Forgive me for asking but I am somewhat on vacation and drinking a few adult beverages of choice as I type :-) .  Should I have any worries that may affect my PC?

I just read this thread and had glimpes of Ax Fx and Kemper Profiling in a software based program.  I have downloaded the free Shred app but haven't installed it yet since it is an .exe file instead of a .dll file.

I do not own the Redwirez product or have even used any IR's as of date.  I have a POD XT that many people say can benefit from cab IR's and a few software amp sims.  I know that I am not particularly impressed with my recorded signal.

I like what the developer has written and shown but I am a little foggy as to what I should consider to buy/download.  I like the idea of many choices via scripting and simple selecting in hopes of finding that elusive tone from within my head.

Any further explanations on the subject would be very appreciative.

Thanks.

Thanks, John.  I'll check this out further.

John, thanks for the info and the links.  I'll download them and probably go ahead and get Headcase.

But not today as I am working another 24 hour shift, on a weekend at that.

Cheers for the Sterno and the Squier .

Well I am up and running but I have to admit that I am less than impressed with what is provided.  Surely this must be some error that I have committed.

I added the suite as an audio FX within Sonar but never heard any sounds.  I tried to add some presets to get started but that never happened.  I then tried the head builder and at first was able to discern some sound differentiation but soon crashed shortly thereafter.  Later attempts bought up way too noisy input levels after which I just gave up using Sonar.  I then tried using it in Savihost but came no closer to achieving tone heaven than within Sonar.

I looked on their website hoping to find a FAQ to at least get started but their site is way too convoluted to find such.  The manual I found is from Shred 1.5 which doesn't help me a whole lot.  A simple "you just downloaded a great amp sim and here is what you need to do to get started" was nowhere to be found.

I realize that this is a beta and therefore some experience is needed but I am not a turnip that has just fell off the truck.  I know I should post this on their site and get some relief from the ones that created this but I am a little reluctant to do so as I am not too much of a people person.  I guess that $26.35 isn't too bad of a waste of money.

I hope this post does not deter anyone else from trying this plug out as that is not my intentions.

 I wish thee good luck.

Ken, perhaps I was a little too harsh with my last post.  I understand that it must be hard to cover every system that may be out there.  I remember a time (on my Amiga) when programs were written expressively for one system and that there were no worries concerning system A, B, C, etc.  I know that those days are over.

I would be glad to give you my time in hopes that myself, and others who may be using a similar system, would benefit from further testing.

Like I mentioned earlier, a simple to-the-point example with associated files, would go a long way for first time users in getting up and running with a minimal of guess work.  Your website has a lot of information but takes a great deal of time to sift through in order to find what may be pertinent.

PM me if you would like to discuss this matter further.

Thank you for your reply.

Thanks John and Keebo..
Sonar 64 bit has been a problem in the past, and I want to address that ASAP.

Anyways, in terms of the website..
Following HC release on December 1 there will be a whole new site lanched called the Head Case Asylum. It will have videos, how to's step by step instructions, a Forum, wiki, and in general all the things that are not part of the BETA site. The Asylum will also act as a repository for all the heads, updates, fixes and free add on packages to head case.

Initially we wanted to launch that at the same time as the release, but its just not possible..

Keebo I have been using Headcase since it was Shread 2!!! (Remember that Ken?!!! What I would like to point out to you is that until I got hooked up with Ken and ABG people (John included), I never used IR. Or any type of compressor in front of my Amp sim. And I know it's a mega amount of info over there at the ABG forum to sift through. And you may never get through it all. But if you stick around for a while you WILL be rewarded exponentially!!! I have a few of those "Gems" that John talks about and Ken created. Can't be found anywhere else. I still have a program Ken made that was the beginings of either "Filter Cabs" or "Mimic". The sounds I can get from that!!! John is right, HC sounds better than any of the big names. I have them all. GR4, Amplitube, Line 6 stuff. None comes close to sound you get from HC. Keep working on it. Ken will help ya through this.

Thanks Grem, I appreciate your vote of confidence.

I'll start sifting through the forum.

  Ken, Grem, Keebo,

Thanks guys. The thought of the new releases and forums got me in a cold sweat.

Keebo, hope you are getting things working. I never played with 64 bit Sonar and maybe that’s why no stability problems here.

Ken’s stuff felt weird at first, like there was something there you couldn’t quite get a hold on. That passed quickly and I’ve scratched the surface of Head Case's potential. The sounds are so good that I only tweak so far and already got it, then don't move on to new areas, like the IR engine.

Ancient times there was a saying of getting “in the groove”, like more ancient than the recent years term. Heard it in the 60’s in West Virginia from toothless, illiterate guitar gods. You were lucky to get “in the groove”. It had a 2 part meaning. First was your playing and getting into the flow with yourself and hopefully band members. It took a couple hours. The second part was amp modeling that you may or may not get, but also took a couple hours. It was rare transcendent bliss if you could lock into both modes.

