Collect all IR's in a list in a cab sim

The filemanager is a breeze to work with and I found that the MOD IR loader instantly gets a freeware IR I dropped in the file manager. Great!

I noticed that other cab models have a certain collection of IR’s.

  • Is there a way to get them all together in an IR loader cab?
3 Likes

Will love to have categories/sub directories listed in the plugin too.

2 Likes

Do you mean get the IRs used on other plugins in the platform?

That was not the explicit desire but if you boil it down, that could be the end result.
I have aquired some neat IR’s for cabs but I would like to combine them with IR’s in other plugins.

Without thinking of a complex solution with custom cab versions and settings;
having a way to distill all the IR’s from published plugins and making them downloadable for users to add, you could enable the MOD IR loader to use them all. Than it is a matter of showing all in a list versus creating a custom list per board… just thinking out loud. :smiley:

Hmm I’m still a bit confused…something like a crossfade between two or more cabinets and/or IRs?

No, not really,
Thanks for trying to understand though
I made this quick sketch and video, hope that helps :smiley:

Here is the original sketch:

1 Like

I think this complicates things while we already have the IR Cab loader plugin that can be improved to better manage IRs on the filesystem. Indeed there’s no need to have separate commercial plugins just to group few IRs.

4 Likes

Grouping all present IR’s eliminates the need for separate plugins.

I would do 99% of my work if I would be able to use some of the IR’s I found in plugins and some of mine, organised in a few sets (for cleans, for drive, for high gain and for live performances)

Requirements at this end will vary for users of course; I’ll leave it to MOD to come up with a scaleable idea ;D

1 Like

I understand perfectly but I think also that creating a plugin just to expose few IRs is a waste of time since a lot of effort is needed to create the plugin, the graphics, manage deployment, maintain code versioning and so on. Way easier (for MOD, for users and IRs producers) to just buy a package of few IRs and slap them into filesystem.

Currently I suppose that available commercial plugins have IRs embedded into plugin code. Maybe would be easier to extrapolate these IRs and offer as a commercial package rather than offering as a plugin. IMHO as usual :wink:

1 Like

there IS already a plugin that instantly loads all your own IR’s; that’s the MOD CAB in the video. I suppose you already know that though :smiley:
The REQ was to give it an option to manage the IR’s that are loaded in that MOD CAB for the current pedalboard instance, including the ones that are already floating around in your Dwarf somewhere.

I don’t know enough yet to know how IR’s work in the plugins.
If they are baked in, that would be hard to collect of course

What you propose is a simpler one-off method but it shows that being able to lift out IR’s and have them as seperate source files fit the philosophy of open source even better :smiley:

1 Like

I was talking in general, the way IR plugins are currently made is “complex” related to copying a single IR file into filesystem.

MOD Cab is like other commercial IR Cab plugins, it would be time consuming for devs to incorporate all IR from currently installed IR plugins into MOD Cab (what about when a new IR plugin will be available?).

What you’re asking is somehow already in place and is IR Cab loader plugin except the fact that it can’t read the IRs from other IR plugins. To achieve the goal it would easier to export IRs from all commercial plugins and load them through IR Cab loader.

1 Like

Exactly why I was wondering if collecting them on the Dwarf would be an option. But you already said they are “embedded” so that’s probably not the option.

Yes+ with nice to have: determine the selection per pedalboard or manage them as selection of a subfolder in the IR folder on the filesystem (then you have redundancy though)

Although I finally understood what you mean @LievenDV, I personally think that what @redcloud is suggesting here it’s easier and not more “dirty” than the other option. Maybe, we can ship some files already on the file system of a device and on the IRs we can ship those used on the plugins. This would be almost 0 work and would give pretty much the same results as long as users don’t change the file name.

In that case maybe the best is to make available only the ones that are not and that we are allowed to share out of the plugin (that’s also important to keep in mind)

2 Likes

Yeah in hindsight, the idea was quite…;elaborate but I learn while doing here.

Also thanks @jon @JamKid and @redcloud for thinkining along!

yeah, I wasn’t sure how that worked with public/closed technology and IR’s used.

Shipping some IR’s and letting users manage their own IR folder serves the needs of many and saves the Users’ the hassle of crawling the web for their own.

Offering a fine selection, as IR sommelier if you like, would yet be another baby step to catering the UX for the lazy guitarist! :smiley:

Went to bed way too late last night but managed to dig up quite a lot of free IR’s.
I’ll be testing and sharing them later, just putting the complete set somewhere.

3 Likes

Honestly I won’t focus on IR selection since IR world is HIGHLY subjective: what is a fine selection for you could be not as good for other 10 people. We all use different equipment, different speakers, different instruments. Everyone uses a different EQ for listening. MOD Team should just focus on how to manage IR at the best. IR selection should be in charge of the user.

3 Likes

I agree @redcloud

“Selection” could be a bunch of things and nobody should be “pushing” a choice.

I see it as an AND story, not an OR story.
A limited but broad set to get many people started AND as soon as you pop the hood, a library to tweak what you initially discovered.

In another thread the "appeal of MOD devices for (lazy) guitarist is adressed.

