Converted IR's don't match the original ones, help

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From what I hear, cabmaker tool is not perfect.

However, start by making sure that you're hitting the kemper as hard for your reamp as you did recording it.

BTW, the original recording you're comparing to - that was also a kemper amped tone, right?

I posted this issue here on some IR threads, and a wish list for the ability to use RM for cabs.

What I was doing was recording a DI profile into my DAW.

Used an IR loader, to find which IR I thought sounded the best for the DI profile.

Do a conversion

Slap it on my kemper thumb drive.

Load it onto the Kemper.

Select it from the on board cabinets, only to find that it doesn't sound the same as it did in the DAW/IR loader.

It is definitely annoying.

Anyone logged this with Kemper or otherwise taken it up with them? Be interesting to hear what they say.

EDIT: Just realised there is a fairly new version of Cabmaker 2.1.2. 14th Feb 18. Has anyone tested this one?

I tested this once and there was a difference until I realized that I had Pure Cab globally on. Once I switched that off there was no difference. Then again the IRs I was using were not long or whats' considered high resolutions IR so maybe cab maker is limited to the length of IR that it make and maybe it truncates an otherwise high resolution IR so there might be some limitations that aren't disclosed, but for the most parts the IRs i converted sounded the same as the converted as soon as I switched Pure Cab off in Kemper.

Quote from amclw1

Just realised there is a fairly new version of Cabmaker 2.1.2.

Fairly new? I'd say it's hot-off-the-press, relatively speaking, mate. Unless I'm mistaken, the previous update was in May 2015.

Oh, and @Burkhard, the description for the Cab Maker 2.1.2 Mac download reads, for OS support:
"10.9, 10.10, 10.11, 10.12, 12.13"

That should be 10.13, obviously.

Quote from Monkey_Man

Fairly new? I'd say it's hot-off-the-press, relatively speaking, mate. Unless I'm mistaken, the previous update was in May 2015.

The question is, is it fixed? Still useless if not.

Of course, mate.

I'm going to dare to ask a different question 'though:
Is it broken?

I'm wondering if maybe, because Kemper Cabs respond dynamically as opposed to the "static", "snapshot" nature of conventional IR's, it makes sense that they'd sound different after conversion thereto. In essence, they're a different beast altogether.

That said, if they sound wildly different, I can see how that might be annoying, but if they sound similar but are more-dynamically-responsive (alive / varying with input dynamics and frequencies), then that's what I'd expect based on this "theory".

If they sound the same at some pre-determined or reproducible settings, I have no problem with them behaving in a 'dynamic' manner. But I need to know that the IR used elsewhere 'can' sound the same (not similar) when loaded on the Kemper, and how to achieve that. Trial and error not good enough.

Basically we need some good analysis of the latest version, or a statement with the lowdown from Kemper. Unfortunately I think some of the guys who did this before have given up with it.

Pretty sure that Kemper have specifically said an IR converted to a Cab won't sound the same unless you turn Character all the way down.

Hmm... could that be the critical piece of information needed here, I wonder?

Thanks Lokasenna.

That’s huge - I never knew that!

Must try turning the character down.

Quote from Lokasenna

Pretty sure that Kemper have specifically said an IR converted to a Cab won't sound the same unless you turn Character all the way down.

This is not in line with what is in the reference manual:

Quote from Reference manual p 31

Cabinet Impulse Responses

Cabinet Presets are also commercially available from third party companies in the shape of so-called impulse responses (IR). These can be converted into a proprietary format using the Kemper Cab Maker software, available for Mac and PC. The resulting files can then be imported to the Profiler by using a USB stick. To find such imported Cabinet Presets, first press CABINET, then use the BROWSE knob.

An impulse response is the perfect companion of any Direct Amp Profile. While the latter is a perfect reproduction of the full guitar amp, the cabinet IR is the perfect reproduction of a speaker cabinet. Combined, they are as authentic as a Studio Profile.

We highly recommend that you select cabinet IRs that have been captured using a solid-state amp, rather than a tube power amp. Since the interaction effects of amp and cab are reproduced by the Amp Profile, it is a good idea not to have them reproduced in the Cabinet Profile a second time.

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the character is set at zero on kemper auto so it does go down to negative 5 and it does sound different

Quote from Lokasenna

Pretty sure that Kemper have specifically said an IR converted to a Cab won't sound the same unless you turn Character all the way down.

I could be wrong; not finding anything about it after fifteen minutes of searching/Googling. I swear I remember seeing a post about it though.

Still none the wiser....

I found this: https://www.3sigmaaudio.com/faq/

Down the page a bit.

-Why do acoustic impulses sound thin and quiet on my Kemper compared to my DAW?
This is a bug with the character knob. If you turn the character knob to a value past zero ie .3 .5 1 etc this will fix that issue.

This seems to apply to 'acoustic impulses' not cabs...

Quote from amclw1

I found this: https://www.3sigmaaudio.com/faq/

Down the page a bit.

-Why do acoustic impulses sound thin and quiet on my Kemper compared to my DAW?
This is a bug with the character knob. If you turn the character knob to a value past zero ie .3 .5 1 etc this will fix that issue.

This seems to apply to 'acoustic impulses' not cabs...

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Yeah - it's something entirely different, for which the kemper was never designed:

https://www.3sigmaaudio.com/acoustic-impulses/

Pretty brazen of them to say it's a bug with the character knob!!