Merged or studio profiles for live use to FOH

  • Hello everyone. I cannot seem to wrap my head around this so I do apologize for asking what may seem simple or understandable to others. Can someone explain in plain English the advantages of a merged profile vs a studio profile specifically for live use? Mainly, which one would be best to use in a live situation where I would be sending a completed profile via the main outs to FOH and wanting to use a 4x12 for stage monitoring...and if I use a merged profile to send to FOH would I need to disable the monitor cab function..reason I ask is with the studio profiles that I use of course I find a drastic difference in what is being pumped to front of house vs what is coming out of the cab, understanding that the 4x12 will color the sound sometimes drastically.

  • As far as I know ... For live use you would do the same thing with the profile: send the signal including the Kemper-cab to FOH and use the "Monitor Cab Off" option so your monitor signal only runs through one cab (your 4x12). The difference is as follows: when you create a studio profile, you only make one profile which includes the cab. The Kemper then calculates how the signal without the cab (= the DI signal) probably sounds like and if you switch off the cab, this is what you hear. If you create a merged profile, you provide the missing information by also making a DI profile without the cab, meaning the Kemper doesn't have to guess how it sounds like.


    This, however, doesn't necessarily answer the question which would be better. In theory the merged profiles should be superior, but I heard quite some people prefer the sound of studio profiles. Give both a try, I'd say :)

  • Thanks a lot for the breakdown. I don't know why I was having a hard time wrapping my head around this but I feel I do have a better understanding now. So in a nutshell a merged profile being sent to front of house contains the whole profile (amp, cab, mic) and by switching the monitor cab off function to send to my 4x12 it then only uses the DI profile that was captured and should more accurately represent the reference amp. That sound correct?

    Mckay

  • Thanks a lot for the breakdown. I don't know why I was having a hard time wrapping my head around this but I feel I do have a better understanding now. So in a nutshell a merged profile being sent to front of house contains the whole profile (amp, cab, mic) and by switching the monitor cab off function to send to my 4x12 it then only uses the DI profile that was captured and should more accurately represent the reference amp. That sound correct?

    Correct! As Karajan said, merged profile should be superior, since the amp and cab were profiled seperately. But there really no rules on how to use your kemper, Whatever sounds the best for you is the best way.

  • Maybe it's too obvious, but just wanting to make sure: if you send a studio profile to your 4x12, you do disable the cab in the Kemper or use the monitor outputs with the "Monitor Cab Off", right? That works (and needs to be done, 'cause a guitar through two cabs just sounds rubbish) even with a studio profile. ;)

  • In order to complement:


    The complete Studio Profile (Amp+Cab) and the complete Merged Profile (Amp+Cab) taken from the same stack with the same settings sound identical. So there is no difference for the signal sent to FOH. Studio Profile and Merged Profile sound exactly the same.


    The difference is only relevant if you switch off the cabinet e. g. for the Monitor Output signal ("Monitor Cab. Off") in order to connect a physical guitar speaker cabinet to the built in power amplifier. With the Merged Profile the amp standalone will sound more authentically than with the Studio Profile, which doesn't necessarily mean, that it sounds better. That's a question of taste. The physical cab you use might have a bigger impact.