The modeling groove wasn’t possible in open fields or arenas with air flow or cool weather. This effect was prototypic of the Fender line of 12AX7’s running a fleet of 6L6’s. You got this in smoky, hot bars with your amp shoved up against the wall and no ventilation. After a couple hours, you got the telltale smell of plastic starting to melt and knew greatness was near if your amp didn’t blow up in the process. The caps and resistors were heating out of specs and the amp close to a meltdown. Wide open, the pickups would almost collapse the sound for an instant. Then the amp would rebound but not as fast with the lower frequencies, so there was a brief period where the highs came back in first. Felt awesome when all the stars aligned right. In the groove.

Lots of old and new inventions after hardware could get a square wave distortion, but technology is still struggling for the real feel. I was on a high when Amplitube came along with their differential response algorithm , still very cool.
In the groove was nowhere on the horizon til Ken came along. Now I don’t have to melt a Dual Showman for several hours to get to that place. Haven't achieved this with anything else out there besides a real live overheated tube Fender..
Keebo, sounds like you got some long shifts and here too, facing 4 back to back 20’s. Won’t have time to look at a guitar for days, but have a couple old files on my laptop here that might illustrate. This mp3 is crap for playing and was a test, but the sound and harmonic collapse, in the groove is there. This was done on a cheap yard sale Peavey, miserable hardware.

Also, I don’t have any Sonar chains available but…uh…(here goes the “R” word again…). No flame war or competitive stuff intended, but I do have the Reaper fx patch that I did the recording with. It is optimized for a single coil pickup, so would go first customize to your axe with Rea EQ gain and the tone curve. HeadCase is already in the groove. (Rough Rider comp into Rea EQ into HeadCase). This was done at conversation level volume but responded like 130 db.

[link=http://www.swoopshare.com/file/60a25e68cda67abd636799f4bb2c7ac0/bleed.mp3.html]http://www.swoopshare.com...b2c7ac0/bleed.mp3.html[/link]
 
All I have is the Reaper fx chain but anyone can download the free trial. This opens HeadCase, Rough Rider and Re EQ to the exact settings. FX chain is in the zip file and also the isolated custom preset for HeadCase. Hope some of this helps. Test.zip.
 
[link=http://www.swoopshare.com/file/ba299b1f516a7c03901ecbf51a06ec88/test.zip.html]http://www.swoopshare.com...1a06ec88/test.zip.html[/link]
 
I feel responsible for getting you in this direction, and should be a good thing, so please let me know if this is working for you.

Best,
John
 
 
Crap...links don't work...will get them fixed
 
...links fixed...

John, thanks for the links but I get "The file link that you requested is not valid."

I did try your fx idea in front of HCBuilder and it sounded decent with the default head.  I had to add a limiter in front to prevent the noise though.  I still need to play with the fx settings.

Keebo


I downloaded the Reaper demo several months ago but didn't spend much time in it.  I've been using Cakewalk products for several years now and Reaper wasn't as intuitive at first glance.  I'll try to see if I can get it going with your (our :-) ) software if the demo hasn't expired yet.  It will be Wednesday before I will be able to give it a shot though.

I'll also look at the other downloads on your site.

Quick question.  I downloaded several user heads but the head install gave an error that the jpeg did not contain a .hcb file.  I scoured the forum and found the same error with other users but the link to an updated head install file was broken.  There is not an "about" button on the GUI so the only way I could find out my version was through properties in windows explorer.  It claimed the version was 1.0.0.1 which appears to be quite old if that is the correct version.

Any suggestions?

Thanks for your time.

Hi Keebo, 
The "no HCB file",
That happens when there is a version mismatch. I had to have a mechanism in place that would not allow you to install and load older heads with newer builds of head case. It was actually a safety measure. Because Head Case opens everything up for you, the potential for massive volume spikes exists when loading older heads with newer software, etc. So, when the opportunity came to fix that I didn't because I wanted to keep it in place until we're ready for release. Guess what...haha Its fixed on the latest version and you should not get it no matter how old the head is you are installing.
 
About the noise...Did you set the input level, if you already mentioned that earlier, sorry, I missed it. The input level is PARAMOUNT for head case operation. Having an input level thats too high will cause lots of noise, having an input level thats too low will cause gain loss. Head case will not function correctly without that setting being correct. Too high of a setting and you will loose all the feel as well. John called it groove...haha
 
Others around our camp swear by being able to set their own input level, and perhaps they are right for their particular style of playing, mostly High Gain guys want to crank, or at least turn up the input level because it gives them a little more distortion. However, there is never any need to do that. At proper setting, some of the curves start distorting at a gain setting of 4, that scale goes up to 900 on the head, and 900 on the stomps + an extra gain stage. So there is definitely more than enough room..:)
 
Maybe you don't have write access to the folder that stores the input level setting? So if you try to set it, the file never gets set... 
It is stored in a file called Read.Dat located in the head case folder. Try setting the level then open that file in notepad and see if the numbers change.
 
