Posts by Terraformer

Haven't sold anything, but I bought a Townsend Labs Sphere L22, the Native Instruments
Komplete 12 Ultimate Collector's Edition, a pair of Neumann KH310 Monitors aaand...
...Aerodrums Oh, yeah, I almost forgot...and finally a Remote and an EP1-KP Pedal
for each of my two Kemper Heads, cause I plan on starting to gig again...

I hear ya, bro...I'm a true "gainiac" meself...May be related to my recording techniques as well...this whole "less is more, so dial down your gain"-debate (especially in recordings)
always has pissed me off. "Oh, it's gonna sound great, once you stack up takes upon takes"...well, nope thx. I'd rather have ONE take sounding and feeling massive, instead of
"constructing" a sound via multiple tracks. I generally seem to like to work contrary to ANY "modern" sound engineering "wisdom", and still I get "eyes-a-poppin & jaws-a-droppin"-
reactions as a result, when I present my self produced songs to others.

That's how I thought it'd work as well...seems like the Profiler (from MY point of understanding) is only willing to "accept" a level of gain/distortion which the unit considers to
be withing the logic boundaries of what an amp should be able to produce gainwise. And it also follows the regular rules of how power/gain is considered to be generated the
traditional way.

I think of it as a modern racetrack, made to suit the capacities of classic/vintage racecars (and maybe some well balanced modern sports cars as well).
But bring a Hypercar, F1 or supercharged vintage V8 monster to it, and you'll overshoot in the corners. Strange comparison, I know...but it makes sense
to me. If you bring a car/engine combo which is out of the regulations, with too much HP/gain, it'll force you to tune it down, in order to be able to go on
track. It's also picky about the way the "engine" works. Turbos and blowers (pre-amp pedal boosters) seem to be allowed up to a certain extend, but
it get's picky once too much power-amp distortion comes into play. No "strapping a rocketpack to my old Fiat500 to boost it up to 1000HP".

The formulas it uses to analyse dynamics and gain structures works for the vast majority of amps out there, and it is capable of doing stellar jobs.
But bring a true exotic, and you might baffle the unit, as it cannot really "see through" how THIS particular one works.

I'm a guy who like to build his gainy sounds in non traditional ways, stacking up structures upon structures, as "traditional" high gain amps never
really did the trick for me tonewise. When it comes to modern high gain, only the 5150 and it's derivates as a pure unit seem to suit my taste,
along with a few Marshall models. Never really dug all the other high gain amps (as great as they may be) I've tried. Matter of taste, I guess...

Iä! Cthulhu fhtagn!

(Sorry, couldn't resist )

Ran into this problem meself countless times. My preferred highgain settings almost ALWAYS lead to the "Amp too noisy" warning.
Had to bite the sour apple and reduce my gain to be able to profile, just like you did. Problem being...adding gain to the profile after
having profiled just doesn't deliver the same feel and response compared to the "real deal" then. Never really found a solution for this.

Get's worse with multistaged gain structures (which the Kemper can't analyse properly). I for example have a stellar sounding patch
in my old G9.2tt (used for recording only), which the Kemper simply can't nail. No "amp too noisy" warning on this one, yet, I keep
running into a dffrerent problem. The Kemper profile SOUNDS pretty close (apart from the massive low-end and some upper mids),
but it feels and behaves NOTHING like the original. Well, I can't blame the machine for being confused.

The gain structure consists of an interaction of Pre-Amp tube gain, artificial/digital distortion of the used 5150 model and post/power-
section-tube-gain. The patch itself sounds and feels amazing, but it consists of 3 stages of mild to moderate distortions, which
amalgamate into a supersaturated "meaty" yet supertight high-gain sound.

The Kemper simply can't figure out which part of the distortion is generated in which part of the signal chain. Again, can't blame
the Kemper for this, it's not how traditional amps work. But it's a damn shame, for it is THE best sound i've ever dailed up on ANY
unit (real amp, software or modeller), suiting my personal style and preferences, and I can't get it the f*** into the Kemper, to have
it available at all times (and maybe finetune and tweak some characteristics even further).

What's happening to the low-end of all of the stuff I've tried to profile baffles me as well. Sounds fine, listened to in the sound room,
passed through the Kemper. But once the Kemper profiles it, no matter how close the profile gets, the tight and mighty low-end
punch always dissolves into thin air. But that's another story...and from what i've heared, I am not the only engineer having stumbled
upon this issue.

Sorry for not being able to offer a solution to your original problem. Just wanted to vent a little and tell you that you're not the
only "gainiac" who had to compromise while trying to profile high gain sounds.

Ahoi there...

...and welcome to the forum/community!

I'll download, test and comment on your profiles a.s.a.p. Fresh stuff is always welcome here
I'll let you know, what I think about your attempts so far, as soon as I get around to test your sounds.

