IRDX Core - How to add speaker dynamics to any amp sim or IR
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- Опубліковано 3 лип 2024
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Join producer Jens Bogren on a walkthrough of the IRDX Core plugin and see how you can add realistic speaker dynamics to any Impulse Response or non-Bogren Digital amp sim.
IRDX Core - Speaker Dynamics
Breathe life into your guitar amp sims and cabinet impulse responses. Simply add IRDX Core after your guitar amp or IR loader plugin and discover the natural movement, the 3D sensation, the slightly jagged edges, and the unpredictability you could previously only obtain by recording an actual guitar cabinet at high volumes with a microphone.
What’s wrong with IRs?
As much as Bogren Digital loves impulse responses, it’s important to understand that all IRs have a significant limitation: they can only capture a static, linear image of the tone curve and resonances of the cabinet. Real-life guitar speakers, on the other hand, are non-linear, which is a fancy way of saying they react dynamically to the signal that is being fed into them. It’s those non-linearities that IRDX faithfully emulates and adds to your amp sim or IR loader.
This is the IRDX difference
The IRDX effect may seem subtle at first. But going back and forth between enabling and bypassing it, here’s what you’ll notice:
With IRDX Core disabled, every stroke on the guitar sounds similar, and the guitar seems somewhat two-dimensional and lifeless.
With IRDX activated, differences between the individual strokes are more discernible, the sound wakes up, and you get all the changes over time that are so important to keep the listeners’ attention.
Using IRDX Core in a mixing situation adds width, movement, and excitement to guitar tracks. It also helps guitars sit better with the other instruments.
With IRDX Core activated, the guitar sound reacts more realistically to your playing when you play through an amp sim in real time.
How do I use the IRDX Core plugin?
In any major DAW, launch the IRDX Core plugin on an insert slot that immediately follows an IR loader plugin or a guitar amp simulation that includes a model of a speaker cab. You can use IRDX Core to enhance any such plugin - except for the Bogren Digital ones! That’s because all our amp sim plugins already have the IRDX technology built into them, so there’s no need to add IRDX Core after those. But any other brand’s IR loader or guitar amp plugin will sound better if it’s followed by IRDX Core.
In most cases, no adjustments are necessary in the IRDX Core plugin. But you may want to use the calibrate function or manually adjust input/output volume to ensure you get a healthy level from your amp sim into IRDX Core. If you prefer the IRDX effect to be more pronounced, you can switch from Normal to Intense and fine-tune the effect using the IRDX Amount knob.
Groundbreaking IRDX Technology
IRDX technology breathes life into the guitar sound by adding dynamic and true-to-life behavior to static speaker impulse responses.
Impulse responses are excellent at capturing the tonality and resonance of a guitar cabinet. But by nature, they are only static snapshots in time. Real-life guitar speakers react dynamically to the input from the amplifier - they move air, compress, and break up depending on how hard they are being pushed by the amp. An impulse response can replicate the tonal characteristics of a real cab but not the dynamics and other non-linearities. As a result, the sound of an IR can be two-dimensional, lifeless, and fatiguing.
The IRDX technology, developed by producer Jens Bogren, uses advanced machine learning methods to reconstruct the difference between a real cab and an impulse response. Any impulse response can be processed with IRDX, and the result is a guitar amp sim that reacts like a real amp, easily fits in a mix without sounding stale, and feels great to play.
Music written, and performed by Federico Ascari:
federicoascari.com
0:00 Intro
0:44 What is IRDX Core?
01:18 Session overview
1:52 Audio examples
2:51 Analyzing the differences
3:30 IRDX in Ampknobs
4:14 Plugin controls
4:59 Calibrating the input
6:25 Calibration tips
7:25 Input gain vs knob amount
8:50 The intense mode
9:32 Outro
I've really been enjoying the IRDX in the MLC amp sim. As someone who started recording DI guitars 20 years ago with the Line 6 POD, I'm constantly in awe of the results that are possible with DI guitar recording now compared to back then.
The amount of work, money, and time involved in traditional mic recording of amps compared to what's possible with modern amp sims really blows my mind. I feel very grateful for Bogren Digital and Neural DSP.
Ah yes, we all remember the golden days of the red kidney bean full of magic tones. :)
It would be interesting to hear how the original POD sounds with modern IRs and IRDX.
this is cool , i thought it might be witchcraft and it is lolol i will put it in my list of things i need.
