True, this is astounishing.
I believe that the saying that Studio Profiles sound better than Merged Profiles is a myth that has build up in the last months.
We have never been approached by commercial vendors that there is a potential problem.
On the other hand we have asked a known vendor for Merged Profiles and the respective Studio Profile for a comparison.
I could not hear or feel a difference.
Case closed then.
You should make this sticky, @ckemper.
True, this is astounishing.
I believe that the saying that Studio Profiles sound better than Merged Profiles is a myth that has build up in the last months.
We have never been approached by commercial vendors that there is a potential problem.
On the other hand we have asked a known vendor for Merged Profiles and the respective Studio Profile for a comparison.
I could not hear or feel a difference.
Great
thanks for your answer. We should spread the word. It's really a shame there aren't more merged profiles available.
Quite... Merged benefits everyone, since merged came out I haven't used anything else live. Best of both worlds. The origin audio packs are merged and they sound incredible, just massive either way.
...... all MB's packs redone in Direct format ..... I'd re-buy them all instantly ...... pity it aint gonna happen 
@ckemper On a side note, many commercial vendors won't sell Merged profiles, because they say Studio profiles sound better. Are they doing something wrong? (I haven't tried myself) I'd love to have your opinion, CK!
Thanks
Matt
I have also heard this and I don't agree, I have made quite a few merged profiles and they work just fine. I did a test recording back when the test version was released, I used a looper to play back a guitar riff and recorded the studio profile, the merged profile, the DA profile into the guitar cab and the actual amp into the guitar cab and they were all incredibly close, I could hear a very slight difference between them but I couldn't tell which was which. In other words, if I didn't do a test recording I couldn't tell that there was any difference at all.
I think there are two potential or common problems with making merged profiles, one is that there are a few steps involved and it is easy to make a mistake especially if you are making a bunch of profiles at the same time, I've had to redo a few profiles because I made mistakes. Second is that making DA profiles requires a good quality DI interface, if your interface isn't good quality then the DA profiles won't be accurate.
Quotethat making DA profiles requires a good quality DI interface, if your interface isn't good quality then the DA profiles won't be accurate.
I believe this might be one of the most common reasons actually.
I believe this might be one of the most common reasons actually.
I guess commercial vendors must have good di boxes
IIRC Andy, Mbritt, Armin and Guido have stated that studio profiles sounded better
I guess commercial vendors must have good di boxes
IIRC Andy, Mbritt, Armin and Guido have stated that studio profiles sounded better
I think that sometimes it's best to try something for yourself so that you can draw your own conclusions. If you don't have the means to do this then here is the test recording that I did whenever the test firmware was released. As stated, this was done with the early test version of the firmware, it was my first Direct Amp/Merged profile test run. Here is what you are hearing, not in the correct order, can you tell me which one is which?
Looper-->KPA (merged profile with cab disabled) -->QSC Power-->Cab-->Mic’s-->Mixer-->DAW
Looper-->KPA (full profile) -->DAW
Looper-->Amp-->Cab-->Mic’s-->Mixer-->DAW
Looper-->KPA (DI Profile) -->QSC Power-->Cab-->Mic’s-->Mixer-->DAW
Looper-->(new merged profile) -->DAW
">
External Content
soundcloud.com
Content embedded from external sources will not be displayed without your consent.
Through the activation of external content, you agree that personal data may be transferred to third party platforms. We have provided more information on this in our privacy policy.
https://<iframe width="100%" height="450" scrolling="no" frameborder="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/playe…alse&visual=true"></iframe>
Here is a WAV file if you want to hear the uncompressed version: https://www.dropbox.com/s/gf1l5jnz4r8x9ea/Test New KPA Firmware.wav?dl=0
I think that sometimes it's best to try something for yourself so that you can draw your own conclusions.
Hey Tim
You may have misunderstood my post. You're probably right about the importance of the DI box, what I meant is that if some vendors say studio and merged profiles sound different, the problem is probably somewhere else, as I imagine they have good DIs. So yes, maybe they're doing something wrong.
If CK says they sound the same, I believe him (and yes, like I said before, I haven't tried myself).
