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→Understanding Modelers
While analog gear needs to be gain staged correctly for the best SNR, many modelers need their virtual signal paths to be gain staged even more carefully to avoid clipping. Because the amplitude of the audio is represented as a digital number, exceeding the maximum value will cause overflow. Some modelers may handle this gracefully, subjecting the audio to a form of soft clipping - there is still audible distortion, but it is not raucous. Others don't fare so well, with digital clipping sounding like severe noise and crackles.
=== Integrating with Other Gear ===
A large part of confusion with modelers is integrating them with other gear. And a large part of this comes from the numerous ways you can use a modeler. I cover all the ways to hook them up below, but the point here is that many modelers have output modes or similar options to try to help get the best sound for your particular setup. However, these aren't always easy to find in the modeler's interface, and sometimes it's ambiguous as to what they do and which one should actually sound best. Adding more confusion, these often only apply to the cab/mic simulation, which may be turned off or otherwise disabled.
=== Impulse Responses ===
''Impulse responses'' or ''IR'''s are sound files that represent a transformation of sound caused by some system. They can be used to provide simulations of the reverb of a room, for instance. In the guitar community, they are popular for cab/mic simulation, capturing not only frequency but phase and resonance information. In a DAW, a convultion reverb plugin is necessary to apply the IR transformation to an input signal. Most modelers provide their own cab/mic block or make it part of the amp block. These typically use IR's, although only a small number allow you to actually import or export the IR's in and out of the modeler.
== Ways to Run a Modeler ==