Posts by CN7

What I hope is that after Kemper has allowed Fractal to blow wads of cash on a machine that still can't change sample rates, a competitor has come into the arena to push Kemper into releasing a machine that slays the universe.

Yes, a Kemper II.. Finally! I know they're sitting on something. They just have to be.

The Neural DSP Quad Cortex takes care of A LOT of my (and probably most others too unless they are minimalists) wishes for the Kemper II. Including, but not limited to, multiple amp "captures", campures of pedals, and wireless connectivity.

On top of all that, I'd appreciate:

Better conversion please.

External clocking.

Ability to use the Kemper as a plug-in (to avoid pesky digital connections), even if you have to have the hardware act as a dongle. The dongle is better than no plug-in... Or have a separate dongle scheme.

I'm wondering if Neural DSP will even figure a way out to import Kemper rigs... I'm not familiar with the tech, but it could spell more urgency if they do it... Especially if the conversion is superior, because then it might make Kemper profile sound even better, but on a non Kemper device.

Anyhow, I'm hoping for something big.

I've loved my Kemper since a week after I got it (it took me that long.. But it took me two years to master the AxeFxII, and I'm still not satisfied with it! lol).

Quote from Preacher

What can be a possible explanation for why SPDIF adds more latency? So that means, for live playing, analogue outs are more optimal? I just recently startef using SPDIF due to no AD/DA noise. Not sure it's worth it with added latency. I mean, I can't tell a difference, but I go wireless through a Helix into the Kemper and back into the Helix again and out to digital. Any latency reduction I can squeeze out is most wanted.

I play with the Kemper and AxeFxII through SPDIF. I haven't tried much going into the Axefx, from there to the Kemper and back again, because I like the way the input on the Kemper reacts to my pedals.

Anyhow, I don't notice any latency. I think I actually hear an improvement in sound, probably since the AxeFXII operates at 24bit / 48k, and the Kemper can output that via SPDIF.

The weird thing is... I feel less latency than just playing through the AxeFXII on its own. Not sure if that's some psychological phenomenon or maybe latency was worse with a previous firmware... Can't tell.. Haven't played directly into the AxeFXII for over a year.

C

I saw this thread was kind of solved, but hopefully some find my additional info and other considerations perhaps helpful in figuring out a different solution to the same and other similar, related issues.

Sorry to revive this thread but, and these may or not fix yours or other's issues, but I have a few pointers and comments to consider regarding this and other related issues that come to mind:

SM57
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You might not like the sound of an SM57. It has a particular sound that some people don't care for, but is still used in probably 90% of all recordings, profiles, cam IR's, etc. The positions of it can also affect the frequencies at which the natural "wind tunnel" frequencies are picked up, from white noise.
Some people will use a transformerless SM57, SM7b, or other MIC, that has a little less of the sm57's mid-range characteristics.
Thers will pull the mic back from the cab a bit, which drastically changes "wind tunnel" frequencies, which could be a good or bad thing. Some people will even remove a speaker grill to get the mic closer to the speaker. If an an engineeer has the cab in a different, live room but the amp in their control room, they'll have an assistant move the mic in the live room to sound the least "wind tunnel" (or phasey), and then readjust the amp or preamp/mixing board EQ's in the control room until the effect is minimized.

Tubescreamer Boost
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It's been mentioned that some high gain profiles don't have the problem. Some high gain amps are deigned to take care of the problem by design. I'm most cases with most amps though, most profiles are made with some kind of Tubescreamer baked into a profile or at least in the Kemper (or other modeler's) chain after the fact. This tightens up low end, and acts kind of like a gentle compressor and high pass filter, before the amp's gain stages. This helps get rid of rumble etc, and one can add a little bass on post EQ or amp EQ to help bring back some girth... Or just let it be so that the guitars play nice with bass guitars in a mix.
If one hates the mid-range sound of a Tubescreamer, one could play around with EQ and other techniques before the gain stage. If revamping or using an amp sim, one might even try the Andy Sneap technique on the DI, before the amp sim (you may have to use different settings).
Also, one could try a parametric EQ before making the profile, before the amp stage in the profile, or with an amp sim or whatever, or even a multiband compressor or even de-esser at the given problem frequency, to try to limit several issues. I'd Def start with the high pass and then a parametric EQ though, since compression etc will probably mostly take care of boominess rather than wind túnel noises.

