Hi Matthias,
welcome to the Kemper Family!
Thanks a lot!
Posts by TheMatthias
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Welcome! Glad you jumped in and nice list of heroes, add Monkster's list and it's pretty well covered...
Thanks, and there are still many players I listen to, but I sometimes forget to mention them since I cannot play anything like them (yet): Zappa, Knopfler, May, Trucks, Abasi...
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Variety for me too brother. Probably too many to mention mate.
If I had to pick just a few they might be Benson, Montgomery, Lukather, Carlton, Ritenour, Eddie, Vai, Kiko, Hoekstra, Andy James... the list is endless really.
We're spoiled-for-choice these days.
Oh yeah, far too many! Your list is great as well - and I actually miss those days where I had to make a choice when buying a CD, which I would then listen to until I new every little detail. Now it's just too much at times. I do sound old now
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Do you have Monitor Cab Off AND disabled Cab in the Rig?
No, the Cab is on in the Rig, just Monitor Cab Off is enabled.
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The volume on your posted soundbites seems very low. Did you "normalize" the track in your DAW after recording? I know nothing about Studio One, I use Reaper.
No I did not do that yet. I turned all down on purpose to make sure there is no clipping, but I guess I can turn it up again by a bit without risking any issues.
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The main point here I think is to ensure that your sound is consistent from your KPA to your DAW. Best way to check that is use headphone output from the KPA and check it sounds similar to headphones via your interface. If they sound similar, then it's your profiles. If not, you may need to optimize your set up.
Personally I would check this first...
Yes, very good point - and I did check. Sounds equally bad on headphones plugged into Kemper and interface
However, now I started rolling back treble and presence a bit, and I feel I am getting closer, although not there yet. -
It shouldn't sound horrible ... with "Monitor Cab Off," disabled, Kabinet is acting as FRFR which is being fed with the same signal (including profiled cabinet) as the main recording outputs. So in this scenario, sound from Kabinet and recorded signal should sound very similar at least.
Ok, well if that is the case then I should be happy with the recorded track, since it sounds better than what I hear from the Kemper Kabinet...I used a powered FRFR before I got the Kabinet, and it sounded a lot better than the Kabinet with Monitor Cab Off disabled...
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How are you plugging into your audio interface? What are the Output settings on what's connected to it on the Kemper?
Some DAW software lets you route signals such that your headphones or monitors play back your signal twice, but with a tiny delay that sounds phasey. One is the input signal and the other is the output of the armed recording track with your guitar. You need to mute playback on the input and only listen to the track.
This only affects when you're playing though - so the recorded guitar still sounds great.
That's a good comment about the DAW, and as far as I know my DAW does not do that by default. And as you pointed out, it should not affect the recorded track.
My output settings and connections are all described in my original post (Main Out, -12 db engaged, volume set to c. -20 db). You can see literally all my settings in the screenshots I attached there as well.
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Welcome Matthias!
Loved the friendly introduction mate. Nice choice of guitar heroes too IMHO.
Ah, cheers! For me, it's all about the community of musicians
And yeah, I like a variety of different players - who are your favourites? -
If it's not working, move on. There are thousands of free(and commercial profiles)out there. I have five guitars and all of them have different pickups, passive and active. Some profiles sounds dull with one guitar and stellar with another guitar. Profiles that sounds killer solo will never sound good in a band or a mix.
I hear you, and I have found quite a few profiles I like, for different guitars and styles. However, it seems to be a general problem I have with recording, where most profiles just sound too harsh / metallic / artificial, especially the ones with higher gains, so I still want to figure out what I am doing wrong.
Since I am not doing anything in my DAW aside from tracking the raw signal, logically speaking the issue must be either with the Kemper, my interface, or the way those two interact. I have already turned down the output volume on the Kemper for the Main Out, as well as the input gain on the interface, so I don't think the problem is there either. Interface works fine for in-the-room tone, so a technical fault is unlikely.
Which brings me back to the Kemper. Which parts of the signal chain that we haven't discussed above could make it sound the way it does? Am I really the only one who has this issue across the board?
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Put "Studio EQ" in slot X and adjust "High Cut" to around 6 kHz ....
Cheers !
