Cab Driver and Studio Profiles with external IR's

    Hi,

    I'm a long time Kemper user, I know every detail of the DI - Merged - Studio profiles question.

    For years now I have been using almost exclusively DI or merged profiles that I combine with external impulse responses into my DAW (GGD Zilla Cabs, Redwirez, Mikko, Celestion to name a few). I'm doing this because very often when I don't like the sound of a profile I find that changing the cab helps me to make the profile alive. I really love the results, to my ears are the best tones I've ever played.

    Recently I discovered a new approach that I'd like to share with you to receive feedbacks from your experience.

    Sometimes the DI profiles are not so good and sounds fizzy or "empty" even with an external IR.

    Sometimes I can't find DI or merged profiles from a specific producer (Selah Sounds profiles for example are beautiful but are only studio profiles).

    So I take a studio profile, I turn the cab off and I let the cab driver algorithm do the magic. Then I add the external IR.

    I found out that the results are very good! Sometimes it sounds even better than the DI or merged profile combined with an external IR.

    If I compare a DI + IR with a studio + IR of the same amp setting I found that the combination studio + IR sounds more pleasant and fat.

    Sometimes, to my surprise, both combination sounds almost identical.

    I know that in this way I'm not using the exact sound of the preamp, I know that what I hear it's not "exactly" the sound of the real amp (even if it gets closer).

    But who cares?

    The sound is unbelievable!

    I think the cab driver algorithm deserve a great respect for its perfect job!!!

    Have you ever tried to use studio profiles with external IR's with the same good results?

    My experience with using IRs with Studio Profiles, Merged Profiles, and DI Profiles, is very similar to your experience :)


    Sometimes the Studio Profile with an IR can sound a bit fuller in comparison to the equivalent Merged/DI Profile with the same IR. I think it has to do with some of the Cab being left in the Amp section after CabDriver is engaged when swapping from the profiles Cab section to an IR. But it could be a bunch of different stuff.


    I typically find that when Studio and Merged/DI profiles are exactly the same, the IR tends to have the same result.


    One situation I can say will be worth it to use a Merged/DI profile, is when you're playing through a guitar Cab instead of FRFR or Studio/Speaker Monitors. There was actually a super interesting video about that on YouTube recently. I'll add the link in this post if I can find it later ^^


    But for the most part when using IRs, I can agree that sometimes the Studio Profiles will sound a bit thicker than their equivalent Merged/DI profiles. Occasionally, I'll prefer the Merged/DI Profiles with an IR instead of Studio Profiles with an IR because they'll sometimes sound too boomy and will have too much low end because of some of the Cab section being left over in the Amp section after CabDriver does its thing (this happens mostly with high gain tones in my experience).


    Results definitely vary but, having multiple options is one of the great things about the Kemper :) Don't worry my friend, you're not alone with this experience.


    Go with whatever sounds best to you^^

    Thanks for the reply! :)

    I totally agree with you, sometimes studio + IR sounds better, sometimes no.

    But I think it's worth trying!!!

    And of course now I have he excuse to buy every studio profiles pack I didn't buy in the past... :D

    My wife will surely kill me! :S8o

    Quote from slowshred

    Thanks for the reply! :)

    I totally agree with you, sometimes studio + IR sounds better, sometimes no.

    But I think it's worth trying!!!

    And of course now I have he excuse to buy every studio profiles pack I didn't buy in the past... :D

    My wife will surely kill me! :S8o

    At times in which musicstores send everything in BIG cartons/boxes (even a single cable or small pedal is delivered in oversized, wife-alerting packaging), buying profile packs is the most inconspicuous we (still) married guitar players can do 8)

    I'll add my experience to the list here. Coming from an Axe Fx III and an FM3, I actually prefer what the Kemper does with Merged + IRs or Studio + IRs to anything the Axe and FM3 did. I couldn't care less about what is supposedly ideal (Direct + IR) for the Kemper. I've come to a point where I side with what my ears prefer and what fits in a mix. Merged + IRs and Studio + IRs meet both of those preferences better than any other digital amp I've ever used. I still love my library of Studio profiles but many of them have EQ curve tuned for different systems than mine, so the EQ flexibility of IRs is perfect for me. I still get the "feel" and "response" of the Kemper and get to enjoy all the benefits of the Amp and Cab options of the unit.

    Quote from SeanChristopher

    I think it has to do with some of the Cab being left in the Amp section

    I think that's exactly it. It's like those times I had forgotten to turn off the cab before adding an external IR (with kpa or even plugins), it sounded fuller. But I also think that it's possible to achieve the fullness through the use of post stack eq rather than having a sort of "cab into cab" effect, thereby keeping it more natural. But if this method tends to give you the eq curve that you like "out of the box", that's not only fine but also a huge advantage!