Direct Profile sounds like speakers that are about to explode

  • I'm trying to make my first ever profile (a direct profile) and it sounds hideous, like speakers that are going to explode. I know from other threads reactive load boxes are not ideal, however its what i can do right now. I'm running my guitar in to the kemper, in to a Synergy Preamp->Fryette Power Station with the direct out going to the return input of the Kemper. When i play the reference amp it sounds what i expect (of course no cabinet so it sounds super fizzy), but after the profile its a hideous sound Here's a quick clip alternating between profiled amp and the direct/reference amp.


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  • There will be an easy solution, hang in there brother…
    Which DI box are you using? It almost sounds like there is no DI box in the chain…
    Do you by any chance have the ability to use a real speaker cabinet? The Kemper needs to capture a sound with the amplifier pushing against a real speaker, it affects the way the kemper reads the amplifier, (The preamp, output section, the Transformers…)
    I had horrific results using a reactive load, very similar to yours…
    When using my countrymen type 85 DI box and a real speaker cabinet of any kind, it made a big Difference.

  • Hmm, that sort of defies the idea of a Reactive Load box (which is to react like a real speaker)....but who knows what the Kemper is doing. I was in that discussion on this topic and i thought it was determined that the Kemper should at least be able to copy the sound of the Reactive Load, even if it's not capturing the sound of a real speaker.


    I'm taking the direct out of the load box (which in this case is the Fryette Power Station)...which is also the power amp since i'm bringing a preamp in to it. The Fryette will let you take the power amp out and feed it right back in the reactive load so you get the sound of the tubes in the power amp without any sound. It all seems to sound fine as the "Reference Amp" , but the Kemper/Profiled amp sounds nothing like that.


    I do have access to speakers, but it will be tough to profile anything with proper volume where i have it set up. To me this sounds like a level problem, but changing the level on the amp or the return level in the profiler didn't seem to make much difference.

  • The only way I can see this working properly is if you take the speaker out from the power station into a DI box / from the DI box into a speaker cabinet, and XLR from DI box to Kemper ...
    I tried to do a ‘silent’ direct profile with a suhr reactive load and got similar results that you are getting.

  • Take your little Bogner speaker cabinet and just lay it on top of a bed facing down, or facing down on carpet floor...
    You can still get lots of juice out of the amplifier without much sound at all :thumbup:

  • The only way I can see this working properly is if you take the speaker out from the power station into a DI box / from the DI box into a speaker cabinet, and XLR from DI box to Kemper ...
    I tried to do a ‘silent’ direct profile with a suhr reactive load and got similar results that you are getting.

    The DI portion is already built in to the Power Station though....maybe tomorrow i'll try doing what you said or putting it in a closet at least...at least to see what it sounds like.

  • Yes, I understand what you’re saying, I know the power station and what it does, I’m just saying, it might be a good experiment to see if the KPA is really finicky and maybe it works normal with a DI box or a speaker, or maybe it needs both…
    Btw, I had quite a few direct profiles that sounded somewhat like yours in the beginning and it was not until I got a really good direct box and then tweaked the input volume (up) at the beginning of the profiling process, then I started to get better profiles...
    I know the power station has XLR balanced out which works like a direct, but what I’m saying is it might be worth a try to take the speaker out of the power station into a separate direct box then into a real speaker and an XLR from the direct box back to the kemper.
    I bet that this will work 100% perfectly, I know, the power station Is ‘supposed’ to do the same, I’m just saying, my bet is with using the speaker out of the power station into a direct box into speaker cabinet, XLR from direct box back to Kemper …

  • They don't make this easy do they?


    So i don't have any other direct box, so i tried running the speaker out of the Fryette power station my cabinet and the direct out to the kemper and it wouldn't profile. So i tried to send the direct out to my daw and apparently its not active when running a preamp in to the line in...it only sends the direct out from the amp in (which can itself be the power station, but we already confirmed direct profiles don't work that way with the kemper). So unfortunately i can't create direct profiles still without buying yet another direct box of some sort. This is getting frustrating....


    Any hardware recommendations (cheaper the better...that still work). The official Kemper one has never been in stock that i've seen (and is a little pricey). I saw a lot of recommendations for the Countryman (even more expensive...but maybe more versatile).

  • You are right, everything I have done over the last six months has been a challenge with this box, LOL but I am learning slowly finally…
    I tried to buy the kemper DI box but I could not find one anywhere… It’s the only one I haven’t tried yet, but… The countrymen type 85 is the best one I have used so far, way better than the Behringer G 100 ultra thing… I have tried eight so far and the countryman is by far the most transparent and it’s built like a tank!

  • I ran out to Guitar Center and bought an inexpensive DI box to test (one i saw a few others using...the Livewire one). I made one pretty good profile with an edge of breakup preamp, but the mid gain one sounds like the worst of the cocked wah profiles so many people put out (now i see why, haha). I can not profile high gain because the amp just feedsback and it says its too noisy. The feedback does not occur when i plug in to the amp, so not sure the deal here. Definitely losing patience

  • I know, it’s tough not to lose patience... Did you try using the -20 DB?
    I’m not familiar with this unit, But I think LiveWire makes two… One has a -20 DB pad and -40 DB pad and the other one does not…

  • You are going from the ‘speaker out’ of Power station into the DI box, then into a cabinet… (speaker cables here)


    XLR cable from the DI box back into the return of the kemper…


    Plug your guitar into front of Kemper, then another guitar cable from direct out into input of your preamp...

  • Hey Tim, do you mean to get a cable that is XLR at one end, and quarter inch jack at the other end? Have you found more success doing it (Direct profiles) this way?
    I have been just using a regular microphone cable XLR at both ends… The other question… I have been using a 20 foot XLR cable, is it better (sonically) to use a much shorter cable? Or does it make any difference…