Posts by OhG

Quote from mrs-zambesi

Clean sens to adapt KPA to your guitar. Dist sens to balance clean vs. distorted sounds (leave it at zero if you don't encounter any problem). You might want to watch that video again

I just did. And it says "clean sense allows you to adjust the loudness of clean sounds." Maybe I wasn't clear in what I was asking in my original post. What I'm asking is if there is basically an input level control, so that I can increase the input hitting the Kemper resulting in stronger signal coming in, improving signal to noise ratio. For example, when using my old rig (a G-System), it was recommended to use an input buffer like the Lehle Sunday Driver to increase the strength of the signal hitting the G-System up front, improving signal to noise ratio. If that's what clean sense is, then it's not exactly explained accurately and I just missed it.

It seemed to me that increasing the distortion sense would be the closest thing to do to accomplish this. But again, I may not be understanding it correctly.

What's the best way to optimize the input level so that I'm sending as strong a signal as possible to the KPA to minimize noise?

I watched the Kemper tutorial regarding the Input stage, but in that, it just reviews clean sense, distortion sense and the alternative input option. And from what I gather in that video, the clean sense feature is more for making sure the clean and distortion sounds are balanced, correct?

Right now, my input LED just lights up to a bright green (never hits red, even when I'm on my bridge humbucker pickup playing heavy chords). It doesn't sound bad or anything like that. So I'm okay with leaving it where it is. But I know sending a strong signal in, helps to cut down some noise. So I just want to make sure I've got my input level in the best possible state before I really start putting time into setting my tones and saving rigs.

I only use one guitar, so I don't need to worry about different levels for different guitars. At this point, I don't have anything plugged in, in between the guitar and KPA front input. Though I suspect I'll soon be adding a wah (unless I find some wah sounds that I like using an expression pedal connected to the KPA), as well as my wireless.

Thanks!

Quote from SgtPepper

Remember you want to maximize your guitar input into the KPA without clipping. The same goes for the final output of the Kpa. Make sure you maximize all presets to just tickle the output clip led. Then for extra insurance back the output down just a smidgen to avoid the clip led. Although if I'm not mistaken if you occasionally see the output clip indicator you still have about 3dBu of headroom left before hard clipping. If both criteria input and output have been met you will have maximized your signal to noise ratio and have as quiet of an output as can be.
Hope this helps.

Thanks @SgtPepper. I think I need to go back and make sure I have everything set up correctly in terms of input/output levels. Because as of right now, the lights on my Kemper never hit red. Even if I'm on my bridge or neck humbucker pickup and strumming really loud. So you think increasing my input a smidge would help? I noticed you said to do this for all presets. So you're saying this is not a global setting, and needs to be done for each profile, correct?

For my output, I think I've got it about as good as it can get by setting the DXR to the -8dB setting (9:00 position) and bringing the Monitor Output to around -11dB. I could lower the DXR volume a little more and increase the Kemper Monitor Output a bit more, but the DXR is effectively "off" when the volume knob reaches around the 7:00 position or so.

After using the G-System for the past few years (and getting it to sound REALLY good), you'd think I'd be a noise/hiss expert by now. Those things are far more touchy than the Kemper has been so far (a positive for the KPA).

I hooked the DXR up tonight with just a 1/4" cable into the Line 2 input (the other end was not plugged in to anything). It was very quiet.

I then turned the volume knob on the back of the DXR down to about -8dB (the 9:00 position), and turned the Monitor Output of the Kemper up to around -11. That helped quite a bit. It's still not nearly as quiet as the XLR cables with the Main Outputs with those outputs set to around -15 and the volume knob of the DXR at 0dB. But, this has at least reduced the hiss to a volume which shouldn't be an issue on stage, which is all I really care about. So I think the problem is solved for me at this point. Is there any reason why I shouldn't set the volume of the DXR down even lower, and increase the output of the Kemper even more? It seems as though that would reduce the hiss even more. But I'm wondering if there is a certain threshold that I need to be aware of where turning the monitor down too low would have a negative effect for some reason. Yes, no?

