What on earth is Pure Cabinet?

  • I’ve seen a ton of hate for Pure Cab across Kemper forums. I feel like every time someone has a post saying “what’s wrong with my tone?,” the first responses are always “is Pure Cab on?”


    I’ve always avoided it, but I just started playing around with it… and it’s doing something to my tone that I am actually loving! It’s taking that shrill, digital sounding high-end right off.

    Why exactly? How does it work? What is it doing?

  • It’s taking that shrill, digital sounding high-end right off.

    there's nothing digital about it. Guitar speakers put out plenty of rather unpleasant, very high frequency content. If they are then mic'ed (too) close to the cap or with the 'wrong' mic, these almost artifact-like sounding properties are then becoming part of the Profile, since - you know - that's what the amp/speaker/mic signal path sounds like.

    Pure Cabinet remedies this and other issues a mic'ed cabinet might have in an adaptive way, meaning it's not just applying a set filter.

    as always, be wary of knee-jerk reactions about tone as in the example you gave

    explore, experiment, listen, (read the manual), have fun & play


    "I’ve always avoided it, but I just started playing around with it… and it’s doing something to my tone that I am actually loving!"

    glad you got there, but having these great tools right at your fingertips and avoiding them because of some chatter on (I assume) fb is almost tragic ;)

  • I feel like every time someone has a post saying “what’s wrong with my tone?,” the first responses are always “is Pure Cab on?”

    There is a PURE CABINET setting in the output that affects all profiles. So it is an easy check that this did not get accidentally turned on and has altered the sound of ALL of your profiles. There is no hate about it. It is mentioned when someone all of a sudden feels the Kemper tone has changed on all profiles.


    It is probably best to have it turned off globally and set individually for each profile.


    SPACE is another global option that can alter your tone and is usually better set as a stomp/effect on each profile. If you normally play on a cab/monitors then switch to headphones, turning SPACE globally on will make it sound better for your noodling session.

  • SPACE is another global option that can alter your tone and is usually better set as a stomp/effect on each profile. If you normally play on a cab/monitors then switch to headphones, turning SPACE globally on will make it sound better for your noodling session.

    space is automatically on for the Headphone output.

  • That sounds like a terrible idea, but ok. Note to self: Never use headphone output.

    One of the topics that used to come Up regularly on the forum was “why do my headphones sound so much better straight from the KPA compared to the headphone out on my interface.” People used to hink that perhaps the KPA had a really really high quality headphone amp but it turned out that it was simply because they were hearing Space directly from the KPA but not from the interface.

  • SPACE is the best invention for situations where headphones are a must. It can always be deactivated, but condemning it before having tried it seems a bit odd.

    For clarity:


    I am not condemning SPACE. I love SPACE. My point was in reference to the statement "IT IS ALWAYS ON". That implies that it can't be turned off. That is the terrible idea. You should always be able to turn it off.


    When I first got my Kemper I played for a week on my studio monitors with SPACE ON and thought "this sounds amazing!". Then realized that SPACE was set to ON and was the reason it sounded so great.


    I eventually turned it off because tweaking profiles with space set to ON is not a good idea. But SPACE itself is amazing.

  • as a default, the tickbox "Space>HeadphOnly" is set, you shouldn't have had the Space effect on your Main Outs

  • as a default, the tickbox "Space>HeadphOnly" is set, you shouldn't have had the Space effect on your Main Outs

    Interesting. It was set to ON by default right out of the box. My wife was listening and said "it sounds like you are in the room listening to a live guitar player" right from day one. Until I turned it off.


    So either my memory has issues, someone at the factory set it, or I am mentally challenged. I would guess the last is the most likely culprit. I will go with PEBCAK / User error for now.

  • Interesting. It was set to ON by default right out of the box. My wife was listening and said "it sounds like you are in the room listening to a live guitar player" right from day one. Until I turned it off.


    So either my memory has issues, someone at the factory set it, or I am mentally challenged. I would guess the last is the most likely culprit. I will go with PEBCAK / User error for now.

    :D

    always good to see a forum member with a sense of humor - things sometimes get needlessly a little tense about minor issues like this - really, I appreciate it!


    Space is a cool effect and if you like what it does, why not use it on the studio monitors - if it sounds right , it is right.
    The Double Tracker and Stereo Widener are doing simiar things for me. If you like the way you sound, you play better which leads to more playing and that again makes you a better player. win - win :)

  • Space is a cool effect and if you like what it does, why not use it on the studio monitors - if it sounds right , it is right.

    I use SPACE as a stomp. It colors the left/right sounds a little so tweaking profiles was harder. And when tracking guitars mono left/right I do not want it on.

    I also work in a basement and am constantly fighting humidity issues like oxidized connections. So having a mono signal lets me know both the left/right channels on the Kemper output, mixer, usb interface, amplifier, speakers, etc are all working. That is how I found out SPACE was on. My left/right balance was always way off.


    But for getting down and jamming out, SPACE or some other stereo effect is always on my good sir!

  • I think pure cabinet is essential for getting a nice tone. It gives a more pleasant sounding profile.

    On some singing sounds it opens up a bit. on othert tight sounds i think its best without! you have to try it out on different settings and difference presets/amps

  • I’m gonna use SPACE as a global option for my next rehearsal (straight to FOH).


    As I’m not a fan of reverbs for live use (except where the songs really need it of course) I’m gonna try it at a low level (3.5 or less if I remember well) to just the rigs a little « room » without having to sacrifice a block for a really small reverb.


    Anyone tried that?