Posts by heldal

Performance, practise or home-studio?

Passive or with a built-in amplifier?

You get what you pay for. I wouldn't buy a very cheap speaker and potentially ruin the experience of a relatively expensive modeller.

I've had decent results with Behringer F1320D wedges (from about $270 a piece), but they can not in any way stand up to my Yamaha DSR112s ($900) or the Atomic CLR ($1000) which is the speaker that has set the benchmark among speakers for guitar modellers.

In general any 10", 12" or even 15" 2-way FRFR speaker/amp combination is a candidate for the job. I tend to prefer the punch of a 12" over a 10". Some who play a lot down low with drop tuning and/or have extra strings at the low end even prefer FRFR-speakers with a 15" at the low-end. Powered speakers mostly use class-D amplifiers, and you can't compare their power-ratings to what you're used to with tube-amps. Cheap low-watt speakers may work well for bedroom practise, but stand no chance when they have to compete with a drummer.

There's quite a lot of decent active speakers to choose from in the $300-500 range. I wouldn't recommend anything much below that. Passive speakers for a powered Kemper will be a bit less expensive, but I don't have any experience with that alternative.

Most acoustics w/pickups are designed to hook up directly to an acoustic amp or FOH mixer, so amp/cab simulation is unnecessary, or even unwanted, unless you want some special effects. I run many different electric guitars as well a lot of different acoustic instruments (steel/nylon/banjo/mandolin/resonator) through my wireless+KPA combo. It's practical to have the transmitter on my belt so I always know where the plug is as I swap between instruments on stage. With the acoustic instruments I use almost exclusively rigs with amp+cab disabled. With a rig for each acoustic instrument I only use EQ and a few effects (compressor/reverb/delay) and set the volume so that each instrument sit about right in the mix. This works well both for small venues where we handle our own PA, and in places where there are professionals handling the sound.

Quote from Khaki_Lackey

the DSR112s are getting rave reviews on live audio message boards. A lot of folks are saying that they are better than some their higher end (more expensive) counterparts.

Yamaha's DSR-line along with JBL PRX, HK Audio L5, Mackie HD and a handful other brands series represent the premium among mass-produced active speakers in the 1000-1500W range. The DSR112 is by all means an excellent speaker, but most of these are pretty much interchangeable. Prices are also about the same. I've been using a pair of DSR112s for a few months, but at am improvised gig last week I was handed a pair of HK Audio L5 112XAs and didn't have to change anything on the KPA. I love my DSR112s but it's easy to find good alternatives. That's a positive.

Quote from loosigoosi

Just for info, connecting the main out XLR's to an M-Track (M-Audio) audio interface, there is horrible clipping for any profile if I leave the Main Out level at 0db. Even with the interface's channel "gain" knobs full counterclockwise. I need to set the Main Out level at -15db or less. At -10db still clipping.

It is important to notice that at 0dB the KPA's XLR outputs are more line-level than mic-level. Many mixing consoles and audio-interfaces don't have the ability to handle such hot signals. I've never had any complaints from a soundman when I detach the mains from the master-volume and set it somewhere between -15 and -20dB. You can also use attenuators or DI-boxes but those will add even more noise to the signal than you get from re-amplifying the reduced KPA output in a mic-preamp.

Quote from viabcroce

As a side note, before writing this response I went around visiting Yamaha's, Mackie's and Behringer's pages just to update my knowledge: I must have been unfortunate, but I was not able to come across any model which had no line input

This may be true for the low-end market, but isn't reflected on the pro-scene. Many mixers have balanced line-level AUX-IN, but that isn't the same as line in. The AUX-ports are more often than not treated different from a channel-strip in the signal-chain. Very few mixers and audio-cards have combined XLR and 1/4" balanced inputs on all channels and maybe even a couple Hi-Z inputs. Behringers X32-series digital mixers have balanced aux-ins, but with somewhat limited functionality compared to the regular channel-strip. Others in the lower-end market likewise. Getting onto the pro-scene with $10k+ digital consoles from Midas, Soundcraft etc you'll find that the audio-engineers who operate these insist on using DI-separation for protection to connect just about anything that doesn't qualify as a microphone. High-end modular systems with digital or analogue stageboxes are usually XLR mic-level only. Some may just be able to handle the KPA at default output-level but that's very near the upper limit, and for quite a few consoles well above what they are comfortable with. It might not matter that much if you're not allowed to plug directly into their console or stagebox anyway. However, lowering the output on the KPA to accomodate a mic-preamp when you can plug directly is probably going to add less noise to the signal than an external DI-box will.

