Kemper owner today

  • Hi,


    I'm hoping I'm on the right track in this forum with this topic...


    I have bought the Kemper Power Head today (!). In the store it sounded amazing but, like always, at home, it's "different"..
    I know the Kemper is intuitive but it seems these are just words. I know you have to experience in getting familiar with its routings and parameters, but.still....
    I come from amps like Vetta Head, Boss GT 100, (Dutch )HOOK all valve amp, Marshall 265 combo and, back in time...: Triaxis with TC Elect. G-Force through midi FC 200 and Mesa Boogie 2:90 and a lot more...


    I connected the KPA to a Line6 4-12 stereo cabinet (switch to left -mono 8 ohm) I also have a Marshall VS 212 (stereo) with Goldback speakers but I guess this is less...


    Browsing through all sounds it's not convincing. Maybe due to what speakers I use for trying now. Of course there's a manual (in English!) but before to be able to understand all technical stuff, I probably will retire...
    So here's my point:
    HOW AND WHERE TO START in this maze to get a decent sound which shows why this amp is so good.
    I know I ask a lot (!) but I know I'm among the right people... yes? And If not I'd appreciate suggestions. :)

  • 1. Please read the manuals, not only the 'getting started' but aslso the full manual you can download from Kemper.
    2. Read up on the wikpa.org (see my sig).
    3. Turning off the cabs in the profiler and using your Line 6 cab you should instantly get pretty good results.

  • 1. Please read the manuals, not only the 'getting started' but aslso the full manual you can download from Kemper.
    2. Read up on the wikpa.org (see my sig).
    3. Turning off the cabs in the profiler and using your Line 6 cab you should instantly get pretty good results.


    This.


    Make sure you have the Monitor Cabinet Off checked in output-page 3


    And this. The reason you should turn off the cab is because it's like the amplifier + cabinet of the Kemper profile is being run into your 4x12 cabinet, which is not ideal. By disabling the cabinet, it will be back to Kemper + cabinet.


    For best results, look into a passive FRFR cabinet to pair with your Kemper. But this isn't really necessary, particularly if you create your own profiles using your own cabinet, in which case I'm sure the results will be stellar.

  • 1. Please read the manuals, not only the 'getting started' but aslso the full manual you can download from Kemper.
    2. Read up on the wikpa.org (see my sig).
    3. Turning off the cabs in the profiler and using your Line 6 cab you should instantly get pretty good results.


    1. Please read the manuals, not only the 'getting started' but aslso the full manual you can download from Kemper.
    2. Read up on the wikpa.org (see my sig).
    3. Turning off the cabs in the profiler and using your Line 6 cab you should instantly get pretty good results.

    Thank you for your suggestions! This means not playing for a long time...I'm stuck allready finding turning off the cabs.:) But I found the wikpa.org site (though still looking for your sig).

  • Click the Output button on the front of unit use the < Page > button to go to page 3, you will see on the top of the screen "Monitor Cab Off" - click the white button above. Hope this helps

  • I use a 4x12 with celestion g12t75's. It is all about the rig, guitar/pickups and speakers your using if you want to turn cab on or off. The kemper site has some great additional preamp rig packs free. And rig manager has some great great rigs to audition


    I usually use a studio eq or a preset eq in the X to round the lows and highs. It works very very nice. But everyones different. What I like others may not but I get killer sounds from the kemper and my 300 watt@ 16 ohm cab powered by the class d 300 watt @16 ohm kemper power rack. You can feel it. And hear how different cabs sound. Im sure its not as good as a CLR or 2 would be, but I like it.


    [Blocked Image: http://i1274.photobucket.com/albums/y423/Chris01041982/Mobile%20Uploads/2014-08-24%2014.29.20_zps9ogikmgl.jpg]

    Edited 3 times, last by Lash ().

  • It's a bit of a journey to find the right amp/cab combinations that sound good to you. It took me a few days before I stumbled on one I liked and a few months to get all the amps I wanted to use to sound the way I expected. Not trying to depress you lol The trick at first is to audition a ton of amps and only save the ones that you like with your cab right off the bat. Many amps won't sound good for what ever reason, who cares why just move on.


    To make this easy, go into the system menu and on the 3rd screen make sure "Store sets Fav" is selected. When you have saved all the ones you think might work with only minor tweaking go back into the system menu 8th screen and select "Erase non-favorites". This will erase all theones you didn't like. I think I auditioned about 2000 rigs in just a day or so and kept my lists clean as a whistle after I was done.


    Don't get discouraged, your sound is out there in probably many different amps. Do the work and find them and then go back to playing your tail off. I just had a custom guitar made and guess what? Week 2 and I'm still trying to find the right amps! I'm in no rush this time thankfully. Cheers!

  • If you want to audition amps, load up rig manager on your PC and hook up your Kemper. That way, you can browse through all 6000+ rigs on the exchange. Download anything you like and discard what you don't.


    After an initial browse through, maybe go through the profiles again and filter out the weaker elements altogether so that you're left with just "keepers".


    One more thing you need to know as a first time Kemper user: clean sense. I strongly suggest you read about this in the manual, it is one of the most important controls for a first time user to get the best experience, or at least, it was when I first got my Kemper.