It would be so cool if it also had ir loader. Would take it to whole another level to be able to load ir in same plugin.
Imagine if it also had a power amp sim, so you could plug into it from a real amp's preamp!
Actually, it would be very cool if it also had a simulsted preamp before the power amp so you could plug right into it!
Wait...
I disagree. I have other plugins that I use for IRs. It's nice that this one isn't trying to be other things. Just save your DAW's track preset with it loaded on your guitar chain (as you should be doing already) and your workflow should be just as good as if it was a single plugin.
Man, it just keeps getting better and better!
I bought this and it gave the extra spice that i was missing in my guitar tone awesome plugin!
I've been listening to several people demo this today for the last couple of hours. To my ears, it makes guitars sit in better with synths. I also think it adds vibe and feel to the guitar. Will be buying it tomorrow.
I've tried it on drums, synths and other saturated stuff heavily compressed, it does add nice dynamics on everything, love it!! 🤘🤘🤘🤘
Nice! Jens had fun with it on a vocal chain last week. :)
I tried the demo and got convinced. Bought it and it works brilliantly with all my three different software amp sims. It really makes a difference in a mix, and it is not EQ. Bogren Digital keeps on bringing great stuff. See you in Örebro in September.
Mind.... BLOWN!! 🤯🤯 Incredible technology!
Thanks, and happy mixing :)
thank you so much for this plugin!
Man I just tried the plugin, and really liked it! It's always nice to have that extra push in the guitars! 🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘
Cheers! Great to hear you are enjoying it. :)
this is a very good plugin and the effect is amazing
im using this plugin with hardware, and it works perfectly! I have a line 6 helix with the IR block last in its chain. it is fed XLR out into the mixer which has IRDX as the 1st block in the plugin chain. Works perfectly transitioning from hardware to software, and sounds amazing fed live as well using a DAW with the live mixer. worth the extra 6ms of latency from switching to mixer to daw based live sound if it sounds this good
I can hear the subtle difference especially more depth in the sound and does come close to some of my real amp/cab recorded sounds. It would be nice to see a Stereo/Mono switch on the GUI rather than hidden in the settings.
Can't wait to try this baby on my programed bass track too
I love the fact that you showed this off with Gojira's Neural DSP plugin... that's... ballsy.
We could not use Bogren Digital plugins because they already have IRDX built in. We chose Gojira because it’s a great plugin and popular plugin.
This is a neat plugin IMO. I've read a few comments on it being too expensive, as the difference is quite subtle. I argue that the issue at hand is over subtlety and compared to buying real gear that will cost thousands to get the "real" sound, 40 bucks isn't anything to bat an eye at. I think if looked at a mixer perspective instead of a guitar player perspective it does absolute wonders. I'm gonna try this on bass soon.
40 bucks sometimes it's a pretty solid solid state combo, so, yeah, it is expensive.
It works great on bass as well and while it does add some nice feel when playing through it, the biggest benefit is when mixing full songs.
Nice!
This is really cool! Any thoughts to adding an optional basic IR loader to it? I'm sure most will just use whichever IR loader/built in IRs they like, but it'd be a nice option for those that would like an "all in one" speaker emulation option.
Would be awesome to implement into the quad cortex
i honestly expected some pumping in lows instead of presence boost, but it still adds some extra anyway, now, can the virtual guitar amplification become any better than that?🙂
Would placing it last in the signal chain, for example after cab-reverb-delay, have undesired effects?
I usually record with all effects in an FM3 so there's too much hassle to rerout from FM3 drive/amp/cab→DAW→FM3 post effects→DAW...
Sure, it's doable but not the best scenario considering latency and so on...
that`s awesome product! Do you have any plans to release some Ampknob that targets Lead tones specifically? Already having your IR packs but just can`t find the right ampsim for a nice shreddy solo
Hmm... that sure would be a nice idea :D
Hmm... I will try to emulate this plugin sound by using saturation and high shelf EQ.
Because it's all the stuff I hear from your plugin right now.
AXE FX introduced dynamic stuff in cab sections a while ago and people seem to forgot about this, because it's so subtle and as I said, you can achieve this stuff by using saturation and EQ.
NO HATE from me, BTW. I am just in my journey of learning all this technology, so I am really geek about this and wanna scientific tests and all of that.
