Dread-18 CS – Acoustic IR Pack

IMPORTANT NOTES

1. INTENDED FOR USE WITH ACOUSTIC GUITARS: Our acoustic IR’s are intended to be used with acoustic guitars. They are not meant to make an electric guitar sound like an acoustic guitar.

2. CROSS PLATFORM: These .WAV impulse responses can be used in any hardware or application that supports IR’s. This includes products by Line 6 (Helix, HX Stomp, HX Effects, etc), Kemper, Axe-FX, etc.

3. EXPERIMENT: We’ve included multiple options in this IR pack (more details below). The best idea is just to start experimenting with your guitar and find the IR or combinations of IR’s that sound the best. Our recommendation is to first find the pickup type that fits your guitar best (see the pickup options section), and then experiment with different mic options for that pickup type.

THE GUITAR

These IR’s were created using a Custom Shop Martin D-18 acoustic guitar. The D-18 is one of Martin’s most beloved designs. It is a Dreadnaught shape featuring a solid spruce top and solid mahogany back and sides. This combination of woods gives the guitar a different voice than the well known D-28 models. Ours was constructed by the Martin Custom Shop, and we think it has something special. One of the best Martin acoustics we’ve played yet. These Impulse Responses will impart the signature tone of this custom shop D-18 on to the direct output of your guitar.

WHAT DO ACOUSTIC IR’s DO?

Our acoustic impulse responses are meant to make the direct output of an acoustic guitar fitted with a pickup system sound more like a mic’d acoustic guitar – in this case, the mic’d Martin D-18. To do this, we’ve made detailed recordings of the Martin and then matched direct the output of various different  acoustic guitars to it.

You can use these IR’s with any hardware or software application that accepts WAV IR files. This includes all the HX Line 6 hardware, Fractal, Kemper, Iridium, and countless software apps and plugins.

THE MICROPHONES

To create this IR pack we used a variety of microphones. We’ve used a Telefunken TF51, Telefunken TF47, a pair of Telefunken M260 small diaphragm condensers, an Earthworks SR25, and a Universal Audio Sphere DLX to create classic microphone emulations.

In the file names you’ll see microphone codes. Here is what they mean:

• TF51 – Telefunken TF51
• TF47 – Telefunken TF47
• M260 Pair – this is both Telefunken M260’s in an X/Y configuration but delivered in a single IR
• M260 X – this is just the ‘X’ position M260
• M260 Y – just the ‘Y’ position M260 (use the X and Y IR’s in a stereo setup to emulate a stereo X/Y mic’ing technique – it sounds fantastic)
• C12 – AKG C12 (emulated with the Sphere DLX)
• M49 – Neumann M49 (emulated with the Sphere DLX)
• C37 – Sony C37 (emulated with the Sphere DLX)
• SR25 – Earthworks SR25

Each of these mics (and mic emulations) will give you a different flavor. Some are extremely accurate (the Earthworks is legendary for their accurate mics, and the SR25 sounds fantastic), some are warm and vintage (try the Neumann and Telefunken options), and others are clear and bright. Try different mic options with your guitar to see what sounds best.

ACOUSTIC PICKUP OPTIONS

There are many different acoustic pickups options out there, and we have given you multiple options to accommodate a wide range of guitars. Here is what you get:

• EXP: The “EXP’ option is for Taylor guitars with Taylor’s Expression System electronics. These were made with a Taylor 414ce fitted with an Expression System 2 pickup system. If you have a Taylor with an ES pickup, these IR’s will be perfectly suited for it.
• SB1: The ‘SB’ options denote pickup microphones that are attached to the bottom of the sound board on an acoustic guitar. These include the mic portion of the LR Baggs Anthem, the K&K Pure Western transducer pickups, etc. For the ‘SB1’ options, we used the full microphone setting of the LR Baggs Anthem pickup installed in Brian’s Martin D-35. These are the darker of the two SB options.
• SB2: For this setting, we used the full microphone setting of the LR Baggs Anthem pickup installed in the McPherson Camrielle. These are the brighter than the SB1 options.
• SB3: For this setting, we used the full microphone setting of the LR Baggs Anthem pickup installed in an Orangewood Sierra (OM/000 style guitar). 
• Pz1: If your guitar is equipped with an under saddle piezo, try the ‘Pz’ options. Pz1 was created with just the LR Baggs Element piezo mix of the Anthem system in the Martin D-35
• Pz2: This was created with an Orangewood Brooklyn Live, equipped with a Fishman Flex EQ piezo system
• Pz3: This option was created with a Takamine FD-360sc from the late ’90’s, equipped with a Takamine AD-1 piezo system. This is a higher-end piezo pickup/preamp.

INCLUDED DOWNLOADS

The IR’s are available in WAV formate in four different sample rates: 44.1 kHz, 48 kHz, 88.2 kHz, and 96 kHz (all at 24 bit) at both 500ms and 200ms. This ensures these IR’s  are compatible with a wide variety of hardware and software options.

If your hardware or application does not require a specific sample rate or length, use the 48k 500ms options.