Posts by BasementBluesBoy

    Yes, we had issues with loudness as well. I do not understand but some of our guys have to Play ultra-loud to get the right Rock n Roll feel I guess. It came to a point where our techie mentioned that this is not healthy, b/c during a gig measured at the FOH we had reached 120db. He told us that this is not allowed in Germany over a longer periods of time. Or at least you have to set up warning signs to inform the audience about that these loudness Levels can damage your hearing.


    With some tupe amps the problem is, that the are very loud even if the volume knob is set fairly low, that makes it even worse for the techie, b/c the amp blows everything away and he is not in a situation to create a decent mix. But I am not sure, if the other guys will understand the advantages of a silent stage. They probably miss that Rock n Roll Feeling, where it has to be loud. I can only play with filtering ear-plugs due to some advice of my doctor.


    bbb

    Wow!! In top-100-coverbands this is a very common aproach, for many years now. And not only for coverbands. A lot of metalbands are playing this way.
    We've played with a drummer who had his very expensive Mapex kit triggered with a Roland TD-30. That drummodule is sounding awesome and behaves like an acoustic kit, i.e. if you hit a tom, the other toms are "rumbling" a bit, like for real. Of course this is a setting that's not mandatory.

    We are all 50+ Classic rock cover band. Most of us have been playing in bands as teenagers. And eversince we played real drum kits and heavy tube amps etc. Sounds like the stone age, with all that new equipment around. But for some reason I cannot see myself playing in a small bar with IEM on a silent stage. On bigger stages I can see that the silent stage is an advantage.

    I recently read a post of @tylerhb and his band. I think they strictly follow that silent stage approach. You may want to contact him and ask about his experience. To me this concept is completely new. As we play Classic Rock the traditional way. But it is an interesting approach completely different from what I know.


    bbb

    Yesterday I profiled the Marshall TSL 602-Pre thru its f/x send. This DI-Pre-Amp Profile I ran thru a Marshall poweramp EL 84 20/20 and a Marshall Vintage 1936 cabinet with 2 x 12 Speakers. The Speaker and the Pre-Amp-DI do not sound the same but I can make them sound fairly close.


    The initial Profile sounds somewhat harsh and brittle and a little honky, but if you reduce the definition value in the amp section and increase clarity a little bit and adjust bass, middle, treble and presence on the Kemper and presence of the poweramp it sounds almost the same. One could probably make it sound exactly the same but that is probably pretty time consuming, if it is 90% that is Close enough for me.


    I was explained that the initial profil of the DI-Pre-Amp profile played thru a different poweramp has to sound different as usually the pre-amp of Combo and the poweramp are sonically designed different from other tube poweramps by the same manufacturer in my case Marshall. So the poweramp of the Combo sounds darker, whereas the 20/20 sounds brighter and more defined, that's why the adjustments need to be made to the Profile to make it sound the same. Same applies to the cabs.


    Did not know that before, but sounds reasonable to me.


    bbb

    I'm not surprised, mate. Here's what I was going to post earlier:


    If you're using a Profile made with a microphone you're relying on the Kemper's clever algorithm to separate the cab from the amp head.
    Much better to Profile a head and feed that through your bin; it'll be a different story altogether, brother.

    I profiled the Soldano Preamp straight from its Output jack into the Kemper. Did not hear any Sound. It worked suprisingly well when I played that Profile thru the poweramp + guitar cabinet.
    bbb

    Yesterday, I profiled my old Soldano SP 77 Pre-Amp as DI-Profile without any of these weird noises. I profiled a clean and a crunch Version. Ran that thru the Marshall power amp and cabinet and what shall I say sounds good to me like a real tube amp. I was shocked. I have to listen to the Profile again this evening to make sure that this is not wishful thinking and Hearing.


    bbb

    We do have a very good and expensive PA (L'Accoustic) and a good sound engineer and a roadie. They carry all that stuff. I just bring an amp and my guitar.


    But we only use the PA for bigger venues. But we also love to play at smaller venues where you just need an amp, although we have a smaller PA as well. On such gigs we do not mike the amps. I thought that I could use the Kemper for these gigs as well. But maybe for now I play live through my Marshall or even smaller Hughes & Kettner Tubemeister 18 and keep the Kemper for the studio and to play around with it at home.


    We will see.


    Bbb

    During the profiling process you need to match the volume of the kemper and the reference amp with the soft knob on the right return sensitivity or so.


    Afterwards you can increase the rig volume of the rigs with the low volumes als it is stored and independent of the master volume.


    By this you can adjust the volumes of the rigs so that they are equaly loud.


    BBB

    Yes, the Kemper is well designed and its concept and features are well thought out, with great options. I mean I can put a decent mix of a rock song in a studio together, but for some reason I cannot make this thing sound the way it should.


    I tried the following Eq moves on HK Audio FRFR active monitors low cut at 60Hz and High cut at 7kHz to 9kHz with the studio Eq- did not sound like amp in the room. Subtle Eq moves and aggressive Eq moves but not getting there.


    Next tweaked the amp parameters reduced treble and presence or reduced treble and boosted presence subtle and aggressive. Also changed mids and bass did not do the trick.


    Switched the stack eq from post to pre to reduce treble before the hit the amp- did not cut it for me still to rough and edgy sounding.


    Set up a studio eq in the stomp section- graphical and also tried the studio eq-basically the same result as before.


    Tried to tweak the profiles with the amplifier parameters clarity, definition, power sagging- did nötig improve it.


    In the input section reduced the sensitivity etc. used the eq knobs in the output section - unfortunately did not improve the sound.


