IK_Multimedia
streckfus
Saw this in an email push from IK a few weeks ago, looks sorta interesting. Although I gotta wonder how "practical" the modeling is considering - as far as I can tell - the source mic options are the same as the target mic options. Which is to say that you may end up with realistic mic modeling if you record on a coveted $5000 microphone then re-mic it to a different coveted $5000 microphone. But when your vocal track was recorded with an AT2035 (or any other bargain-priced mic many home studio users actually own) and that particular mic isn't available as a source in the software, well, it's not exactly doing a realistic emulation. I understand why the software would ask for a source mic (just like how their ARC 2 software creates a target curve based upon real-life content recorded in your room) in order to apply the appropriate effects to emulate a different mic, but seems counter-intuitive to only include high-end mics as available sources. If people actually own a TLM103 or U87 or whatever, they're probably just going to record with them to begin with. :)
Not saying that the software couldn't improve upon a vocal track, because like any other plug-in, I'm sure it can add a desirable vibe with some tweaking, and it is a fun concept. Just don't see it as being as practical as an amp modeler, which of course works because it's taking a dry signal and running it through a virtual amp, as opposed to taking a processed signal, trying to undo that processing then add a different flavor to it. To me, the mic modeling approach seems to be the amp modeler equivalent of recording a Les Paul through a Marshall, then taking that signal and trying to run it through a Fender virtual amp. Not gonna sound like a Fender. :)
The use case you mention is far from the norm/expected. I would venture a guess that many have an SM57 or SM58 since they are budget studio mics and known workhorses. Also, our mics are far from $5000 mics too, and since we are obviously very knowledgeable about their characteristics we can provide excellent results from a budget mic. The budget mics that are available as source are far more likely the typical use case than someone using a U87 as source for the U67 model, etc.
Why include these expensive mics as source, then, you might ask? Because we have them, we modeled them, and that made it reasonable to allow them to be used as source. Or, the short version: "Why not??" :)
Yep, I certainly understand the reasoning for including those coveted mics as source mics since you've already emulated them. And of course SM57-58 mics are very common and much more likely to be found in a project studio than a Neumann. I guess what I was getting at was, at least from a vocal standpoint, in many cases a large diaphragm condenser mic is used, and because there are a lot of low-budget condensers in use, including them as source options would've made sense. It's obviously cost prohibitive to emulate every single microphone out there so it's unreasonable to expect a source list to have hundreds of options, but there are several popular, inexpensive condenser mics (offerings by Audio Technica, Rode, etc.) that might've been included.
It's not my intent to bash the product because I do think it's a neat idea and could provide some cool results regardless of what's selected as source/target mics, but for a "true" emulation, I'd think the source mic category would have more budget-conscious options, since the users who have those cheaper mics are the ones most likely to use this type of software. The big boys will just buy a Neumann. :)