
You can mic piano, drums, guitar, voice, and other acoustic sources but you can't mic a synth, unless you put it through a PA or guitar amp, and then mic that.
Or can you?
Studio One's Ampire has mic modeling for its various cabs. However, a cab has its own frequency response, which doesn't sound at all like miking an instrument-it sounds like miking a guitar amp. Sometimes, you want that sound with instruments other than guitar or bass. But usually, you don't.
Ampire also has a User Cab for loading your own cab impulse responses. So, you could load a room's impulse response instead, and set up Ampire's mics. However, then you're not miking an instrument, you're miking the instrument in a room. What if you just want the sound of a miked instrument?
Here's the solution, and I think you'll be as surprised as I was after pulling up an FX bus fader with the sound of the virtual mics. Check out the audio example: the first half is a plain Mai Tai sound, the second half has the virtual miking. There are no effects, only Ampire's mics. Of course, this is only one of many possibilities.
How It Works
The trick is to bypass the amp, and load a flat-response impulse into Ampire's User Cab. Then, the audio doesn't go through an amp or cab sound before hitting the mics. Simple, right?
The downloadable zip file (link at end) includes three flat-response IRs, each of which has its uses:
Stereo (dual mono)
Stereo with reversed left channel phase
Stereo with reversed right channel phase
Ampire Prep
I prefer to set up Ampire in an FX bus, to enable blending the miked sound with the direct sound. However, using the miked sound by itself is viable. See which you prefer. Fig. 1 shows the Ampire settings used for the audio example.
Figure 1: Typical Ampire settings, as used in the audio example.
To create the setup:
1. Insert Ampire in an FX bus.
2. Assign a Send to the FX bus from the instrument track you want to mic.
3. With Ampire, choose Amp: None and Cabinet: User Cabinet
4. Download and unzip the three impulse responses.
5. Click on the Mic Edit Controls button (the blue button in fig. 1), then click on the + sign next to Mic A. Navigate to your IR of choice, and load it. Or, simply drag the impulse into the Mic's slot.
6. Similarly, load an IR into Mic B and Mic C. Note: There must be an IR loaded in Mic A, or no sound will pass through Ampire, even if IRs are loaded in Mic B and Mic C. I recommend loading an IR in each one.
7. Go down the fun rabbit hole of mic choices, levels, mic delays, and phase changes.
Extra Tips
Using an IR with reversed phase for one of the mics can unbalance the stereo image. Compensate by adjusting the Panpot in the Send that goes to the FX Channel.
In the FX Channel, spreading the stereo image with the panpot's Binaural function is cool (pre-Studio One 6 owners can use the Binaural Pan plug-in). For the audio example, I turned up the Binaural Pan so the effect would be more dramatic if heard over laptop speakers.
The audio example mixes the miked sound up quite a bit to get the point across, but subtle settings can add an interesting dimension to synthesized sounds.
Preceding Ampire with an Analog Delay set for a very short delay (a few milliseconds) and no feedback can enhance the effect further.
This isn't just about synths-try this technique with other non-acoustic sounds, like analog drums.
Reminder!
If you bought a previous version of The Huge Book of Studio One Tips and Tricks, you can now download the free version 1.4 update (with 250 tips and 126 free presets) from the PreSonus shop.
Flat Impulse ResponsesDOWNLOAD
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
29/07/2026
In this series, Grass Valley explores the seven paradoxes shaping the next era o...
29/07/2026
Thats a wrap on Season 1 of SVG Students to Watch! Across the country, these stu...
29/07/2026
The agreement will move Gotham Sports App subscribers to DAZN during the 2026-27...
29/07/2026
Longtime digital-media leader expands role overseeing conference branding, video...
29/07/2026
By Bailey Pennick
One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festival is having a front-row seat for the bright future of independent filmmaking. ...
29/07/2026
Organisation team up with TI:ME USA
Founded in 2019 with the aim of helping educators to embrace new music technology, Technology in Music Education (TiME U...
29/07/2026
Doubling & chorus processor gets an overhaul
Acon Digital have just launched the latest version of their free voice-doubling and chorus plug-in. Multiply 2 ...
29/07/2026
New Pultec-inspired pedal revealed
The latest addition to the Origin Effects line-up brings the legendary Pultec EQ into pedal format. Based on the EQP-1A, ...
