# Working with third-party IR libraries in Logic Space Designer, any tips?



## DimensionsTomorrow (Mar 7, 2021)

For people that use Space Designer, I’m curious if you have any tips for getting the most out of big third-party IR libraries, in terms of workflow.

For instance, I picked up a big IR bundle from PastToFuture a while back, and it’s a bit of a pain to work with a bunch of folders filled with WAV files.

I came across this software (Space Designer Manager) for batch processing IR files to make presets in Space Designer.

http://www.3raudio.com/spacedesignermanager.html
Has anyone used this? Is it still supported? Are there other options?

Anyway, I’m sort of new to working with IRs so I’d love to hear workflow tips and any tips for getting the most out of third-party IRs in general.


----------



## charlieclouser (Mar 8, 2021)

I use Space Designer Manager and I LOVE it. Without it I would never be able to deal with zillions of third party impulses. Some notes / tips:

- Name and organize your IR files FIRST. Their names and precise file path must not be changed after you’ve used SDM to create the SD presets, or else the presets will fail to load, or maybe throw a “where is?” Dialog. The preset files themselves CAN be moved or renamed after the fact, but those preset files do NOT “contain” the IR files, they refer to and depend on those IR files with their precise names and locations unaltered.

- Since the resulting SD presets will inherit the names of the IR files, I get really granular with their names and organization into sub folders.

- I am still on MacOS Mojave so I don’t know how or if SDM deals with Big Sur, Apple Silicon, etc. fingers crossed because it is a great app.


----------



## DimensionsTomorrow (Mar 9, 2021)

charlieclouser said:


> I use Space Designer Manager and I LOVE it. Without it I would never be able to deal with zillions of third party impulses. Some notes / tips:
> 
> - Name and organize your IR files FIRST. Their names and precise file path must not be changed after you’ve used SDM to create the SD presets, or else the presets will fail to load, or maybe throw a “where is?” Dialog. The preset files themselves CAN be moved or renamed after the fact, but those preset files do NOT “contain” the IR files, they refer to and depend on those IR files with their precise names and locations unaltered.
> 
> ...


Thanks so much. I took a chance based on your glowing review and it’s fantastic! Your tips really helped as well!

Adding that IR bundle I mentioned really breathed new life into Space Designer! I love that it adds the IR times before the file name. It really helps to make sense of what before was just a ton of WAV files in a bunch of different folders.

I took your advice and did some housekeeping first by organizing what I had into category folders (plates, springs, etc) and then have sub folders within that. It’s very easy to work with that way.

BTW, off topic, but do you have any favorite IRs that you recommend (preferably of the free or cheap variety unless they are really good)?

I also need to look into cabinet IRs for amp sims next.


----------



## charlieclouser (Mar 9, 2021)

DimensionsTomorrow said:


> BTW, off topic, but do you have any favorite IRs that you recommend (preferably of the free or cheap variety unless they are really good)?
> 
> I also need to look into cabinet IRs for amp sims next.


Ya know, I have so many IRs that I grabbed in an early frenzy of excitement with SD years ago, and then another batch a few years later, and my mind glazes over when I try to remember even where I got them. Almost all of them were free or were like $20 purchases. 

There's a ton of "vintage microphone" and cabinet IR files that I found somewhere that took me a couple of hours to rename and sort (which never get used), and a ton of IR files that are every possible permutation of parameters on old hardware like an AMS RMX reverb (but I have the UAD plugin so I just use that), etc. Lots of the ones I've collected were a waste of time to be honest.

As to cabinet IR files, I haven't gotten into that at all. But I have seen some amp emulators that have very evolved cabinet IR loaders that look like they'd be much better to use than trying to do it with SD. They have slots for like 8 cabinet and 8 mic IR files, and let you mix and combine them like you would when working with real amps, so if I ever felt the need I'd go that way. Things like this:

https://www.two-notes.com/blendir
Honestly the factory set of warped IR files is wild and when I want to get crazy I just grab random WAV files and start dropping them on SD until I hear something I like. I also use Fog Convolver and some other "creative" IR loaders once in a while only because they were cheap and came with sets of wacky IR files.


----------



## DimensionsTomorrow (Mar 9, 2021)

charlieclouser said:


> Ya know, I have so many IRs that I grabbed in an early frenzy of excitement with SD years ago, and then another batch a few years later, and my mind glazes over when I try to remember even where I got them. Almost all of them were free or were like $20 purchases.
> 
> There's a ton of "vintage microphone" and cabinet IR files that I found somewhere that took me a couple of hours to rename and sort (which never get used), and a ton of IR files that are every possible permutation of parameters on old hardware like an AMS RMX reverb (but I have the UAD plugin so I just use that), etc. Lots of the ones I've collected were a waste of time to be honest.
> 
> ...


Thanks. Good points. Quality over quantity. I certainly don’t want to be cluttering things up unnecessarily. I just figured I’d throw it out there since I just picked up the SD Manager, but this one bundle from PastToFuture has more IRs than I’ll probably ever need. As you said though, it’s easy to go overboard when you start going down the rabbit hole.

I have a Strymon Iridium, which I like a lot. It enables you to bypass the onboard IR, so I was thinking that having a few good cabinet IRs in Space Designer might be a fun way to get different tones out of it. I can still run it through the cabinets in amp designer though.


----------

