Posts by carlosxuma

    Good stuff... thanks, confirms most of my suspicions. (I have an Axe FX II, by the way, which I can't seem to go back to after using my Kemper so much. The Axe was super cool & awesome at first, but now I find myself WANTING to find the amps in there as appealing more than I actually DO like them.)


    Your comments open up the question: Why not more DI profiles where the amp tone is profiled separate from the cabinet? I realize you lose a lot of the power amp character, but you could get better cabinet isolation thus:


    Just a thought that if the Kemper could profile with a two-step process -


    1) Do a DI profile (taking the output of the preamp into the Kemper instead of mic'ing)


    2) Do a full stack profile where you do mic the cab


    And then have the Kemper "subtract" the two to get the cabinet character. (+ power amp, yeah.)


    Obviously this is a whole new level of software and programming, but it would be an interesting approach - and I'm just thinking aloud here.


    Another interesting thing I've tried is - since I'm looping my KPA through my AXE right now - I can try out the cabinets in the Axe with the amps in the Kemper. (insert evil laugh)


    I get some decent results, but nothing really useable. As you might expect, they sound a bit flat and uninteresting.


    This leaves me a bit let down since I love certain amps, and I also dig on certain cabs, so finding someone that's profiled that combo can be pretty tough. Looks like I need to get the graveyard shift at a music store, huh? :)


    Another statement/question: I guess this is why all the cabs made with cabmaker seem a bit lifeless when I take an IR and convert it...(?)

    Quick update - just revisited Lasse's rigs, and you're right - a few in there are really great sounding. I'm going to review those and see if they will EQ into something good.


    His 5150 on ChugChug is actually very nice.

    "5153 and JVM doesn't sound very 80's to me. "


    Yeah, I guess I misspoke that. You're right. I'm playing 80s metal, but with more modern amp sounds. I guess you could say my EQ is 80s. ;) But the tone I want is seeming to be a bit of a hybrid these days.



    "Two very modern-sounding amps. Ditto for the Line6 cab.
    I do play a seven string and generally don't jive well with Engls so i'm not sure i'll be helping, but try Sinmix's 6262 or 'pride' profiles (available on his facebook page, i believe) for excellent 5150-ish tones.
    His 5153, by the way, is expensive but the absolute best there is IMO."


    Again, I agree, it seems to be one of the best, and I'm using that on occasion. Problem is, with all these choices available, I tend to change my mind, as another band once said.


    Thanks again, and I'll re-try TAF's cabs. I remember I liked them. The IRs I used to create a few cabs with cabmaker just sounded way too flat and dull.

    Thanks, Quitty, and everyone else... good stuff.


    Yeah, I've dropped that Tube shape down to 0, and it does help.


    To explain the issue a bit more...


    There's that satisfying responsiveness you get from a tube amp when you vary your dynamics. Part of it seems to be power-amp related as it's got that element of "pop" to it when you go from silence to a slammed power chord. (Which is why a soundclip won't help. It's a room and volume dynamics sort of thing you have to be here to hear.) (*Another note, I have acoustic tiles in my office where I play, so I've got a good environment to judge the sound from.)


    It's a bit like an improperly set noise gate - when the release is fast. I'm only using the standard (non-stomp) noise gate on the Kemper - at a setting of about 1.9 or so. Trying to not suck my tone. So I'm pretty sure it's not a noise gate issue.


    Which makes me think this could be related to the power amp carry-over in profiles. That, combined with the cab characteristics I'm hearing, is probably a great part of the sound issue. I think I can chalk it up to those factors.


    I'll try adding the soft shaper later today when I practice. That might help a bit.


    It's a tough balance, because you don't want to lose that "real amp" responsiveness, but when you're playing at bedroom volume it just feels a bit weird.


    I'll also see if I've got that cab. I have a ton of his stuff, so I should - somewhere.


    And just to let you in on what my Holy Grail of tone is - before I got the Kemper, I had been blending a 5150 (iii) and a Marshall JVM 410 within one Line 6 Spider Cab. That gave me a nice blended creamy distortion at the low end (for those great Judas Priest/Iron Maiden rhythms) and a nice Kranky high end for leads.


