I used to own the Randall RM4 modular preamp gizmo along with the RT2/50 power amp. Got rid of the preamp, but kept the power amp to use with other gear and my Marshall cab, and also because a stereo tube power amp is too cool. Loved the setup, but the two together weighed like 4 tons, and I'm getting to old to hunk that sort of thing around. Anyway, I'm thrilled with my UBER Pak purchase. Really, to think I now have access to Michael Wagener's profile work, and gear!?! For a couple of hundred bucks? Hell, I spent more on single RM4 preamp module. I dropped over 4 times the price of the UBER Pak just to fill all the preamp slots in my RM4. Have you seen how many Randall preamp module profiles are included? Sounds like a Chris Berman "C'mon, man!" is in order. So I just wanted to extend a sincere "Thank you!" to Mr. Wagener. Hopefully you will continue release more profiles in the future, and that other studio heavyweights like yourself will follow your lead. Just my 2 cents on all this. Hail, Kemper!
MW RokPak - Profiles for Kemper Profiling Amplifiers
- mwagener
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I was shocked at how good the MTS profiles are. I didn't expect much from them. A very pleasant surprise.
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On a positive note: I am glad you guys like the profiles and I thank you for your kind reviews, that gives me encouragement to possibly make another RokPak in the future.
Now make some noise!
Cheers
MichaelThe Über-pak ist simply great, I'm using it right now for a studio-session, at the moment your fantastic "MW-RIV TBR1 1"-profile playing a '62 Epiphone Riviera. I love and use a lot of crunch sounds and there are tons of it in the pak, the overall quality is perfect and I can use the profiles for recording without any tweaking, thanks a lot.
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Very well done MW, as I expected some perfect tones here, im not so blessesd with the higher stuff, as its all too scratchy for my tastes, but hey the low/med gain stuff is incredible!
Boy.. I have some serious work to do, you sure teach a mean lesson in profiling good sir. my hat is well and trully off!.
Keep it up MW.. please do more!
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Very well done MW, as I expected some perfect tones here, im not so blessesd with the higher stuff, as its all too scratchy for my tastes, but hey the low/med gain stuff is incredible!
Boy.. I have some serious work to do, you sure teach a mean lesson in profiling good sir. my hat is well and trully off!.
Keep it up MW.. please do more!
Classy of you
A few of the profiles are too aggressive in the highs for me as well, at least at first listen with my main guitar - but I think there are a lot of cool stuff also in the higher gain department for my tastes. Different flavours for sure.
All the profiles I've been through so far have had bridge pickup in the pickup tag (either SC or HB), but a couple of them screamed Neck SC at me, and sure enough - great tone.
So far, I am liking these profiles.
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...but hey the low/med gain stuff is incredible!
Exactly my opinion, because I use a lot of low/med gain stuff there's plenty of good stuff to explore. I like the warm and authentic tone and feel, the MW-profiles seem to like my old Fender guitars, too.
Of course everything is always a matter of taste, for me the Über-pak is the perfect addition to all the great profiles from Andy and Armin.
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I also bought Mr Wagener's rokpak. Amazing profiles; clearly different from the all the other stuff out there; I found extremely useful the bass profiles as well ... And the ones combining different amps are just brilliant . The presence of the sound in every single profile is simply the best I've ever heard - nothing that you don't already know -
I absolutely love the pack and definitely hope that you make some more eventually. And maybe cover the less rock-like sounds? Maybe more matchless, 65 amps, vox amps just starting to break up ...? That kind of thing? I'd love to see those on your next pack ! And count me in for the preordering again
Many thanks indeed for your work.Ale
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Yeah, these profiles are great. I really like almost all of them, and many of them clean up remarkably well with the volume knob. Awesome work, Michael!
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Yeah, these profiles are great. I really like almost all of them, and many of them clean up remarkably well with the volume knob. Awesome work, Michael!
YES!! I've noticed this as well. It isn't always the case, is it
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Thanx guys (and girls?)
Some of the high end sounding profiles are made that way so they cut through the mix better. Easy enough to dial out some top with the EQ in the KPA or bring back the gain a bit. I my opinion all sounds need a bit of tweaking for the final mix so they fit each particular song, but I think we nailed the basic tones pretty good. In some cases it works well to use a tape simulator like the Crane Song HEDD, I had some good luck with that machine.
Andy, glad you like them. Love your profiles as well, very cool sounds and very versatile with the profiles for different guitars.
