Kemper sounds bad through PA (brittle/treble)

  • Hi Guys.


    Basically my kemper sounds terrible when I connect it directly to a PA.


    For some reason everything sounds incredible bright/brittle in my IEMs as it also does out front.


    I have to turn the presence and treble way down to take the high frequency away, but then it just still doesn't sound the same.


    When I get home an plug it in I then have to turn the eq back up as the treble is not there.


    I've read similar posts where people have turned down the output gain so as to not overload the mic pre's but it has made no difference whatsoever.


    Why is it that , when at home, I can dial in my perfect sound but when I'm connecting to a pa the sound changes?


    Why if I use actual amp ,the Fender deluxe, that I profiled, I don't have a problem through the same PA but the kemper profile of that amp sounds awful?


    I am connecting with XLR left out to desk and the channel is not going into the red.


    Any help much appreciated.


    Thanks


    :thumbup:

  • At home I reference my kemper through my monitors so no.
    Why do you ask? Is that a known issue?
    Thanks!

    There where some post of user finding it sounded different between their headphones and other outputs. But that is not an issue of hardware but more of used gear, volume and room at least most of the time.
    mrs-zambesis question is pointing at a similar point. So how do you connect your monitors at home?

  • Yes I'm using xlr into my sound card so I'm technically using the same type of cables and connections.


    I've never had a problem with the sound in my studio with this connection , or even 1/4 jack for that matter.
    Also, when listening on headphones it's fine as well.

  • I think he's asking about the cab setting to see if that being turned off was the reason for the issues you were having.


    If you go straight to the PA you will want to make sure the cab section is on and engaged.


    Did you say it also sounds bad through IEMs when plugged into the PA?
    If so how are you monitoring the IEM signal, what is the signal path?


    It's hard to compare your monitors at home with a PA in a different room and setting.
    It could be a bad sounding PA. I would monitor through IEM straight out of the headphone jack when plugged into the PA and see how that sounds. Start to eliminate as many variables as possible.


    In theory it should sound close to what you hear at home. Turning up the volume in a PA will definitely bring up the treble and bass levels but it shouldn't dramatically change the sound. Again a lot depends on the PA system as well.


    Sean

  • Ok, the cab is turned on. I never turn that off.


    With the IEMs, sometime the band has wireless packs and other times we have those small headphone packs which you connect to the desk with and xlr. Either way, the sound is bad, whichever I'm am using. The desk is a beringher x32 compact.


    Trust me, this isn't just a little bit of a different sound - it's wildly different - very disappointing.


    Good idea to monitor out if the headphone jack when I'm next in that situation so I'll try that.


    Unfortunately that won't be for a few weeks now.

  • Assume your kemper has no defect try to set main out to -20db (to be save no unwanted distortion occurs).
    I had often a bad experiance I if I choose profiles at home at low volume level the profile sounds good. But with high volume unwanted brightness comes out from FOH.
    These profiles work for me great over FOH
    My current live rigs

  • Hi peterfr,


    I've made sure that my kemper output is at -20db to -18db as I read that that can be an issue but it hasn't solved the problem. I was hoping it would as it seemed to work for other people.


    The sound guy has repeatedly told me that he is getting a good signal from my kemper and that it isn't too hot a signal.


    I've made sure the gain structure is just right , yet I'm still getting a hugely different sound through the PA/IEMs than when I'm using it at home

  • Did you try listening through the same IEM's when connected at home? Or straight out of the Kemper for that matter. If it sounds good not going through the Behringer, I'd suspect something is going on within the X32. An insert, EQ or sumthin' in the chain...

  • I really like this idea


    Did you try listening through the same IEM's when connected at home? Or straight out of the Kemper for that matter. If it sounds good not going through the Behringer, I'd suspect something is going on within the X32. An insert, EQ or sumthin' in the chain...

    Here's a few more thoughts:


    I found that changing the level of my listening volume can radically change my tone perception ... a lot. Tones that might seem dark at lower volumes become much brighter at higher volume. Tones that seem bass correct can become too bass heavy at high volume. One simple trick is to play and tweak your tones to a drum and bass track at high volume, preferably taken off your mix board at a rehearsal -OR- a pro track that's close to what your band does.


    Another recommendation is to get a SPL meter. There are tons of free or cheap sound apps for your smart phone. Take it to your gig and measure the sound levels you're actually playing in. Once you have that number, try to match that level in your home monitoring system.


    Finally: If you can make a good sounding solo guitar recording at home and play it thru your PA at rehearsal ... that might tell you if it's your monitoring environment or a problem with your Kemper.


    Best of luck

  • With the IEMs, sometime the band has wireless packs and other times we have those small headphone packs which you connect to the desk with and xlr. Either way, the sound is bad, whichever I'm am using. The desk is a beringher x32 compact.

    I'm using X32 (rack) and Midas M32 mixer and don't have any such problem provided that the tones are dialled in at home at gig level. Whether I connect XLR/XLR with the KPA's main-output at -25dB or XLR/TRS to AUX-ins (if I'm short on mixer channels) with the outputs at about -5dB the resulting sound is fine. Whether I listen to the mains, a monitor, headphones or IEMs the KPA/X32 sounds just fine. Gain-staging inputs on digital consoles may be an issue. If you use 0dB as you input threshold the way people traditionally did with analog consoles you're very likely to have clipping in A/D converters. With digital consoles one should operate with an input ceiling somewhere between -12 and -18 dB. This should however immediately be revealed by playing a few clean tones. Try to set the input gain on the mixer so that it peaks at about -15dB max, then turn off just about everything on the channel-strip (gate/dynamics/eq/fx-insert) to eliminate potential human errors.


    My preferred method of dialling in tones include the use of the mixing console. I grab multi-track-recordings at rehearsal which I use at home with the control-room monitor outputs from the mixer hooked up to my studio-monitors. Then I can play the unprocessed recordings back into the mixer and optimise the entire mix, as well as work to improve my guitar-tone by tweaking the KPA while playing along to the mix of the rest of the band.

  • Do the XLR-connection automatically activates a mic preamp on the desk? Better choose a line in.

    The X/M32-family of mixers only take line-level inputs on the AUX-ports, unless you have the SD-series stageboxes with combo TRS/XLR-inputs. However, I've never had any problem running the KPA directly into any mic-pre (mixing console or recording interface) provided that the KPA's outputs are attenuated by about 25dB. In this scenario I do prefer to run the KPA as hot as possible and keep amplification and coloring of sound from the mic-pre at a minimum. With a little cooperation between the soundman and guitarist you will find the right output level from the KPA where the input gain on the mixer can be kept at or below +4dB (low amplification compared to what's required with a microphone).

    Edited once, last by heldal ().

  • What PA and what In ear system do you use? In my band we have JBL PA,and use Sennheizer IE, the in ears have as good as CD sound, and its realy good! The PA sound very nice too, i have turned down the trebble on EQ out just a little, and it sounds almost as good as on my Yamaha DXR!

  • Have you checked your output settings on the Kemper - stereo or mono (think there's another one as well that sounds really thin) depending on if you're using one or two XLRs? Also, sometimes phantom power can upset things, would be worth checking it's off on the PA desk.