TAF: Still Reigns Supreme in the KPA world.

  • Well, this is simultaneously depressing and reassuring.


    I've been withholding on some TAF purchases even though the samples on the site sound phenomenal.
    I went ahead and got the 6505 profiles when i just got the KPA and was frankly quite disappointed.
    Came back to them a month later and still no go for me. Not even just the cabs.
    Obviously this might have more to do with the amp or profile than with Andy, but i didn't see any surprising magic going on, and the free profiles i've tried from Andy have been hit or miss.
    With that said, i've been told the freebies don't really represent the TAF thing very well, and it sounds like even Andy wasn't overly impressed with that 6505.


    Thanks for the review, either way!

    "But dignity is difficult to maintain
    stamina requires constant upkeep
    repetition is boring
    and you pay for grace."

  • I have to agree. I bought a few profiles and haven't been able to use any of them ?( ...probably my gear or ears since everyone else seem happy..

  • Remember that anything you expect to sound better, will. ;)


    Not that I don't believe you, I haven't got the metal pack myself. But expectation bias is a very real thing.


    Any chance of sound samples, there are none on their website?


    I have a TAF 5153 profile so I did an A/B comparison of my it to a free one for fun, and what I noticed about the general eq differences:
    - TAF had boosted lows, scooped mids and a boost at around 5kHz for presence. By going back and forth and adding a "metal eq" and a "studio eq" in X and MOD positions I was able to get them to sound almost the same. (Different amp, different cab, so not perfect).


    I'm posting these if anyone wants to get their profiles to sound more "polished" and mix ready (based on how the TAF profile sounds, haven't actually tried this in a mix yet).
    Metal Eq: Low +2, Mid -2.5, fr 750Hz, High -4.2
    Studio Eq: Mid gain +5, Mid fr 5.1 kHz


    I also changed the amp eq very slightly to boosted bass, treble and pres, and cut the mids slightly. (2 led's each)

  • Thank you for the interesting post. Me-myself-and-i, we have bought just ONE professional profile.
    No hurt to Armin: it was (being a fan of JB) a carol-ann profile by and44. The same here for me. It sits - out of the box -
    much better in the mix than any other profile. i am far from having checked all of the subleties of this one profile. reduced gain: crunchy blues heaven.
    Added a little reverb and more delay: solo exstasy!
    unfortunately i am not yet able to reamp, because i had to buy a new soundcard which i dont have the money for right now.
    as this would be the easiest way to compare rigs like you did:
    is it possible to post a blindfold test or A/B comparision? thanks

    My occupation: showing teenagers the many hidden secrets of the A-minor chord on the guitar.

  • I'm not metal player at heart so can't comment there. But the majority of dirty profiles I use are commercial Amp Factory patches as well. There are a few other free, Soundside, and factory gems that I enjoy as well notably Morgan AC20, Armin's '57 Deluxe, and several stock AC30 profiles. That said, the vast majority of the Amp Factory profiles I'm using I don't think are offered anywhere but from him (Evil Robot w/ Klon, Bogner Goldfinger, Fender Excelsior, Cornford Carrera, etc).

  • Well, there lies my problem with shelling out money blindly. Because to me that sounds you didn't tweak the duller sounding profiles, but went for the ones that sat in your particular mix the best without tweaking. Meaning TAF profiles have already been tweaked with an outboard eq to sit in a mix during tracking. Most (if not all) of the hobbyist free profiles do not have this.


    I'm just extremely cynical about any claims of superior quality in audio in general, since it's entirely subjective what is "good". So much of it depends on what you have been listening to before you hear a particular sound, since that's what the brain will be comparing it to. Do an A/B/C comparison, first in order of A-B-C, then C-B-A, and you'll most likely change your preference on what was the best sounding. Then we also tend to prefer anything that is new, before we get accustomed with its sound, and start looking for the next "best thing ever". :P


    Generally we tend to prefer brighter sounds with a scooped midrange to more warm and "dull" sounds, when doing simple A/B comparison. Then there's the whole thing about placebo too. (People paying for "fraqile harmonics", fridge magnets on power cords and cryo-treated tubes etc.)


    So every time I hear the words "this is heads and tails above the rest" regarding audio quality I get pretty wary. :D

  • The proof is in the pudding !!! Post a clip so we can hear !!!

    And by the way I've bought many packs from TAF which I like a lot so not knocking , there are some good tones in there !