    I think I tried quiet a bit and are somehow familiar with the parameters of the Kemper.


    Please let me know what other moves should I try so that I can use the Kemper like a tube amp in a small venue without PA? Any suggestions are highly appreciated aus I would like this to work.


    Thank you in advance for your thoughts and patience.


    Cheers
    Bbb

    Respect your opinion but to state it's a 'toy' for the studio and not good live goes against the experience of many professionals in the studio and on stage.


    Ofc, we all have different needs and wants and it's totally up to you what you use :)

    Ok, its a good tool in the studio especially if you re-amp etc and definetly better than the usual plug-ins, but as a professional would you prefer it for a Classic Rock and Blues gig in a small venue without a PA over a good sounding tube combo? At present I am not sure that the Kemper can sound like a real tube amp in the room.


    I also tried the usual suspects of profiles, which are included in the factory content and are rated really good like Michael Britt etc. but for some reason I can not tweak them to sound right. Maybe I am deaf, b/c I always played loud tube amps, but I am not able to make the profiles work so that I am happy with them.


    Netheravon maybe you can help me out and let me know, what you do to make the profiles sound like your playing through a tube amp? So far I tried the factory content, which includes as appetizers some samples of commercial profile packs, also I went through the top rated profiles on rig exchange. Your comments and help are highly appreciated. I am willing to make the profiles sound good, but at present not able to do that with the tools the Kemper offers.
    Bbb

    Hi Netheravon, question from a novice: do you use a Kemper head or ''powerhead'' with your DXR-10 ? ThanksPS: Same question to BasemenBluesBoy is it a Kemper head or powerhead? Maybe you need a powerhead...???? Just curious THANKS EVERYONE

    I have the Kemper and not the powerhead.


    Yesterday I experimented a little with DI-Profiles of the Pre-Amp section and DI-Files of the full amp. I starten with H&K Tubemeister 18 with 1W to get some distortion at a reasonable volume.


    I ran these profiles thru the Marshall poweramp EL 84 20/20 into a Marshall cabinet Vintage 1936. unfortunately the sounds did not convince me als I was looking for a decent live sound when giging smaller venues for which you do not need a PA.


    To me the distorted sounds were harsh, brittle and not the same as a good tube amp. EQ could not help. To me it seems the Kemper is a nice toy for the studio, but it can not replace a good tube amp in smaller venues. In such a situation I will play my tube amps. In a scenario where the amp is miked it might be a different story. I will test that with our L' Accoustic PA. Hopefully, I can use the Kemper for this otherwise I might be thinking about returning the Kemper, although I like its features in the studio.


    Honstely, it seems to me that the profiling algorythm does not capture crunch and distorted sounds very well. Usually, a distorted tube amp sounds round, full and rich the profiles to me sound honky, brittle, edgy and sharp and distant and somewhat boxy. Not really what I want to sound like on stage. I also feel that a lot of profiles sound the same bought or free does not really matter.


    I am sorry but cant write any different at this point. But I have not completely given up on it.


    Bbb

    Last night I ran my kemper into a Marshall EL 84 20/20 and a Marshall Vintage 1936 2x12er using DI-Profiles of amps. To me that sounded better than the usual profiles, b/c they are not that fizzy, brittle and harsh. I think the harshness Comes probably from the microphones during the profiling process. A SM57 to me sounds pretty harsh and brittle in a mix. I believe that this is almost impossible to correct with an EQ, if you want to have some more Amp in the room feeling.


    bbb

    No, I left the profiles as they are, as I had them at home. I will try that the next round at least with the ones that sounded brittle and harsh. On the muddy ones I probably have to add some presence. However, I used HK Audio Fullrange Monitors. They are supposed to sound quite linear and good.


    But is it possible to tweak a profile played through a monitor box so that it sounds like a real amp in the room and not like a miked amp? Purecabinet did not help very much.


    bbb

    Hello,


    I am a new user of the KPA. I worked probably a month with the Kemper at my home recording studio. I would say that I am familiar with the basic functions of the KPA. Yesterday, I took the KPA with me to our rehearsal room, where I met with the other guitar player of our band. We play in a cover band and cover songs of ZZ Top, Led Zepplin, Gary Moore, Hendrix etc. (Classic Rock). I usually play a Marshall JCM 2000 TSL 602 and the other guitarist plays through a VOX AC 30 and a Fender.


    I wanted to see how the KPA would compare in a live or rehearsal situation with the other guitar players tone and sound. I played the KPA through 2 H&K monitors and compared to the tube amps of the other guitarist it sounded thin (lacking of bottom end), distant and flat or not very dynamic without punch to it. The profiles sounded either to harsh or too muddy.


    It got a little bit better when I connected the KPA to our smaller PA. But still the sound of the KPA was not very impressive. For this test I mainly used some profiles of the factory content. Over the next few weeks I will check the KPA again through our bigger PA, hopefully the sound improves. At this stage I am not sure, whether I would use the KPA in a live Situation. I am not even sure, if I should keep it our return it.


    Do you have any tipps for me, how I could improve the sound of the KPA so that it is closer to the sound of a real amp?


    bbb

    You are refining the profile not the reference amp. The reference amp is the oriniginal amp, which you are profiling. According to the Manual you should play chords for about 20 seconds. After that you will be able to compare the KPA and the reference again and start refining again, if the KPA is not close enough to the reference. :):D


    I profiled a Marshall TSL 602 yesterday and I was suprised how close the profiles are.... :thumbup:


    bbb