Posts by V8guitar

Quote from GaryT898

I have a question regarding the usage of a standard cabinet with a Kemper Stage.

I have used an FRFR cabinet for years with my Kemper. It has been very easy to use, especially live, being able to go direct to FOH and give the board the same signal as I have on the stage.

But I feel like I have always struggled with the FRFR cabs and getting the “true” sound of a cabinet.

I went out and purchased a 2-12 Mesa Cabinet today to use instead of my FRFR Cabinet. I told my other guitarist about it and of course he asks me “if you turn the cabinet sim off on the Kemper to run the Mesa cabinet, what does that do your signal going to FOH”?

I didn’t even think about this! So here’s the question…..can I turn the cabinet sim off on the Kemper stage to have the true sound of the Mesa cabinet while on stage, but be able to send FOH the same profile with the cab sim on? Otherwise the signal going to front of house is going to sound quite nasty!
I don’t think it’s possible. If the cabinet button is turned off on the Kemper, I can’t see how I would be able to send it with my direct out to the FOH.

Trying to avoid using a mic on the cab.
Might be selling a brand new Mesa 2-12 cab, and yes….I am a tone chaser. ?

Gary

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As mentioned, that is what "monitor cab off" is for. I use a Kabinet in this config so totally works. Also unlink your volumes ( which I assume you have if you've been doing it for years).

This is the most common problem faced by everyone - you want same sound as FOH but it never sounds " as good".

This what the Kabinet is designed for - to fill that "gap", which is also incredibly small and light (powered one is prob heavier and avoids the need of a separate power amp).

Yep, rig volume....

Quote from Mookytc

George Lynch? Looking at some other 2021 vids to try and see what is up. Could be another band's gear. Hard to tell.

I don't think its switched on so unlikely its his...

Quote from Chris Duncan

At the risk of overstating the obvious, with a Kemper the profile is everything.

For the record, I couldn't pick a chicken out of a police lineup, so I'm personally pretty useless to you in this regard. However, there are a lot of guys here and I'm confident that many of them need high headroom, uncompressed tones at high volume, so they can recommend some profiles that might get you closer to what you're wanting to hear.

Hope this helps!

You made the point better than I could...

There is either something wrong in your set up or its not volume but cut that is the issue.

Quote from Antipodes

OK - I see where you are coming from - and you are correct that the pad nomenclature only applies to the Main Outs and is not used in the control settings on the Monitor Out.

Instead - I would argue - the "pad" or"12 dB cut" (below full output power) was previously always applied (not switched) for the monitor out and now you can reverse this 12 dB cut with the new 12 dB power amp boost control which was introduced with v8 of the OS. This is not a hardware change - the potential output level of the monitor out output circuit was always what it now is with the 12 dB boost fully applied, but in the past there was no way to crank it past the safety level which was set at 12dB below max level.

Presumably this was so that people didn't accidentally blow their speakers feeding a hot full powered signal into the typical power amps on the market or into their tube amp's return jacks.

BTW I am using a non powered KPA and the monitor out section in the editor now ( since v8 of the OS) has a radio button for Power Amp on/off and a rotary control for Power Amp Boost which tops out at 12 dB. The Monitor out and the Main outs would all be line level signals and I imagine with no pad active and the power amp boost up full the levels of these outputs would be comparable. Perhaps support can clarify.

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Not sure what there is to clarify.

Main and monitor out are line levels out, speaker out is a powered output. A Pad is on there ( as is the volume) to attenuate/control the output levels, so it makes sense to have that control at a line level.

It makes less sense to have power boost on the non powered versions to me but hey...

Quote from OneEng1

I am still of the firm belief that within the top end digital guitar processors (Kemper, AxeFx III, Helix, QC) all of them are within spitting distance with respect to having the ability to have a good library of tones. I have always thought simply trying to sound exactly like the amp you profiled was seriously over-rated. Sure, closer is better, but at the end of the day, if you can get great tone that lies well in the mix, does it really matter how close it is to the original tube amp? I personally don't think so.

