High gain profiles sound very muffled/foggy and not clear/biting

    I am mainly a metal player and I am always chasing crushing tones with great attack and those perfect mids.


    Ive played guitar for almost 10 years growing up, but I didnt know a lot about gear, and for most of that time I was playing a line 6 spider valve combo... I had been wanting a better amp for along time so I got the kemper head. No experience with modeling or multifx or digital amps. I do love audio tech though and this has been a great learning experience so far.


    When I go thru the preset rigs, like the EVH rigs, the Mesa Riga, and the ENGL rigs (all which "should" sound amazing) they all sound very far away, foggy/fuzzy/muffled, no clarity, no bite, and if I try a distortion or boost its either super thin and super fizzy or flubby and as stated above .

    Pure cabinet is off, direct is off, ive played with definition and clarity a lot, to no avail. The only thing I've really had luck with in terms of high gain tones is the Peavey XXX (one of my favorite real amps) with a graphic EQ pre-amp stack boosting the shit out of the mids, and then scooping them on the AMP EQ, as well as turning the bass treble and presence way up. Sounds pretty good but still not exactly amp in the room. But damn close.


    I don't know about turning monitor cab on/off and the output volume settings. I am wondering id having the master volume up and the FRFR on low volume, vs having master volume down and having the FRFR on high volume makes a difference. I almost always play with rig volume close to full or at full volume.



    My setup is an unpowered toaster into a headrush FRFR 108 running an XLR cable out of the left out to the headrush(I dont know whether that matters, I was told to run it that way). I KNOW this amp is capable sounding great, ive heard someone play it live and it sounded as good or better than a tube amp.

    I know the FRFR I have isnt top of the line but it should be ok for bedroom jamming.


    I really really want to love the kemper and as of right now I really like it but in some ways my line 6 actually sounded better (I know how blasphemous that is. But I just have not found the right settings on this yet and I cant seem to find help. Ive tried to figure this out myself for a while and not ask but I want good sound)

    Hey there ExoThrasher.


    I, and many others, have found that any given profile is subject to volume.

    Meaning, some (a lot of) profiles don't sound very good at bedroom volumes but will sound great at "gig" volumes. Once you start pushing a speaker, that's when the Kemper comes to life.

    On the other hand, some profiles sound great at bedroom volumes but don't sound very good at gig volumes.


    There is a balance it just takes some tweaking.


    If you like metal, which i do too (old 80's type thrash metal), check out Ola Englund's rigs in the rig packs on your Kemper and/or in Rig Manager. Those are what I started with. To me, those sound good at any volume.


    Also, (shameless self plug here), check out my Sig X High Gain 1 and 2 profiles on Rig Exchange. They are VERY percussive and aggressive.


    Anyway you slice it, you will be tweaking any profile to your liking, no matter what profiles you use. That is mainly do to what speakers/ interface you are using.


    Best of luck to you on your quest for tone!:)

    Try these:


    When using a dark sounding profile, cut the gain down and add a bright distortion pedal or boost. Use a dark distortion on a bright profile.


    The Presence knob is extremely sensitive. Sometimes only a 0.5 to 1.0 setting is all that is needed to bring the sound "up front" or (-0.5) to (-1.0) to kill some brightness.


    Use the Stereo Widener effect.


    Use EQ's before and after stacks as needed.


    Set up your HPF and LPF globally. (very important).


    I've also noticed some high-gain rigs are dependent on volume with higher equaling better tone.


    The headrush monitors will simulate FOH tone but if you want "in your face tone" then maybe the Kabinet is the best route, or good studio monitors for home-studio practice.


    No doubt the high-gains profiles are the hardest to dial in, but once you learn how then you can just about dial in any pretty quickly.

    Larry Mar @ Lonegun Studios. Neither one famous yet.

    Like 1

    Some high gain profiles are made to work with down tuned guitars e.g. B. So guitars in E standard will sound too bright. Some can be tweaked to sound better but if they're too bright, move on to some other profiles.

    Think for yourself, or others will think for you wihout thinking of you

    Henry David Thoreau

    Like 1

    Thank you very much, I will try all of these things. I have a question, what is HPF and LPF, and what does stereo widener do?


    I've thought about getting a cab like a mesa or Marshall 4x12 and running the kemper thru it with a tube power amp because ive heard that can sound good. Maybe a Kabinet would be better though in the future. Either way, in about 6 months when I have a place to be a little louder, I will be upgrading from this FRFR to something better

    I've found same. In my experience most high gain profiles sound shit at low volumes but good live. Almost every profile I have loaded that is high gain has disappointed.


    Settled on a VH4 ch3 one that is kinda least worst. I'm looking to get a "home" & "live" option for all profiles as the tweaking between the two is too much.


    Not the case at all with lower gain.


    Worst i have heard were commercially available randall diablo. Literally a duvet over amp.


    Will have a look at some of the recommendation on here thanks ?

    I play primarily clean to crunch tones, but I've found that many "dead" profiles come alive with the Treble Booster placed in the STOMPs section.

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

    Quote from ExoThrasher

    Thank you very much, I will try all of these things. I have a question, what is HPF and LPF, and what does stereo widener do?


    I've thought about getting a cab like a mesa or Marshall 4x12 and running the kemper thru it with a tube power amp because ive heard that can sound good. Maybe a Kabinet would be better though in the future. Either way, in about 6 months when I have a place to be a little louder, I will be upgrading from this FRFR to something better

    HPF and LPF or high-pass and low-pass filters, respectively. The are basically EQ settings for your low end and top end. You want to shape your sound so that those lower and upper settings remove transient sounds which add to mud and grit.


    See this...


    External Content www.youtube.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.


    Stereo Widener or Phase Widener adds depth to your sound by expanding the stereo field of your effects.


    See this...


    External Content www.youtube.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.


    I just got my Kabinet in today. Can't wait to run the wife out of the house!

    Larry Mar @ Lonegun Studios. Neither one famous yet.

    It just takes a few tweaks here and there to dial in your tone. High-gains are definately the hardest to dial in with the cleans being uber easy, and crunch in-between those.


    On page 5 of the "output" settings -->soft button, you can adjust the low and highs globally to your liking, and you should start to notice more pleasing sounds across all rigs.

    Larry Mar @ Lonegun Studios. Neither one famous yet.

    If you are using an FRFR as the Headrush 108, I wouldn't keep that Pure Cabinet off, 3.0 seems to be the sweet spot for more clarity and bite when using FRFR. The 108 is a bit dark but still a great choice. Add some Presents and Treble control.


    Many profiles also sound dull to me, the best I have were the ones I created myself. However there are MANY great ones out there for free in the Exchange. Look for author "RickyStorti" or "Till Schleicher" in the free Exchange (no need to purchase any), there are some great ones for metal. One in particular that I use allot is the RickyStorti Diezel VH4 and the Diezel VH4 LEAD. Check them out.