Posts by Chris Duncan

Quote from keem85

Ahh I see. I thought he meant that it was illegal or something.. Was thinking in the lines of "maybe it's illegal to talk about paid presets because it's against Kemper's rules" or something.

Not at all. In fact, there's a lot of love for all the profilers here, both the ones selling commercial packs and the guys who share their work on the Rig Exchange. Check out the threads where someone's shared a new profile and count how many "thank you!" responses there are.

Just bear in mind that while this is an unusually positive place, it's still an Internet forum. If there weren't rules, sooner or later someone would sign up and spam every thread with, "Hey, buy my new profile pack!" I think the mods do a great job walking the line between a friendly environment and enforcing the rules that keep it that way.

Quote from keem85

May I ask something else?

At this point you've got a new piece of gear and you're going to have plenty of questions. The best thing to do is start posting threads that are specific to each question. That way someone will see the question, know the answer, and people will join in to help. It's also useful so that when someone like me comes along later with the same question, I can search the forum and find your post with all the answers and not have to duplicate the effort.

Oh, and don't forget to search the forum, as many questions get asked a lot so there's already a wealth of answers waiting for you.

Quote from keem85

Ah ok I didn't know. Thought that was the main thing about the Kemper

True enough, but the mods do a good job of keeping this forum friendly, well mannered and spam free. If I have to comply with the occasional rule to keep this such a good environment, it doesn't bother me at all.

It's perfectly fine to discuss commercial products, they just ask that you do it in the appropriate sub forum.

After listening to Sea of Now and then previewing the rest on Amazon, I just bought the album. Listening as we speak, the title song is certainly a stand out track but there's not a weak one on the entire album.

I'm a happy / classic rock kinda guy and usually avoid the drop tuned stuff because so much of it is a dark, minor vibe. While this album has some drop tuned guitars, it still has a very up feeling, and even the bluesier things sound bluesy, not negative / evil / etc. (by the way, no disrespect to the guys who do this sort of music, it's just not my of thing). Also the drums aren't the clicky kind of sound common in metal, it's a fat rock kit sound that I enjoy (and holy crap, the drummer!).

Killer guitar tones, great playing, excellent arrangements. I'm not sure what genre this is, but I'm very much enjoying it.

Great work, man. I know there are plenty of places I could listen for free, but it's worth spending money on.

Quote from Wheresthedug

No problem. Make the background a picture of a knob with a logical slider on top of it when you go to adjust it

See, now your just causing trouble.

Quote from Wheresthedug

Don't even give the elves a second thought. They'll be dancing all night when you plug in a start playing

But hide the liquor.

Quote from MuddySludge

If you get that Hiwatt rig I should be able to hear it in Texas if you aim it south.

I don't think he'd even have to aim.

Quote from DeZorganiZator

I also believe that the number of folders matters

Without knowing the RM code I can't say for sure, but that's certainly a reasonable conclusion.

I spent a few years writing air traffic control software and because the government didn't want to pay us for extremely pricey Sql Server licenses, our manager decided to write his own pseudo database using a folder and file structure. I won't bore you with the countless performance problems he had to work through but there's a reason relational databases (and even old b-tree databases like the venerable Btrieve) had optimized index structures. Traversing a list and doing sorts can easily become less than optimized.

I don't know what kind of indexing structure they guys are using in Rig Manager, but I'm willing to bet it was tested and optimized for what they considered the norm, maybe a few thousand profiles versus 130,000, and a similar philosophy on folders.

The question of, "well, shouldn't they optimize it so that it works for very large numbers" comes down to what percentage of the user base would actually benefit, and would the time be better spent on the dozens of other things that a larger number of people want. Never an easy answer to that.

Quote from DennisJ

Well I am tempted to say here : I don't want The Edge talent. I want The Edge rig

All things considered, I think that's a perfect analogy.

I can see both sides on the circular knob thing. From a purely computer point of view, values that go -x to +y indicate a slider to me. Select the control and dragging left or right with the mouse is obvious because the slider goes left and right. If it's a knob, which way do I drag - up and down or left and right (I've seen both). Select the slider and your keyboard left / right arrows move the slider left and right.

From a geek's perspective (not to mention a guy who's been designing and writing software for a living for 30 years), this is the only logical and intuitive UI there could be for that kind of value.

That said, geeks in general, and especially software developers, get tunnel vision and tend to forget that not everyone perceives the universe in the same way that they do. Just ask someone who's dyslexic. Or better still, has synesthesia (a friend of mine hears someone say a number and sees purple).