Noise gate and other issues
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Many people have problems with their noise gates not being tight. No matter how they set the noise gate, it will suck too much tone or not clamp fast enough, so they opt not to use noise gates, because they cause more problems than they're worth.
The issue here is that hardly anyone ever realizes the reason for why noise gates suck for them... which is DECEPTIVELY simple as all hell to cure...
Make sure the string tree area above the nut and behind the bridge (as on a TOM bridge) are muted with some kind of fabric (felt, sock, hairbands) or whatever. The extra ringing from the excess string cause all sorts of crazy noise issues... Weird harmonics.. Noise.. Ghost notes.. Etc etc etc.. which are very difficult to pinpoint... I mean.. It could take you years or even a lifetime to figure it out.
Whatever the case, all these extra noise problems from the excess string can create a faux sustain that can not only cause the noise issues.. BUT THEY CAN KEEP YOUR NOISE GATE FROM OPERATING PROPERLY. Basically, the noise gate won't close immediate and will linger in an open state.. Causing one to crank the noise gate far beyond necessary, until ones guitar sounds like garbage. People might still not like a noise gate, but I'm pretty this takes care of the problem for most people.. at least partially, if not completely.

Sorry if these points don't fix the issues at hand, but I'm sure they'll help someone somewhere, who happens to have fallen on this thread.

What I'd like to see from the Kemper are more features.
Selectable sample rates, which then also help with...
The Kemper as a VST for the main purpose of just recording a DI and being able to the switch the sound quickly as if reamping, but without running a million cables, going through unnecessary conversions, and getting instant result without ever the need to print the track... kind of like any VST would work.
Reamping is a chore, and you need two Kempers to adjust two tracks at once.

It would make life much easier auditioning tones in a mix etc. That's the main advantage of VST's, and perhaps the new Helix system.

Btw, I don't think the AxeFXIII has selectable sample rates or ever will... and that's one way to stock it to fractal. Oh yeah.. and audio over USB might be nice too.

Kemper VST with connection to Kemper over USB.

Super simple.. no cumbersome spdif or interface reamping annoyance.

Just drop the VST in, always recording DI, Print it if you want to.

Although the Kemper is amazing in every other way, the one thing that VST's are better at is.. they're insanely simple to tweak after the fact with no hassle of interfacing hardware to reamp.

Sure you can do this by reamping via spdif or analog... but..

I guess it would have to be done in a super low latency way though..

And of course... multiple sample and bit rates.

Why not just make a VST? Well.. the Kemper still has the advantage of stable portability.

Quote from Quitty

I have to admit, i don't see any plausible use-case for 48Khz on the Kemper, but i'm not opening that discussion.

Whoops... You opened it.

I have a reason. I need to plug it via spdif into a session that I'm forced to run at 48k... I'm forced to run it at that, because the manufacturer of the audio interface I must use set theirs up only to run at 48k. ::facepalm::

What unit am I speaking of? The AxeFX II. I use both systems at the same time for different things, and the Axe Fx II runs as a sound card in my home studio. I'd like to keep this all digital and reamp directly through the Kemper while still using the AxeFX II for monitoring and fx when I need them.

Sure... Kemper isn't the only one responsible here ha ha... But having discovered that one of them implemented selectable sample rates (and having hear some people say their 48k profiles actually sounded better), I was pretty excited. I really don't want another sound card right now when I'm trying to stay simple and all digital.

I honestly don't care if I can't hear the difference between 44.1k an 48k (although I hope I can).

Trying to put a square peg in a round hole is a drag. Flexibility rules.

They could get ao much more accomplished if they played nice together!

Quote from telelogic

Don't forget that the Kemper wants to be the master.

And the Axe Fx II wants to be the master lol.

I currently have both and its a PITA dealing with two chiefs and none of them is willing to be a follower.

Quote from Trazan

Quote from CN7: “Axe FX II being 24/48, Kemper being 16/41(?)”

Kemper being 24/44.1

Yeah, the Axe won't act as slave so you'd need a SRC that can slave to the Axe.

Thanks for the correction.

Is this possible? Is there a device that can do this… somehow communicating and converting sample rates between 2 masters?

I've never really had to do anything like this so I don't know.

Thanks.

