for 2021: more presets CABs

  • Hi all, after a first big update in the presets with so many nice overdrive brandnew stomps,

    it would be good if 2021 more presets would be offered....maybe some official 2x12 / 1x12 / 4x12 from famous cab brands combined to specifical set of loudspeakers.


    would it be possible? Why not.....

  • I agree 100%. I've got enough of DI's and merged profiles already . More good cab presets for the ppl.

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

    Henry David Thoreau

  • Every Rig in RIg Manager factory content has a Cabinet already. These can be used with any other rig so there is effectively a few hundred cabinet presets in there already. How would the new presets differ from the current ones?

    well, what you say is correct. I only think in term of "newbie" as i am , but having understood the phylosophy of kemper ( and for this reason i went KPA instead of its best competitor).

    So, KPA offers some official "celestion" presets, but i was thinking about the same thing as "official" cab profile in a similar way TwoNotes does with its Torpedo. Making a sort of "official IR" for a 2x12 or whatever AxB with ...speakers.

    Taking a cabinet from an existing rig of the factory content is definitely a first step, but IMHO it would be great to separate several cabs as own preset (as is said, the example of the torpedo cab M+/live , without the need of moving mic but as single "best of IR").

  • well, what you say is correct. I only think in term of "newbie" as i am , but having understood the phylosophy of kemper ( and for this reason i went KPA instead of its best competitor).

    I understand what you are saying. I have a Two Notes Torpedo Reload which I used with Wall of Sound IRs prior to getting my Kemper.


    Th eway I interpret the Kemper "philosophy" is that it aims to capture the sound of a signal chain from amp to speaker to mic and even mic preamp or mixing desk channel strip.


    An IR captures the signal chain from Speaker onward. So in reality the only difference is that the Kemper includes the amp whereas the IR needs the amp to be added. Even though the way they achieve it is different, the philosophy seems very similar to me - capture a real sound and allow it to be used any time anywhere.


    Where things differ is with software like Two Notes Wall of Sound which lets you switch mics and mic placement to create your own new sounds from the IR. I don't know how they actually achieve this but is must be some sort of modelling or blending between different IRs (unless they literally capture each mic/cab combination at hundreds of different locations and the software is just a visual interface for selecting which one you want to use. The technology behind this stuff is WAY above my head :D


    So, KPA offers some official "celestion" presets, but i was thinking about the same thing as "official" cab profile in a similar way TwoNotes does with its Torpedo. Making a sort of "official IR" for a 2x12 or whatever AxB with ...speakers.

    As far as I can make out those "official packs" are more a marketing thing for Celestion than a fundamentally different type of preset. Ultimately they are just Kemper cabinets. I don't suppose there is anything to stop another (or multiple other) speaker manufacture(s) from asking Kemper to include their "official" packs in the factory content but I don't necessarily see the benefit of an "official" pack versus any of the existing cabinets made as part of profiling by any of the commercial profilers already in the market.


    Taking a cabinet from an existing rig of the factory content is definitely a first step, but IMHO it would be great to separate several cabs as own preset (as is said, the example of the torpedo cab M+/live , without the need of moving mic but as single "best of IR").

    If it is a matter of having the cabinet portion available as a preset which makes it easier to mix and match then that can already be done. There are a couple of ways to do it.


    1 - Lock All but Cabinet. Then browse rigs in Rig Manager. This will keep everything about the selected rig the same except the cabinet. Every time you audition a new profile the cabinet will be added to the existing locked rig. It is super easy and fast to change cabs this way.


    2 - If you want to create a smaller number of presets that you can find quickly and use on ant rig later then simply find a rig with a cabinet that you like. Now drag the cabinet block from the editor pane onlto the Presets Local Library. You will now find the cabinet in the preset list. Anytime you want to reuse that cabinet with a different rig just highlight the Cab block in the rig and double click the preset. If you like the combination you can save it as a new rig. If you don't like it add a different cabinet preset until you find one you really like.

