[solved] Recorded tones sound muddy

I hear no Mud there...maybe a bit bass-heavy for a mix.

Is this also the sound that you get out of your monitors?

yes: you can try to change settings on the profiler. Play with the Definition, EQ and the gain maybe?

no: turn the output gain of the profiler down and check the input gain of the focusrite. Maybe it's also too hot.

to me, that's just way too much reverb for that amount of gain and that's where the impression of 'muddiness' comes from.

record again without any fx to make sure your core tone is alright (I think it is),

then, if you do want reverb (and who doesn't), set the Reverb mix to 100% wet, reverb only and dial in the sound of the reverb.
personally, I go for as much as needed, as little as possible, make sure the low mids, bass isn't getting cluttered up and try a predelay of 90ms or more - I feel that this way the reverb will still be connected to the note, but have enough separation to avoid cluttering up everything.

Then just play, adjust Mix and keep switching the effect on and off to make sure you are actually improving the tone.
With something as gainy as you posted, I'd go for 'not totally apparent, but something is missing when I turn the reverb off'

hth

I would boost the mids a little bit so the guitar is brought more forward to the listener. A small amount of mids goes a long way. Play your track up against a drum track and then adjust.

Better to cut around 200Hz to get rid of "muddiness" IMO

Cheers !

It behooves you not to mess with the Mud.

As Spotter said "Is that what you get out of your monitors" when you are playing live? Do you monitor with an amp or something else but record with the Focusrite? It may sound good on an amp but be muddy thru the super clean uncolored focusrite.

To me it sounds like a couple issues:

- Too distorted and or compressed. Lacks dynamic range. Is there some form of AUTO-LEVELING going on somewhere in your recording chain? Or is it just too compressed from the Kemper originally?

- There is too much low mid range. The lack of clarity and low-mid punch sounds like the IR/Cab is not setup correctly. On the output section there is a PURE CABINET button, maybe toggle that to see if it sounds different???

When doing these things it is best to adjust the sound in the recording environment you will be using. My setup is Kemper->USB audio device->flat stereo->studio monitors. So I know when I hit record exactly what I will be getting. Great Kemper sound being played horribly

Another thing that gets me personally is that my ears adjust instantly to a bad sound and hear it as good. So I need to constantly toggle back and forth with a different sound. Play something else come back and I hear it completely different.

As Don said; that is a ton of reverb for a distorted sound. I would back that off a long way.

As Hoki Toki said, rather than boosting frequencies to make it brighter or punchier start by finding where the mud is and cut that slightly. For me it is usually between 200 and 300hz.

And as RosboneMako pointed out you often need less gain than you think. Be careful of too much compression.

The other thing I would add is to consider your listening environment. Does it sound muddy on headphones as well as speakers? Does it sound muddy all around the room or just at your listening position? Does it change if you move the speakers further or close to the front wall or corners? If it sounds OK on headphones the problem could easily be the room itself. Some simple tweaks to speaker/listening positions and some cheap DIY treatment can often make a noticeable difference.

Quote from michaelsharman

Thanks for the feedback everyone, I'll try some of those ideas.

Attached is actually the original clip that I wanted to share. It has lower overdrive and effects, but still has an overall lack of clarity that I'm calling muddiness. It sounds clearer out of the monitors, but I'll try some of the tips above as well.e jam4.mp3.zip

here's something obvious to try
increase 'Definition' and/or increase 'Clarity' - both parameters are available in the AMPLIFIER module

you can also put a Kemper Drive stomp in front of the AMPLIFIER, using one of the Tubescreamer presets - low drive on the stomp, you only want the midrange emphasis from it.
Lead Booster is also an option.

hth

As I stated earlier the sound feels too compressed. This can happen from:

- running a compressor on the signal in the Kemper.

- some kind of Auto Leveling (compressor) circuit in your recording gear.

- using a compressor in the recording software.

- ducking.

Recently I have been playing with adding some effects and using the ducking option. Ducking is generically a compressor that turns a sound up/down based on some criteria other than the main signal. In the case of the Kemper it may turn down the effect based on the level of the incoming signal.

Depending on where the effect is in the chain and how the ducking is set, you can get very dead compressed sounds from the ducking.

I have been trying to use ducking to add some sustain to notes since you need a gate for most heavy distortion sounds. So setting a booster for a little push but not having it color the loud played notes. Just let it ease in on long singing notes you are holding.

Ducking is used a lot in delays and reverbs so the echos dont wash out your playing.

Just one more super cool thing the Kemper does. But it can hurt you if you start tweaking with no idea what it does.

Today I found another thing that leads to a lot of mids and an overall dead sounding tone. Setting up a booster with no gain. I think I was using the Lead Booster and rolled the gain off and I was left with a completely dead sound. Pulled the gain up a little and it sprang to life.

I am guessing the booster pedals add some compression to the lower frequencies to keep them under control, but let the highs come thru uncompressed. So you get a nice bright controlled tone. So when I turned the gain down all I was left with was super compressed low-mids. It sounded a lot like Michaels first recording in the original post.

Hi....On the off chance that all that stuff delivers similar outcomes, it's either how you are seeing things, the real room, or something different essentially normal. It's absolutely impossible that all of that stuff has an issue when utilized in various arrangements.

Record a tone you believe is sloppy and allowed us to hear it.

Quote from ChanceTran

Hi....On the off chance that all that stuff delivers similar outcomes, it's either how you are seeing things, the real room, or something different essentially normal. It's absolutely impossible that all of that stuff has an issue when utilized in various arrangements.

Record a tone you believe is sloppy and allowed us to hear it.

issue has been solved already (see post above yours)

OP supplied an audio example in the first post.