There have been a lot of different approaches over the years but Jens never found anything that would come close to real cabs that he uses on his productions.
IRDX Core is not a traditional EQ, compressor or saturator. It was built using machine learning (AI) and trained and tuned on a real setup. The difference is that IRDX expects a guitar cab signal and will react dynamically to what it is hearing.
@@Bogren.Digital thanks for the answer. That's good info!
How about a JCM800 OneKnob? For classic Rock to boosted to hell and back sounds?
I use the Get Down IR to. My favorite one! Can I upload this to Headrush along with my IRs?
IRDX is a plugin and adds a time-based effect. IRs by nature are only frequency based, so more like a static photo than a movie. But you can record Headrush into a DAW, then add IRDX plugin afterwards.
you should make a similar plugin like Difix.. that thing that beefs up the Di signal.
Hello, little question. I'm a beginner in mix and IR's ect... I just want to know which IR's I should take betwin the 4 folders in your packs ? ( 44.1khz, 48khz ect...) And why there is different options in it. Thanks !! :)
Welcome! The world of IRs is exciting! Some hardware units only accept a specific sample rate (like 48kHz). We include different formats so it's easy to load them. If you are loading IRs in a DAW, the sample rate will not matter.
Since i have to disable the effects in the amp sim signal chain, do you recommend any good plugins post irdx? What does your typical signal chain look like for amp sims?
Alan, which type of effects are you disabling? I’d run it after the amp aim including delay/reverb. You’re correct that technically it would be better to have IRDX before post effects, but the difference should be very small.
@@jensbogren4943yes delay/reverb block I'm disabling. Thank you for that clarity in your response. When I have delay enabled I will not worry anymore about its influence on IRDX.
Can you add this plugin after IK's Amplitube 5 or Tonex or TH-U for more realism ?
Absolutely. Grab a free trial and see what it does for your mixes.
Hi, can i play with this live or this is have a decay and only for mixing?
We have many users using IRDX live.
You can get IRDX for free on our page and test it for 14 days:
bogrendigital.com/products/irdx-core
If you have more questions, feel free to shoot us at support@bogrendigital.com, and our team will gladly help you.
Can you use this for bass guitar tracking?
Yes. Please access our page and get your trial version: bogrendigital.com/products/irdx-core
We hope you have a great time recording your bass lines.
How do I use it on my Headrush?Shall I need to reamp first then save as an IR?
You can create a track in your DAW, put headrush on input, and use IRDX Core.
Please check our page 'how to use' bogrendigital.com/products/irdx-core
Feel free to contact us at support@bogrendigital.com if you need further assistance. Our team will gladly help you.
Thankyou Jens
How could I use this in my daw but using the amp sims and IRs on my head rush?
You can load IRs in your headrush, but Amp sims and FX are only available for PC or OSX.
It's like an "exciter"
An exciter adds extra harmonics that are based on whatever the effect designer thought would be nice for a number of general applications.
IRDX Core was specifically modeled after a real speaker response so it not only adds realistic harmonics but it reacts to the guitar signal like a real speaker would.
Basically adds á little presence
Lol. Most of the review vids I watched totally missed the fact that the input and output controls are directly affecting the saturation. Looking forward to trying this one out for myself. 💪
Trying it yourself is the best way! Have fun with the free trial 🙌
Can I use that in real time? I mean without DAW, usually I just playthrough using guitar rig 5 I load from gigperformer 4 and record live using obs with asio plugin in my obs
If OBS can load VST3/AU plugins, it should be possible... It might introduce some latency, however.
You could try something like Live Rig from Nembrini Audio.
@@Bogren.Digital not from obs lol, I will load that from gig performer ,, that's similar like a host vst for live performance from Steinberg
There are so many people calling this bunk haha. I think it helps for sure and I do like it but, I do not think the average guitarist can hear this. Only us Audio guys.
It's definitely a subtle difference. There will always be a lot of opinions on the internet but not everyone has the ability to work with real gear at a professional studio to appreciate how that compares to amp sims.
Jens has been mixing major label bands for over 20 years, and using an amp sim on his productions was never really an option. This is exactly why we have developed the IRDX technology.
The best way is to grab a free trial and see if it works for you. :)
Uhm, may im stupid, but isn't it like post saturation?
I mean,every speaker breaks up differently, and irdx seems to add just random noise and Aliasing to me, but maybe i just dont understand what irdx is doing.
