A few questions for anyone who purchases profiles.

  • Greetings everyone! I was hoping to get a little input concerning what you guys prefer when considering purchasing profiles. Long story short, a long time friend and band mate and I are thinking about profiling some of our amp collection. Over the years we've accumulated a pretty diverse collection as well as built a studio we've used for years for recording. Recently we profiled a few amps just for fun and they came out sounding pretty amazing.

    My question is in regards to preferences when it comes to types of profiles and selection. Basically do people prefer mostly Studio profiles? A mix of Studio and Direct? Maybe some Merged? Also regarding amps, multiple profiles of one amp or the combo pack with multiple amps for more selection but fewer profiles of each amp.

    Any input from the crowd would be greatly appreciated.

  • I have only purchased a few professionally made profiles. The packs I have are multiple profiles of the same amp with various settings. There are studio profiles as well as direct profiles in the pack. That gives me the option to merge some of them or use a cabinet that I like or an IR with them. I think the packs I have contain around 30 profiles for each amp. Some of the ones I have were done with a light overdrive pedal in front of them.


    I have profiled my own amps as well and used a light OD in front of them with good results. Some amps and pedals don't profile well. I played around with profiling some OD pedals and the results are varied. Some came out a bit too dark sounding. Some I was able to adjust some settings after the profiling process to get them to sound decent. If you have an OD pedal that is fairly transparent it can add some nice tone to the profile. If it is higher gain it will probably not come out well.


    If you look at the MBritt or Tone Junkie web sites you can see how they package their profiles. They will list how many profiles there are and if they used any pedals in the profile.

  • I prefer DI (to pair with 3rd party IR's) - also useful for anyone playing thru a real cab.


    Also, in terms of settings, I've tried so many profile packs where there's basically one tonal balance throughout, with various different gain levels and pedals - if this tonal balance happens to work with your pickups, you're in luck - if not, the whole pack is useless! I think the best way is to just pick a couple of good gain levels for the amp, and do a variety of tonal balances for each (e.g. some with EQ knobs level, some with scooped mids, some with more bass/treble etc) - that way the pack should be more useful to more people, and across a range of pickups. It's quite easy to change the gain on the Kemper (reducing the gain knob works well, and adding a green scream or kemper drive is great for more dist) - but there's only so far you can EQ a profile before it sounds unnatural.

  • Some people prefer DI profiles, which is fine.


    For me....I don't care. I'll swap cabs regardless of the profile type. If it sounds good....it is.

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

  • As I said, Merged covers all bases.


    Those who love DI Profiles have the "pure" version in there.

    Those who love Studio Profiles have the "combined" version.

    Those who prefer the "pure" isolated cab to Kemper's separation algorithm used in Studio Profiles have this too.

  • Greetings everyone! I was hoping to get a little input concerning what you guys prefer when considering purchasing profiles. Long story short, a long time friend and band mate and I are thinking about profiling some of our amp collection. Over the years we've accumulated a pretty diverse collection as well as built a studio we've used for years for recording. Recently we profiled a few amps just for fun and they came out sounding pretty amazing.

    My question is in regards to preferences when it comes to types of profiles and selection. Basically do people prefer mostly Studio profiles? A mix of Studio and Direct? Maybe some Merged? Also regarding amps, multiple profiles of one amp or the combo pack with multiple amps for more selection but fewer profiles of each amp.

    Any input from the crowd would be greatly appreciated.


    No matter what you choose, about 85% of the sound is the cab and not the amp. I've got studio, merged and DI. It all depends. Some DI or merged work great with other cab profiles I have and some don't. Some studio profiles are so good that anything else than that is a big no no for me. Use everything that give you the sound you really like and are after. That's all that matters.

    Think for yourself, or others will think for you wihout thinking of you

    Henry David Thoreau

  • Again thanks so much for the input. We'll be profiling 2 more amps this weekend and this helps prioritize our time and attention. Definitely a big help. We'll hopefully have enough profiled and ready to go by the end of February.