What does matter, is how easy it is to create a set of usable tones for your purposes and be able to deploy them live (for me at least). Having a great volume of free and commercial profiles, having a system capable of easily tweaking a profile to your liking quickly, and having a bullet proof system that is gig friendly (# buttons, button spacing, readability, durability, easy to deploy live, single cable to FC on stage, etc, etc) are all things that QC currently lacks compared to the other 3 competitors.

I could not agree more! Well said...all great units, QC is unsurprisingly a bit behind as the newcomer but will catch up....my friend who has a Helix has said that a recent update for him has meant that he can get rid of his drop pedal because the Helix has a better transpose functionality now - now on a closer par with the KPA...

I guess the QC wasn't quite the Kemper Slayer people talked about.

TBH its great to hear the honesty on here and hence why I love this forum. There is less hype/bias than elsewhere and I always said I would wait to see what you guys thought.

I think the QC will grow and continue to be a great unit, but its got a few years of R+D to catch up, regardless of its machine learning and muli instrument and pedal capture.

Quote from Antipodes

My understanding is that the powered output IS for use as a monitor out. If you are powering Kones with it, only the Monitor Out offers the Kone mode DSP processing => that assumption is correct.

Nope...just tested it. No effect, which makes sense to me. The output levels to speaker, monitor out and main out are independant. Monitor and main eitehr go to a desk or powered output so input levels make sense. No need to pad a power amp...

Quote from Antipodes

300 watts would also blow that 70W rated speaker.

No one has mentioned the output section settings which typically involve a pad setting (volume cut - default is 12 dB pad (cut) which is a lot) for the Monitor Out.

It is possible by adjusting this setting to boost the Monitor Out levels considerably (so that they are louder at the same settings on the front volume control) and also to see a meter showing the current power level which is an aid to protecting your speaker from overload.

Erm because its a powered Kemper. The pad setting doesn't apply to the speaker out I don;t think, only to the monitor out.

When i run my Powerrack into my Kabinet with power boost not even on full, I cannot get above 50 watts without physical pain. It will easily keep up with a Marshall 100w head..

So I struggle to believe that the built in amp is not sufficient for anyone, regardless of ohmage/wattage variables.

Therefore, there is something wrong here.

I assume you've checked your power boost setting and its on maximum.

Quote from Wheresthedug

New arrival last week. After a bit of TLC adjusting the truss rod and setting the trem correctly then tweaking action and intonation it is playing like a dream. Some uneven frets so will level and dress them next time I change strings to get it absolutely tip top.

This is quite probably THE most comfortable neck I have EVER played. It is just amazing!!!

Tone for days too.

I think the musicman guitars are so underated. I have been on the look out for a Purple axis for years. I have a Sterling version which is pretty good, but having played an axis, you can tell the difference.

Good choice my friend!

Quote from joshriggs

I tried a passive Mission Gemini 1x12 that belonged to a previous guitarist in my band, and I didn't like it at all. Maybe there was some setting that I just didn't have right, but it actually sounded worse than going direct into one of our Alto powered 12" PA speakers (which I think Headrush FRFRs are based on). And I was using a Helix at the time. But compared to going into my PS170 and v30 cab, it sounded awful. (yes, I had the cab block on the Helix enabled when I tried the Gemini, and disabled when going through my real cab. I know someone would ask if I didn't say it ?)

What I have learned is that all monitors sound different and you have to tweak everything for each monitor....which is odd because you expect FRFR to be a good baseline, but as we have all found they are not the same.

Not saying the Mission Gemini is good or bad but I think with every monitor you almost have to start again to get a true view - which none of us have time to do

There are very few amps that sound good at low volume as they are not designed for that. Unless you go for a dedicated low volume solution then a 12" speaker run by an xx Watt amp will always sound different/substandard.

The KPA takes out 1 issue - no power amp colouration required to run it "hot" to get that sound. Doesn;t solve issues but for me make the KPA sound pretty good at low volume.

