How much tweaking is required?

  • I'm seriously considering getting a KPA, purely for (home) recording, and purely as a modeler (ie I wont be profiling anything myself). However, I bought modelers before, and each time have ended up with a device that other people can get decent sounds out of, but I can't. The main reason is that I simply don't want to spend my time tweaking with the settings, I want to be playing/recording guitar!


    I am currently using a POD HD, and, with external cab sims, can get an okay sound, but it isn't great, and I've already spent more time than I really want to, dinking with it.


    So, my question is, can I get a KPA, download a profile, and with very little tweaking, get a good sound? If it matters, I am primarily into high gain, love my tube amps, but can't record them easily (the joys of living in an apartment. The alternative is probably an iso cab, but that has its own set of issues).



    Thanks!

  • It will be the best piece of guitar gear you've ever bought, especially if it's for home/apartment use.


    I've owned all the Pods, and the HD is an excellent unit...but the KPA is substantially better.


    Tweaking?
    Anything from zero seconds to a few seconds and you have extraordinary tones...especially for high gain.
    I don't include adding FX or improving an already great tone as 'tweaking', that's just having fun.
    I'm confident I could give you a file with 200 medium to high gain 'rigs' and within an hour you'd find 100 that had you 'amazed'.


    If you get the KPA let us know and we'll help you out with the shortcuts that get you going immediately.
    Loading the "right" Profiles/Rigs and Cab files will get you going straight away and save you a lot of time.

  • I second that. After endless POD tweaking in my past, I have to say the KPA is the least tweaking I've ever done--including some tube amps!


    Unless you are an insane tweaker, you can usually find a profile that you like and if you don't you can just move on and try others that might be closer. From there the most tweaking I've done is some minor EQ on the front panel or effects. I have swapped cabinets on 2 of the 40 profiles I use for gigs but that was just because I felt like messing around and happened to find a combination that I liked.


    The only significant amount of time you will likely spend in the beginning is playing through all the profiles. If you really like high gain you can sort them by the amount of gain. Tons of great high gain profiles to choose from so you shouldn't need to tweak much.


    Otherwise, welcome aboard!


    J

  • Depending on your guitars, you may not have to tweak at all. There are so many to choose from, it is easy to pick the ones you will use all the time.


    The Kemper responds to individual guitars like a a good amp does - so, If you hear a Kemper sound clip you like, you can get the same sound from the downloaded profile with little or no tweaking, as long as you use a similar guitar, with similar pickup strength to the guitar used to make the clip.


    If your pickups are a little hotter/quieter/darker/etc., you may need to tweak the amount of gain, and adjust the tone controls.


    If your pickups are a lot hotter or quieter than average, adjusting the input section of the Kemper is a way to globally adjust it to so your guitar will give you more similar results to the sounds of the clips, instead of adjusting them one at a time.

  • I was also coming from the HD500, I got to "tweak" my tones within the first 15min with the KPA and it never took me more then 5-6 min. You will enjoy it! :thumbup:

    "Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music" Serghei Rachmaninoff


  • If your pickups are a lot hotter or quieter than average, adjusting the input section of the Kemper is a way to globally adjust it to so your guitar will give you more similar results to the sounds of the clips, instead of adjusting them one at a time.


    This is the one area that people tend to not understand. To get the same feel with different PUPs, you will probably have to adjust the Clean Sens input level. The guys here on the forum can help with that if necessary. Lots of experience here. Welcome to the club! :thumbup:

    Go for it now. The future is promised to no one. - Wayne Dyer

  • This is the one area that people tend to not understand. To get the same feel with different PUPs, you will probably have to adjust the Clean Sens input level. The guys here on the forum can help with that if necessary. Lots of experience here. Welcome to the club! :thumbup:


    And here's the advice from an experienced guy:
    if you feel that your guitar is too weak for clean rigs (compared to distorted rigs) and that bothers you, increase the parameter Clean Sense to your liking.
    It will not change the sound or feel, just the volume.
    It's a feature, not a problem :)


    Have fun

  • I bought a Kemper recently and the majority of time I play at home. Never liked modelers. Took a chance on the Kemper....
    One of the best gear purchases ever. I can get high gain, cranked amps sounds with headphones, at low volume, that sound real and sound awesome. Great clean and in between too.
    I like it more and more each day. I'm glad I quit procrastinating and bought it.