  • As I said, Merged covers all bases.


    Those who love DI Profiles have the "pure" version in there.

    Those who love Studio Profiles have the "combined" version.

    Those who prefer the "pure" isolated cab to Kemper's separation algorithm used in Studio Profiles have this too.

    Just a thought on this - I'm no expert as I've never actually made any profiles, but I have heard it said (or rather, seen it written!) by various profile makers that merged profiles don't sound exactly the same as studio profiles - and I've got various packs where studio and merged versions of the same profiles are included, and they definitely do sound slightly different. Given how merged profiles are generated (separating the cab portion of the studio profile and combining it with a DI) I can see why this would be the case - e.g. there still seems to be some sort of cab separation algorithm going on during the process - but correct me if I'm mistaken here. Either way though, there does seem to be a subtle-ish sonic difference. Maybe include both merged and studio (again, this is what various other profile makers do).


    One thing I'm less sure of, is whether DI profiles sound exactly the same as merged-minus-cab - I've also heard it said that it's better to do dedicated DI profiles because the merging process changes the Di slightly. In theory, I don't see why this would be the case, given how merged profiles are generated. But again, maybe best to include separate DI's as well just to be sure - maybe contact some experienced profiles makers for advice (if they're willing to share their secrets that is!), or run a test?

  • I have heard it said (or rather, seen it written!) by various profile makers that merged profiles don't sound exactly the same as studio profiles

    I'm not aware of this mate.

    I've also heard it said that it's better to do dedicated DI profiles because the merging process changes the Di slightly. In theory, I don't see why this would be the case, given how merged profiles are generated.

    I too can't see how it would change the DI component.

  • I'm not aware of this mate.

    I too can't see how it would change the DI component.

    Guidorist, Top Jimi and Pete's Profiles are 3 I can think of that include both studio and merged of each profile - if you have any of their packs, compare studio to merged versions, there is a difference - of course, depending on your pickups etc, the merged ones might work better! But the point is there is a difference in sound, which I assume has to be something to do with how the Kemper separates the cab from the studio profile to add to the DI to generate the merged one. And given that, I suspect that studio profiles are a slightly "purer" representation of the originally captured tone. It is mentioned in the descriptions to some of Pete's packs that he includes both because of this difference, and have definitely read others saying the same, tho can't remember exactly who or where.


    But I do agree, given the choice of one or the other, I'd definitely prefer merged - but only because I almost always swap the stock cab! For someone who doesn't want to be bothered with cab swapping or IR's though, it might be good to have studio profiles available too.

  • So here's a hypothetical for you guys. Say we just finished a '68 Bassman drip edge profiling session. All together roughly 30ish profiles. Starting with studio profiles of both Bass And Normal channels with both bright switch and deep switch on and off. Then going from clean to pushed and eventually a mellow K type over drive and also a pretty nasty Fuzz. Those are all done with an SM57. From there, we took our favorites and made studio profiles with a really nice ribbon mic. Also got a handful with both channels jumped ranging from clean through overdrive. We made about 5 directs based on our favorites and I'm in the process of figuring out how many merged to make.

    Thoughts so far on anything we might be overlooking? The way I'm thinking it'll be studio profiles of everything with both mics individually including all channels. Then select direct based on our favorites. And obviously those can be turned into merged easily enough. Thoughts?

  • Just a thought on this - I'm no expert as I've never actually made any profiles, but I have heard it said (or rather, seen it written!) by various profile makers that merged profiles don't sound exactly the same as studio profiles - and I've got various packs where studio and merged versions of the same profiles are included, and they definitely do sound slightly different. Given how merged profiles are generated (separating the cab portion of the studio profile and combining it with a DI) I can see why this would be the case - e.g. there still seems to be some sort of cab separation algorithm going on during the process - but correct me if I'm mistaken here. Either way though, there does seem to be a subtle-ish sonic difference. Maybe include both merged and studio (again, this is what various other profile makers do).


