Posts by mtmartin71

    Best I can tell, having the Low Steep and High Steep buttons "ON" when trying to do Hi Pass/Lo Pass cutoffs gives the least amount of filtering whereas having those buttons "OFF" gives you the greater filtering of highs and lows...at least that's what I'm hearing. Is that right? There may be some tightening of the low end though when I press the "ON" button for the Low Steep.


    What is their purpose?

    What are you using for your power amp? SS or Tube?

    I've currently got a the Power Station v2 that runs into a Port City 2x12 Vertical OS with Celestion Greenbacks. It's basically a mini 4x12 with current Chinese Celestions. It sounds fabulous but very much the Marshall + Greenback rock sound. Not a bad one sound to have! It's certainly my favorite. It's just that it's too much for other genres. The other thing is this is a 3 piece set up...unpowered head, amp head box w/ power station and conditioner, and the 2x12. Definitely not grab and go.

    I'm thinking of one of the following:

    1. Just find a more versatile guitar speaker. Not an FRFR or modeling...just a guitar speaker that's more adaptable or maybe a combo of two different speakers
    2. Buy an oversized 1x12, partial open back with an Alnico, H30, or something for more indie/roots type sounds
    3. Buy a couple of Kemper Kones to put in the existing cab
    4. Buy a couple of Powered Kemper Kabs - if it's close enough on the imprints. That'd give me a grab and go plus something to cover a larger sound spectrum when needed

    In reading up on some threads, I've seen mixed reviews of the Kones vs their real counterparts, but it also seems like some of that might have been user error in setup/config. I'd appreciate some up to date thoughts from those who have bounced between some of these options


    USE CASE: Mostly playing for my enjoyment at home and looking to get back into jamming/rehearsals and some limited gigging. I gigged part time up to 2019 and COVID has obviously tamped that down. When I gigged, I almost always used a CLR as a wedge pointed back to me because we ran our own sound and everyone was pretty much direct to the board.

    Spot on and why I enjoy the Kemper more than I did the AxeFX for direct to board tones. I've tried some Ownhammers on the Kemper and didn't find it to be better sounding...worse actually. I wasted time. Funny enough, I was constantly playing with IRs to get the "perfect" AxeFX tone and now it's just playing with the amp parameters a bit on a profile.

    I’m not talking about a SW solution to profiling. I’m only talking about companies using the Kemper way of achieving the sound through profiling or their take on it anyway. And then creating an amp sim out of that. Exactly like the Kemper. You might make a snapshot of a specific setup, but you do get to fiddle around with everything afterwards like an amp sim.

    OK...I think I'm tracking better. I looked from your OP and thought you meant something that could happen on a computer. You meant just a technique that could happen on a device OR computer?


    I think what you're saying is whether Kemper profiling method is HW dependent i.e. something in the physical audio circuit is custom. My guess is no...the profiling uses standard audio components/processing and the profiling magic comes from the FW on the box.


    Ultimately are you getting at the notion you'd love to see a profiling method that has an accurate way of making the snapshot behave more like a real amp in terms of adjustment?

    Hopefully I got closer to understanding. If not, I will eject! :)

    Yet again I try to explain....I suspect that people don’t wanna read the whole thing. I get that. But it seems like either people don’t read the whole topic or I am very very bad at trying to explain in detail, what I mean. I do believe that I have tried :D

    I do NOT mean the Kemper itself. I mean the technology behind profiling. Another company applying this way of achieving its sounds and then putting it out there to the masses for them to go crazy. Do they need this particular circuitry to run a profile achieved the Kemper way. Is that physical unit absolutely fundamental for running THIS data? I hardly believe it.

    Ha! Well...I'd personally need a dedicated break out box with amp like latency for that concept to be useful. I've tried computer plugs and they've left me wanting. I want to perform and record with amps or dedicated modelers/profilers with very low latency. I guess you could probably create tech that could analyze amp data like the Kemper, as a SW program on a computer, but then are you playing it back on a generic sound card as well? I feel like that would be disconnected unless the supplier had a closed ecosystem and some sort of dedicated HW to make it feel immediate. JMHO


    The other thing...the trend with these suppliers seems to be to offer devices that can go live, jam at home, or record all at different footprints and price points. Not sure how big of a market there would be for a SW only profiler that has to be on a computer. Then again, I couldn't imagine bringing my laptop to a gig and "playing it" that way but I know people do it.

    Well, I think you need something other than a standalone plug. Maybe something like my Apollo Solo, but from Kemper. It could have some processing like running a UAD plugin to help offload the CPU. Then you get a recording interface with the Kemper profiles as a possible plugs to run. Just not at UAD prices! Ha!

    But...it seemed like the POD form factor died out. Why manufacture a box that could only be used at home when the lunch box fits fine on most studio desks. The floor units aren't as elegant to use that way but the Kemper lunch box, or the Axe FX FM3, or the Helix Stomp all could be desktop studio boxes and still find their way to a pedal board or live application.

    Thanks for the reply! I'll give these settings a try and see what I come up with. Guess it's going to take some trial and error to find what works best. Was just thinking more users had experimented, given how popular the power station once was

    Let me know where you land.


    If you like Marshall sounds, the revised V2 68 Purple Plexi from Tone Junkie sounds absolutely fabulous through my Power Station and my 2x12 Port City with 25W Greenbacks. He's got a channel and a jumped version profiled for Direct. Sounds pretty amazing and with the Depth and Presence, you can adjust it up at lower volumes to get a fuller sound.

    Funny...I came here to post something similar on what I'm doing with my Kemper when I connect it to a direct or merged profile through my Power Station and 2x12 cab. I don't think the Kemper has the equivalent resonance setting like the AxeFX does.


