Simplified Reamping - No senses here.

  • Hey all, I just wanted to offer a possible suggestion/alternative to this revamping process, because a lot of threads are cries for help. Someone else might have suggested this but i couldn't find it. Sorry if this sounds stupid to some of you professional musicians but it works awesome for me and damnit Jim, i'm a doctor, not an electrical engineer.


    The idea of reamping always sounded so great but between "senses" and changing kemper input/stack settings, wanting to use a STEREO effects loop and not have to change cables and so forth, I got really defeated... So i do it this way - I never even need to touch my kemper in the rack anymore (and I use rig manager for 90% of the sounds)


    So below is my solution, short version.


    tools - kemper, apollo quad (but most should work) and pro tools(any DAW)


    Short/Simplified
    guitar -> apollo Hi-Z 1 (recorded in pro tools) -> TS/guitar cable in output 1 -> kemper FRONT interface -> S/PDIF out into apollo S/DIF (recorded in pro tools)


    More info
    what i do is tell Console (apollo's control software, but should work with any interface software) is to route the Hi-Z 1 straight out output 1. Pro tools (or whatever DAW) still receives the signal on an armed track (mute it)


    set your daw to record the S/PDIF in for your kemper sound (so you can hear that sweet stereo tone that you thought was the bomb, but well, here we are talking about reamping...)


    RECORD THAT SUCKER


    THEN the ONLY changes you make when it comes time to reamp
    - in your daw - change the output of your direct track to your line out (output 1 in this case, which you can really do at any time prior) and
    - in your interface software, change the Hi-Z 1 channel routing back to monitor (or whatever normal is called on yours)


    BAM - instant stereo reamping - never touched the kemper


    but what about level mismatching? - easy fixes - 1. decrease the console/interface volume output or 2. get a reamping box between the between the line output and the kemper front in.


    I've had no latency issues and since the kemper always receives the same signal (it's always coming from the output 1 whether i'm playing live or reamping) the sound is consistent.


    Duffman

  • Nice. However this method means you must first go through an analog to digital conversion stage which is unnecessary and *may* affect the tone in a bad way. Connecting via spdif to your Daw negates this potential issue, as the signal digital throughout. The cleanest way is to connect via spdif, especially if you record the di at ‘studio’ level. All you then have to do is change the input mode to reamp, and change track output assignments in your daw accordingly - not much if any more hassle than your method. Using the studio input level setting for my DI I’ve never had any level issues when reamping.

  • cool MCVA, thanks for the feedback. undoubtedly that's why people do it that way. I guess i just found the kemper side a bit fiddley. And you're right about the A/D conversion issue, at my (admittedly poor) level of technical know how, I found benefit in the kemper always getting exactly the same signal (through the same input), whether I'm laying it down or reamping it, so i know my results 'should' be consistent.


    I was confused by the output options via kemper's S/PDIF - i want mono DI plus stereo full amp/effects/stereo effects loop everytime i hit record in my daw (on the DI and proper 'effected' stereo track). I was also sure that the clean signal being sent back to the kemper didn't match my initial signal. could be wrong



    My first post was simplified to help those who might be stuck, but allow me to explain why i do it this way...


    Also (and maybe this doesn't matter) this way I can put my whole Voodoo Labs GCP in the loop (4 effects pre kemper, 4 stereo effects in kemper stereo loop) and go nuts, knowing that I still have the exact clean DI safe in the computer which i can use to hit my whole rack at any time to be free to experiment like crazy (without ever unplugging or plugging anything in). If I just used the kemper S/PDIF to DI the clean i couldn't put pedals in front without them being caught in the clean signal chain, and as i've said, I love me some stereo effects in the loop.


    but horses for uh, weekend rockstars! (that's me, not you, you might be Slash!) :D


    rock on mate!

  • Yeah it is a bit confusing, but not too bad once you get used to it. Just set the SPDIF output to 'git/master left' and you're basically okay. Also using only the S/PDIF you don't have to worry too much about the clean, distortion and reamp sens so that makes it easier. It's not possible to monitor/record in stereo whilst also recording a DI track in mono this way, as you use one S/PDIF channel for the processed tone and one for the DI signal.


    However I found the following thread a while back which describes how to setup the Kemper for zero latency and stereo monitoring whilst recording via S/PDIF:


    Low latency monitoring for (home) recording


    It's a great setup for me and it's how I have my Kemper set up all the time. I would recommend checking it out! I love not having to worry about latency issues whilst monitoring my performance when recording.


    Also, good idea regarding incorporating Voodoo labs unit - sounds like lots of fun!