Near done with Kemper, any suggestions before it goes up for sale?

  • Thank you for responding so politely and comprehensively to my post, Terence. I was going to ask if the reason you hadn't posted anything new at that point was because nothing had changed in the interim, but I wanted to believe you'd made at least a little progress by now. Bummer, man.


    Listening to the clip, it immediately reminded me of the effect old / charge-deficient batteries have had with the various EMGs I've used over the years. The same sound is evident in bass guitars with actives which're being powered by charge-deficient batteries.


    I realise the chances of this being the issue for you are practically-zero, but I thought I'd mention it 'cause the similarity's uncanny.

  • sample.zip

    Done with a Highway one strat, topjimi Jubilee profile, spdif to RME Fireface.

    No post processing.

    I believe you said at one point that you have a Les Paul, is that correct? Single coil pickups VS humbucker pickup will make a tone difference for sure.. I do not believe that is the root of the issue but eliminating that tonal difference will help.


    For something I am not sure has been suggested. Does your Marshall have an effects loop? If so, plug the monitor out into the return and shut off the cab. That would take a lot out of the digital chain

  • I believe you said at one point that you have a Les Paul, is that correct? Single coil pickups VS humbucker pickup will make a tone difference for sure.. I do not believe that is the root of the issue but eliminating that tonal difference will help.


    For something I am not sure has been suggested. Does your Marshall have an effects loop? If so, plug the monitor out into the return and shut off the cab. That would take a lot out of the digital chain

    My Les Paul sounds worse through the Kemper, though fine through my Marshall. However, she's due a setup so I'm open to that being a part of the problem. My other strat, CP 50's, sounds similar to the sample through the Kemper.

    Think we can agree the sample I posted sounds bad. Understand what I'm getting at, yeah? ;)

    The Marshall does have an effects loop, but I tend to run my pedals in front of it. Are you referring to speaker emulation? That doesn't sound too great. From what I hear, recording with a mike is the way to go.

  • The Marshall does have an effects loop, but I tend to run my pedals in front of it. Are you referring to speaker emulation? That doesn't sound too great. From what I hear, recording with a mike is the way to go.

    The idea is to use the effects loop return so that the Kemper would use the power amp section of the Marshall and the real cab. This would allow for the ability to separate the parts of the chain. Get the amp profile sounding good and the move onto the next part. Personally I prefer to run my Kemper through a power amp and into a real cab.

  • The idea is to use the effects loop return so that the Kemper would use the power amp section of the Marshall and the real cab. This would allow for the ability to separate the parts of the chain. Get the amp profile sounding good and the move onto the next part. Personally I prefer to run my Kemper through a power amp and into a real cab.

    And then mike the cab?

    Might as well just mike the Marshall then. I mean, I bought the Kemper to record the Kemper. If I have to use an amp to get the Kemper sounding good, the price tag isn't justified.

  • And then mike the cab?

    Might as well just mike the Marshall then. I mean, I bought the Kemper to record the Kemper. If I have to use an amp to get the Kemper sounding good, the price tag isn't justified.

    We are not to the point of mic'ing anything. Like I said the idea is to connect it this way to dial the amp profile in. The end goal is to get things running the way you intend but one step at a time.

  • We are not to the point of mic'ing anything. Like I said the idea is to connect it this way to dial the amp profile in. The end goal is to get things running the way you intend but one step at a time.

    I get what your saying, but if I need to put my Kemper through a tube amp to sound good it defeats the object for me.

    I bought the Kemper because the profiles by topjimi, Mix Berlin etc sound great in their demos. All done with no processing and no amp apparently. Just the Kemper, no post processing. Many on forums, in their videos, confirmed this. So I bought the Kemper and the profiles, and you can see the results I'm getting.

    I appreciate you taking the time to give suggestions, but you can see where I'm coming from. If I can't use the Kemper by itself, as the company claims and as others claim, its of no use to me. I shouldn't have to tweak and tweak it, or put it though a tube amp.

  • I get what your saying, but if I need to put my Kemper through a tube amp to sound good it defeats the object for me.

    I bought the Kemper because the profiles by topjimi, Mix Berlin etc sound great in their demos. All done with no processing and no amp apparently. Just the Kemper, no post processing. Many on forums, in their videos, confirmed this. So I bought the Kemper and the profiles, and you can see the results I'm getting.

    I appreciate you taking the time to give suggestions, but you can see where I'm coming from. If I can't use the Kemper by itself, as the company claims and as others claim, its of no use to me. I shouldn't have to tweak and tweak it, or put it though a tube amp.

    Now you are again refusing to do what is suggested. This is the kind of thing that makes it look like you are only here to troll and bash Kemper. You are literally refusing a troubling shooting step because you shouldn't have to do it. I deal with stubborn customers that don't want to do trouble shooting steps all day, every day. You don't want to attempt to fix the problem, that's on you. It is standard steps in trouble shooting to isolate and eliminate or resolve issues one step at a time.


    Good luck with your sale.

  • Now you are again refusing to do what is suggested. This is the kind of thing that makes it look like you are only here to troll and bash Kemper. You are literally refusing a troubling shooting step because you shouldn't have to do it. I deal with stubborn customers that don't want to do trouble shooting steps all day, every day. You don't want to attempt to fix the problem, that's on you. It is standard steps in trouble shooting to isolate and eliminate or resolve issues one step at a time.


