Running the kemper into a DAW

    Hello everyone, I am a new user to the KPA and was hoping I could get a question answered. Firstly I'm currently running my kemper into a cutom 2X12 cab - it sounds great and I switch the cab sim off or on depending on the profile and guitar I'm using. My primary use of the kemper has been for just playing at home, however I would like to get the signal into my DAW to work on some casual recording projects with friends.


    So now to my question - I have been considering running the kemper out into a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 (either one or both inputs at once) then running that via usb into my computer, using my KRK Rokit 8s as the monitors. Do you guys think this would be a good setup for the kemper? I also sometimes would benefit from playing into headphones but I have heard the direct headphone jack on the kemper leaves something to be desired so I was thinking I could A - buy a pair of Audio-Technica ATH-M50x headphones and plug them directly into the 2i2's headphone jack or B - rout the sound to my wireless usb headphones through my computer


    Thank you in advance for your help, don't hold back if you have any suggestions other than what i've said I have had plenty of time in studios on both sides but I am not an expert.

    Welcome Zach.
    Your planned setup with the Scarlett and the Rokits will be fine.
    Also I don't know where you got that from that the Kemper's headphone out leaves something to be desired.
    It's awesome. Plugging in an ATH-50x would be an excellent choice (I got one, too).

    The headphone out on the Kemper is amazing, you can adjust the headphone space too, which adds the echo or reflection of the room, that gets lost in headphones. This is covered on page 45 of the Reference manual.


    What you probably heard was the headphone volume was lacking on the Focusrite 2i2 and 4i4, as they're both powered by USB. The Focusrite 6i6 has two, powered headphone outs, that can be independently mixed. Go for the 6i6 if you can.

    Kemper Powerhead w/remote & Kabinet
    Focusrite 18i8 (2nd Gen) - Windows 10 - Ableton Live - Yamaha HS-8's - DT770 80 ohms

    Like 1

    Thanks for the response guys, I am not sure where I had gotten the impression the headphone output wasn't up to par, maybe from a review - I currently don't have headphones with a 1/4 jack so I'll need to get some but maybe for now I'll skip the 2i2 - what kind of headphones are you guys using?

    Nevermind the 1/4", a simple 1€ adapter will do the job (I assume your HPs have got a 1/8" plug?) :)


    If you have to buy new HPs, I'd suggest a pair with an impedance of at least 300 ohm for the utmost linearity.
    Always try them in person tho, your head's shape will definitely affect the sound so they have to fit you :)


    HTH

    Quote from viabcroce

    Nevermind the 1/4", a simple 1€ adapter will do the job (I assume your HPs have got a 1/8" plug?) :)


    If you have to buy new HPs, I'd suggest a pair with an impedance of at least 300 ohm for the utmost linearity.
    Always try them in person tho, your head's shape will definitely affect the sound so they have to fit you :)


    HTH


    Conversely, not all interfaces will have juice enough to properly drive such a pair :) I'm not sure your interface has juice enough. Maybe investigate this a bit :)

    Quote from Zach

    what kind of headphones are you guys using?


    At this point I usually go off on a rant, but I'll spare you the pain and just say I chose mine from many pairs I was able to take-home audition 15 or so years ago. I was going for clarity, flat response, naturalness, power sans distortion, tonnes of headroom and robustness. Cue drum roll...


    Sennheiser HD 25-1


    I see there's a v2 available now (bought mine 15 years ago). Don't know what's changed, but performance is flawless AFAIC, so I'm a very happy Kemper... I mean, camper.


    EDIT: 70Ω so practically every headphone amp in the world can drive 'em... beyond the threshold of pain.


    IMHO, they're about as "linear" as it gets; I've not experienced shortcomings due to the low impedance. I expect that Sennheiser knew what it was doing when it designed these things.

    Quote from Michael_dk

    Conversely, not all interfaces will have juice enough to properly drive such a pair I'm not sure your interface has juice enough. Maybe investigate this a bit


    I was thinking specifically of the Kemper's HPs output, the optimal minimum impedance depends on the output's one.


    OTOH, at an equal HPs impedance and output nominal tension, the maximum SPL attainable depends on the HPs' sensitivity: a good sensitivity can compensate for a lack in nominal tension from the output.


    It seems to me ("by ears") that the Profiler's output is quite robust; unfortunately, Kemper doesn't declare this datum in their technical sheets.

    Thanks again for all your responses, I've been doing a lot of research but I'm still not 100% sure how high of impedance I need to get the most accurate sound from the Kemper. It seems like if I want impedance of over 300 ohms I have maybe 5 or 6 choices, but why are there so few choices? Ideally I'd like to be able to use the headphones elsewhere as well, but the Kemper is the main focus.


    Can I get away with <100 ohms? what will I be missing out on if not? From what I can tell the impedance's main benefit is being able to crank the volume up, however if I wanted to do that I'd just run it into my cab.

    Quote from Zach

    Can I get away with <100 ohms? what will I be missing out on if not? From what I can tell the impedance's main benefit is being able to crank the volume up, however if I wanted to do that I'd just run it into my cab.


    The rationale behind this is that, when the HPs' impedance is at least 10 x the output impedance, you get more linearity other elements being the same.
    Of course you can be as or more satisfied with any kind of HPs, we know that "it sounds great" means absolutely nothing because the sound is subjective and what we hear is personal. So the only thing we can debate are technical and objective facts :)
    Generally speaking, if you try a pair of HPs with your Profiler and you like them, go for it!


    Here's an article I wrote sometime ago if you want to deepen the subject. HTH :)

    so i hooked my little bose headphones into the kemper last night via a converter and wow - they do not handle the distortion well. They have a 36ohm impedance and every single distortion tone basically sounded exactly the same. I guess this is where a headphone with a higher impedance would help?

    Not really, there's not such a strong relationship. Could it be you were clipping your HPs?
    I don't know what you heard exactly of course and don't know those HPs, but the difference of linearity you can experience with an impedance of say 350 ohm or greater (in this case) can't take you from that mess to the ideal listening.
    I'd rather think of a matter of overall quality.
    Also, have you checked that Cabinet is on? If you are used to play on a guitar cab you might have left it off? Just something to check :)


    HTH

    Yes, i had the cab sim on for sure, i didn't even think to try it off. With the bose HPs it was like after a certain distortion level it lost all clarity and just sounded like a buzz saw, I think it would have been hard to pick out say the german grease distortion from the zo-de-yak cranked distortion - in the cab they are distinctly different.

    Mhhh... this enforces the possibility that you were just clipping the HPs... Could you try at a much lower listening level?
    Unless, of course, either HPs or the HPs Output are broken... :o

    Quote from Zach

    Can I get away with <100 ohms?


    Yes. I use AKG K271MkII which are 55ohms and come with 1/8 jacks and a 1/4 converter. I bought them to use with my iPad and laptop as well as the kemper. They work well in all those situations.


    I'm sure viabcroce is right about the higher impedence for use just with the Kemper. I haven't had the opportunity to try that out (yet ;)).