Is there a difference between FRFR and active studio monitors?

  • Yes, there is definitively some high end dropping away somewhere.

    • Did you check the Output EQs in the Master section?
    • Is it the same when you use the 1/4" Master outputs?
    • Set clean sense so that it is orange but never red and Distortion Sense to < 0 > and turn down the Noise Gate. Then make shure the Input module is locked.


    * Did you check the Output EQs in the Master section?


    Output EQs in master sections should be flat?


    * Is it the same when you use the 1/4" Master outputs?


    You mean connecting interface/monitors using TRS cables not XLR?


    Turning down the noise gate doesn't change the sound. I will play with clean and distirtion senses. How to lock input module? Does it mean that after setting proper Clean Sense and Distortion Sense locking them will cause that any other patch will previously set values?

  • * Output EQs in master sections should be flat?
    Well at least in the default setting. There are two EQs: one for Master Output and one for Monitor Output. Just might be possible that the treble of the Output EQ is set way down.


    * You mean connecting interface/monitors using TRS cables not XLR?
    Yes. Just to make shure your cables and the XLR connectors on your KPA are ok.


    * How to lock input module?
    Bring up the Input module by pressing the Input button a few seconds. Then press the Lock button. Now there sould be a symbol like a lock, a padlock on the right end of the Input screen. Another way to do it is: press and hold the Lock button and then, while holding the Lock button press the Input button. When you press and hold the Lock button all other buttons that are locked light up.


    * Does it mean that after setting proper Clean Sense and Distortion Sense
    locking them will cause that any other patch will previously set values?
    I don't know what exaclty you mean. Locking a setting makes it aktive also after changing a Rig. It does not delete the individual settings in the Rigs, just overrides them. You only set the inputs once for one guitar. You can store them for different guitars. As far as I know Input should be locked anyway by default.

    www.audiosemantics.de
    I have been away for quite a while. A few years ago I sold my KPA and since then played my own small tube amp with a Bad Cat Unleash. Now I am back because the DI-profile that I made from my amp sounds very much convincing to me.

    Edited once, last by fretboardminer ().

  • I don't want to downplay your "problem" but for a "naked" recording I don't find your soundclips sounding too bad.
    Just these models you used I don't like much with my guitar too ... but therefore others are great.
    The other recording maybe mastered well (better IT IS ! as we can hear) and together with the right guitar (and - of course a great player will make the sound better
    even with bad hardware :D ) it may make the difference. Besides I think there are made some tweakings to the rigs ...
    Don't worry ... the KPA is definitivly the right unit ! I played a gig last saturday first time with my new KPA and immediatly felt so much better than before
    (POD X3live > HD500). Even over the In-ears the basic tone was great !
    I hope you can figure out what's wrong but sometimes it's only a chain of little issues ...

  • *
    Just these models you used I don't like much with my guitar too

    Well it pushes me to think that my guitar has no character, and difference between *different* amps is weak audible. The thing is about this "towel" covering the sound. Just listen from 1:02 onward, beautiful VOX grit when the player picks harder, in my case when I pick harder, towel moves little more. I know good player makes use of any gear, but in my case I cannot get myself to learn/improve if it sounds NO RIGHT!


    I really believe KPA is top class gear, because I can hear it on youtube and soundcloud. Well I hope to get it also done, hope to get help from some forum fellas.

  • And this "towel sound" is only on Master Outputs? So if you connect the Monitor Output to your Tanoys then it is ok? If so, could you post a recording of both?

    www.audiosemantics.de
    I have been away for quite a while. A few years ago I sold my KPA and since then played my own small tube amp with a Bad Cat Unleash. Now I am back because the DI-profile that I made from my amp sounds very much convincing to me.

  • I will connect monitors to Monitor output (cabs have to be ON?) and check it out. If there was any difference on using Master or Monitor out, I would have to mic Monitors (which will I do if there is any audible difference...)

