Amazing tone FOH, but horrific through IEM’s

  • The alternate and return signal can be unlinked from the main outputs.


    In regards to degredation...I won't go into all the details, each one can do the research, but think of this simple setup.


    Everytime a signal come into and out of the Kemper a conversion has to happen. A conversion is like taking a lot of pictures of a wave form, which leaves out some of the data depending on the sample rate. The guitar comes into the kemper and goes through a conversion so it's already a lower quality than before it was converted. Then this already degraded signal, is sent in analog form to the FOH. That signal again goes through conversion which now the pictures taken are of an already lower quality signal and these new picture will leave out some more data depending on the sample rate. The this signal might go through some of the board fx and get converted a couple more times and the sent back to your in-ears. So as you can imagine by the time gets to your ears it has definitely lost a lot of its data. If you listen to a track recorded at 196k and 48k you can hear a difference. The beginning analog signal it's way above 196k and by the time it gets back to you, well... who know what your getting. If you then add more fx to the Kemper loop it gets even worst. There's just no way around it. That's why monitoring your guitar directly from the kemper's headphone is the best option in my opinion. You hear your guitar after only one conversion.


    Try it for yourself and as always let your ears be the judge not what I say.

  • If your band has a digital mixer (and it sounds like it does if you are using the ME1's), your IEM mix is completely controlled through the mixer and the ME1. On the ME1 you can eq the overall mix (3 band only).


    At the mixer, the sends for each channel should have an independent eq. Have the person doing the mixer work set you up on the send for your guitar and tweak the send eq to your desire.


    I think you will find this makes a world of difference.

  • I would try some of this guys performances. I have a couple of the packs and the are fantastic. I however set the presence around 9 O'Clock. The horns on the house speaker are usually big and even when I think my tone might be dark in the FOH, they are just right.


    http://josephwuproduction.bigcartel.com


    You can also listen to our church live recordings here. I am only using the kemper direct to the house.


    https://m.soundcloud.com/orangewoodchurch-pca


  • I tried this method over the weekend and I now could not be any happier with how the Kemper sounds through IEMS... Incredible experience hearing it all in stereo.. no harshness at all.

  • Try setting the Presence of the Kemper's output EQ to around 9 O'Clock and you won't need and extra eq.

    The only problem with that is that's a global, and will affect all of your profiles. The KPA has a great Studio Parametric EQ in the stomp boxes. I use that in stomp slot 6 or 7 with low/high cuts if needed (85hz & 8.5khz) and notch filters or boosts where needed. That way its programmable by profile, or even for a specific guitar.

  • Nice workaround! If I went in-ear i'd try this one

  • One last observation/advise. I've played in a lot of venues ranging from 100 to 5k seats. They all have different sound systems and therefore It would be impossible to set up a sound that will fit all those variables. Therefore I no longer worry about that. What I care about is what I hear in my ears and let the sound man handle the FOH to what he feels sounds best in the mix out front. Some sound guys are great and some not so much. We just have to live with the fact that sometimes the FOH is out of our hands.

    My concern is hearing the guitar in my ears the way I like it and inspires me to play. This is whether I am using IEM or on stage monitor. We could waist so much time worrying about things we have no control over when we could be using that time to improve our craft. Don't let all this technology and marketing hype deter us from becoming a better musician. The majority of the listeners don't really care about our sound, they care about the music we make. I've heard some guys who have spent thousands of dollars on their equipment/gear and they have a good sound but they lack in their playing and the crowd not responding like one would expect. Then another guy come in with a simple setup and bring the house down with his playing.


    Frank Gambale and Steve Lukather are two of my favorite guitarists but I however think their sound is bright, harsh and very digital sounding(could be due to digital outboard gear), but I can hear them play all day.


    After trying the Helix and AxeFx my opinion is that the Kemper is the best unit out there and has all the settings we need to make it sound great, we just have to get to know all the possibilities within it. Make all the settings using the IEM you'll be using through the Kemper's headphone jack and forget about FOH, you'll be happier, you'll enjoy listening to your self, and the crowd will benefit from your inspiration.

  • 95% of the time depending of the venue I receive a stereo signal from the board (minus guitar) that goes into the alternate and return inputs of the Kemper. I plug my IEM to the Kemper's headphone jack.

  • The alternate will function as an aux in. Then on the output section of the Kemper you can assign where the alternate signal goes; to the main out, headphones, monitor out etc... It's really a fantastic feature. If you are connecting a mono signal you only use the alternate input. If you are connecting a stereo signal you need a "Y" cable to split the "L" and "R"; connect one to the alternate input and the other to the return input. I use one of these.


    https://www.amazon.com/gp/prod…age_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1


    From the Kemper manual pg. 50


    The Auxiliary Input function allows you to feed a stereo signal, such as a mp3-player, into your Profiler to play alongwith it. In the Output/Master menu, the Auxiliary Input function is equipped with three controls: one to feed the aux signal to the main outputs as well as S/PDIF OUT, and two others to feed it to the Monitor and Headphone output.This allows you, for instance, to add an additional monitor signal to your headphone output, while the main output stays unaffected. The auxiliary signal will not be affected by any internal effects.You will need to purchase a special cable which provides the stereo signal via two separate TS jacks. Plug the leftjack into the Return Input and the right jack into the Alternative Input. Use the "Aux In …" soft knobs to adjust the level.While you have an effects loop active in your Rig, or you are in Profiler Mode, the Auxiliary Input cannot be used,since the physical inputs are needed for a different purpose.


    Please do not forget to turn down Auxiliary Input volumes when you are not using it, to prevent unwanted hum and noise.

  • Again, thank you robles1999 and to everyone else on this forum!!


    This method using the Kemper headphone out is incredible... two gigs in with this way and its the best I have ever heard my tone.

  • Because listening through a speaker at distance is different to catching the sound right next to your ear. It is the equivalent of standing a few meters off axis from a 4x12, or having your ear right next to the speaker. Of course it will be bright and nasty sounding that close. If you doubt the effect, try (at a reasonable level to listen to your favourite distorted guitar sound with your ear next to the speaker.

    Karl


    Kemper Rack OS 9.0.5 - Mac OS X 12.6.7