Still I think it would be interesting to have official information about the importance of a good DI; the recommended DIs in the sticky post of the "share tips and tricks" section are actually quite cheap (10 to 40 euros)
Thanks for your recording. I can hear slight differences between the loops, but wouldn't be able to say which one is which or which one sounds better.
Display More
Hey Tim
You may have misunderstood my post. You're probably right about the importance of the DI box, what I meant is that if some vendors say studio and merged profiles sound different, the problem is probably somewhere else, as I imagine they have good DIs. So yes, maybe they're doing something wrong.
If CK says they sound the same, I believe him (and yes, like I said before, I haven't tried myself).
Still I think it would be interesting to have official information about the importance of a good DI; the recommended DIs in the sticky post of the "share tips and tricks" section are actually quite cheap (10 to 40 euros)
Thanks for your recording. I can hear slight differences between the loops, but wouldn't be able to say which one is which or which one sounds better.
My apologies if I misunderstood your post 
Maybe I'm insane, but I found the perfect KPA-solution for playing with cabs:
Matrix Q12a AND Boogie Thiele-cab (1x12" very old EV-speaker). Powerwise it's more than crazy, 600 watts from the Powerhead going (Monitor out, Cab Sim off) into the Boogie-cab + 260 watts from the active Q12a (Cab Sim on).
This is the only way I like to use my KPA with cabs, playing the Q12a alone I'm missing the warmness and pure character of a guitar-cab. Using the Boogie-cab alone, I'm missing some of the nice trebles and "shimmer" a FRFR-system will offer. And no "harsh-trebly-jingle bells"-sound at all.... Ok, I have to carry two 1x12" cabs for this solution, but hey, I remember carrying two 4x12" Marshall-cabs and a 22 kg-head....
Maybe I'm insane, but I found the perfect KPA-solution for playing with cabs:
Matrix Q12a AND Boogie Thiele-cab (1x12" very old EV-speaker). Powerwise it's more than crazy, 600 watts from the Powerhead going (Monitor out, Cab Sim off) into the Boogie-cab + 260 watts from the active Q12a (Cab Sim on).
This is the only way I like to use my KPA with cabs, playing the Q12a alone I'm missing the warmness and pure character of a guitar-cab. Using the Boogie-cab alone, I'm missing some of the nice trebles and "shimmer" a FRFR-system will offer. And no "harsh-trebly-jingle bells"-sound at all.... Ok, I have to carry two 1x12" cabs for this solution, but hey, I remember carrying two 4x12" Marshall-cabs and a 22 kg-head....
Hi Günther,
think we have the same taste. I go from monitor out , cab sim off, to a 800 Watt mono bridged power e 800 t.amp and than into my 2x12 boogie cab with two celestion V30. At the left main out i have an rcf 10" sma frfr with 400 watts.
Best sound when both parts
are working. The warmer mids are comming out of the boogie cab, deep punch and crispy hights from the frfr. 
True, this is astounishing.
I believe that the saying that Studio Profiles sound better than Merged Profiles is a myth that has build up in the last months.
We have never been approached by commercial vendors that there is a potential problem.
On the other hand we have asked a known vendor for Merged Profiles and the respective Studio Profile for a comparison.
I could not hear or feel a difference.
Hi chief,
whats the magic behind this merged thing?
I have checked the merged pack, setup: Monitor out, cab sim off, linear power amp, Mesa Boogie 2x12 V30 celestion.
They all sound bad except some profiles from Björn Gitfriedson. I have no eq in my output section. No sound is useable right out of the box. If i load a profile from guido bungenstock or bert the comes up, but these4 ones are studio profiles. Up to this time i didn't use a di or merged profile because i haven't found no (no) good sounding one.
s there something wrong in my procedure? Do i switch on or off something magic? If not, i must say the studio profiles are sounding much better, so for me the merge function is pure nonsens (sorry for that). I hope i do something wrong and you can solve my problem with this merged thing. Also pure cab, no game chasnger for me. If i set it, every rig has it, because it's global. My hight gain rig loose the presence, my clean rigs are sounding fantastic with pure cab on. So i don't use it, because most of the time i use gain rigs. I hace requested to have pure cab storable for every rig in the cab section, that would be a game changer for me. But i think you already know this request also from many other users. Anyway, the biggest thing for me is to catch one good sound from a merged profile that i can play only with my mesa real cab.