  • According to CK recently the KPA doesn't use IR it uses an EQ curve. Even when an IR is imported it is converted to a KPA Cabinet so there shouldn't be any difference between an IR and a Cabinet in use even though they may start out with different technologies.

    Thanks for the explanation!


  • Hi Alan, thanks for the kind explaining, i think we are on parallel path and i hope that we "cross" the mindset.

    My answer here will be maybe long....but i try to explain all:

    I read and i agree with what Mr. Kemper told some days ago regarding IRs, EQ curves etc. I am not Mr. Kemper, i am not meant to be Mr. Kemper :) or a competitor of Mr. Kemper :) even if i am engineer and with a background in acoustics too: if i profile a cab of Label X with Cones Y and Mic Z in the position W i have a "unique" dB-Freq curve, which can be transposed in term of EQ curve.

    Let s not confuse the minds with the Torpedo workflow ( it is definitely a blending mathematical option by moving the mics), we think about a unique configuration X/Y/W/Z as said before.


    I try to go one step beyond in deepdiving my idea, especially now, when i come from a noodling session with only merged profiles in the rig manager (the merged profiles pack) and some well done IRs of known cabs from a professional studio/vendor.

    The IRs were given as demo-pack and converted in KPA files. So, this is the experience:


    - using the studio profiles and then playing: The studio profiles sounded great as they were created, but a mess with the IR. Means , i experienced the same as many users say: a studio profile is a unique chain and sounds great as it is.

    - then i went for merged profiles of the rig manager: BOOM! The impact of the IRs was magic. the TripleRect merged profile together with the MeBo IRs / KPA converted was so gorgeous and much much massive and detailled than the cab of the original merged profile.

    - same feeling of great quality and dynamic sound happened with the test IRs and the direct profiles together.

    - The obvservations were made with studio monitors

    - i repeated the cases with my 4x12 DIY big cab with the 4x kemper kones in stereo format ( my avatar...), and run the system with activated kones in full range modality: results were exactly comparable as before with the studio monitors.


    So, huge story of the evening to tell that a nice of well-done "kemper selected" Cabs of famous marks with selected speakers and mic position "official as presets" and specifically for a use with merged and direct profiles would be a great great enhancement: torpedo has in their last update for the CAB M+ official Mesa Boxes, official Orange Boxes, official Engl Boxes, official Suhr Boxes, official Revv Boxes and even Zilla and Soldano Boxes, FOR FREE. Why torpedo yes, and our holy Kemper (still) not?


    I hope it is clear now what is my wish :) even if the message here is huuuuge

    Regards, Enzo

  • Hi Enzo


    Your message makes perfect sense even if it is nearly a huuuge as mine ?


    So, if I understand what you are saying correctly I would summarise it as: when using studio profiles and trying to separate the cab from the amp, the Kemper algorithm for estimating where the amp stops and the cab starts isn’t perfect. As a result the cab only portion may not transfer as hoped when used with a different rig. However, an IR or the cab section of a Merged profile does a mich better job to your ears. Therefore, the Kemper should include more IRs or cab sections from merged profiles as part of the factory content in future. Although I rarely mix and match speakers, I take your point and have no argument with that idea.


    In practice you would like these to be “officially endorsed bu the cabinet manufacturer. I am less excited about this aspect. I have heard several official profiles by amp makers and not been particularly impressed compared to the same amps from MBritt or others. However, that is all just a matter of personal taste.


    I presume that Two Notes can provide these official IRs due to some sort of licensing agreement. Most amp manufacturers seem happy to work with a company like Two Notes IR as the technology is still designed to work with their real valve amps so doesn’t kill their market. Most of these companies seem to see the Kemper as a threat to their business rather than a complementary income stream. I would be surprised to see many companies willing to offer officially endorsed presets for Kemper. Particularly Mesa Boogie now that they are owned by Gibson ?