  • This is my bullets for finding the "tone" with Kemper:

    • Find a good FRFR speaker. I really don't understand why people using cabs... Kemper simulates everything include the cab, and remember the PA is a FRFR and that is what the audience will get, so you must learn how to get great tone thru FRFR speakers.
    • Get a good pair of headphones as well, and learn how the sound. I use Beyerdynamic DT770. Sometimes you need to hear your profile from a different angle, and headphones is great for that.
    • Learn how clean sense works and set it correctly. If you don't you will get in trouble.
    • Learn how to use clarity and definition in the amp section.
    • Learn how to use compressor and eq in the stomps
    • Learn how the master eq works different from eq in the stomps section.
    • Learn how to delete rigs. I have tried over 2000 rigs and I have 4-5 favourites. Don't try to tweak a profile that you don't like. Move on.
    • Learn how your guitar actually sound with your pickups. Some profiles need humbuckers to sound great, others need single coils.
    • Buy the Fender and the Marshall packs from The Amp Factory. (I love them, but I don't now if you do...)
    • Search this forum to find tips and tricks and recommendations for great profiles.


    As I said this is what I did to get the best tone ever, I don't know if it works for your taste.

  • I really don't understand why people using cabs... Kemper simulates
    everything include the cab, and remember the PA is a FRFR and that is
    what the audience will get, so you must learn how to get great tone thru
    FRFR speakers.


    (I'm sorry! I can't find a way to reply on a part of a message!)


    I use a cab otherwise I can't hear no sound coming out of the Kemper....(!) Or do I understand you wrong? I connect a cab in my room at home to listen tot a profiled sound.And it happens that I have a 4x12 Line6 cabinet (320W) to connect to this Kemper.
    I connected the Kemper also to an Allen and Heath ZED 12 fx in my study, to a pair of KRK ROKIT 6-monitors. But that sounded not great. BTW it's just for exploring, finding a way to understand the structure of the Kemper. But it's not easy sofar...

  • For best results, look into a passive FRFR cabinet to pair with your Kemper.

    Does this mean I have to buy another cabinet? What is FRFR? (sorry, I wonder if this forum is a way to get me going because everone seems to be a way ahead of me..)

  • Full range, flat response. Essentially, it's a speaker and cabinet that adds minimal colouration to your tone. Since profiles are basically copies of amp and cabinet combinations, if you add or remove frequencies because your speakers aren't flat, you aren't hearing an accurate representation of the profile. On the other hand, if you are using a flat speaker with minimal colouration, you will be hearing pretty much what the profiler intended you to hear in a profile.


    Using a Marshall cabinet will add that Marshall sound to profiles, just as using an Orange cabinet or some other cabinet with whatever speakers. In this respect, it's best to turn off the cabinet when running into one of these, because you will then get the sound of the profile + YOUR cabinet, as opposed to profile + profile cabinet + your cabinet, which could result in strange results, sort of like running your Kemper into another amp, which would defeat the purpose of mimicking an actual amplifer accurately.

  • Does this mean I have to buy another cabinet? What is FRFR? (sorry, I wonder if this forum is a way to get me going because everone seems to be a way ahead of me..)


    If you want a FRFR speaker you need to buy a new speaker.


    Take a look at this page:
    http://www.wikpa.org/Amplifying


    Examples of FRFR speakers that people use with the Kemper:
    http://www.atomicamps.com/products.htm


    I use a AER speaker (http://www.aer-amps.com) when I am at rehearsals, when I play live I use IEM monitoring, so I don't need any speaker on the stage.

  • I've wrestled with the whole cabinet vs. FRFR piece for years. Part of this was because I was unwilling to accept the whole FRFR piece for my stage monitoring. I've used it but the monitors weren't the greatest and I wasn't all that happy with the results.


    I've tried the powered rack unit that I had with a Bogner UberKab, a Greenback Marshall 1960X, a Heritage loaded Marshall 4x12 and a custom Mesa boogie 2x12 with V30s. The best sounding cab was the Greenback one. What I have found is that if you are using the higher gain presets, they pretty much all wash in to sound similar because they take on the tone of that cab, regardless. The mid-gain stuff plays a bit nicer.


    In the end, a few days ago, I tried and borrowed my friends KPA with his powered Atomic CLR and I'll tell you, I was completely shocked as to what I wasn't hearing before. Needless to say, I'm definitely going that route. The spread on the thing was amazing as was the distinction between each profile. I was really surprised and previously wrote this off as a solution due to me not having good results with some other sub-standard FRFR setups.


    I'm just wondering if I can get similar results with something that is a bit more accessible to me and a bit cheaper such as a Mackie HD1221 or one of the Line 6 PA setups? Haven't heard a lot from people on these so, still unsure.

  • I'm just wondering if I can get similar results with something that is a bit more accessible to me and a bit cheaper such as a Mackie HD1221 or one of the Line 6 PA setups? Haven't heard a lot from people on these so, still unsure.


    As discussed quite often, there are other good solutions (e.g Yamaha DXR 10. EV ZLX 12 P) that give very good results, but nothing beats the CLR in clarity.