Posts by SteinbergerHack

  • MIDI control of KPA?

    Quote from deadman42

    I did this for some time with the Boss FC50. A quite compact MIDI controller and one of the few I could think of which are even smaller than the Remote from Kemper. Basically I was able to do what I wanted, switch slots on my performances. Additional foot switches (meaning additonal space...) helped me to switch certain things in the Kemper and Bank up / Bank down on the Midi controller.


    To be honest: With the Remote being only 5cm deeper, same width, I was very happy when I swtichted to the Remote and had so much more options available. I use it a lot to switch the stomps, morphing etc. - I understand what you're after and if you can limit yourself to a handful of options than it will work fine.


    Finally: A lot of the Midi controllers out there are way bigger than the Remote, e.g. Behringers FCB1010 which brings also built in pedals.

    I already have an old ADA (from the MP-1 days) that is a good bit smaller than the Remote, and a LOT smaller than the Stage.


    My thinking is that the Stage or Rack are basically the same price, so it's a choice of the Stage on the floor, or a much smaller MIDI board on the floor.

  • MIDI control of KPA?

    Has anyone tried using a MIDI pedal controller with a KPA as an alternative to the full Kemper floor controller? Since I do a lot of theater pit gigs, I'm thinking of how to use the least floor space possible. I already must have a rack for power, tuner and mixer (acoustic instruments), so I'm thinking either rackmount KPA and a MIDI board or the Stage. The Stage looks nice, but it's a LOT bigger than a minimal MIDI controller, and space is always at a premium in pit gigs.


    For performance, my needs are generally limited to patch changes and wah/volume pedal. I don't tweak settings on the fly, and I haven't used discrete pedals in ages (FX are all rack-mount).


    Bottom like - can anyone speak to whether the KPA can be operated effectively with just a MIDI controller?

  • Monitor for Kemper profiler stage

    Although I am very new to the Kemper world, I moved away from the traditional cabinet application a long time ago, running a tube amp through a loadbox/cabinet simulator, then into a small mixer and stage monitors.


    From a lot of gigging experience, I would offer the following items of advice:


    1) Ignore the term "FRFR". What you are buying is a monitor cabinet, regardless of how it is marketed; "FRFR" cabinets are the exact same things as PA monitor cabinets, and they are interchangeable. [They are also generally bottom-of-the-line PA cabinets, though not always.]

    2) There are three primary features that you need to evaluate; sound quality, weight/size, and SPL output. Nothing else really matters.

    3) You want the closest to "perfect" sound reproduction as you can get, just as you would with a touring PA rig or recording studio monitors. Why? Because you want the sound you hear from the monitor to be as close as possible to the signal going to the FOH or the recording input. Anything that say is "voiced for guitar" is trying to make excuses for a bad response curve.


    Price, weight/size and SPL output can be evaluated from a spec sheet, but sound quality cannot.


    IMO, the best way to "audition" a monitor cabinet is to take your phone or other audio source and play music through it that you are very familiar with. Set all EQ flat throughout the signal chain, and play your preferred tunes through the various candidate cabinets at a range of different volumes to see how they respond at all the levels you will use. The one that sounds the closest to the actual recording is the one you should buy.


    Now, why would you not just play the guitar through the cabinet? Because you will EQ around the problems in the cabinet, or you will end up picking a patch that fits the cabinet. This results in making bad EQ decisions to fit the cabinet, and it will cause problems later.


    Think from another perspective - if you're spending this much on your amp head (KPA), why would you pair it with the absolute cheapest, lowest-grade monitor cabinet available?

  • First attempts

    OK, so I finally got to use the Kemper in a rehearsal, using some assorted AC-30 profiles.


    Two things to note:


    1) I ended up using several profiles to get what I needed. The 3 top ones were one from Britt, one from Top Jimi, and one that is an orphan in the rig exchange ("Mister May"). I used a couple more for specific sounds, but these three were the most used.


    2) This thing sounds very, very good, and is a lot easier to use that I expected. I have some work to do to get it ready for the actual show, but this is the easiest time I've ever had running with a new rig. Given how well this went, I may end up switching to Kemper full time, and keeping the tube amps at the house for practice and profiling.


    All that said, when I played the Kemper through a cheap "FRFR" cabinet at GC, I would have never given it a second look - it just didn't sound that great, and was nowhere near what I would have wanted to use in a real gig. Bringing it home, putting some good profiles in it and running with a decent monitor cabinet really showed what it can do, though - and this thing is serious.

    I come away, though, with a sense that the "floorboard" is massive overkill for me. I don't tend to tweak during performances, I just select patches on rack FX units w/MIDI and use the amp's footswitch for gain selection. Given this history, I think I'm going to end up building the rigs I need and using MIDI to select them instead of using the "floorboard", and that will also save a lot of space.

  • A very basic request -

    Quote from Andy_T-V

    Have you had one? - I have (once). I was back up and running before the keyboards and the FOH desk ... perhaps consider a UPS?

    Twice in the past year. One was an outdoor festival gig where the power conditioner in the main PA rack failed, the other was a pit gig where the pit outlets were run through the main lighting rig, and the light tech missed a cue and bounced us.

  • A very basic request -

    Not sure that really helps when you get a power-bounce during a live gig.

  • A very basic request -

    I have only been playing with the Kemper for a week or so, but I would ask for one thing before all others - a faster boot-up time. It seems to be a bit more than 45 seconds with the latest OS, and that's a long time watching the progress bar.

  • First attempts

    Quote from paults

    Welcome!


