Posts by SonicExporer

Quote from space_song

Thanks for all the welcomes everyone.

I'm kinda at a loss right now. I thought I was crazy or had a defective unit since I couldn't find any mid gain rock profiles that could handle big chords strummed at 16th notes that didn't exhibit static noise build up. Once the tone is double tracked and heard with cymbals the noise sticks quite a bit.

Profiling my own rig alleviated some of the noise I was hearing in other profiles, but the problem with dynamic frequencies is still there.

Yep, again exactly as I observed and commented when I first got the unit. Not sure what to recommend at this point other than just hang tight for a bit and let's see what comes back from Kemper....hopefully sooner rather than later.

Quote from Netheravon

It's a very interesting point on the fizz and as time goes on (I've had a kemper for about 4 years now) I notice this and some phasey aspects to some high gain profiles.

What would be an amazing post imo would be if those who've been down the long road of finding a few profiles that don't exhibit any of this behaviour could make a list of them.

That way those of us who are more hobbyists or just don't have the time to scroll through loads of profiles could really benefit.

I think it would be great if there was a list of mid/high gain profiles that didn't exhibit the issues. Not just for hobbyists but for everybody. Unfortunately at this point it is becoming increasingly apparent any such list could end up blank. I don't know who would even decide what makes the list. Maybe another way would be to have some new area on the forum where a consistent example is provided by anybody who wants to offer up a profile sample (always done using a consistent reamp).. So users can hear and decide for themselves if the issues exist and whether or not they want to use the profile. Dimi already created some good reamp baselines that demonstrate the issues well. Which could be the first entry - "Use this clip for reamp" Or maybe we should just give Kemper some space to fix the problem(s) first.

Here's my concern about the reality of what I suspect would happen.... If we start a post that tracks the tone issues among profiles and it inevitably (IMO) demonstrates just how wide-spread the issue really is, it may well only end up hurting Kemper. Think about how the fans of the competition may react (or maybe even other KPA owners). They could easily take the same reamp clip and demonstrate how other products sound - tone without the degree of raspy/phasey, congested aspects from the KPA.

So yeah, it's a valid and interesting prospect to start some kind of list/post to help us sift through the profiles in attempts to help users find something that doesn't exhibit the tone issues. But in reality it seems like opening a huge can of worms.

Anyway, just sharing thoughts off the top of my head FWIW. No great revelation to offer at the moment. For now just hoping that Kemper can address the issues because, just like Dimi, I am fond of the concept behind the KPA and really want to be able to utilize it.

Sonic

@space_song , Yep, same observations and sentiments here. Same thing happened to me, very first day - right away I felt the KPA didn't sound natural. Rasp, congestion something bizarre going on in the mid/upper register that makes it sound not quite "real" IMO. Kemper is now very aware of this issue and the engineering team is looking at it. Anyway, for live purposes or just hobbying around at home it is apparently fine for many people. But for those with a good ear or serious recording applications it can be maddening at times. Hopefully we'll have a fix for these tone issue in the not too distant future...

BTW, welcome.

Sonic

Quote from pacocito

I have always loved your profiles but I could hear that effect in the highs in your profiles too...
This is probably my last access to the private section of the forum as I sold the KPA yesterday.

It's been a pleasure. Enjoy your KPAs and keep this thread constructive. There is something to improve at those frequencies and the criticality of the issue depends on each person.

Un saludo!
Paco

Yep, nice profiles but the issues are still present.

Good luck Paco, sorry you sold the KPA. Hopefully these issues get resolved and you'll be motivated to return..

Sonic

Quote from Dean_R

And you paid how much for this device with all these unresolved issues that render the device basically useless to you , in hope that the manufacturer will resolve them in the future? You don't see an issue with that reasoning?
( not speaking for anyone but myself) but i am supposed to take you seriously?

I whole heatedly think there are major issues here and you really need some help that no one on this forum or Kemper can provide.

I know you might not believe it, but I truly wish you the best and it bothers me to see you suffer .I'm done with you and if you think I'm a fanboy who's attempting at bullying you , think no more of it, I Just put you on ignore but I still wish you the best.

Good luck friend.

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Yet more fabricated context. To imply I purchased the device knowing there were core tone issues is patently false. And your continual inability to stay constructively focused on the tone problems rather than the personal attacks speaks to who has issues..

Thanks for putting me on ignore, maybe that will help any future discussion stay productive for those who care to see the KPA tone issues resolved.

Sonic

Refer back to post 1038.

That was, I assumed, the end of the discussion for now. But no, a handful of defensive fanboys simply can't accept the KPA has some rather noticeable core tonal issues going on for certain profile types and scenarios, and instead of being constructive want to keep stirring up distractions and arguments, as well as personal attacks. (As has been the case all along).

The issue is now with Kemper, if they are able and willing to fix/improve the KPA or not we'll just have to wait and see.

