I'm a Newbie, am I doing this right?

• Can you tell me if I am connecting everything right in order to make a profile of an amp...
  I plugged my amp's input to the kempers direct output/send using an instrument cable
  

  
  

  I plugged my SM57 XLR cable to the Return using a XLR cable

  
  

  I plugged my CLR Atomic Wedge using a XLR to the Main XLR connection.

  
  

  Then I turned the chicken head knob on kemper to the profile option and began to profile the amp. Step 1 told me check the volumes of both the kemper and reference amp, so using my ear I just turned the volume up on my CLR Atomic Wedge until the volume was approximately the same as the reference amps. I did not touch the Return Level volume knob at all (I am not sure what this knob does because when I do turn it one way or the other I don't hear any audible volume changes in the reference amp or the CLR.) can someone explain this to me...?

  
  

  Then I go to the next page and hit start profiling And it goes through all the weird noises.

  
  

  Then I refine the profile a couple times and then I am done.

  
  

  
  

  Am I doing this right? I have head phones but I have not used them for anything in this process. Let me know if there is a reason I should be using them.

  
  

  Also, after I made my profile, my profile seemed to have a lot of white noise coming out of my CLR speaker, but when I switch over to the reference amp there is no white noise hiss. Can anyone explain this?

  
  

  Also, I use my amps standby switch to mute the reference amp in order to hear the Profile coming out of my CLR by itself. Is this appropriate to do?
  Is it recommended that I use a second mic and hook up a mixer and get a ISO box or turn a closet into a sound room to get a better profile?
  

a dr. z z-28....but once I figure this thing out, I would like to profile a JCM800, VoxAC30, Victoria 45410 Bassman, and Deluxe Reverb....

I have a SM57 and some cables, and I don't have a sound room or ISO box. I just have this gear in my basement....

I would like to just learn how to use the Kemper correctly, and I am not the best with written directions because there are always questions that come to me that I need explained...

I also know that i can probably find these not he Rig Exchange, but I would like to try it out for myself.

When I get home from work I am going to try your suggestions!

Quote from Dean_R

It looks right based on reading your setup. SM57 should work fine without any extra mixers etc. any dyhamic mic for that matter would work fine without a mixer.

The only pointer that I would suggest is make sure that the Kemper is getting enough signal from the SM57. In the profiling page in the Kemper, you can add the volume to get proper level. You'll know when the input indicators shows a good green signal. Either that or increase the volume of the amp. IF the input indicator is flickering green , you might not be feeding enough signal and this can be the reason your getting noise in the resulting profile. Some prefer to use a mixer because the Mic Pre can add level, but the KPA should work fine with any dynamic mic without the need for a mixer.

Another thing to think about is when you profile, you also would want to mute the CLR because you don't want it to bleed in the profile no matter how title the SM57 will capture from it.

So when I profiled my drz Z-28 combo amp and switched back and forth between my reference amp and kemper using the soft white buttons, the sound of both the reference amp and kemper was coming z-28 speakers (and it obviously sounded remarkably similar, if not exactly the same, which i am guessing that's a testament to how awesome the kemper is). However, that's when it dawned on me that I would never be running the kemper Z-28 profile that I made through the actual z-28 amp (because if that was the case, I might as well use the actual z-28 amp itself) so that's when I figured I should try and hook up my CLR to the kemper so that I could compare how the actual Z-28 sounds with the Kemper profile of the Z-28 through my CLR...and That's where I started encountering problems

Update:

I think everything is working fine to a point, even if I don't understand everything perfectly. Please read below and correct me or clarify to me where ever you see my mistakes or misunderstandings. Thanks for your patience and advice!

First:
I do have my CLR plugged in using an XLR cable from one input of the CLR to the Main Left (NOT the Monitor jack....should I be using the monitor jack? and if so, can you explain why so that I understand the differences) on the Kemper. Just for an experiment, I switched the XLR cable for a instrument cable and there was a remarkable difference between the two cables. The XLR cable provided a crystal clear and loud sound, while the instrument cable sounded thin and lower volume. So, I am assuming the XLR is the way to go, unless you recommend a TRS cable instead of a TS instrument cable to connect from the Main output jack to the XLR.

Second:
I turned off my XLR (and unplugged it from the kemper just to be sure), and I began the process to profile my Z-28 amp. I kept the volume setting on the Z-28 low intentionally to see if I could profile it. When I hit the button to begin profiling, the error message came up stating that no amp was connected or that the volume was to low. So, I went back to page 1 of 3 of the profiling menu and turned the Return Level knob up a few notches and tried to profile it again, and this time it worked and the profile went through. Sometimes if I strummed hard though the input and output lights would very subtly flicker and it appeared like a little hint of orange or red would appear, but it was subtle (maybe I was just seeing things though).

Third:
After I the profile went through and was created without any error messages, I turned the CLR back on and tested the profile out through the CLR while I was still within the Profile Menu (this is before I saved the profile)....I noticed that the loud hiss or air being pushed through the CLR speaker was still there, but I believe it was because I had turned up the Return Level knob from page 1 of 3 on the profiling menu. Once I saved the profile and named it, I went back to the Browser menu and played the profile through the CLR and the hiss or noise was gone, and the profile sounded perfect.

Fourth:
It seems like when I went to save the new profile I just made, the title of the last profile that I selected under the Browser mode would pop up. I had to clear/delete this name and then rename my Z-28 profile. Question: By doing this, did I just delete or overwrite the other profile I was using in the Browser mode?