Is there an EQ I am unaware of?

  • A few weeks ago, I noticed something funny is happening whenever I record anything using my kemper. LIterally, anything and everything. I record guitar and bass through it. I have 2 bass profiles that I like a lot and switch between. For guitar, I have about 6 profiles that I have been using lately.

    here's the strange part....

    Every single EQ curve looks almost identical. it's basically a happy face EQ with a very sharp roll-off on the high end.. It's as if I set a low shelf up to around 200 hz, a deep and sharp cut at 1khz, and then a steep high cut at around 6k, but that's not what I'm setting up at all.

    I record through an apollo. I have used different preampsa and channel strips, and have used all sorts of EQ settings. But the result is always that same exact curve. I don't know where that would even come from because I wouldn't ever cut everything above 6k on either guitar or bass. I also typically double track my guitar, one track is scooped, and the other has a bit of a presence boost. But I have always done most of the EQing with the channel strip on the way into my DAW.


    this is just crazy cus I have no idea what to do and I end up having to use extreme EQ settings when I mix my tracks and I really don't like to do a whole lot of processing at this stage. I usually just do a bit of surgical eq and panning to fix problems with masking and create more space whenever I mix in the box . I am assuming this must have something to do with the kemper because my vocals are not scooped when they are recorded.

    Has anyone run into this before? Let me know if there are any other details I can provide that might help you get an idea about what on earth is going here.

  • here's an example.... what is going on with this EQ curve? Look at the settings on my API strip... ?!? For the most part, this looks more or less OK. It's that sudden sharp cut at around 6khz... I have never seen this up until a few weeks ago.

    in case you are wondering, I used a jazz bass deluxe ( the one with the active EQ). The knob settings do not reflect the end result that we see in the spectral analysis. Also... I have ears, and this doesn't sound right.

  • Anyone?

    Has it always been like this, any maybe I am just now noticing? Like... any part of the signal that doesn't have an EQ boost drops off so much. I don't think the boosts that I am making are very drastic. I guess that's the point of proportional Q though... ie huge boosts can be made and the Q is adjusted so as to not sound harsh...


    I think I will play around with the massive passive to or a pultec to see if the broader Q is more along the lines of what I am expecting. Still.. I really can't believe it would take me years before noticing this. And it doesn't explain why EVERY SINGLE EQ curve looks almost identical, regardless of the EQ settings, guitar knob twearking, or amp settings that I use.