The Kemper Beginner's Guide for Kemper Beginners

  • Those who're allergic to the "phasey high-end bite" that often results should find Pure Cabinet invaluable.

    I'd still advise to turn it off in global settings and instead add it to each individual profile if it helps the tone. Many new Kemper users aren't aware that a higher value in the global settings overwrites a lower value setting in the specific profile.

  • I think its a great idea although unfortunately I disagree with quite a few, most already mentioned.


    Not everyone has had to go on a complex journey to find their sounds. I have never touched Pure cabinet or defintion for example.


    I have never recorded with SPDIF, I've only ever used an XLR out to my scarlett. I made sure the signal wasn;t too hot, used the gain on the Scarlett and boom so perhaps I'm msising some sonic nirvana from SPDIF ? I had loads of issues with my Scarlett and windows though...


    I also found my fav sounds were generally closer to the amps I'd used but your point is well made, don;t chase a specific amp, chase a sound.


    I also like the Kabinet for what it is intended - amp in the room, not as a general monitor.


    However I applaud the efforts!


    Couple I would add:

    Any guitar sound is different at volume. Always audition your sounds at the same volume/signal chain you intend to use it.

    Going digital makes you rethink your signal chain - try to decide you monitoring preference early on

  • For Beginners reading along,


    Your Kemper Profiler has features that have no direct parallel to your previous experience. If you read through this community, you'll find the Kemper team has probed deeply to understand what guitar players do, what works for us, and what we endure because up until now, there were no solutions. They have given us intriguing ways to do things we didn't know we wanted.


    The simple advice for unfamiliar things is to turn them off. However, it is features like these that can add considerable value to your experience. When you encounter an unfamiliar term or feature, take a few minutes to read the manual, watch a video, and most importantly - experiment.


    Here are a couple of examples.


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    And another excerpt from the Kemper manual.

    There is much more about Morphing in the Kemper Manual. (See Below)


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    Here are some invaluable resources.

    Kemper Manuals and Quick Start guides

    Rig Manager Download and Documentation

    Kemper Tutorials & Demos


    We tend to articulate our problems with the language of failed solutions. When we do, we can miss some of the truly innovative improvements the Profiler offers to our players' experience.


    Advice to Beginners, take the time to read the Kemper Main Manual, Rig Manager Manual, watch the Kemper Tutorials and Demos, and try things - especially unfamiliar things. The Kemper Profiler is so much more than a guitar amp modeller and effects unit. But if you don't dig in and explore it, you'll never find all the value it can deliver.


    Sincerely,

    ST

  • 2. Most profiles sound nothing like in the youtube videos that advertise them.


    3. Most profiles sound bad "out of the box". Working with the Kemper is all about tweaking.

    2 - 100% agree! This is why I stopped buying profiles. If I am going to sit there and "tweak to my liking" ALL the time, I could have done that with a free profile from the Exchange...or my own. And there are MANY free great ones out there...just look and save yourself money. Just because you are paying for something doesn't mean its any better. These guys are probably making an awful lot of money selling profiles to people like me (in the beginning) who have it in their mind that we are really getting that amp's tone. Sorry but it isn't happening. Too many factors come into play when a profile is made, and by the time it gets to you its a mess.


    3 - See above. If they sound so bad out of the box (which I agree they do), why buy them? I could get that same bad profile from the Exchange and tweak them as well. As a matter of fact, I have NEVER loaded a purchased profile that sounds anything like the youtube vid or the real amp itself. However I have found free profiles that did sound good as soon as I tried it. My top 5 Profiles are 4 from the FREE exchange and one that I made myself. All my purchased profiles sit in a local directly and not on the Kemper.


    The Kemper is a Tweak Machine...even more then a Helix and that's hard to believe. I can pull up a Helix SLO amp, set everything at 5 and its acceptable. Not so with a Kemper profile.

  • My top 5 Profiles are 4 from the FREE exchange and one that I made myself. All my purchased profiles sit in a local directly and not on the Kemper.

    Making your own profiles is the ideal way to go if you still have the real amps.


    As far a fre profiles go there are some killers in the Kemper Factory Content. One of my favourite profiles ever is the Crunch SLO from Bert Meulendijk pack 2 in the factory content. Absolutely awesome ?

  • Any guitar sound is different at volume. Always audition your sounds at the same volume/signal chain you intend to use it.

    That is actually a VERY good point. I have a lot of questions regarding that topic but I think I'll start a new threat for this. :thumbup:

  • Making your own profiles is the ideal way to go if you still have the real amps.


    As far a fre profiles go there are some killers in the Kemper Factory Content. One of my favourite profiles ever is the Crunch SLO from Bert Meulendijk pack 2 in the factory content. Absolutely awesome ?

    I checked out that Crunch SLO from Bert Meulendiik...sounds great!

