Signal too hot on Git Analog and Git Studio (Direct Output)

  • Hey there,


    just got my KPA a few days ago and love it so far. Playing through it is great fun and I got some reamping of old DI recordings done nicely.


    Recording new dry guitars makes me scratch my head, though. Can't do it without clipping. According to the reference manual, setting the Clean Sens to only go yellow on really hard picking is all you need to do for the perfect Git Studio level. I adjusted Clean Sens accordingly to -7.0dB, which gives me just that: Green almost all the way, yellow on some occasions, never orange or red. The Git Studio signal from the Direct Output reaches the DAW (Reaper) way too hot, though. Git Analog is also too hot. I'm guessing sending it through the S/PDIF out would give the same results? I'd need to buy an electrical to optical converter to try that, for lack of an electrical (coaxial) S/PDIF input on my sound card.


    I have no padding option or anything else to attenuate the signal between the Kemper and the DAW.


    After trying different settings for a while, I finally gave up and tried to record dry through my old POD X3 (bean), thinking I'd then reamp through the KPA. I get the same problem there, though. It's the only POD of its generation that doesn't have a pad button... meh. I had never used it with this guitar before.
    So obviously my pickup is at fault. It's a Duncan Full Shred in the bridge. I'm using this very guitar model: http://www.schecterguitars.com…ack-sls-c-1-fr-s-p-detail


    Recording wet works, of course, since I can then lower the output level. Sending Git Stack with the Stomp and Stack sections switched off, works as well and gets a dry signal to the DAW. But then I can't monitor wet while recording dry, so it's not an option.
    I'm finding it hard to believe that I can get the input and output LEDs to safety, but then I can't somehow get the signal out of the KPA at sensible levels.


    I guess I could send Git+Processing with a volume pedal in the Pre Stomps setting, lowering the output level by foot. I don't have one around or I would have tried that already. Would that work? Is there maybe some manual way to change the virtual position of the volume pedal without actually having one?

  • How do you get your signal from the Kemper into the DAW, i.e. which interface sits between these two?


    Usually you should be able to adjust the input gain on your interface, so you don't get a hot signal....


    Edit: Just quickly read through the analog output section in the KPA manual (I'm purely using spdif, so I have no hands-on experience here):


    Quote

    Git+Processing (Not available for S/PDIF OUTPUT).
    Similar to “Git Analog” but AD conversion is taking place. This puts the noise gate from the Input Section and the Volume Pedal in the signal path (if Volume Pedal is set to “Pre Stomps”)


    So you should also be able send send the Git+Processing and use a pre stomps volume pedal to attenuate the signal, if I understand correctly

    Edited 2 times, last by EcoRI ().

  • Thanks for your reply!


    I'm plugging straight into the combined Mic in/Line in/optical S/PDIF in on my Asus Xonar HDAV 1.3. From what I gather, the card has decent specs:
    http://www.asus.com/Sound_Cards/Xonar_HDAV13/specifications/


    Unfortunately it has only that one input without a gain knob. I was hoping to avoid having to buy another interface just to record dry guitars.


    The section you quoted is exactly what I meant in the last paragraph of my initial post. I will try that once I get my hands on a pedal.

    Edited once, last by Jilipop ().

  • Oh my bad on that last part. Couldn't find a way to change the Volume setting on the pedal from within the KPA either. I guess you really need a pedal attached to do that.


    Concerning your SoundCard: I'd say, get a dedicated interface - that will probably help a lot in the future (e.g. latency while recording). There are a lot of options in the 200€ range, in case you'd be willing to invest that.


    Nonetheless, the asus webpage states:

    Quote

    Digital S/PDIF Input:
    Coaxial and High-bandwidth Optical Combo Connector Supports 192KHz/24bit (Shared with Line/Mic In)


    To me, that sounds like some kind of port which accepts both coaxial and optical connectors. So maybe have another look at it and see if you cannot just connect the KPA to your card with a normal coaxial cable via spdif.


    Other than that, I'm out of ideas.

  • Yeah, the page I linked to claims the input is coaxial, too. The card's manual, however, states that it's optical only and so does my experience. I'm guessing it's a mistake on the specs page.


    The soundcard actually allows for pretty low latency in ASIO mode. I can't notice any when recording wet. I will try converting the signal from coaxial to optical hoping this won't introduce noticable latency. I just noticed that you can control the S/PDIF output volume in the KPA, so that's a possible alternative to the pedal solution.


    Thanks for your input!

  • spdif vol only controls the wet part, not the di part of the signal. But it shouldn't clip, otherwise there is internal clipping.


    I think that spdif control whatever you asign to the spdif output...if you use it "guit/master left" you will have both the DI and post effects signal in two different chanels controled by the Spdif volume.
    correct me if I'm wrong