Thanks, I just did that and it sounded a bit better, but still: The tone I am getting sounds hyper compressed...sterile even, if that is the right word for it. I have to still listen to it in a mix, but if I just wanted to record my guitar on its own, I would not like it. I left the Studio EQ settings alone and only set High Cut to 6 kHz...it still sounds very fizzy to me?
I even cut the amp gain a little bit, so it sounds like this now. Then I set it back to normal and instead turned the Direct Mix to about 4, as a comparison. Both times with Studio EQ engaged.
It seems that the profile is well done, and it does sound great when I am not recording - I just need to somehow get the tone to be less metallic and rounder. I have sometimes sound someone play to me live over Zoom through a Helix, and his tone is killer in the room and on stream, for example. What am I still missing?
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Be sure your Kemper Kabinet is off while you're listening and tracking in the DAW.
Set your sound to your liking in the monitors. Listen with headphones and see if it's consistent.
If the play back isn't the same it's in the DAW.
I tracked in a studio and the play back was not the sound I delivered.
He said I'll fix it in the Mix. I said I'll do one more take and if the play back isn't the same I'm Gone.
I walked.
Makes sense. Although, I guess you would need to allow for some discrepancy between monitor tone and headphones, unless you manage to adjust the space setting on the headphones to perfectly mimic your distance to the speakers, correct? Other than that, fully agree, it should be very consistent, and if not then there is something going on with the DAW.
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This. Tune the low E a little more flat. The problem is no one learn us how to really tune a guitar and I'm no exception. Tuning all strings to zero and your ready to go. Wrong. And all videos you can watch about tuners on YT. All of them tune so soft and no one tells you to tune as you play. If you play soft, tune soft. If you play hard, tune hard. No matter how well tuned/intonated the guitar is some chords will be less in tune. That's what punch in punch out is for when recording.
Those are some good points, thanks both of you! Will definitely keep that in mind as well.
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Thanks guys; I thought it might be helpful to record a few soundbites with this profile (BG JP2C Ch-2 ST-132-2) into the DAW - here is the link.
https://on.soundcloud.com/Yg4Xt
Just to let some chord rings and play a quick lick, to give you all an impression of what it sounds like. Given that I don't know much about production yet, I would love to hear from BayouTexan whether you think it's an EQ thing, or whether it simply a matter of fixing it in the mix, as GearJocke suggested. Or perhaps I am missing something with the cab simulation still, as MuddySludge pointed out.
Interesting observation: after exporting the mixdown from the DAW into mp3 format, it seems a bit less harsh. Or maybe my ears have gone mad at this point!
Very grateful for your help, guys!
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Are you bypassing a cab on the Kemper? If so your interface only hears the amp without a cab.
Thanks - I only have it turned off for the Kemper Kone on page 1 of Outputs called "Monitor Cab Off" and the same on page 3 in Monitor Output EQ since those two are linked. My understanding is that this should not affect the signal sent to the interface, since the interface is connected to Main Out, while the Kemper Kone is connected to Speaker Out? Or am I getting this wrong?
When I disable Monitor Cab Off, the tone over the Kemper Kabinet sounds horrible (as it should), while the recorded tone does not change.
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Welcome, have fun here in the forum and with your Kemper. Sounds like the fun is already going on, very good! Enjoy this incredible machine as much as most of us here do
Thanks man! I really love everything about it, just struggling with recording still (see the thread I just started in the main forum). Being a noob at Kemper and recording is challenging!
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Hey Kemper lovers,
After quite some time of only reading very helpful discussions, I have decided to become more active here now, so it sounds like the right time for an introduction!
I started playing guitar again in 2017 after quitting in my teenage years, and I have been more active than ever since then. Starting out with roots in thrash metal, I branched out into classic hard rock, prog metal and lately also a bit of fusion. My heroes are (in no particular order): John Petrucci, Paul Gilbert, Guthrie Govan, John Sykes, Randy Rhoads, Angus Young, Michael Romeo, James Hetfield, and many more.
In terms of gear I use the Kemper exclusively and finally want to dedicate more time to exploring its depths. My guitars are Tokai LS1, Ibanez RG2550, FGN Mythic, and most recently a Mayones Duvell 7.
