Reached a wall with my Kemper.

  • Feel for you, must be so frustrating. I don't think it is that the Kemper is not for you because I think most people here agreed the sound clips weren't quite right.


    Ultimately that doesn't help you though, we'll keep trying as long as you do...

  • VST's for me sound awful with distortion/high gain. Thats one of the reason why I bought the Kemper. The next step for me is to try load boxes with an amp head, A Marshall JVM head and load box costs about the same as a Kemper.

    That is a viable option. I used to love my Mesa Boogies through my Two Notes Torpedo Reload with WoS IRs. They did sound great but in my experience Kemper profiles of my own amps actually sounded better (and are even more convenient) so my Two Notes just sits on my studio desk now and doesn't even get turned on.


    Obviously everyone's tastes are different. It might be perfect for your taste and requirements. Whatever happens I really hope you find a solution that works for you and gives you back the joy of playing with a great inspiring sound.

  • Feel for you, must be so frustrating. I don't think it is that the Kemper is not for you because I think most people here agreed the sound clips weren't quite right.


    Ultimately that doesn't help you though, we'll keep trying as long as you do...

    I'll keep trying with it. The new price has just dropped by a £100 in the UK which means they'll be selling used for less now. So I'll give it to the end of this year, as I'll be losing money selling it used.


    Damn, knew I should have got that new Marshall head and load box....

  • Exactly.


    How do you mic and record your Marshall?
    Route that chain to the Kemper input and make your own profile.
    It should be 99% identical.


    There are some very good profiles out there but I still use almost all ones I made myself.

  • Its not possible in my living situation to record my amp, which is why I got the Kemper. What I'm thinking of doing eventually, is making a cupboard into an iso booth and miking the amp.


    As for profiling my own amp, is that going to sound any better than the profile of a much more expensive amp, profiled by a professional? One of the big selling factors of the Kemper, is that I can have access to amps I wouldn't have access to otherwise.


    For those of you that do mike your amp or use a load box, are your results better or worse? Would love to hear side by side comparisons. I don't expect a load box or mike to sound considerably better with my skill level, however a mike is £200, a load box around £500. That's nearly a thousand pounds saved going with those options. I've read other forums where people who already mike/load box their amps are splashing out the cash on a Kemper. For those of you that did that, was it worth it?


    Anyway, like I've been saying I've taken the plunge and will keep swimming for a while.


    DI tracks to come shortly.

  • Terence I think you are perhaps missing the point - I think you had said you had been happy with the recorded sound of your valve amp?


    The signal chain to profile is the same as recording.


    Profiling is generally 95% accurate.


    Therefore this would be a control test to see if that is similar.


    I think this is why people are asking you to profile - as part of the diagnosing your issue.


    I might be wrong, if so I'll shut up :)

  • As for profiling my own amp, is that going to sound any better than the profile of a much more expensive amp, profiled by a professional?

    Maybe, maybe not, but if your Kemper is working properly it should be able to reproduce the sound of your mic'd amp within an accuracy deviation of 1% - 5%.

  • I've read other forums where people who already mike/load box their amps are splashing out the cash on a Kemper. For those of you that did that, was it worth it?


    Yes. I was working with Load Boxes for quite some time. Afterwards with Attenuators and multiple mic setups. And I had a lot fun with changing the mics, buying new mics, change the mic position, add a room mic, etc.
    I can recommend going through this process because you can learn a lot about frequencies, sounds, and equipment.
    Then a friend introduced the kemper to me. And I was like: Are you kidding me!? Digital? No way!! I‘ll take a shortcut now: After 10 month of research and A/B comparison I gave up and bought one.
    The much easier and cheaper access to amps and the fact that you can change your whole setup with a fingersnap was convincing to me. I’ve got much more time now to be creative with my guitars than before. The only contra for me so far is that I move less and put on weight. Ok, thats a lie.


    I can recommend to watch the kemper video when Uwe Bossart and Tim Pierce are profiling Tims amps. It‘s impressiv.
    And I can also highly recommend the video of Johann Segeborn when he is testing a bunch of greenbacks with one amp, one cab, one git and one riff. That can be an ear opnener as well.


