Kemper Noise problem

So hey guys!!

I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas and a great new year.

Sadly my kemper is still poorly. For you dudes who are regular at hanging out on the forum you will know i aint had the best time with my unit.

Ive just emailed Kemper explaining the whole situation and if those lovely guys cant help me this time im afraid its to the grave my little toaster will go...or at least to someone who will enjoy it...at a price of course lol.

Here is a sample of the problem that is present in ALL profiles when using ANY distortion from the rig exchange OR commercial and this happens on ALL of my guitars and is present when my monitors are directly coming out of the unit so i know 100% its not my interface.

I describe it as glitchy fizz pew pew and in this clip i EQ'd out everything except the problem area i also included the actual profile as a side by side comparison and you can clearly hear the problem area within the profile, That problem is apparant in ALL distorted profiles. No amount of EQ will remove this trust me ive tried.

To me this is just not the quality i was expecting when i dropped nearly £2000 on it and its heartbreaking knowing people are getting way better results with FREE amp sims. Maybe i got unlucky and have a faulty unit i dunno.ive tried so hard to fix this situation and to enjou and love my kemper but i feel ive been butting heads with it with the same problem none stop since i bought it.

Anyway...i hope you are well.

Rock on guys! \m/

Quote from Finally

Hi - that doesn't sound right to me. Kemper Support are the way to go. Hopefully it's something a reset will fix, but they should take care of you.

Yurrp! I've had this situation since day one for years...ive tried everything and have been on every forum trying to find a resolve and im still here in this situation. Im really hoping Kemper can help me because its heartbreaking.

I currently have the kemper plugged into its own extension plug on the other side of my room which stretches accross to towards my PC so i can access it for convenience instead of constantly getting up and down everytime i need to adjust something. Maybe if i try taking my Kemper and monitors completely out of my room and plugging them into a different room all together and test that. 🤔

Quote from Wheresthedug

That doesn’t sound like its in the profile but rathe some form of digital interference somewhere else in the signal chain that is getting in. Do you have anything on the same power that is running a wall wart adapter? If so try removing this and see what happens. I had a similar noise years ago (pre Kemper) and the culprit was a non isolated power supply that was trying to feed a Strymon Timeline pedal but didn’t have enough current.

I currently have the kemper plugged into its own extension plug on the other side of my room which stretches accross to towards my PC so i can access it for convenience instead of constantly getting up and down everytime i need to adjust something. Maybe if i try taking my Kemper and monitors completely out of my room and plugging them into a different room all together and test that. 🤔

Quote from Wheresthedug

Yes. Anything you can do to systematically eliminate potential causes is worthwhile.

Trying it now. Also removing alot of stuff out of my room like an old lamp and stereo/hifi even replacing the lightbulb having a good old clean up of the cabling system too 🤞🤞🤞

Quote from whippinpost91850

That's not right, shame tone sounds pretty good

Exactly! I can hear the actual profile and its great its just that horrible frequency that has hitched a ride on top of it that i cant pinpoint where its coming...yet! But i think im getting closer 🤞🤞

SO! Ive had a MASSIVE de-clutter of my studio setup and completely moved it all around to another spot in my room. i stripped everything down to the absolute bare minimum removing anything that didnt need to be there extension chords lamps my old stereo (which i now believe was a huge part of the problem) loads of cables and any other item that could possibly cause any kind of interference or problems. Its literally Kemper Pc interface monitors. My kemper now sits away from my screen ( it used to be under my screen using it as a stand) and away from my monitors and now has its own single plug going directly into the wall in the other side of my room. Oddly enough my monitors picked up my PC for some reason. Everytime my PC did something or i moved my mouse a faint static sound would appear from one of my monitors so i unplugged the monitor from the extension plug and give it a seperate plug so now they both have there own individual plug and that problem has completely gone.

As far as my kemper "sound" goes...so far it sounds pretty solid. Im currently going through loads of profiles and so far so good...its exciting times. The downside is im so used to hearing that noise i find myself looking for it but im sure that bad habit will fade in time.. i will jam on it for the next few days to see if it indeed it has mended itself.

Its looking good though guys...maybe these last 5 or so years will be a long distant bad memory and i can finaly start to enjoy my little toaster.

Wish me luck dudes! \m/

i will upload a soundclip soon to show my progress.

Hey guys!

Just a quick soundclip since the de-clutter process using a 5150III profile and my Solar A1.7C

To me it certainly feels like a huge difference. or is my mind playing tricks on me lol

to me its sounds pretty good.

Quote from Crispy Panther

Great to read that your efforts to solve the noise issues are rewarding you so bountifully.

