Update on Kemper, following problems.

    So I'm going to do an update from this thread, which I did last Jan.

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

    Lockdown prevented me from getting out and trying new gear, so I continued to work on the Kemper before selling it. Much to my surprise, there's been a dramatic improvement. I've got some ok results out of it. Easily the best tones I've ever recorded actually. Still haven't managed to compare to a load box or a mike/amp setup, but its been so much more satisfying, its unbelievable.

    I think there's quite a few angles you can take using this gear. So what works for one, might not work for the other. Here's my angle anyway; combining the amps with the cabs. I find there's a massive difference in quality not only with the profiles, but in finding the right amp AND cab. I'll usually start a session off with a blast on my Marshall, so I can get the sound I want in my head. That enables me to appreciate what the Kemper is doing a bit more. If I get stuck, I'll go back to analogue for a while and then plug back into the digital realm with fresh ears.

    As someone pointed out to me, we're dealing with a simulation of a miked cab here, not a cab alone. That's also something I wasn't quite taking into consideration before.

    I'll still say it's a bit pricey, and I might mike an amp later in the year and decide that's more my thing. But it has been working out with the Kemper lately. After my moan on the previous thread, its only fair to give a balanced appraisal.

    Thanks for the update. Just a thought: Talking about Tube Amps and cabinets: That's basically what one is doing: Finding the right Amp and Cab. Therefore that should be the same within the digital domain. With only one difference: Endless possibilities of combinations within a second. Getting lost is way too easy... ;)

    Great to hear...I like you comment about fresh ears and re-baselining your sound. I definitely think there is so psychology in this whole process.


    I had been conditioned that digital is thin and weak, valve warm and fab, hence why blind tests are so interesting.


    I look back on my valve amps with rose tinted spectacles, which are smashed when I go to rehearse and plug back into a valve and think....hmmm not sure I do miss these at all!

    Here's a question. I don't know what I expect to hear but any thoughts might help me out. So you pick an amp and a cab. But first you get a sound in your head from the analogue Marshall. So do you pick the amp first? How do you know you like the amp sound when the cab is gonna color it?


    It's a predicament I find myself in. How do I know I like an amp when I'm used to hearing it through a cab? Turning off the cab will make it sound nothing like it should, and so if I'm scrolling through amps and trying to find one I like, how do I know I actually like the amp? Or do you just start with any random amp profile, then find a cab you like, and then try different amps through that? I'm curious how you guys settle on things like this. Maybe I'm overthinking it.. What someone said above, about thousands of options and easy to get lost, definitely applies to me here. It feels like, if I just pick a random amp, find a cab that makes it sound good (so presumably a cab which has a character I like), I might like another amp even better through that cab. But then that amp might sound better through a different cab again. Lmao, it's a brain twister imo!

    That's how I handle my 'recording fatigue,' if you like. The best way that I can put it, is that going back to an actual tube amp for a while, resets my ear. When I go back to the Kemper, I know what I'm looking for and can appreciate what the Kemper is doing.

    Just my little technique that works for me.

    I mainly use two TopJimi amps, a Jubilee and a Bognor Ecstacy. I chose them as I like the 'tube,' sound they have. I run them through Mix Berlins Orange cabs, found in one of the Mesa packs. I find the cabs clean and punchy. Then, a few minor tweaks. Always very subtle with the tweaking, that includes post EQ in the DAW (FabFilter). But that's just what I'm doing right now, maybe it'll be something else by the end of the year.



    Quote from Preacher

    Here's a question. I don't know what I expect to hear but any thoughts might help me out. So you pick an amp and a cab. But first you get a sound in your head from the analogue Marshall. So do you pick the amp first? How do you know you like the amp sound when the cab is gonna color it?


    It's a predicament I find myself in. How do I know I like an amp when I'm used to hearing it through a cab? Turning off the cab will make it sound nothing like it should, and so if I'm scrolling through amps and trying to find one I like, how do I know I actually like the amp? Or do you just start with any random amp profile, then find a cab you like, and then try different amps through that? I'm curious how you guys settle on things like this. Maybe I'm overthinking it.. What someone said above, about thousands of options and easy to get lost, definitely applies to me here. It feels like, if I just pick a random amp, find a cab that makes it sound good (so presumably a cab which has a character I like), I might like another amp even better through that cab. But then that amp might sound better through a different cab again. Lmao, it's a brain twister imo!

    This is common....so much choice, where do I start?


    Couple of pointers from me:

    • Define what you want - I wanted a clean, medium gain and solo sound. I went looking for these...
    • Trust your ears, its not about whether the amp sounds the same as the reference amp, but whether you like it
    • Look for amps you know and Like - I used to Play ENGL's so that was my starting point. Choose the gain profile you want. I play fairly high gain, so i used the gain setting to guide as well. In other words only think about the reference amp as a starting point. It funny how you try an amp ( for me it was a 5150), think I like 5150 but don't like that profile, only to find the profile is good but the reference amp isn't as good as I remember!!
    • Choose a profile, have a quick play. If you like it, save it. If you don;t, don;t try to tweak and make it better, move on
    • Go back to the saved profiles with fresh ears. Refine/trim down to what you like
    • Once you have these, then tweak. It's at this point I would play with different cabs on the KPA
    • Where possible I would do all this via FRFR/PA/DAW/Headphones. In most cases, if it sounds good via FRFR, it will sound good through a guitar cab. This is NOT the case in reverse..

    The key is to try not to get blind by too many options. Get good sounds quickly and refine over time


    Hope that helps.