Kemper Amps Forum

Quoted from "xtcblue"

Hi All, I am almost certainly going to be a Kemper owner in the next few weeks . However was wondering how the kemper + power amp feels works as a replacement for a tube head?

For example, if I DI profile a JCM 800 head and use the Kemper + a Solid State Power amp into a 4X12 Marshall Cab, will it sound the same as the JCM 800 head directly into the same 4X12 Marshall Cab? I am willing to accept that it might not be 100% exact, but from your experiences does this method sound as raw, dynamic, alive and "in the room" as playing the real head + cab?

Would appreciate your inputs and tips!

Thanks!

Quoted from "xtcblue"

Quoted from "richaxes"

Quoted from "xtcblue"

Hi All, I am almost certainly going to be a Kemper owner in the next few weeks . However was wondering how the kemper + power amp feels works as a replacement for a tube head?

For example, if I DI profile a JCM 800 head and use the Kemper + a Solid State Power amp into a 4X12 Marshall Cab, will it sound the same as the JCM 800 head directly into the same 4X12 Marshall Cab? I am willing to accept that it might not be 100% exact, but from your experiences does this method sound as raw, dynamic, alive and "in the room" as playing the real head + cab?

Would appreciate your inputs and tips!

Thanks!

Short answer: yes.
Long answer: as the KPA's cab simulation can't be turned off 100%, some problems might occur, but with the profile of the same cab that you're using, I don't think it would really matter.

What if the amp has been DI Profiled with a DI box into the KPA and not through a miced cabinet? Therefore we would be getting only the pre+power section of the amp profiled and wouldnt need to remove the cab simulation on the Kemper profile in this case as we have added no cab during profiling. Am I right?

Quoted from "xtcblue"

^

Ok, I need some clarity on this

So what you are saying is that the KPA is programmed to think that there is a cab included with every profile regardless of whether the profile has been physically captured from a miced cab or DI? Therefore if you switch off a cab from any profile, the KPA removes frequencies that it 'thinks' represents a cab. Is that correct?

However, what I am trying to achieve is very simple: Profile an JCM800 head DI (via DI/loadbox attached to the speaker outs) and then use that profile live by connecting the KPA to a Solidstate poweramp and a Marshall Cab. I want to use the DI profile as is, and want it captured in the KPA without any modification of any sort, since the amplification and cab simulation will come from a physical SS amp and a physical cab.

Any experiences of this would be much appreciated

1. Currently, he KPA expects to find a cab through the signal path (and tries to elaborate the interaction
   between the poweramp and the cab anyway). This is indeed one of the
   strongest points in the machine, the complex and dynamic interaction
   between poweramp and cab being one of the most meaningful aspects of a
   rig reproduction (there were most simulations fail).
   
   
2. When using a real poweramp with a real cab you're creating a new electric interaction which was not present before (and we know this is - sonically speaking - perhaps the most important part). It would be wrong to assume that a "transparent" poweramp creates a "void" interaction with the real cab. Again, this doesn't mean it will sound bad: but it will not sound the same for sure.