Compare TopJimi to MBritt

  • So I bought TopJimi's Everything Pack a few days ago and have been spending some time playing with them through my DT880 Pro headphones (I haven't had a chance to play the profiles through my Atomic NEO wedge yet. However, they sound awesome though the headphones. Some of them I had to tweak very slightly in order to get the optimal sound through my headphones, but I am becoming more and more impressed by TopJimi's profiles and the Kemper itself the more time I spend with it.


    Now I have an itch to dive into Michael Britt's profiles and was wondering if its going to be kind of redundant. Can anyone compare the differences between these two profilers and their profiles?

  • Hi,


    Why limit yourself to only 1 or 2 profile makers - There are so many good profiles out there ! I have all Mbritt and 9 Top Jimy packs. In my case ( using JBL 305 speakers) M Britt is a little darker / beefier and Top J a bit thinner


    sounding . With a bit of tweaking both sound Great !! Its all in the ear of the beholder - (and gear used)


    All profile makers - to my ears have their distinctive sound - some you'll like , others you'll like less . My advice - shop around and enjoy the Kemper journey :thumbup:8o

  • I downloaded some of the Mbritts free profiles from the Kemper downloads, and I also notice that they seem a little dark and distant through my headphones, where TopJimi seems to fit my headphones right off the bat.


    If I bought MBritts profiles, is there a particular parameter (maybe even a global parameter) that can solve the dark character of his profiles at lower volume and lighten them up?


    How much did it cost to buy ALL of Britts profiles?


    The reality is I am gunna play 99% of the time in the evenings and with headphones on because of my work hours and we have a baby on the way, so headphones is gunna be my main listening experience.


    Does anyone have a better headphones suggestion than my DT880 pros 250ohm?

  • Britt profiles darker than others and his stuff may sound dull thru headphones but great thru a cab, especially when pretty loud. The definition and or clarity parameters plus presence and treble may sort out some of that darkness thru phones. Besides, I have heard his latest Sweet 16 pack sounds brighter. And also, bear in mind the character of your guitar, since some vendors' preferences and packs work better or worse depending on it (and your ears, of course).

    Never too old for rock'n'roll

  • If you aren't going to be playing live, then I'd suggest looking at The Amp Factory or Bert Meulendijk. MBritt's for me only come in to their own at volume, when the reduced highs mean a nice, smooth sound that's not harsh at all. Otherwise you'll be constantly tweaking the Definition or Treble/Presence controls, compared to TopJimi.

  • If you aren't going to be playing live, then I'd suggest looking at The Amp Factory or Bert Meulendijk. MBritt's for me only come in to their own at volume, when the reduced highs mean a nice, smooth sound that's not harsh at all. Otherwise you'll be constantly tweaking the Definition or Treble/Presence controls, compared to TopJimi.

    Agreed. Depending on the type of music you play and your tastes, there are also a lot of other profilers that can offer you something. It's impossible to mention them all here :)


    For me, I generally reduce the "clarity" parameter in the profiles that have this tweaked (default is zero). I find in mbritt's profiles it is often at around (or above) 3. I'm allergic to that sound :) (but many people like it).

  • For live, Britt's profiles are a lot more "ballsy", that was super obvious when I made the switch. Still use only Britt with very little tweaks for live. They both have sample packs now so you can try for yourself. However, since Britt always has the same cab and the profiles are sometimes dark at low volume (but not all), I had better results using something else for recording.


    Also, while it's cool in theory to have "all the packs" from one profiler, sometimes it's a bit redundant and feels like just more of the same, at least make sure it's the sound you're looking for before you spend a lot on stuff you might not even end up using. These days, I limit my options on purpose; stick to a few great rigs every couple of months so I can focus on the music instead. Typical KPA rookie mistake is to get lost in profile search: it doesn't make good impression to spend half an hour finding the right profile and keep switching rigs back and forth at a studio session. Also, I find that the rule "you get what you pay for" doesn't quite apply to profiles; it's easy to get caught by the marketing buzzwords, the nice website designs/videos and while commercial profilers may sometimes give you more consistency (in volume level, effects placement etc), sometimes stuff of superior quality is available for free either on the ever-growing RE and factory content.

  • For live, Britt's profiles are a lot more "ballsy", that was super obvious when I made the switch. Still use only Britt with very little tweaks for live. They both have sample packs now so you can try for yourself. However, since Britt always has the same cab and the profiles are sometimes dark at low volume (but not all), I had better results using something else for recording.


    Also, while it's cool in theory to have "all the packs" from one profiler, sometimes it's a bit redundant and feels like just more of the same, at least make sure it's the sound you're looking for before you spend a lot on stuff you might not even end up using. These days, I limit my options on purpose; stick to a few great rigs every couple of months so I can focus on the music instead. Typical KPA rookie mistake is to get lost in profile search: it doesn't make good impression to spend half an hour finding the right profile and keep switching rigs back and forth at a studio session. Also, I find that the rule "you get what you pay for" doesn't quite apply to profiles; it's easy to get caught by the marketing buzzwords, the nice website designs/videos and while commercial profilers may sometimes give you more consistency (in volume level, effects placement etc), sometimes stuff of superior quality is available for free either on the ever-growing RE and factory content.