I am happy to talk about anything tone, technique, composition...and am looking forward to meeting you all here!
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Hi fellow tone chasers,
I know the subject of "harsh tone" has been discussed in this forum at length, and I have done my best to educate myself by reading all the threads I could find, watching tutorials and reading the Kemper manual before opening another discussion. And yet, it seems like I am missing something.
Disclaimer: I am really new to recording and still have a lot to learn about the Kemper as well, so please bear with me. I am doing my best and will happily provide a write up of a solution in this post in case we figure this out together. It seems more people have the same or a similar problem.
The situation:
- I am getting a great tone from my Kemper Kabinet for a Mesa Boogie JP2C profile (and others, but let's use this one)
- I am recording this profile with an interface (Studio24) into my DAW (StudioOne). I am using the Main Out of the Kemper with a jack into the interface.
- Current result: Tone sounds very compressed when recorded, without the roundness of a natural tone as I perceive it. Same result over headphones (Beyerdynamic, directly plugged into the Kemper) and when streaming live over Zoom or Skype with the same setup.
Quick side note: I do know that Kemper profiles represent a mic-against-the-cab tone vs. the amp-in-the-room I am hearing when I am playing it. And yet, many people here seem to achieve a very naturally-sounding tone when recording. So there must be something I can do better.
Things I have tried so far:
- Interface: Lowering the input volume of the channel, and lowering the overall volume of the interface. No noticeable effect.
- Kemper Output volume: Ensuring that -12db (as seen here) was set in the main out (it was), and then lowering the output volume to -20db in addition. No noticeable effect.
- Direct Mix: Set Direct Mix to 4.5 (as suggested in this thread). It did help making the sound a less compressed and gainy, and was probably the biggest impact of any change I made.
- Clarity: Set clarity to about 2-3. Small difference.
- Reverb: Added more reverb (as seen in this great thread with contributions by viabcroce , which did help with the in-the-room feeling, but still kept the harshness in the tone.
I did get a better recording tone by rolling down the Kemper gain knob a bit / adding even more Direct Mix, BUT: When I played, it sounded really thin and weak to my ears over the cabinet, to the point where it was hard to really get a good feeling and vibe.
So the big question for me: Is it possible to achieve a great recording tone and also sound great with the same profile over the Kemper Kabinet (or any other cabinet)? I would hope that this is the case, since I want to like my tone over the cab while recording, and at the same time have the recording sound good.
Here I have included all my settings, which hopefully gives you a good picture in addition to what I have written. I would like to thank all of you in advance for you help and time
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If you’ve ever tracked guitar from a normal mic’ed up amp it sounds extremely similar to using headphones on the kemper. Definitely not as nice as through a cab, but that’s the sound you get. Just tweak the profiles to be less harsh and it should be easier to play with (less definition, treble and presence) and obviously space as you said and a bit of reverb (if it’s for playing and not recording).
I have mic'ed up other amps in the past, and you are right the sound is different (less natural, for the lack of a better word), but it was always still fine - just different. With the headphones here, the distortion sounded like fingernails on a blackboard.
However, I have now found that for some rigs it actually works better (what DennisJ mentioned above). So I guess some rigs really sound great on headphones, while some I really like through the cab do not work so well.
So I guess rig discovery will involve both methods in the future.
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Welcome to the forum.
I’m sure you’ll get some responses that are far more helpful and technical than mine. But I ran into this same issue when I first got my Kemper and the way I handle it is to have different rigs for different applications.
- I have rigs for live performances
- A copy those same rigs tweaked for headphones
- And finally, my rigs that I use specifically for recording
I do this because a rig is going to sound different depending on how you use it. A rig played through nice headphones that are just an inch away from your ears could sound vastly different when put through a PA system. Even my rigs that I use for live use sound a little different if I play on a foreign PA because the speakers might be different.
So that’s how I handle the changes. It’s a little time consuming. But to me, it’s worth it to have an awesome sound in all applications.
I usually start my search for tones using headphones. Then I adjust them (at gig level) for live use.
Thanks a lot for your input, that makes a lot of sense. Obviously some more work, but I guess it is the most sustainable solution and provides ongoing headaches.