  • Thought I'd chime in here if its OK.
    Firstly, the Metal Pack was a complete production setup, meaning its focus was to work for vast range of tones, considering 3/4 different cabs were miced and used with each amp, and then various settings used on the amp some with scooped/unscooped, some with TS in front, all that mixed with different amp/gain settings created a palette to choose from.


    However..


    Its not for everyone, clearly it works for some, and not others, there is no IDEAL tone, or one shoe fits all, this is what makes music musical afterall. - my motto is, for every amp I create, let there be a smile somewhere. - Im perfectly OK with people not liking what I do, and thats cool. - we all have our favorite concepts of sound, taste and whats simply right or wrong. (May I suggest yo get Olas' Metal pack, as Im sure thats far superior to mine because he is a metal player and knows exactly whats needed)


    What VESMedic has done here has been a delight to him, and thats great!, others may try his same setup, same speakers hell, even the same song and be very opposite, as tone is always subjective.


    And as far as "previewing" sounds as naskeden suggested, yes this is good advise, but if you have to dig really deep to a sound to get the results, then thats not good as its too much processing (unless thats your thing) - as where if you can change sound and be 90% happy with it right off the bat, then its a nobrainer...


    TheAmpFactory provides a service. we dont provide miracles, nor do we apply special magic mojo to our profiles. - I just live mic them (like ive done for the past 30 years) - use top spec equipment to get the tone that you hear..I'd like to think that my experience counts as part of the tone, else Ive wasted my time in all these years, does that make me better than anyone else? NO. it makes, me, whom I am. -the thing thats important, is I can give the same profile of X amp to 5 people. using the same guitar + Equipment. - they can all record and play the same part, and yet, everyone will sound SOOO different to the next, this is a wonderful thing..


    Like real amps, there are some that you gel with, and some you dont. - because you can have access to those amps, doesn't mean to say you still will gel with them in the kemperworld.


    Oh, and there are no samples for the Metalpack (yet) - Somone was going to get them done for me but bailed. (Im not a metal player) so I can do them im afraid. - but i'll find someone soon enough I hope.


    I hope this message finds you well.
    Andy

  • I am in the same boat, I have tried hundreds of other profiles, including my own, soundside, free ones, and nothing can touch the realism of the TAF profiles.


    I am mainly using medium gain/crunch tones, and my 2 faves are the Blackstar Series One? (forget the actual name) and the Carr v6


    1 note for me, I couldn't use them before with my EV speaker, now with my Atomic CLR I can actually hear everything as it truly sounds.


    I also dial the presence down to around -3.0 on my profiles- for whatever reason, they are always too bright for me with the factory settings.

  • Guess I may have to eats words alittle: right now I'm running into HUGE phase issues with alot of these. Almos like all the mics used actually cancel out alot of frequencies. I showed a friend of mine my tracks who is a very popular audio engineer, and uses the KPA as well, and the first thing he said within about 2 seconds of hearing them, is " what's with the condenser mic"?? He could hear it big time. I tried one of his cabinet profiles he gave me that he has used on several albums, and it became quite apparent what he was talking about: i immediately understood now, I just didn't have the ear for it. My singer who does our mixing was having a very hard time with the phase issues as well.


    For those experienced with music production etc: have Any of you ran into these problems before?

  • Guess I may have to eats words alittle: right now I'm running into HUGE phase issues with alot of these. Almos like all the mics used actually cancel out alot of frequencies. I showed a friend of mine my tracks who is a very popular audio engineer, and uses the KPA as well, and the first thing he said within about 2 seconds of hearing them, is " what's with the condenser mic"?? He could hear it big time. I tried one of his cabinet profiles he gave me that he has used on several albums, and it became quite apparent what he was talking about: i immediately understood now, I just didn't have the ear for it. My singer who does our mixing was having a very hard time with the phase issues as well.


    For those experienced with music production etc: have Any of you ran into these problems before?


    Well, the TAF profile i tried wasn't all that but it most certainly didn't have phase problems.
    How are you using them, exactly?..
    I hate to be 'that guy', but are you duplicating tracks instead of doubling them, by any chance?


    Phase issues on a single track should be heard even out of a mixing situation - it should sound a little too 3D and not as 'solid' as other things played through your stereo.
    If you upload a sample we might be able to tell you more.
    If you've actually got phase issues on a profile, it would be a crying shame as that would essentially make that mic placement - and all settings captured with it - unusable.

    "But dignity is difficult to maintain
    stamina requires constant upkeep
    repetition is boring
    and you pay for grace."