  • so Alan,

    thanks for the reply, i think now we have closed the gap and we have matched the opinions. I appreciate!


    - the focus of my observation is exclusively on the merged and DI.

    - For me the KPA experience with studio is different "for the ears" and for the "sound setup" than merged/DI.
    - Maybe a support of a great profiler expert , just a MBritt or even a professional IR studio can be a good joint venture to explore this field. On a simple point of view: with torpedo, with the FM3 / Axe and with the QuadCortex you have a big sound control and hence a huge "sound quality" leverage effect with the cabs in term of presets. The same can be enhanced then in our lovely KPA.....

    That s all , and even if we think in the sound chain - guitar- pre amp - power amp - cab/mic, the sound quality chain effect is dominated by the latest chain element..... :)

  • I would love the Kemper to have the ability that some of these other products have to mix speakers and mic’s. Although in its present state, I don’t think it’s possible. Who knows?


    One of my rhythm sounds on many albums involved using an SM57 and an AKG 451 mixed together and recorded to one track (both mic’s recorded to the same track) for each of the left and right rhythm parts. For the centre, (again both mic’s mixed to one track), one of the mic’s polarity was reversed creating a scooped sound that kept more space for all the stuff that was panned central but was also similar enough to tie the left and right guitars together. Used to mostly keep the centre track 3 db down.

    Would be be great to be able to tweak inside the Kemper Cab section to be able to simply set up something like this.

  • Vinnie, obviously the best solution is just to make the profile using both mics as that ensures the accurate sound just as you heard it through the monitors. Any software merging of two different profiles may or may not be accurate.


    I can’t imagine any way the two mic profile could be created in the current hardware but then I couldn’t have imagined most of the amazing stuff CK and team have already com up with so who knows ?


    However, I could easily imagine a situation where Rig Manager was expanded to allow multiple amps or cabs to be merged into a single file. I remember when I used my Two Notes gear they had a piece of desktop software to let you load multiple IR and merge them into a single file which could be exported and used live or in the studio. I would imagine Kemper could do something similar if they chose to.

  • Yes, it’s that Two Notes software I was thinking of as well as the Mikko app.
    I was just thinking that if the IR’s are translated to an EQ curve, then the cab section could be more complex and allow manipulation of those EQ curves.
    So, what I was getting at was not merging of any profiles but being able to conjur up your own cab from a set of ingredients supplied by the cab section.
    for example, listed speaker responses from types of speakers and enclosures and being able to choose from a wide array of mic choices and be able to manipulate their position and phase.

    Like I said, I don’t know if this is even possible but as it’s EQ curves once inside the Kemper, I would imagine it would be in theory.

  • Hi Vinny,

    hi Alan,


    i think we three are Torpedo fans :) but KPA-over-the-top lovers :)


    Let s say, if Kemper would enhance the software "CAB maker" into a "CAB manager wall-of-sound-kemper" , it can be another good idea too.....

  • Yes, that’s the kind of thing I was thinking although would be much better to have it on board.
    I didn’t buy any of the Two Notes stuff yet as I wanted something I could use to export my own settings to be used in the Kemper easily.

    Only thing I have that is quick and easy is my Suhr Reactive Load IR but stuck with what can be loaded into it and I would rather be able to make my own cabs for the Kemper.

    I have 10 Marshall 4x12’s here in my live room as well as all my favourite mic’s (57’s, AKG 451’s, AKG 414’s, Sennheiser 421’s etc) and my Focusrite ISA828 and ISA220 preamps but I want to get away from mic’ing.
    Using the Suhr load has been great though.

  • I have 10 Marshall 4x12’s here in my live room as well as all my favourite mic’s (57’s, AKG 451’s, AKG 414’s, Sennheiser 421’s etc)

    Then you can start to be the first beta-generator of this "KPA-sort of IR-cabs-presets" i was speaking about :) :) :)


    and try to buy a AKG D202.....such a massive beefy surprise for the mic´s .... :)