Danny

P.S. Alright! I got around to DL and test your contributions and immediately got hooked on the "Engl EA CH2 middle" profile.
It took some (minor) tweaks to make it sound balanced with my guitar, but with these, it's a very tight and agressive, yet
defined and clear sounding profile! Awesome! I really dig this one! It has a very nice character.

I set the EQ to -3.5 Bass and -1.0 Middle and set the Cab parameters to High S. +0.3 Low S. -1.0 and the Character to -1.5.
Before these tweaks it sounded very bassy and massive. Not the profiles fault though...that's my guitars "fault".

I use a neck-through 27inch scale mahogany baritone guitar, equipped with an EMG 85 in the bridge and an 81 in the neck,
both almost kissing the strings) which naturally sounds rather dark and massive...+ I have it tuned to open A Major, so MOST
profiles tend to have too much bass and low mid response, when I use them without any tweaks.

Might become my new favourite! Thanks a lot for this profile, lad!

The distorted "center" profile is very usable as well, but I had to tame the bass a lot on this one in order to keep it from getting
too boomy with my guitar (-3.5, maybe even -4.0 if I wanted to doubletrack with it). The "side" one is the only I "dislike". It's
just too washy and dark sounding for my taste....again, with MY guitar and MY playing style/setup that is.

The clean profiles I like very much...all of them...very chimy and crystal clear. They work great without any major tweaks
for me. I tend to put tons of reverb and delay on my cleans anyway though...but the basic character of all of the clean
profiles is very nice! I only had to roll back the volume on the "Engl EA CH1 Clean" one, for it stood out too far with your
saved volume setting.

That's 5 out of 6 I really like (with only EQ roll-offs on the 2 distorted ones)! Thank you very much! I really enjoy the profiles,
and I`ll definitely keep them on my Profiler. Keep up the good work! C-ya around!

Dannyboy "Terraformer" Young

Ahoi there...

Gosh, it's been ages since I'be written ANYTHING in any forum on the net,
but I felt like chiming in on this "ethically problematic topic"...

Dear Henning (should you read this...)...

Let the amp maker do the profiling for me? No, thanks...I want to be in control
of WHAT I profile with MY settings, optimized for my guitar, pickups, setup,
string-gauge, tuning etc...(never really saw the point in, why folks jump on
"commercial" 3rd party profiles anyway...(no offense meant, guys)...

And dear Mister Pauly...
If (specifically) the KPA REALLY is responsible for the case of "up to 8 out of 10"
amps being returned to the dealers these days, because "evil people have stolen
the sounds, to then return them for a full refund, while happily f***ing the amp-
maker over..." ...then why the f*** haven't the amp-companies taken any steps to
make their amps "unprofilable" by now? Shouldn't be hard to do...all you'd need
is a small chip, controlling and "listening" into the input(s) of the amp, cutting it
off, once the typical signature KPA-"noise" test-patterns are recognized, opening
up again, once the "noise" is gone, leaving the Profiler with nothing to "listen to"
to profile.

Install the unit in a way that makes it impossible to remove or manipulate it, without
a tech (or anyone else, who opens up the amp) being able to take notice. Viola!

"Seal broken/Chip removed? Modded to be profilable again! You mod it, you keep it!"
Wham! Problem solved. No more profiling (unless you alter the input circuit, forcing
you to KEEP the amp, for YOU altered it, after having purchased it.

Result? BOTH camps happy! Folks who want to "can" the sound their gear in an easily
transportable, awesome unit (th KPA) AND the amp-companies, who have SOLD another
unit for good...Just my 2 cents...

To quote Trent Reznor on "The Downward Spiral"
"Problems DO have solutions, you know..."

Whoosh...
I'm out...

Dannyboy "Terraformer" Young

+1 for more pan-control(s) !

Right now it's a pain in the a** for me to have to use more than two channels to record a stereo signal
with a panned amp. Using the Panorama just moves the entire mix off centre. I'd love to have the option
to pan the amp-section independendly. Guess I am still spoiled by the pan options my old Vetta offered.
Not that it was anywhere near the Kemper in terms of feel and/or sonic quality, when doing direct
recordings with it, but I LOVED the flexibility it offered FX-chain wise and the freedom to pan EACH
amp and effect totally independently. I hope, one day we'll get pan controls for each FX slot as well as
amp-panning.

I ALSO miss the option to set CC-message min/max limits inside the Kemper (guess this will be adressed in the Artist mode sooner or later).

Anyway, apart from having to use 3 cables/channels instead of only 2 (or the spdif port) to achive my desired results in stereo recordings,
along with the mentioned lack of internal finetuning of within which min/max settings pedals or other midi controllers work, I couldn't be more
happy. This monster becomes better and better with every new FW, sound and feels awesome and neither of my two toasters has ever let
me down in over 1 and 1/2 years of use now. Stable as f***, sturdy...and good looking

If I was a confectioner, I'd bring over a free Lunchbox shaped cake on their next anniversary
Making the cake actually would take longer than delivering it, as I literally live about only
20km away from Kemper Headquarters

"Blind man, ask me forgiveness! I won't deny myself!"

