Risk of looking an idiot...but a Kone question

    This might make me look daft but here goes.


    Have a Powerhead & a Laney 2 x 12 cab with Kones in. Have been running in FRFR mode & moaning on here about the sound. Did a bit of reading yesterday about Kone capability & thought "I haven't explored these enough".


    I had tried the speaker profiles with Monitor Cab Off but with the cab section of the profiles still enabled. When I ran that again today but with the cab disabled and a V30 profile selected, it sounded far better to me. Needs EQing to be sure but with the amp section enabled it is mega muffled.


    Happy to be told I've been a fool & finally worked out how to use the Kones. Any takers?

    I always start in FRFR mode. I only use an imprint if I need a bit more out of the profile that I can't get from tweaking or adjusting guitar volume and tone controls. So, I save using imprints as a last option.

    Larry Mar @ Lonegun Studios. Neither one famous yet.

    I’m the opposite. I bought the Kone to achieve the amp-in-the-room sound and feel and never run mine in full-range mode. IMHO that’s what mains/monitors are for.

    “Without music, life would be a mistake.” - Friedrich Nietzsche

    Honestly today the difference was extreme.


    Had a M Britt profile that was "pretty nice" with FRFR. I turned monitor cab off & chose the V30 profile & it sounded muted. Turned the cab section off, tweaked the EQ a bit & I had a boutique amp in the room. I couldn't put it down.


    Likewise a Marshall JVM profile. That was my go to with the band but vs a real JVM it wasn't anything like it. Again, monitor cab off sounded honky. Turn cab off & jeeeeesus I blew the place up. Needed the EQ tweaked & high end filter dropped but it sounds incredible.

    Not really.


    With the Cabinet OFF in the rig you have FRFR mode (intended for acoustic guitar or Bass). However, I seem to recall Burkhard saying something about there being an artifact from the cabmaker algorithm that stops the bypass working completely so there is always a slight touch of overlap between them. In this case the cabinet block can still colour the sound slightly but it is a marginal effect and the overall sound is still closer to FRFR than a speaker.


    You can test it by setting the looper to Input (system menu) and recording a phrase. With this playing you can turn the Cabinet Section On/Off and change Imprints in each state.


    You will hear that the imprints work as expected when the Cabinet Block is active and the Cabinet Off is engaged in the Kone menu.


    When the Cabinet Block is active and Cabinet Off is Disabled in Kone menu you get FRFR full studio profile including the Cabinet Block.


    When Cabinet Block is inactive and Cabinet Off is Enabled you get FRFR with no Imprint but there is still a little bit of the profile cabinet due to the way the Cabinet Block estimates where the amp ends and speaker begins. Changing Imprint here has little or no effect depending on the rig.


    In all cases they basically sound like an amp/pedal straight into a desk with no speaker but some are less offensive than others.

    1Towneley


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    Thanks. Still scratching my head why when I run like that the speaker imprints sound rotten.


    I dial up a Peavey 6505 & honestly get something sounding more like a Fender. I play metal & the tones are 0% usable for that. I actually had a 6505 & the only way I can get near that is without the cab activated or in FRFR. In FRFR mode they were ok & with cab off they start to sound very much like the bite of the original amps. Some are swarm of bees though.


    Is this something maybe to do with the way the profiles are set up? Merged etc?


    Starting to think swapping for a real cab is best.

    Are you using a OD/Distortion stomp? Because stomps like the Metal DS color over the amps sound at high gain so much that you get similar tone across any amp.

    Larry Mar @ Lonegun Studios. Neither one famous yet.

    Nothing - ESP LTD Guitar with EMGs or a Hagstrom with Sey Duncs into a ISP Decimator noise gate then into KPR.


    Profiles just have a noise gate pre amp, then the amp/cab section, then usually just a EQ after that. Main EQ is generally a lot of treble or the KPA simply doesn't cut that well in a live setting with most profiles vs a loud Marshall.


    Issue is a real muddying of the tone once the imprints are selected if the cab section is lit. No EQing saves it. Just sounds like a fundamentally different amp (more like a vintage 60s tone vs nice modern gain even with modern amps like 6505) vs FRFR or if the cab is turned off when Kone imprints engaged. Honestly the 6505 profiles with the V30 imprint engaged are laughable vs the real 6505 combo I had a few years back. Take the cab away (or go FRFR) & you get close, but there is a real bee buzzing edge to it as you crank it, as an earlier poster commented. But at least you get that sharp modern metal tone that I need.


    Just seems like something is wrong somewhere. What I get in real life seems to be v different to what others seem to get.


    Getting a bit disillusioned with it in all honesty. Can't say the Kones have been plug n play to any extent in my experience :(

    @schecter71

    You have to have Kemper Kone mode enabled in the output section and connect your cab to the monitor out. If you are wiring 2 Kones for mono in a 2x12 you have to have them wired in series (4 Ohms+4Ohms = 8 Ohms) not parallel which would give you 2 Ohms - which is too low for most power amps and the KPA powerhead.


    If you are driving the Kones with a stereo power amp you can have two inputs on the cab with one Kone wired to each and that will give you 2 separate 4 Ohm loads which will be fine for most solid state and tube power amps. The older Kemper formats (Toaster/Rack) support stereo outputs for the Kones but you need to use the direct output for the second channel and you can't run a stereo FX loop if you do so. The Stage supports stereo Monitor out without losing any FX loop options.