Posts by skydog

  • Kemper vs Helix vs Fractal vs head rush

    Been playing for 45 years, but it was never my primary occupation. Regardless, I practiced hours every day. It’s my favourite thing to do, I guess. Close friend and other guitarist in the band has a Helix. I have a Kemper and a Fractal XL+. My final solution: I’m using both the Fractal and the Kemper in parallel, simultaneously. I tried to interconnect the two. But the simplest approach is to A+B them. I was handing the mixer two outs anyway, so I figured what the hell. Best tone in the city.


    I think both have relatively better tone than the Helix, but now that’s a very subjective opinion. Is Marshall better than Fender? My Aussie mates still argue about Holden vs Ford!


    The Kemper is easy to use, but profiling is a bit of an art. (I have loads of amps, but tend to use the third-party high-quality profiles.) The Fractal is complicated with many adjustments possible (I build guitar amps and it’s still a bit difficult to fathom some of these Fractal parameters), but the software is graphical and intuitive.


    My dad was an auto exec, but we had great records in the house. I play live.

  • Help - Crackling

    But I’ll be currently getting those tones/cabs FOH, right? I’m just not getting them thrown out to me on the stage. Am I correct?


    If I go FRFR, I get the full profiles both FOH and on-stage. But I have a powered Kemper, and have no clue which passive FRFR cab to purchase. I know that I don’t like dark-sounding cabs. My forum ID should make that obvious, lol, eh?

  • Help - Crackling

    Was great. Chicago rocks. But missed screwing around with the Kemper. It’s about to do its first gig. I have a powered head. Will use the full profiles FOH through the mains. I’ve been using one of my Z-Best 2x12 cabs as my monitor cab through the powered out, with the cab/mic switched out. That’s why I was freaked with the “crackling”. At first, thought I blew out the vintage Celestion and Cerwin Vega. Swapped the CV with an old JBL AlNiCo, and same thing. That’s when I started worrying about the Kemper and contacted “the community”. The Universe was kind, as it was just some Wi-Fi electromagnetic Interference. This weekend I’ve been trying to decide, if I should go passive FRFR, but there seems to be lots of answers, so I’m flummoxed. To be honest, I seem to like the Kemper through a guitar cab. After a million years of gear, I have some nice speakers hanging on a few walls, along with a variety of cabinets. I searched the forum, but things remain unclear. I see no purpose, in yet another thread, eh? I’m a new gumby with this product, and on this site. I don’t want to generate any deserved wrath with a troublesome poke.

  • Help - Crackling

    It didn’t seem like there was much of an interest.
    Best I can determine, Shure GLX-D16, MacBook Pro, and Kemper PA were too close to each other. Haven’t heard it return once I separated everything, as I sussed it out. Haven’t been home, to perform the multivariate experiment - trip for family wedding in Chicago on the day after I first posted.


    For now, a perfect calm again on the Kemper Front.

  • Help - Crackling

    Kemper is one month old. I’m noticing an intermittent crackling. Not my speaker cab. My input indicator is green. The profiles sound a bit too treble and thin. If this was inherent, there would be comments. Must be something associated with my settings. Anything obvious I’m missing?

  • Quick question from a rookie

    Thank you. But that’s what is behind my question. If I am in the same position, and want a second extra bit of extra something, why not switch to a more aggressive profile of an actual Bluesbreaker with all of those attributes described.


    I have a ton of OD pedals from my former (four weeks ago!), pre-Kemper lifestyle. Marshalls in a box, Dumbles in a box, Supros in a box, etc. They have their variable adjustments, but they all drive me nuts on my oversized (and overweight) pedalboard. But now via the Remote, it seems to me that I have these amps and sounds waiting under my feet.


    Believe me, I’m not arguing at all. I’m trying to sort through the logic. In fact this weekend, I’m going to profile my Hiwatt with a BK Butler in front of it, to see what I get. Some pedals sound cool, for sure. At the end of the day, it’s just adding an amp in front of my amp.


    I have all the Kemper parameters under my control (as DonPetersen can more aptly describe). Yet going back to the example described by vjau75, there are also dimed Bluesbreaker profiles ready to go.


    In case you’re wondering, part of this question is rooted in why should I keep all of my pedals! But the other part is why use the OD stomps and mess with reconfiguring unity gain, when I can just select a hotter amp profile? In a nutshell, that’s the basis of my question.

  • Quick question from a rookie

    This isn’t a technical thing, it’s an I-don’t-get-it-what-am-I-missing thing.


    Why might lots of people be concerned about overdrive pedal models, when every possible and/or coveted overdriven amp profile is available? What am I missing, regarding this aspect of the product?


    Objective question, seriously. I’m here to learn.

  • [Tone Junkie] 8 New Profiles added to the Free Pack!

    I understand thanks. That answers my question. A follow-up: (I realize it amounts to a stupid question, but it is rooted in my incomplete understanding of the effects menus.) Should I assume that I should turn on all available effect options lit, to duplicate the sounds I heard in your great demo video? I still haven’t completely grokked why the stomps and/or effects I have selected are sometimes on and sometimes off. It may have something to do with how/when I’m using browse vs type vs the arrows.

  • Profiling with DI Box and speaker cabinet isn't going well!

    Hi all,
    Thanks for the suggestions and recommendations. I spoke with Kemper this morning. Here is the scoop, assuming I understood it:


    1. My connections were correct.
    2. Best to use the Kemper DI box. The circuit to the Profiler delivers a line-level signal to the Kemper.
    3. Yes (as the manual states), have the amp being profiled hooked to its speaker cab - this captures and profiles the impedance influences and interaction in the circuit
    4. No, there is no necessary reason, to have the 8-16ohm speaker output connected during the profiling process.

  • Profiling with DI Box and speaker cabinet isn't going well!

    Thank you. I will try these procedural changes.


    Fyi:
    The guitar I was preparing to use (to "refine" the profile) is an old Les Paul with humbucking pickups.
    The guitar was not yet connected to the Kemper Profiler unit.
    There were no effects or stomp boxes in the chain.


    My most critical question:
    Is there any risk, that the signal from the amp being profiled (returning to the Kemper unit), can damage the Kemper unit? My intention, is to profile this vintage Marshall at it's concert level.

  • Profiling with DI Box and speaker cabinet isn't going well!

    Good question. I reworded it twice, but It remained ambiguous.


    The Kemper was switched to Browser. I turned the selector switch to Profiler, to initiate the profiling process. Also, I had the speaker output was connected to a guitar speaker cabinet, but I tried to lower this to "minimum" and "off". Yes, this can provide a route for audio feedback, but at the time, I was worried about how to detect dangerously loud signal harming the Kemper unit. I can try headphones, but I decided to first ask these questions. I believe that I have gone down a wrong path, and it is best to stop and verify the procedure.


    Speaking of language, the terms are mixed on the selector switch:


    Tuner : Tune
    Browser : Browse
    Performer : Perform
    Profiler : Profile