Amazing tone with headphones, poor with my studio monitors....Help!

  • As a 3-day old KPA owner. My challenge has been getting the headphones to be as good as through my monitors. I haven't really played with the space setting though. Beyerdynamic dt770s have sounded the best for me over my Audiotechnica and cheap KRKs.

  • I found this video on youtube quite interesting -

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    I'm in a similar situation and love the headphone sound, but cannot play loud through speakers. Haven't had a chance to try any of the tips in the video but I wonder if it would be possible to use some of the techniques to EQ profiles that have been set up to sound good at high volume to sound ok/good at bedroom volume.

  • personally, I woudn't recommend piling on massive amounts of EQ like it is done in the video.
    boosting a guitar signal @31Hz and @62Hz by15dB and 10dB respectively is a more than a bit alarming to me tbh. :huh:


    anyway,
    what I would do when playing over headphones is:

    • activate the Space feature, if it isn't on yet. 3-4-ish is a nice area to start
    • activate Pure Cabinet to get rid of any unpleasant close mic'ing effects/artifacts that become more pronounced when using headphones. Again, 3-4-ish seems to be a common choice - start there.

    hth

  • Some of profiles have been created at very high level, because a tube amp sounds good at high level.

    because an amp was profiled while being 'wide open', doesn't mean that it needs to be listened to at high levels at all.
    when the Profile was made, the person profiling most likely used 'normal' listening levels on their studio monitors.

  • Try adjusting the position of your monitors. Could be that the room is interfering with their reproduction of tones.


    I just moved mine away from the walls and while it seemed some punch was lost, some annoying room nodes and muddiness went away.

    Great advice.

  • @schwarzbild Just don't expect a 5.25" monitor at "moderate volume" to be as pleasing and convincing as a good set of headphones at volume. ;)
    Regarding the Neumann KH 120 ... I assume you're not in a studio, you're not mixing music, you're not analytically listening. You just want to have fun with great tone. These speakers are the wrong choice, seriously. They are made for a different purpose. You want to move a bit more air, get a bit more punch out of speakers. Even if you can't play loud, still you want to have a better feeling of a room filled with music. You want to feel right in the middle of it, become part of the music around you. This requires a bit more air moved and certainly a bit more low end than these tiny nearfield monitors can deliver. Even less at relatively low volumes.
    Even the much cheaper Yamaha HS-8 will make you more happy than the Neumanns. And then there's plenty of choice in the PA monitor market like the frequently praised Yamaha DXR10. Yes, they do need to run a bit louder to come alive. Yes, they are not studio monitors. But their big benefit is the added punch and the amazing low end attack due to their harder cone surround. This reduces the reproduction of fine details in the sound, compared to studio monitors. But it adds truckloads of pleasure for the guitar player.


    Cheers
    Martin

  • My problem has always been getting the headphones to sound good, lol. I have six different sets and I hate all of them, lol. I could have have purchased a second Kemper instead of these.

  • I have an old pair of K 240DF headphones. These were considered studio quality phones, made by AKG.
    The sound I get thru these phones is my preferred Kemper sound. Almost any well made profile sounds " right" thru these phones.
    It seems though that we all perceive sounds a bit different, from each other....I think those w studio experience are used to hearing themselves thru studio monitors , but others find them thin and maybe harsh
    I have a set of JBL monitors that are excellent for mixing or listening to music, but I don't like the sound when
    using them as guitar speakers with my Kemper.
    I also have a Yamaha DXR 10 , that is great for vocal monitoring and many guys here swear by them to
    use w their Kemper, but personally I just don't like the sound of a horn or tweeter in a guitar cabinet. I wish
    I could dial in my sounds using the DXR 10 but so far it hasn't happened. Maybe I'm not playing loud enough.
    For live playing I use a small open back cabinet with a single 12" Celestion V Type speaker. I mostly prefer
    combo amps , so with combo amp profiles it works well. Some exceptions are a few Friedman D.S. profiles
    and other "Direct" profiles.
    I play mostly bluesy sounds, Fender tweeds are my go to.

  • Hello,


    I changed my connections whish were :


    Kemper SPDIF out => soundcard SPDIF in (E-MU 0404)
    soundcard SPDIF out (E-MU 0404) => KRK ergo SPDIF in (control knob)
    KRK Ergo analog output => 2 KRK VXT8 ( monitoring speakers)


    The sound was a little flat, with little consistency.


    After i changed my connections as following :


    Kemper SPDIF out => KRK ergo SPDIF in (control knob)
    KRK Ergo analog output => 2 KRK VXT8 (monitoring speakers)


    And, now, it's sounds very good.


    So, a good sound through studio monitors is possible.


    Maybe, my sound card is not good enough or the multiple connections makes the sound bad.

  • Great news, Vince! Well done, mate.

    boosting a guitar signal @31Hz and @62Hz by15dB and 10dB respectively is a more than a bit alarming to me tbh.

    Insane, IMHO. Try as I might, I can't imagine a scenario where this would be practical.

  • Have you tried taking the Ergo out of the equation and just plugging directly to your VXT8s?

  • had the same problem, but finally solved. Don´t ask me why, but go to system / pedal links / volume pedal to the max = similar sound through monitors like headphones ... I don´t have a pedal connected but ... who cares :)