Problem for me with this solution (other than why not just use the awesome Kemper capabilities for this with a DAW) is also that this solution would be difficult to really make use of in a real-world reamp situation since you would need to sync the DI part to the track and be able to manage the DI track as a track within your overall project..
Posts by mwinter77
-
-
Well, I've been recording the same riff at the same level and now I think the edge actually goes to s/pdif. It just has a slight bit more clarity and depth around the edges.
Interesting what you say as I think the "extra clarity" is probably what I think is why I like the Kemper D/A a slight bit better and the "warmer/softer" sound I prefer.
But either way - different D/A's are expected to produce very slightly different audio experiences - otherwise there wouldn't be a range of about $10-$1,000+ for what you *could* spend on one!
-
Sound quality on initial test:
XLR > S/PDIF
Both are very good, but just that little bit better for XLR. Could be a tweak here and there to get them equal but I think I'll probably stick to XLR.
I would expect you to find this for the following (somewhat complex) reasons. I only use SPDIF for reamping where I send it from the Kemper to my DAW and then back to the Kemper for conversion back to analog sound. For regular recording I use the XLR outs to my audio interface. The reason for this is outlined below.
What you have to think about in all of this is signal chain and conversion between digital data and the analog world we all call the sound we hear.
In the case of using the Kemper to the DAW with SPDIF you are transferring the Kemper sound directly as Digital data which your DAW then records directly as digital data - later your audio interface (or Kemper in the case of reamping) does the conversion (interpretation) of the digital data into the analog sound you ultimately hear.
When you take the audio from the Kemper's XLR or TRS type outputs you are taking analog sound from the Kemper and then using your audio interface to turn it into digital data that you then record and then later turn back into analog (sound) when played back again through your audio interface.
The thing to keep in mind is that the conversion from Digital to Analog (D/A) is not an exact science - there is some (a lot really) audio art to it as well. The reason for this is that digital is not analog and analog is well analog and the interpretation of what is missing between the smooth analog curve and the stepped digital data is subject to interpolation - no matter how many bits or what sample rate - more bits and higher rate always gets closer but is ALWAYS still an interpretation. There are many factors involved in the D/A process that can ultimately change the resultant analog wave forms (interpretation) of the digital sound - again this not an exact one way to get there type of thing - hence the art of the audio conversion process.
So in the case of the Kemper guitar stack sound we all know and love I personally believe the Kemper has a better D/A process and conversion of its digital sound back to analog than the most (any) audio interface I have heard does.
Because of all of this I believe taking the Kemper's analog output (XLR or TRS) and then converting back to digital through your audio interface (assuming it's a very good one) will produces a better warmer more authentic sound than taking the direct digital data from the Kemper (SPDIF) and having your audio interface do the conversion back to analog later.
In the case of D/A's found in most modern high end audio interfaces this difference is not huge but I really think you can hear the difference between them and the D/A's found in our beloved $2,000 Kemper box. If you record SPDIF and then send it back to the Kemper for final conversion to analog (as is the case with reamping) you are using the Kemper for the final D/A step and thus is the best use of SPDIF in my opinion (as a studio guitarist and engineer). Otherwise I use the beautifully lush and very analog sounding output the Kemper has on its own and then capture that with your audio interface A/D's for recording into your DAW.
-
Kempers not a modeller though,its a whole new thing . actually not so new now......
I hate it when people say this - the Kemper IS a modeler by definition (it doesn't have any tubes in it does it?) it uses A/D,D/A, and DSP to achieve a sonic result that reproduces a (usually analog) source sound that it is trying to replicate digitally - the very definition of digital modeling!
The big difference between the Kemper and other modelers is how you describe the sound you are seeking to recreate to the modeler. In the case of all modelers other than the Kemper this is done by the user listening to the sound they wish to recreate and then attempting to use a technical library of DSP sound algorithms and parameters to recreate the sound they hear (A very difficult process).
Whereas in the case of the Kemper it "listens" to the sound you are trying to recreate and then programs itself using algorithms and parameters just like the other units but with the wonder of it doing the programming itself by listening to the amp stack and how it responds to signal variations (far easier and more accurate and might I add VERY COOL!).