When you're talking about people who are not normal, musicians shoot right to the top of the list. The problem with the whole "this is the only logical way to do things" perspective when designing tools for the arts is that creative people are a) very often not technical and b) even more rarely logical.

Believe it or not, if Kemper created an editor with sliders instead of knobs, they'd get tons of support questions about what the sliders were, and how they related to what's on the amp itself. Even though the sliders had the exact same names as the Kemper knobs. So, while operating a knob with a mouse could be seen as less intuitive, it's also less intuitive to represent controls in a different visual manner.

I think the reason that so many companies emulate the hardware interface, knobs, toggle switches (just use a checkbox, dammit!) and all, is due to the target audience. Someone who's technically inclined will figure out how the mouse works on a knob in about five seconds, retain that information, and then go on to use the program. Those who aren't as comfortable with technology would be confused by a different visual layout and, because they're not techie to begin with, would have a harder time figuring things out on their own.

So, if you want to reduce support calls, make it as easy as possible for the people who will struggle the most. The more adept will figure it out on their own.

Yeah, it bugs me when I'm working on software and have to "dumb it down." But over the years I've lost some of my technical arrogance and have come to understand that not everyone spends their days staring at a computer screen becoming accustomed to its eccentricities.

Quote from V8guitar

this is the flight case my mate bought

The zipper pockets in the lid are a nice touch.

Quote from paults

The only people who expect a cover band to sound just like the record are other musicians who aren’t at their own gig that night. The audience wants to have a good time. So, take liberties, and make it more entertaining than a recording

That's a fair point. I've been beaten into submission by out of work musicians.

Quote from V8guitar

Nuno Bettencourt actually proved this...After years of dreaming, he got to play Eddie's actual rig and he sounded like,.....Nuno, not Eddie!

I heard the same story about Steve Lukather.

I don't want Eddie's rig. I want Eddie's talent!

Quote from keem85

I was actually looking at iLoud for monitoring Kemper. Hoping it have flat sound like the studio monitors.

While I have no experience with iLoud, they're not advertised as reference monitors or even FRFR for that matter. The only thing I saw in specs was the frequency response of 50 - 20k, which doesn't tell you anything about which frequencies might be disproportional.

It's not uncommon for quality consumer grade speakers that are designed for listening pleasure to be heavily hyped on the low end (even earbuds - listen to your song on reference monitors, then on your iPhone via Apple ear buds and you'll wonder who the heck dimed the bass knob when you weren't looking).

Side stepping for the moment the whole "guitar cab in the room" thing, at this point what you probably want to hear is an accurate representation - the good, the bad, and the cosmetically challenged - of what a given profile sounds like. This is what FRFR speaker cabinets and studio reference monitors are designed to do. While none are perfect, the goal of this style of speaker isn't to artificially enhance the listener's experience. It's to tell the truth.

With that in mind, even an inexpensive set of speakers that are designed for use as studio reference monitors will serve you much better than a random speaker choice with different priorities. Your iLoud example was $250. A pair of small powered Mackie reference monitors is $300.

https://www.sweetwater.com/sto…ch-powered-studio-monitor

If you want to go with an active FRFR speaker, I bought a Yamaha DXR-10 based in large part on how much love they get around here. It's certainly not the only one people like but it does sound great. This goes for $600.

https://www.sweetwater.com/sto…w-10-inch-powered-speaker

You can spend five figures on studio reference monitors if you have a commercial studio, deep pockets, and can justify the expense. However, past a certain point, the benefits become subtle and aimed at mix engineers with golden ears. What you need at the the moment is "best bang for the buck." Mackies fit the bang for the buck category.

I still have a larger pair of HR824s as my main studio monitors. They're not sexy, and I could spend more money to get some subtle improvements, but they deliver great quality for their price point. I also have an earlier version of the smaller ones that I linked to above in my office / B room. And once you open the door to inexpensive studio reference monitors, plenty of other guys here will probably make additional suggestions since there's a lot of good gear out there at a low price point.

In your case, it's a matter of looking for the right kind of gear, and for something like the Kemper, you want speakers that tell the truth rather than enhancing any particular part of the spectrum.

That said, while you're saving your money there's absolutely nothing wrong with using the Yamaha to practice with in the meantime. Tweak it until it feels good to you. Then play guitar.

