Kemper Sounds Terrible

  • Fellow Kempers,


    I recently downloaded TopJimmy's new Slash Pack which highlighted something very wrong with the sound of my Kemper. Have a listen to this:


    External Content soundcloud.com
    Content embedded from external sources will not be displayed without your consent.
    Through the activation of external content, you agree that personal data may be transferred to third party platforms. We have provided more information on this in our privacy policy.


    It sounds dreadful, right? All crackly and broken up like something is overdriven/clipping.


    I've taken the profile (AFD-Ld) as delivery by TopJimmy, except I turned off the reverb, so it's as raw as I can get it. Signal chain is guitar --> (amp --> eq --> cab) --> monitor. The output for recording is set to mono-master. Recorded at 96kHz/24bit. Bridge pickup. Levels appear to be fine, no clipping and around -12dB ish. Rig volume = 0bB. I've done a complete factory reset and reloaded just this single profile to the Kemper. The sound is the same from all output's (Monitor, Headphone, into DAW).


    RigManager Version 3.0.140 (16417)

    Kemper FW Version 8.0.2.22186


    Given I've done a factory reset and it still sounds this bad, I can only assume there's something wrong with my Kemper?


    Cheers for the support!

    "I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious." - Albert Einstein


    Pride & Joy: My Custom Shop Les Paul Slash AFD VOS (1of300)


    http://www.edgerob.com

    Edited once, last by robedge ().

  • Have you tried other profiles with the same behaviour? Perhaps the profile is just a bad sounding profile. Have you checked your Distortion Sense Parameter? Perhaps going back to a previous firmware could show you if it's the actual 8.x version which causes this problem and if you encounter this with your other profiles you should contact the customer support for help if you're sure that there is nothing else clipping.

  • First of all, play this part on the neck pickup and roll down the tone knob a bit, maybe around 7-8.

    Then make sure you play it VERY clean in terms of muting other strings. Avoid any other strings randomly buzzing around.


    Also, I don't know/own the profile you're using but Slash's Marshall Silver Jubilee gain settings translate to a 5.2 gain on the Profiler amp block. He then adds a clean boost in front of his amp which translates to roughly +2.8 on a Pure Boost in front of the amp block. And last but not least, Slash has the Treble on the amp rolled back slightly, compared to Bass and Mids and Presence.

  • As an alternative to my above suggestions, try the TJ-SLSH '91 profile you can hear in this demo video from Jimi (starting at 10:02), again with neck pickup (and Tone down a little bit) and since I can see that Jimi's gain is already a bit higher you might get away without a Pure Boost in front. :


    External Content youtu.be
    Content embedded from external sources will not be displayed without your consent.
    Through the activation of external content, you agree that personal data may be transferred to third party platforms. We have provided more information on this in our privacy policy.

  • Amigo's!


    Thanks so much for the tips. Support have actually got in touch with me and it's not so trivial. The issue is not just related to the TJ profiles, but all my profiles, even after factory reset. I'll let you know the outcome...


    Just to answer quickly some of the questions: I did try many different output sources, monitors, headphones, channels, all have the same issue. Following a factory reset, and selecting the first profile on the stock list *1971 Mars Golub Crch* it sounds very similar to the one I posted originally. All Crackly and sounding like pants.


    I'm going to come back here and look into more of your suggestions, especially you lightbox. Sound like you know how to set-up a Slash tone. My axe is one the first 300 AFD's, so I know at least the guitar is a good'n.


    - Rob

    "I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious." - Albert Einstein


    Pride & Joy: My Custom Shop Les Paul Slash AFD VOS (1of300)


    http://www.edgerob.com

  • Interesting, it does sound bad...

    I have the TJ Tim Caswell pack and it sounds amazing, both on my headphones as my Yamaha DSR12. Definitely not the Axe or the profile.


    It sounds as if its clipping somewhere, either in the front (given you have passive pickups I dont think that would be the case) or on your interface (output from kemper).

    I hope you find a solution to this, please let us know as Im curious on the outcome.


    THanks!

    Nice profile, but does it go to 11?

  • I think I might cry...


    So it's a complete and utter mess. Support re-rigged my clean recording and it comes back the same. Meaning it's not a hardware issue. I'm still waiting to hear back about how to proceed now or if they accept/admit that it sounds like complete crap. BUT the thing that's bringing tears to my eyes is the following:


    I made a backup of my rigs via rig-manager (file extension .rmbackup). Then I updated my profiler and rig manager so that I could use the new file extension .krig (I only realised I had to update my Kemper when I couldn't load Jimmy's new Slash pack. That's when all this mess started). Now when I restore my backup via RM, all my paid profiles seem to be there, but not a single one of my own profiles. Not one. In addition to that, as an extra security I exported my favourite rig (extension .krig) and I can't even import that now. I get the following error message:


    "Rig Manager didn't find any suitable files to import. This happens if the items are unknown or damaged."


    I mean, wtf. All those hours invested making my own rigs and they're now gone!? I swear, it's a total mess.


    I wonder if the FW update to my KEMPER has caused all of this. I mean you all agree it sounds dreadful. I. get the same thing using the first 1971 Mars Golub Crch.


    RigManager Version 3.0.140 (16417)

    Kemper FW Version 8.0.2.22186


    Has anyone installed this FW. Any problems?


    Think I just need to go an calm down and recompose myself...

    "I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious." - Albert Einstein


    Pride & Joy: My Custom Shop Les Paul Slash AFD VOS (1of300)


    http://www.edgerob.com

  • No issues here. Did you use drag and drop to import your rig? Files have to be dropped to the right Place.

    I can drop a paid *.krig into my local library without problem. I try dropping my *.krig and I get the error message.

    "I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious." - Albert Einstein


    Pride & Joy: My Custom Shop Les Paul Slash AFD VOS (1of300)


    http://www.edgerob.com

  • Amigo's,


    In a last attempt to salvage my rigs, I'm trying to downgrade to my original FW, before all this mess. Actually I'm not entirely sure what I had before the FW upgrade, but I do know that it was a FW that used the *.kipr files. I tried the oldest version I could find on the Kemper Downloads page, which was 6.0, but that appears to handle the new *.krig file extension. So, from which FW did Kemper make the switch from *.kipr to *.krig.


    Also, would anyone have a FW < 6.0 ?


    BTW: 6.0 still sounds pant's but if I turn the tone knobs all the way down, the sound does start to begin to improve.

    "I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious." - Albert Einstein


    Pride & Joy: My Custom Shop Les Paul Slash AFD VOS (1of300)


    http://www.edgerob.com

    Edited once, last by robedge ().