Here's an update on our progress..
I have built the Head Case Loner, which is the stand alone head loader withut the suite, I have started finishing the suite now as well. It has all the stomps in place as well as the new head functions and knobs. The next thing I am going to finish up tomorrow is the upgraded filter cabs, and the stand alone effects.
 
Hope that helps and keep me informed when you can...
Thanks, for your help Keebo
 
and thanks John, comments like those are what keep us pushing forward! :)

No problem Keebo, there will be a release before December to the Head Case beta forum. I'll post here for you as well so you know..and thank you for your support man, its appreciated..

Thanks John,
I also wanted to point out that most and I beleve "R" as well will look for plugins in a specific VST plugins folder identified in the registry. I don't know if SONAR does this automatically, if it does not, then it should because its only a simple registry call to the devs. Adding this call will definitely help new users with confusion about where they should install their their plugs. All of our installers automatically pick this folder up by default. In the Case of "R" however, it does not create this registry key if it does not exist, it will only use it if it does. I could be wrong, or that may have changed? At any rate it never used to..
Key path in the registry is
HKeyLocalMachine\Software\VST\VSTPluginsPath
Just enter the path to the folder where you want to store your shared vst plugins.
DISCLAIMER:
This IS the registry, so be careful. You should make a makeup of the registry before editing it and if you're not sure what you're doing then don't do it..
 
About the release..
I am tryng to get another beta with all the features for the December 1 release intact for tomorrow. The one snag is that I have found a way to get the presets to load at what I think will be at least double the speed in most cases. Normally I would not be adding/changing code this late in the game, but that really does represent a tantalizing possibility as preset loading time has always been an issue I have had. So, with that I want to get that new code in place so that it can be tested as well.
 
 
 

Thanks for the info, guys.  I haven't had the time to play with this lately but I hope to find time shortly. Can hardly wait for the new release either.  Good luck with the code.

Loved the description of the local Oregonians.  And I thought they only existed here in Alabama :-) .

Friends, Bumping this thread for a couple reasons. Digital history in the making, and my survival.
 
I don't work for Ken, just recognize absolute genius. 40 years ago when I still had hair and competition goals, would have guarded this as a trade secret. If there is a forum thread that needs watching, it's here, 'cause the next HeadCase beta about to hit the fan.
 
Also, I'd like to survive til the next sunrise if I don't retract some comments about the Oregon swampers, specific the tribal mamas. Thought I was safe because Ellie Sue doesn't have a computer and didn't think she could read in the first place. Someone printed my post and gave it to her. Now she says there will be bear traps, buckshot and swamp snakes out my door if I don't set the record straight.
 
Okay, Ellie Sue has 6 fingers on each hand. Goes with the old saying that she was the brightest student in grade school because she could count better. Smart girl actually. Doesn't help with guitar playing because the extra fingers are just there and don't work too well.
 
Ellie is about late 40 early 50's. Don't ever ask an Oregon swamper her age to her face. I'd quickly end up with as many front teeth as she has.
 
This is what I've seen. Ellie picks up an axe and does a substandard mediocre style until the epileptic convulsions set in. She stops dead stream and shakes a bit. Eyes roll up and she starts to drool. Then each hand is going about faster than you can watch. Think Van Halen on steroids. This lady plays chords faster than most of us can play notes.
 
Correction is that she's a refined lady requires Seattle style Expresso. Moved up in the social world. Not lame backwoods black coffee, and TWO shots whiskey. Skoal chews were accurate.
 
Thing gets me is that Ellie doesn't practice. She works 6 days a week, 12 hour shifts over the hills in the wilderness east of us. She gets home to her trailer and has about enough time to sharpen up her chain saw and do it all over again. Still blows 99 % of us away. Wish I could tap in to whatever she is resonating with.
 
Saw the Acme update and awesome stuff in the works. Some new toys, but looks like max effort has been given to improving existing components. Increased stability, speed, layout friendliness. Working out glitches based on user feedback, not hitting the musician with a blast of new features without addressing current issues.
 
Wish other software developers would follow this ethic (hint..hint..Cake guys...).
 
If Ellie Sue don't hunt me down with her blow gun, hope to live long enough to get the new HeaCase up, running and kick the tires.
 
Best to all.
 
Ellie's after me and better sense of smell than a bloodhound.
 
Maybe signing off for good,
 
John