Quote from viabcroce

Send a clean and robust line level to the mix desk and tell the man to treat it like it were from a synth.
The lower the signal, the higher the noise.

Many modern mixers only come with mic-preamps, and requre DI for anything line-level. Whether you lower the KPAs output to something closer to mic-level or run the signal through a DI transformer makes little to no difference wrt noise. My spectrum analyser actually indicate that any of the DI-boxes in my possession add significantly more noise than reducing the KPA output and re-amplifying the signal through a decent mic-preamp.

Classic country was/is dominated by the cleans from Fender blackface amps, over the years expanding more and more into moderately distorted Fender tweed and Marshall plexi territory. Just about any amp that work well from clean to moderate distortion can be found among country players. There's a lot of boutique gear in this market too. Brands such as Matchless, Dr.Z, ToneKing, 65amps, Divided by 13, Vox and Peavey (classic) are all popular in country-circles in addition to the old classic Fender and Marshalls. You should find quite a selection of good profiles on the exchange. What remains is to locate the profiles that work best with your own guitar(s). Another approach is to search the net for information about the rigs used by reputable country players. Chances are you'll find decent profiles from their preferred amps on the exchange too.

Is there no activity on the input LED? It should at least flicker in some shade of green when there's something coming from the guitar.

You need to have the KPA checked if the guitar and cable works with a different amp, the KPA input settings are at default (clean-sens=0dB, distortion sens=0dB, source = "front input") and there still isn't a flicker of the input LED when you play.

Another reset isn't likely to change anything if you've already tried that.

Have you played with the D-contour switch? Try setting it to "monitor" if you're using it a wedge.

How does the DXR12 sound if you play music through it? I find that almost any reasonably powerful 10/12/15" FR cabinet that is able to reproduce a full mix with a decent result also does a decent job with a guitar modeller. Your DXR isn't damaged in any way? Faults other than issues related to physical damage on these are rare.

I got a pair of Behringer B3031A's 3 years ago. The speakers were intended as a cheap alternative for a family audio "work/play-station", but I've ended up using them for my home studio. I've A/Bd them to Adam speakers with a similar ribbon tweeter and they stack up very well to those that cost 5 times more. I never had a problem with the audio reproduced on any high-end PA-rig after I've used these to set up my KPA. A pair of new B3031A's can be had for about $500 these days.

OTOH, why skimp on speakers after handing over thousands for a high-end profiler/modeller.

It is mid September and nobody has seen as much as a prototype KFC yet. I doubt we'll be able to hand over our cash to get one in the next 12 months. I appreciate a bit of conservatism in that products shouldn't be presented years before they ship, but I don't think a couple months from presentation to shipping is realistic. Even then it would have to be presented real soon in order to ship before year-end.

Quote from Hurricane

Does it make sense to choose the same RCF-Box-Type (ART 710-A) that we are using in our P.A.-System?

If you perform almost exclusively with this PA-rig , then it makes all kinds of sense to use the same speakers for practise and tweaking your tone too. It you play many venues and different FOH-rigs, then you're best off with a practise/monitor-speaker that is a neutral/linear as possible. I don't know this particular speaker, but its specifications puts it close to Yamaha's DXR10 which many consider to be a decent alternative for any guitar-amp modeller. The RCF 710A has a little less power, and is a little cheaper than the DXR10.

With acoustic instruments it is usually preferable to have an accurate representation of the instruments own tone without amp/cab colouring. Whether I use external microphones or built-in pickups I prefer to use the direct signal for FOH. An acoustic amp for me represent amplification for practise or stage monitoring, and that it may double as a DI-box for FOH. A good acoustic amp is FRFR and doesn't color the tone. Profiling such an amp is thus a zero-sum game. Through my KPA I mostly use rigs with amp/cab-simulation turned off, with just a touch of EQ and/or effects where necessary, for my acoustic instruments.

Who cares what you use to make your instrument sound good?

The KPA is able to handle frequencies on either side of the "guitar-spectrum". What happens at the low-end may be a undefined/unknown for many profiles, but I'm sure that a fair bit of clean profiles coincidentally work well with bass.

... visualising the KPA with a set of robotic arms that operate knobs and switches on the amp during profiling

Modern acoustic amps are really just small full-range amps/cabs with a built-in tiny mixer and a few effects, i.e. a micro-PA. Any such unit, provided that it has line-in, will work fine with the KPA. I've had success with acoustic-amps from FBT, Fishman, Marshall and Trace-Elliot. There is little difference between acoustic-amps, keyboard-amps and a compact-PA other than the visual design, wrapping and marketing.