At this time i play a combination: frfr rcf 10" sma at main out left with the cab sim and the mesa at monitor out cab sim of.
Nearly the same what günter haas is using. He uses also the perfect studion profiles from bert meulendijk and i must say with my set up this ones and guidos are outstanding, but they are all studio profiles.
So if i didn't find the "magic button" it's not astounishing for me that people have a problem with merged profiles.
cheers
Frank
and..........
I'm always using the studio-profiles, didn't get the merged profiles-discussion either. I'm using my KPA like that:
- studio-sessions and recording --> KPA stereo out into desk
- touring using UE 11-Pro inears --> KPA stereo out into desk
- shows not using inears --> KPA Powerhead speaker out into Boogie cab and 2nd out into Matrix Q12a
In all 3 situations the KPA sounds outstanding, I'm using the profiles of Bert, Guido and a nice collection of Armin, Andy, MBritt and MWagener.
True, this is astounishing.
I believe that the saying that Studio Profiles sound better than Merged Profiles is a myth that has build up in the last months.
We have never been approached by commercial vendors that there is a potential problem.
On the other hand we have asked a known vendor for Merged Profiles and the respective Studio Profile for a comparison.
I could not hear or feel a difference.
Display MoreHi chief,
whats the magic behind this merged thing?
I have checked the merged pack, setup: Monitor out, cab sim off, linear power amp, Mesa Boogie 2x12 V30 celestion.
They all sound bad except some profiles from Björn Gitfriedson. I have no eq in my output section. No sound is useable right out of the box. If i load a profile from guido bungenstock or bert the comes up, but these4 ones are studio profiles. Up to this time i didn't use a di or merged profile because i haven't found no (no) good sounding one.
s there something wrong in my procedure? Do i switch on or off something magic? If not, i must say the studio profiles are sounding much better, so for me the merge function is pure nonsens (sorry for that). I hope i do something wrong and you can solve my problem with this merged thing. Also pure cab, no game chasnger for me. If i set it, every rig has it, because it's global. My hight gain rig loose the presence, my clean rigs are sounding fantastic with pure cab on. So i don't use it, because most of the time i use gain rigs. I hace requested to have pure cab storable for every rig in the cab section, that would be a game changer for me. But i think you already know this request also from many other users. Anyway, the biggest thing for me is to catch one good sound from a merged profile that i can play only with my mesa real cab.
At this time i play a combination: frfr rcf 10" sma at main out left with the cab sim and the mesa at monitor out cab sim of.
Nearly the same what günter haas is using. He uses also the perfect studion profiles from bert meulendijk and i must say with my set up this ones and guidos are outstanding, but they are all studio profiles.
So if i didn't find the "magic button" it's not astounishing for me that people have a problem with merged profiles.
Display MoreHi chief,
whats the magic behind this merged thing?
I have checked the merged pack, setup: Monitor out, cab sim off, linear power amp, Mesa Boogie 2x12 V30 celestion.
They all sound bad except some profiles from Björn Gitfriedson. I have no eq in my output section. No sound is useable right out of the box. If i load a profile from guido bungenstock or bert the comes up, but these4 ones are studio profiles. Up to this time i didn't use a di or merged profile because i haven't found no (no) good sounding one.
s there something wrong in my procedure? Do i switch on or off something magic? If not, i must say the studio profiles are sounding much better, so for me the merge function is pure nonsens (sorry for that). I hope i do something wrong and you can solve my problem with this merged thing. Also pure cab, no game chasnger for me. If i set it, every rig has it, because it's global. My hight gain rig loose the presence, my clean rigs are sounding fantastic with pure cab on. So i don't use it, because most of the time i use gain rigs. I hace requested to have pure cab storable for every rig in the cab section, that would be a game changer for me. But i think you already know this request also from many other users. Anyway, the biggest thing for me is to catch one good sound from a merged profile that i can play only with my mesa real cab.