Quote from Ingolf

Yes, SRC has to take place. Kemper needs to be master and is 44.1, Axe is 48 kHz.

By now someone has figured this out but…
AFAIK the Axe Fx II won't work as a slave…

Has anyone figured this out? I was planning on using the Axe Fx II as the recording interface as well in order to delay the need for a dedidicated audio interface that will burn a hole in my pocket... Because if I buy one, I'm planning on the righ costing me 3-4k, so tgis setup would delay that exoense, which will mainly only add to my vocal recording capabilities.

Also, I'd rather go through as little conversios as possible, because according to my tests, the conversion in the Axe Fx II is quite inferior to a Prism Orpheus I've had the chance to test out (but will have to sell because I need the cash for a life event). In this case, I feel that using the conversion in the Axe Fx though the FX loop will actually negatively impact my tone (although I have yet to try it).

People can say all they want that difference between converters is like splitting hairs but… I don't think so. Even though my room is not ideal, I can still hear a pretty big difference... Even more so through a pair of Sennheiser HD 600 headphones. With the orpheus, cardboard, nails-on-chalkboard graininess of the mids is totally gone… regardless of what flawed tests anyone is using to prove otherwise. Of course I've only really tested the DA...

But back in track… has anyone had success in making the Kemper and Axe Fx II play nicely with eachother digitally? Or is this totally impossible?
Axe FX II being 24/48, Kemper being 16/41(?), and both demanding to be masters of puppets and not lowly slaves?

And the of course it kind of baffles me that the internal sample rate and bit depth of the Kemper are an unknown (at least to me) much higher quality that its digital outputs…

Yeah… the additional features could make the Kemper and Axe Fx II cost a bit more, but they could also save me a ton of money not having to buy another interface right away...

But lets leave that argument behind and focus on… Is there a magical digital solution?

Thanks for pushing for this Jeff.
I've been an Axe Fx II user for a couple years, just got my KPA today, and this feature was one of the first things I was looking for!

Seems simple enough. Maybe the resistance is just a matter of real estate and not wanting to occupy any more land if not 100% necessary. Well.. This is a feature a lot of people coming on board from other modlers actually use.. Especially in high gain, so it's kind of a no brainer, especially with the slot limitations.

Right out of the box, the Kemper sounds more realistic (I am a high gain enthusiast but I couldn't even get of the first two (clean) presets for over an gour today!). But yeah… they're are a few flexibility issues that I'm not used to... Work around schmerckarounds. Some things just need tk be standard!

Thanks CK for saying yes to their implementation!

let's say I bought a Kemper in Europe at Thomann and travelled to the USA for several months and something went wrong with the unit.

Would I have to ship the unit back to Europe for service? Or could I send it to an authorized service center in the USA?

I asked Kemper, but they said the dealers are responsible for service. Thomann hasn't replied to my email.

Have any of you other travellers had any experience with getting service internationally?

Thanks in advance!

Anyone have a Kemper to compare to an Axe Fx II ?

OK, this isn't a battle or anything(!), but I really wanted to try out a Kemper, but don't have any leads around here to do so.

I have an Axe Fx II but was considering getting a Kemper; however, the cost is prohibitive for me at the moment and I might need to sell/trade the Axe Fx II if I want to go the Kemper route. Also, I've checked out videos etc. online, but I can't tell if they do real justice, and the feel of touching something just isn't there.

If you are located in Tampa, Clearwater, Largo, Palm Harbor, St. Petersburg (FL, not Russia! ), Brandon, or anywhere else nearby, please PM me and let me know if you are willing to meet up.

My place or yours. I have KRK Rokkit 6's with the 10" sub. If you have better monitors, maybe your place would be best, but either way. Also, I am mainly interested in Peavey 5150, Mesa Dual Rectifier, and similar profiles for metal/djent/hard rock, but that's not everything that I'm into. I can appreciate all forms of music, but I figured I'd let you know because those are the profiles I'd want to check out.

BTW, I also have a Maxon RTC600 tube compressor that is AWESOME for clean sounds (great in front of a modeler too), a Maxon VOP-9 overdrive, 5150 Block Letter, Orange ppc412 and Marshall 1960a cabs with Celestion v30 and Celestion g12t-75 X pattern, and a Pro Tone Periphery / Misha Mansoor / Bulb deluxe overdrive on the way.