    What I've decided to do, and I think it does sound a little better (or my brain thinks so!), is I just make sure take out the Power Amp & Compression settings in my profiles (in the Amplifier pages), if not already at 0. A lot of the profiles from the commercial guys have those typically between 1-3. I think they do help when you're going with a studio profile or going amp cab when the amp is SS, but they kind of disconnect and soften things a bit when going to the Power Station.


    I do play around with the clarity just a little bit as a tool to help take out the sizzle and distortion a touch on a profile...if that's my intent. That seems to work on Studio or Direct profiles. One I haven't played with is the Tube Shape. I've used that on studio profiles to mimic NMV power amp driven sounds. Most profilers leave it at the default of 3.3. I've moved it up to 5.5 for NMV plexis and the like. I haven't tried it though on direct profiles with an amp/cab.


    For me personally, I don't know that I'd replace my Power Station with a standalone SS amp. If I were starting out from scratch and I wanted to follow what Kemper notes as the ideal, then I'd probably have gone with a powered Kemper head and make it even more convenient. The Power Station sounds fabulous (I've also used a SS amp in the past...it didn't sound any better or worse for that matter) and it's a great tool if you want to still use a real, loud tube amp to help curb and shape it.

    It's not stage tested yet, but I am using the morph button to get a lead boost. What I do is set up a TS type drive in permanent "ON" position but at 0% mix in normal mode. When hitting the morph button on the rig, I morph the mix of the Kemper Drive to 100% to add some slight drive and shaping in front and then raise the rig volume by 3 dbs. This also allows me to have a stomp or something else on and just add to that.


    I used to have a dedicated rig that was my lead sound but I prefer going with a clean, dirt, and crunch sound and then using the morph to alter any of those for leads when I need to punch through.

    You would rather research a bit of how they profile before steping in and say its wrong. In the case of M Britt, he explains that after profiling, his goal is to make it sound as close as possible to the real amp in front of him, so he tunes all the parameters, including EQ until he gets the closest to the amp sound, and not the traditional mic´ed sound. Thats why mostly everyone agrees his profiles sound better live, and very amp like. I can get my twin profiles, and the sound is almost the same mic´ed and studio, and also when connecting to the speakers trough my power amp, it is almost the same amp.

    I wasn't suggested it was wrong per se. Just wondering why all the post EQ work but you explained it perfectly.


    dacop1313 had it right I think in terms of many profiles have the goods if you dial them to your sound and application.


    It really gets down to finding the mic(s) you like...I seem to like the SM57(and variants) + R121(and variants)...and then eq'ing further from there for a sound. I guess though that you'd need to have the actual amp to get there...but...I do think I can reverse engineer Michael Britt's approach for some of my other profiles. Obviously his cab is a big part of the full sound too. That 2x12 w/ CL80 he has is full sounding.

    I've noticed that a number of the commercial profilers I like tend to modify, sometimes significantly, the post profile EQ of the profiles they sell. MBritt, Top Jimi, and Selah Sounds all seem to fall into that camp. I don't recall MBritt doing that in the old days but his last 2 or 3 packs, he's really pushing the bass and mids on some of them...and the high end too.


    I guess it makes me wonder, and question, why don't you get that right in the guitar/amp EQ settings of what you're profiling at the time? Is it to push an EQ after the fact that favors live or studio? Is it because inherently, you can't get a "convincing" and pleasing sound without post profile EQ modifications? Is it just because...? :)

    Could be a number of factors including your equipment, but I have found the older MBritt profiles to be on the darker side. But, they do stand out in live work or just jamming around the home out loud. For recording, I'd think they need some EQ sculpting to fit. Also, you can bump the treble and definition and cut the bass to get them more recording ready...or again...EQ them more in post. Personally, I use other profiles for recording work. I like Top Jimi, Selah Sounds, and some Tone Junkie in those situations. Gives me an excuse to spread the profile love too. ;)


    I think the MBritt 2020 pack with the 68 Plexi is his best one to date. A little brighter tones and full but not woofy. Goldilocks stuff for me. In comparing them to the older ones, they're certainly more present but hold the mids and have the right lows. I haven't tried them in a recording yet though. The other thing is he cut down a bit on the extra settings...clarity, sag, compression...vs where he used to set them in his profiles.

    I'm going to hold on this until there are more options. Frankly, I have 3 ways to amplify the Kemper and I'm mostly playing for myself at home right now. The two live options are the Atomic CLR (versatile and one of the best FRFR solutions) and the Power Station 50W into the 2x12 Port City (plenty of sound and oomph...and sounds glorious). I'm not even playing live and won't be anytime soon.


    I'm just exhibiting lockdown induced GAS right now...is all :)

    Here’s a tip that might wrk for you...

    Prior to getting a Kabinet and an ISP Ultra and Crown XLS1502 (for my Marshall cab or stereo cabs), I used my old Mustang III (v1).... plugged straight into the effects return.


    Sounded great - was 100w loud, has a very neutral 12” Celestion speaker (designed for modelers), and you can get them CHEAP....

    Not sure this is any help to you, but wanted to make you aware of other options that work well too.

    Actually, the Mustang or something like that might be a good option to keep it to two pieces...the Kemper and the cab. Less than $200 for a cab and power amp and then another $180 for the speaker. That'd be the cheapest route for me to go and I like the look of the Mustang (the Peavy...less so).


    Did the Kemper head sit on top of that OK or you put it off to the side? How did going into the Mustang power amp compare to your Kabinet with the ISP Ultra and/or Crown? I know it's not total apples-to-apples. Sounds like you just used the stock modeling speaker whereas my intent would be to replace that with the Kone.