Different sound/clarity through different outputs

    Long time lurker...first time poster. I'm hoping maybe someone has had the same problem I am having. Or..if maybe I am being a little too critical.
    My Kemper arrived last week. I connected it to my studio speakers(SPDIF out). The profiles sounded a little 'dull' and muddy. I then listened through my Ultimate Ears in ear monitors (Headphone output) and the profiles sounded fantastic. I could hear every nuance; it has been awhile since I had so much fun.



    So...next step...I hooked the Kemper up to a small PA system (XLR out). Again...the profiles sounded dull...there was no sparkle.



    All the output EQs were initially flat. I did boost the main output's High/Presence and that did help a little, but the sound still seems to be a bit off. My studio speakers are Mackie MR5s and I've always thought they were pretty accurate. I am using a Roland Quad Capture as my recording interface.


    I have to play in a couple weeks and am trying to optimize a few profiles and will start to work thru the midi/foot stuff later this week. If I can't figure this out, I may head over to our church early next week and hook it up to hear what it sounds like without the rest of the band.


    Any thoughts? Again...I might be overly critical but I figured I would post in case someone has experienced this same behavior.


    Thanks in advance!

    Mhhh... before investigating some KPA issues, you should be aware that different (loud)speaker will always sound different, sometimes very different from each other. Furthermore, loudspeakers placement can have a huge impact over the sound.
    Also, keep in mind that acoustic volume matters a lot in terms of how we appreciate a sound. Might it be that with headphones you feel freer to raise volume up?


    One thing you might want to try is to record a guitar sound you like (produced with a real amp I mean), and listen it back through all three the means you tried with the Profiler.


    Last, I'd go to a pro audio store and playback the Profiler through a very expensive system (be it studio monitors or PA), and see what comes up.


    I'm sure others will chime in with other ideas


    :)

    i definitely got more high end from the Kemper when going through headphones, but in my case I thought it was a negative, at least on some high-gain patches. I found the light crunch and clean tones were fantastic though. Things are really dry, but that's how things are supposed to be. Add a mild touch of reverb, a little compression, and reduce the treble a touch and it sounds more like listening on my monitors.

    There is no general tonal difference between the different outputs. Headphones often have a tendency to sound very HIFI and not flat. While this may be cool for clean sounds it´s a nightmare for high gain.Check out some decent near field monitors and get your ears "calibrated" to the sound.

    Also, check the output section to see if all outputs are set to the same source. The Kemper has many options in that regard; you can, for instance, send everything but the delay and reverb effects to the monitor out, and only delay and reverb to the main out, to name but one scenario.


    Make sure they all say "master" or "stereo master".


    The SPDIF especially might be set to a left-right mixture of master out and direct out (your unprocessed guitar) to enable re-amping later

    Sure Don, but this is not implicit in the idea of "Hi-Fi". It's easy to put labels on things you're trying to sell, and surely there are some crappy stereo systems going around...
    Real high fidelity is something different tho, provided that total transparency and flattness are impossible to achieve.


    It would be like saying that a certain system sounds "like a PA" in order to denigrate it, just because you've heard some crappy PAs. There are some amusingly sounding PAs around...
    It seems to me it would be better to say "sounds like a crappy PA", or "sounds like fake Hi-Fi", if this makes sense :D


    But thanks, now I think I've got what Tyler was probably meaning :)

    Agreed... the cheaper ones. High End is something different.
    But yes, listening to a record has to be a pleasant experience. That's why I'm willing to pardon certain non-linearities in a hi-fi system, as long as they are euphonic.
    Also, coupling the different devices together is an art in itself. All depends on the listener's ear qualities.

    Thanks for all the feedback. I played out on Saturday and Sunday with the KPA and it was great. No issues with the XLR out vs. the headphone out, so apparently it is my desktop reference monitors that are a problem. I probably need to raise them a bit and get some isolation pads.

    Great :thumbup:


    Go and try some expensive PA/monitoring system at a store... an experience every user should do at least once :)


    As for isolation pads, I will never talk well enough about Auralex' MoPads. They can literally change the sound of any electric device dealing with audio signals in relationship with the surface it's put on.
    Of course pads won't change the sould quality of a device nor its sonic interaction with the room, but only the mechanical resonance with the surface. But in most cases this is a lot, specially when desktops, tables, wooden shelves or bookshelves (as opposite of professionals stands) are involved.


    Depending on your application, you might also consider the ProPads, more expensive but with a better sound and more heavy-duty.


    All great products, all really able to change the perceived sound.


    PS: I'm a user, no business relationship with them.