Clean sense-why not global?

  • Something I just cannot wrap my head around is why would clean sense be per rig in the input and not a set global function? If I find clean rigs to be a bit loud, and I bump clean sense down and save, the next clean sound will still be loud. I'd have to go into each one and set it individually and I might as well just bump the volume in the amp section. Why would anyone use it on ONE rig only? I believe it to be to balance out all clean & dirty sounds not just one clean sound. I realize you could lock the input but don't understand how having clean sense unlocked would be usable.

  • Well it can be global if you “lock” it.


    I like it per rig, as I have my rigs set up for certain guitars and saved per rig with clean sense. I could have a saved input setup for each instrument, I have done that as well and could lock it but I prefer it set per rig. Plus I can tweak clean sense or distortion sense per rig if needed.


    I set up performances for different instruments as well as rigs and just name them as such.


    Forgot to add that it’s a pain when playing live to have to change your saved input settings each time you change a guitar. So now all I do is go to my performance that is setup for that instrument.

    Edited once, last by drog ().

  • Saving clean sense per instrument kinda negates the purpose of it don't you think? I mean you could just adjust the volume per rig then.

    Clean sense only balances clean and dirty levels so you don’t get a huge volume jump when going between dirty/clean. It is also used to tame or boost signals between different types of pickups and how they react (active can be way too hot).
    Even with Input locked you still need to adjust your rigs to each other, or you will have louder rigs all over the place.


    Still the biggest thing is when switching instruments, no need to go and change my locked input to a different saved one.


    If I am auditioning many rigs, then I lock my input as it keeps it consistent for lots of rigs. But for live use, I really only use a single (1) performance of 5 rigs . Each instrument has its own performance set up.

  • Clean Sens and Distortion Sens are global by default... in a sense. ;)


    From Manual...


    INPUT Button (2)

    Press this button to enter the Input Section. Here, you can set the input sensitivity and select the physical input for your guitar signal. In Browser Mode, the Input Section is locked by default. This means that the settings will be applied to every Rig, unless you decide to unlock it. If you do unlock this section, the input settings will be recalled individually with each Rig. In Performance Mode, the Input Section is not locked by default, because most users prepare and store their Performances with specific settings of the Input Section for particular songs and guitars. The Noise Gate, with its dedicated knob, also belongs to the Input Section.

    Larry Mar @ Lonegun Studios. Neither one famous yet.

  • ?? Ummm yes, I said that right from the first post. What you don’t understand from what I am saying, is that that setting is NOT good for all of my instruments. Some need different clean sense settings. So you can either A)lock input and save the input setting and recall it, or B) unlock it save it per rig

    I use method B for the reason I stated, that it is easier when playing live. For me

  • I lock the input. In answer to your question "don't understand how having clean sense unlocked would be usable" some people may want to save different performances for different guitars with different input settings. Maybe not a bad idea if you only use two guitars. Just another option, leave the choice up to the artist

  • I lock it and have a few different Input (bass, SG2000, Tele, etc.).


    The fact that the Kemper can also cater for someone with a non-typical use case of needing different Input settings per rig is a yet another testament to their design.

  • Thanks but I already practically memorized this paragraph of the manual. Performance is unlocked by default. I wanted to know why anyone would want clean sense unlocked not the whole input section. Having read and understood the manual page well, I already was aware (as stated in my first post) that the input could be locked but don't understand what use clean sense has unlocked. Not the input section. Clean sense.

  • One potential use case is switching between acoustic and electric guitars in the same set and not having to keep changing the Input.

    Or switching between bass and Chapman Stick. ?

  • One potential use case is switching between acoustic and electric guitars in the same set and not having to keep changing the Input.

    Or switching between bass and Chapman Stick. ?

    Wouldn't just simply changing the volume levels of those rigs do the same thing? The way I understood, clean sense was to change the whole structure of clean vs dirty sounds overall. Rig per rig could be done with a simple volume fix. "Clean Sens determines the volume of clean sounds" Not "sound". Plural meaning more than one. Now I am unsure what clean sense even does. If it doesn't balance all clean sounds overall, the same thing can be done with volume controls rig per rig..

  • Wouldn't just simply changing the volume levels of those rigs do the same thing? The way I understood, clean sense was to change the whole structure of clean vs dirty sounds overall. Rig per rig could be done with a simple volume fix. "Clean Sens determines the volume of clean sounds" Not "sound". Plural meaning more than one. Now I am unsure what clean sense even does. If it doesn't balance all clean sounds overall, the same thing can be done with volume controls rig per rig..

    no. Clean sense is used to balance how loud the clean signal is in relation to the dirty. So if you balance them so you don’t get a volume jump when you go from a clean to dirty sound.
    Rig volume is just the overall volume of a rig.

