Posts by Bryan Daste

  • Fuzzy sound with headphones

    The Monoprice headphones are a surprisingly useful reference. I use them all the time for recording and practicing with the Kemper. They don't have the big hyped sound a lot of cans have - more focused in the midrange. Cheap to try, anyway :)

  • My Custom Made Darks Arts Amp.

    Curious about the differing pads for studio and direct profiles. Does changing the pad value affect the volume of what's coming out of the cab? My understanding is that it would only affect what's coming out of the DI. I could be wrong!

  • what type of headphones work best

    Just ordered the Massdrop/Sennheiser HD 6XX, which is basically the HD 650 with a different look (and a smaller price tag). Stoked to try them out. I'm also planning to use them for mixing. Thanks for the recommendations!

  • Mono vs. Stereo DAW Tracking Guitars with KPA

    I always record guitars in mono (one track per performance) unless I'm using a stereo effect (chorus, delay, reverb etc) integral to the sound. If you're not using stereo effects, recording in "stereo" is really just recording the mono sound twice. Might as well save the system resources and go mono.


    When I get tracks from artists to mix, very often I end up splitting lots of "stereo" tracks (actually mono sources) into mono and deleting the redundant tracks. It makes the DAW run smoother without choking, and you won't fill up your hard drive as quickly :)

  • Thwarted attempt at merged profile

    I've got a solid state Peavey Special 130 that I wanted to profile before selling. I've got the Kemper DI now, as well as Behringer Ultra-DI, so I followed the manual's steps to create a merged profile (DI profile first, then studio profile, copy Cab, paste, merge). I wanted to compare the two DI boxes to see if I could hear a major difference between them. Mic was a Shure SM7B.


    So I did 4 profiles:

    Ultra-DI

    Studio (with Ultra-DI still inline between power amp and speaker)

    Kemper DI

    Studio (with Kemper DI still inline between power amp and speaker)


    All amp settings were identical for the profiles. The only thing I changed was the return volume on the KPA since the levels from the two DI boxes were different. I chose to skip the Refine process for all profiles for consistency's sake.


    The process went fine with the Ultra-DI, but when I repeated it with the Kemper DI (all amp settings identical), something weird happened. I had set the profiling process to Clean, but after completing the Studio profile the second time, with the mic connected to the KPA return but the Kemper DI box still inline, I got a message saying something like "You selected Clean, but a Distorted amp has been successfully profiled." Huh? OK, fine I guess.


    But, everything was not fine - when I merged the second set of profiles, something was way off. The resulting sound was tubby and very mid-rangey. I ended up just copying the cab from the Studio profile made with the Ultra-DI inline, and when I merged it with the Kemper DI profile, it worked and sounded very close to the other Merged profile and Studio profile.


    Any idea why this happened? Can I force the Kemper to "see" a clean amp? I guess I thought that's what I was doing by selecting Clean in the Profiling page.


    Thanks!

  • Still looking for a Kemper stand

    Here are some photos of the modded Musician's Friend amp stand. My friend Tom Walker, who has woodworking skills, helped me design and build this wooden addition for the stand. The drilled holes on top (as you can see, we measured wrong the first time and had to drill again) let the toaster's rubber feet sit securely on the platform. There are channels that wrap around the "forks" of the amp stand for a secure feel. You'll notice I have a little compartment underneath - that's for an I/O box for my in-ears, so that's not really part of the basic mod. I should mention I also shortened the ends of the forks with a hacksaw for looks.






    The basic design allows access to the most important (to me, for live use) jacks on the back of the KPA - power, main outs, expression, monitor, etc. But, MIDI I/O, SPDIF, Return, etc. are covered. So when I'm profiling or using SPDIF to record, I put extra wood pieces between the platform and the back supports to move the whole assembly forward on the forks, allowing clearance for the jacks and plugs. The wood pieces have velcro on them to hold them in place (another friend with a shop, Dan Kinsley, helped me with that idea).


    So, definitely homespun, but it does the trick! I should mention I'm a pedal steel player, so I'm seated, and my feet and knees are in use while I play. This was a way to put the KPA within reach to be able to change things between or during songs. I use a Headrush wedge-style FRFR, so there's no way to sit the KPA on top of the speaker. I actually set up with the back of the KPA facing the audience, angled in a little to me so that I can see the display easily.