Please help me diagnose my Kemper

  • Hi All,


    I'm having a problem with how my Kemper is sounding.


    Here is a link to a video of the Kemper playing through the first several profiles on the unit.


    https://youtu.be/tUfT_sJfMAM


    Before doing this video I did a flash reset and also the one were you hold down the system key while booting it up so I'm thinking the profiles should be the same as on another unit. Have also updated to the latest Kemper version.


    The sound was great for a couple of weeks earlier this month. I was loving the sound and it definitely sounded like what I have heard from youtube videos. Each profile had its own unique character. Then I started using the navigation buttons to cycle through profiles and then the sound turned back to what I'm hearing in the video, really thin and harsh on the clean and then metallic/fizzy and very similar sound on all profiles. Some other things that I think aren't normal are:


    There seems to be a reverb (legacy reverb) on the majority of profiles.
    There are drastic volume differences between profiles. (I had to turn down the second profile in the videos volume by about 10db as it was twice as loud)
    There is way more noise evident on gain profiles. (I am running an American strat, noise gate was off for video but it kills the hum at 6 or 7 on the noise gate. This noise was not as apparent last week when it was sounding good and I was using same position on 5 way strat switch.)


    Things I have tried to figure out whats going on:


    Tried all resets and have updated to latest version.
    Tried different guitar leads.
    Different guitars (PRS custom 24, US Strat, Samick Artist)
    Different monitors (Adam A7x, Fostex, and 2 x headphones.)
    Bypassing interface/DAW and going straight to monitors.
    Trying different locations/houses/powerpoints as I was wondering if it was related to a power issue or pickup interference, this didn't help.

    Turning off lights/monitors, changing guitars angle to screen etc.
    Checking 60hz/50hz setting on kemper.
    Checking that CAB and AMP settings are on.
    Checking clean sens etc. (both are set to 0.)
    Checking gain staging on profiles in case it was clipping somewhere.
    Bought some spdif cables and went into the UFX interface that way (set both to 88.2khz.)


    None of this has helped. Could anyone please give me some guidance here on what to do next?

  • A couple of other things to check:


    Cabinet on?

    Something locked? (hold down the LOCK button, and anything locked will be lit)

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

  • ok this is right

    are your trs cables self-made ?

    maybe you have a phase issue on these cables ?

    Hi, no the trs cables are store bought ones. Yeah good idea with the phase cancellation but I've just unplugged them and run one xlr from Kemper output to one of the speakers and it still sounds metallic sounding in mono.

  • A couple of other things to check:


    Cabinet on?

    Something locked? (hold down the LOCK button, and anything locked will be lit)

    Hi Zappledan, Yes cabinet is on. Didn't know I could hold down lock button like that, saves checking each one individually:) It just showed that my input button was locked. The settings were pretty normal though, clean/distortion sense at 0. noise gate was off. Doesn't look like anything in there was contributing to the change in audio quality.

  • Do you have a local friend with a Kemper? Maybe you could compare by exporting a rig to USB stick from yours and he/she could import it.

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

  • Do you have a local friend with a Kemper? Maybe you could compare by exporting a rig to USB stick from yours and he/she could import it.

    Hi, No I don't know anyone who has one. I'm sending a recording of Kemper DI guitar output and Master L/R output using factory presets to Kemper support so hopefully they'll be able to diagnose what's going on. Thanks for your help.

  • Hi, No I don't know anyone who has one. I'm sending a recording of Kemper DI guitar output and Master L/R output using factory presets to Kemper support so hopefully they'll be able to diagnose what's going on. Thanks for your help.

    You should include a backup file also, so that they have your rigs and settings.

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

  • One time when mine sounded nasty I figured out that my noise gate was cranked way up. It’s the knob on the left side of your Kemper. Turn that way down to see if it makes a difference. When it’s crank up way too much your sound will be terrible.

  • I have the exact same issue and I can't find where the problem comes from, i went through pretty much all the same series of tests as the OP did... Anyone found a solution for this problem yet?

  • Have you checked if you engaged paralellpath in the stomp slots?

    If it's engage some of the signal goes straight to the output and it sounds wired ?

    Yes, I cleared everything from the stomp section, running as direct as I can, even tried from the alternate input without success. Going to a friend's house with my guitar and the profiles I'm using here on a USB key to compare with mine. Will keep you posted. Thanks!

  • Just some of my expierience...

    I had a Kemper Toaster 2 years ago and it alway had some kind of artefacts in the upper mids / highs. It sounded somekind of digital and never right. I bought several profiles, monitors, spoke to the support and finally gave the kemper away.

    Since 2 month i have a new kemper rack and with exact the same profiles, setup,cables.... (i kept everything) it sounds amazing.


    I already told the support my expierience.

    Cheers from germany

  • I can't afford to buy another Kemper just because this issue can't be figured out. It has some fizzy high end artefacts over every profiles with the smallest amount of gain I tried, even if I lower the gain to 0, it still can be heard at the sting attack. I asked a friend for a backup of his head and the issue remains, even after I cleaned everything from the profiler, reset the global settings etc... Next step is to try my friend's Kemper with the same guitar (even if the issue occurs with every guitar I tried).


    Thank you for your input.

  • I just sent OP a PM about the issue. I have faced the same issue twice since I got my Kemper. How i managed to solve it (at least for now) is by keep disconnecting en reconnecting the guitar lead in the input jack, sometimes with a little bit more force than normally necessary. All of a sudden the volume got twice as loud again, and the profiles all sounded normal. I'm still not sure what the real cause is though.