Need help with creating a "good" heavy metal tone.

The best method is to profile your own amps dialed in with your favorite settings.
If you dont own any amps; then hook up your computer to the Kemper so you can try high gain profiles through the rig exchange.
I’d probably suggest Mesa Boogie Mark III IV V or JP2C profiles for surgically tight high gain. VHT Pitbull also springs to mind immediately. Next group would be Diezel VH4, Herbert, and the Bogner Uberschall.
The biggest thing you’ll want to familiarize yourself with is equalization and how to use it. In most cases, I run the studio EQ (parametric) in one of the “front of amp” slots to cut bass, maybe slightly boost something in the mids, and notch cut really nasty frequencies. This is my gain shaping tool. In the Mod or X slot I run the graphic EQ. This is where I like to add the bass back in (only needs a hair typically) and further let the bass and treble stand out by reducing some mids, where the cocked wah sounds come from. The result is a tight high gain tone that sits well with the whole band.

MBritts profiles aren't excactly aimded for the metal player. He's a rock guy. Check out http://deadlightstudioprofiles.bigcartel.com/https://reampzone.com/http://www.sinmix.pl/

http://tmsprofiles.bigcartel.com/ Forget the rig exchange. At least 90% of the profiles there are either garbage or mediocre profiles. Oh, I forgot,free deadlightstudios rig pack on the download page.

What exact tones are you after (bands)?

don't forget the Rig packs if you're using Rig manager.

Quote from JoshGoldie

whats the value of rig packs?

Rig packs are basically Kemper working with external professional studios to provide great quality profiles. An example would be the most recent Mbritt profiles Pack was made up or includes profiles that were sold commercially, some were new profiles that probably never existed before of very sought out sounds.

Quote from JoshGoldie

whats the value of rig packs?

Check out this link which lists all the free Rig Packs available for download:
https://www.kemper-amps.com/downloads/10/Rig-Packs

Just run Rig Manager, while a USB cord is going from your computer to the KPA's back USB-port and drag the files into the Rig Manager software. Then double-click the profile and it will be loaded into the KPA. To keep it there, save it using the usual process on the unit.

They're included in Rig Manager now, so no need to download.

Josh, before dismissing the MBritt Profiles, maybe try rolling off the bottom end. A simple reduction of the bass tone knob by 2 or 3 might do the trick. You'll find that the sounds "open up" if you do this, and won't tend to sound muddy when combined or whilst mixing.

Try the free Lars Lüttge pack in rig manager.

Check out the factory rigs, there are some gems. Some rigs come to live when you change the cab.

Look for free sinmix and deadlightstudios rigs in rm.

Quote from Eltzejupp

Try the free Lars Lüttge pack in return g manager.

Check out the factory rigs, there are some gems. Some rigs come to live when you change the cab.

Look for fre sinmix and deadlightstudios rigs in rm.

+1 for the Lars Luettge Pack! Check out the Marshall profiles ("Mars Silvie Jubi*" and "Mars SL 100*") from that pack and I am sure you will get what you want with just a little tweaking.

JoshGoldie:

"Hi everyone, I am relatively new to the kemper world and I am struggling with getting a tight realistic sounding heavy metal rhythm tone.
I have MBritts "heavy pack" but the Revv and 5150 still sound muddy to me, and when i increase the clarity and definition it just becomes thin and harsh..."

Tightness issues are going to be trial-and-error without some guitar pickup EQ discipline. Seriously, the zone between 105-160Hz is everything, and every amp & overdrive pedal manufacturer has their own idea of where and how much to scoop that zone - because there's no such thing as a "standard" pickup, and there's no such thing as a "standard" amount of gain to calibrate that to.

I keep a MXR KfK EQ pedal in my signal chain for this very reason, although there's nothing about this that can't be achieved in the Kemper's input section with the Studio EQ. It's just convenient to have it there.

On the KFK: 125Hz, 250Hz, 500Hz, 1kHz: Learn 'em, love 'em, use 'em. Absolute gold, those EQ sliders.

-djh

Is this for recording or live, or both? I think this is important because your EQ will slightly change depending on need.

My tips are:
1) Use Rig manager, far easier to check profiles
2) If live, use FRFR for checking each sound and do it at volume if possible
3) Find a good profile and tweak rather than try to improve a profile that doesn't work for you and try to correct it. Having said that many profiles do "open up" with some small eq changes. Use profiles closest to what you are after. I don't like 5150 amps anyway as to me they can be tinny but then I've not really used them in anger...try some ENGL or Mesa profiles, I've had better results with those..

thread moved

I haven't tried Michael Britt's heavy pack, but his other packs may sound a little less defined at low volumes, because they are really made to play louder. Something that sounds good at low volume is probably going to rip your ears out, at high volume. I play more rock than metal, but I mostly use Michael's Marshalls, when playing louder.

I put a low cut around 115 hz and 8,500 khz, locked in one of the post cab effects blocks for pretty much all profiles, and that really seems to help. With Michael's, for humbuckers, I usually add some definition to the amp block and do a little eqing.

The Lars Rig pack and the free pack from Sinmix's site are definitely a good starting point, for metal. You may not even need to buy anything, if you get those two.

For heavy metal tones you simply can't go wrong with any of guido's profiles. For roughly 5 dollars you can buy one of his amp packs and the signal to noise ratio is the best I've seen and that's actually very crucial for really heavy tones.

[Guidorist]For the price of a coffee-New: Angel Iron & clips

... and as a huge bonus for we "phase-o-phobes", Dean, they're pretty-much phase-cancellation-free.

What guitar and pick ups are you using? sadly i cant show you the free rigs as i dont have any
From what i have tested on actives and a Gibso/Strat

Ozzy (with randy or jake e lee) - Cili Labs /Lars (deadlight) / Sinmix
Iron maiden - Cili Labs /Lars (deadlight) /
Dream theater - Choptones - Cili - live ready
Megadeth - Choptones have his JVM rig
Steve vai -Choptones has his Carvin rig

i could do a page more but i am trying to keep it short

Ash