    Oops, I revealed my genre...


    Lately I've been favoring Krank, ENGL (fireball and Savage), in the high gain realm. I started to like the Cobra, but then it sounded kind of thin next to the Savage.


    Does anyone have what they consider to be a really great profile that I could consider a decent baseline to listen to in the realm of 80s, NON-downtuned, Heavy Metal? (With cab)


    Might be a good way to re-align my ears.


    Thanks everyone!

    I wasn't sure if this was the best location for this, but since it extends the conversation from mere troubleshooting into "tweak your Kemper into pure bliss" I thought I'd chance it.


    Here's what's going on:


    - My current setup is a Kemper into a GT1000FX (Matrix) into a JBL 2x15 FRFR loudspeaker.


    Sound is generally awesome, after I got the hang of finding a good cabinet that plays well with some of the profile's I've found. (Lately it's been the Peavy cabs that have had the best response in the high and low freqs that I want. I'm using a Peavey 6505 cabinet that has no real other info on it.)


    I run my rigs at pretty high gain. I've started running my Distortion sense around +2.8 dB.


    Now, what I'm finding is that there's a bit too much "pop" to my sound. Like the power amp pushing the speakers is almost a bit too responsive to pick attack. AND the amps are starting to sound a bit too much alike overall.


    I tried using a screamer (Kemper's) to push the amps, but I'm not crazy about the honkiness and frequency response. I might dabble with it again, but I've not been able to get the kind of thickness in distortion that I would get running a TS into my real life 5150.


    It's hard to describe this "pop" in response, but it's best described as the initial attack of sound before a compressor kicks in. Thing is, all my profile amp settings are pretty much zero, except definition.


    So I'm thinking it might be the way I'm mixing and matching amps to the one cabinet I like (the 6505 from some profile I grabbed a while back.)



    I was using my BBE MaxCom for a while, but all it's doing by adding the maximizer is highlight this strange quality of the sound.


    I'm also trying to reality-check myself that I may have unrealistic expectations of the sound I'm going to be able to achieve. ;)


    So, I guess my question is two-fold:


    1) Anyone experienced this odd frequency response using FRFR?


    2) I realize I'm "inheriting" a lot of the tonal characteristics of the cabinet I've chosen. Anyone had luck with mixing cabinets from other profiles and getting some solid results? Is it really just a bad practice to mix and match the cabs?


    I think I may be "homogenizing" my sound by running all my amp profiles through this one cabinet, but it's really got the sound I'm looking for. Many of the others are too boomy (Mesa) or flat (Marshall) for what I want to get.


    Any Tips/Tricks around amp/cab mixing, as well as getting authenticity in FRFR, would be greatly appreciated...


    Thanks!

    "Distorted Sense is, however, like an overall gain modifier, if you feel like that most of the rigs you play with your guitar (and of course correctly set up input levels) have too much gain, you lower it, or raise it if you feel like that most of the rigs don't have enough gain"


    From my experience - and I could be wrong - I don't believe Distorted Sense works quite like this. It's not a "gain-gain." It's more of a "how much faster and easier does the distortion distort in this amp."


    I have a crackly Electromagnetic field near my house. Probably from the absurdly connected power pole in my back yard. It sucks, but I've learned some ninja stuff about noise gating and interference.


    I've jacked Distorted Sense up about 2-3 db and it has actually NOT resulted in the usual "noise gain" that usually accompanies a similar increase in regular gain. It's allowed me to go much more higher in gain without increasing my noise floor, which has been a bit of a godsend.


    So I believe what this parameter does is tell the amp to trigger distortion earlier and with lower picking dynamics.


    Anyone verify this?


    It's what the documentation from Kemper leads me to believe as well.

    I picked up the FCB a few months back and really found it to be flexible. Behringer's stuff is always really nice, really cool, but never up to the physical demands you might want.


    1. The exp pedals are VERY lightweight and sensitive. This lightness may make it a bit too easy to jostle a setting in between toe and heel if you leave it there. I believe it's optical, not mechanical, which accounts for the delicate touch.


    2. The regular pedals are a bit small and close together. This can make it difficult to hit the one you want when you want. I found them just a bit too close together.


