Still struggling with distortions.

  • Hey guys!

    Sorry for STILL struggling with my unit but its becoming such a drag almost to the point now of just selling it and moving on all together. Ive purchased so many well known bundles and downloaded so many free ones from the many recommended profiles etc etc i've upgraded my interface to quite a modestly high end one (Clarett 4pre) my monitors are upgraded to Hs7's ive purchased cables that were recommended im doing everything i can possible do to try and achieve the level of quality i see/hear so many other kemper users achieve but it always just seems to sound like garbage.To me they all sound like cheap digital vst's with fizzy phazey layer .Ive attempted EQ to try and remove the horrid-ness but the adjustments become so severe that the original tone is destroyed.Surely they all cant be this bad...surely somewhere in my setup there is something going wrong.At first i thought maybe its my guitar but i get the exact same result from all three of my very different guitars (Gibson SG Standard/ESP Viper 1000 Deluxe and ESP 1007 Eclipse) im not peeking going into my kemper nor am i peeking going into my interface (my connection is Guitar into INPUT then SPDIF out into interface then interface into PC).

    I have noticed the sound from my Monitors that are coming direct from the unit sound insanely different to what Cubase records and plays back.

    SPDIF CLOCK on the kemper is set to 44.1 as is the sample rate in Cubase 10.

    SPDIF OUTPUT on kemper is set to "Master stereo".

    MAIN OUT is ticked at -12db

    Monitor Cab off is Ticked.

    Monitor Stereo is Ticked.

    SPDIF Out Link is Ticked.

    Sorry if non of this makes sense im a "musician" i play instruments and all this tech stuff confuses me lol.

    I've attached a sample of a rough recording to show you what i mean.Its a solo'd guitar track doubled far right/far left (standard stuff) then within a mix with bass and drums then a little sample trying to show that harshy fizzy phaze crap i get from all metal distortion profiles.

    If there is no fix then this will be me finished with the kemper sadly.I hope i CAN fix this.

    Thanks in advance guys.

    Adam.

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  • Having the “Monitor Cab Off” button ticked means that the cabinet is set to “Off” for the monitor output ( just for clarification ). Although if you are using SPDIF then It won’t matter as it is taking your main master outputs.


    You say it sounds different direct to monitors. How is that connected? Have you tried recording with a main output then into the interface with a regular TS 1/4” cable or XLR and not using SPDIF. You could have a wrong /bad SPDIF cable

    Try recording that way and see if it sounds different.

  • Whatever you do, I strongly suggest that you hang in there, Adam. You've no doubt heard many clips and recordings that sound good to you, and I can assure you that in most cases the users aren't doing anything special - no fancy tricks. Even the factory sound set should sound way better than what you seem to be experiencing.


    So it makes no sense to me for you to give up when you know what's possible sound-wise; it's just a matter of getting to the bottom of it. Captain Obvious, I know, but your expression that you're almost ready to give up made me feel like reminding you of this. It should be easy-peasy, mate. It'll be like chalk and cheese when you finally get to hear what you'd been expecting all along.


    It does sound like there's not a lot of cabinet action happening in the example tone. Agree that it sounds thin-and-fizzy. :/

  • Whatever you do, I strongly suggest that you hang in there, Adam. You've no doubt heard many clips and recordings that sound good to you, and I can assure you that in most cases the users aren't doing anything special - no fancy tricks. Even the factory sound set should sound way better than what you seem to be experiencing.


    So it makes no sense to me for you to give up when you know what's possible sound-wise; it's just a matter of getting to the bottom of it. Captain Obvious, I know, but your expression that you're almost ready to give up made me feel like reminding you of this. It should be easy-peasy, mate. It'll be like chalk and cheese when you finally get to hear what you'd been expecting all along.


    It does sound like there's not a lot of cabinet action happening in the example tone. Agree that it sounds thin-and-fizzy. :/

    Thanks man...i'm still hopeful/determined i will get there \m/

  • Adam, you need to be systematic in this to find the source of the issue.


    the first thong must be to listen on headphones connected directly to the KPA headphone out. If they sound terrible then the problem is with the KPA. If not the problem is further downstream somewhere.


    Assuming the headphones sound OK, the next thing is to connect your monitors directly to the XLR outputs. NO interface, no DAW nothing. If this sounds OK the problem isn’t the KPA. If this doesn’t sound OK, the problem is either KPA output settings OR the monitors. Test and isolate the source.


    if the direct to monitors test sounds OK move on to connecting to the interface with speakers. Using XLR not SPDIF. Keep the DAW out the chain too. If this sounds OK, THEN switch to SPDIF and compare.


    Keep adding things until you find the culprit.

  • +1 troubleshoot with headphones only first, to isolate all other variables.

    If it doesn’t sound good, try different Cabs (Till’s cabs is a good starting point) and IRs.

    Have you tried turning Pure cab on/off any difference?

  • To me, that just sounds like it needs to be low passed at between 7-10kHz. This is always done when recording, especially, distorted guitars and will remove the fizzy/phasey issue you cite, which is due to micing.

  • UPDATE: So i plugged my monitors directly into the Kemper and of course it sounds great something that i never doubted.The main confusion and frustration was IS why does the playback of the recorded guitar NOT sound like what is coming through the monitors lol.So in this sound demo i unplugged the SPDIF and used Monitor out (Master Mono setting) direct into my interface (input 1) which is USB direct into my PC.Using the same guitar and the same profile...unless im going insane and somebody is playing games it sounds insanely different lol

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    i think the best way to really get some solid answers is im gonna call my buddy up who has a kemper and get him to come over and have a look see whats going on.I WILL be changing the SPDIF cable just to maybe eliminate that being a possible thorn in my kemper side lol

    I'am insanely grateful for all of you guys for helping this noob out your help is a much appreciated lifeline \m/

  • To me, that just sounds like it needs to be low passed at between 7-10kHz. This is always done when recording, especially, distorted guitars and will remove the fizzy/phasey issue you cite, which is due to micing.

    i did some insane reduction already around the 7-10 its pretty much my first go to thing to do like ya say those areas are nasty when distorted but it was getting so severe it was getting buried i couldnt really reduce anymore at this point without totally killing the tone lol

  • Just to confirm


    Everything is fine without the interface/DAW = KPA not the problem


    Recording sounds different = problem either interface or DAW


    is the sound straight from the interface to speakers (no DAW) the same as KPA direct to speakers. Yes = DAW setting problem. No = interface problem.


    I’m starting to think you have a plug-in active on the master bus or something like that.

  • Just to confirm


    Everything is fine without the interface/DAW = KPA not the problem


    Recording sounds different = problem either interface or DAW


    is the sound straight from the interface to speakers (no DAW) the same as KPA direct to speakers. Yes = DAW setting problem. No = interface problem.


    I’m starting to think you have a plug-in active on the master bus or something like that.

    Monitors direct into Kemper sounds fine headphones in kemper sound fine monitors direct out of Interface fine...so it must be something within my PC/DAW. maybe sample rate? i dunno im not really if at all clued up with all the workings of DAWS and tech stuff hmmm...