Custom IR on Kemper: impressions?

    Kemper and custom IRs.

    Let's talk about this.


    In the download section of the site, there is an application called CAB Maker that allows you to import third-part IRs on the Kemper that replace the Cabinet block on the Kemper, so you can use a custom IR instead of the stock Cabinet block. In this way, you can play your favorite tube amp today on a Greenback, tomorrow on a Creamback, but also on a V30 or a G12-T75 if you want, getting always different sonic nuances.


    So far the theory.

    But the practice?

    Have any of you ever done this? What results did you get compared to the sound made with the stock cabinet contained in the profiles?

    You don't need CabMaker any longer. The latest Rig Manager allows you to import IRs directly. You can then change IRs via the Cab slot. It works best if you use Direct Profiles or Merged Profiles that had the amp profiled separately from any speaker cab.. If you change the cab in a studio profile, the profiler has to guess the point in the profile where the amp ends and the cab begins. Some like it and some don't.

    If the question here is, is it worth using different IR's, then my view is no.


    Why? This is just me personally... when I played with commercial IR's yes I got different results. Were they better? No, just different.


    I ended up with another set of variables and increased my profile "blindness" and hence a rabbit hole.


    So for me, I am happy with the end to end profiles using a decent cab. With control over imprints now, not sure what IR's add...but that's just me.

    Quote from CelticGibson

    You don't need CabMaker any longer. The latest Rig Manager allows you to import IRs directly. You can then change IRs via the Cab slot. It works best if you use Direct Profiles or Merged Profiles that had the amp profiled separately from any speaker cab.. If you change the cab in a studio profile, the profiler has to guess the point in the profile where the amp ends and the cab begins. Some like it and some don't.

    You and others assume that everyone can install the latest Rig Manager. This is not always true ;)

    I'm a Windows7 user, so I'm stuck with Rig Manager 2.3 and I need the CAB Manager for sure.



    I also thought of the utility of Direct or Merged Profiles, but how can I spot them? I have thousands of profiles on Rig Manager, both free and commercial. Some of them are labeled as NO CAB, DIRECT, NO CAB JUST PREAMP. Are these the Direct profiles, so they contain only the amp part without the cab?

    With the Merged profiles, instead, the cabinet is separate from the amp, right? So I can replace the stock Cabinet with any IR I want?

    if the Cabinet Block shows N/A it is a direct profile. Unfortunately, you can only tell a merged profiler if the person making the profile labels it to let you know.


    as for the original question of is it worth using IR? I totally agree with V8. I used to use valve amps with a Two Note loadbox and various IR. I don’t find the results any better than the Kemper. Different? maybe? Better or worse? No just different. I personally find the fewer choices the better as I spend more time playing and less time disappearing up my own.......... ?

    I've also been a victim of the rabbit hole of using IR's with profiles lol. After a few months of endless tweaking, I finally found a solution that works for me.


    For me, the solution was a plugin called "Mikko" by ML Sound Labs. It's basically a cab sim plugin, where you can virtually move around mics on different speakers from various cabs. And you can export the IRs you create, and use them with your Kemper.


    Before using "Mikko", I would end up with a bunch of variations of profiles using different IRs. I realized I was experimenting because I was looking for a specific sound and couldn't find it. So now, I'll use the Mikko plugin, and I'll create an IR based on the tone I'm looking for. Being able to tailor IRs to profiles and fine tune them has been game changing for my workflow, and for the tones I've been getting.


    Definitely a game changer for me so, I figured I'd share it with you guys. If you want to create IRs and be able to tailor them to profiles, then I'd highly recommend checking out the "Mikko" plugin.


    P.S. I'm not endorsed or advertising or anything. I just ended up being blown away by the Mikko plugin and it solved the problem of trying to find the right IR's for different profiles.

    SeanChristopher gave me an idea.


    I'm not able to create a Kemper pofile of my amps because I can't crank them up too loud, but I was thinking if I can send to my USB audio card the normal audio output of the Profiler (including all effects+amp+cab), and a second signal without the cabinet part (effects+amp), then applying custom IRs on my DAW via a plugin like NadIR or Poulin LeCab, and mix them up to have more body and fullness.

    Is it possible using the many rear outs of the Kemper, or not?