    The Kemper Profiling Amp is the best musical invention since the Electric Guitar and the Marshall Amp .

  • tweaking what tweaking?


    All I need is to select one of my profiles and play :)


    Maybe I'll add some effects - the great thing, I can store my favorite effect settings as well.

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


    Great Profiles --> soundside.de

  • Word to the wise: Use high quality monitors or headphones. If you are using crappy monitors, the tweaking will increase...and never quite satisfy.


    With quality reproduction of the KPA's output, it'll be the best, most untweakful experience ever....IMO just like using a real amp for the most part.


    bd

  • I did everything you just said you would like to.


    Got the KPA. Sold the 11R, my amps, and was able to setup in 1 minutes and record when I wanted to.


    I search for the rig I want to play and I'm ready. About the only "tweaking" is typically to adjust the Reverb down so it's not so wet, and the volumes on the Main Out to set the levels.


    Selling gear paid for the Kemper.


    BTW, the KPA can be tweaked, it does have deep functions. But you just don't need them to get the ability to record and sound exactly like an amp. Better than most amps, since may profiles were recorded with better gear than most people own (Neve preamps, Royer 121 microphones, etc)


    Will will not have buyers remorse, and you will be smiling for a week straight. People will ask you if you won the lottery or something.

  • Thanks for all the replies. I am happy to report that I got a KPA a few days ago, and yeah, I have a silly grin on my face! I'm running it through Focal CMS 65s, which seem to do the trick nicely. I am learning the interface, and am pleased with it so far (having a bunch of physical knobs is just so much nicer than hunting through menus). And the big question of course, the sound? It is brilliant. It sounds and feels like a real amp! Not all the profiles I have downloaded sound good, but there are certainly enough that *do* sound good straight away to keep me very happy!


    And I guess the flipside is there is enough depth in the controls to tweak a fair bit, but it certainly doesn't seem required beyond what I'd do with a real amp!


    :thumbup:

    8o


    Now I just need to sell my Pod HD so my wallet hates me less!

  • My spontaneous reaction is that most rigs sounds very good out of the box. A few (mostly JCM type Marshalls) sounds
    awesome and a few I could do without. I also had a bunch of PODs, a VOX ToneLab and a couple of ZOOMs that I grew out of
    many years aog. Before the KPA came to my house I used the Studio Devil Amp Modeler Pro which in my view was the best
    ampsim I ever had. Ths Studio Devil AMP is a VST software plugin that also comes with a standalone interface. Just for fun I
    A/B test similar settings on both the SD AMP and the KPA. The KPA always comes out on top.


    One of the real qualities of the KPA is the definition and clearity in the low frequency range. Hitting the lower strings in a high
    gain setting almost always gives a blurry, muddy and undefined tone with no punch when I use traditional modelers. The KPA
    reproduces these ranges elegantly with the punch retained. It gave me quite a surprise.

  • hi, i'm a pod hd500 user, i used to love it but cannot be compared to the kemper.


    In POD HD500 took me 3 days to tweak a good high gain preset
    In Kemper i just choose a profile and took me 20min of tweaking and it sounded much much better


    kemper quality is great, you wont need to spend hours tweaking, just choose a good profile and then tweak a little, thats all, fast and easy :thumbup:

  • Kemper need absolutely less tweaking than say my ex-Mesa Boogie Road King II Dual Rec .
    If you ever had a chance to play that monster amp, you will know what I am talking about !

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