    3. It's kind of a bitch to edit if you're on a Mac. You have to buy the app, or do it manually. I had hit-and-miss luck doing the sysex dumps and programming it, so I went manual after I got the "rhythm" of it. :)


    HOWEVER - these are the only complaints I really had with the unit. Otherwise, it is pretty damn flexible.


    I never upgraded the PROM, because I just end up wanting to program it the way I want. I was unaware of this kemper PROM option, however.


    It's inexpensive, and allows you to trigger multiple midi commands in a row (CC and PC), which can come in handy. At the time, I was changing channels on two amps, selecting two different patches on my G-system and HD500.


    Of course, now that I'm using the Kemper as my primary, I have no complaints. I simply use my G System to trigger the Kemper performances or rigs.


    In short, the FCB is recommended, but I'd be concerned if I were to take it in a live situation.


    Hope this helps!

    Absolutely not a big deal, and faraway from scary 8o ;)



    You just go back one step, to 2.3 and wait for CK and team to fix it , they always do it :thumbup:


    Absolutely not a big deal, and faraway from scary 8o ;)



    You just go back one step, to 2.3 and wait for CK and team to fix it , they always do it :thumbup:


    Actually, I have to disagree. Not scary, but also not a helpful feature if the slot name isn't displayed correctly. If I'm using it as a reference, it needs to match 'something' - and if not, allow for easy editing. I rely on this name in performance mode to be informative.


    Is the purpose of this display name to show me the rig name used for the slot? If so, the name gets set once, but then ceases to be accurate again until I follow the steps to rename the slot - which is not always what I want to do. This feature seems poorly implemented in contrast to how well engineered the rest of the system is.


    Just seems superfluous and hinky.


    Anyway, thanks for everyone's help! :thumbup:

    I have this issue in the new firmware update:




    - When in Performance mode, the displayed amp or rig name (which now
    appears under the Performance name) is incorrect. It's like it's stuck
    on a previous name. This is not related to the slot name. I'm guessing it should either display either the Rig preset name or amp name, yet this is currently doing neither.




    The name that it's stuck on appears to be the name of the amp that was
    "locked" in the performance previously. I accidentally locked the amp in
    along with the cabinet by mistake. I figured out that my tone was
    sounding curiously similar between performances and realized my error. I
    turned that lock off, but left the lock on for the cabinet.




    This seems to have jacked something up in the profiler.




    I've tried re-selecting the new amp again in the performance, and this has not fixed the issue. Not sure what to do.




    Anyone else have a similar problem

    I don't believe I'm having any problems like wah pedal or tone changes in 2.40...


    However, I do have this issue:


    - When in Performance mode, the displayed amp or rig name (which now appears under the Performance name) is incorrect. It's like it's stuck on a previous name. This is not related to the slot name.


    The name that it's stuck on appears to be the name of the amp that was "locked" in the performance previously. I accidentally locked the amp in along with the cabinet by mistake. I figured out that my tone was sounding curiously similar between performances and realized my error. I turned that lock off, but left the lock on for the cabinet.


    This seems to have jacked something up in the profiler.


    I've tried re-selecting the new amp again in the performance, and this has not fixed the issue. Not sure what to do.


    Anyone else have a similar problem?

    Just picked these profiles up, and yes they are the best ENGL profiles I've found thus far.


    The Fireball - nice oak flavor with a buttery finish...


    The Savage - Hints of persimmon and vanilla, with a creamy high note...


    Just kidding! I always hate it when people describe wine and I've got no bloody idea what they're tasting.


    That being said, these are very solid profiles. I can usually tell the quality by the noise on the gain at varying levels, as well as the pick dynamics.


    I bought on faith, and my faith is rewarded! 8)


    Highly recommended...


    - CX

    Bought the Savage pack and tried it out last night. Very nice!


    At first I wasn't so sure but then I tried some of them out in a recorded mix and that's how they really work well. I don't know about you guys, but for me it seems there's profiles I like right off the bat for practicing/jamming and others I like better for recording. These seem best for recording straight out of the box. Of course, the right tweaks could make them useful in any situation.


