Best impulse responses 2024: the secret sauce of great recorded guitar tone

Amp modeling is rapidly taking over the world of guitar and whether we're recording at home or playing live, more and more guitarists are turning to amp and cab sims for their guitar tones. Many stock cab sims remain unconvincing, which is where the best impulse responses come in. They allow you to capture the magic of a professionally recorded guitar cabinet, load it into your modeler or DAW of choice, and take that perfect tone from your home studio to rehearsal, to the stage, and back again.

Guitar World author Matt McCracken
Matt McCracken

Matt is a Junior Deals Writer at Guitar World and has been playing guitar as his main instrument for well over 20 years. He also plays drums, bass, and keys, producing out of his home studio in Manchester, UK. He has previously worked for Dawsons Music, Northwest Guitars, and freelanced for various magazines and blogs, writing reviews, how-to's, and features. When he's not downloading the latest VSTs or justifying yet another guitar pedal purchase, you'll find him making a racket with Northern noise hounds JACKALS

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Matt McCracken
Junior Deals Writer

Matt is a Junior Deals Writer here at Guitar World. He regularly tests and reviews music gear with a focus on guitars, amps, pedals, modelers, and pretty much anything else guitar-related. Matt worked in music retail for 5 years at Dawsons Music and Northwest Guitars and has written for various music sites including MusicRadar, Guitar Player, Guitar.com, Ultimate Guitar, and Thomann’s t.blog. A regularly gigging guitarist with over 20 years of experience playing live and writing and recording in bands, he's performed everything from jazz to djent, gigging all over the country in more dingy venues than you can shake a drop-tuned guitar at.