They are not everyone cup of tea, but purchasing a power conditioner and plugging everything into that has worked well for me. It cleaned up the quality of the power supply tremendously, resulting in cleaner audio.

So, I have no hesitation in recommending a Furman, or some other device of that type. I bought some special leads to plug into it, for devices that use typical plugs from a company called CPC, so it acts like a hub that all my recording equipment can plug into.

So, the recording interface (RME) two additional mic preamps (RME) giving twenty phantom powered preamps for mics or line inputs. The dedicated recording computer, two large monitor screens, playback amplifier (which utilises passive speakers) and a number of 88 note keyboards and synths all plug into the Furman.

They all appear to benefit from the cleaned power supply resulting in less audible noise throughout the entire system and there remains an available socket on the front of the power conditioner to which I can plug in any instrument amplifier wish to use, to incorporate it in a similar manner.

However, there is an additional benefit to this this arrangement which is perhaps better informed by reading another thread current on this forum, which discusses whether there are benefits to leaving equipment switched on, or switching it off.

Is it safe to leave Kemper on for extended periods of time? - Page 2 - Profiler - Questions and answers - Kemper Profiler Forum (kemper-amps.com)

That is a discussion that goes back a long way. Some of you will know of Alan Turing’s “Colossus” computer that was created to defeat the Enigma machine. It utilised 2,500 valves or tubes. British military experts who had a lot of trouble using valve equipment in the desert were against building the computer because of that.

However, Tommy Flowers of the Post Office research and development at Dollis Hill (Now BT at Martlesham Heath in Suffolk) had a lot of experience with valves. He told the authorities that what short lived the life of valves was the constant switching on and off they endured. Like a light bulb and its tungsten element, it was repeated heating and cooling that shortened its life.

If the valves were left on constantly and not switched on and off they would be completely reliable, he claimed. The military (like Dads Army) didn’t believe him, so Tommy put his own money into the project to make it happen and proved his point.

Those of us who are older with lots of recording studio experience will be aware that the same discussions came up when large format recording consoles that utilised tubes were developed. Although there is an energy cost to keeping equipment running constantly, some studio owners claimed the reduction in equipment failures, maintenance and studio downtime costs meant there was an overall benefit to that approach.

Bringing this up to date.

Some modern digital recording equipment that is very highly regarded has suffered from equipment failures to their on /off switches and built-in power supplies.

Whether it’s simply individual third part supplier component failure, or the practise of continual switching on and off, contact making and breaking, heating and cooling, etc. et al.

The reality of such equipment failures due to quite simple components and operational processes are a definitive, measurable factor.

My solution has been to plug all the related devices into a power conditioner and allow all the equipment that I wish to power up at the pressing of a single switch.

Obviously, the computer has a switch on its front that has to be pressed to power it. Likewise, any additional equipment that is only utilised occasionally is switched on when it is to be used.

The audio is cleaner with less audible noise detectable with reference headphones, a lower noise floor on the already low noise floor interface (with good mics) the interface components enjoy a longer lifespan.

And nearly everything involved powers up at the flick of a single switch.

What’s not to like?

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I've seen Ola Englund use one of these devices and i remember thinking Oh that looks cool! certainly something i can look more into. Thanks for that great informative reply dude. \m/

So i just found out this happens...when i turn ON my kemper the profile sounds garbage but when i turn the broswer knob to the right and back again to exact same profile no alterations it completely changes. I recorded the transition and its clear as day (look at the attachment screen shot of the change). Anybody else experience this? im pretty sure thats not a normal thing. im pretty sure im just cursed at this point.

Quote from V8guitar

That is odd and I can't think what it would be. I thought the first sound was OK but the second sound is very different. I presume its the same through headphones directly from the Kemper? Its very unlikely to be your DAW or sound card but always worth ruling out.

Yupp it was the same through headphones it does this even when the monitors are directly coming out of the kemper so my DAW and PC arent even in the chain. I think im just doomed to have a naughty kemper lol i just dont know lol sometimes its so weird! it sounds great then randomly starts going bad over maybe a 30 minute period to the point its annoyingly blatant then i do another reset and the cycle begins again.

Quote from Kellerblues

Open a support ticket

I already have a one open for another long ongoing issue lol ive had problems since the day i bought it and it now looks like i may have to pay to send it off and pay more to actualy be repaired which is crazy considering i bought it brand new not knowing it already had these issues believing it was many other problems cables/interface/guitars/profiles/irs/monitors etc etc that cost me a fortune over the years trying stuff out to try fix it. Tragic.