Till´s Chimera Pack ( Till Schleicher )

    Till,


    First, I want to say that a slightly tweaked version of your "TillS RECTO RAW" patch is my go-to Kemper patch and makes up what I consider the oh, five indispensible profiles in my Favorites list. So yes, I bought your Chimera bundle.


    Second, I'd like to say that these are all usable tones, straight out of the box. Don't really need the "B" and "C" variants; just the plain ones work best for me.


    Third, out of the 24 there are only a handful (perhaps four) that I couldn't imagine myself using for good 70's, 80's or 90's hard rock tones. About five are exceptional, and the rest are all in the "Very Good to Excellent" category. Haven't demoed any of the cabs yet, it's not like there are any big corrections to be made!


    I do wish you have labelled the amps, mics & cab types in the .kipr tags; everything's "Chimera this" and Chimera that", amd half the fun is extracting the set to .XLS just to read the details.


    Good stuff!


    -djh

    Edited once, last by dhodgson ().

    So I finally got to dive into this rig pack last night. At first I thought the tone was good not great. I kept thinking it'd probably sound better in a mix, but there was definitely something I didn't like about the tone. I found trying to play anything on my high E, B, or G strings sounded too harsh and crackly.


    Then I looked at the Definition parameter on the amps. They're ALL at 10 (maximum). I've had issues with profiles before set that high. Might work ok for a darker guitar, or a 7/8 string; but for my EBMM JPM with CL/LF pickups, such settings rarely sound good. The sound is too thin and any kind of lead playing is harsh and rough.


    Once I reduced the Definition to between 6 and 8, things fell into place. The tone of these profiles is really amazing - I found myself constantly guessing at which amps were used for that profile and what approximate mix was used. A very wide range of tones with lots of versatility.


    The general EQ on ALL the rigs was mix-ready - of course you should tweak more to fit YOUR mix, but you're starting in the right ballpark. You should be able to get by with small adjustments to the tonestack BMTP controls, rather than needing to add EQ Effects.


    Also, the gain levels are perfect - not overly saturated but dialed in hot enough for most kinds of hard rock or metal. Of course you could add a bit more if you like, but I think it's perfect as is - it'll be thick as can be once you've double-tracked and added a touch of compression.


    Clips and full review to follow, but I really wanted to point out the Definition thing if others were struggling at first like me. Unfortunately, I feel that's a moderate negative. I don't want to pay for rigs then have to adjust 72 rigs one at a time to make them usable. Maybe my guitar is a little bright, but I've never seen any of Armin or Andy's rigs have Definition set so high (in fact I find myself more often boosting Definition a tad on some of their profiles). Ola, Keith Merrow, Iceman (Sonic Underground) I've all had the same issues with (and Pete Turley's free Quad profile). Lasse's profiles I didn't - even though they're boosted, the tone was still pretty thick (and I doubt Definition was maxed out).


    I know a treble boost in front the amp is common, but something isn't right. A Tube Screamer acts as a low pass and a high pass. It's known for being able to deliver tight BUT SMOOTH leads. This sounds more like two Treble Boosters run at rather high settings into each other in front of the amps. I get the whole djent sound - very tight and boosted to the point where things can sound a bit thin but very clear. And I get that a rhythm patch is for rhythm, not lead. But after adjusting Definition, I find the tone is much better for both rhythm and lead.


    Tyler, did you tweak the Definition parameter post-profiling, or is that where the profiling process set it? Is anyone else finding the untweaked tone a bit thin and harsh, particularly for lead playing?


    I may try to make a neutral profile and send some pink or white noise through while tweaking Definition. I feel like when set at max, it is acting as a high-pass with cutoff around 5 kHZ - which adds very little to the core tone - just makes it harsher. I prefer a cutoff between 1 and 3 kHz depending on the tone I'm shooting for.

    Quote from meambobbo

    Tyler, did you tweak the Definition parameter post-profiling, or is that where the profiling process set it? Is anyone else finding the untweaked tone a bit thin and harsh, particularly for lead playing?

