I’m keeping my BOSS FV500h on the pedalboard, after pedals, pre Kemper as my main volume pedal.
I grabbed a Boss EV-30 to use for everything else that needs expression in the Kemper. Small footprint and well made heavy duty pedal, same depth size as the Kemper remote.
Is there a quick way to learn parameters to use expression on? Maybe I missed it but I couldn’t see how to select a parameter like delay level and assign it to the pedal.
They are in the Rig Manager, Ready Tube DI and Ready Dist DI.
They sound great. I missed a good deal on a Reddi and was kicking myself for not grabbing it.
Now I don't feel so bad.
Haven't heard of or tried Fat Boy.
I'm using the Ton Ham Clean from the Kemper Bass Rig Pack a lot which is the Aguilar Tone Hammer.
Sounds great blended with the DI out from the Kemper through a Great River Pre.
Just like when recording a real amp, the DI and the amp can be time delayed or out of phase from each other. Check the waveforms and tighten them up. For me the DI is usually 3.1ms ahead of the amp, but that can change depending on the profile.
When you’re swapping out your rigs like that, how do you approach the effects?
Do you have to tweak each preset again or are you just swapping out the amp section?
I'd just use the mic you have but I'd blow off running it through the Kemper and go straight into your interface. Record it the best you can with the built in pre you have and add gain later by using plugins and compression.
You don't mention what interface you have. I'd upgrade that before anything or add a small two channel interface with a better pre. You won't hear a world of difference between an SM57, 58 or SM7.
A cloud lifter or great preamp will make a difference but as long as you record clean without distortion, you can add gain in the DAW.
Also the Kemper doesn't have phantom power so more sensitive condenser mics are out. You could use your interface to power a condenser mic, but honestly, if your room doesn't sound that great, a less sensitive dynamic won't pickup the room as much and can often sound better. Eventually you'll want some sort of condenser though for ac gtrs and anything you want to record with a more full frequency sound.
Is it possible to use the Kemper remote to control and trigger other apps like Ableton Live?
I've seen people wondering if they should get the powered or un-powered toaster.
One huge perk of having the powered version is that I can keep a 1x12" right next to me while tracking and use it at low volumes to get feedback and sustain. I still record into Logic using the Kemper's direct outs so I don't have to worry about bleed or use headphones.
The guitar responds so much better when the strings get some sympathetic vibrations, and it doesn't take much to make a huge difference, especially when using a hollow body guitar like a Gretsch Falcon.
Now I just dial up the monitor volume control on the Kemper when I want more sustain. It's also a great way to quickly play ideas for a client listening over the phone while jamming along to the track without having to set up the DAW to input monitor.
I've never been able to get any musical feedback from the studio monitors this way and they'd have to be cranked. With a 1x12" right next to me it's super easy and sounds great!
When browsing rigs on the Kemper itself, I’m not finding a way to sort and choose patches by the amount of gain.
In Rig Manager I can sort by gain level so I wish the Kemper could do that.
For instance if I’m looking for a clean tone or mid crunch, I just want to pull up a list of those tones.
This would be much more useful to me than the other browsing options.
Also, how do I mark a rig as a favorite? It’s easy in RM but I can’t find how to do it on the Kemper. I can sort by Favorites but I wish it was more obvious on how to rate them, add a gain category and mark as fav on the unit.
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Found it! I didn't see before than Sort by Author had other options for sorting including by Gain. And the mark as Favorites is available once you use the Rig button to edit. I wish the External Storage button in the Browser was in the System area and it was a Mark as Favorite button instead since that's something I'll be using all the time in the Browser.
There are a lot of functions that aren't where I'd guess they'd be.
You can get an RCA to optical converter box for $10 on Amazon.
You can record using just the digital out and the digital in unconnected. You only have to use the digital in and out when you’re creating a profile and sending audio to the Kemper from the DAW.
I like having the Toaster set on my workstation turned toward me. If it was in a rack it would be a pain for me to lean over and tweak it, so it depends on your setup.
I’m using audio inputs into an RME UFX into Logic. I need to record at 48k so using the digi ins and outs won’t work.
