Also worth noting, for as many people who don't seem to like pure cab, there is a group who proclaim it's glory, like such:
There’s no doubt some profiles can benefit from it. It’s a matter of whether it should be globally set to “on” for me. And also remember at the time it was a new and apparently exciting feature. I’m sure there were lots of people excited for something new that grew to dislike it over time, as well. Seems more people these days voice turning it off.
Yeah for sure, as a global setting it is an annoying default. My unit came with it set to "3" by default. I guess the problem is you kind of get used to hearing things a certain way then it's hard to perceive if it sounds better on or off, or just different.
This is a good subjective test on the topic:
I actually do think that the guitars in that clip do sound better around 2-3 pure cab. I think if it's used, anything over 3 seems to suck the life out of the sound.
It certainly seems to me to work best on profiles that have too much brittle 'sm57' kind of sound.
One of the profiles I purchased sounded nothing like the demo that sold me on it, even though I used the same guitar and tried everything I had to get mine to sound at least similar in tone. Once I turned off the global Pure Cab, the tone got very close to the demo tone. So now we have to wonder if the profiler intended it's use or not. Did the demo have Pure Cab on or off? Was the profile created before the feature existed? How would you know?
And yet some profiles I worked on do sound better with it on, so either I tweaked those compensating for the loss of high end, or it just works better on those high gain tones. Easy enough to dial in 3.0 (or whatever value sounds best) on the individual rig / performance cab and save it again. But I will probably try a re-EQ without Pure Cab and see which sounds better in an A/B test.
As someone who generally likes far miced cab tone over close miced tone, the feature is good to have available. I might be choosing to purchase tones because I liked the "far" sound I hear on the demo. But I'm concerned with getting accurate representation out of the profiles purchased. From now on the first thing I will do on new profiles, before any tone adjusting, will be a quick on / off test.
Have a look on the most commercial profiles. Pure cab isnt used. I switched it globally off and set it to my likes in the rig.
My personal experience is, it sounds bad when you turn it on but after 5 minutes of playing your ears got it and it sounds ok.
I think the effect is exaggerated in solo / out of the mix guitar examples like you hear. I think it's less in an entire mix (at very moderate settings). My first thought today was that when just jamming, it certainly felt more vibrant with PC off.
It would be interesting to know ckempers thoughts on the pure cabinet default of "3" (on units that shipped with later firmware versions). Obviously they perceived this default to be beneficial but the jury is out I guess
It should get clearer for starters that there are "cleaning up the profile"-tools to make it behave more like the profiled real tube rig..and than the "classical tone shaping"-tools like EQ,comps and changing the cab etc..
I have said it before not so long ago..I have learned to make a rig really sound good (using different guitars which is very important for me) without even to use EQs or changing cabs..just using tools like" pure cab","definition" etc..I like this approach because otherwise (dont making any "clean up") I will EQ a rig to a certain guitar while it will sound awefull with any other axe..something which kills my "feel" I always had using a real tube amp.
I have made the experience that many,many(not saying most because this is not the case at all) rigs dont need more than this "clean up" from the start.
Maybe one more "update tutorial" with all the "collected experience" to date (linked to the "quick start"-manual) of a "cleaning up a profile and making it available for further tone shaping" kind of thing would be a good idea;
This is a dumb question I guess,I use the KPA for recording only.I plug it into my AudioBox ione.Is the pure cab for just for use with an external cab or can I use it the way I have it plugged into my AudioBox and to my JBL speakers?
This is a dumb question I guess,I use the KPA for recording only.I plug it into my AudioBox ione.Is the pure cab for just for use with an external cab or can I use it the way I have it plugged into my AudioBox and to my JBL speakers?
"Pure Cab" affects the main outputs and will be captured by the Audiobox interface you are plugging into. You do have some options though.
Cut from THIS 2015 THREAD post by @sambrox "Monitor Out Cabs Off checked in the Output section and using the monitor out, Pure Cab does not affect it, meaning you can leave it on when using a real guitar cab and have the benefit going through the Mains, yet still have the raw Direct Amp sound going to the guitar cabinet (if you're using Merged profiles, of course. I'm not sure about Studio profiles and the Cab Driver algorithm, but will check tonight)."
Normally I try to leave "pure cab" to 0, because I hear my pitch less dynamic and more poor of harmonics when it goes on. I prefer to work more on post equalization than on pure cab level. However, sometimes I found a good lead sound setting the "pure cab" around 2.3 points, not over it.