When you can afford to upgrade, either studio monitors or active FRFR guitar cabs would be my suggestion for the next step. If you want something you can take out and play with others, saving for long enough to get something like the DXR-10 would be a better choice then studio monitors. However, if you're only playing in the house for now, studio monitors get the job done and also help you build a recording environment. You can always buy an FRFR at a later date if you want to rehearse / gig with others.

Quote from ToneDeaf

a herd of scared hippos running through a small village at night

That's usually the sound of my bandmates after a particularly enthusiastic rhino. Good to know I'm not alone in the animal kingdom. Safety in numbers, you know.

Quote from ToneDeaf

I find it much more productive to try to find your own tone, instead of trying to replicate someone else's.

Couldn't agree more. But of course, the curse of working cover bands is people expecting you to sound "just like the record." Fortunately, I now have a not so secret weapon in that particular battle. The local wildlife couldn't be more pleased.

Quote from dmatthews

I think they're in Sweden tonight

I love seeing people do well with their music.

Quote from dmatthews

Cool... How's the tour?

Touring with a beta release? That's braver than me.

Quote from DennisJ

Of course your talent as a player but I'm talking about the tone you get here basically

Actually, how you play is also a huge factor. I'm not talking so much in terms of talent (highly proficient players versus beginners) as in your style of playing. Eddie Van Halen will sound like Eddie on his signature guitars, but he'll also sound like Eddie on a cheap, bargain basement electric. Just unplug both and listen to him play without an amp. Yep, still Eddie.

While he's an example of an extremely skilled player, he also has a distinctive style. But then, to a degree, so do we all. For instance, how hard is your pick attack? I use medium celluloid picks, and really dig in when I'm playing. I also attack the strings with all the subtlety of a drunken rhinoceros. Brian May, on the other hand, uses a coin as his pick, and in an interview he described holding it so light that it almost fell out of his hand - and in fact that the Queen stage was littered with coins by the end of the night. Even if he used the same pick as me, that light touch would sound totally different.

If you hear a demo of someone playing the exact same Les Paul that you have, pickups and all, it could still sound radically different if he uses heavy picks and barely brushes the strings and you use mediums and bash it. And of course, that's just one example.

Quote from DennisJ

get many guitars (friends or whatever) and record the same part again with the same rig. Then take a break and listen to everything later on

An excellent point, and you can also do this with a microphone. Close mic someone playing electric without the guitar plugged in, like you would if it were an acoustic. Record the DI of one guy playing. Then he gets up and hands the guitar to another friend, who sits down and plays the same thing. Rotate through as many guys as you can. When you're done, play back just the DI and you'll probably hear significant differences, even though it's the exact same guitar.

Then, just for fun, point those DIs to the Kemper and listen to how different the same profile sounds just from different playing styles.

This is the whole, "the tone is in the fingers" thing. There's a lot more to your guitar sound than the wood and electronics. And while some people get frustrated that they don't sound just like the demo of that profile pack they just bought, I think it's awesome. Someone else can have the exact same guitar, Kemper and profiles as me, but I can still sound like me. I mean, you know, assuming that's a good thing.

Quote from keem85

I'm thinking of connecting my (soon to be purchased) Kemper to this Yamaha amp and use it as a speaker for home practicing

Along those lines, it's worth mentioning that a pair of studio reference monitors are also a great way to practice if you have a computer audio interface / DAW recording setup. The THR5 will color your guitar sound to some degree. Because powered reference monitors are FRFR by design, you hear what your Kemper is really giving you from the L/R main outputs.

You can get great quality representation of your tone at low volumes this way, and if you do any recording, what you hear is what you get. Of course, that's yet another thing to spend money on but these days you can get good quality powered studio monitors for not a lot of money at all.

Quote from Eltzejupp

Can you describe how you have done that job?

I'd also be interested in knowing how many profiles DeZorganiZator ended up with after the cleanup since he reports good performance now. It would be useful to know the upper limit of what still works well since you have 60,000 and it's slow.

Quote from Sharry

You can rename the performance and the included rigs.

Yeah, that's what I currently do with performances. When I glance down at the remote I don't want to have to stop and think about whether or not I've got the right thing.

If I'm supposed to be playing Wonderful Tonight and the performance says Enter Sandman, I know that bad things are about to happen.

Quote from sambrox

Usually, they like to have a beta that is bug free before elevating it to release level

Yeah, that's my assumption as well. I just didn't know if they were going to wait, roll in the rest of the OS 6 stuff, do some betas and release 6.0 or if there were plans to clean up the 5.7 issues found by the beta testers and release that while they worked on 6. I can see a case for either approach.