Hello...
Just adding my 2 cents, but I thought I'd join in anyway...

Could you clarify what exactly you do mean with "missing/lacking"?
Is it sonic quality (sound is close but not quite there) or is it the way
the profile responds to your playing? If the latter is the case...

I guess I totally understand what you "feel". A profile might totally
sound right for what you try to achive, it just doesn't "feel" right
when you play it. It just won't "talk to you", is that what you mean?

Not all profiles perfectly interact with and respond to ones personal
playing style. Now, instead of going on and on "about what to tweak"
and "how to improve" I'll give a simple little tip. Look for profiles that
"feel" awesome to you, regardless of their gain stage, voicing etc.
Look out for those gems that FEEL special and right to you from
the beginning on, no matter if they are a little (or even far) off from
what you originally had been looking for. Then start to tweak those.
See how far you can go with the tweaks before you start to take
away from their original special quality. For me personally, the
magic happens mainly in the Amplifier and Cabinet sections.
Play around with the Clarity and Definition, Tube parameters and
Sagging. Try to revoice the cab with the Shift and Character
parameters. Or scroll through the cabs until you find one that "shines".
It's all there mate, and it's all yours. You'll learn how to find your per-
sonal faves quickly, and how to finetune those even more to your liking.

All the variety and options can be a bit overwhelming first, but if you
filter cleverly (means trust your feeling), you'll be finding many sounds
which, as I call it, "talk to you".

Can't even tell how many times I tend to catch myself grinning like an idiot
while playing the KPA, thinking "this sounds so kick-ass, and it FEELS even
better!"

So look for the ones that really "feel alive" in combination with you guitar and
playing style. Oh, a little tip on extreme sounds. I recently found two profiles
which feel superalive to me. (Might work for you or totally disappoint you, but
try em). The Beau McKee HC 01 and HC2. To me they feel like a Ford GT40
driven at Mulsanne Straight on the rev.-limiter Extremely lively, close to the
point of getting out of control. They mimic the feeling of standing next to a
brutally cranked high gain amp very well for me. Had to tame them a bit, gain
and volume wise, and I also revoiced them via the EQ, but they simply FEEL
great in combination with my guitar setup and my playing style.

Hope this will help you to get the most fun and inspiration out of your KPA.
Go for the ones which (for you) deliver the most feel, then the rest will happen
by itself.

Danny "Terraformer" Young

Hi there...

This is totally possible, as there already are KIPR files made from Guitar-VST plugins.
Owning two KPAs, I even sometimes profile tweaked profiles.

Just keep in mind that when you want to profile your already made presets, you will
have to turn off all fancy effects, just profiling the raw amp tone (EQ, Distortion and
Compressors (hm, not quite sure aboot the least) should be no problem, but any
time based effects like phasers, flangers, delays etc. as well as noise gates will
baffle the Kemper during the profiling and should be turned off, otherwise they
might render a sound suboptimal, if not completely unprofilable.

Once you'll have duplicated the core sound, simply use the Kempers internal
FX-slots to re-add any effects your original sound had. Keep in mind though
that re-constructing supercomplex fx-chains might not be possible to the very
last detail.

So it's not exactly "plug-n-play". You can not simply copy an fx-laden sound,
"catching" it in it's entirety from your PC to the Kemper via profiling.

But basically it's possible, yes...

Aloha!

I've already opened a thread in the Tips and Tricks section, asking if it yet is possible to set MIN/MAX
values for parameters assigned to be controlled via an expression pedal. Anyway, in short form I'll try
to explain again, what I'm aiming for...

Is it possible to adjust the min/max values of certain parameters, when
they are being controlled via MidiCC-Messages? For example the amp
gain setting? By default, I'll have the amp at minimum drive at the min
pedal position, and the drive to the max at maximum pedal input, when
I use an expression pedal to control it.

But what if I'd like to have the gain at lets say 45% when the pedal is
fully up and at 70% when the pedal is fully depressed?

Same goes for things like Volume Pedal settings, Delay Mix, Reverb, etc...
I'd simply want to be able to make 'em work only in defined ranges,
instead of having the pedal control ALL the way inbetween their
minimum/maximum capabilities.

This would be a neat feature, and it would make some parameters much
more usable when being controlled by a pedal. Any chance we might be
seeing something like this being implanted any time soon (or at all)?

Dannyboy

Thx for the input, Sean...

Alright, this indeed will render any simple expression pedals and/or midi-controllers NOT capable of limiting HIGH and LOW
values internally pretty much useless for me then. I've been integrating features like those into my sounds for far too long now,
it's become second nature. Time to look out for a controller capable of handling this on its own then, I guess...

