Achieved MY Amp in Room Sound want to share

  • Hey everyone...


    Wanted to share with everyone something that has worked tremendously for me today. I love my Kemper but just couldn't gel 100% with the sound I was getting out of it from my Friedman ASM-12 and/or my studio monitors (Alesis 620's). The things I didn't like were the usual frustrations I read from some which were it never felt like I was getting the amp in the room feel (I know I know :) ), it also didn't sound "full" or 3 dimensional to me either from the ASM-12 or my studio monitors. Also I tend to like to walk around when I play and that really mucked with the sound sweet spot depending on where I was in the room (especially with my studio monitors).


    I tried a number of options like placing the Friedman on a monitor pole to get to ear level helped a little with the sound dispersion but still wasn't doing it for me. I then hooked up the Kemper to my EVH 5150III combo amp and it started to sound (obviously) more like an amp in the room but.....all the profiles sounded very similar (especially high gain profiles) and definitely had "character" seeping through from my EVH amp. Rightly so from the EVH power tubes and also from the G12M speakers.


    Long story short I went to GC today and bought a Fender Mustang IV 2x12 amp. I figured I would try it out hooked up to the Kemper and if no dice then return the Mustang. If it didn't work well with the Kemper and I liked the Mustang amp then I would sell the Kemper and keep the amp. Well I got the amp home and played around with it and was actually VERY impressed with it for $400 (bought floor model). Yes it's not in the EXACT same league as the Kemper but at that price point it's amazing and IMO its WAY better than the POD HD500x I used to have.


    So I hooked the Kemper up to the Mustang IV and I FINALLY get the sound I was really hoping to achieve from the Kemper. The profiles all sound different like I hoped they would (cabs off in monitor output of course). A Vox sounds like a VOX and a Mesa Rectifier sounds like a Rectifier. It is ALL "Amp in room" sound. Sounds the same and awesome whether I am in front of or off axis to the speakers/amp cabinet. The Mustang IV obviously is a solid state so no tubes to color the sound and the speakers are Celestion G12P-80's from which I understand are fairly "flat" speakers (used in a lot of modelling amps). It's honestly the best set up for ME maybe others too who want more of a feel like a traditional guitar set up so I thought I would share. Gotta give credit again to Ingolf for giving me the idea with his Mustang III comments he made on some threads here and the video he did comparing it with some other monitors he had.



    Hope this helps anyone that is really wanting to utilize the Kemper in a more traditional set up. The Mustang IV can usually be found for $300 or so used and arounf $400 new if you buy a floor model like I dd. Cheaper than my Friedman was and immensely more enjoyable (to ME) with the Kemper.


    Peace!



    :thumbup:

    Edited 2 times, last by Mateo11 ().

  • Hello,


    I'm having great success with my Mustang III V2. Sice I'm into 1x12 combos it works pretty well but I dont turn the cabs off.
    I also make sure the cab simulation is off on the mustang, since the return loop does pass through cab simulation unless its specifically set off.

  • I think Mateo is reffering to switching cab simulation off on the fender mustang not on KPA.


    Possibly, because atleast with the Mustang III turning the cab off on both it and the kemper results in a blizzard of nails as I guess the flat Mustang speaker doesn't attenuate those high frequencies as much as a normal guitar speaker.
    Also the sound in general becomes a bit wierd as the profiles I use are not merged and subtracting the cab only results in an approximation of the amp.


    The Mustang sure does project sound like an amp would tho, even with cabs on. I've had my mind blown by how different it can sound depending on the profile playing through it.
    My tube amps are seeing less and less play..


  • the speaker in the Mustang is not flat, it's a guitar amp speaker after all, so IMO it's better to switch off the cab in the Profiler.


    Hey Ingolf,
    Are you also turning off the cab simulation inside the mustang ?
    Its enabled by default on the return loop unless you turn it off in settings.
    Im curious because once I turned off the Mustangs cab simulation the kemper sounded great through it with cab sim on, and without cab sim it sounds like ur typical preamp distortion with high frequencies and something strange going on in the mids.

  • Yes, of course it needs to be turned off.


    Are you turning it off by setting the return to looper inside the settings ? Or by going into the amp settings and setting the cab type to "off" ?


    I noticed that there is a big difference between the two. The first method makes the sound very dark and scooped out, and the second method doesn't suck the tone out and has much higher volume.
    I'm using the 2nd method which is maybe why if I turn off the cab simulation on the kemper the mustang sounds very shrill, but sounds really good with cabs on in the Kemper.


    Either way the Mustang is a very very good deal and hooking it up to the Kemper makes it an amazing little light amp.
    Cheers !

  • Hello,


    I'm having great success with my Mustang III V2. Sice I'm into 1x12 combos it works pretty well but I dont turn the cabs off.
    I also make sure the cab simulation is off on the mustang, since the return loop does pass through cab simulation unless its specifically set off.


    I don't see a cab sim off option on my Mustang IV?


    I'm pretty sure with the Mustang IV they changed the Loop position to pre instead of post. So I had to to go into settings on the Mustang and change the Loop Position from Normal (Pre) to Looper Pedal (Post). Maybe that is what turns the cab sim off? It sounded horrendous until I did this and I'm pretty sure now that is what affects the cab sim on the Mustang because if I leave it on Normal and play a profile while scrolling through the amp models on the Mustang you can hear the sound/character changing. Once I set it to Looper pedal (post) and play a profile no settings/dials on the amp except for the Master volume affect the profiles sound.

    Edited 2 times, last by Mateo11 ().


  • the speaker in the Mustang is not flat, it's a guitar amp speaker after all, so IMO it's better to switch off the cab in the Profiler.


    Yes it is a guitar speaker in the Mustang IV but the research I did suggested this particular speaker in the Mustang (Celestian G12-80's) are commonly used in modeling amps because they are a bit more neutral. I assume they want something more neutral in a modeling amps so the difference in the amp/cabs character is more pronounced and differentiated between amp/cab models in the amp. It is not FRFR by any stretch but it is a big difference compared to playing the Kemper through my EVH 5150II amp. Not sure if it was the EVH power tubes or the EVH speakers causing the profiles to all sound very similar with a lot of EVH character thrown on top but through the Mustang IV it sounds EPIC. A VOX profile sounds like a VOX and a Mesa sounds like a Mesa etc etc.


    I do turn the cab sim off in the Kemper Output menu.

    Edited once, last by Mateo11 ().

  • Hey Ingolf,
    Are you also turning off the cab simulation inside the mustang ?
    Its enabled by default on the return loop unless you turn it off in settings.
    Im curious because once I turned off the Mustangs cab simulation the kemper sounded great through it with cab sim on, and without cab sim it sounds like ur typical preamp distortion with high frequencies and something strange going on in the mids.

    Edited once, last by Mateo11 ().