KPA sounds flat and thin during rehersal. What am I doing wrong?

  • Hello,


    I am a new user of the KPA. I worked probably a month with the Kemper at my home recording studio. I would say that I am familiar with the basic functions of the KPA. Yesterday, I took the KPA with me to our rehearsal room, where I met with the other guitar player of our band. We play in a cover band and cover songs of ZZ Top, Led Zepplin, Gary Moore, Hendrix etc. (Classic Rock). I usually play a Marshall JCM 2000 TSL 602 and the other guitarist plays through a VOX AC 30 and a Fender.


    I wanted to see how the KPA would compare in a live or rehearsal situation with the other guitar players tone and sound. I played the KPA through 2 H&K monitors and compared to the tube amps of the other guitarist it sounded thin (lacking of bottom end), distant and flat or not very dynamic without punch to it. The profiles sounded either to harsh or too muddy.


    It got a little bit better when I connected the KPA to our smaller PA. But still the sound of the KPA was not very impressive. For this test I mainly used some profiles of the factory content. Over the next few weeks I will check the KPA again through our bigger PA, hopefully the sound improves. At this stage I am not sure, whether I would use the KPA in a live Situation. I am not even sure, if I should keep it our return it.


    Do you have any tipps for me, how I could improve the sound of the KPA so that it is closer to the sound of a real amp?


    bbb

    It' s only Rock n Roll, but I like it :D:thumbup:<3

  • Did you tweak the profiles to suit the change in volume level? i.e. pull down the treble and presence a lot from where you have them at home? The more you add volume the more you need to pull down the bass and treble to get the same sound as at the lower volume.


    The speakers make 85% of how the sound translates too so that might be something to consider.

  • No, I left the profiles as they are, as I had them at home. I will try that the next round at least with the ones that sounded brittle and harsh. On the muddy ones I probably have to add some presence. However, I used HK Audio Fullrange Monitors. They are supposed to sound quite linear and good.


    But is it possible to tweak a profile played through a monitor box so that it sounds like a real amp in the room and not like a miked amp? Purecabinet did not help very much.


    bbb

    It' s only Rock n Roll, but I like it :D:thumbup:<3

  • This why I use merged profiles and a 4x12 cab live still. Send the full profile to the PA and monitor with cab off for yourself. I could never get on with FRFR or a PA, as it lacks weight and you need to have an inspiring sound to play better.

    Karl


    Kemper Rack OS 9.0.5 - Mac OS X 12.6.7

  • Hi bbb,


    had the same problem. At home with low volume and near field monitors all was good but the profiles don't work with live situation. So it is very important to choose and test profiles with live volume level.
    Check the free profile packs from Bert Meulendjik or from Michael Britt. They work for me in live situation very well.
    With my current profiles I have a better monitor and FOH sound than my band mate who is playing a real marshall amp.

  • Kemper is all about the profiles. That's why it would be useful to know which profiles you used.

  • You can profile an amp, then run both real amp vs kemper through same monitoring. If kemper still sounds average, the issue is probably elsewhere; but if it suddenly sounds close to the amp, then it's just that you were playing profiles that weren't so great for your taste/uses.

  • i often add a studio eq atfer the amp directly on the kemper to reduce the fizz at around 4kHz and highcut(8-10k) and lowcut (60Hz)


    try then to lower the treble and boost the presence sometimes they need a bit of a boost in the mids too ...


    what also works well is adding a eq in front of the amp that boosts just 120 hz that brings the warmth back in in more naural way then the eq after the amp ...



    the cab makes so much of the sound so i recommend using the monitor out because if you press the master button you can set a overall eq for that output so that your sound fits better to your cabinet in tha practise room ... afterward just use the untouched main out at home and the eq-ed monitor out for practise...


    not all profiles are stellar an sound everywhere good... it may take some time to find profiles that translate well on many speakers ...

  • Close miking a guitar cab usually introduces excessive high and low frequencies. If you are after a sound that is more reminiscent to a sound that you hear when playing a "real" amp, I would put HP somewhere around 90 Hz to 130 Hz and LP around 4 kHz to 6 kHz.


    So, place a Studio EQ after the stack section and experiment. This is why it would be good if the CAB section would include an EQ or at least a HP and LP, instead of those vague High Shift etc. One wouldn't have to sacrifice a slot for EQ and those of us using Merged profiles could do those EQ adjustments without them messing the sound coming from the guitar cab.

  • I think i have EQ and boost on all my profiles!! straigt downloaded it seems like all profiles are a bit dull. I tweak all my profiles at gigvolume! Cant compare small nearfield monitors and low volume to high volume PA or monitor!
    My favourite profile now is a 64Delux it goes form fat clean to breakupclean and midgain.. I rarly play any metal or highgainstuff

  • Last night I ran my kemper into a Marshall EL 84 20/20 and a Marshall Vintage 1936 2x12er using DI-Profiles of amps. To me that sounded better than the usual profiles, b/c they are not that fizzy, brittle and harsh. I think the harshness Comes probably from the microphones during the profiling process. A SM57 to me sounds pretty harsh and brittle in a mix. I believe that this is almost impossible to correct with an EQ, if you want to have some more Amp in the room feeling.


    bbb

    It' s only Rock n Roll, but I like it :D:thumbup:<3

  • I will check, whether I have to use a lot of EQ with DI-profiles running through a tube poweramp and normal guitar cabinet, b/c the cabinet basically is a filter itself, so maybe I won't Need that much of tweaking etc. But I will Need to experiment and see what Comes out of it.


    bbb

    It' s only Rock n Roll, but I like it :D:thumbup:<3

  • Definitely try other profiles and roll off with an eq at anything from 4-7k. I use kemper thru a Yamaha dxr10 as a monitor and am more than happy with both stage and foh sounds.

    Hi Netheravon, question from a novice: do you use a Kemper head or ''powerhead'' with your DXR-10 ? Thanks
    PS: Same question to BasemenBluesBoy is it a Kemper head or powerhead? Maybe you need a powerhead...???? Just curious THANKS EVERYONE

  • Thanks Netheravon, the way I see it is I will need to work on two things separately, 1- studio work and 2- live concert. I suspect studio work is surely the easiest part. But live there is a lot to consider , and maybe some adjustment on the profiles too. Its hard work but hey ANYTHING FOR ME is better than carry heavy tube amp to concert to realise 15 minutes before the show that one tube just doesnt work which , in prime, blew the ''hard to find'' fuse that is back order , and I wont talk about the complicated pedal board that I got which take for ever dancing or bended on the floor on my knees to get one good sound.... For me that over !!! Tube amp is the past for me! Never again. And if one band mate sounds better than me with his tube amp, I just say : hurray I applaude you ! but I will do a decent pro job with my Kempers this is a promise! Freedom is coming !!!