Posts by keem85

Quote from drunkenmans

Hello guys!, first of all, this is a personal opinion, as a result of many gigs in many places and working with audio engineers with more... or less empathy.

What I have learned over the years with modelers, and now with Kemper, is that... to get the best live sound, it´s not to do a focused job on eqs, compression, etc. What really works great is to leave the amp as natural as possible, using only the EQ of the amp itself, as you would with any traditional equipment.

What often happened to me, when the sound tests started, I used to "argue" with the audio engineer about my amp, that the signal was already coming from my amp equalized, how I like it, but with time I realized that they don't like it, many times they left the signal flat, but outside it didn't sound like it should sound, it could be the place, the reverb, the front of house sound system that has a particular sound, this made them angry, because the sound was very unpredictable and they make some "against eq" corrections that gave a worse sound.

Over the years I have learned from them, from the audio engineers that it is best to give them what they expect, the sound of a natural guitar amp, with its darkness, or high frequencies when they see some Marshall or a Mesa. they know what they have to do to make your sound great, everything changes when you play on a large stage, a "Plaza de Toros" or bullring, a closed area. It's my recommendation, you'll get a better sound with your natural amp sound, I'm not talking about effects, obviously.

Best is leave the guitar sound treatment for the recording studio sessions, although sometimes we confuse sounding a guitar with "that sounds like that album that I like", which was also recorded 20 years ago , haha, let's not forget that the same amp and guitarist sound different in different albums for many reasons, mixing eq, master eq, studio equipment. etc.

Anyway, I hope that with this advice you enjoy a pleasant live experience with your Kemper, and... get along with the audio engineer. : D

Comment what you think about this topic. Greetings to all!

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Thanks for this tip! Can you explain like I'm five a bit? How do you leave it at neutral? Say I'm buying a nice Mbritt sound, or a John Mayer pack from ToneJunkies. How do I "neutralize" it? Just by putting EQ to neutral?

Quote from dmatthews

What outputs are you using? Is the cab on?

Yes, cab is always on, as I want to simulate the cabs of my profiles. I'm using mostly Mbritt's profiles and some mesa boogie fuzz sounds. I'm using left jack output on my Kemper and in to line channel on the mixer

I've been starting a new band now, and we're currently practicing in a small room with a mixer and two PA speakers. When I connect my Kemper to the mix table, the output sound is really harsh. Equaliser is set to neutral, so it is not touched, gain is set to 50%, not to get distortion. It is such a vastly different sound than what I get at home from my F5 Monitors. I get that different scenario, different room acoustics and gear can have an impact on sound, but it's very different.. My Mesa Boogie John Petrucci fuzz sounded like a scraping sound all of a sudden. Had to turn the top EQ all the way down on the mixing table.. How do you guys do it to get good stage sound from this device?

EDIT:
-I've connected the Kemper to the Mixer's line input via Jack in to the Kemper's left channel
-EQ is set to neutral on low, mid and high

-Gain is set to 50%

-I'm using payware presets from mbritt and TJ with cabs active. Sound is horrible on big PA speakers

I haven't connected it to Rig manager for over a year now.. I was connecting it because I had purchased a couple of new sounds that I wanted to transfer.. The first message I get is that some of my sounds are corrupt, and I turned off my Kemper while it was syncing (Because Rig Manager told me to do so). I turned it on while holding the RIG button for thirty seconds, and when it was finished, all of my favourites was gone for once, but then a steady static noise is playing constantly.. Something is really bugged and I don't know how to fix it... If I click "Check for software updates", it states that I have the newest software already, which couldn't be true since it's been over a year? Any help is appreciated here. Can I for example reset the OS without losing my sounds and performances?

Quote from sambrox

It is rather the opposite; the Kemper gain knob only increases or decreases the gain, leaving the tone, compression, response and volume of the amp intact, whereas the gain knob on the real amp will impact tone, compression, response, volume and gain.

This is interesting!

Quote from flyingheelhook

I come from the 'If it sounds good, who cares how you came about arriving at that sound?' camp. So the real question is whether your priority is how it sounds aesthetically vs. accurately. If you only care about aesthetics, tweak away to your hearts content. If you care about accuracy, then you probably need a range of different profiles taken from the amp in question.

