Your Strategies for Dealing with Transition from Headphones to FRFR to Recording?

    I have had my powered KPA for two months now and am still really digging it. I will soon be living in an apartment out of town for a few months and bought the Kemper for use with headphones, though I have since picked up a Xitone passive 1x12 cab.


    I love the KPA through my headphones (Sennheiser HD 280 Pro 64 ohms) as well as through the Xitone cab, but find there's a fairly substantial difference in tone, with the headphones giving more apparent gain and more treble detail than the cab (even with the tweeter on). This coming week, I am hoping to use the KPA to lay down a few lead overdubs in pro-level studio.


    So a few questions for those of you with more experience than I:

    • Would a different set of cans or different speaker help minimize the difference between the two modalities? If so, which?
    • If, as I suspect, the physical properties of sound transmission suggest there will always be a difference between running through headphones and a FRFR speaker, what strategies do you use (short of creating two distinct rigs) to minimize this?
    • Where can I expect the signal to come out on this continuum when I connect (as I believe is best) to the studio's deck running Pro Tools through the s/pdif out?

    Obviously, I'd love to hear from folks who've worked with these particular units, but am very much open to hearing about how you have minimized similar transition issues.


    Thanks for your help!

    Edited 2 times, last by Tramp1 ().

    I think your biggest difference is coming from open room sound with the Xitone and then closing your ears in with the 280's. That in itself is going to make a big listening difference alone.

    As mentioned above, with accurate FRFR, accurate cans and accurate studio monitors, the sounds should be fairly consistent except for the "cab in the room effect" of listening through speakers.


    What I think you need to be aware of, is that your tone live, through the PA is going to be brighter than you hear it through your headphones, and probably most similar to how it sounds through your FRFR at volume. This is due to the Fletcher-Munson effect. Also, as a result of dialing in your tones through an FRFR at volume, they may tend to be a little darker when recorded. It's easy enough to compensate for it in post production, just something to be aware of.


    I've gotten in the habit of tweaking tones through studio monitors, my Sennheiser cans, and my Westone IEMs so that I have three reference points. This has worked well for me, and strikes a nice balance between studio and stage use.

    The sounds I have got from the KPA through three different kinds of studio monitors in different rooms (Yamaha HS7, Event ASP8, JBL LSR308) have been much more similar than the sounds I have got from Sennheiser Momentum (over ear) headphones (I think they sound great for music but awful for the KPA). I don't know if I should expect more pleasing results from other headphones. Others seem to be happy with using headphones so there's still some hope for me.

    Quote from boyce89976

    As mentioned above, with accurate FRFR, accurate cans and accurate studio monitors, the sounds should be fairly consistent except for the "cab in the room effect" of listening through speakers.


    What I think you need to be aware of, is that your tone live, through the PA is going to be brighter than you hear it through your headphones, and probably most similar to how it sounds through your FRFR at volume. This is due to the Fletcher-Munson effect. Also, as a result of dialing in your tones through an FRFR at volume, they may tend to be a little darker when recorded. It's easy enough to compensate for it in post production, just something to be aware of.


    I've gotten in the habit of tweaking tones through studio monitors, my Sennheiser cans, and my Westone IEMs so that I have three reference points. This has worked well for me, and strikes a nice balance between studio and stage use.

    Thanks. Very helpful!


    I find that my headphone sound is a bit brighter than my FRFR in room. But I've not yet had a chance to truly crank the Xitones and have read that the HD 280 Pros tend slightly toward the treble range, so this could be a confluence of factors. To the studio tomorrow!

    Just a quick note to say the Kemper did beautifully in the studio last night! I recorded the rhythm tracks through a Top Hall Club Royale, so did most of the overdubs with the nicely complementary Morgan AC 20 profile at various levels of delay and gain. Also added some great atmospherics with the TAF Woke up in... profile. I've never much liked having to sweat mic placement of my amps in the studio, so the KPA was a revelation.