  • Let me expand on my SPDIF statement: I am sure that a professional sound engineer or someone with a high end interface can manage to get the same sound out of a cable/main out situation as when using SPDIF. But as a beginner I found it impossible. My recordings never sounded like what I heard when I connected my studio headphones to the Kemper directly.

    Once I purchased a bigger version of the Scarlett that had SPDIF input suddenly all of my problems disappeared. The signal sounded pure, no additional gain added by my interface front input. I didn't have to worry about finding unity gain at all anymore. And the best thing: I could just switch between profiles and always had the volume perfectly adjusted to go ahead and record. Before that I had to adjust gain all the time when switching profiles, hoping I would find the perfect amount for the cleanest recording.

    If you're a beginner like me, I say it again: use SPDIF and live happy.

    With a high quality audio interface (such as Focusrite) you will be able the same results even through the analog inputs.

    It is likely that you have overdriven the inputs of your interface, resulting in a bad sound and unpredictable volume differences.

    Going analog is a very usual method, if not the standard method. More beginners fail with SPDIF.

  • 20. You cannot use the Kemper's effect loop and aux in or record a direct signal for reamping at the same time. Although I love the fact that I can use external pedals with the Kemper and place them anywhere in the effect chain (genius!) it's very frustrating not being able to record a direct signal at the same time.


    18. The "Space" option in the output section is a very powerful tool to achieve a more natural sounding tone and doesn't need to be limited to headphones only.

    But yes, you can.

    You can set all outputs (Main Output as well as Monitor Output) to different signal sources, including DI signal.

    And use the Send for the FX Loop.


    The Space is not limited to the headphone but can be set to main output as well by clicking the switch above the Space pot.

    There is an additional Space effect availble in the Type list.

  • But yes, you can.

    You can set all outputs (Main Output as well as Monitor Output) to different signal sources, including DI signal.

    And use the Send for the FX Loop.

    Oh, haven't thought about that. That's great!


    The Space is not limited to the headphone but can be set to main output as well by clicking the switch above the Space pot.

    There is an additional Space effect availble in the Type list.

    Yes, that's what I meant by Space "doesn't need to be limited to headphones only". I often send some of the effect into the DAW and like how it sounds.

  • It is likely that you have overdriven the inputs of your interface, resulting in a bad sound and unpredictable volume differences.

    I'm sure that's what it was. But since I went with SPDIF I don't have that problem anymore. Thanks for taking the time to still read the forums, by the way. Schönen Abend noch.

  • 15. The looper in the Kemper remote has an insanely short recording time. Don't sell your boss loopers (like I did...).

    It depends in your plans.

    Insanely short to me would be 15 seconds, but even this would work well for classic pattern looping.


    However, the Looper does one minute of recording time when set to 1/2 tempo (before hitting record).

  • It depends in your plans.

    Let's say it would be good if the looper could save one round of a 12 bar blues.

    Just for comparison, the Boss RC1 has a recording time of 12 minutes (alas in worse quality). The Dito Looper has still 5 minutes and the Boss RC-10R can even do a whopping 6 hours, if I'm not mistaken.

    The Kemper Profiler can replace so many pedals (I did some A/B comparisons and found the Kemper effects sounded identical) but the looper is not one of them yet. Maybe some day in the future?

  • Let's say it would be good if the looper could save one round of a 12 bar blues.

    Just for comparison, the Boss RC1 has a recording time of 12 minutes (alas in worse quality). The Dito Looper has still 5 minutes and the Boss RC-10R can even do a whopping 6 hours, if I'm not mistaken.

    The Kemper Profiler can replace so many pedals (I did some A/B comparisons and found the Kemper effects sounded identical) but the looper is not one of them yet. Maybe some day in the future?

    Since the 12 bars include 48 beats, you can save a blues at 96 BPM.


    Or a very slow blues at 48 BPM, when set to 1/2 time.


    How would you make use of 5 minutes or 6 hours?

  • Since I now disagree with many of the points I used to make early January, I added a little "warning" before my first post. At one point I will start a similar thread with a more experienced look at these things.

  • Since the 12 bars include 48 beats, you can save a blues at 96 BPM.


    Or a very slow blues at 48 BPM, when set to 1/2 time.


    How would you make use of 5 minutes or 6 hours?

    Didn’t see this until now.


    6 hours is only interesting if you can save loops and record ideas.


    5 minutes is very helpful for songwriting, for example if you want to loop verse, bridge and chorus of a song in order to figure out the second guitar or bass to play on top of it. It’s a bit of a quicker setup to use the looper than going into your DAW.


    30 seconds is just too short for song writing, which is why there are several requests for more recording time on this forum (like this one from 6 years ago).

  • An "affectionate" attack. ;)

    Larry Mar @ Lonegun Studios. Neither one famous yet.

    Edited once, last by BayouTexan ().