Someone with "Focusrite Control" that can help me set up reamp with S/PDIF? I cannot figure this out.

  • I cannot figure this out. Been sitting here for two hours trying to figure out why my second track will not listen to the DI-track. I've used S/PDIF on my Clarett 4Pre for the purpose of reamping. In Cubase I've set the first guitar-track to "SPDIF in 1" and the second one to "SPDIF in 2". They both give a direct signal and an amped signal, since I have followed the Kemper manual exactly like it says. Then, after recording a direct track and arming the other, I hear no sound, even when I set the input source to "Return Input Reamp" on the KPA itself, I still hear nothing... If I set "Input" on the KPA back to "Front" again, I can play the guitar and hear it just fine.. I tried all of the input sources that I have available for the track that is supposed to be armed and ready for reamp-recording, but nothing is happening.


    Then I figured that maybe there must be something with the Focusrite Controller. It's another beast I cannot understand properly (even after watching tutorial videos I still don't get this confusing software). The S/PDIF can be split in to Mono and Stereo. I've tried them both, don't know which one of them to chose. It also have a dropdown menu with "Playback (DAW)", "Hardware Input" and "Custom Mix". I've tried all of the channels but no sound still. S/PDIF inputs and line-ins has been set and activated in the Cubase controlpanel aswell (see added picture for that).. Physically the cables are connected correctly also, given that SPDIF channel 1 gives dry signal and SPDIF channel 2 gives the amped signal..


    I'll attach a few pictures to show how it looks: imgur(dot)com/a/9MAx8V4

  • Okay, let's start from scratch, i.e. open a new project, and we'll do it by the numbers. I'm not in the studio so some of the names are approximations, but I think it's the overall workflow that may be giving you trouble.

    1. Create a mono audio track and name it DI
    2. Set the Input to one of the mono splits from spdif
    3. In the Kemper, make sure the spdif output is set to the analog guitar signal
    4. Arm track, press Record, play guitar
    5. Disarm track and set the DI track output temporarily to your main Stereo out.
    6. Play back. If it's not just the raw guitar signal, you need to get this fixed first and it'll have to do with what your Kemper is set to output via spdif
    7. Once you can record a clean DI track, the next step is reamping.
    8. Set your DI track output to point to the Kemper mono spdif input
    9. On the Kemper, set that mono spdif input source to Reamp In / spdif reamp in
    10. Create a new audio track, mono or stereo as you prefer and name it Amp
    11. Set the Input of the Amp track to either one of the mono splits or the stereo of the spdif
    12. Now play back the DI track. You should hear the amp profile sound coming out of the Kemper. If you hear nothing, verify with headphones into the Kemper first as I don't know how you have our outputs to the speaker routed in this case. If you hear your tone through your Kemper headphones you should be good.
    13. Once you've verified that the DI is making it to the Kemper and you're getting the profile sound, arm the Amp track for record and press Record.
    14. You should see audio being recorded into the Amp track. if not, go back and check all your routing
    15. When recording is done, disarm the Amp track, mute the DI track, and make sure the Amp track's output is set to your main Stereo output bus.
    16. Press play and you should hear your reamped guitar.

    See if that helps get you going.

    Kemper remote -> Powered toaster -> Yamaha DXR-10

    Edited 4 times, last by Chris Duncan ().

  • "Return Input Reamp" is the analog input on the back, it needs to be "SPDIF input reamp", the next option on the knob.

    Thanks. I tried that one also you see, still had no effect on my end

    Okay, let's start from scratch, i.e. open a new project, and we'll do it by the numbers. I'm not in the studio so some of the names are approximations, but I think it's the overall workflow that may be giving you trouble.