I just loooove that KPA, now that I have basically every am in my studio in the KPA, the amps have been cold ever since
On the current project there is not even a microphone set up for guitar, but we are running the Hammond through the KPA and a Leslie, kicks ass! I wish we could profile acoustic guitars as well-mw
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Guys all these great review are making me want them even more
To hear great reviews from the likes of Andy and Guenterhass and other trusted member on hear I think I'm going to have to get my debit card out for the Uber pack. I'm not a metal player at all so it's nice to here there are some great mid gain profiles in the pack sonopibe can you tell us a bit more info on the sound/flavour of the bass profiles this will be something I'm very interested in
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I was wondering if these profiles have had any processing applied to them on the way in etc? Could you tell us what the signal chain was for these?
No, no signal processing and yes i can tell you about the signal chain:Signal chain:
guitar > amp > cab > microphone (mostly Royer R-121 and ADK LOL C-12) > mic-pre (Chandler TG-2, Great River MP2-NV, or some other of my favs) then from the output of the pres line in to either:
a) SSL AWS 900 > summing into mono signal > KPA, or
b) CraneSong Spider > summing into mono signal > KPA.I found that the "RETURN LEVEL" on the KPA is very important for the sound of the profile, it will automatically adjust to something it thinks is right, but we moved it back to 0.0dB most of the time. On the other hand we had the "cleaner" profiles set to a lower level/gain, that's why they are a little quieter. Easily adjusted by the output volume or even the gain knob.
Mic setup:
In most cases we didn't use more than 4 mics for one sound. In order to
align the phase between the mics, pick your favorite mic, in my case the
Royer R-121.
Now send a re-amped DI signal through an amp with at least medium
distortion but at very low level, so you hear more of the sound through the headphone than directly from the cab (master volume amp helps with this).
Using a pair of isolation headphones place the microphone by moving it
around in front of the speaker. I start about 1 to 4 inches from the
center of the speaker and move it back and forth and left to right,
sometimes up and down. You are looking for the "sweet spot" which is
very hard to explain in writing, but easy to hear by actually doing it.
Look for the most even sound, no massive holes in the midrange, not too
much bass, not too much high end. Once you find THE spot, place the mic
there. Keep in mind that with a ribbon mic it is advisable to place the
mic at a 45 degree angle to the speaker, so the air the speaker pushes
once you turn up the volume to 11, runs down the ribbon and does not hit
it straight on. The R-121
can take a ton of air pressure but is sensitive to wind, like all
ribbon mics. I normally end up about 2-3 inches away from the center of
the speaker dust cap, so the mic is almost inside the speaker. That's
why I always cut off the front cloth of the cab (except for one cab that
I don't want to modify for later possible sale [Blocked Image: https://static.gearslutz.com/board/images/smilies/nu/061.gif])After the first mic is placed it will be your reference mic for phase.
Now pick a second mic. I mostly use a LDF condenser like the ADK
LOL-C12, a lollipop looking mic. Make sure that both mic pres get you
the same output level and now put both mics in your headphones in mono.
Polarity reverse the second mic at the mic pre (it helps using the same kind of mic pre, I use the Chandler TG-2 stereo mic pre) and now move it back and forth in front
of the second speaker until the sound in the headphones almost cancels
out. It will never cancel completely, because you are dealing with two
different mics, or even two different speakers or amps. But the most
cancellation you can get, puts the two mics in phase with each other,
meaning at the same distance from the speaker, which is sometimes hard
to see because you can't see the ribbon or the capsule position inside
mic. Now flip the polarity back to normal and your two mics are aligned,
and when you fade up the second mic the sound should get louder and not
sound nasal of lose low end.If you have more than two mics, always use the first mic you set up as a reference. Quite a bit of work, but well worth it.
Hope this helps.
Cheers
Michael -
Awesome, thanks Michael.
And very interesting about the return level!
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Thanx guys (and girls?)
Some of the high end sounding profiles are made that way so they cut through the mix better. Easy enough to dial out some top with the EQ in the KPA or bring back the gain a bit. I my opinion all sounds need a bit of tweaking for the final mix so they fit each particular song, but I think we nailed the basic tones pretty good. In some cases it works well to use a tape simulator like the Crane Song HEDD, I had some good luck with that machine.
Andy, glad you like them. Love your profiles as well, very cool sounds and very versatile with the profiles for different guitars.
I just loooove that KPA, now that I have basically every am in my studio in the KPA, the amps have been cold ever since
On the current project there is not even a microphone set up for guitar, but we are running the Hammond through the KPA and a Leslie, kicks ass! I wish we could profile acoustic guitars as well-mw
How are your clients adjusting to the Kemper? Was it their request or did you have to coax them? Or just trick them and tell them it was real amps until they say "that sounds amazing!" then reveal its digital?
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Hi Michael.
I bought your Uberpack and I am very happy with it
Thx alot for sharing info about how you setup the signal chain.
Just wonder one thing, how do you send KPA "out in space" signal in the signal chain then profiling?