-
What just annoys me is that when the conversations goes to profilers, people tendo be incredible old fashioned...
Perhaps substitute "dumb" for "old-fashioned" and you have your answer! It takes some understanding, open mindedness, and "smarts" to get the kemper or other modeler and there are many who just don't get it because they don't want to learn about it and educate themselves on the virtues of new genre changing (disrupting) technologies.
-
you can use both at the same time without problems.
gsGlad you found your problem and that it was simply a cable!
To elaborate on using both USB ports at the same time I found that with my Kemper I must disconnect the computer from the Kemper for it to recognize when I insert a memory stick for purposes of upgrading the firmware. If I do not disconnect the computer it will not respond to my inserting the memory stick for a firmware upgrade. This behavior has been 100% consistent and led me to believe that you could only use one of the two USB port types on the Kemper at a time.
-
Now upgraded from 2.5.0 to 2.7.3 - driver seems OK, but still no connection to RM on USB A-B cable - I removed A-A usb cable for firmware upgrading. Anyway do you have Kemper in "Sound, video and multimedia controllers" in Windows device manager?
I'm on Win 8.1 and I have it listed in device manager as you indicate. Also the version info (under properties/driver) is: 0.8.4.58.
I still think this is something on the connecting system rather than the Kemper itself. The supporting data for this is that the Kemper is properly accessing memory sticks and that uses the same USB interface albeit with a different connector.Unless the physical connector is damaged on the Kemper I would think something else on the host system is interfering with proper operation. Try and make sure nothing else is connected to the host systems usb ports while debugging and verify the driver version.
-
One thing to make sure of on the Kemper for connections to the computer do not use the USB type A socket (flat memory stick style) make sure you use the type B port on Kemper (more square style). Also make sure when you use the type B port that nothing is inserted in the type A port - only use one port at a time. The same goes for using the memory stick - unplug the computer from the type B port when using a memory stick in the type A port. If you google USB port types you can see diagrams of type A vs. type B if my descriptions are not clear.
-
I actually just ordered the active Atomic sight unseen. I'm going off its reputation on this forum and videos I've seen. It's enough to convince me that's the best option. Near-field monitors would be great but they have limited applications; I know eventually I'll want to transport my speaker to jam with friends and near-fields just won't work for that, and I can't justify getting both.
Still, and I still stand by it, the DXR 10 is a great cab with a lot to offer, and I prefer it over the CLR for its smaller footprint on a lot of stages most of the time.
Based on Ingolf's experience with the DXR10's and preference for them "on a lot of stages" I am surprised you reached the conclusion that they would not be suitable to jam with friends - what led you to think that?
-
Pretty sure this is a problem on the computer with drivers or host controller and not the Kemper.
-
What at I don't understand is the fact that if the KPA can't cope with having the use of all these effects on why has the machine been made like that??
for example if I brought a Ferrari which went 200mph and that was in the the brochure that the car could go that fast
but when I went 200mph it broke and they said well you went 200mph that's why it broke i would be very confusedI think the problem is that you aren't looking at all that the kemper can do and how the processing divides across all operations.
I think using your analogy it is more like this car goes 200 mph under certain conditions - as opposed to trying to go 200 mph on a slight grade, with the A/C on, and the outside temp at 40C.
-
I can't get to the profile pack - the link simply redirects to your home page now.
After messing around with it I used IE instead of chrome and got further - there are definitely some big issues with the web site in different browsers. IE had different issues but I could see the link under the profiles drop down from IE and could then use chrome to bring up the page that the menu points to. So to recap the link to the profile pack 2 in your original post doesn't work in chrome for me, and works in IE sort of but can't use it.
-
Yes you can do this with something like google drive and the sym links as you mention - no need for Kemper to do anything to support this.
-
Thanks paults and nightlight for your opinions and hints.
