Impulse Response Available Now
Eminence Speakers, continuing its legacy for excellence, is proud to launch the digital version of its legendary guitar speakers—Eminence Impulse Response (IR) library—developed in conjunction with the highly respected amplifier profiler and guitarist, Michael Britt.
For more than fifty years, Eminence Speakers has specialized in custom engineering and manufacturing loudspeakers for some of the world’s most recognized professional audio and musical instrument brands. During this time, Eminence branded guitar speakers such as Cannabis Rex, The Governor, and Swamp Thang—along with many others—have earned a reputation for delivering the speaker characteristics guitar players seek.
Michael Britt, a distinguished professional musician, spent years chasing the ideal tone. In his quest for perfection, he began to model and profile his collection of speakers and amps. Since then, Britt has become a global expert and one of the leading developers of exceptional sounding IRs. Britt used the same tried and tested modeling process he developed to meticulously create the Eminence Impulse Response library.
To ensure accuracy, Britt used an even sounded, open back, 112 3rd Power cabinet to capture each iconic Eminence guitar speaker’s unique character. With its flat response and reduced resonant frequencies, this cabinet choice minimized the sound it imparted to the speaker to deliver a true representation of the speaker sound. He then precisely profiled each Eminence speaker using seven different industry-standard microphones, with different placements to generate seven different IRs for each speaker. Delivered as 24-bit .wav files in multiple sample rates of 44.1kHz, 48kHz and 96kHz, each IR offers universal usage to enable users to easily achieve their preferred sound. Describing the process Britt said, “Profiling speakers is more of an art than an exact science.”
Eminence Speaker Impulse Response Development
When Eminence Speaker made the decision to develop Impulse Response (IR) profiles for their legendary guitar speakers, Michael Britt was an obvious candidate to lead the project.
Before earning a reputation as a developer for exceptional sounding IRs that are compatible with most amp modeling software and profiling modelers such as Kemper, Helix, Fractal, and others, Britt had a distinguished career as a guitar player. His career includes playing guitar for the country group Lonestar for over 26 years. The band formed in 1993 and played bars all over the US and Canada before landing a record deal with BNA Records in 1995. To date, Lonestar has sold 10 million units and has had nine #1 Country songs as well as a #1 on the Hot 100 Pop chart with “Amazed” in 2000.
Speaking about his experience as a professional musician, Britt said, “Over the past 22 years, I’ve gotten to work with many of the best musicians, writers, and producers in Nashville, and I learned as much as I could. I was so green when we first got our deal that I certainly had a lot to learn. Since then, I’ve spent years chasing tone and have been fortunate enough to have the luxury of being able to try and buy some of the best guitar gear in my quest to sound better.”
For the last several years, Britt has been using the Kemper Profiling Amplifier onstage and in the studio. During this time, he has been extremely pleased with the Kemper’s capabilities. “I’ve spent years chasing tone and have been fortunate enough to have the luxury of being able to try and buy some of the best guitar gear in my quest to sound better. Describing his experience with the Kemper Britt said, “I’ve been using the Kemper Profiling Amplifier onstage and in the studio since 2014 and have been extremely happy with what I can do with the Kemper.”
In his quest for tone perfection, Britt began building his own IR profiles for the Kemper. “I profiled my amp collection as well as any other amp I can get my hands on for a couple of hours and compiled a bunch of my favorite profiles,” Britt said. Using the tried and true system of profiling amps and speakers he developed modeling his amp’s and cabinet’s tones, Britt meticulously created the Eminence IR (Impulse Response) library.
For profiling the Eminence speakers, Britt installed each speaker in a 3rd Power 112 cab switchback cabinet with a partially open back. Describing his cabinet selection, Britt said, “Using the 3rd power cab delivers a relatively flat response, so it doesn’t impart as much cabinet sound to the speaker you’re using with it. Also, the diagonal ports in the 112 keep standing waves and resonant cab frequencies to a minimum. What you end up with is a very even sounding cabinet with exceptional frequency response, which enables precise capture of the speaker’s character.”
Each Eminence speaker IR download includes seven different IRs with each of the seven IRs generated using distinctive microphones enabling users to achieve their preferred tone. Included microphone selections for the Eminence Speaker IRs are Shure 57 on-axis, Shure 57 off-axis, Royer R-101 ribbon, 57/Royer combination, Sennheiser 421, Sennheiser 906, and Neumann U 87 large-diaphragm condenser. Additionally, each IR has multiple sample rates of 44.1 kHz, 48 kHz, and 96 kHz to allow universal usage.
While describing the process of creating Impulse Responses for Eminence, Britt said, “Profiling speakers is more of an art than an exact science.” Once you try the Eminence IRs on stage in your amp profiler, or in the studio with your DAW, you’ll agree, Michael Britt is the Rembrandt of speaker impulse responses.
About Eminence
Founded in 1966, Eminence Speaker, LLC is privately held and based in Eminence, Kentucky, USA. Eminence currently distributes speakers worldwide to over 90 countries. With manufacturing facilities in Eminence, KY and Dongguan, China, Eminence produce speakers for guitar, bass, car audio, home, and commercial installations as well as pro audio including the Tour Grade Series featuring a best in class 21” sub-woofer.
Pricing and Availability
Available only at Eminence-Digital.com starting at $11.99, Eminence IRs are compatible with most DAWs and amp profilers. Discover the sonic possibilities with Eminence IRs on stage with an amp profiler, or in the studio and hear why Michael Britt is truly the Rembrandt of speaker impulse responses.