    Really like the "Exodus" and the "Fredman miced" profiles. Upon 1st listen, I thought the Fredman profiles would be too dark in a mix but turns out they're just brutal and sound killer!

    Speaking of - I don't know how many of the commercial profile producers read these threads, but I have a heeee-yuge suggestion when demo-ing your packs for us in videos and what-not:


    Please present the sound both in a mix and just played dry all on its own.


    I see these demo videos with guys that play the amps in a mix and totally homogenize the sound so that I can't really hear the character.


    Listen to the Splawn versus a Laney at high gain and you'll hear exactly what I mean. I want to hear a nice thick extended E power chord ring out and all the juicy distortion sub-harmonics. THAT is how I choose my tone and profiles.


    And that's also how I choose the profiles I buy - besides knowing how certain amps sound.


    No offense, but almost anyone can make a guitar sound halfway decent in a mix with Eq.


    I want to really hear the character and dynamics of a profile in the demo is what I'm saying. The guitar, all on its own, played at different gain levels and chord styles. We're not all drop-tuned, 8 string djenters. ;)


    Thanks...


    PS: Props to all you guys who create some kickass profiles in the studio.

    Having just discovered the value of the Wah boost - and as noted in another post -


    The best way I've seen to adjust the gain on the fly via pedal is to


    1) Place a wah boost in front of the amp.


    2) change the VOLUME (NOT the range) all the way left.


    What this does is:


    A) Leaves your volume constant


    B) Leaves your individual gain settings intact on saved rigs.


    So then your pedal will stay full "toe" - and you can then back off the gain nicely to get to crunch. It won't let you go full-clean, but it's enough for the purpose if you're like me and don't need to back down that far.


    Yes, it's attenuating, but it sounds fine.


    Plus, you can tweak the range to go hotter if you want to actually boost.


    By the way, if you don't mind the pricey fixes, you can pick up a Midi Solutions Pedal controller to patch into your midi line and have a third pedal on the Kemper. It works great.


    The only caveat is that if you are a Mac user, their folks have to send you a .midi file to program your pedal accordingly. But they're quick about it.


    You can literally add a bunch of pedals to control multiple midi CCs on your Kemper. Save the actual pedal jacks for the hard-coded applications on effects and such.

    Yeah, I should mention that I bought a crapload of IRs from http://redwirez.com/. Now, they sound "okay" but VERY flat. I used the cabmaker app to convert them. I'm wondering if this works well for the IRs that you get out there that aren't in the native .kipr format.


    I've seen the Ownhammers, now I know I should give 'em a try.
    I'll check out the Sinmix ones. I have a bunch of his profiles.

    First of all, I want to give a big shout to Till Schleicher for all the great stuff he gives, as well as his outstanding Chimera pack. I'm still playing with the Chimera cabs, but there's an incredibly good variety in there.


    Till's cabinets are the best I've used thus far - which leads me to a question or two...


    1) Where can I get more good cabinets to try out?


    2) I'm having trouble getting good cabinet tones. Some seem really boomy, some sound muted (typically the Marshalls).


    Are there any tricks you've found to get good, playable cabinet response? I realize a lot of it is going to be the EQing, but where are you doing the EQ to get the best tone?


    Right now I'm dropping an "overdrive" EQ in, another studio EQ just for tweaking tone before the amp stack, and one more after for lead boosting. (My Kemper is looped into my Axe, so most of my FX are triggered on the Axe.)


    I do a chunk of my EQ on the Amp, which I realize is imprecise at best.


    Any help would be greatly appreciated...

    I downloaded your other metal pack, Jevo, and I've got to say that the dynamics and response on the ENGL Savage was outstanding. In fact all the profiles were a step ahead of many I'd bought. It's interesting just how diverse the quality of profiles is out there.


    I'll probably pick this one up to get even more of it. :)


    What mic are you using on these profiles?

    I've always had issues getting a good level on the G system using 4CM, but this is a setup worth trying. Thanks.


    Last night I finally got a pretty good balance/clarity/tone with the the Kemper looping the Axe in, then the Axe looping the G system in.


    I'm getting tired of the reconfiguration game for the time being, so I'll probably do this all again later.


    Time to get back to playing and learning. 8)