IR Files

[tkofaith]

I'm fairly new to DAWs. What are IR Files and what are they used for?

Thanks,

Tim

[starfugger]

Ir's or impulse responses are like thumb prints of certain spaces or equipment which you can apply to your own audio files. Convolution reverbs use IR's of real spaces (halls, churches, renowned studios, etc.) and apply these IR's on your own files so that it sounds like you actually captured the signal from said space (or at least that's the idea). IR's are not limited to reverbs. There are also IR's of notable equipment (tape machines, compressors, mixing boards, guitar cabinets, amps, etc.) which give your files the sonic characteristics of having been processed through said hardware.

Not the most scientific explanation, but thats how i understand it, correct me if i'm wrong.

[martygras]

Starfugger nailed it.
I think impulse responses are one of the most amazing advancements in audio in the last 20 years, and are an amazing sonic tool. Originally intended to reproduce rooms with a special acoustic quality, they can be used to recreate a guitar cabinet or even use odd wav files to create otherworldly sound effects.
There are some great articles on the interwebs if you are wanting to make your own impulse response files.

Reaper, (desktop DAW) has a "deconvolve" utility for really getting some high quality results if you have access to some unusually nice sounding rooms etc.

[tkofaith]

Ir's or impulse responses are like thumb prints of certain spaces or equipment which you can apply to your own audio files. Convolution reverbs use IR's of real spaces (halls, churches, renowned studios, etc.) and apply these IR's on your own files so that it sounds like you actually captured the signal from said space (or at least that's the idea). IR's are not limited to reverbs. There are also IR's of notable equipment (tape machines, compressors, mixing boards, guitar cabinets, amps, etc.) which give your files the sonic characteristics of having been processed through said hardware.

Not the most scientific explanation, but thats how i understand it, correct me if i'm wrong.

Thanks to you and Martygras for the lowdown on IR's. It'll definitely give me something to play with!

Tim