Recording with Kemper and Focusrite Scarlett interface

  • Hi! New Kemper user here, I'm absolutely blown away by this amazing amp, couldn't be happier!


    I want to record my music but I'm afraid my current audio interface (Scarlett Solo) is far too basic. The sound I hear from the Kemper's headphone jack is amazing, but sound quality is decreased when connected to the interface. The interface is very basic and only has one line input and so far I haven't been able to record with the Kemper in stereo. I guess the interface simply doesn't cut it. Long story short, I need to upgrade. Does anyone here have experience with the Scarlett 8i6? Will it deliver the sound quality I hear from the headphone jack? It seems to have several in and output options as well as S/PDIF in/out, so it seems way better in that respect.


    Thanks in advance!
    Erik

  • Is a direct profile a profile with the cab simulation turned off? Correct me if I'm wrong. Thanks to both of you for the replies!

    Direct is profiled without a cab. Amp only, you can add a cab sim to it for a merged profile. I have been doing this a lot since I like to send my monitor to a power amp and real cab. A direct profile will allow you to push the raw amp tone to your DAW and allow you to load and change your cab IRs through an IR loader. I also really like the tone of mic'ing up the cab to send to the interface but most are not using that kind of setup.

  • Welcome, have fun here in the forum and with your Kemper.


    There is a bunch of interfaces out there which would perfectly do the job. Just select one with appropriate features, e.g amount of inputs/outputs, and go for it. Personally I like the S/PDIF a lot so I use it all the time for recording and re-amping.


    I have a rather old M-Audio C400 from Avid which still works well incl. S/PDIF. All bigger vendors have something similar in their portfolio. The Focusrite you mention has a good reputation as well.

  • im abit of a novice also....

    But....

    The solo and the 2i2 are not stereo i dont think.

    I got caught with the 2i2.

    Its twin mono.

    So i bought the 2i4 and thats stereo.

    Im lead to believe you would normally record in mono, and double (or more) track parts left and right or however u want.

    Im recording usb... and it appears fine for what i need

  • If you only use the 2i2 without a DAW it's mono, there you're right. But implemented in the DAW you can play stereo.

  • Not sure what you mean, but in my DAW (the historic Cubase 5 :P or Ableton Live) I choose a new stereo channel and I hear it stereo.

    I don't pan anything.


    Maybe I can take a picture tonight.

    Yeah. Your probably right.

    I cant remember exactly what the crack was.

    Its been a few years.

    Long story short, i was running the kemper from monitor outs into 2i2, then direct outs to studio monitors and usb out of 2i2 into pc.

    I had stereo out from pc to monitors but dual mono going direct to monitors.

    I only noticed when my ping pong delays where not ping ponging. And the chorus sounded crap.

    I posted a few things on here, and realised the input was 2 x mono on the 2i2.

    I was fuming tbh.

    I just went and bought the 2i4. And some trs cables and job done. Sounds far better.

    Ive never actually ran the kemper direct to monitors as i want pc out put running through aswell.

    Im not sure if theres a noticeable difference running through an interface or direct.

    But i will say kemper headphone out vs 2i4 headphone out is like chalk and cheese.

    Id be resurecting an old thread by bringing this up again. But its is mildly annoying.

    I heard beople mention output / headphone resistance maybe responsible.

    I dont actually want to know the answer as it will probably lead me to spending money ???

    Im happy with my setup and kemper headphone out.

    I just ignore other potential drawbacks

  • Bear in mind that the headphone out from the Kemper will likely have the "Space" effect/parameter on (I think it is the default) whereas it is disabled by default for all other outputs. It provides some ambience for headphone monitoring and may be what you are noticing. You can apply it to other (main only?) outputs, have a look in the manual or online for "headphone space", there is a soft button to enable it for the main outs and also a soft knob to adjust the amount applied. I believe the headphone output is high quality on the Kemper anyway, but this space effect may be noticeably absent when listening through another interface. (Though you probably don't want it when not listening through headphones!)

  • I think the biggest issue with the discrepancies between the KPA and any interface headphone sound is that you usually get what you pay for.

    On Thomann the KPA is ≈ €1700, the Focusrite 4i4 is $210.

    The 4i4 kosts just ≈12% of what the KPA, so you can't really expect Focusrite to put as good headphone amp into the 4i4 as Kemper have.

  • Uh, in Germany we say you compare apples with pears ^^^^


    You can't compare the price of the KPA with the price of the interface you choose.

    This has to be seen in relations.


    Imho the sound, when I go with the KPA through the 2i2 interface (via DAW) and listen up with a headphone, is quite the same as the headphone out at the KPA.