Help for New FRFR User

Jimi1983 · Sep 2nd 2017

I have been using my powered Kemper with headphones, and with 2 x 12 Port City OS guitar cab over the last year and have been getting the tones out of both. However I decided to pick up an FRFR cab to see if I could get close to the pure Kemper tones since the guitar speaker cabinet colors the models to some degree ( I turn off the Kemper speaker emulation when I use the guitar cab). I'm still very new at this FRFR stuff and have only had the cabinet (Xitone passive 1x12) for a day, but I am finding it hard to consistently dial-in good tones. I have been working to create tones at roughly gig level. I assume I am doing something wrong or am not taking something into account, because I have found dialing in good tones much harder with FRFR cab than through headphones or my guitar cab. Compared to the tones I have gotten historically, I am finding quite a few of the tones (particularly overdriven tones) relatively harsh, with too much high end in most cases ( I do have the speaker emulation engaged ).

Can any of you with more experience with FRF R cabs give me some insight on whether I might be doing something wrong or not taking something into account? I am using the "speaker out" from Kemper and a good quality guitar cable to connect to the cab.
Thanks!

bshaw92 · Sep 2nd 2017

you mention that you had cabs off when running through a speaker cab. Did you turn the cab simulation back on for both the main and monitor? It would sound very bad if the cab SIM is not on.

Jimi1983 · Sep 2nd 2017

I have turned speaker back on with front button of unit. I can certainly tell when it's off - sounds horrible of course. Don't believe that's the issue.

bshaw92 · Sep 2nd 2017

In the output there is also cab off to the monitor. See if that is also on or off.

Jimi1983 · Sep 2nd 2017

Thanks. I double checked that and everything is set up correctly with respect to the monitor and speaker emulation. I didn't really think that was the problem because I am not having extreme tonal differences as occur without emulation on. I'm starting to think it may come down to the quality of the profiles I was using, even though they had sounded really good with headphones and guitar cab. Perhaps the new monitor is revealing some limitations?

bshaw92 · Sep 2nd 2017

that is definitely a possibility. The mic and cab are a huge part. Without knowing what profiles you are using and what troubles you are having I can tell you the PRS profiles I shared are setup for live use and I listen and adjust through an ELX112 and Yamaha 8in monitor. You can try one and see if you feel the same or name one of the profiles you are using. At least we can mark the cab being off....off the list.

Jimi1983 · Sep 2nd 2017

Thanks - I think I will try that, Where would I find those?

ElDoca · Sep 3rd 2017

If you've been playing through a ported cab and closed ear headphones, I'm going to guess you've been dialing out a lot of bass or have been choosing profiles that don't have much low end to them. Try this...don't use any of your previous profiles, go through the free rig packs and start fresh. The other option is, try using a Port City cab IR and see if you can replicate your earlier tones. Lastly, you just might not be used to FRFR yet. You like the attack of a real cab and the thump it puts in your chest and the feedback it generates when you play. Well, you're not going to get that with FRFR, it's like you're listening to the hi-fi playback in a recording studio. If you've been playing guitar for a long time, it takes a while to get used to. I go back and forth between my Atomic CLR and my Mesa/Boogie Halfback cab, I don't plan on selling either because they both have their uses.

V8guitar · Sep 8th 2017

Quote from Jimi1983

Thanks. I double checked that and everything is set up correctly with respect to the monitor and speaker emulation. I didn't really think that was the problem because I am not having extreme tonal differences as occur without emulation on. I'm starting to think it may come down to the quality of the profiles I was using, even though they had sounded really good with headphones and guitar cab. Perhaps the new monitor is revealing some limitations?

When I switched to FRFR, I had to ditch all of my profiles as the guitar cab just smoothed everything out so I think that is a real possibility. Go and try some other profiles, and you'll hear a much greater variation via FRFR.

Rod Staples · Sep 15th 2017

I find it best to treat amps and their cab simulations separately.

I have a profile that has a Marshall 1960BX cab with it that I really like, so I lock that cab, then all the profiles I switch to sound good, maybe not what I want, but they don't sound harsh.

Also I've knocked a bit off some frequencies in the "output eq"

I'm only interested in the amp and cab tone, so I lock out all the stomps, fx, and stack eq. That makes it easy to just hear the raw tone of the profile and then decide whats good for me.

As V8guitar has said, you have to re-evalute all profiles when you get an FRFR cab.

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