    1. Create a mono audio track and name it DI
    2. Set the Input to one of the mono splits from spdif
    3. In the Kemper, make sure the spdif output is set to the analog guitar signal
    4. Arm track, press Record, play guitar
    5. Disarm track and set the DI track output temporarily to your main Stereo out.
    6. Play back. If it's not just the raw guitar signal, you need to get this fixed first and it'll have to do with what your Kemper is set to output via spdif
    7. Once you can record a clean DI track, the next step is reamping.
    8. Set your DI track output to point to the Kemper mono spdif input
    9. On the Kemper, set that mono spdif input source to Reamp In / spdif reamp in
    10. Create a new audio track, mono or stereo as you prefer and name it Amp
    11. Set the Input of the Amp track to either one of the mono splits or the stereo of the spdif
    12. Now play back the DI track. You should hear the amp profile sound coming out of the Kemper. If you hear nothing, verify with headphones into the Kemper first as I don't know how you have our outputs to the speaker routed in this case. If you hear your tone through your Kemper headphones you should be good.
    13. Once you've verified that the DI is making it to the Kemper and you're getting the profile sound, arm the Amp track for record and press Record.
    14. You should see audio being recorded into the Amp track. if not, go back and check all your routing
    15. When recording is done, disarm the Amp track, mute the DI track, and make sure the Amp track's output is set to your main Stereo output bus.
    16. Press play and you should hear your reamped guitar.

    See if that helps get you going.

    Thanks! Very detailed and good guide. Will try the first thing when I'm home! :)

  • Okay, let's start from scratch, i.e. open a new project, and we'll do it by the numbers. I'm not in the studio so some of the names are approximations, but I think it's the overall workflow that may be giving you trouble.

    1. Create a mono audio track and name it DI
    2. Set the Input to one of the mono splits from spdif
    3. In the Kemper, make sure the spdif output is set to the analog guitar signal
    4. Arm track, press Record, play guitar
    5. Disarm track and set the DI track output temporarily to your main Stereo out.
    6. Play back. If it's not just the raw guitar signal, you need to get this fixed first and it'll have to do with what your Kemper is set to output via spdif
    7. Once you can record a clean DI track, the next step is reamping.
    8. Set your DI track output to point to the Kemper mono spdif input
    9. On the Kemper, set that mono spdif input source to Reamp In / spdif reamp in
    10. Create a new audio track, mono or stereo as you prefer and name it Amp
    11. Set the Input of the Amp track to either one of the mono splits or the stereo of the spdif
    12. Now play back the DI track. You should hear the amp profile sound coming out of the Kemper. If you hear nothing, verify with headphones into the Kemper first as I don't know how you have our outputs to the speaker routed in this case. If you hear your tone through your Kemper headphones you should be good.
    13. Once you've verified that the DI is making it to the Kemper and you're getting the profile sound, arm the Amp track for record and press Record.
    14. You should see audio being recorded into the Amp track. if not, go back and check all your routing
    15. When recording is done, disarm the Amp track, mute the DI track, and make sure the Amp track's output is set to your main Stereo output bus.
    16. Press play and you should hear your reamped guitar.

    See if that helps get you going.

    I'm not certain on step 2. There are so many choices.. I see on some yt videos I should set it to git stack?


    I actually stop on part 8. There is no way to set the DI track output to a spdif input. All I have is no bus and stereo out

  • Here's how it looks Chris Duncan

    I don't see your image. I see a Zoinks page with pictures of animals who are looking at me. Now I'm nervous about what they're planning.


    I actually stop on part 8. There is no way to set the DI track output to a spdif input. All I have is no bus and stereo out

    I suspect that you haven't set up your inputs / outputs in Cubase, which is a step I omitted because I made an assumption that you'd already done that. My bad.


    Before a track can see an input or output, you have to set up the appropriate bus on the device manager. In 7 that was called VST Connections. You may have seen this Focusrite page on Cubase 7. Of course, it refers to a different model than your interface but the concepts are the same.


    https://support.focusrite.com/…terface-in-Cubase-for-Mac


    That said, I don't know how your Focusrite will show up in the Device Port column. It may have something like Input 1, 2, 3, 4 and spdif. Or, possibly Input 1 / Input 2 may be analog if you're plugged in to that or spdif if you're getting signal from that instead. You'll have to read the Focusrite manual if there's a question in that regard. It should be the same convention for both inputs and outputs.


    Note that there are buttons at the top for input and output. Sounds like you may have set up your inputs but not set up the outputs, so there are no outputs available for the DI track to see. So, go into your VST Connections, Output section, and set up a bus that points to the Kemper, name it Output to Kemper, and you'll then have an Output to Kemper selection available in the list of outputs on your DI track.

    I'm not certain on step 2. There are so many choices.. I see on some yt videos I should set it to git stack?

    No, set it to "SPDIF input reamp" as nakedzen said. That's how it should be set and isn't the source of your problems.


    The problem is that the DI track isn't making it out of Cubase because you don't have the output routing set up properly, so no matter what the Kemper was set to it would still fail because the audio never leaves your computer.


