Why is Definition always on 10?

    I've been going through a phase where I wasn't completely satisfied with the sounds of my Kemper, using both Exchange and paid profiles. There was this excessive and unnatural "twang" to them that was really annoying. I think I have figured out the main issue (though other things can be modified) which is that a lot of profiles have the Definition parameter all the way up to 9 or 10...


    This seems like a pretty ambiguous parameter, but I found that dialling it down to around 3 gives me a lot more body and makes the profiles a lot better. Has anyone had this issue? I use Custom Parker Guitars mainly, but I can hear the problem with various guitars including an old Gibson V, a Fender, etc...


    Would the many wiser men and women of the forum care to comment on this? It says in the manual that definition can be used to match your guitar sound, but sounds pretty obscure to me (keep in mind I've been using tube amps since I was 16 so some of the terminology might escape me...).


    Thanks everyone!

    Unless the person who uploaded the profile has set the Definition to 10, the value depends on the amplifier's original sound. If you are looking at modern-style amps, higher values will be seen. Vintage style amps have lower values:


    From the Reference Manual:


    Definition
    The “Definition” parameter controls the characteristic fingerprint of the preamp. The profiling process automatically sets “Definition” to a value that represents the reference amp. You could, for example, use it to modernize the profile of a vintage amp without having to use additional stomps. Alternatively, start with a profile of a modern tube amp, and use “Definition” to give it a more vintage sound when driven into distortion. You can also use “Definition” to align the sound of your guitar to the sound of your amp, if required. Don’t be afraid to keep experimenting until you get the balance that sounds best to you.
    Vintage amps distort the lower harmonics in the guitar signal which gives them their bluesy sound. These amps were originally designed to deliver a clean sound, so to achieve a creamy distortion, these amps need to be driven by a typical transistor-based device like a treble booster.


    Modern tube amps use a different approach, in which the higher overtones of the guitar strings are the driving force for the distorted sound. The expensive boutique amps take this concept one step further, by providing an extreme level of top-end frequencies and a large dynamic range. The distortion has a sparkling quality to it, and preserves every nuance of the strings and pickups. Together with the characteristics of the actual speaker, the individual distortion behavior creates the fingerprint that identifies the amplifier.

    Thanks Paul. The biggest "offenders" were actually topjimi's profiles. I have all his SuperLeads and other vintage amps and I don't know why those have the parameter set so high. If he reads this maybe he can contribute. By the way his profiles are great and I have gone back for more so I am just asking out of curiosity and am not complaining at all. :)

    Even if a vintage amp is profiled, if it has a treble booster in front when profiled, it can easily push definition to 10. Or the person making the profile can simply raise it. Some people may have some fancy means of trying to use some unique process such as running other gear in front or behind the amp to "trick" the kpa into making a "better" profile.