For me, a “selections” means this.
Provide a broad sample of what is out there, with the “lazy guitarist” target group in mind.
When I started out toying with guitar effects, I enjoyed a broad and varied selection of presets to learn what they actually do. it were no 100 variations of one theme but 1 preset per general idea, inviting me to tweak or learn from it.

I have little IR library now with about 8 different models but with tons of variations like mic placement etc. But in many if my cases, I’ll be looking for a certain “main character” and will the tiny variations have little impact (since I’m already tinkering with EQ as well).

Having 16 to 32 models that cover a lot of ground for types of instruments, style and small/big cabinet difference.

Marketing wise it would be about offering super easy access to a set of tools, a swiss army knife that will help create a solid first impression that is made by ease of use and “how easy is it to dial in a usable sound”. As soon as they get past that phase is their user journey, they should find easy access under the hood and then there is a library to pick from.

3 Likes

How about ‘guitar players used to a certain quality of user experience’? It’s not that MOD is so “complicated” and “advanced” and “powerful”, only for the “true power users, able to put in the time”. It’s not.

Let me put it this way, Fractal amps have countless of pages of options that most guitar players, and probably some engineers wouldn’t even understand (what the hell is “B+ Time Constant”?) but their amps sound great as soon as you click on them, and the first thing the player sees is an authentic representation of basic controls available on the amp that Fractal is modeling. MOD amps (besides Onyx, SuperSonic, and Titan) do not have authentic, “amp-like” controls (“attack”, “squash”, “sinewave” anyone?), and they do not offer the depth of options Fractal or some Helix amps do. They have arbitrary controls that make the process of dialing in a good sound more frustrating than on a 30$ analog pedal or 100$ entry-level multi-fx unit.

The aforementioned, extremely complex Fractal amps (or less complicated Helix amps), also have detailed documentation, explaining to the user what that “B+ Time Constant” is. Most MOD plugins have no documentation, so you’re left guessing what that “attack” or “muffle” control does. Or you have to find out that one particular plugin the Wet/Dry knob gives you fully dry sound all the way to the right, contrary to >90% plugins and physical pedals out there (not to mention the fact that no plugin that’s out of beta should have controls in a range o 0-127 unless maybe that parameter is strictly MIDI related).

So no. It’s not a matter of laziness. It’s the fact that other plugins and hardware units provide a better user experience while ALSO sometimes offering far more complex amps. The increased complexity of the MOD only comes into play when creating very elaborate FX chains, because MOD has more power, CV, mixers, etc., etc. I appreciate the fact that - even if some of it is a bit janky - you can put your guitar through an auto-tune, pitch shift it multiple times, and play a synth at the same time without the CPU tapping out. That’s where the strength of the MOD truly lies.

Besides, your suggestion highlights all that as well. I don’t see any reason why there would be 8 or 9 different cab plugins in the store (except to make some of them paid products), or why one of them has IR’s named after songs(???). One or two plugins would suffice (proprietary cabs and user cabs for example). It’s like that in virtually all the other multi-fx units and/or plugins, so to me, your suggestion - while not a particularly pressing matter - is completely logical.

4 Likes

Not a pressing matter at all indeed and I agree that user journeys differ a lot. I’m trying to “do my part” for the persona/target group I represent: the (lazy) guitarist. A contradiction as I’m willing to invest time tinkering? Yes that that’s because UX is one of my passions I guess. I like to explore ideas. This week it was the Distribution of IR’s, next week it might be something else :smiley:

I agree, I also miss recognisability when it comes to amps and effects. I miss some of the (faux) designs and instantly recognisable components that would make up 90% of the boards that would be primer for guitarists beginning with MOD devices.

Just a bit of time experimenting with EQ and IR’s for cabs learned me how crucial these 2 things are. I’m not in the spot to single out what to address with EQ and what to leave to the perfectly chosen IR but the continuous DI sample looped in the Dwarf rendered some interesting result.

So, no doubt the power is there but the path to desired tones it long and too random.
Streamlining the process AND working on several layers of complexity when thinking of delivery of boards, plug-ins and simulations seems like a matrix of strategies.

I also have a Positive Grid Programmable distortion. Back then, it became the closest thing to what I wanted but I’m not using this expensive units for more than 2y. Connection to the device wasn’t smooth, it felt clumsy, it was only OD/dist. What I DID like was the programming part (when it worked).
The Dwarf outclasses this unit on many fields AND it has such a big potential for growth as a platform.
I wont be touching that Positive Grid thing any time soon but as a guitarist, the interface and degree of complexity was great.

I’m not going into specifics here but If we could bring some of that to the “guitarist minded” items in de GUI, keeping things in mind like the points you made, that would make a difference. MOD have been quite innovative but they would benefit from looking at the competition and “steal like an artist” ( read “be inspired and learn from “)

Anyway, the potential triggers me to explore and get involved and share what I think would help to elevate it all to a point where you, I and all those “lazy” guitarists would get blow away by their 1st, 2nd and 3rd impression :stuck_out_tongue:

Too bad you’re backing out because I’m sure you would contribute to a great win-win story.
I’m not disagreeing with you, au contraire. It even think, in one point in our journey, our curves cross. I guess it’s about where de go from here.
Stick around, I’m sure we would have been great jam buddies!

LievenDV

4 Likes

That is actually being tackled. Looperlative is the first example and hopefully more will come

3 Likes