Running the kemper into a DAW

    Quote from viabcroce

    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


    well, i've used the bose headphones with regular music and they sound great, I tried at levels barely able to hear to decently loud and the tonality was the same on the distortion tones. the clean tones were decent, passable at least - i could tell the difference between a 2 rock and a reinheart at least but I don't think they sounded as good as they do through the cab

    Quote from Bagatell

    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 ;)).


    hmm maybe it is just because my bose headphones aren't as good of a quality as the AKGs you're using? I'm not sure how much they were new but I want to say around $100. The ear cups are also pretty damn small for over the ear, maybe the driver has something to do with the muddy indistinct distortion tones? From my understanding the Kemper should sound even better (or at least more true to the profile) through headphones compared to my cab, but I think anyone could tell it sounded distinctly worse with the bose headphones.


    I suppose it's also possible that the bose headphones are coloring the sound since they're not made to be reference or studio headphones. It is sort of similar to the coloration I get from my cab with the cab sim turned off (though to a much subtler extent)

    Quote from Zach

    The ear cups are also pretty damn small for over the ear, maybe the driver has something to do with the muddy indistinct distortion tones?


    Again, just indirectly. The kind of wearing style, so to speak, is always secondary Vs. the design, the actual quality and engineering.
    You might for example get ultra-bass frequencies down to almost the continuous (0 Hz) from in-ears, and have a boomy and not-so deep response from a circum-aural fashion. It's a myth that big HPs go lower than the smallest ones.


    What about visiting a serious audio store with your Profiler? You might record something in the Looper, so you wouldn't even need your guitar :)

    Quote from viabcroce

    Again, just indirectly. The kind of wearing style, so to speak, is always secondary Vs. the design, the actual quality and engineering.
    You might for example get ultra-bass frequencies down to almost the continuous (0 Hz) from in-ears, and have a boomy and not-so deep response from a circum-aural fashion. It's a myth that big HPs go lower than the smallest ones.


    What about visiting a serious audio store with your Profiler? You might record something in the Looper, so you wouldn't even need your guitar :)


    Ah ok I didn't know that thanks. If only that were an option, unfortunately I live in a small town and the nicest headphones anyone around has are beats :|

    Quote from AlexanderDoyle

    My Sennheiser HD650's work fantastic for late night practice and tweaking.


    Yep. I have a pair of HD650's and they are amazing. Love to mix with them, watch movies, and use them directly out from Kemper. Wasn't sure that spending that much on a set of headphones was a wise investment, but now I'm sorry I didnt get them earlier. :) Worth every penny IMO.


    Also have a pair of AKG240 MK2's that sound good and wont flatten the bank account.


    Never had any issues with the KPA not being able to drive ANY pair of headphones. Even had both above sets being driven at once with a cheap and dirty "Y" splitter cable directly out of the Kempers headphone jack. It had plenty of power to drive both. Not the best solution obviously, but it got the job done in that session with the things I had on hand.

    Quote from greenblob

    Yep. I have a pair of HD650's and they are amazing. Love to mix with them, watch movies, and use them directly out from Kemper. Wasn't sure that spending that much on a set of headphones was a wise investment, but now I'm sorry I didnt get them earlier. :) Worth every penny IMO.


    Also have a pair of AKG240 MK2's that sound good and wont flatten the bank account.


    Never had any issues with the KPA not being able to drive ANY pair of headphones. Even had both above sets being driven at once with a cheap and dirty "Y" splitter cable directly out of the Kempers headphone jack. It had plenty of power to drive both. Not the best solution obviously, but it got the job done in that session with the things I had on hand.


    Nice I had been looking at the HD650's - everyone seems to have great things to say about them. I had been looking at the Beyerdynamic DT 1770 Pro's because I've got some more tax money to blow and I'll be using them daily so the price isn't a huge issue, though to be honest 600 and tax was a little over what I was hoping to spend

    Quote from Bagatell

    Yes. I use AKG K271MkII which are 55ohms and come with 1/8 jacks and a 1/4 converter.


    Very similar here Bagatell. 70Ω with gold 1/8 jack and screw-on 1/4 converter.


    As I said earlier, Zach, my HD 25-1 is 70Ω, and in 15 years I've not been able to find an HP amp that couldn't drive them perfectly; of course, sometimes you have to back off to, say, 3-5 out of 10. From memory I'd say I ran them at 70% from the Kemper.

    thanks for all the input guys, i've not had to put this much research into a pair of headphones before and this style of "rig" is pretty foreign to me coming from I guess what you would call the standard guitar setup. To be honest i'm still not completely sure which headphones would be the most ideal for the kemper, the hd650s seem like a safe bet, however on the other hand it doesn't seem like they may have an advantage over another HP of similar build quality.

