What are the best non compressed DIRECT profiles for hard rock?

    Seems like the majority of folks are playing bedroom volumes through monitors or FRFR.

    For real tube amp user with a real 4x12 cab at stadium volumes what are some good Direct profiles?

    Quote from WolfsLair

    Seems like the majority of folks are playing bedroom volumes through monitors or FRFR.

    For real tube amp user with a real 4x12 cab at stadium volumes what are some good Direct profiles?

    Direct profiles are not always better. I play just through a cab, then play direct, then both. The cab driver is great at separating cab from Amp in a studio profile. I've used Merged and studio profiles through my cab and one is not better just different. If the cab driver left anything "baked in" you wouldn't know it and it would just sound the way it does.

    And "What are some good direct profiles". There are GILLIONS of good profiles out there. Lots of great free stuff. I have bought a few packs then ended up favoring a lot of the rigs that came with it or in RM rig packs! I LOVE my powerhead through a cab, better than I do direct! Speaker types matter too! At first I thought it mattered to me and wanted to use "pure" direct profiles until I realized that studio profiles can sound just as good, and a good studio profile through cab driver might sound better than a crappy direct profile through a cab.

    Burkhard and I do! However, I just figured out why I hated the Top Jimi VH profiles thru my real tube power amp and real 4x12 cab. The other night I left their cab in place and sampled it through my pa. Bam all the weird low end woofy frequencies were gone and it sounded like the samples everyone raved about. nowhere near as good as a real amp and cab, but good enough for low volume practicing.


    This led me to e-mail Jimi and he said 'You need to use the 'Merged' profiles in his pack because they were the closest to the Direct which most agree are the best for those who use a real cab.

    Theoretically there should be no difference between the amp component in Merged and Direct Profiles, and only a slight difference using Studio Profiles.


    Just try 'em with the Cab block disabled and think of the entire free and paid-for ProfileVerse™ out there as your palette / smorgasbord.


    You've a far better chance of finding ample options quickly than if you restrict yourself to Direct-only Profiles.

    As a cab, and now kone user . I very much prefer director merged profiles. Hated the studio profiles i first got


    That said after watching HW of Tone junkies playing with studio profiles through the cab and using the kabinet profile of the same speaker it was negligible difference.

    So Kabinet does good job, think the tradional cab not so much

    Quote from WolfsLair

    Burkhard and I do! However, I just figured out why I hated the Top Jimi VH profiles thru my real tube power amp and real 4x12 cab. The other night I left their cab in place and sampled it through my pa. Bam all the weird low end woofy frequencies were gone and it sounded like the samples everyone raved about. nowhere near as good as a real amp and cab, but good enough for low volume practicing.


    This led me to e-mail Jimi and he said 'You need to use the 'Merged' profiles in his pack because they were the closest to the Direct which most agree are the best for those who use a real cab.

    So how did you fair through the 4x12 with the TJ merged profiles? I have a 4x12 tube halfstack I've retubed and getting ready to replace fuses. Wondering how it sounds thru that.

    Right on! Yes I love the sound of the studio stuff. I may abandon the 4x12 idea with Kemper and just try it with something else. My old ADA MP-1 was just fantastic thru that rig...hoping I get some similar magic through it with the Kemper.

    Using my 4x12 with my Fryette power amp is still my best tones from my Kemper hands down, however, it was great to finally hear what the Top Jimi fans were talking about, And have another viable solution for a gig that would call for using the pa and small powered wedge only it.

    Quote from bobbyodell

    Right on! Yes I love the sound of the studio stuff. I may abandon the 4x12 idea with Kemper and just try it with something else. My old ADA MP-1 was just fantastic thru that rig...hoping I get some similar magic through it with the Kemper.

    That's so different. I sold My MP1 in about 94 when they were super uncool. (eww 80's gear) Good looking hair was out and greasy hair, flannel shirts, baggy pants and chain wallets were in. I had to beg a trade to get $75.00 for it. Now people reminisce about how great they were and the prices are up for them. From my experience I can guarantee in the strongest possible terms that my Kemper could bury my MP-1 through a cab. The MP-1 is good and clear and IMO very "Marshally" but there are rigs on the Kemper that can easily match it as well as WAY outperform it . Michael Wagner has a free MP-1 profile that supposedly the Great Vito Bratta played, Skid Row, & Extreme. To me it doesn't really sound like a straight MP-1 (I had two of them and an MP-2 to judge by) But it sounds like a souped -up "studio" one. And that is to me the Kemper philosophy you have to wrap your head around, that the Kemper is not JUST and amp, (although it can be) it is a studio guitar sound on a platter for you. If you've ever heard Tone Junkies description of the the Kemper, It aligns with mine almost exactly.