"Pure Cab" affects the main outputs and will be captured by the Audiobox interface you are plugging into. You do have some options though.
Cut from THIS 2015 THREAD post by @sambrox "Monitor Out Cabs Off checked in the Output section and using the monitor out, Pure Cab does not affect it, meaning you can leave it on when using a real guitar cab and have the benefit going through the Mains, yet still have the raw Direct Amp sound going to the guitar cabinet (if you're using Merged profiles, of course. I'm not sure about Studio profiles and the Cab Driver algorithm, but will check tonight)."
Thank you That does help me out.
I just listened to that Pure Cab video a bunch of times and I am nearly sure there is some reverb added in the effect. The stark chunking with Pure Cab off vs on 9, there is clearly some kind of room simulation going on.
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Yeah I just checked my main profiles and they sound pretty great at 3. I am using PA speakers for an amp in the room sound (15" EV Elimanitor i's)
I sure hope my Pure Cab is on coz, like the original poster of this thread, I’m not enjoying my Kemper as much as I know I should be.
I’m very new to Kemper. I know it’s a great unit so I’m blaming my situation more on user error.
I’m more of a plug and play guy with my tube amps and this is my first time getting into these types of units. I plan on using mine live going into PA and FRFR on stage as well.
I will turn it off tonight and hopefully mine will come to life also
I'm not saying any of this I'm about to say is the case, but it's always worth going through a couple of sanity checks first just to save yourself some pain :
The Kemper is the sound of a mic'd up amp. It's going to be very different to the sound of the amp in the room unless you use it with an actual guitar cab using merged profiles and the cab section disabled. If that's an option for you, you may prefer it to FRFR speakers.
However a lot of problems you might encounter could be down to expectation. I originally expected the Kemper to sound digital and so it did to me, I had to do my own profiles to learn just that it really was true to the sources and I just didn't know the sound of mic'd up tube amps as well as I thought I did.
The path to success there is simple : Start by profiling your own amp. Do an AB compare there with a re-amp (the Kemper makes a great reamp box). If there are noticeable differences even after refining then disable pure cab and space. If there are still noticeable differences do a factory reset. If you still find noticeable differences then contact support.
I sure hope my Pure Cab is on coz, like the original poster of this thread, I’m not enjoying my Kemper as much as I know I should be.
I’m very new to Kemper. I know it’s a great unit so I’m blaming my situation more on user error.
I’m more of a plug and play guy with my tube amps and this is my first time getting into these types of units. I plan on using mine live going into PA and FRFR on stage as well.
I will turn it off tonight and hopefully mine will come to life also
Hello Hedward,
Try switching out (changing) the stock cabinet. The easiest way to test / demo a different cabinet with one of your favorite profile, is to first make sure your favorite profile of choice is displayed on the main menu/screen. Next, LOCK everything except the Cabinet Module. Once you have done this, you can manually BROWSE through all the rigs/profiles you have on your Kemper. If you have your Kemper connected via USB to your computer, you can also use Rig Manager to select different rigs/profiles. In either case, the only thing that will actually change is the Cabinet profile. The second you hit upon a particular Cabinet which works with you favorite amp profile of choice, select SAVE AS and give this modified preset/profile a new name. Then, don't forget to UNLOCK all the sections that you had previously locked for this particular experiment.
I bet you dollars to donuts you will have an epiphany.
You may also want to read through this thread:
Different Cabinets Give Amps New Life
Cheers,
John
Man, I read this post and got so excited at your outcome that I went downstairs immediately to try it hoping it was the reason why every single profile on my Kemper sounds like trash through my interface, but unfortunately it made no difference whatsoever. Still sounds absolutely awful, 100% of the profiles have a synthetic grainy fizzy overtone. Absolutely not even close to what the demos I’ve heard sound like. Beginning to think there’s something wrong with my unit after all of the settings and cables and troubleshooting all week.
Man, I read this post and got so excited at your outcome that I went downstairs immediately to try it hoping it was the reason why every single profile on my Kemper sounds like trash through my interface, but unfortunately it made no difference whatsoever. Still sounds absolutely awful, 100% of the profiles have a synthetic grainy fizzy overtone. Absolutely not even close to what the demos I’ve heard sound like. Beginning to think there’s something wrong with my unit after all of the settings and cables and troubleshooting all week.
please open a new thread with your issue and contact support through the support form on our website.
