Connecting Kemper to active monitors

  • Some say the matrix is (most say: almost) as good as atomic, but the neo wedge still wins , I'm assuming that is outta your price range since you said $1000, but I BELEIVE there are a few atomic a for $750-1000 as well man. The clr box (non wedge)? Matrix is around same price range and it sounds great. I'd wAit for CLR money tho hehe



    Right, 1 month $400??!


    May I ask, how did CLR(FRFR) fair against the best studio


  • I actually just ordered the active Atomic sight unseen. I'm going off its reputation on this forum and videos I've seen. It's enough to convince me that's the best option. Near-field monitors would be great but they have limited applications; I know eventually I'll want to transport my speaker to jam with friends and near-fields just won't work for that, and I can't justify getting both.

  • I actually just ordered the active Atomic sight unseen. I'm going off its reputation on this forum and videos I've seen. It's enough to convince me that's the best option. Near-field monitors would be great but they have limited applications; I know eventually I'll want to transport my speaker to jam with friends and near-fields just won't work for that, and I can't justify getting both.


    Still, and I still stand by it, the DXR 10 is a great cab with a lot to offer, and I prefer it over the CLR for its smaller footprint on a lot of stages most of the time.


    Based on Ingolf's experience with the DXR10's and preference for them "on a lot of stages" I am surprised you reached the conclusion that they would not be suitable to jam with friends - what led you to think that?

  • Some say the matrix is (most say: almost) as good as atomic, but the neo wedge still wins.


    May I ask, how did CLR(FRFR) fair against the best studio


    I'd stress again that the concept of "good" is dimensional.
    Just like when a Ferrari is not automatically the "best" choice when you're on the market for a car even if you have the money (for example because you use to drive in the country or have a family), a "better" cab can be useless for your application/discernment. Some examples:


    If you use the cab for playing guitar, you might never perceive that -3 dB valley @ 1537 Hz. The other cab is flat there, but you can't appreciate it.
    If your cab has that fat tone around 300 Hz you like so much, when you switch to a more linear cab you'll probably perceive it poorer, with less body etc.


    If you never play in places where the peculiar CLR's diffusion pattern doesn't emerge, another cab will work for you nevertheless under this respect. This doesn't mean the two cabs are equally good.


    If you never listen to music programs with your cabs, the stability of the virtual source is not a value for you. But try and listen to a well-produced big band recording: with the CLR, each instrument is sculptured in a rock-steady place in the stereo panorama. The phase-coherence works great.
    I've heard many 2-way studio monitors, none of them performed like the CLR in this respect.


    I could go on, but my point is that a test always returns what you're paying attention to, what the test implementation and conditions can reveal, and what your discriminating ability allows you to hear.
    When I'm with some professional "audio listener" I'm surprised at times about how they can discriminate things (and tell differences) that I can't hear at all. And believe me, we (people) definitely don't hear the same things :)


    Basically, I see no contradictions between stating that a product is better than another and someone stating "no, I've tried the other one, it's very good for me": just two different dimensions.


    As for you last question, if you have real estate and can place them properly in the room, you can use the CLRs as studio monitors with great results. I'd not consider them my first choice as a general music playback system, but they are excellent for their purpose.


    :)


  • Based on Ingolf's experience with the DXR10's and preference for them "on a lot of stages" I am surprised you reached the conclusion that they would not be suitable to jam with friends - what led you to think that?


    I know what you mean; but for me, jamming with friends usually means me and a buddy, two guitars plus an mp3 backing track, maybe 4 times a year. Just riffing -- no drums or bass. I'm just a hobbyist, so the CLR has way more juice than I'll need for a very long time. I play by myself 99% of the time, #1 priority is a flat response for the Kemper rigs.

  • As a 'general purpose' FRFR solution the CLR certainly has the edge over the DXR.
    In most real world guitar based scenarios not as much, like I said time and again.
    My band's rehearsal space is located in the basement of my house, the CLR's, the DXR's and also an EV ZLX12P are sitting in a room together getting some use.
    So I have been spending a lot of time hearing them side by side, getting quite some experience discerning their qualities.

  • Oh no! I think I've got a mono problem if I get a CLR....


    I tried some near-field studio monitors at the music shop and right away I noticed that when I used only one, even though the mp3 I ran through sounded nice and clear, because it was coming out in mono, I wasn't hearing all parts of the mix as I would in stereo. Not good! Two monitors solved that problem.


    So.....if I get only one CLR, which is the only feasible option financially, will I have that mono problem all over again? I'm thinking the answer must definitely be yes, in which case two studio monitors is the way to go.


    I was impressed with the Yamaha HS7!


    P.S.: Thank you Kemper for the Alternative Input jacks! It's great to play those Iommi riffs along with Geezer and Ward and Ozzy!

  • Oh no! I think I've got a mono problem if I get a CLR....


    I tried some near-field studio monitors at the music shop and right away I noticed that when I used only one, even though the mp3 I ran through sounded nice and clear, because it was coming out in mono, I wasn't hearing all parts of the mix as I would in stereo. Not good! Two monitors solved that problem.


    So.....if I get only one CLR, which is the only feasible option financially, will I have that mono problem all over again? Ozzy!

  • +1.
    Also, I've never investigated this, but it might be that the player can be driven to a summed-to-mono channel choosing the proper output signal in the menu.
    It is worth checking this for using other cabs/desks.


    PS: I mean the Profiler menu :)

  • This was a surprisingly great thing to discover truth be told, I swear it's like monitors that bang man


    Can't wait for mine to show up. I'm on the list and they said my spot would come up in a week or two. Plus another week shipping and then BOOM! Gonna hang it up on an Ultimate Support TS-100B.

  • I still have a wait ahead of me before my CLR gets here, but a question:


    To connect the Main Output of the Kemper with XLR, do you:


    1. Use just one Kemper XLR port, into one CLR XLR port; or
    2. Use a "Y" XLR cable with 2 female on one end for the Kemper, and one male on the other end for the CLR; or
    3. Two separate XLR cables -- one in each Kemper port, one in each CLR port


    This is assuming one guitar with a backing track flowing from computer into the Kemper via the Alternative input.

    Edited 4 times, last by PB26 ().