    Agree on all counts :)


    Check out the free rig packs from kemper with profiles from some of the big sellers - and you'll get an impression of the taste of each of them

  • Not sure your genre but i'd check out:


    PAID
    ------
    Big Hair Profiles 800 pack
    Katzbach's Marshalls
    Mattfig and/or Bert's BE100
    Britt's Modern or Diaz (i don't have a lot of his yet to compare)...true they can be darker than others, his sweet 16 is brighter in clips
    Mixberlins Clean Pack (not many profiles for the price though in comparison) (like their 5150 clips never bought yet)
    Reampzones Dumble/Soldano and VH4
    Sinmix: Jmp and Firebird
    Soundside has a lot of dry/accurate sounding profiles (Fender 57, Goldfinger, VH4, Fuchs, JP2C)
    TMS: SL5/5150/Mark V25
    New Tone Junkies pack shows promise
    ToneHawk
    Cili's stuff
    Amp Factory Lazy J for clean
    Top Jimi-You have all the Top Jimi so you're good there...


    I'm sure there are others that i just haven't tried yet...like Nick K, etc


    Free/Rig Exchange:
    ------
    Bommel
    Bjorn Gottfridsson's J2pC
    Eleven/Eleven Studios Cameron
    Tim Owens Friedmans
    Jim Lills (awesome Dr Z but you have to sign up on his site first)



    ...and of course try all the Kemper Rig Packs

  • Great suggestions and thanks much for adding my BE100 in there.....If anyone wants to try it, it's in my freebie pack, attached to this reply...

  • If I bought MBritts profiles, is there a particular parameter (maybe even a global parameter) that can solve the dark character of his profiles at lower volume and lighten them up?

    For me I changed the cabinet section on his profiles to either the G12-35XC or G12M Green or Cream that Kemper bought for us. Went from not really loving the profiles to having them be some of my favorites. IMO they sounded good with single coils right off the bat, but the cab switch really helped the buckers.


    Would like to hear others opinions on this though.

  • The majority of my collection is M. Britt. I bought some Top Jimi as well. M. Britt is my go to as I'm a classic rock guy, so my comparison was from MB to Top Jimi. I found it hard to make apples to apples comparisons because all the Top Jimi stuff was absolutely drenched in reverb, where MB Crank and Go, for instance, used it more as ambiance.


    I've been so happy with the MB that I really haven't circled back around to give my Top Jimi stuff another try as it would require dialing back the reverb on each and every profile. Since the MB stuff sounds great for my taste right out of the box it's hard to justify the effort. But of course, that's all a matter of taste. Someone doing a Van Halen gig may want it drenched in reverb, and that's Top Jimi's wheelhouse.


    That said, I think one huge thing to consider whether you're buying commercial profiles or getting them from Rig Exchange is the genre of music the profile was dialed in for. A Marshall JCM 800 dialed in for Covid-Apocalype-Zombie-Death-Metal is not at all the same as the guy who dials in a JCM 800 for a Bad Company song. But people see Marshall (for instance) and have certain expectations. The amp is only the beginning of the profile. At it's heart, a profile is a snapshot of the final tone that someone dialed in. So you're buying someone's expertise in dialing in that JCM 800 for a specific sound. That's very different than just buying the Marshall itself (and frankly a big part of what I pay for since I kinda suck at dialing in tones).


    I made that mistake when I first started on Rig Exchange. So many five star profiles sounded absolutely horrible to me and I almost returned the Kemper wondering if I'd made a mistake. Eventually I realized that I was listening to amps dialed in for modern metal but I was expecting classic rock, based purely on the amp name. Then everything came together. One of the reasons M. Britt profiles work for me is that he personally goes for the same kind of tones that I enjoy.


    So, as with most things in life, context is king.

    Kemper remote -> Powered toaster -> Yamaha DXR-10

  • I've been so happy with the MB that I really haven't circled back around to give my Top Jimi stuff another try as it would require dialing back the reverb on each and every profile. Since the MB stuff sounds great for my taste right out of the box it's hard to justify the effort.

    Just select a MB profile you like the reverb on, lock the reverb module, then browse TJ to your heart’s content :)

  • Just select a MB profile you like the reverb on, lock the reverb module, then browse TJ to your heart’s content :)

    Wait, that doesn't seem nearly complicated enough. How could it possibly work? :)


    This points out how very little I do in the realm of tweaking profiles. It never even occurred to me that I could lock the reverb and make it global across all profiles.

    Kemper remote -> Powered toaster -> Yamaha DXR-10