Edit; was thinking only of a direct reply to the request, and forgot how I use the KPA myself which is higly relevant here:
Btw, the other way around works fine too. I don't own a acoustic amp myself, but play my acoustics through the KPA and its attached monitor and/or FOH instead. For the acoustics I either use an acoustic profile, or bypass the amp/cab and only use the EQ and effects I need. I use this for steel and nylon acoustics as well as acoustic bass, resonator, mandolin and banjo. As Ingolf has mentioned (below) you may do just fine with the KPA and the monitor you already have.

Quote from Chruschdy

Has anybody tried to get a communication working via network port?

The visible activity found on the network-port tends to vary between firmware-releases, which makes sense at this stage when the upcoming KFC is still in development. Most of what is discovered with host-scanning-tools is probably related to internal communications between processes on the KPA that only are made visible on the IP-network for debugging and/or monitoring purposes in the LAB, or generic networking processes in the KPA's operating system. For outsiders to get anything from it requires either a published/documented API, or a working external unit such as the KFC that generate observable traffic to be used for reverse engineering.

Btw, does anyone know what OS the platform is based upon? All the netbios-related stuff found when you point a host/network scanner at the KPA is pointing in a certain direction but I'm not sure.

Quote from Ingolf

Is it just me or are discussions about the 'right' cabs getting dogmatic and heated up too easily?

It's the same thing happening on many forums. Atomic has a very dedicated crew of "fans" who set out to turn any discussion about amps and speakers in the direction of their products. For other contributors on the forums it isn't even enough to praise their products. If we as much as discuss anything else these guys make every effort to get the last word. With such a small footprint on the gear-scene, forum-discussion and word of mouth is the most important advertising-channels for some of the smaller manufacturers and they use it for all its worth. As a result, if you want to judge gear by how well it is received by the forum community you should always try to look at the overall picture and try to ignore messages from the most vocal contributors.

To me what's most important is to inform those people who are turning to profiling and modelling about the difference in characteristics between the power-amps and cabs in a traditional guitar-amp and a FRFR-system and why that is important in order to get the most out of the KPA or other modelling amp. A lot of people are disappointed and turn away because they don't understand basic stuff such as for example why they don't get bell-like cleans from a modeller hooked up to their murky old cab. There are many alternatives that will work fine as long as you just make sure you get an amp/speaker-combo that is powerful-enough for your application. I've tried the high-end solutions such as the Atomic CLR and the Matrix Q12a. These are great, but none of them are as superior to other alternatives as their respective crowds of fainbois will claim. I've tried enough PA fullrange (mostly active) speakers to conclude that just about any modern design in this category will be fine for this purpose (JBL, QSC, Yamaha, Turbosound, HK, EV etc). The same goes for just about any FR stage-monitor (for live use) or near-field studio-monitor for home/practise use. Of course there are differences, but most can be ironed out with a touch of EQ. Heck, I've even used a couple cheap active Behringer wedges (F1320D) with my KPA with decent results, although I tend to gravitate towards more expensive makes and models.

There's a lot on this theme in other threads. When you consider a KPA or any other amp-simulator/modeller you need to understand the difference between these and a traditional amplifier wrt how and where the sound is shaped in your signal chain.

The KPA is designed to work with linear amps and speakers. That goes regardless of whether you've got the built-in amp or not. Traditional guitar speaker cabinets are anything but linear. In fact it is the uneven amplification of different frequencies that give guitar amplifiers and cabinets their unique characteristics. As the KPA is supposed to be able to replicate the sound of any guitar-amplifier it needs to work with power-amps and speakers that are as neutral as possible. If you hook a powered KPA up to a Marshall or Mesa cabinet it may sound decent when you use ditto profiles, but it will not be able to sound exactly like any of the traditional lines of blackface or tweed amps, and vice versa. Would you hook up a Fender Blackface head to a Mesa 4x12 and expect it to sound like a Fender, or hook a Mesa Trirec head to Fender 2x12 and expect the full Mesa experience?

For a modelling rig such as a KPA you are looking for full-range PA-cabs, stage monitors or studio-monitors, active or passive depending on which version of the KPA you have. Other cabs given the right wattage and resistance will work, but FRFR is required for the ultimate KPA experience.

I find that I rarely use the KPA standalone and it is nice to have it pre-connected with a wireless receiver etc. I use a shallow 6U effects-rack for the 5U KPA head + L6 G90 receiver, and would recommend a 4U rack for the 3U rackmount version. If the upcoming KPA-FC isn't too big I should be able to fit that and one or two decent expression-pedals in the back to make a reasonably compact unit for transport.