  • Mic monitors? No, I mean just a short direct recording with either the KPAs Master Out or Monitor Out into into your Focusrite Saffire 6 USB interface.

    www.audiosemantics.de
    I have been away for quite a while. A few years ago I sold my KPA and since then played my own small tube amp with a Bad Cat Unleash. Now I am back because the DI-profile that I made from my amp sounds very much convincing to me.

  • I have listened to your recordings and I see some solutions here:


    The problem is not your profiler.
    You have played the rig "AC Top Boost Cactus" and compared it to the recording with "AC Top Boost".
    These are two different presets (!), while the latter sounds brighter, and not so muffled. Why did you choose the first?
    Maybe (and obviously as seen above) you should make new choices for your favorite rigs.


    Your guitar sounds likeit needs to be picked harder to create a sound that's bright enough. You are picking quite soflty on your recordings.
    Choose rigs that fit better to your guitar.
    Turn up the Definition parameter in the Amp section for making rigs fit better to your guitar.


    This is a recommendation not just for you:
    As the owner of a Profiler you have spent quite some money to get access to the best sounding amplifier profiles. A majority of these profiles will be very responsive and sensitive to the sound of your guitar.
    There have been amp modelers in the past that sounded all the same no matter what guitar you used. This is not the case today.


    It's maybe time to grab your KPA and a headphone, take it to your favorite guitar store and check some new guitars.
    It might be revealed that your todays guitar simply does not give you the sound that you expect.


    I have learned this lesson too, while I developed the KPA. A friend of mine came in with his guitar and played my prototype amp. It sounded so different and so much better to what I was used to. The very next day I bought a better guitar.

  • Yes, for a typical AC30 sound - try a guitar with low power single coils - e.g. a standard Fender Telecaster - bridge PU.


    It will sound completely different as a high output humbucker Ibanez.


    The same is true for high gain sounds - the Telecaster will most likely sound like crap for Brutalz Metal sounds - here will the humbucker Ibanez shine.


    The good news:
    We need only the KPA instead of many amps


    The bad news:
    Now we have to buy guitars :D



    As for your initial question:
    Most studio monitors try to be FRFR - but only the more expansive ones are close to FRFR.
    The good news for you - the biggest difference is in the bass response - a 6" speaker will not sound the same as s 12" one.
    For the treble - there may be differences but not like day and night - as in your sound examples.

    (All trademarks are trademarks of their respective owners, which are in no way associated or affiliated with soundside.de)


    Great Profiles --> soundside.de

    Edited once, last by Armin ().

  • Before buying a new guitar - the easiest way to check your KPA is by using the same input sound.


    Use a raw telecaster sound and play this via the KPA guitar input (instead of your own guitar).


    A raw telesound - and more about reamping can be found e.g. here:
    reamping

    (All trademarks are trademarks of their respective owners, which are in no way associated or affiliated with soundside.de)


    Great Profiles --> soundside.de

  • The good news:
    We need only the KPA instead of many amps


    The bad news:
    Now we have to buy guitars :D

    Yes, I can confirm this. The KPA seems to show much more the plus and minus of your guitar.

    www.audiosemantics.de
    I have been away for quite a while. A few years ago I sold my KPA and since then played my own small tube amp with a Bad Cat Unleash. Now I am back because the DI-profile that I made from my amp sounds very much convincing to me.

  • Hi


    Thanks guys for your input, you made my monday morning so good :) What I was suspecting was the guitar.... Previously I had Ibanez Prestige RG1570. I just like Ibanezes RG look. I know it's stupid and childlish. Now the PGM301 - looks even better. And Paul Gilbert plays it. Stupid. Well, I'll grab KPA and go to guitar store - that's the thing my wife will have to suffer now.


    Off course I will try to use raw DI signal of other guitar - I was thinking about this. If I understood correctly I can download raw sound of guitar, send it to one output of interface, then before going to KPA I have to use DI box (I have one ) to match the levels and then to KPA? And from KPA to interface -> monitors?