Sonic

Quote from ColdFrixion

I own an XT and the amount of work it takes me to get anything halfway usable out of the on-board amps (any of them) compared to my Axe FX II or Kemper is ridiculous, especially high-gain solo stuff. I mean, you can get something halfway usable if you spend enough time tweaking it. I was able to pull off some decent tones with EQ matching, but I've got myriad demos I recorded using the XT that, looking back, just sound awful compared to demos of the KPA and Axe. I consider the XT a decent practice modeler, but it's not fit for serious recording, regardless the number of early adopters back then who might've used it on some.

While certainly not a real amp, the XT I had the chance to test out was fairly impressive tone for solo stuff (it was a client's with something loaded into it, not sure what it was but I'm guessing it was a metal pack?). I never said using high gain settings. The real trick with the early PODs is to go with lower gain, and goosing it on the front end with a quality analog boost.

Who cares what a POD can do, just more forum noise and distraction being drudged up.

Rather I am concerned with what the KPA is having issues with. So hopefully the core tone issues of congestion, rasp, et al. will be sorted out and corrected soon.

Sonic

Quote from Per

The bean pod 2.0 was incredibly highly compressed, very basic and sounded nothing at all like a Marshall. A hot fizzy digital honky comb filtered mess, yes, but not a real amp tone. That doesn't mean it couldn't sound "good" in the hands of a decent player, or that you couldn't use the tone creatively.

If you have grown up with an early generation pod thinking that this was good tone rather than with real amps as your yardstick, then you won't get joy from a Kemper because it sounds like real amps, has lower latency, but also much lower compression which means it won't give you that tone for legato without you actually adding in a ton of compression yourself and possibly a treble booster, just like a real amp.

Some people actively want a digital tone. There's nothing wrong with that, it's an interesting sound, but it's exactly what the Kemper is trying to get away from.

The KPA needs to keep trying then.. The KPA still sounds digital to my ears (or maybe another way would be to say not quite real). Something in the gain structure still isn't quite right. Close but something just isn't right IMO. That's likely part of the congestion/rasp issues (and the thinner/"phasey" harmonic solo notes). So hopefully they get that straightened around. The rest may be attributed to the preamp/power stage replication limitations, who knows. If people are happy with the KPA today wonderful, but I've probably been playing and recording tube amps for more years than the average age of the people on the forum and picked up right away something wasn't right with the KPA. Hopefully the issues get fixed, sooner rather than later.

A POD 2.0, or XT, dialed in correctly and with a good OD pedal in front (not the stuff sold in retail stores) can produce Marshall style solo tones that are superior in tone and clarity to what the KPA can reach. Especially when shredding (the KPA can really struggle in that aspect).. Feel is no contest however, KPA is superior there. These are my experiences and I've expended (putting it politely) more time screwing around with the KPA than any other gear in history.

Quote from Dean_R

DImi:
Please don't take it negatively, almost all brilliant individuals I met or know of technically have OCD. I bet CK wouldn't have gotten this close with the profiling if he didn't have some form of OCD.

I appreciate what your doing but I like to voice my opinion as part of the discussion when I see others riding along your professional approach only to dump on the Kemper and minimize it to, thin, congested and practically a terrible sounding device.That's a departure from reality . If it's that terrible why keep it (not directed at you). I highly respect pacosito who contributed to the community with many nice profiles and was always professional even when he declared he's selling his KPA because he found a better solution with his real amps.

I know you enjoy the Kemper already but want to make it better, but others who say POD bean is better are simply trolling this forum for unknown reason, possibly having nothing better to do with their time than trashing a machine they bought and still own even though the don't enjoy.

Thanks again.

Dean

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A bean POD 2.0 is in fact superior tone-wise than the KPA when it comes to solo notes on Marshall style gain profiles in my experience Especially when goosed in the front a bit with a quality OD pedal. The KPA sounds thin in comparison. The KPA also could not profile said POD without the typical congestion and rasp discussed & demonstrated in this thread. Very similar result to what Dimi posted in the recent video.

Whether or not any user chooses to keep their KPA or not, or whether or not they decide to voice their tone concerns based on their experience is also their choice.

On the other hand, some fanboys regularly harassing, bullying and making accusations about people who's comments they don;'t like is pathetic, childish and should not be tolerated on reputable forums. If the moderators are doing their job objectively.

Sonic

Quote from hjscheffler

As i already answered you in the ticket that you raised this morning we are already in contact with Dimitri. His audio examples have been forwarded to our developers. Asking other users to report the same issue in the ticket system is only creating extra work for the support team and does not help in any way.

I didn't check email yet, will do so now...

Most of the legacy guys on the forum are constantly advising that people need to fill out tickets to let the company know of any legitimate problems/concerns. So I was just following their lead. Sorry if it inconvenienced the team.

So it seems reasonable to now assume if the tone issues are deemed feasibly fixable, and the company cares to fix things, then it will eventually be addressed. So users don't need to keep doing tests & experiments. And we don't need to have this discussion any longer.

Sonic

Right, and @pacocito , and @sinmix and all the others are crazy as well.

@pacocito , please fill out a Support Ticket and let Kemper know your concerns with the tone and that contributed to you deciding to sell your device. Until they start hearing from customers they aren't going to know and/or care about the tone issues or potentially fix them.

