Headphone amp not using cab simulation? It sounds aweful!

    I read another thread as I searched for any information on the headphone amp output and figured out start a new thread as that one was pretty old. I have several really nice headphones and the sound coming out of the Kemper almost appears to be bypassing the cab sim part of the profile. It sounds really bright and harsh and digital. Anyone else experience this? My gain stages are good, and I know it's not digital clipping, it's just weird. Do I need to set up something different? The main outs sound great but what gives with the headphones out?

    since the kemper's sound is rather unprocessed and raw (which is what it's deliberately praised for) it can sound a bit unfamiliar through good headphones. i'm also having trouble to like my sound through headphones (beyerdynamic dt 770 pro) since there's always more highend than i'm used to or like or than i'm hearing through studio monitors or fullrange wedges.


    so, again i would really appreciate a dedicated eq for the headphone out (just like monitor and master out)... it would really help to compensate for different headphones and listening preferences...
    and i'm still convinced that it would NOT fall in the category of making the unit overly complicated. rather the opposite.


    still, you might wanna check this thread: headphone thread

    Thanks guys, I played around with it some more and today it sounds a little better. Some profiles are really bright and this brings out a bit more of the digital aspect that I don't want to hear. I like a little bright just not so in your face. It's not as bad as originally stated. Different profiles work better. The cab light was on btw. Just learning this thing and so far it's impressive.

    Exactly what is your setup ? Are you using a seperate headphone amp ? or are you having trouble with the headphone output on the Kemper ?
    What guitar / s are you using with what profiles ?
    I play mainly thru h.p.'s olsd AKG K240DF and they sound f'n great !
    Try Will Chen's headphone adjustments to the reverb, you may prefer that sound.

    Is there a separate output EQ for the headphones? I can't seem to find it - if there isn't it would be a nice addition...

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    Hi mate, I know exactly what your talking about. I have settled on using some AKG Q701's been fed from a dedicated headphone amp from the KPA's main outs outs bypassing the headphone out. This took a fair amount of the zing ( my word for it) away.


    But the icing on the cake is to actually to go to the cab parameters and lower the the high shift a touch and crank the character a touch. The parameters here are all I touch now to tweak 90% of the time.


    Remember that a lot of the really good headphones ( but not all of course) are inefficient for design reasons and can do with a helping hand and this has nothing to do with Ohm matching that people seem to think is the only important thing, I assure you it's not.


    I used to be a big cab swapper and this can also work, but tweaking these parameters is so quick and easy for pretty much same result.


    Hope that helps, just my opinion of course.

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    I, too, dislike the headphones out. I use Beyer Dynamic 770s and now plug them into my soundcard instead and sound is fine.

    Vintage amp obsessive

    I've been very happy with my Sennheiser HD598 headphones. At first I was less so, although the headphones were breaking in. I find that some rigs just don't sound good through them. I can't say whether this is the headphones problem as I don't have monitors to compare to. Anyway, virtually every Amp Factory profile I have tried sounds fantastic and definitely some of the rig exchange. There are also some stock profiles that I really like through the headphones.


    I have used Will Chen's headphone reverb recommendations and these are amazing. Also, I find that tweaking the presence and treble can make a huge difference in the sound.


    The 598 headphones are 50 ohm headphones so they are not that demanding on the headphone amp.

    Many profiles through headphones are very bright, I agree. This is usually due to close micing the speakers dead center (or very close to it). It's not the fault of the Kemper sound or headphone amp. I've profiled quite a few times now and if the amp sounded bright to begin with, it stayed that way. If it sounded dark, my profile came out dark. You get back what you put into it.