"Sounds digital" has been a derogatory term used in guitar circles for many years, meaning " sounds fizzy/thin/weedy" etc. This is of course out of date but not worth getting excited about.

Quote from Teletone

Thanks everyone for such a warm and fuzzy welcome! I will definitely oblige V8guitar and ST’s advice - I’m at a new band meeting tomorrow night to run some tracks and maybe melt a few faces. Or look like a total chump! Either way, it’s do or die because, as I said to the wife, “I ain’t just spent £100 on a new pedal not to play it”…

Hope it goes well dude. New gear can be daunting so hence get some basic sounds and build from there.

I assume your wife is not daft enough to think that something with such pretty lights is £100...

Quote from jmconnected1

I just started using EMG active pickups on a high gain profile for a hair metal gig we are doing. im just practicing at a room level right now and The input hits red every once in while, I adjusted the clean sense to about -2 and the clipping went away. i really can't tell tell if it effects the gain/distortion, but, my ears do play tricks on me sometime and I dont wanna get on stage and crank it up and get a bad sound. Am I adjusting the right thing? or is there a different way to go about this?

Thanks.

A bit of red on the input is ok, its if its consistant there is a probelm....are you actually hearing clipping or just worried that it is?

The other point is....hair metal? I play in a hair metal covers band!! Nice one!

Quote from Wheresthedug

Then check you are totally happy with how it sounds out front. Now just take a feed from the desk and make a profile of that sound. Then you can give front of house your own perfect sound every night with total consistency and control over the outcome.

Best of both worlds ?

Great idea and actually the main point of the KPA profiling

Quote from dacop1313

Got it...I sort of go the other way with it, I work on getting the tone I want with a real cabinet and never go FOH through the Kemper. I insist on the sound guy micing my cabinet instead. Plus some of my profiles are DI, so FOH is not an option.

And its a viable approach but I think you are really missing out.

This is what I used to do for the first 6 months I had my Kemper, but one of the best things for me is consistent FOH - no messing with mic placement etc and decoupling on stage sound with FOH.

My line check consists of plug in xlr, hit a chord, sound guy goes " great". I can change my on stage volume independent of FOH, assuming little bleed from the backline. Plus it removes a significant sound aspect of mic placement as a variable - so the sound you hear on stage is pretty close to that FOH. Yours isn;t because of the Mic issue. Given that I think FOH should take priority, its why I do it ( and the KPA is really based around) doing it the way I do.

Its a small change but personally its had a bigger impact than I expected, especially at festivals with a quick change around and I have to use supplied cabs. Takes those cabs out of the equation.

Anyway, one of the great things with the KPA is we have this choice!!!

Quote from Chris Duncan

I'm not sure what's more impressive, the guitar or the fact that it appears to be at a gig.

I've managed to do a few gigs during lockdown ( outside) and sanctions are lifting in the UK so its getting better.

Quote from BayouTexan

I think what DonPetersen is trying to say is:

Whoa, Black Betty (Bam-ba-lam)
Whoa, Black Betty (Bam-ba-lam)

V8 got a Gib'

The damn thing got strip'd

Whoa, Black Betty (Bam-ba-laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaam)

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Now thats funny!! Thanks for making me laugh dude!!!!!

Quote from dacop1313

I use a powerhead with a real guitar cabinet V30s. I sometimes shut off the Kemper power and use the SD 170 instead which still sounds very similar to the power supply on the Kemper powerhead. If I use a tube poweramp with that same V30 setup, its a totally different ball game, but again many profiles do sound the same. If I use an FRFR speaker with the Kemper power section, that adds yet another huge change in tone to what the same profile sounded like the other way around. Many options to be had with the Kemper.

...which is exactly what happened when I switched to FRFR from a Guitar cab....totally showed up crap profiles. This was replicated FOH.

So its great to have a fab on stage sound, but no point if FOH sounds crap. Hence I worked to get my FRFR sound and the Kabinet adds something to sound better as a monitor without masking duff profiles.