Posts by PaulReedSmith

I use a Kemper Toaster since years and are super happy with it. On my pedal board I have the Kemper Remote plus an expression pedal and some other smaller fx stomps plus a WahWah. I run my guitar via a Line 6 Relay G50 wireless system (which is falling apart slowly) and where the receiver is also mounted on the pedal board, so everything is really compact.

As said, my G50 is slowly reaching its end due to heavy wear - but more importantly we had a couple of gigs recently where the wireless guitar signals (all Line 6 Relays) of our 3 guitar players (2x Guitar, 1x Bass) interferred with the mixing consoles remote wifi control and caused chaos. As soon as we switched the wireless guitar stuff off, everything was fine again.

So it is time for me to move on. I kind of preselected (after having read many reviews) the Sennheiser EW-D wireless system over Shure alternatives. What concerns me a bit (and having read some threads here in the forum) is the whole signal level thing in the EW-D which seems to cause some headaches for some. My G50 has no level adjustments, it is signal in/out and that‘s it. I like my sound and do not want to readjust my entire setup due to a new wireless system introducing now a new signalling level complication.

Are there any further users out there who run the setup of a Sennheiser EW-D and a Kemper and maybe can comment especially on how changing from cable (or another wireless solution like the Line 6 Relay series) over to the EW-D has caused some sound influences and required massive new adjustments? The last thing I want is to ruin my sound and setup by switching over to the new wireles system. I know the EW-D offers gain and AF-Out level adjustments, but is this really ‘compatible’ with the Kemper, especially coming from a non-adjustable system (or cable) and where I do not want to now deteriorate my sound because of non-matching signal levels.

One last point:

Today my wireless receiver sits on my pedal board, from there the signal runs through some fx stomps / Wah / Autocorrect Vocal FX and then via a 6meter guitar cable back to the Kemper toaster. If I switch to the EW-D (which is rack mounted) I cannot fit the receiver on the pedal board anymore due to space issues. So the EW-D receiver will go next to the Kemper on the shelf /rack and from there via a 6 meter guitar cable to the pedal board, through my pedal board fx stomps / Wah Wah and back to the Kemper via another 6 meter cable. Would the additional 6m cable introduce any sound deterioration or issue? Any smart idea on a different installation for my setup?

Hi solo, yes, PRS are also my favourite guitars but no, I am not the man himself - but a huge fan

What I hear in your audio sample is completely identical to the buzz/noise I hear, this is why I thought it could be the same. However, different guitars have a significant impact on the noise level. A PRS 513 is noisy. A PRS Special 22 is not. An ESP Horizon is noisy. A Les Paul with burstbuckers is silent.

On other amps (like a JVM 410 Head) all these guitars are quiet and I can't make out a difference in noise.
So I think the KPA amplifies some wider spectrum of the input signal than a tube amp and catches the more high frequency noise of the original signal and amplifies this too much. As you cannot really set the input sensitivity in the KPA, everything becomes amplified, incl. the noise. So far my theory.

how is your root cause analysis going? Did you make any progress?

This noise is pretty identical to my issue. I started a thread on this one here:
Noise issue

My noise sounds exactly like your issue but it definetely varies with the type of guitar that I am using and the pickup position. Some profiles are dead silent (even with distortion), others are really bad.

It also is influenced by the way my guitar is aimed in the room. In some akward position I can actually make the noise go away, but the typical position while guitar playing is unfortunately quite noisy. Have you tried different guitars and/or different guitar orientations in the room if these influence the noise that you have?

Adding one more item that I missed:

The noise gate starts reducing / killing the noise from 7 upwards but that of course also influences the sound massively. If I combine the tone poti on the guitar with the noise gate I can effectively kill the noise but this has a massive negative influence on the sound color (more dull), so this is not a permanent fix.

anybody having any idea of how to fix this efficiently and/or what is causing this buzz?

Yes, there is a PC nearby, but it is switched off (really off, not just hibernation mode). So this cannot be it.
Furthermore, if it would be PC noise, I should be able to hear it when the volume on the guitar is turned on. However, with the volume poti on the guitar fully turned on, the Kemper is still quiet. Only if I pick the first note, the noise becomes audible as a kind of background "shadow" to the original noise. Once the note fades out, the noise goes as well. So it is not some kind of always audible noise but really only comes into play when a note is played and "spoils" the note.

It for sure is somewhat linked to the "amp" section of the rig, if this one is deactivated the noise is instantly gone (but so is of course also the amp sound itself and leaves a pretty useless rig, so this is not an option but might help to pinpoint the source).

ok, gotta watch the 2nd half of the Euro finals now

All,

thanks for your valuable feedback.

My guitar is a PRS513 which offers a variety of different humbuckers / single coil settings.

If I play it through my "real" Marshall JVM410 head it is pretty quiet, but certain rigs in the profiler (where the gain is above 12 o'clock) are really noisy. Again, but only when a note is picked.

I experimented and found out that if I roll down the tone poti on my guitar, the noise disappears. Sometimes turning to 7 is enough, some other rigs I have to roll it down almost all the way.

some rigs are dead silent, even with gain, others are awful.

Turning around with my guitar in the room on all axis influences the noise and in some weird positions even makes it almost silent, but I still cannot figure out the source.

