Nebula Programs and best impulses yet have arrived! (for real this time :P)

[ItsAFugazzi]

All the latest programs have loaded straight in for me. Maybe it's because I just recently re-installed Nebula 2 when I had to replace my old pc.

 

[Metaltastic]

Awesome, that's good news! I just wanted to be sure that people with both Nebula 3 and 2 could open it! And Mark, can't wait to hear what you cook up dude!

 

[Ermz]

Well I tried to pull off a different kind of test real quick. Basically the '57 2' program vs the beloved catharsis fredman impulse 'pres8'.

The guitar has some dull strings at the moment and my playing is very untight both due to lack of years of practice and also being all first takes, but it gives you an idea all the same.

Nebula chain:

Schecter C7 Hellraiser > Millennia STT-1 > RME Multiface > TSS > 8505 > 57 2 (no changes made to Nebula)

Impulse chain:

Schecter C7 Hellraiser > Millennia STT-1 > RME Multiface > TSS > 8505 > catharsis 'pres8' impulse (running in SIR 2, all wet, no dry, nothing changed).

The 8505 settings on both clips vary drastically. The Nebula runs have the highs almost on 0, the Catharsis ones have them around 7. Bass and mids vary too, but the highs were the most notable change.

Nebula: http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/285689/Forum/ermz-marcus_nebula_cab.mp3

Impulse: http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/285689/Forum/ermz-ryan_impulse_cab.mp3

 

[Metaltastic]

Eek, Ermz, I really think you overdid it with cutting the highs in the Nebula program, cuz it sounds like there's a huge hole in the highs range and yet the annoying static that I guess you were trying to get rid of remains; I think a wiser solution would have been to LP the Nebula program like you would a real guitar cab recording and then tweak the highs, but I guess you wanted to keep 'em even Also, Ryan's sounds ridiculously off-axis, so if you were tweaking the Nebula 8505 to match that then it's no wonder!

 

[Ermz]

I kept the guitars raw on purpose. Like I said, the 8505 with the Nebula program was set to have almost no high-end dialed in and the fizz remains, so that tells you more about the program than my settings. I dig the dynamics behind the nebula program, but the tone seemed pretty abhorrent, no matter how the sim was dialed. I'll mess around a bit more if I get the time, but those last 2 clips were done quite quickly.

 

[kass]

if using Voxengo Boogex for the impulses, make sure you raise the default LPF, which is at something like 7k, so of course the Nebula one will sound brighter in comparison because it's un-eq'ed!

That is not the issue.

*shrug*


ill try again later

 

[Metaltastic]

Like I said, the 8505 with the Nebula program was set to have almost no high-end dialed in and the fizz remains, so that tells you more about the program than my settings.

Well it's not like the High control in the 8505 plugin is an LPF, so it makes perfect sense that turning it down would scoop out like a healthy dose of like 3k, while the fizz still remained above (leaving a hole, as I mentioned in my post).

 

[Ermz]

I imagine the high pot would be a shelving EQ, so it would roll off the high-end fairly evenly, and that's certainly what it sounded like as I toyed with it. The point is that I was trying to quickly work out which sounds best without any additional treatment. Most amps aren't going to offer you band pass filters . The Nebula program is very very very VERY fizzy, but there is a certain smoothness and response to the playing that's cool. The catharsis run is much easier on the ears though.

I look forward to hearing what others come up with.

 

[Ermz]

Correction: It might not be a shelving filter, as it does seem strongly centered on the high mids, but all the same it has led to some decent results with the classic poida impulses, ryan's new ones, some gh ones etc.

I'm not sure whether the fizz is a function of the program or mic positioning, but both SoloC and 8505's internal EQs didn't handle it too well.

 

[Metaltastic]

The Nebula program is very very very VERY fizzy, but there is a certain smoothness and response to the playing that's cool. The catharsis run is much easier on the ears though.

I look forward to hearing what others come up with.

To me, while the Nebula program had fizz, the Catharsis one was very muffled/cloudy sounding

 

[Mancha]

I loaded the program and thought that it had a dry signal mixed in, but seams that the clip Erms made sounds the same.
Marcus, did you or AeternusEternus deconvolve those?
I just woke up so that might have something to do with it, but the still sound a bit strange

 

[Metaltastic]

Hmm, yeah, I reinstalled Nebula and now it works, and in my own testing, the Nebula program is indeed brighter, but nowhere NEAR as much as it was the last time we did these tests, and I would even go so far as to say the small amount of hi-end sculpting (and it's more than just bringing down the LPF, cuz the fizz needs to be reduced, not eliminated, so a shelf cu would probably be better) is well worth it for the amazing increase in sense of dynamics! (it's easily apparent even just with TSS --> 8505 IMO!)

Also, these Nebula programs don't seem to be too much hungrier in the CPU department than Boogex, which is always nice!

 

[Ermz]

It's strange how on AE's latest tests there was virtually no extra high end with the nebula programs compared to the real amp and impulses. I wonder what the magic factor here is.

Listening back, you can really hear the dynamic response of the Nebula programs. Much smoother. Now if only we could get the spectral response to play ball too.

 

[Rex Rocker]

Thanks a lot! I was actually just starting to experiment with your past recto cab impulses, lol.

 

[drew_drummer]

I think I preferred what I heard from AE's impulses.

 

[abyssofdreams]

 

[Erik Monsonis]

+1

The nebula sounds like a little practice amp, and the catharsis sounds much better for my taste, but maybe a bit muddy.

 

[grywolf627]

Sorry Marcus, I didn't have much time to play with this after my last reply. It's funny you mentioned "cooking up", because that's exactly what I had to do...cook. I will experiment more this weekend however.

But, before everyone gets disheartened again, remember: even Marcus' impulses sound nothing like Ryan's, as they like different sounds. So comparing a Neb program from Marcus with Ryan's impulses is like apples and oranges. When comparing Marcus' impulses with Marcus' Neb program...yes, there is a little extra highs. But we're talking no where near the amount we got before (which made me put Nebula on the back burner for a while too). The little bit of highs there can be dealt with easily. The "feel" is there...even when just using an amp-sim (which is all I have now).

I'm still very excited about this and can't wait to hear some more AE/other impulse guru collaborations!

 

[Metaltastic]

Thanks a lot! I was actually just starting to experiment with your past recto cab impulses, lol.

Nooooooooo, ignore them, cuz I used the Orange channel rather than Orange channel cloned to modern! (you don't have to understand what that means, just know it made a big difference for the better in the sound of the power amp ) These new ones definitely wipe the floor with all the previous ones!

 

[Metaltastic]

But, before everyone gets disheartened again, remember: even Marcus' impulses sound nothing like Ryan's, as they like different sounds. So comparing a Neb program from Marcus with Ryan's impulses is like apples and oranges. When comparing Marcus' impulses with Marcus' Neb program...yes, there is a little extra highs. But we're talking no where near the amount we got before (which made me put Nebula on the back burner for a while too). The little bit of highs there can be dealt with easily. The "feel" is there...even when just using an amp-sim (which is all I have now).

Agreed!