There is some saturation that a speaker cab ads but that's just a part of the signal. IRDX is not using any traditional processing. It's true that every cab and speaker sounds different. We captured the workhorse cabinet here at Fascination Street Studios that has been used on a ton of fantastic albums in the last two decades.
The plugin expects a signal from a guitar cab to work properly, so if you are using a tool like Plugin Doctor, the results can be misleading.
Aight, thank you for your transparent answer, i appreciate that
Oh, Scott from Chernobyl Studios mentioned he had to place it between the amp sim and the IR louder. Strange.
Scott made a mistake by placing it there initially. IRDX Core needs to be after the IR/Cab section to work properly, as it is expecting a mic'd up guitar cab signal.
@@Bogren.Digital Yes, also seems more logical that way. Good you clarified it, thanks!
So the confusion with this guy here is because I was using a complete suite amp simulator, I said "amp simulator' in my video. If you see the video, you watch me place it after the "suite" which has the IR loader inside it. But glad you remember my name - and my mistakes - it is great for my analytics!
@@ChernobylAudio666 Great to have it clarified. I used Voxengo BoogeX 'cause it is free and has this feature called DynaCab.
I’m glad it doesn’t have a photo of satan on it 😅
We looked deep into our dark hearts and decided it's time to change our ways. ;)
Satan is a spirit, I’m not sure you’d be able to take a photo of him, 🤷♂️
Except IR’s are already accurate. All the plugin is adding are post effects. Mikko debunked it and I’m more keen to trust him. The effect is nice but it is marketed as something it is not.
An IR is very accurate but only in terms of the EQ curve. But an IR file can only capture that. A real can has nuances that go beyond that.
IRDX Core does exactly what is advertised. There are some misconceptions about how to use or measure the plugin or what is the actual difference between working with real cans and IRs. Jens has been a producer for over 25 years and has credits on many platinum albums throughout his career, and that’s worth considering when weighing in online reviews.
That “debunk” doesn’t account for the fact that this is not a compressor. You can’t feed it a sine, and expect it to compress. It’s machine learning, trained on the real life difference between miced cab, and the IR counterpart. I’m not the first to discover that something is missing with IR’s. Companies like UA, Celestion, Kazrog and Softube have done their own attempts at this issue. I’ve spent almost 30 years listening to real miced cabs in the studio. Feed this thing low end chug, and it will compress and saturate like a driven miced cab chain will.
I honestly don’t understand why Mikko can’t hear a difference. Experience, I suppose. Or not driving the cabs loud enough in his bedroom.
@@jensbogren4943 Mikko can hear a difference. He demonstrates the difference in his vid.
In response to your "thumbnail question"
It does nothing.
It will cook for you, and provide free hummers.
Whenever I hear words like "movement, intensity, clearer, stale, dynamics" and similar non musical words my spider sense activates. Tell us what IRs are lacking, demonstrate how this plugin remediates that problem. Dynamics without proper context has no real meaning. A high gain guitar tone is away from dynamics as one can get.
Sorry to say but all I'm hearing is upper harmonics being dialed in (Amphion two18s and Audeze lcdx's).
Thanks for checking out the video. The demos are in the video here but the best way is to grab the free trial and hear it for yourself.
We also made a short video on the IRDX tech here: ua-cam.com/video/5NnbEz3PV4o/v-deo.html
Impulse responses are amazing for capturing an accurate EQ curve. However, they are frequency-based. They cannot contain any information about the time-frequency due to their nature.
A real speaker that is driven at a loud volume will react to the signal by adding compression, saturation, and a sense of "movement" that is difficult to define. But if you place IRDX on rhythm guitars in a full mix, and then take it away, you will notice what we mean by IRs alone sounding "flat". Upper harmonics that you hear are part of what is happening.
Hi thanks for the reply - I checked the other video too but that is also very basic and marketing focused.
A proper demonstration of the actual differences you find in an IR and the actual cab and how these differences are actually the reason for this supposed "flat" sound would really help.
The market is full with one knob plugins which are doing simple everyday processing tasks behind the curtains and marketing themselves as "game changing" and using buzzwords like AI, neural networks and machine learning.
I feel we're at a stage where serious developers have to take their audience seriously and provide the necessary scientific info setting themselves apart from the snakeoil salesmen.