Sonic

I'm unaware of anybody making an argument that EQ matching cannot improve things in some instances. But people shouldn't have to EQ match just to get a profile sounding more close to the source, nor to sound more realistic. And when it comes to the main issues of congestion and rasp, no amount of EQ matching or level matching is going to resolve those. It is something that requires assistance from Kemper, either corrected inside the KPA or provide some kind of explanation as to how to alleviate these specific issues during profiling.

Sonic

This latest video is just a typical fast-riffing, high gain, drop tuned, scooped example. And while still showing differences, the video more reinforces that, for some specific scenarios, the KPA can get quite close. That's never been the concern however, and has nothing to do with the congestion and rasp, thinner solo notes, etc that is present in varying degrees in many other scenarios and tone-styles. Which has been demonstrated over, and over, and over again in this and other threads.

Sonic

Quote from ColdFrixion

I have far more reason to believe the profiling process is creating intermodulation distortion.

No argument here on that. If you have anything tangible to demonstrate that please open a support ticket and share with Kemper so we can help get these issues resolved.

Quote from ColdFrixion

For an offset to even occur, you need two waveforms.

Correct, but doesn't mean the KPA would require two source waveforms as an input. It may well be the KPA is generating additional waveform elements and applying/recombining/adding them. The KPA does not necessarily have to internally process as a single signal, in real-time order. We have no idea what it is doing.

Quote from ColdFrixion

Only the developers are 100% certain of anything regarding how the KPA works, but a signal that's 'out of phase' requires two waveforms. Yes, even a modulated signal(which is simply the addition of the original signal delayed slightly). It's not hard to identify a phase issue if you know what it sounds like. The sonic differences between the original amp and profile sound nothing like an out of phase signal. For example, listen to a recording of two amp / cab blocks in an Axe FX II panned hard right / left in mono and you'll understand perfectly well what a phase issue sounds like. This isn't a phase issue. Out of phase signals are easy to identify if you know what they actually sound like.

CF it seems you are assuming a traditional context of phase/phasing, and I'm pretty sure that's not quite the idea being raised here. Any time there are elements of an offset waveform having similar frequencies over some perceptible time period phase cancellation can potentially be perceived. What @pacocito and I have suggested is that maybe part of the issue has to do with the way the signal inside the KPA is being processed, separated, re-combined, altered, whatever. Some of the elements of the issues we've been discussing most definitely could be explained by phasing issues introduced through internal processing of the KPA, most especially the thin solo notes for example. And when a device delves into emulating harmonics this can become more problematic, potentially explaining the rasp, maybe even the congestion.

As you say we simply don't know what's going on inside the KPA.

That's right, I forgot the Clean Sense had a different intent, my bad.

Still think it's strange to have the Dist Sense impacting the gain knob though, so to speak, rather than being on the front end before the stomp section. Because you aren't really achieving the desired intent if you have a lower input guitar that is hitting FX in the stomp section that would impact the gain, like boosts, overdrives, etc. In the case where there is nothing gain-related in the stomp section then yes, I agree the gain knob is a more valid target for the Dist Sense implementation. But it doesn't logically make sense when viewed in light of the stomp section IMO. If a person dials in a tone with a guitar on a profile that uses, say for example, a Green Scream and later changes to a weaker output guitar and adjusts the Dist Sense that isn't going to be the same as if the signal boost occurred on the front end. Instead the signal will be weaker going into the Green Scream, resulting in less clipping and yet then having a higher gain knob adjustment afterwards, so to speak. That is hardly a "linear" adjustment experience as the Dist Sense is portrayed to offer. Rather it will alter the tone in a much different way. Unless I'm completely misunderstanding things.

Quote from Michael_dk

That's exactly what it is - more or less. As stated, it only affects the gain of rigs that are already in "distortion", so it does not add gain to profiles that are clean. The benefits have already been stated earlier in the thread.
Also be aware that it s differently scaled than the gain knob.

Right so then it is a global gain knob boost that is parceled into two different groups, distortion and clean. Very strange design then, that's why I asked if that is ALL this parameter does. Think about it, if the intent is to balance out different guitars then normally the boost would happen first thing in the chain, not 1/3 of the way after the stomp section. Are we 100% sure there is nothing else to this Distortion Sense setting beyond a gain knob boost? No other impacts or side effects to the tone?

As to the scaling, what's the general difference, is the Sense parameter designed to be more fine or coarse?

Quote from Michael_dk

But it is not.
Why does it have to reside anywhere in a signal chain?

I didn't choose the best term, attenuator. I meant that in the sense of altering the signal level, not merely a reducer.

How else would an input adjust reside anywhere other than at the front end of the signal chain? Unless it is not an input signal adjustment and instead a global gain KNOB boost. In other words it is a value essentially added to the gain knob setting of each profile. That would be a really strange implementation IMO.

Quote from Michael_dk

No, I'm fairly certain there is no difference other than what I mentioned. What makes you suspect it comes before the stomps section?
@DonPetersen?

How would it not come before the stomps section, where else in the chain would it reside? Between the stomps and gain knob somewhere? If it is meant to basically be a guitar signal attenuator it seems logical to reside at the front end of the signal path inside the KPA.