Help cleanup digital "hair" on profiles?

  • Hello !


    New Kemper owner here of about 1 week. So still definitely getting my feet wet. Having some issues with hearing some sort of digital noise / fizz / hair on many profiles. Hard to describe, but it's annoying high pitch overtones , especially on high gain profiles. Overall the sound isn't bad , not hard clipping , but its not really ear pleasing either. Its one of the reasons I am moving away from Atomic Amplifier that I just can't seem to dial it out. I'm not distorting the input, tried 2 different audio interfaces (Scarlett 6i6, ID14) going direct to my JBL-305's. I added in an EQ with a high cut in the "X" slot. It's still there. Also tried many settings in Pure Cabinet. Some profiles it's more prominent than others for sure.


    Do others hear this and just live with it? Tips to eliminate or reduce it severely are appreciated!

  • It's still there when I go direct to the JBL's, so it's not an interface thing.


    I'm using the main 1/4" outputs.


    My profiler had bunch of profiles from the previous owner, and I downloaded some. Not sure how to tell if they are Studio, Merged, etc yet as I am still learning!

  • Interesting to see this. I just got my Kemper, upgraded to latest production version of firmware. I was going through the profiles the other night for the first time, sitting downstairs in the dark with headphones on plugged directly into the Kemper, and I kept hearing these "noises". I wasnt sure if it was coming from the basement....or from the headphones. IN the end I decided that it was coming from the Kemper but I wasnt 100% sure... Hard to describe the sound...just some very odd, short, little "flakes" of sound that shoudlnt be there. I havent plugged it into anythign else yet nor did I notice it last night at all.

  • Jay, you mentioned having tried a bunch of monitoring sources, but not headphones. Have you checked through 'em (plugged directly into the Kemper)?


    That'd be my first port of call, just to make sure it's not related to your rear-panel outputs or their settings.

  • Wow, this thing happened to me yesterday and I wanted to get to the bottom of it as it was really upsetting not getting the great sound that I've been used to ever since I upgraded to Kemper. Not sure if it's the same thing but that You guys experienced but I can tell it was total kill joy until I figured it out a half hour ago.
    The sound was fizzy and lifeless but being the computer geek I am I isolated the problem to software driver issue with my audio interface.


    The audio intereface is in a computer that has dual operating systems. I restarted the computer in the older windows OS and the sound of the KPA that I know and Love came back.


    Just to elaborate, in the High gain, most amps will have fizz or what you call hair but it's musical hairy sound in a good way. What I was getting due to the audio driver malfunction was a sound that was almost undetectable in clean profiles but once I sorted it out, I confirmed to myself that it wasn't the wax in my ear or my studio monitors or even the Kemper that were just crapping out. It was the software driver (which also happened to be Beta version)


    HTH even though your situation might be different. The KPA should sound glorious in extreme high gain, even the fiz is just as natural as the fiz you would get from any tube amp, if you're not getting that, trust me, something or a setting, cable. option or whatever is wrong somewhere.

  • HTH even though your situation might be different. The KPA should sound glorious in extreme high gain, even the fiz is just as natural as the fiz you would get from any tube amp, if you're not getting that, trust me, something or a setting, cable. option or whatever is wrong somewhere.

    THIS



    jaybird666, could you upload a direct record of where you think the fizz is worst?

    Ne travaillez jamais.

  • It may also be that you are using profiles that you don't like.


    For example, I could never get used to the Lasse Lammert profiles that Kemper gave us. Whenever I played them, I could hear a hiss/fizz sound that I always struggled with when using modellers.


    Try out some different profiles and see if you get the same issue. My guess is that it will go away.

  • Same here, AJ.


    I've never said anything about this 'cause I respect the fact that Lasse has apparently produced many very-good ones, but for the life of me I can't stomach the scratchiness of those freebies.


    I'm speaking from a Strat point of view; I imagine LPs would tame them to an extent.

  • Hi All,


    I used to get some of that fizziness within my decaying signal on some of the stock KPA profiles. That all changed when I started using the MBritt profiles. He somehow dials all that stuff out. I only use MBritt profiles now and use them pretty much stock except for some minor reverb and delay tweaks and have never heard the fizziness since.


    If you haven't already, I highly suggest trying the MBritt profiles.

  • Hi All,


    I used to get some of that fizziness within my decaying signal on some of the stock KPA profiles. That all changed when I started using the MBritt profiles. He somehow dials all that stuff out. I only use MBritt profiles now and use them pretty much stock except for some minor reverb and delay tweaks and have never heard the fizziness since.


    If you haven't already, I highly suggest trying the MBritt profiles.

    Be aware that the original poster complains about the sound of the high gain profiles - not necessarily something mbritt is the "go-to guy" for :)


    OP: When you say high gain - are we talking metal stuff?


    In any case, if you decide to try out different profiles: check out the free profiles most vendors offer first - that gives you an idea of what you can expect from them.

  • Be aware that the original poster complains about the sound of the high gain profiles - not necessarily something mbritt is the "go-to guy" for


    OP: When you say high gain - are we talking metal stuff?


    In any case, if you decide to try out different profiles: check out the free profiles most vendors offer first - that gives you an idea of what you can expect from them.

    Understood. I should have elaborated that I experienced the fizziness on low and medium gain profiles as well.

  • Understood. I should have elaborated that I experienced the fizziness on low and medium gain profiles as well.


    Fizziness on low and medium gain profiles as well? In that case, I don't think it's likely the profiles that are the problem.


    Try doing a system reset and see if things get better.


    It would be best if you could do a video or audio recording so that we can figure out what you're talking about.


    I don't have fizz on any profiles, it's one of the things that I like about the Kemper versus other modellers. Some of the guys really know how to mic up amps to get recording ready tones.

  • Try M. Britt, Bert Meulendjk and TAF. They sound good to most people. Others too but these are good options.

    This, plus headphones, straight into the Kemper. That will prove it.
    I had problems way back, when going thru a Scarlett interface. I now only use the interface for the computer
    and run everything into a little Mackie board.
    So, Kemper into Mackie, Mackie into JBL monitors.
    I still don't like the sound of guitar thru 5" monitors, but technically there are no problems.
    When not using phones, I run the Kemper into a 1 X 12" guitar cab. w a Celestion.

  • One more comment:


    The fizziness might well happen just around that frequency where ordinary PA speakers or monitors have their crossover frequency from mid to treble. Say typically 2 to 3 kHz. This is the most critical frequency for proper sound reproduction then. Because it will be delivered by the mid and the treble speaker at the same time with a potential of phase issues, slightly more distortion of crossover + speakers, etc...


    This, plus headphones, straight into the Kemper. That will prove it.

    Given the above: many headphones will work with just one driver and then this advice is perfect. But there are some headphones out there with more than one speaker.... be aware, know your gear.


    Traditional guitar cabinets will work without crossover anyway - the above is just another reason why we think that this is the "cleanest" or most "original" way for guitar sounds...

    Ne travaillez jamais.