A different approach to Profiling

  • Hi guys.
    doing these years I have always felt that sometimes the Profiler needs a little help in order to match 1:1 (well, IMHO it's "only" 98:100 :D ) the profiled amp.
    I have noticed this several times on my Steavens Poundcake 100 Mk I, an amp that i really, really love.


    The problem is that some of the internal parameters and pre and pst eq are not available during profiling, so I chose to try a different approach.
    So at first I made a merged profile, and once again i have noticed the there are some little differences in the low-mids and somewhere in the highs.
    Something hard to describe, and I'm pretty sure that you won't be able to ear it in the mix. But you know, i'd love to have everything right there.


    So I placed a loop in the A stomp, send to my amp and return from my mic (well, it's an AMT Pangaea with some IRs loaded) and the I have activated the Parallel Path.
    For those who don't know how it works, check in out. It's a very powerful tool allowing the KPA to have two different signal pats.
    Check the manual for further informations.


    With the parallel path active I was able to switch between the profile and the real amp just by turning the parallel path knob, without having to swap cables an without weird sounds due to some user error (the can happen if you activate the loop and the amp path the same time).
    In this way I could use the other slots (I have used a pre eq and a post eq) plus all the internal amp parameters in order to match my amp dynamics and sounds almost perfectly.


    Here's a zipped folder with the 5 merged profiles i made with this "new" approach, check them out.
    These are with a cab coming from the Michael Wagener free pack and they might sound a bit bass heavy, but the profiles have been made with a Celestion G12H30 4x12 IR and they have a very balanced tone.

  • When I noticed that I was sending the ones with the Celestion commercial IR I have changed the file.
    Try to download again ;)
    P.S.: my sincere suggestion is to try with a different cab, this time the Wagener cab is not spot on.

  • When I noticed that I was sending the ones with the Celestion commercial IR I have changed the file.
    Try to download again ;)
    P.S.: my sincere suggestion is to try with a different cab, this time the wagoner is not spot on.

    Ah check. I saw the file in your post, just wasn't able to download it. Almost got myself some free Celestion IRs ;)


    Which IRs did you use? I think I have the 4x12" ones with V30 and G12H speakers.

  • I've been thinking of a way to do almost this same thing after a commercial profiler on here mentioned he does something similar to this to A B test direct profiles with a Torpedo Labs unit.


    Just trying to get this straight are you making a DIRECT amp profile first with a LOOP ready on STOMP A and parallel path engaged, which contains your AMT IR box. Then after the initial capture you are testing the DIRECT capture against the real amp before and after refining then further tweaking after saving using the same IR from the AMT? Don't know if I explained that very well.


    Just trying to work the path out in my head.

  • Well, at first I have done a merged profile using my tube amp plus the AMT, which is basically a DI plus an IR loader. (there are some tutorials here in the forum and on youtube too). The chain ends in a completely closed cabinet called tone hound, made in the past by Tube Town and now discontinued.


    After that, since I feel that something is still a bit different and I know that i need all the tools to match my sounds, I went in browser mode and then I placed a loop in stomp A.
    The send goes to the amp input and the signal comes back from the AMT into the XLR return.
    Here I activate the Parallel Path in the rig section in order to make a quick comparison by turning the pot clockwise or counterclockwise, ear the differences and then work with a pre and with a post eq.