts for people who know how to do this with eq and distortion
it´s crazy!!! this is no nonsese...subtile but very audible-
Listening to the delta of what this is doing is interesting. I can see there could be more than just guitars this might work on.
It works well on bass as well! I didn't show it in the video but I also tried it on vocals and drums, but wasn't too excited about the results 😕
@@RaytownProductions Thanks for the reply.
I did see Jens had replied to someone on the release video saying it was specifically tuned to guitar but should work on bass too and that he had recently used it on a vocal, though I am assuming that is very much dependant on the style. I felt pretty much the same as yourself in regards to different sources and it also didn't work on the 2bus, but it is always worth testing these things just in case.
Thanks for the heads up video about this though, it is appreciated!
+2db around 8kHz ... isnt that the main difference that we hear?
at least thats what I find pretty noticable 😉
Some EQ match comparison would be interesting
Can you achieve this with a saturator and eq…
Maybe! But it would probably be very difficult 🙂
I have the Sub-Zero plug-in, typically I will make an IR with Mikko 2, then load it into the Sub-Zero with irdx.
This plug-in could probably speed up my workflow by allowing me to just bypass the IRS in Sub-Zero and put this after mikko.
I'm trying to learn how to get my own harmonic saturation and customize, though I understand that that is static and doesn't change the way that this core plug-in does.
It adds a little sizzle, but it really seems like the hhype train has left the station on this one
I hear the strong effect of... placebo :)
Plugin doctor shows absolutely nothing and audible with saturation on and dynamic response in this plugin))) a strong effect is achieved by the animation of the oscillating speaker in the plugin, and a bunch of strong fools looking at it))))
40 euros for static bell +1.5 db on 10 khz and animation of dynamic - so great business )
@@destroyka1 I’ve noticed a slight bass boost in the bottom. I ran a spectrogram not plugin doctor tho. The top shelf is definitely the worst offender
There certainly is more going on than just what you describe (I show it in the video) but that being said it's subtle compared to 99% of tools for guitars. For audio purists that demand every last detail, this is pretty magical
@@RaytownProductions Is this magical? Then it certainly devalues the meaning of magical. It's like when someone calls a fart from one of the Kardashians historic!
it add more life on the guitars, its not huge, but there is a little difference
The truly cynical way to work with plugin doctor is to match some curves: add an expander, add some saturation and see if you get the sound without spending a dime.
Seems like theres a bit more attack on the guitar playing
All this technology to fix the issues that come from using said technology. If a band and a producer can't get together and mic their amps and drum kits and make it all sound great I'm a mix, they both need new careers. Another thing, is this actually what is considered a great song these days?
The plugin industry is mainly aiming at the hobbyists, not the pros.
Ernser Trail
Now we've gotten to the point where you can't tell if it is a IR or a real Amp, and now I'd like to see the Amp fanboys who say it's not like a real Amp 🤣🤣🤣
damn this looks so sketchy. speakers are 99% linear, what the hell is this plugin doing
like someone already said, it removes 39 euros from your pocket. That's what it's doing.
It kinda adds what’s a sm57 removes. You’ll get a little bit more of the bass phasing and the top end you’ll have in front of a real amp.
You know the things recording engineers desperately try to get rid of.
@@Etienne.6329 yeah, I’ve been doing ab tests of the amp+loadbox to IR against the real reamped cab from the same session - not many people can tell which is which, just some colleagues who know what to listen for (real room reflections in pauses).
The fact that this plugin even makes eq adjustments moves makes me very suspicious. I dont know what bogren is isolating here with neural network but it seems like a complete bullshit. it does seems to make a guitar stand out more but so would any saturator/eq.
and it doesn’t compress, at all, in the video dude pushes it way too much into internal clipping, thats the only thing changes dynamics besides saturation (and no, speakers do not saturate!)
someone was so salty he removed my long technical comment. speakers do not saturate. this plugin is bs
What was your technical comment? I don't see it posted. I'm always up for a good conversation 🙂
Is this magical? Then it certainly devalues the meaning of magical a lot. It's like when someone calls a fart from one of the Kardashians historic!
Can't hear any difference
It doesn’t do anything. It’s just just another gimmick.
snake oil
if you close your eyes, it's unnoticeable. total crap lol