@mwinter: The raw git signal is always the same, no matter if your sound later will be clean or distorted. But clean sens is for levelling clean and distorted sounds to each other. Therefore I doubt that your method is the right approach.Well actually it does work the way I am describing and the section in the Kemper manual on re-amping also confirms that setting the clean-sens is how to set the optimal level of the raw GIT signal for re-amping purposes and changing the clean-sens *does* affect the raw GIT signal out level (try it!). I have used this methodology demonstrably for re-amping in my studio along with calibrating my various guitars with different raw output levels (high gain vs. low gain p/ups) to have uniform clean levels and trust me - it *does* work as I am describing. Clearly (and this is described in the Kemper manual) clean-sens is intended to normalize (by changing the input sensitivity) the signal level seen on the Kemper input for different types of guitars so that the raw instrument level seen by the DSP will be normalized (balanced) across different guitar's raw (pickup) output levels.
-
This isn't how clean sense works. It doesn't affect input gain, only volume. As far as distorted sense, it's more of a global gain control for all distorted profiles. Might see some difference in level, but not of the same order as the clean sense setting.
I understand this which is why I never used the word "gain". What I said is that it affects the input level of the raw input signal before it hits any further A/D & DSP processing and in my experience looking at the raw GIT signal out from the Kemper this is correct.
-
In my experience this setting is best viewed as "raw input sense' in other words the guitar level before it hits the first A/D stage. In this sense I see this setting as having nothing to do with any rig or rig settings whatsoever. I set this using the raw GIT out over spdif and simply set it for each of my guitars so that the guitar level the first A/D stage sees is the guitar with as much signal as I can while still having plenty of room for the A/D to express the maximum level that the guitar may send at any point without maxing out. This has worked very well for me and is mandatory for balancing things for proper re-amping. Once I have this set optimally I then adjust other things including Dist Sens if I feel that a particular rig seems way off output level wise. Generally just optimizing clean sens for each guitar has been sufficient to get very good balanced results across rigs from many different sources.
-
Those profiles are unbelievable.
+1 - I am so totally in agreement with you here! I have other VH4 profiles including those that Andy did (which are great BTW) but those from Pete are hands down my favorites for the VH4 sound I am looking for.
When I have stage room, I will use my Boogie every time. I can turn it up a bit and Iit's just a fuller, more natural sound. When I have NO room (the band has to set up in the corner of a room) I will use the Kemper. It supplies a great tone in situations where an amp can't be turned up.
Fortunately, I can have both tools. Variety is great!
I have not found a situation where the Kemper plus the right monitor setup didn't work as good as or better than any of my real amps in the same situation.
-
What has worked exceptionally well for me is more of the reamp approach. I look at the straight git signal out over spdif (the truest representation of clean sens gain) and using clean sens gain I get that as hot as I can while still well below any hard clipping - also look at the input LED during this process. I do this for each general "hotness" class of pickup I have on all my various guitars and save each setup as an input profile. They even talk about this in the reamping section as getting the clean sens gain right with each pickup is absolutely critical to reamping success.
-
It already does store different input sensitivities for different guitars. It just doesn't do it automatically is all.
I have at least 6 different input setups that I use across about 15 guitars. Once you setup an input for a guitar you can save it (using store) to an input profile name that can then be browsed and recalled using the browse knob on the input screen. You can either 'lock' the input so each input profile you store will apply to all your rigs or you can store it with individual rigs.
This is particularly important when reamping via SPDIF as is is critical to get the clean DI "git" output level set correctly to get the right results when reamping the DI track back into the Kemper (one of the most awesome features of the Kemper in the studio actually).
-
Hey Michael, first I gotta say, as others have, these are some of the most usable profiles out there. I am really enjoying several of them and they are awesome sounding without any futzing.
I am confused about one thing though - Marshall Rock/Marshall Rock alt/Marshall Solo/Marshall Solo++ - these profiles I would think should be the same type amp but the first one, Marshall Rock, has amp name Marshall Rock, but all the rest say 3rd power as the amp. I believe this is incorrect and all 4 of those should say Marshall Rock as the amp - am I correct on this? If so I am going to edit those to be correct. Also 3 of the 4 mention that you used the 'Timmy Overdrive' in front of it - is that correct that only the 'alt' profile was done without the Timmy?
Thanks again for the awesome work - really lovin it!!
Michael