    Get the step 8 stuff sorted out first by setting up the proper output bus and then assigning the DI track to it. Then set the Kemper per his instructions, plug your headphones into the Kemper and you should hear your guitar.


    And if not, let me know your results and we'll figure it out. Hopefully without Zoinking animals. :)

    Kemper remote -> Powered toaster -> Yamaha DXR-10

    Edited 2 times, last by Chris Duncan ().

  • Thanks Chris. But I have already setup input and output in cubase just like that manual there. Here's how it looks: https://imgur(dot)com/a/2PkSt0t

    There you can see my whole Cubase setup, it's done correctly. I suspect that maybe reamping is not going to work on such an old DAW?


    EDIT: I've now also noticed that I can still hear my guitar out of the monitors even when I set the Kemper to SPDIF input reamp.. Which I find very strange

    Edited once, last by keem85 ().

  • The Kemper front input is working at all times, not matter if I chose another input source. This issue got introduced today and makes it a little more difficult to troubleshoot.. Cubase is not letting me chose DI output as the other spdif cable, and my Kemper is not letting me chose spdif as input source. I tried restarting the KPA and reinstalling OS also


    EDIT: Setting KPA output to Stack instead of Git Studio had another effect. Now I can hear the amped sound, and the front input and spdif section works.. Still problems with reamping though. No way to get the DI signal to play back to the KPA.

    Edited once, last by keem85 ().

  • I somehow managed to be able to have the AMP channel listen to the DI channel. It now inputs signal from DI, but it's clean signal. Not amped or distorted, like it should be

    EDIT: It seems that the manual is wrong when it comes to output. It says to put it in Git Studio, but that's wrong, no amped sound comes through there. If I set it to Git/stacked, I get amped sound. I'll experiment a little bit more

    Edited 2 times, last by keem85 ().

  • There's nothing wrong with Cubase 7, I ran with it for a long time and I can assure you that it does everything you need, including reamping. Think positive, dammit! :)

    Thanks Chris. But I have already setup input and output in cubase just like that manual there.

    Okay, I replaced (dot) with . and pasted the image into my browser, so I can see it. By the way, if you'll look at the toolbar when you're posting a reply, there's an icon that looks like a chain. Click that, it's' the Insert Link feature. Paste in your link (the real link without the (dot) stuff) and you'll get this:


    https://imgur.com/a/2PkSt0t


    Honestly, given the challenges you're having with technology, here's what I'd suggest as the best path. First, screw spdif for the moment. Let's just get you working analog. There are enough fundamental concepts that have to be sorted out with that alone. Once you get analog reamping working and it's all good, then Step 2 can be changing to spdif.


    Remember the basic rule of debugging, keep things as simple as possible. You're grappling with too many things at once and getting overwhelmed. So, let's simplify it and start by getting reamping working, analog style.

    1. In VST Connections, set Mono In 1 Device Port to Input 1
    2. For Mono Out, set your Device Port to Output 1
    3. On the back of your Kemper, connect a cable to your Main Output left
    4. On the Focusrite, connect the other end of the cable, which must be TRS, to the front panel channel 1 input.
    5. On the back of your Focusrite, connect a TRS cable to Line Output 1
    6. On the back of the Kemper, connect the other end of the cable to Return Input
    7. Press the Kemper Input button
    8. Turn the knob for Input Source until it reads Return Input Reamp
    9. Press the Output button
    10. Turn the knob for Main Output to Master Mono (in this test we're not recording stereo)
    11. In Logic, if you originally created the Amp track as Stereo, create a mono track for this test, otherwise use the one you have
    12. For the Amp track, set the input to Mono In 1 and the output to Stereo Out
    13. For the DI track, set the input to not connected (since you already have a DI track) and the output to Mono Out 1
    14. Arm the Amp track , press Record

    This is exactly how I have my setup and it works great.


    Let's get you going in analog, make sure everything's working and that you understand the concepts, then you can move to spdif if you really feel the need (I don't), which shouldn't be hard to do once we have this part worked out.

    Kemper remote -> Powered toaster -> Yamaha DXR-10

  • That worked! Thanks. Now for the S/PDIF setup. This helped me narrow it down to maybe a routing problem on the Focusrite Software. I'll not bug you guys more about this, since now I know it works the analogue way.