Struggling with my sound

  • Hey guys!

    Not so much a rant more of me hitting a wall.

    It seams no matter what i do i cant seem to get a great sound from my setup.My Kemper just sounds bad when playing back the recording in my DAW (cubase 5).

    It sounds cheap and well...sh*t in all honesty.

    My interface is the focusrite 2i4 my guitars are in the £1000+ range so it certainly aint my guitars but through the kemper they sound like an argos £100 special beginner pack.The kemper bundles are purchased from well known respected artists everything says it should sound great but it just doesnt.Even when i used other software (bias amp etc) they again sounded guff and cheap.

    Could it be my DAW or maybe the USB connection into my PC or even maybe the interface is clashing with the crappy onboard soundcard?...i really have no idea why its messing with me so much...clearly im doing something wrong and have been for a long time.

    My cable situation is guitar into front input of kemper.Cable directly from main left out directly into my 2i4 and interface set to line and kemper out set to master mono.I also record in cubase using a mono track.The Interface USB goes direct into my pc.(windows 10).Ive updated the 2i4 drivers and no change.

    Any advice to fix this would be greatly appreciated.

    Desperate for help because im thinking of just selling it and packing it all in. ??

    Help! X

  • please post an example

    https://soundcloud.com/adam-massacre-595544843/rockerverb-50 this is an Orange Rockerverb profile.I own an actual Rockerverb 50 and it sounds nothing like this mess.It seems to have this fizz kinda phasey cheap sound.No body no life.Reminds of a 70s kung fu distortion sound if that makes sense? lol almost ALL my profiles have this problem.This is straight into Cubase using my ESP 1007 eclipse through my 2i4.I purposly used single notes to try and show you the dodgy fizzy phasey sound.

  • AdamMassacre1981 , listening on my phone, I don’t think it sounded all that bad. I know feel has a lot to do with it, but on sound alone, I’d give it a B-.


    The strength of the Profiler has everything to do with the strength of the profiles. Have you tried the freebies on the Rig Exchange? Have you tried any third-party vendors? Multiple third-party vendors? I won’t name names (unless prompted), but just because a pack costs good money doesn’t mean it’s plain good.


    And at the end of the day, it’s all a matter of preference. I’ve never felt that ultra-high gain was the Profiler’s strongest suit. I know some would fight me on that. Maybe the Fractal would be be a better match? Or your amps plus the UA OX.

  • https://soundcloud.com/adam-massacre-595544843/rockerverb-50 this is an Orange Rockerverb profile.I own an actual Rockerverb 50 and it sounds nothing like this mess.

    could this be another 'amp-in-the-room' versus 'close-mic'ed-amp' issue?


    you cannot really compare a Profile taken from one amp with another amp (same model & make) and expect them to sound the same, since the cabinet, mic and the placement of the mic play such a huge part.


    are you experienced with close mic'd amp sounds, as you would have in a studio setting, where the amp sits next to you but the speaker is in a booth far, far away and you only hear the mic'd signal over the studio monitors?


    if you want 'amp-in-the-room', play the PROFILER over a guitar cabinet (OUTPUT section, page 1, enable 'Monitor Cab Off')


    close mic'd amps have A LOT of aggressive high end in them, either place an EQ in the EFFECTS section and set 'Low Cut' and 'High Cut' (page 4/5) to taste, or try the 'Pure Cabinet' feature.

    Also, if your monitoring over headphones, enable 'Space', OUTPUT menu, page 5/7


    hth

  • I find i struggle quite alot with high end distortion on my kemper i purchased the unity mainly for Metal after seeing quite alot of users getting amazing sounds from the unit.I find when in my DAW im forced to use drastic high pass and low pass EQ to the point it doest even resemble the original profile anymore.I will play around with the cab option and figure something out...it may just be the actual profiles just dont work for what im needing.

  • AdamMassacre1981 , listening on my phone, I don’t think it sounded all that bad. I know feel has a lot to do with it, but on sound alone, I’d give it a B-.


    The strength of the Profiler has everything to do with the strength of the profiles. Have you tried the freebies on the Rig Exchange? Have you tried any third-party vendors? Multiple third-party vendors? I won’t name names (unless prompted), but just because a pack costs good money doesn’t mean it’s plain good.


    And at the end of the day, it’s all a matter of preference. I’ve never felt that ultra-high gain was the Profiler’s strongest suit. I know some would fight me on that. Maybe the Fractal would be be a better match? Or your amps plus the UA OX.

  • AdamMassacre1981 , what’s your email? I’m going to send you a few patches, and you can see if you like them any better than what you’ve got.


    To answer your question I failed to yesterday, I doubt it’s anything related to your signal path (interface, DAW, computer). Just make sure you’re gain staging properly and not clipping anything on the way in or out.

  • Try to experiment and record the same riff doubletracked and panned (or use Space in the output menu) . Mono close mic sound it's almost always sounds very dry and unpleasant.

    Ive always double tracked sometimes even quad tracked.I think using space will colour the signal slightly...maybe...i will give it a try tho ?

  • AdamMassacre1981 , what’s your email? I’m going to send you a few patches, and you can see if you like them any better than what you’ve got.


    To answer your question I failed to yesterday, I doubt it’s anything related to your signal path (interface, DAW, computer). Just make sure you’re gain staging properly and not clipping anything on the way in or out.

    Yeah im not clipping anywhere im starting to think its more so the actual profile...?