    One thing I'm less sure of, is whether DI profiles sound exactly the same as merged-minus-cab - I've also heard it said that it's better to do dedicated DI profiles because the merging process changes the Di slightly. In theory, I don't see why this would be the case, given how merged profiles are generated. But again, maybe best to include separate DI's as well just to be sure - maybe contact some experienced profiles makers for advice (if they're willing to share their secrets that is!), or run a test?

    Even if would, does it matter? If it sounds good it sounds good. I've said countless time, not only on this forum, guitarists worry too much about the tone. They should worry more about making better songs. At least 90-95% of music listeners don't care about the tone nor are aware of the guitar tone. I rather listen to a killer song with not the best guitar tone than a boring mediocre one with killer tone.

    Think for yourself, or others will think for you wihout thinking of you

    Henry David Thoreau

  • Guidorist, Top Jimi and Pete's Profiles are 3 I can think of that include both studio and merged of each profile - if you have any of their packs, compare studio to merged versions, there is a difference - of course, depending on your pickups etc, the merged ones might work better! But the point is there is a difference in sound, which I assume has to be something to do with how the Kemper separates the cab from the studio profile to add to the DI to generate the merged one. And given that, I suspect that studio profiles are a slightly "purer" representation of the originally captured tone. It is mentioned in the descriptions to some of Pete's packs that he includes both because of this difference, and have definitely read others saying the same, tho can't remember exactly who or where.

    In theory they shouldn't sound any different 'though.


    I wonder if the differences peeps hear could be attributed to subtle changes in amp settings, mic positioning (a small bump even) or even tubes' warming up more.


    The manual states:

    Do not touch the controls of the amp after capturing the Direct Amp PROFILE, as both PROFILEs, and thus the eventual Merged PROFILE, must be based on the same original amp sound.

  • Yeah, it's totally possible that's the explanation, had also wondered that. But also, I have to assume there's a reason why multiple profile makers include both? Would have to ask them I suppose, as I've never made any profiles I am just theorising here.


    Even if would, does it matter? If it sounds good it sounds good. I've said countless time, not only on this forum, guitarists worry too much about the tone. They should worry more about making better songs. At least 90-95% of music listeners don't care about the tone nor are aware of the guitar tone. I rather listen to a killer song with not the best guitar tone than a boring mediocre one with killer tone.

    As I said, it's not necessarily the case that the studio version sounds objectively better than the merged - though I have noticed that whenever I have the choice of both (and don't intend swapping cabs) I always favour the studio one... But I would totally agree, the difference is small and most people aren't going to be bothered by the difference. If I were to make and sell profiles though, I'd probably include both (and maybe even the DI as well) - after all the process of making a merged profile involves also making a studio and a direct version if I'm correct?

  • So here's a hypothetical for you guys. Say we just finished a '68 Bassman drip edge profiling session. All together roughly 30ish profiles. Starting with studio profiles of both Bass And Normal channels with both bright switch and deep switch on and off. Then going from clean to pushed and eventually a mellow K type over drive and also a pretty nasty Fuzz. Those are all done with an SM57. From there, we took our favorites and made studio profiles with a really nice ribbon mic. Also got a handful with both channels jumped ranging from clean through overdrive. We made about 5 directs based on our favorites and I'm in the process of figuring out how many merged to make.

    Thoughts so far on anything we might be overlooking? The way I'm thinking it'll be studio profiles of everything with both mics individually including all channels. Then select direct based on our favorites. And obviously those can be turned into merged easily enough. Thoughts?

    Sound good! My preference is indeed for studio profiles plus DI's - if you have both of these, you don't need merged (am distrustful of merged ones, whether rightly or wrongly, as detailed above!!)


    Just make sure there's a range of EQ settings (i.e. on the amp's tone knobs) for each gain range - some that'll work with brighter or darker pickups etc.