    Good luck with your sale.

    Err I posted the sample, and we can see it doesn't sound good. You suggested that I go through my Marshall, which I was grateful for. I merely pointed out that I wished to use the Kemper by itself, as I purchased it under the assumption I could.

    Not sure where the anger is coming from man, but thanks for your time anyway.

  • Thank you for responding so politely and comprehensively to my post, Terence. I was going to ask if the reason you hadn't posted anything new at that point was because nothing had changed in the interim, but I wanted to believe you'd made at least a little progress by now. Bummer, man.


    Listening to the clip, it immediately reminded me of the effect old / charge-deficient batteries have had with the various EMGs I've used over the years. The same sound is evident in bass guitars with actives which're being powered by charge-deficient batteries.


    I realise the chances of this being the issue for you are practically-zero, but I thought I'd mention it 'cause the similarity's uncanny.

    All three guitars I use, sound roughly the same albeit with their natural differences. Yeah, I don't know what the problem is. Only thing left is to chat with the company directly.

  • Based on that sample, it has to be something other than the KPA. Or the KPA is faulty in some manner. That's not a setting, a speaker or an interface choice. Something in the setup is all kinds of screwed up.

    Only way I could make my gear sound that awful is to actually try. Even then, it'd be a challenge.

    “Without music, life would be a mistake.” - Friedrich Nietzsche

  • Based on that sample, it has to be something other than the KPA. Or the KPA is faulty in some manner. That's not a setting, a speaker or an interface choice. Something in the setup is all kinds of screwed up.

    Only way I could make my gear sound that awful is to actually try. Even then, it'd be a challenge.

    And that is why I suggested using the 'known good power amp and cab'. If it still sounds bad it would 100% be something within the Kemper weather it is a faulty part or not would be tough to say.

    Err I posted the sample, and we can see it doesn't sound good. You suggested that I go through my Marshall, which I was grateful for. I merely pointed out that I wished to use the Kemper by itself, as I purchased it under the assumption I could.

    Not sure where the anger is coming from man, but thanks for your time anyway.

    And after all these years I should know better then to post while on my first cup of coffee. My response was a bit out of line. Sorry.

    My suggestion was not intended to have you run you KPA like that but as a test to isolate the KPA but using known good power amp and cab. It is an easy test. If it still sounds like crap then try a different profile stock with no changes made to it. There are many on RE, I am sure you know that and many that we could suggest. That would further isolate the profile or the physical Kemper/firmware.

  • If you won't profile your amp that sounds good, then just sell the Kemper, as its whole concept is to be able to profile your own sound and take it with you. This is my last post here.

    Go for it now. The future is promised to no one. - Wayne Dyer

  • And that is why I suggested using the 'known good power amp and cab'. If it still sounds bad it would 100% be something within the Kemper weather it is a faulty part or not would be tough to say.

    And after all these years I should know better then to post while on my first cup of coffee. My response was a bit out of line. Sorry.

    My suggestion was not intended to have you run you KPA like that but as a test to isolate the KPA but using known good power amp and cab. It is an easy test. If it still sounds like crap then try a different profile stock with no changes made to it. There are many on RE, I am sure you know that and many that we could suggest. That would further isolate the profile or the physical Kemper/firmware.

    No problem.

    I see what you're getting at. It sounds pretty much the same going directly though the monitors. I spent some time testing out the RME interface by itself last night, making sure it wasn't that. Sounds fine as far as I can tell, I carefully selected it over a Babyface and UAD Apollo.

    Nothing wrong with either of my strats, they sound fine through my amp.

    What I'll be doing is going down to the shop I bought it, and seeing if they'll let me run it through something and A/B it with another Kemper. There's a small problem with the screen anyway, so its due a repair under warranty. I'll ask the company to test the unit for any sound quality issues. If that doesn't resolve the issue, I'll sell the unit.

  • If the sample is a strat on the neck position it sounds pretty much as it should be. I have almost all Top Jimi profiles and with my prs cu22 on the bridge they sound pretty identical to the videos (although his Jubilee isn't one of my favourites). If it's not a strat on the neck, then either some parameters are pretty screwed up by accident or something else bad happens. Maybe try to use just normal XLR cables into the interface?

  • If you won't profile your amp that sounds good, then just sell the Kemper, as its whole concept is to be able to profile your own sound and take it with you. This is my last post here.

    Getting sick of this nonsense. Is everyone only profiling their own amps? No. everyone is sharing profiles and buying them, aren't they.

    Show me in writing, where the designer of kemper states that the whole concept was only to profile your own amp? They never said that, did they. If you haven't got any actual advise, dont waste my time.

  • I think there might be something wrong with your sample. Something in your chain might not be right. One of my main out had become defective on mine after a few years (Kemper took tare of that in an exemplary fashion).


    I'm reading this thread coming back in my hotel room after playing an arena, so I had to chime in. If you want to "hear clips" of other people, just go outside; it's being used everywhere at the moment, from major recording engineers to the live circuit, the Kemper is literally everywhere in the pro world without you knowing it because it's hidden in a rack behind the fake Marshall stacks or on some number one hit where you have no idea it's been used. No need to prove that it's capable, just do your homework correctly and you'll figure it out.