I’m just printing the parts with effects but no reverb. When delivering tracks that’s usually what the mixer wants. If I had to have my effects printed separately, I’d just use the plugin effects in Logic. That way I could route them and print.
Same with bass. The sounds in the Kemper are so good, I’m just printing the bass with a finished sound.
I may start also printing a bass DI at the same time.
The only thing I’m really missing from the Kemper is the ability to save a small sysex dump for each patch on each track. That way if I have to recall the settings, it will be exactly what I used. Now I’m just saving patch names in the comments for each track
+1
There needs to be a way to view the amp preset name in perf mode. Everything is so truncated I can't what any preset is.
Also +1 on the wish for a pedal perf mode where the lower set of buttons become pedal bypass switches.
Great River preamps works well with Royer and dynamic mics since they have a lot of clean gain and more extended high frequencies than a Neve, which is also never a bad choice, just more expensive.
API are a classic guitar pre and I’d love to have a Chandler TG2 for tracking guitars.
Look for a low ohm option on the pre. It’ll mate up better with mics that have a low ohm output like ribbons and dynamics.
Be sure to not have the phantom power on when using ribbon mics! And store them more carefully too.
Ribbon mics also take Eq really well so experiment a lot. Just remember the Royer is built to be a tank and the M160 is a more traditional fragile ribbon. Never blow into them and you can angle them a little so they don’t receive a direct blast from a speaker.
Royer’s site has a lot of great info and videos about recording guitars. Have fun!
Both are great mics but somewhat similar so not usually blended.
The 160’s pattern isn’t a figure 8 so you’ll get less room vibe. The Royer can be used
Forward (darker) or backward facing (brighter). 121 blends very well with other mics like a 57 or condenser.
Be careful, the 160 can’t handle the loud amps like the Royer can and you can easily damage the ribbon.
I’d like to check out that Pumpkin Marshall, please.
Thx
Seems like this would be an easy fix with a ratio or percentage control.
It’s probably fine if you’re not doing precise swells but on lap or pedal steel it makes a big difference.
Well if nothing else you’ve saved me a lot of money on trying expression pedals.
Good to know on the AES balanced to RCA cables. I actually have an old Tascam IF88-ie that is a format converter box with AES and RCA spdif jacks on it. I’ve been hanging on to it since back in the DA-88 days and will use it or make some cables up.
48k is the standard for music being laid back to picture. I’m not a fan of converting audio from 44.1k to 48k and it’s a pain having to select a different sample rate for every track in a session I bounce out to be delivered. It’s easier to just record it all at 48k even if there isn’t a big audio difference between the rates. It also eliminates the possibility of me delivering files at two different sample rates by mistake.
I’ll use audio in to record on sessions and will keep the AES wired up for sending back to the Kemper or if I’m working at 44.1k.
I bought a small RCA/Spdif to optical converter to use with my RME UFX.
While it worked well, I've decided to just use the analog inputs of the RME.
I have to be able to work at 48k and I don't imagine the Kemper will give the option any time soon if ever.
I can't hear any difference in tone between digital outs and analog.
I'm not finding that author or amp name. Sure that's correct?
I just got the Kemper and went straight to the latest beta software. I don't have any thing to compare it to, other than the Turbo Tuner on my pedalboard which is definitely more accurate.
Great idea, I'm going to give this a try. Where on your master bus are you putting it? Before bus comps? After final limiter? I'm guessing very last thing in the chain. Thx!
I wish the preset browser would jump to presets of the already chosen algorithm.
Now after I scroll through the algo list and pick one, when I go to the preset browser I have to scroll through the entire list again.
It seems like the two browsers should be linked. If I select a chorus algo, I want to then see chorus presets, at least to start with.
Also is there a way to see a list of just user stomp/effects presets instead of having them be nested in the list of all presets?
I see that option for searching rigs but not effects.
Is there a way to organize the effect algos alphabetically? The effect presets are listed alphabetically but the algos aren’t.
The Kemper is still new to me so lmk if I’m missing something. Thx