    You have played the rig "AC Top Boost Cactus" and compared it to the recording with "AC Top Boost".
    These are two different presets (!)


    You're right they're not exact same presets, but I didn't know the samples could differ so much. I will try to post samples of same exact patches.


    Your guitar sounds likeit needs to be picked harder to create a sound that's bright enough. You are picking quite soflty on your recordings.
    Choose rigs that fit better to your guitar.
    Turn up the Definition parameter in the Amp section for making rigs fit better to your guitar.


    Well I set the Clean Sense in INPUT section, so when I pick strings hard, the input LED goes orange. I did this by setting Clean Sense to 7.2, I will play with Definiotion also. EQ on master ouput is flat, EQ on monitor output is also flat (although the level is lower) - but there is no noticable difference if I use master or monitor output.

  • Hi all


    Sorry for being silent for a while, after hot talk in this thread.


    Today I visited guitar technician/electrician to check if electrics are OK in my Ibanez PGM 301. This was the last thing I could check about its dull, without-character sound. So we unpacked it, plugged into Marshall JVM + 4x12 Marshall cab. Well it sounded big, but just bigger than on my 1x12 tube amp. Then we plugged his tele with Fender Vintage Noiseless single coil pickups, I started to play with the little crunch. Mmmmmm first thing - the sound is open, the towell is gone, when I hit harder it even tries to roar... Changed pickup, wow, what a change in sound, I got this tele twang.


    Then we powered up KPA with Yamaha Ms5 powered monitors and played some riffs with this tele on Mesa Hi-Gain. 8o Sweet mother of GOD! After all that I cannot find the words to describe it. It was just like it should be. Like it is on youtube, Like it is in your case guys, when you tried to help me, giving me best profiles, trying to help me with eq, clean sense, etc. I just couldn't believe such big sound and distortion can go out of 5 inch speaker. But it was there. Even this guy said playing through AC30, JVM and other profiles that se saw NO difference between his JVM and stock profile.


    Then to be sure I asked for headphones (maybe his Yamaha speakers are magic...), luckily he had the same as mine (AKG K271), I just strummed few chords, plays some power riffs and licks - no tonal difference.


    I bought his tele.


    This is my lucky day.


    About my Ibanez PGM301 equipped with 2 DiMarzio PAF PROs, he checked resistance of pickups using multimeter and it seemed OK ~8.4kOhm. All electric connections are OK. Volume pot is grounded to bridge. So what? Maybe these PAF Pros are broken? Or they come from some cheap Ibanez PGM30.... They have small dimarzio emblem on top of cover, don't know about bottom - have to email DiMarzio to ask them if they are not fakes. Or maybe japanese guitar rated ~1600USD when sold in shops, just didn't have character? Anyway now I care less for that since I know this tele plays so good with KPA.

  • Hi, finally you nailed it with a tele !! This is the magic formula : KPA + tele = best tone ever.


    The KPA responds very well and with good tonal transparency to pickups and woods, you can get so much differences in your tone with a single profile just by switching pickups / guitars. This is not different from real amps ,think about the inputs low gain / hi gain on some boogie amps for instance, they have a major impact on the tone.


    I use a 79' yamaha SG1000 (les paul like) with splittable pickups , single coil for rhythm sounds and HB for leads. HB can sound muddier , you have to lower your guitar volume, but the tones are amazing. Some rigs need adjustments for each of your guitars , while some other will sound great without any change (the almighty Cream JTA 45 once again !)


    It's clear that the KPA will let the character of the guitar express itself : I just got my old US 94 strat back (left unplayed for 5 years :( , what a major disappointment when I plugged it to the KPA , crappy and dull , i eventually figured that I had to find some new pickups for it , they are dead ... A brand new thinline tele (classic vibe chinese squier) sounded much more punchy , with excellent clarity and even a great sustain, I could'nt believe it but that is the truth , squier thinline sounds better than my vintage us strat 8|.


