Reamping levels

Quote from Laimon

Simple conceptual question for the reamping gurus around here.
So, today I was experimenting with reamping using the SPDIF in/outs, and I was getting very good results, actually! However, I was mostly guessing the levels: on the way from the KPA to my PC, I had to lower the output by at least some 10 db to avoid clipping, and similarly on the way from my DAW back to the KPA, to avoid running the input too hot.
The strange thing was that instead of compensating what I had removed in input, I had to turn it down also from the DAW.
Is there a way to make sure 100% that you're sending the dry signal back to the KPA at the same level as you recorded it before?

Hi Laimon,

this indicates that Clean Sense on your Profiler is not set optimally. From the manual:

DI output leveling

To adjust the DI output level enter the Input menu and select the “Clean Sens” parameter. You might have used this
control already, as it is used to adapt the individual level of your guitar to the overall volume level of the Rigs and
Profiles as described in The Basic Manual. Adjust the “Clean Sens” parameter to a level where clean sounds have
the same perceived loudness as distorted sounds; in doing so, you have perfectly adjusted the dynamics of your
instrument to the digital headroom of the Profiler. The output with “Git Studio” is perfectly leveled at the same time.

While the leveling of the amp is a convenient feature, setting the correct level when recording the DI signal is
absolutely critical, as it helps to keep the noise floor down. When you reamp this signal later with a high gain setting,
the noise floor of the recording will be significantly amplified. The Input LED gives you a further hint for a correct
leveling: the LED should flash yellow, when you hit the strings hard, but avoid deep orange or red color.

Now, record the pure guitar. You can still monitor the processed (amped) guitar sound via the main outputs, that are
unaffected by a possible latency of your recording device (digital audio workstation).

reamping input leveling

For an optimum signal-to-noise ratio, levelling the reamping input is just as critical as leveling the pure instrument
output. The leveling is done by the output level of the recording device; it cannot be adjusted in the Profiler. In
particular, the S/PDIF signal can only be adjusted in the sending device, by definition.

Play your guitar through the armed track, or play back a previously recorded track. Watch the Input LED while you
adjust the output volume on the recording device. The LED should turn to yellow on hard string strokes, but not
more. This is all you need to do, so long as the Rig you are reamping has no distorting amp or effect in the signal
flow.

If you reamp a distorting Rig, you might notice that the amount of distortion still differs from the original, despite
following the above procedure. This is a natural consequence of the correct leveling of input and output: the leveling
is made to achieve an optimum signal-to-noise ratio, but does not deal with the preservation of the original
instrument level. This is what the parameter “Reamp Sens” is for; simply dial the desired amount of distortion with “
Reamp Sens” - then you are set!

For correct leveling and reproduction of a distorted Rig with a reamped instrument, two level settings must be
performed: the absolute reamp level at the recording device and the amount of distortion by “Reamp Sens”. For
clean sounding Rigs, only the absolute reamp level is necessary.

Alternative Procedure for Input Levelling

The original "Clean Sens" levelling from step two, and the final levelling of "Reamp Sens" have a kind of opposite
relationship that can be used for easier and safer levelling, under two conditions:

The Rig in question is a distorting one.

You have memorized the original “Clean Sens” setting used to record the pure instrument

First, set "Reamp Sens" to the opposite value of the original "Clean Sens" setting (e.g. 2.0 dB, when “Clean Sens”
was -2.0 dB). Now, level the desired amount of distortion by adjusting the output volume on the recording device.
Once this is done, you will have found the correct input level by default. There is no need to watch the input LED with
this procedure.

Quote from Laimon

Hi @HELL-G, thanks for the help!
I did not tweak with the Reamp Sens but as I understand its function it will be helpful to level the gain level of the guitar once the Clean Sens is set to the optimal level (hitting orange with heavy strokes).
Anyhow, this seems to answer indirectly my question: there is no way to send the signal at unity gain and get it back at the same level. It might not explain why, but it seems to imply it by the lack of reference to one such method.

You can get it exactly right (equal levels) using spdif by the above outlined method with clean sens and reamp sens.

If you have to lower volume by 10dB to avoid clipping over spdif, something is wrong. When and where did you experience the clipping?

Do you see meters clip while playing - and if so, where (in the DAW)?

Perfect explanation HellG but am I wrong or reamp level doesn't work in 3.3?

Awesome explanation, HELL-G.

Thank you!