I will say that after doing all these tests and hearing how much quieter the XLR option is over the 1/4" cables, I'm wondering why CK didn't provide an option to use XLR or 1/4" cables for the Monitor Out as he did for the Main Outs, especially since so many people do use PA speakers with XLR inputs as their stage monitor for the KPA. I'm not complaining; this was just a legit question that crossed my mind while running through this. With that said, CK is light years beyond me when it comes to hardware and design. So I'm sure there is a valid reason.

I'm just happy that I don't need to return the Kemper!

I re-tested cables tonight with my cable tester just to make sure they're all good (they were). I forgot to try your suggestion @viabcroce, but I then made some more changes on the Kemper and DXR. I dropped the volume on the DXR down to -8dB on the back and turned up the monitor out on the Kemper to about -11dB. This helped quite a bit. It's not as silent as the XLR output from the main output, but it's at least more tolerable now and is at the point where on stage, it shouldn't be an issue.

Quote from Michael_dk

I wonder if you'd be able to tell anything with the cable plugged into the DXR but unplugged from the kemper - there will certainly be some noise this way, but maybe you can tell whether the "original" noise is still there. If that is the case, the fault does not lie with the kemper. Maybe you could try plugging the cable from the DXR into a pedal or something (pedal being turned off/disconnected/unpowered, of course), to see if the noise is still there.

I'll try that tonight as well.

Quote from Trazan

As asked above, how long is the TS cable?

With no guitar connected, does the hiss follow the monitor out volume?

Tried 2 different cables. A 10' Mogami Gold cable and a 1.5' ProCo cable. The hiss continues regardless of whether the guitar is connected or not. I've also tested it with the Kemper's main volume turned all the way down. No difference there either. When connected via the main outputs with an XLR cable, the entire setup is extremely quiet (at that point, the natural hiss from the Yamaha is as others said, very negligible). Completely different story when the monitor output is used. I'm going to try a couple things when I get home if I have time, and will also try to do a video with some sort of reference as to the volume of hiss that is occurring. But all I have to record video on is a GoPro or my iPhone. The iPhone didn't do a great job with the audio, so I'll see if the GoPro does any better.

I don't really know if the Kemper is defective, because other than the hiss, everything else sounds the way it does as compared to the main outputs (tone, volume of the actual guitar, etc.).

I tested it with 2 different cables. A 10' Mogami Gold cable, and a 1.5' ProCo cable. Noise was the same with both. And the noise is gone with the Kemper unplugged from the DXR. As soon as I connect either of the DXRs to the Kemper's monitor out, the noise is there.

I know you can change the levels of the DXR and outputs on the Kemper. Everything I've read says to send the DXR a higher output, so that you can keep the DXR volume rolled back to help reduce noise. But when I was using the XLR main output of the Kemper, I actually had the output set lower on the Kemper than I did when compared to the 1/4" monitor out level.

When using the monitor out, the tone and all other audio is fine. It's just that the hiss becomes significantly louder than when using the Main output with an XLR. When I get home, I'm going to try plugging in the 1/4" cable from the Main left output to the DXR and see what the noise level is like with that setup.

Quote from chopshop777

the looper is only 30 seconds, I wish it was more

The key point to remember here is that the reason why those loopers are better and offer more features, is because that is their main purpose. The main purpose of the Kemper controller is not to act as a looper. The looping ability, as limited as it is, should be looked at as a bonus in addition to the controller performing it's primary job.

For me personally, I think the aspect of the Kemper looper that needs to be addressed before any others is the lack of ability to control the volume of the loops. But again, I keep reminding myself, it's just an added perk. It's not supposed to be a top of the line looper.

Is that the same as this? I tried this, and it did eliminate the hiss, but it also reduced the volume by a TON.

http://www.guitarcenter.com/Ho…-Impedance-Transformer.gc

And I'm guessing that is unlikely since the issue was the same with both the DXR10 and DXR15. Looks like the Kemper may be getting returned. So frustrating.

