Kemper and Clean Rig Volume?

  • Hi, I have been going through a bunch of profiles (built in plus some MBritt stuff I just bought) and I am noticing that clean rigs are very quiet. Is this to be expected? I guess I figured profiles would be somewhat normalized but seems I always have to crank volume on clean profiles which is odd because on most amps clean channel is louder because of less compression compared to high gain output.


    thanks, Brian

  • This is probably on purpose, and controllable by the Clean Sense knob.


    Edit: Actually I guess it's more guitar-dependent. My guitars all require different clean sense levels. One of the quirks of the KPA.

    Disclaimer: When I post demo clips for profiles, there will be some minimal post-processing, unless stated otherwise. I normally double-track hard L/R, and add to the main buss a small amount of EQ and a limiter/comp set pretty light as well. Sometimes I get test profiles in advance of release, though 90% of my clips will be from packs I have purchased.

    Edited once, last by Locrain ().

  • Some rigs, either clean or dirty, can be too loud or too quiet when compared with others. When you use profiles from different vendors it ends to get worse. The clean sense paramete may help, but it's more designed to compensate your different pickups' output (being then normalized) than to fix the volume in rigs. Changing the rig volume a bit in the offending rigs may help, or alternatively raising the mids a bit, which increases or decreases our perception of volume but obviously changes the sound. You may keep the rig untouched and change it in performance mode only.

    Never too old for rock'n'roll

  • I find the complete opposite. Clean sounds are often way too loud. I tend to run my Clean Sense around -udb to get them balanced and stop the input clipping. I don’t use high uput pickups PRS DGT and PRS 513 most of the time. Even in single coil positions I find the input neds reduced a bit.

    That's true, that's my experience as well. Even with P90s I find the cleans to often be very loud.

    Disclaimer: When I post demo clips for profiles, there will be some minimal post-processing, unless stated otherwise. I normally double-track hard L/R, and add to the main buss a small amount of EQ and a limiter/comp set pretty light as well. Sometimes I get test profiles in advance of release, though 90% of my clips will be from packs I have purchased.

  • Locrain i was wondering if it was just me.

    Nope, and honestly, I don't know how people with high output pickups get by, I pretty much stick to low output p/ups (far, far better for low tuned high gain stuff IMO), and it's a bit of a balancing act. I do have a guitar with a BKP C-Bomb in it, and I have the clean sense at minimum, and lowered the bridge pickup, just to get good levels.

    Disclaimer: When I post demo clips for profiles, there will be some minimal post-processing, unless stated otherwise. I normally double-track hard L/R, and add to the main buss a small amount of EQ and a limiter/comp set pretty light as well. Sometimes I get test profiles in advance of release, though 90% of my clips will be from packs I have purchased.

  • The clean sense paramete may help, but it's more designed to compensate your different pickups' output (being then normalized) than to fix the volume in rigs.

    Unless I'm mistaken, CJ, its purpose is to provide a means of balancing the clean level with dirty, and is therefore exactly what the OP should be using it for.


    The amp-compression parameter in the Rig menu achieves the same thing, but it's best to start with Clean Sens as that's what it's designed for and perhaps use Amp Compression where necessary in "anomalous" Rigs so as to avoid having to adjust a global setting and thereby affecting all Rigs.

  • This is from the Main Manual:

    ¨   Clean Sens

    Different types of guitars produce different output levels depending on their pickups and string gauge: for example, humbucker pickups generate higher voltages compared to single coils, and active guitars generate even hotter signal levels. If you feel that clean sounds are either very loud or very soft compared to distorted sounds, you can adjust Clean Sens to a level where clean sounds have the same perceived loudness as distorted sounds. Clean Sens determines the volume of clean sounds, but not the way that the amp or the effects are driven. A guitar with low output level stays cleaner; a hot guitar will still distort more easily.

    Extremely “hot” guitars can generate unwanted distortion, indicated by the INPUT LED flashing red. This is only relevant for clean sounds, however - prominent amp distortion will completely mask a subtle clipping of the input.


  • Unless I'm mistaken, CJ, its purpose is to provide a means of balancing the clean level with dirty, and is therefore exactly what the OP should be using it for.


    The amp-compression parameter in the Rig menu achieves the same thing, but it's best to start with Clean Sens as that's what it's designed for and perhaps use Amp Compression where necessary in "anomalous" Rigs so as to avoid having to adjust a global setting and thereby affecting all Rigs.

    Yeah, I didn't question that at all, or perhaps I was not clear. Imho, the clean sense is to compensate the potential loudness of clean uncompressed rigs and to cater for hot pickups that clip the Kemper, but a global adjustment makes sense when your pickups are similar. You may adjust the clean sense per guitar. But, still, I find that many rigs are too quiet or too loud independently from your guitar and sense adjustments. There is no way to modify that globally, cause some clean profiles are too loud and others too quiet when compared. Perhaps the profiling was done wirh a very different guitar and the rig is not as loud or quiet as others from other vendors. Also the mids EQ changes our perception of loudness, doesn't it?

    Never too old for rock'n'roll

  • CJGOMEZ I don't think it's to do with the guitar used in the profiling process. It's more likely that some people crank the volume in the amp section or rig volume to make their profiles stand out. Louder is perceived as better. I have seen profiles with the Rig Volume cranked as +5 or more.

    I have seen that too and it's pretty annoying!

    Never too old for rock'n'roll

  • Indeed.

    But, still, I find that many rigs are too quiet or too loud independently from your guitar and sense adjustments. There is no way to modify that globally, cause some clean profiles are too loud and others too quiet when compared. Perhaps the profiling was done wirh a very different guitar and the rig is not as loud or quiet as others from other vendors. Also the mids EQ changes our perception of loudness, doesn't it?

    Yeah. Rig Volume is the intended solution here, I feel, and obviously one needs to re-save adjusted Rigs.


    As I suggested, don't overlook the Amp-compression parameter as a further means of levelling as it clearly helps to balance the clean and driven volumes within a given Rig.