    Thanks for your review. The definition control really is the most important parameter within the whole KPA. For the chimera pack nothing was changed after profiling, it´s my way of dialing in my sounds in order to maintain a lot of transients and clarity. Like stated before all the rigs were designed for darker sounding guitars, like mahagoni bodies and set necks. If you are more into brighter sounding guitars like strats or using single coils you will need to turn down the definition. I did a lot of testing about this and came to the conclusion that optimizing for darker sounding guitars is the better approach. Turning down the definition when using bright guitars simply works better than trying to get the clarity back once it has been lost. It´s a similar thing as with recording in general. Having too much high end frequencies on a recording may give you harsh sounding results on the first look. But it always sounds better to reduce high frequencies that you don´t need as if you try to bring back high frequencies that have been lost.


    I never got to play a JPM guitar, but it seems logical that these sound rather bright since it´s good match for darker sounding MESA´s. Try to set the difinition between 5 and 7 and you should be good.


    Cheers....

    Cool - thanks for the response. I'll record some demo clips with my JPM vs. my RGA8 which is both an 8 string and a bit darker, even with D-Activators. I suspect the RGA8 will clearly sound better. Of course, it's a freakin first world problem - cry me a river I have TURN A DIAL OMG.


    As I said, the tones are freakin phenominal once making that adjustment.

    This is an outstanding batch of profiles!
    I like the A/B/C variations - nice little tweaks to the base sound - sometimes I liked all 3, sometimes I preferred one over another.


    Oh, and I also found I liked the Definition a little lower when demo'ing the sounds (Jackson SL1H), but I'd probably put it back up a smidge when tracking.



    Great job, Till!

    I gave most of them a quick audition with my RGA8, and for several of the profiles, Definition all the way up at 10 definitely worked best. Most I preferred a slight reduction, so like 8.5 - 9.5. Maybe 1 or 2 I found I needed to reduce more heavily to get a good sound. Of the entire pack, I did notice a few were my favorites (not sure which numbers right now). But most of them were great - only 1 or 2 I thought I'd probably discard. Good variety and great tone.

    http://soundcloud.com/meambobbo/tillschim001


    here's a clip of Tills Chimera 001 profile in action. I made absolutely no adjustments on the Kemper (Definition is at 10 ;) ). The DAW added a little compression and reverb, but nothing else.


    I'm very pleased with the sound, but I am going to reamp with Definition off 10 and use some pre-EQ or a Green Scream to tighten the tone up. Basically I want to keep the bite but get smoother sustain and more body to the tone.

    Quote from meambobbo

    http://soundcloud.com/meambobbo/tillschim001


    here's a clip of Tills Chimera 001 profile in action. I made absolutely no adjustments on the Kemper (Definition is at 10 ;) ). The DAW added a little compression and reverb, but nothing else.


    I'm very pleased with the sound, but I am going to reamp with Definition off 10 and use some pre-EQ or a Green Scream to tighten the tone up. Basically I want to keep the bite but get smoother sustain and more body to the tone.


    Very cool stuff, thanks for posting. :thumbup: I think the drum sound is a little bit too "ambient". Maybe reduce the overhead or room mic bleed for Kick and snare a little bit and make those a little more "in your face". The 8 String is a beast and needs some rough companions :D

    I just bought the pack last night and made a "commercial" for you! I think this counts as an endorsement so feel free to hit me up with whatever perks you might have to offer :)
    Till's Chimera Video

    Dave
    music producer/guitarist
    4 room facility running Logic, PT and DP-
    Current amps-Kemper, Peavy C30, Fender Blues Deville- lots of pedals
    DBW Studio | YouTube | Facebook
    come and profile your amp at my studio!

    Quote from daveyboy

    I just bought the pack last night and made a "commercial" for you! I think this counts as an endorsement so feel free to hit me up with whatever perks you might have to offer :)
    Till's Chimera Video


    Awesome work and great playing :thumbup: From nearly clean to metal just by the turn of your guitar´s volume... I love it :)


    Mind if i link that video on my website?