    You also have to adjust input sense (your clean setting is VERY VERY high at 7.2) I leave mine at 1.5 (2 to 3 for single coils on the tele & strat).

  • Yeah finally I know why Kemper costs so much, but now I don't regret even 1 cent spent on it. To be honest tele was the ugliest guitar to me, least attractive, least rocking, I didn't like single cut looks, a bit to small body. Well I was fool, now I know. I bought PGM301 by it looks. And it sounds dull and crappy as you wrote about your US strat. Well I found guy on youtube who has teh same guitar and the same crappy sound from PAR PRO pickups and he swapped fo Dimarzio X2N. I will be swapping pups in my PGM anyway.


    My tele is Squier Standard Telecaster (450USD new here in Poland) but equipped with Fender Vintage Noiseless Pickups Tele Set, Fender American standard tuners, Fender pots, Fender Gigsby switch, original Fender string clamps, Fender Corona neck mounting plate - just the bridge is Squier (and off course body and neck but they look stunning for me). Payed 500$ for it with hard case, strap locks and leather belt. I think it was good deal.


    Would you guys play your KPAs or amps, would you practise if you had this dull, weak, without character sound coming from your guitar? I couldn't...


    P.S.
    I have to change avatar soon ;)

  • If anything, I would expect someone new to playing guitar through an FRFR solution to find the output too bright and shrill, and have to compensate for that. If it sounds like "someone put a towel on the speaker", then you're not getting enough high frequency content. You'd expect the opposite in making the transition from a guitar cab (inherently low-pass) to an FRFR studio monitor.

    +1 :thumbup:

  • Everything well what ends well , enjoy your Kemper !
    I have quite a few guitars , but biggest difference in pups are between Anderson Drop Top with powerful H1/H3 humbuckers and YJM Fender with lowest single pickups output on the world ever . 8o
    Difference between two guitars is so obvious that high gain metal profile played with Drop Top almost becomes nice vintage crunch 8) with YJM Fender ! (keeping everything the same in profile)
    As a reference , YJM input is set on 8 and DT is just above 3 .
    The same difference is much, much bigger with Kemper than with real amp !


    Among lots of other fantastic surprises with Kemper , this one is my favored .


    One particular profile is not anymore just ONE profile , it becomes 5 profiles if you use 5 different guitars .
    That was your problem , and now it can be advantage, depending how much guitar you will play through that mad device !
    .................................................................................................................................................................................
    Back to original question , I have Event Thyroids 8" studio PC speakers and QSC's 10" monitor .
    Difference is also very notable . .
    I have to do some serious tweaking to make it to sound close , but they still sound different .
    Some profiles simply shine through one , but not so brilliant through another setup .


    All of that is then completely different if played through my valve amp and Mesa Cab !!! 8|


    The best thing is when I engage them ALL in the same time
    My poor guitar playing sounds like a London Symphonic Orchestra , make me think I know two or three things regarding guitar technique and sound :thumbup:

    1988 Branko Radulovic Hand Made Strat in Macedonia (SFRJ)

    2006 Steve Vai vwh moded with SS frets and Sustainac 2006 (Japan)

    2008 Fender YJM , moded (USA)

    2010 Tom Andersons Drop Top 2010 (made in California)

    2017 Charvel GG sig Caramelised Ash (USA)

    2022 Gibson ES 335 2011 Custom Shop Cherry of course ( Memphis)

    Edited 3 times, last by Rescator ().

  • Hi guys. Im thinking about buying KPA and I have some questions.
    Does anybody play to KPA through behringer thruth? Does it sounds good?
    I have korean crafted dean and afraid that may have same problems as a topic-starter. Guys, can you tell about your expirience of playing to KPA through not expensive guitars.


    PS.Sorry for my english, i know its terrible.