    What will you be using onstage, to enable you and the cast to hear the band? I suggest using it, and making your best guess at stage volume, and tweak the rigs at that level. If your guess is a bit loud or quiet, the volume adjustment won't affect the tone that much.


    When you get to the venue, the Output section has two EQs that can be used to globally adjust all Rigs for the Main and Monitor/Speaker Outputs.

    I generally run all of my stuff through DXR12s - I have enough for a full club PA, so I can run one or many as needed. I have an EQ in my stage mixer (XR12) to get them very close to flat, so I generally run the same signal to both FOH and my feed, with the only difference being that EQ to adjust for the DXR12.

    Quote from Finally

    Hey - I know you from that other place. Welcome. ?


    I have my X effects slot set as a global studio EQ. I use it to do a high cut and low cut filter and for any specific tweaks needed for a particular situation. I turn it off for acoustic or bass.


    If you run high gain profiles without a high cut there's a certain harsh treble caused by the mic on the original cabinet that sounds "fizzy". Same with a real amp. I've got my high cut at around 6-7 KHz and it really sounds more like an amp. The sound engineer probably already does something to your XTC in the mix.

    I'll play with the X slot idea. I still haven't fooled around with any FX yet - my approach is always to start with the basic sound, then add as little FX as I can to get the right sound for the gig. If the basic tone is right, the FX are easy to add later; the reverse is not true, from my experience.


    I know what you're getting at re: the upper mid harshness, and I already have that pulled out of my feed with XTC rig. My basic rig for the past few years has been XTC>Torpedo Live>XR12, then outputs from the XR12 to whatever is needed. The Torpedo Live is a really solid IR sim of a mic'd cabinet, and you can work with the simulated mic placement to tame it down very nicely. Thus, there is no physical mic, and sound guys generally don't have to re-EQ my feed (I have gotten a number of comments on how easy my feed is for them to work with - one cable, no fuss). Good point, though, that I need to pay attention to that in the KPA setup.


    Thanks to both of you - good helpful stuff to think about!

  • KPA Powerhead - Gang plug concern/question

    That 10A is at 120 VAC - US power. You shouldn't have any problem at 220/240.


    In any case, the power amp's output section doesn't actually draw significant current until you are pushing it HARD. The power supply's caps do most of the work for peaks, so it's only when you are running a heavy sustained output level that it will be an issue. Quick math says that even a 600W peak would only be about 3A @220VAC, add in another 2A for the electronics and you're fine at 5A.

  • First attempts

    Quote from jfischer518

    If you tweak anything, you can save the new settings with the store option. Once stored, those settings will be puled up each time. As for the pit gig, you may want to stay with you traditional rig until you are more familiar with the Kemper at the smaller venues and know how it will react with the profiles you have selected. A large live gig is not the best place to debut an unfamiliar amp, tubed or digital.

    OK, guess I need to spend some time with the "store" option.


    How would I then go back to the original, untweaked version, if I manage to knob-twist myself into the depths of hell itself?


    I get what you're saying here, but the reason I borrowed the Kemper is that my existing amps (Bogner XTC, JCM800 and MP-1) really don't get anywhere close to the AC30 signature Brian May sound, but that's what this particular gig calls for. Most of my other gigs actually take a much wider variety of sounds, which I already have dialed into the existing rig (or at least close enough). Probably better to start with modelling a one-trick pony first, then move to the broader pallet after I have a clue how this thing really works.


    The good news is that I have ~6 weeks to futz around with it before the show opens, so I think I can get it there.

  • First attempts

    Don't take this the wrong way, but you haven't played any pit gigs, have you? The first time the entire group will be together is likely to be opening night of the show, and "backing tracks" will never exist, because the show will never be recorded (as the performance contract rights require).


    As for playing "the same volume" as the gig, there is no way to know what that will be until a few days before opening. The room is a 1,068 seat theater, and we won't know the required stage volume until the first run-through in tech week. Unlike most "pit gigs" this one requires that the band be onstage as part of the scenery, so we function as both the pit and the monitor system for the cast, which complicates matters even more.


    As for the tone controls, my understanding is that tweaking these only changes the settings for a single rig, and they revert back to the preset when you change rigs, right?......or am I misunderstanding how the KPA works?

  • Future of Kemper? 2020 and Beyond

    Quote from whippinpost91850

    because there is still something in the way tubes warm up the sound.. and full range so you can still define cabinet types:)

    If you have profiled a tube amp, then the "warmth" is already there.

    Still not seeing it. You also have the problem that you are now sending a different signal to FOH than you are hearing onstage; I can't ever think of a situation where this would be good.

  • How do you improve your tone???​

    Quote from V8guitar

    My views:

    Care less about your tone - sound is important but 90% of our sound is from our hands and the only people in the audience really listening to your guitar tone are other guitarists...who won't like what you play regardless. Plus your ears/perception change constantly, even if you sound stays consistent

    Avoid analysis paralysis - don't search for sonic nirvana, it leads to endless disappointment. Settle for 90%..


    I rarely use eq, as said by others I tend to go for a good sounding profile and stick with it.

    This. It's just as true for a profiler as it is for every other piece of gear you have.

  • Future of Kemper? 2020 and Beyond

    Quote from whippinpost91850

    +1 On a Tube-powered FRFR cab

    Why? I don't grasp what benefit this would give, as tubes are inherently NOT "FRFR".


    If you're outputting the final signal with power amp and cabinet emulation already in the chain, I can't understand why you would want anything other than the flattest, most linear response you can get, i.e., the best monitor cabinet you can find.


    On a more practical note, if you're going to carry tubes around, why not just use a tube amp in the first place?