I suppose you are using your MW1 studio tool somewhere in the chain instead of KPA guitar direct out?Maybe a stupid question but I am no pro just want to learn from the pros
Cheers
BjörnSignal chain:
guitar > amp > cab > microphone (mostly Royer R-121 and ADK LOL C-12) > mic-pre (Chandler TG-2, Great River MP2-NV, or some other of my favs) then from the output of the pres line in to either:
a) SSL AWS 900 > summing into mono signal > KPA, or
b) CraneSong Spider > summing into mono signal > KPA. -
Display More
Hi Michael.
I bought your Uberpack and I am very happy with it
Thx alot for sharing info about how you setup the signal chain.
Just wonder one thing, how do you send KPA "out in space" signal in the signal chain then profiling?
I suppose you are using your MW1 studio tool somewhere in the chain instead of KPA guitar direct out?Maybe a stupid question but I am no pro just want to learn from the pros
Cheers
BjörnSignal chain:
guitar > amp > cab > microphone (mostly Royer R-121 and ADK LOL C-12) > mic-pre (Chandler TG-2, Great River MP2-NV, or some other of my favs) then from the output of the pres line in to either:
a) SSL AWS 900 > summing into mono signal > KPA, or
b) CraneSong Spider > summing into mono signal > KPA.
Hello Björn
I am not sure I understand your question. The guitar goes through the KPA input via the KPA direct out to the amp, if that is what you mean. The MW-1 is not in the profiling chain, because the KPA won't go through it when it sends out it's own sounds to the amp. But I do use the MW-1 when tracking with the KPA, because it basically eliminates the cable impedance from the guitar to the KPA and let's me hear what the guitar really sounds like, without the cable making it sound duller.-mw
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How are your clients adjusting to the Kemper? Was it their request or did you have to coax them? Or just trick them and tell them it was real amps until they say "that sounds amazing!" then reveal its digital?
It would be impossible to trick them, because they would hear that there is no sound in the tracking room and see no mics setup. But my clients are usually open to my suggestions on what to use in the studio. When we are tracking drums we always use the KPA, since I can't have any noise in the tracking room, because I use the room a lot for the drum sound. So that might be their first introduction to the KPA and it immediately raises their interest and they want to know more about it.
So far every single player who played through the Kemper liked the way it felt and sounded, no complaints. Even hardcore "Tube" guys are convinced about the KPA, and most of them are now looking into buying one. They love the fact that they can use the exact sounds we get during recording in the studio, live on tour as well. On top of that, and I'm probably preaching to the choir here, the KPA is an extremely creative tool. You can dial through tons of sounds in seconds to find THE perfect one for a particular track, which was the main reason I had the Sentinel built, so I could compare all my amps with a button push. When writing the KPA gives a lot of inspiration just by trying different profiles, not even talking about all the effects, that could change the mood of a song with one button.
-mw
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guitar > amp > cab > microphone (mostly Royer R-121 and ADK LOL C-12) > mic-pre (Chandler TG-2, Great River MP2-NV, or some other of my favs) then from the output of the pres line in to either:
a) SSL AWS 900 > summing into mono signal > KPA, or
b) CraneSong Spider > summing into mono signal > KPA.
Hello Björn
I am not sure I understand your question. The guitar goes through the KPA input via the KPA direct out to the amp, if that is what you mean. The MW-1 is not in the profiling chain, because the KPA won't go through it when it sends out it's own sounds to the amp. But I do use the MW-1 when tracking with the KPA, because it basically eliminates the cable impedance from the guitar to the KPA and let's me hear what the guitar really sounds like, without the cable making it sound duller.-mw
Hi again
Ok, then I understand.
One again thank you very much for your great work and sharing// Björn
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Quoted from "Animus"
How are your clients adjusting to the Kemper? Was it their request or did you have to coax them? Or just trick them and tell them it was real amps until they say "that sounds amazing!" then reveal its digital?
It would be impossible to trick them, because they would hear that there is no sound in the tracking room and see no mics setup. But my clients are usually open to my suggestions on what to use in the studio. When we are tracking drums we always use the KPA, since I can't have any noise in the tracking room, because I use the room a lot for the drum sound. So that might be their first introduction to the KPA and it immediately raises their interest and they want to know more about it.Even hardcore "Tube" guys are convinced about the KPA, and most of them are now looking into buying one. n.
-mw
Surely the hardcore tube guys over at Gearslutz don't have as open mind as you and us here. There's definitely some hopeless luddites out there, who's default dogmatic view on "digital" is that it sucks, "there's no way a modeler can match a tube amp". One particularly evangelical tube guy over there even picked the Kemper profile as the "real" amp in a blind AB test. It was hilarious, but sadly did nothing to curb his anti-Kemper crusading despite admitting he has never tried one. That's why it's so refreshing to see an old school highly experienced and heralded guy like yourself always staying abreast of modern technology, never discounting things based on learned biases. Rock on.