    Not saying there is a comparison at all. I love the Kemper...took me awhile, but I love it. When it comes to the MP1 and my tube power amp, tubes matter. I made that rig sound crappy real quick when I had the wrong 12 ax7s in there. But with the right blend of NOS stuff from 80s and 60s mixed...Mil Spec China, 60s Japanese and late 70s Bugle Boy, the ADA MP-1 was amazing and had a warmth I have yet to hear from the Kemper. I wont buy another MP-1, at least I don't think I will, but I have the rig handy and the power tubes (JJ-Euro),the fuses are all new and the stereo 4x12 is a beast, SO, I have something maybe a Boss GTK Core would match up well with. Then again, maybe I'll plug the Kemper in and never unplug it again!

    Quote from bobbyodell

    When it comes to the MP1 and my tube power amp, tubes matter. I made that rig sound crappy real quick when I had the wrong 12 ax7s in there.

    I was surprised as well. Normally in "hybrid" amps the tubes only make a difference in your mind IMO. ("It's OK mates, it's a TUBE amp") Back in around 94, I I put real super high quality coveted American NOS tested RCA tubes in mine (among other high end tubes) and it sounded like crap. I sent it to ADA thinking there was something wrong. They told me there was, that I had the wrong tubes in it. They sent it back with cheapo Chinese silver dragons and it killed. I learned a big lesson there that certain circuits prefer curtain tubes. I had a Blackstar amp with two AX7 and you could put anything in there and it would sound almost exactly the same. "Pure" tube circuits is where you can really see the minute differences tubes make.

    Normally I would challenge all the cork sniffing tube snobs (Because I tried to be one rolling TONS of vintage Blackburn Mullards, Amperex,RCA, Tungsol, Rayathon,, JJ, Sovetek etc.etc.) to tell the difference in a tube circuit blindfolded. But strangely in my MP-1 it had to have the cheapest lower gain tubes in it to be really good. I know the silver dragons were usually hot but I tested the ones they sent and they weren't real grainy.

    It's all a matter of taste and personal preference really. I personally pretty much only use direct profiles I made of my own amps and play them live through either the Kabinet or a 1x12 or 2x12 Two Rock cab. For recording I use one of the built in cab IR's which to my ears sound excellent.


    I own a professional recording studio and I have made tons of studio profiles with a mic'ed up cab, using the best possible microphones through Neve preamps. But somehow, for recording, silly enough I still prefer the sound of the direct profile with one of the Kemper's IR's.

    Quote from KnoxHarrington

    play them live through either the Kabinet or a 1x12 or 2x12 Two Rock cab.

    What speakers are in the cabs? Do you mic cabs live? I'm getting such an amazing sound through my cabinet, I kinda feel like just sticking a mic in front of it live (gasp). At least until my confidence gets built up with the FOH direct sound being there.

    Quote from Dynochrome

    What speakers are in the cabs? Do you mic cabs live? I'm getting such an amazing sound through my cabinet, I kinda feel like just sticking a mic in front of it live (gasp). At least until my confidence gets built up with the FOH direct sound being there.

    WGS 12-65B's.


    I usually leave it up to the FOH mixer to either mic them or take the full stack signal from the back of the KPA. Both work great I think. I only advice them to not mic the Kabinet as that is what I've learned from the instruction video, so when I bring the Kabinet I usually make sure the full stack signal is taken from the main outs of the KPA.

    bobbyodell ok back on topic here,... tried the Top Jimi 'Merged' profiles with my Friedman 4x12 cab and Fyette tube power source and it was very useable. I will say the pa version coupled with my Xitone powered monitor was a bit better in the ability to handle lows. My take is the entire focus of capturing the profile was pa and FRFR focused thus the better ability to handle the low end?

    Cool thing is I can use those performances for certain live settings and my louder ones through the cab for others!