Here's a video I did last night. In this video, the hiss doesn't seem loud, because there is no reference point for volume. I should have spoken during the videos so you could get a baseline as to how loud the hiss was. So while the hiss won't seem loud, trust me, it's at a volume that doesn't seem normal to me. But as you can hear, it's certainly not a grounding issue, just hiss. The video was done on an iPhone and then YouTube compressed it even further, so you'll need to turn your volume up a lot. But you'll hear a considerable jump in volume from the hiss when it's hooked up using the monitor out as opposed to the main out of the Kemper. It's a lot louder in person. If you watch the video back to back a couple of times, it becomes more noticable.

Quote from Ingolf

This is interesting. I have 2 CLR's and two DXR 10's. The DXR 10 has some hiss. On both my units this is negligible though.
I have heard of others users who found the hiss annoying.
So I still don't know what to make out of it.
BTW I always use the Kemper monitor out and it is NOT noisy.

I'll try making a video of this when I get home. I tried really quick last night, but on the video playback, it was hard to tell the difference because I was just using an iPhone. I don't know if the iPhone isn't able to pick up certain things as well. But the volume of the hiss was considerably louder with the monitor output. Granted, I'm playing at a loud volume, so I do expect there to be some hiss. But again, the XLR cable eliminated nearly all of it, both on the DXR15 and when I tried it on the DXR10.

Quote from deadpan

I didn't read everything but have you tried the ground lifts on the back of the Kemper?

I haven't tried that because it's not a hum or grounding issue type of sound. It's just a lot of hiss and a bit of "wind blowing" kind of sound.

Quote from Michael_dk

Another option might be to use a small, relatively cheap 2-channel mixer next to the unit, to control volumes individually.

Quote from Michael_dk

Yeah, you're right - on both units, only the XLRs are balanced. Huh.
Could you use one XLR for the FoH and the other for the DXR, taking care of the levels at the DXR, maybe?

I'm not sure that unit is the right one, since it has hi-Z inputs (normally for pluggin in instruments directly.

I guess worst case scenario I could do that, or use the separate mixer as you mentioned. But it's certainly not convenient to have to reach behind the monitor and feel around for the knob I'm hunting for mid-performances to adjust volume. But it's a little disappointing to need to have to buy extra gear to get the Kemper to do something it's supposed to do on it's own to begin with.

I see that this issue has come up quite a bit, so I don't necessarily think it's my unit being defective so much as it is a common issue with the Kemper. Maybe there are 1/4" to XLR cords that I could try. I'd really like to be able to keep the volume controls of the mains and monitors separate and accessible on the Kemper itself.

Good tips. I'm going to check our boards to see if we have the ability to select line input vs mic.

Quote from Dlaut

Have you tried an in-line balun transformer with a 1/4" on one end and an XLR on the other?

I'm not even sure what that is. Is that a direct box?

Quote from viabcroce

My Monitor Out is as silent as the Main out.
Your unit might be defective, or in need of a reset.

What happens if you use the unbalanced cable on Main out?

I've done the reset and that didn't help. I haven't tried using the 1/4" on the main outs. I've used a couple different cables of various lengths though, so I know it's not the cable itself. I'll try that tonight just to see what happens though.

Quote from Michael_dk

You say you use a 1/4" cable - is it a balanced cable? Is it TRS, or just TS (guitar cable)?

It's an unbalanced, standard TS cable. I've used a 10' Mogami Gold cable, and a 1.5' cheap ProCo cable. Both with the same results. Then plugging an XLR cable into the DXR from the main outs takes the hiss almost completely away.

I haven't tried using a TRS to TRS cable for this because I'm assuming the monitor output on the Kemper isn't a balanced output. Do I need to use something like this; plugging the 1/4" from the monitor out to this direct box, and then an XLR cable from the direct box to the DXR? Or will this not cure the hiss either?
http://www.guitarcenter.com/Li…x-with-Attenuation-Pad.gc

Quote from Dlaut

I don't think it's the monitor output. I think it's the input of the Yamaha.

I use the monitor out to my CLR and have no issues.

I don't understand how it could be the Yamaha because without the Kemper plugged into it, the hiss is minimal and is typical of a powered PA speaker. It's when I plug the Kemper in to it using the monitor out, that the hiss greatly increases (even with the Kemper's master volume turned all the way down). When I plug the Kemper in using an XLR cable from the main outs, the hiss goes back down to the level that it was before plugging the Kemper in (very close to being silent).