Sound differences when switching between studio monitors and headphones

Hello fellow Kemper users,

I own a KPA for almost two weeks now, and I really love it. For the first two weeks I only played through headphones (an absolutely amazing sounding experience) but I got tired of always wearing headphones while playing.
So I bought a pair of studio monitors (JBL LSR305). I am running with XLR cables from the KPAs main output into the monitors. Now the problem I am facing is, that the sound really differs negatively from the headphone sound. All the high gain sounds are really raspy, tight and crystal clear through the headphones, but when I switch to the monitors, suddenly the sound becomes much more dull and that crisp high and is missing. I dont think there is a problem with the monitors, because when listening to music, they sound absolutely amazing and deliver a great listening experience.
I also tried out different audio systems, a very good 5.1 cinema system, and some other music speakers. Always the same problem when playing with the KPA... the sound isnt nearly as good and clear as through the headphones.
The settings are the exact same while playing through headphones and monitors. (Pure Cab at about 2.5, Cabinets switched on of course and no different settings in the profiles as well.)
Now to be clear, the sound through the monitors is not shitty at all, but compared to the headphone sound it really lacks that raspyness and high end clarity, the sound is too muffled in my opinion...
Is this just the way things are, or am I doing something wrong? I really like the sound of the headphones, but wearing headphones all the time is not that comfortable.

Thanks in advance for any tips!

I am using Sennheiser Momentums.

My output settings to the monitors are:
-Main Out: Master Stereo
-Main Volume: -26,3db
-No EQ added to the output

--> Main Output XLR Left and Right to the Monitors

For the headphones i basically have the same settings, but I plug into the headphone input in the front.
The Main Out Link, Monitor Out Link and the Headphone Link are all activated.

The sound through the monitors is not a bad sound i guess, but that top end clarity and raspiness that I get through headphones is somehow gone... The Sennheiser Momentums are having a relatively flat response I think. Of course there will always be slight sound differences between the monitors and the headphones. But considering the flat frequency response of both, I dont think it should be as noticeable as it is right now...

I tried that (just putting one cone of the headphone on), its difficult to compare both sounds because the sound coming out of the main out is a lot more quiet than the headphone out even though both output volumes are the same. But I guess thats due to stereo/mono differences when just plugging into one of the main outs. But I couldnt really tell if it sounded the same, because of the huge volume drop.

I hope the explanation of my problems makes any sense... It just feels as if there is something missing when using the monitors compared to the headphones.

Quote from timo

Go to the OUTPUT menu and check for the option "Space>Headphone only". Does this make a difference?

I tried both settings, but it didnt noticeably change something to be honest. Being uncomfortable with the headphones for a long time, isnt due to ear fatiguing, its more a problem with moving around with a guitar and all that stuff

Quote from hjscheffler

then try to connect one of the monitors to the headphone output for a comparison but turn down the headphone out volume first.

I did that and didnt really notice a difference in sound between the headphone out and the main out.
I also tried another pair of headphones (Sennheiser HD201) which are a lot cheaper. They didnt sound as good, but that raspiness I was experiencing with my other pair was also there. I dont get that raspy clear sound wenn using my studio monitors, my high end 5.1 system and another PA speaker. Does that mean, that the listening and sound experience is just different when using headphones?
Because the sounds are definitely different on all three other systems than on the headphones. It sounds more "honky" and not so crisp.

I hope that makes sense to anybody, I hope I am not just getting crazy haha

Thanks for the tips!
I notived that the problem isnt as dramatic when using cleaner profiles or some crunchy profiles. Even driven marshall profiles sound quite similar, but when using high gain profiles like a EVH 5150||| or a Peavey 6505 the sound difference between headphones and monitors becomes really noticeable...

To me, it seems as if the basic characteristics of the sound are the same, but I always get the feeling that the gain is not really coming through on the monitors. I dont think its a problem with my monitors, because when comparing music pieces through both the headphones and the monitors, I cant really tell much of a difference in terms of clarity.
Its a really strange thing. Yesterday I experienced an amazing tone through the monitors (clean tone) but after a while I started to dial in some pretty heavy tones, and all of a sudden it felt as if the gain of the amp is somehow muffled or "far away"... Hope anyone has had the same issues and found a good solution. I really enjoy playing guitar and not wearing headphones all of the time, so I dont think I could be happy with just jamming on headphones

I have tried many different EQ Settings for the Main Output, but that fizzy raspy high gain sound is not achievable by adjustig the main EQ.. Perhaps it the sound of the headphones is percieved in a more raspy way because of the hp cones being directly on the eardrum.

However it really seems strange to me, that a sound like that can not be obtained when playing through monitors.