    Good luck!

  • Thanks for that insight.


    Would you say that your getting better results than using load boxes/mike, or at least on par with the benefit of saving time?


    I'll check those vids out. But there's plenty of vids around where people are getting better results than me, using the same gear. Look at Pete Thorne, his demos are outstanding. Would I get the same sound with the same gear? Not even close. Before the Kemper I went and bought a UAD Apollo with UAD plugins. I watched a video which claimed, 'this is the sound you'll get, without eq or compression. Just plug in and play.' In my setup, it sounded terrible. UAD had absolutely no answer or suggestions when I sent them clips. So I sent the interface back, and I wont be using UAD again.


    My point is, many of these youtube vids aren't very helpful for the average player (that's me) with a humble living room setup. I'm not going to get the same results with my Kemper hooked up to my PC via RME interface, as Pete Thorn does with a laptop and VST's.


    I'm forever looking for the magic button, the missing technique to my recording. Be great if someone could release a video on that!

  • hi There


    have you tested other profiles?


    i know may sound silly but following is a list with some of my fav profiles (all free):


    TAPP IRATUS D
    TH - Mars CM800KK A
    Al Bombed!
    CHP - Mars CM2000
    CHP - Mars CM800kk 12
    SinMix 5150 OlaEn
    MB - 13LDW 30 2.2
    MB - Victor V502 6
    MARSHALL 6100 - SinMix
    EA 5150 S B CreamBack
    TAF - RIVERA K1+ Lead 2
    Friedman ButterSlax C
    6505_004 NV 1 - Kosten
    Soul Dano Overdrive - Kemper


    if you may try that ones you can tell us if they sound good or not, please consider your monitors quality, did you tried something like Positive Grid to check if they sound good with your speakers? you will compare to your kemper in your home, just download a demo...


    regards
    Claudio

    Edited once, last by szykman: added Soul Dano Overdrive - Kemper ().

  • @ the OP
    The trouble is, tone is subjective. If you like the sound of your guitars through your amp, that’s your tone. Whether another amp or guitar costs 10 times as much doesn’t matter, if you don’t like the tone. Hence why I and others have suggested you profile your amp.


    Many people love MBritt profiles. However, there are some on the forum that just can’t get along with them. Is it because they’re rubbish? Or is something wrong with those users’ Profilers? No, they just don’t get along with MBritt’s tone. It’s sounding more and more like that might be the case with you, though I admit that your first clip sounded off to me.

  • @ the OP
    The trouble is, tone is subjective. If you like the sound of your guitars through your amp, that’s your tone. Whether another amp or guitar costs 10 times as much doesn’t matter, if you don’t like the tone. Hence why I and others have suggested you profile your amp.


    Many people love MBritt profiles. However, there are some on the forum that just can’t get along with them. Is it because they’re rubbish? Or is something wrong with those users’ Profilers? No, they just don’t get along with MBritt’s tone.

    Man, well said! You could actually copy/paste this quote in 90% of the threads here...... :)

  • Thanks for that insight.
    Would you say that your getting better results than using load boxes/mike, or at least on par with the benefit of saving time?


    Yes, much better results!
    If a recording technique wants to achieve to picture the sound of an amp like you hear it when you are in the room with the amp, than microphones
    represent your ears. For example two mics in front of the cab, one in the sweet spot of the room.
    If you work with a load box you get the direkt signal of the power amp without the cab. By dialing in plugins you are able to emulate the amp-in-a-room-sound. But that can be tricky.
    My suggestion: Pick your favourite guitar tone of your favourite record. Make a research on the equipment which has been used and/or post your favourite guitar tone here or elsewhere and see the results. I‘m shure you will get closer to where you want to go!

  • I too have better results with the Kemper (and Axe FX before this) than I ever did with my Mesa Dual Rec, Reeves Custom 50, Laney Lionheart into a Suhr Reactive Load and Torpedo CAB.


    The Kemper wins hands down, every time, IMO. For many reasons.


    There's something wrong with your clips mate. Try a different Kemper or a different Les Paul.


    Do you want me to send you a clip of me playing Les Paul? What profile are you using?