Cab-Lab

What is Cab-Lab

Fractal Audio's Cab-Lab is a mixer and toolkit for IRs (Impulse Responses).

Product information: "In the world of Fractal Audio’s industry-leading amp modeling, many musicians recognize the importance of Impulse Responses (“IRs”). IRs can be thought of as sonic “captures” – essentially the “frequency fingerprint” of a tone over time. Fractal Audio was the first to allow installable IRs in a guitar product to recreate the sound of a mic’d speaker cabinet, setting a new industry standard. Suddenly, guitarists could encapsulate the essence of a speaker cab in a portable format, enhancing both studio recording and live performance. Now, Cab-Lab 4 with DynaCab™ makes it quicker, easier, more intuitive, and fun to achieve great tone, allowing you to customize and mix IRs yourself.

For decades, guitarists and audio pros have carefully selected, positioned, and mixed microphones on guitar speakers in the pursuit of great tone. Now you can do the same, and it is easier than ever before. With Cab-Lab 4, you get a 4-channel IR mixer, plus tools to EQ, align, and more, so you can select, position, and mix mics while listening in real-time. Meanwhile, new DynaCab technology makes tone sculpting easier than ever, eliminating the need to sift through countless individual IRs. In fact, the DynaCab system in Cab-Lab 4 offers even more resolution and flexibility than our hardware products, with 360° of placement at variable distances, the possibility of additional microphone choices, and more. Best of all, Cab-Lab is now FREE!

Cab-Lab 4 supports our latest DynaCab Packs, as well as traditional single IRs — whether from Fractal Audio legacy cab packs or 3rd party producers. Cab-Lab gives you the tools you need to create your own signature tones—delivering the high quality results you have come to expect from Fractal Audio Systems.

Cab-Lab 4 comes with both Standalone and Plugin Versions. The Standalone uses your Axe-Fx III, FM9, FM3, or another audio interface so you can monitor in realtime. Meanwhile, the plugin version processes audio in your compatible DAW or host and can be used both to “re-cab” raw amp recordings and export IRs for your Fractal Audio hardware product."

More information:

• Cab-Lab Manual
• User Cabs and IRs forum

Standalone or plugin

Cab-Lab is a commercial application and requires iLok activation before use.

• Download the iLok License Manager
• Get Cab-Lab here

Standalone – To be used with the amp modeler and a computer.

Plugin – To be used in DAWs. Mac: 64-bit AU. Windows: 32-bit and 64-bit VST. The manual lists the differences between the standalone version and the plugin.

The Cab-Lab manual lists the differences between the versions.

There's also a free Lite version:

Cab-Lab 3 Lite – Stripped-down version, designed to allow users to easily convert IRs in WAV-format to .SYX.

• Download Cab-Lab Lite for Windows or Mac

The Cab block in firmware Ares and later is a mini-version of Cab-Lab, providing the capability to mix and remix impulse responses on-the-fly, as you would with real mics on a speaker cabinet.

EZ Setup

EZ Setup in the Standalone version makes it easy to audition impulse responses. It automatically sets the Cab block in the preset to one of the Cab block's Scratch-Pads and sends the mix to that Scratch-Pad. It's a handy alternative to Live Mode.

Live Mode

Live Mode lets you mix impulse responses and listen to them in real time on your computer or through the amp modeler, without using the Cab block's Scratch-Pads. Select the audio input and output in Settings > Audio Settings. Important: make sure you have disabled the Cab block in the preset! To decrease latency, adjust BUFFER SIZE in Advanced Settings.

Min Phase and Auto Trim

Read this: Minimum Phase and Auto Trim

Use IR files to mix UltraRes impulse responses

To mix UltraRes impulse responses in Cab-Lab, you need the .ir version of an impulse response. This is a Fractal Audio proprietary format, targeted at mixing impulse responses.

Stock cabs can't be mixed, unless you create .ir files by using IR Capture. Here's how

FullRes

Cab-Lab supports FullRes IR capturing and management.

Convert Wave, SYX and IR files

Creators of impulse responses often provide Wave files (.wav). These need to be converted to Fractal Audio's SYX-format to be able to be used in Fractal Audio's amp modelers. Cab-Lab provides a conversion batch routine. The Manage Cabs tool in the editors can also convert Wave files on the fly.

Rename impulse responses

Cab-Lab can rename the internal name of impulse responses. It can also rename impulse responses to match their filenames.

Capture impulse responses

Cab-Lab is also the software interface for capturing IRs with an Axe-Fx II or Axe-Fx III.

Read this:

• IR Capture
• X-Load LB-2 Reactive Load Box

Using Cab-Lab with a real amplifier

"Load your head with a load box, take the output of the load box into your computer and run the audio through Cab-Lab. I would recommend a reactive load box rather than a resistive one." [1]

Read this: LB-2.