    Another way to think about it, if you morph a rig from clean to dirty, you want them to be the same level just more or less dirt. Clean sense balances that level between dirt and clean.


    Kemper did a good video on clean sense, you should watch it.


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  • It's funny, I don't use distortion sense either, but it effectively makes your pickups hotter, which seems like a powerful tool. But I guess I like my pickups sounding how you'd expect them to sound.

    But yeah, clean sens is just for balancing dirty and clean within the one rig, not necessarily from rig to rig, that's your rig volume. I never touch rig volume personally, the Kemper does a great job of balancing between rigs itself, as long as your clean sens is set well

  • Clean Sense is part of the Input Module and gets locked or unlocked with it.


    If you want to have it locked, but tame volume differences of different rigs (either clean or more gain), than it is recommended to adjust this with the Rig Volume.

  • I thought it was recommended to use the volume parameter in the amp module to balance rigs not RIG volume..


    In the manual RIG VOLUME: Use this parameter to adjust the level of each Rig to suit a song in a set list, we don’t recommend using it to balance the levels between all the Rigs.



    I find I did not understand what clean sense was used for or what it did correctly. Now that I see I had it wrong, I will watch the video and see if that will straighten me out.


    Edit: Now that I watched the video, I have a completely different understanding about clean sense than what I understood just reading the manual! I now understand it works within a rig so volume stays even when rig gain is adjusted like Drog wrote.

  • About clean/distortion sense;

    After watching the video, and understanding what distortion sense is and why one would want to lock it, (switching guitars for example) it cannot be locked separately from clean sense and thus would also lock all the clean sense settings across all my rigs in a performance/performances correct?


    Say, If in a performance, I had a Vox, a Twin and a Distorted ENGL, and the Twin and the Vox had individual & different clean sense settings to balance them as the gain knob is adjusted, as soon as I adjusted and locked the distortion sense changing to a weaker pickup guitar, my clean sense settings would have to be one setting between the two clean rigs. Not a big deal, as I can't ever see this bothering me the way I do things. I generally don't make big gain changes in a rig, I'd switch to a different rig. I was just saying this as I am better understanding how the input section is best saved/locked and for what purpose.

  • The "correct" clean sense is dictated by the guitar, so you don't need different settings across multiple rigs.

    Kemper PowerRack |Kemper Stage| Rivera 4x12 V30 cab | Yamaha DXR10 pair | UA Apollo Twin Duo | Adam A7X | Cubase DAW
    Fender Telecaster 62 re-issue chambered mahogany | Kramer! (1988 or so...) | Gibson Les Paul R7 | Fender Stratocaster HBS-1 Classic Relic Custom Shop | LTD EC-1000 Evertune | 1988 Desert Yellow JEM

  • The "correct" clean sense is dictated by the guitar, so you don't need different settings across multiple rigs.

    But now I understand you may not need different settings but may want them...


    If you knew certain guitars & rigs combos were going to be used with certain songs and didn't want to go to the input setting and change it, you would leave it unlocked and let it "call up" those settings for that particular rig & guitar... And if you may use different guitars not song dependent, you may want to have a setting for each guitar to pull up and lock it. Now that I understand how clean sense works and what it does, I'm getting it. The manual doesn't explain it the way the video does. I instantly "got it" when I watched the video. The way the manual is worded there is a bit vague IMO.

  • But now I understand you may not need different settings but may want them...


    If you knew certain guitars & rigs combos were going to be used with certain songs and didn't want to go to the input setting and change it, you would leave it unlocked and let it "call up" those settings for that particular rig & guitar... And if you may use different guitars not song dependent, you may want to have a setting for each guitar to pull up and lock it. Now that I understand how clean sense works and what it does, I'm getting it. The manual doesn't explain it the way the video does. I instantly "got it" when I watched the video. The way the manual is worded there is a bit vague IMO.

    Great description.

    Kemper PowerRack |Kemper Stage| Rivera 4x12 V30 cab | Yamaha DXR10 pair | UA Apollo Twin Duo | Adam A7X | Cubase DAW
    Fender Telecaster 62 re-issue chambered mahogany | Kramer! (1988 or so...) | Gibson Les Paul R7 | Fender Stratocaster HBS-1 Classic Relic Custom Shop | LTD EC-1000 Evertune | 1988 Desert Yellow JEM