    Quote from Zach

    the hd650s seem like a safe bet, however on the other hand it doesn't seem like they may have an advantage over another HP of similar build quality.


    If you're looking at the $500 to $800 range for a set of "audio monitor" quality phones, there is a daunting amount of options, and none of them will sound bad. Where the HD650's excel for me though is:
    -Very non fatiguing. The sound has a really nice "air" to it while still being punchy if thats what the music calls for
    -Super comfortable. I often find myself wearing them for several hours of a 10 hr studio day and these are the only phones I havn't felt the need to fidget and constantly re-position them after a few hours wear.
    - I now prefer to mix with the HD650's as my primary reference, using my monitor speakers as a secondary test. The phones are that honest tone wise.


    The negatives, hmm.. they have a bit of an ugly finish on them.. lol.. tiny little blue speckles that wouldnt be my first aesthetic choice, but thats about my only complaint.

    finally decided on the Beyerdynamic DT 880 Pro Reference Studio Headphones - Semi-open, once I get them I'll let you guys know how they do with the kemper in case anyone is interested


    thanks again everyone for your help, when my budget allows (and i finish paying of the kemper :whistling: ) i'll look to upgrade to a better pair if needed

    Quote from Zach

    finally decided on the Beyerdynamic DT 880 Pro Reference Studio Headphones - Semi-open, once I get them I'll let you guys know how they do with the kemper in case anyone is interested


    thanks again everyone for your help, when my budget allows (and i finish paying of the kemper :whistling: ) i'll look to upgrade to a better pair if needed

    DT 880 Pro are my reference headphones. They are truly great, analytic, but not boring.

    not sure if anyone is following up but i've had the headphones for 2 days worth of playing and here are my conclusions


    the first thing i've noticed is that all the rigs sounds distinctly different, and just damn good. the biggest area I can tell this is the clean tones, it's amazing the differences in each one.


    second thing is the volume levels. running into my cab cracking past 1 on the master volume was practically loud enough to shatter my windows, with the headphones i can turn up to 8 before it gets really loud


    all in all the headphones are very comfortable and sound great through the kemper especially (though I am still breaking them in) the only real complaint I have is that the size isn't adjustable and after 3 or 4 hours of use they will start to make my ear lobe sore

    Excellent, Zach. That's great man.


    If it helps any, my ears get sore in half an hour but I don't care really. I gave up years ago trying to solve this, although I'm considering taping bent coat hanger wire to it to lessen the inward pressure. That should work, but not after I've spent years buying and fitting various alternative ear pads for no discernible effect... and a lot of money.

    haha thanks man. i wore them for about 10hrs this weekend and had no discomfort so we are all good, through the cab sounds good but damn this is another level through the headphones. thanks again for all your help guys i really appreciate it

    Quote from Ingolf

    DT 880 Pro are my reference headphones. They are truly great, analytic, but not boring.


    Hi Ingolf, I am thinking about a new pair of cans. I own a AthM50 and AthM40x but I find them too aggressive for KPA tones. How are the DT880 compared to the Athm50 ? My reference cans are AthM40fs ( not M40x !) which are supposed to be very flat but I dunno in fact if they are so much cause everything different I plug in the KPA sounds very aggressive with my rigs.

    Quote from djemass


    Hi Ingolf, I am thinking about a new pair of cans. I own a AthM50 and AthM40x but I find them too aggressive for KPA tones. How are the DT880 compared to the Athm50 ? My reference cans are AthM40fs ( not M40x !) which are supposed to be very flat but I dunno in fact if they are so much cause everything different I plug in the KPA sounds very aggressive with my rigs.


    Bonsoir Gerald!


    I own the DT 880 Pro as well as the ATH-M50X. THe DT 880- Pro is definitely more neutral sounding, a bit analytical, not cold or sterile, where the ATH-M50X is a little bit more mid- pronounced and therefore driving, compelling, forcing.
    A serious German tester described the DT 880- pro as a reference when doing surgical audio work without getting tired, and his words for the ATH-M50X was a 'perfect symbiosis of seriousness/clarity with a little bit of Rock'n'roll. I think this sums it up well.