Ultimately I care about how it sound, yes But I still wanted to know if the KPA gain knob is a KPA modified one and if it colored the real amp tone. Thanks for your reply guys

I have a somewhat strange question. Let's say I take a profile, for example "Matchless SC30 R 2-" which has some gain to it by default. The amp has been captured as is, with it's set of microphones, certain amount of gain etc etc, to become what it is... But if I dial down the gain, will it still be the same amp that I hear clean? Or should I rather capture it with clean profile seperate instead to acheive a clean "Matchless SC30"?

So in other words, does the "Matchless SC30 R 2-" has it's own gain when run default, or is it a Kemper imposed gain?

But is it a way to get this sound with the Kemper alone? I'd rather not buy more gear

EDIT: Ahh "Mouse stomp" is a software pedal in the Kemper? Got it!

Cool thanks. But what is rat pedal?

This dreamy bubbly creamy delicious fuzz sound... Any tips on how to get it?

How do you guys fix this then? I have a pretty new Focusrite Clarett, and the input is set to 0db on all channel. I don't have this pro thing you guys are talking about

Monkey_Man I am actually getting pretty hot signals when I am recording directly from the amp.. But when I am reamping, that's when the signals are very weak. Which I find very very strange

Ah I see. Hmmm.. How are people really recording in studio with the Kemper if it's not possible to acheive this? A reamped track at -16db is way way too low.. My DI output level is already pretty high as it is. I am very interested in hearing how people are recording with the Kemper, and why it does not have a way of getting good signals out. I figure for that price tag, that would at least be a minimum?

No that doesn't work. I always set my DAW at 0db gain. I need the hard input to match about -6db. I can't get it that high without having to adjust Rig Volume, and this feels wrong.. The reamp sens doesn't do anything. I maxed it and still it doesn't affect the input gain volume.

When I reamp, the DI can get correct levels on input. I just turn up clean sens and my DAW will capture it at a wanted loudness.. But the reamp is always stuck at -16db.. Can't seem to get it any higher unless I adjust RIG VOLUME. But is this the correct way of doing it to amp up the gain?

Yes I used to do mic and DI before, many many years ago when I did recording back in the old ancient days I actually tried it yesterday.. I reamped and generated three different amped tracks, tried to pan them out and add a little bit of delay so they seperate.. I think I am hearing phasing, but I'm not sure

So I tried recording with my AKG P200 and ran an insane compressor on it afterwards.. I got it to sound exactly how I wanted! Thanks for the tip guys.. So lesson learned to never ever record acoustic guitar with DI

Chris Duncan did you mean this one? https://www.4sound.no/studio/m…r/kondensator/roede-nt1-a

Wonder how my AKG Perception 200 from 2006 holds up compared to this one?

Thanks for the nt1a tip. Because all of the mics I've been watching has been way too expensive.

Thanks guys. paults I don't have an API 525, but judging by his first comment, he only mics the guitar? So no DI at all here? I have a rusty old AKG Perception 200, I don't know if it can compete with the U87 or the more expensive ones.

Quote from chu

I'd never DI an acoustic when recording but if you're set on it, record it and a few mics too. You don't need to use them all in the final mix and you can pick whichever combination works best.

The problem I have when mixing is that my initial assumption when recording is that the sound is good. And then I spend several hours mixing and making it sound OK. And in the process I spend so much time listening to the track that it becomes familiar to only me. And because I can hear myself "deaf" on my own mix, I then later finds out that I could have done it better.. That's why I ask here before going down that road, so I know the best basis for success before starting.. If miccing is that much better in the end, I'd rather do it right from the start.

I'm in the process of recording our last alt-rock song before sending it to master. This particular song has a very familiar vibe as the Coldplay - Yellow song has. The intro acoustic guitar on the Coldplay song is very heavily compressed and lows gone, and that type of sound would fit perfectly in our track!! All the guides and online tips suggest that I should record one track with DI and one track with a condenser microphone on fret 12.. But my own logic says I can just settle with a DI recording through my Kemper for this particular usage.. That I don't need an extra micced track to mud up my mix.. If you listenin to Coldplay - Yellow, would you say the Kemper alone can achieve this, or would you have a micced track aswell? If only Kemper, should I go DI cab bypass, or should I run it through a simulated amp?