New kemper user in need of assistance

Welcome, Nick!

Have you auditioned Rigs with headphones to hear what they sound like with the cabinets they were Profiled with?

Obviously whichever Profile you choose is gonna sound like an amp through your Friedman cab (Cab block switched off on the KPA). With cabinets' being such an integral part of any guitar rig's sound, you're not going to hear that much variation, at least, nowhere near what you'd hear through an FRFR cab, studio monitors or headphones with the Kemper Cab block on.

Have you tried profiling your amps? And seeing how they sound through the cab?

Also, maybe try some merged and direct profiles as well. On rig manager you can sort by rating and test out a lot of different profiles as well.

Quote from nicktheripper

I'm a little confused with what you mean that I'm not going to here much variation?

Quote from Monkey_Man

With cabinets' being such an integral part of any guitar rig's sound, you're not going to hear that much variation, at least, nowhere near what you'd hear through an FRFR cab, studio monitors or headphones with the Kemper Cab block on.

It's obvious. Not only do Rigs "contain" different cabinets, but each is mic'd in a way unique to the Profiler - different mic's, angles, distances, preamps used etc.

So the great variation you'd normally hear when swapping out cabs in the real world is further-enhanced by the aforementioned factors.

As I said, compared with using the same cab for all amps, the difference is huge, which is why I asked if you'd auditioned "full" Rigs via the 3 means I mentioned, with the Cab block active.

If you use the kemper with your real cab it's obvious that you have to turn off the cab sim ( one cab is enough )and than try DI ,or some call it , DA profiles. These where profiled without a cab. You already have your cab. There are many profiles on rm and you can identify them also when you check the description of the cab. Normally there is an N/A signed.

I never recommend using a real cab because most of the profiles are studio or merged profiles and this is the big thing with the kpa, you can check all cabs in this world when playing through a linear frfr or at home through good monitors ( I use active monitors at home and I go from the main outs, stereo from kpa to the monitors). With your one real cab, all profiles will narly sound the same, because of the cab. I also tried a real mesa boogie v30 celestion and sold the cab and made the paradigmshift to frfr, that was the right decision for me.

For a budget: I use rokit rp6 g3 monitors, these need no subwoofer, the bass is cool and overall the sound fits. I bought 2 on ebay, 3 month old for 280€ prox. 1,5 year ago and they work flawlessly.

Welcome to the forum

If you like check my youtube channel ( link under my signature). Tipps and tweaks for kemper profiles....

Cheers

Frank

Quote from nicktheripper

I was under the impression that the draw of getting the powered version of the kemper was the ability to successfully use it with a standard guitar cab.

... or a passive FRFR cab.

Quote from nicktheripper

I figured that considering I like v30's I would like various profiles running through v30's as long as the cab simulation is off.

That's fine in theory. As long as, as you said, you use amp-only (no-cab) Profiles, or turn the cab sim part of all Rigs off.

Quote from nicktheripper

I guess in essence I failed to realize that in this instance the kemper would sound like a miced signal then being colored by v30's (as opposed to v30's being colored by a mic).

Not at all. The mic / preamp part of the Profiled signal chain, IOW everything post-and-including the cabinet, is captured and switched on or off via the Cab block's status - on or off.

So, whether you use Merged, Studio (regular) or Direct Profiles, as long as the Cab block isn't instantiated, you'd be hearing just the amp through your cab.

Quote from nicktheripper

I guess I just need to consider getting some type of frfr speaker in order to get the desired sound out of the kemper.

If it's variety in tone you're after, this can't be beaten. All those Profiled setups, including their cabs, will sound as-intended.

This is why I asked you in my first response whether or not you'd auditioned Rigs through the three monitoring types I mentioned.

Well, you made the right decision IMHO, man; so many in your situation have done the same.

A merged/direct profile is one created with a DI box. So basically for a normal studio profile the Kemper has to guess where the amp ends and the cab begins when you turn off cab simulation.

A merged/direct profile is created without the cab involved. So you theoretically get exactly what the head sounds like.

Many pthers have provided good answers and explanations about the impact of speaker already so I don’t have anything else to add to that.

However, you also asked whether you need to invest more money buying paid for profile packs. The answer is definitely NO. The profiles in the factory conten are all excellent quality and cover a wide range of styles to give you a good feel for what the KpA is capable of. The free versions of profiles from some of the big name popular commercial profilers are all full versions of their product with nothing removed. If you buy a paid for pack that contains one of those profiles it will sound identical to the free version you already have. The time to buy more profiles is when you have decided on the general profiles that you like but want more variety. Say for example you like MBritt’s or Top Jimi’s Marshall Plexi sounds but there are only one or two variations in the free content. Then you would buy one of their packs of that specific amp to get several (sometimes hundreds) of variations with different amp settings, cabinets and mics. Until you know what you like you are more likeable to disappear down a n endless rabbit hole and spend a lot of moneywithout ever being satisfied.

I would strongly recommend you take Nicky’s (MonkeyMan) advice and check out the existing profiles through headphones just to compare the difference before investing any more money in profiles or an FRFR cabinet.

Quote from Dogmatix

A merged/direct profile is one created with a DI box. So basically for a normal studio profile the Kemper has to guess where the amp ends and the cab begins when you turn off cab simulation.

A merged/direct profile is created without the cab involved. So you theoretically get exactly what the head sounds like.

Nice one Dogmatix and this is what you need to know. Don't trust a studio profile to use with the cab turned off. It is just an approximation and sometimes sounds harsh. Best to try direct and then there are relatively few merged anyway.

I started this way and now just use in ears and go direct without a cab. You simple need time to acclimatise to the genious of the Kemper.

Welcome to the forum! Good answers above. IMO FRFR is the way to go.

Quote from nicktheripper

How do I tell which profiles are merged/direct? Are any of the stock profiles merged/direct?

A good place to start would be the Merger Profiles Tutorial pack in the Rig Manager Rig Packs.

If you look at other profiles the name might often include D/Direct or M/Merged. Also the cab section will typically say N/A.

All Merged Profiles actually contain a Direct profile. The way merging works is to compare two profiles of the same amp. One is Direct and the other is Studio. Although the name merged implies that you add the two together it actually works by subtracting the Direct from the Studio to leave you with an accurate cab only section. That's a really clever solution which is so simple and so obvious but it took the guys at Kemper to think of it