At this time i play a combination: frfr rcf 10" sma at main out left with the cab sim and the mesa at monitor out cab sim of.
Nearly the same what günter haas is using. He uses also the perfect studion profiles from bert meulendijk and i must say with my set up this ones and guidos are outstanding, but they are all studio profiles.
So if i didn't find the "magic button" it's not astounishing for me that people have a problem with merged profiles.
cheers
Frank
and..........
Many thx for the quick response
Merry Christmas, Eltzejupp.
We have some more Christmas days here in Ruhr Area :), so please excuse my late answer.
The Direct Profile and Merged Profile idea was driven by the user community, that asked for a better separation between amps and cabinets. This allows for swapping cabinets and run into a real guitar cabinet in an authentic way.
If you (and Guenther) like the sound of regular studio profiles with cabinet switched off better, it's a victory for our good old CabDriver algorithm, that performs an "artificial" separation of amp and cabs. It's a loss for those who took the efford to create authentic direct profiles.
Probably your guitar speaker deserves some equalization by the monitor EQ to sound right for you.
However, this is not the reason people state having a problem with merged profiles. They say, that the Merged Profile with active (!) cabinet sounds different than the respective Studio Profile.
Display MoreMerry Christmas, Eltzejupp.
We have some more Christmas days here in Ruhr Area :), so please excuse my late answer.
The Direct Profile and Merged Profile idea was driven by the user community, that asked for a better separation between amps and cabinets. This allows for swapping cabinets and run into a real guitar cabinet in an authentic way.
If you (and Guenther) like the sound of regular studio profiles with cabinet switched off better, it's a victory for our good old CabDriver algorithm, that performs an "artificial" separation of amp and cabs. It's a loss for those who took the efford to create authentic direct profiles.
Probably your guitar speaker deserves some equalization by the monitor EQ to sound right for you.
However, this is not the reason people state having a problem with merged profiles. They say, that the Merged Profile with active (!) cabinet sounds different than the respective Studio Profile.
Hi Chief,
many thx for the response. If I understand you right, they compare appels with pears, because behind a studio profile and a merged profile is a different process. Imo they can't sound identical.
Anyway, i am happy that my kpa seems to be ok and there is no magic button that i miss.
BTW: Any chance to get pure cab in the cab section and storeable per rig?
A happy and succesful new year to you and your great support and service team
Cheers
Frank
Display MoreMerry Christmas, Eltzejupp.
We have some more Christmas days here in Ruhr Area :), so please excuse my late answer.
The Direct Profile and Merged Profile idea was driven by the user community, that asked for a better separation between amps and cabinets. This allows for swapping cabinets and run into a real guitar cabinet in an authentic way.
If you (and Guenther) like the sound of regular studio profiles with cabinet switched off better, it's a victory for our good old CabDriver algorithm, that performs an "artificial" separation of amp and cabs. It's a loss for those who took the efford to create authentic direct profiles.
Probably your guitar speaker deserves some equalization by the monitor EQ to sound right for you.
However, this is not the reason people state having a problem with merged profiles. They say, that the Merged Profile with active (!) cabinet sounds different than the respective Studio Profile.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone.
@ckemper Has anyone ever proven that a Merged Profile sounds different than the respective Studio Profile or are people just saying that? In my experience it works perfectly, the only time I have had problems it was due to user error. I really hope that you continue to support this feature, I think it would be helpful if you could only merge a cabinet once and if all Merged Cabs and Merged Profiles had a tag automatically burnt into them during the merging process so you could easily tell which are merged cabs and profiles.
QuoteI think it would be helpful if you could only merge a cabinet once and if all Merged Cabs and Merged Profiles had a tag automatically burnt into them during the merging process so you could easily tell which are merged cabs and profiles.
well, if I am getting you right i hope this is not going to happen... I want to be free to mix any cab with whichever rig
If I understand you right, they compare appels with pears, because behind a studio profile and a merged profile is a different process. Imo they can't sound identical.
Hey Eltzejupp
No, I think you misunderstood something; a merged and studio profile are supposed to sound exactly the same through studio monitors
++