Any further ideas based on these last findings?

I have the powered toaster since a couple of weeks and both a Marshall 1936 (2x12) cabinet and an active monitor (dB Flexsys).

I am really impressed with the sound quality and versatility, but seem to have an issue with noise/buzz on certain rigs.

There is an audible noise / hizz coming in the background of a tone but only when a note is actually played on my guitar. If I turn down the volume on my guitar it is dead silent. If I turn it up and play a note, the noise/hiss is in the background clearly audible.Some rigs are really bad, others not.

The moment I switch off the "Amp" section on the Kemper, the noise is gone.I have tried to eliminate all types of sources for the issue (lights off, Pc disconnected, Tv off, different cables, noise gate, different volume settings,...) but nothing has changed.The level of noise is definetely linked to the type of guitar, some are more silent, others are really bad. a PRS513 is really bad for example (even in humbucker mode).

"Bad" is for sure relative, the moment you crank the whole thing up the noise will be more hard to hear due to the overall volume level and it's not that the noise is way louder than the real tone, but once you hear it you don't stop hearing it and that annoys me.

There is one thread in the private forum tips and tricks area on "cleaning up noise" with even some audio examples which is identical to my issue. Unfortunately this thread is not closed or the original question remains unsolved, this is why I reach out to this forum now.

I am encountering exactly the same noise issue.
I have the powered toaster since a couple of weeks and both a Marshall 1936 (2x12) cabinet and an active monitor (dB Flexsys).
Both have the same noise issue, but only when a note is actually played on my guitar.
if I turn down the volume on my guitar it is dead silent. If I turn it up and play a note, the noise/hiss is in the background clearly audible.
Some rigs are really bad, others not. The moment I switch off the "Amp" section on the Kemper, the noise is gone.
I have tried to eliminate all types of sources for the issue (lights off, Pc disconnected, Tv off, different cables, noise gate, different volume settings,...) but nothing has changed.
The level of noise is definetely linked to the type of guitar, some are more silent, others are really bad. a PRS513 is really bad for example (even in humbucker mode). "Bad" is for sure relative, the moment you crank the whole thing up the noise will be more hard to hear due to the overall volume level and it's not that the noise is way louder than the real tone, but once you hear it you don't stop hearing it and that annoys me.

I have searched the forum intensively and this thread is the closest one (although there are others) to my issue. Unfortunately this thread does not seem to be "solved" yet, so I am interested to find out if others have te same issue and/or how this can be best managed/fixed.

After some more testing the AKG712 clearly beats the DT880.

however compared to my Marshall 2x12 cabinet, the sound is much more bright and it's kind of difficult to find an EQ settings that makes me find a balanced setting between what I hear on the headphones vs what I hear (during daytime) on my 2x12

Do you think this might be linked to the fact that the AKG712 is an open back headphone (btw same as the DT880) and that most of the recommendations in this thread are actually pointing towards a closed back headphone (the DT770).

Is there a bigger "similarity" between a real cabinet and a closed back headphone than an open back one?

I have received the DT880 and the AKG712pro today and played around with them for about 2 hours. The headphones are in a different price league, the DT880 costs 160 Euros whereas the AKG712 is ca 300 Euro.

After 2 hours there is a clear tendency towards the AKG as it is way more transparent and feels more authentic to what is coming out of my 2x12

Both are "open" headphones and I think I should also include a closed one (like the DT770 or ATH50) in my tests.

is anybody using the AKG712Pro with the Kemper and can share his experience?

Thanks, I had these on my list, too, but then changed them to the DT880 as I would assume that an open headphone would give me a more neutral sound image....

I really want to use these headphones for the Kemper only, I have no need to use them to listen to CDs, movies,....

And a bit of sound leakage through an open designed headphone would be ok for the night time usage, I just cannot drive a cabinet or active monitor at midnight without our neighbours knocking the door in.....

I just bought a Kemper Power Head and played around with it for 2-3 hours. I connected it to my Marshall MR1936 cabinet (2x12 Celestions GT75) and it sounds great but of course the volume is not suitable for nighttime usage in our house.

In my band rehearsal I want to connect the Kemper to my 4x12 1960 AHW Marshall cabinet and / or to our PA (RCF312a + Sub) and / or alternatively to our monitors (DB Flexsys FM12). For live gigs I will for sure go direct out to the PA and then either use my Marshall cabinet as monitor or go into the Flexsys FM12.

For home usage at night, I was trying to play through a (admittedly very old) headphone from Audiotechnica (noise-cancelling, I use this to listen to music while on flights). But this sound is really poor compared to my 2x12.

I now want to purchase a new headphone (studio headphone) which is more suitable for nighttime usage and still allows me to tweak my rigs so that they still sound good through my cabinets and / or on the monitor / PA.

There is already quite some discussion going on on the "best" headphones for the Kemper but I did not find any good answer for my usecase.

what would be a good choice headphone for me? I read tons of data already on the DT880Pro, the AKG712, the Audiotechnica ATH50 and would really be willing to spend 250-300 Euros for a good headphone but then would like tohave something really good and good sounding but also "neutral" enough that I can easily tweak my rigs on the headphone and they would still sound good on my cabinets / PA.

Any ideas on what would be the "ideal" candidate for me?