@ CK (or anyone else in the development team)
Any chance of seeing something like this implanted on the KPA side any time soon?
Well, maybe I should post this in the feature request section...

Anyway, thx for re-assuring me I wasn't overlooking something, Sean.
Seems that I'll have to live with "full bandwidth" for now, concerning CC
values.

Danny

Ahoi there...

Alright, I'll try to keep this short and precise.

The other day I set up my Zoomg 9.2tt to control my KPA via it.
Works like a charm, as far as rig changing and toggling on and
off FX with it goes, except for some things I haven't found info
about neither in the G9 not the KPA manual.

Okay, here comes the main question.

Is it possible to adjust the min/max values of certain parameters, when
they are being controlled via MidiCC-Messages? For example the amp
gain setting? By default, I'll have the amp at minimum drive at the min
pedal position, and the drive to the max at maximum pedal input, when
I use an expression pedal to control it.

But what if I'd like to have the gain at lets say 45% when the pedal is
fully up and at 70% when the pedal is fully depressed?

Same goes for things like Volume Pedal settings, Delay Mix, Reverb, etc...
I'd simply want to be able to make 'em work only in defined ranges,
instead of having the pedal control ALL the way inbetween their
minimum/maximum capabilities.

In both my old Zoom G9 and my Line6 Vetta I can set the range in within
the full pedal way is active within the units themselves. In the KPA, I still
have to find these options yet.

No idea how these handle the stuff internally, or if it's even Midi that contols
stuff like that. Could be another brand specific protocol.

To cut a long story short...(and yes, i KNOW I'll have to look deeper into Midi
some time soon )
How the heck do I tell the KPA that for example MidiCC Value 0 equals amp
gain 50% and NOT 0%? I'd really like to be able to use the full pedal way
without going over of under pre-defined limits.

Any help on this topic would be greatly appreciated.
Thx in advance.
Dannboy

Ahoi, mate!

I totally agree with you on the point about "snapshot accuracy".
A profile can of course vary in distortion, when being driven by different guitars/playing techniques.
One and the same profile could make ONE guy go "wtf! this ain't crunch anymore, it's already high gain",
while it make the other guy go "wtf! THIS is supposed to be a high gain profile? Sounds way too clean."
It all depends on how the profiles were made, to bring out the best for the PROFILING person.
With all the variety in tunings, string gauges, picking techiques, PUs and their adjustments, who can
expect all profiles to "do their job" perfectly for everyone?

To answer your question...
YES, there are peeps who have the DIST Sens lowered.
I have mine at -12 currently. Which results more out of my personal
taste, than trying to make the profiles "work more accurate" (based
on their description and default gain setting).

So relax, mate. If it sounds good to you, how can it be wrong?

Ahoi there...

Dun nail me to the wall, in case I don't remember correctly, but didn't anyone (maybe even CK himself)
state that SOME amps (and certain Peaveys were among them, I could swear) have proven to be "unprofilable",
'cuz of the special way their pre- and poweramps interact? Seems that those confuse the Kemper,
because they work unconventionally (in creating their tone, I mean)...

Was it because of some sort of inbuilt (and non-offswitchable) noisegate? Or some sort of inbuilt
compression/limiting method in their preamp section, which the Kemper can't make sense of?
I don't recall exactly...

I can't put my finger on where I've actually read it, but when I read the name of the amp a signal horn
went off in my head. "Vypyr unprofilable". I think I've read about others, who tried (and failed) to profile
a "Vypyr".

Maybe I'm just full of sh... right now, and my mind plays tricks on me. I'm quite tired right now, sorry...

Danny

Nevermind what I've said before, seems like my mind indeed was f***ed...
There ARE Vypyr profiles in the database, made by MBA64, so it seems
that the amp IS profilable...

Sorry for the misleading information.

Well, it depends...

I agree that different guitarists might profile one and the same amp differently.
Let's say two different guitarists work in the same profiling space, perfectly
set-up. They might use different guitars, play different styles of music...
This alone will effect their choice of the basic settings on the to be profiled amp
(Gain, EQ etc.), as well as their choice of the mic'ing method (what mic(s) to use,
where to put it/them, etc.).

So yes, they'd dial in different tones, before they'll profile it, each one tuning the amp
to settings which work best for their personal technique and taste of sound.

But as far as the profiling goes...the KEMPER does the analysis alone.
It makes absolutely no difference to the machine who pushes the profiling button,
wether its the Pope, John Doe or Donald Duck...There is no "playing the guitar"
involved in the profiling itself.

But, as you've stated, and as I've explained above...it absolutely will make a difference
regarding WHO with WHAT and WHERE will work out the pre-profiling gear set-up.

Have a nice one!
Danny "The Terraformer" Young