I also liked what I heard, actually.
Try lowering the definition in the amp section to see if that brings you closer, and tell us about your experience with this.
Will try that tomorrow. Taking a break for the night. Maybe this is why everything I see on YouTube sounds so good to me and then bad in person. I like how these sound in the video as well. Argh!
I have the same guitar and also 4 or 5 of Guido's packs (the Bogner XTC getting the most love). I play at home through a Matrix NL12, which isn't FRFR like the Yamaha, but has an extended range, which seems to suit most "good" profiles. Rest assured, it sounds awesome, if a little nasally on the bridge pickup, but that's more to do with how the pickup is voiced. With my Music Man Luke II, it sounds exactly like Guido's clips.
I'm not sure what's gone wrong for you, but I can only assume it's something in the monitoring chain (or the monitor itself).
One thing that I will add, auditioning profile after profile is never rewarding for me. Each one's sonic difference sounds odd to my ear, like a weird comb filter/fakeness that I dislike. Even now, if I go back to one of my favourite profiles after something else (but similar) it happens. After a few moments, I'm back into it again.
I also never really settled on anything until I tried some stuff from RM. It's much easier to try stuff out and move on than with commercial profiles. I found myself coming back to a certain style of amp, over and over again. 80% of my favourited profiles are now of the same amp manufacturer's products. Not naming names, but this make of amp hasn't been on my shopping list (although I owned one years ago and loved it) as my heart has always pulled me towards Mesas, Friedmans or high gain boutique type amps. None of which I terribly enjoyed on the Kemper for long.
I have the same guitar and also 4 or 5 of Guido's packs (the Bogner XTC getting the most love). I play at home through a Matrix NL12, which isn't FRFR like the Yamaha, but has an extended range, which seems to suit most "good" profiles. Rest assured, it sounds awesome, if a little nasally on the bridge pickup, but that's more to do with how the pickup is voiced. With my Music Man Luke II, it sounds exactly like Guido's clips.
I'm not sure what's gone wrong for you, but I can only assume it's something in the monitoring chain (or the monitor itself).
Im going to try another guitar and see if that helps.
One thing that I will add, auditioning profile after profile is never rewarding for me. Each one's sonic difference sounds odd to my ear, like a weird comb filter/fakeness that I dislike. Even now, if I go back to one of my favourite profiles after something else (but similar) it happens. After a few moments, I'm back into it again.
I also never really settled on anything until I tried some stuff from RM. It's much easier to try stuff out and move on than with commercial profiles. I found myself coming back to a certain style of amp, over and over again. 80% of my favourited profiles are now of the same amp manufacturer's products. Not naming names, but this make of amp hasn't been on my shopping list (although I owned one years ago and loved it) as my heart has always pulled me towards Mesas, Friedmans or high gain boutique type amps. None of which I terribly enjoyed on the Kemper for long.
i know now what you mean. It's like ear fatigue. At some point, you go through so many profiles you can't tell what actually sounds good anymore.
Do not underestimate the system reset option. I had various sound questions that were simply discounted as it doesn't sound different. I eventually did a system reset and there was a noticeable difference. It might not be what you need, but if it turns out to be a fix it's rather quick and easy.
I think your fear of tweaking is holding you back. Nearly all profiles need to be adjusted to suit your specific guitar and choice of monitor. Don't be shy...just pick 3 parameters and see what they do!
I would suggest:
Definition
Amp Compression
Clarity
All in the 'Amp' section.
just start turning knobs. You don't need to understand every parameter to get an idea of how they will affect the sound.
Also, if a profile seems too saturated and gained up, just turn down the Gain a bit!
Also, I assume you have checked to not clip the i put and the output, that cab profile is always active, and that Distorted Sens is set to 0?
Is the EQ on Monitor Out flat?
How is it through headphones?
Why Distorted Sense at zero out of curiosity?
If he is ok with the cleans but perceives an excess of distortion it is worth checking it. 0 is its default value.
Why Distorted Sense at zero out of curiosity?
Distortion Sense at "0" is the setting that Kemper suggests, and that makes it most likely to be the Distortion Sense setting that Commercial Profilers use when they create their profiles. If you want to hear the rigs sound similar to how they were heard by the person who made them (assuming you are using a simialr guitar), having your Distortion Sense set to "0" will give you that result.
If you have a guitar with hotter than vintage/mainstream pickups, you may want it to be set lower when you use that guitar. (Or, you can lower the Gain on all the rigs that have too much gain, one at a time)
Also double check that the Monitor Cab is ON (see page 3/6 in the Output menu) if you monitor through FRFR speakers (like the DXR) or in-ears.
Keep trying to get used to listen to the "recorded" (mic'ed cab) guitar sound instead of the guitar cab.
I tell you directly, the Profiler is the best in town when it comes to this break-up and control feel in your fingers. With a decent mid-gain profile you can go from clean to some decent distortion just with your fingers. Those who say that the Kemper is good only for cleans or high-gain are doing something wrong for sure!
Do not underestimate the system reset option. I had various sound questions that were simply discounted as it doesn't sound different. I eventually did a system reset and there was a noticeable difference. It might not be what you need, but if it turns out to be a fix it's rather quick and easy.
I second that. At one point I had only crappy sounding profiles (all of the ones I tested). After factory reset, everything was normal (=excellent).
the ear fatigue is not to be underestimated. everytime i'm browsing through all the profiles and find a good one, if the next one has more treble or clarity and you switch back - the first one sucks. but i guess that's not your problem.
i would try to tweak the sounds and check all your settings (output, eq) - if everything sounds bad or even the same, i think there should be a stupid mistake (no offense) maybe anything set up wrong.
i'm sorry if i missed that, but do you experience the same with headphones or a cab or in a recording situation?
maybe it's the cab simulation (active?)
i hope you'll get it right!
the kemper doesn't imitade the sound of an amp, but the sound of an amp into a mixing table.... maybe is that your trouble.
I understand every word you are writting ! For allmost a year I considered myself a great incompetent
because the same issue you are speaking about! I tried all the things the other guys were suggesting
and never reached a total satisfaction.I thought it was me and my ears!One day my pal who lives in another country payed me a visit and I prowdly show him my Kemper.After half an hour of demo he commented-all the profiles sound the same! It was not my ear! So I begun to chase for some resolution and in the end I resolved it!!!!!! The solution came from the man I appreciate most for his professionalism and fantastic ears M.Waggener.In his pack is hidden a gemstone I never saw first.All the profiles have the correspondent mp3 recorded (that was all I needed a point zero recorded profile).I used those profiles for tweak and I reached very close results.Conclusions :every guitar I have, had to be set individually with distorted sens (all are different from 0) ,different definition ,ev.eqd and DX10 setup.Now I have everything on a piece of paper and I am happy with it.Works great!
since it's still the same discussion, I merged the threads
@sambrox have you found any profiles that you think the Guthrie model sounds really good with?
I think it sounds pretty good with Guido's XTC Green profiles, MBritt's Vintage pack, but especially most of TAF's Pack 10 and pretty much ALL of Pack 9, but I'm no metal player. Blues and vintage rock is my thing really. I've found the GG to have a very distinct voicing (no surprise there though, as it was tailor-made for the man). I think you have to roll with it.
I can't really help but I use a Suhr GG and and DXR10 and it sounds good without any real changes on Guido's profiles. Also it sounds great on the Ac20 profile (the famous one on RE) and I can just turn the gain up or down on that to around 5 with it still sounding great. But again, this is more blues rock stuff not metal.
