I've had my Kemper for years and have used it primarily for playing live. When I play live, it sounds great. When I listen to it using headphones, it also sounds great. But when I connect it to my Focusrite Clarett 4 Pre and into my DAW (Reaper) it sounds dull, like someone put a blanket over my tone. If I simply unplug my headphones from my Clarett's headphone jack and plug them into the Kemper's headphone jack, all the sparkle and clarity return.
It doesn't sound like a phase issue. It's a clarity issue. It sounds like someone just dulled my sound down. I've tried recording using different cables, and have tried both SPDIF and XLR cables and I've also tried using a 1/4" cable from my Kemper's headphone out to the Clarett. It all sounds dull. I had this issue with my previous interface (Focusrite Scarlet) and I figured maybe it just wasn't high quality enough, so I upgraded to what I've been told was a nice one (the Clarett). But I'm still having the same issue. Which would lead me to think it's something in the DAW, but I don't see anything in Reaper that would affect the sound like this. Also, I should note that the "headphone space" feature is turned down to zero (off), so it's not the space effect that makes it sound so good through the headphone output.
I've got my Kemper set to 44,100 and I've made sure the Focusrite Control software is also set to 44,100. When I use the SPDIF output, I've made sure that the Focusrite is set to use the Kemper's SPDIF for the internal clock.
I have no idea what could be causing this difference in tone. Why does the headphone output sound so pristine and all other outputs