29/07/2026
SBS Appoints Chief Commercial Officer and Director of Marketing and Audiences
29 July, 2026
Media releases
SBS is pleased to announce the appointment of Ni...
29/07/2026
Rohde & Schwarz showcases unified next-generation broadcasting ecosystem at SET ...
29/07/2026
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({...
29/07/2026
Streaming Hits 48.6% of Total TV Usage in May
YouTube Leads in Media Distributo...
29/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/07/2026
Industry veteran joins Amagi to drive growth in Europe's leading broadcast market and advance cloud-native broadcast, FAST, and AI-driven operations.
LONDO...
29/07/2026
Work is ongoing to specify how to run RIST over WebTransport. This will deliver secure, stable, broadcast quality video playback and origination to any platform...
29/07/2026
Offline Files Makes the Drive Shelf Searchable on Mac
Brie Clayton July 29, 2026
0 Comments
A local Mac app for finding files, photos, and footage acr...
29/07/2026
Blackmagic Design Announces New UltraStudio Mini 12G
Brie Clayton July 29, 2026
0 Comments
New extremely portable Thunderbolt 4 capture and playback ...
29/07/2026
Brightline Lighting, a premier manufacturer of energy-efficient lighting systems for broadcast, videoconferencing, government, education and corporate applicati...
29/07/2026
Applications open for IFFI/WAVES Film Bazaar in Goa - Producer Delegation 28 July 2026
Image credit: Four Years Later
Screen Australia has opened applications...
29/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/07/2026
Foundry today announced that Academy Award-winning creative studio DNEG has implemented Hiero to support its editorial workflows. Part of the Nuke product famil...
29/07/2026
The Latest Addition to the Brand's StudioPro Ecosystem Combines Simple Deployment, Cloud Control and Professional Grade Wireless Reliability
QuickLink, a l...
29/07/2026
The Secret Master Adjustment Layer Hack in After Effects
Graham Quince July 28, 2026
0 Comments
Trish Meyer (who literally beta-tested the original Af...
29/07/2026
Post Completed with Blackmagic Cloud for Shane Kosugi's Feature Film SEEK
Brie Clayton July 28, 2026
0 Comments
Cannes Indie International Film Fe...
29/07/2026
Isabeau Miller Named Chair of Berklee Songwriting Department The Berklee alumna, who previously served on the Songwriting faculty, will begin her new role on ...
29/07/2026
Wednesday 29 July 2026
Hayu is coming to Sky, bringing fan-favourite franchises...
29/07/2026
RT launches Unsolved, a true crime podcast, presented by crime journalist Barry Cummins and presenter Katja Mia.
Unsolved is a weekly podcast exploring unsol...
28/07/2026
LiveU, the pioneer in IP-video transmission and cloud-based remote production, today detailed its historic performance records set during the 2026 FIFA World Cu...
28/07/2026
The NFL franchise rebuilt their off-site content operation for an era when teams...
28/07/2026
Longtime partners expand viewer choice, data-driven analysis, access, immersive ...
28/07/2026
There is a unique moment before every major production. The audience never sees it.
The cameras are ready. The talent is preparing. Directors review the final...
28/07/2026
The CW Network and ESPN have announced their highly anticipated streaming agreement to bring CW Sports' live events to the ESPN App will officially launch o...
28/07/2026
As more than tens of thousands of spectators filled Paris' Champ de Mars and...
28/07/2026
Appear's X Platform played a central role in Chile's first large-scale c...
28/07/2026
Responding to the broadcast industry's shift to embrace more flexible production platforms, Solid State Logic (SSL) is evolving its comprehensive System T p...
28/07/2026
Production leverages innovative camera technologies, AI, and data to capture the action in four-week inaugural competition
The first-ever professional dunking ...
28/07/2026
Prime Video to exclusively broadcast Wednesday night national NHL regular-season games in Canada...
28/07/2026
Every match will stream live on Paramount+ beginning in February,...
28/07/2026
Baxandall-inspired hardware EQ overhauled
TK Audio's Baxandall-inspired hardware EQ unit has just made a return, bringing the popular unit back into the...
28/07/2026
D700 system gains new live-focused rackmount surface
Asparion have just announced an expansion of their D700 control surface range, introducing a new model ...
28/07/2026
27 July 2026, Johannesburg - The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an a...
28/07/2026
Ad Intel AI is Nielsen's first in a new generation of AI products built to t...