Quote from mtmartin71

I'm using Dimarzio, Seymour Duncan, and Manlius humbuckers. Most are PAF range. I have one Super Distortion in there. I haven't gotten into the Rockerverb yet.

Could be the different IRs or perhaps the speakers. What were you testing it to with Direct profiles (amp/cab?)? Was your assessment of them being terrible based on Direct or studio profiles? I am using direct profiles with Ownhammer IRs and monitoring via the Kemper Kab with a few imprints. On the Tone Junkie 68 Purple Plexi, his first version didn't come out well and he released a v2. I'm using the Treble channel profiles and I had to play with the definition and the bass. I think the TJ 72 Superlead was the best direct profile, with minimal adjustments. The 68 took some more work but it's "woodier" and less gainy so they each have a place for me.

Have you tried MBritt studio profiles? Do you like those? I feel like I've dialed in my direct profiles with Ownhammer IRs to get very close to that as far as my direct sound.

Sounds like similar pickups to mine - but I didn't like either studio or direct from Tone Junkie (bought 3 packs and gone thru all the free stuff), and with Reampzone they're all merged but didn't like them with either with their cabs or mine - can't get anywhere with M Britt profiles either!! Seeing as how many people do like these profiles, I have wondered occasionally if something is wrong with my Kemper... but then there are plenty of other profiles out there that do work for me (see my original post at the top), I guess it's just down to taste. And I've noticed opinions do vary, even on M Britt, so it's not just me.

Using Celestion IR's thru studio monitors btw - have quite a wide range of their IR's now - G12M65 and G12H75 creambacks tend to be my favourites - M25 and V30 also come in handy now and then, and the alnico ones nice for cleaner/fender-y tones. Also have some York ones, but don't like these as much. Might try Ownhammer at some point tho am pretty happy with Celestion for now.

Quote from mtmartin71

I guess it depends on your sound preferences, as you say, but I've been really happy with Reampzone, Tone Junkie, and to a lesser extent, MattFig.

For context, I've shifted to mostly playing my Kemper w/ imprints through a powered Kab. I'm not gigging or jamming with others at the moment. Prior to going to the Kab, I was using MBritt profiles and my studio monitors for home use and then a CLR to monitor myself live. If I were to play that way jamming or live again, I'd probably run the MBritt profiles. Now, I'm using direct profiles from the three above and adding Ownhammer Revolution IRs...specifically the Tight 1/Full IRs of mostly the greenback, H30, and Blue speakers/cabs. I like the sound direct and of course through the Kab. So, my recommendations below are focused on the sound of direct profiles into a powered Kab vs. the full studio profiles of each.

My favs from Reampzone so far...the AD140 and JCM 800 2203. Going to try the JJ100 and Rockerverb for heavier stuff. What I like a lot about Reampzone is he publishes the settings he used to profile for Direct so I know quickly how to get to my favorite EQ spot. I like to cut the bass pretty low, push the mids a bit, and set treble/presence to taste (but ample).

For Tone Junkie, I like the 68 Purple Plexi and the 72 Marshall Superlead. I did need to push the definition on the 68 to get it where I wanted. The 72 Marshall Superlead Jumpered profiles are really good and didn't require that much tweaking for my tastes. I've been noticing lately that TJ is seemingly moving away from Direct or Merged profiles as his last batch of packs have been studio only.

I probably need to spend more time with the MattFig profiles. He has a lot of the Marshall and Marshall flavored amps I dig, but I'm not sure of his baseline settings and I find them to be maybe a hair less lively. Probably just need to really spend time. I guess like many, if I get to what I want faster with one profile maker, I tend to stick with them. I have found some that I like though.

One thing I've realized...I should get the DI box, "borrow" a few amps, and just shoot my own direct IRs. I've done it once with a OR50 and it worked well.

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Interesting - I have two of the packs you mention above, Reampzone's Rockerverb & Tone Junkie's Purple Plexi - both sound and feel terrible thru my pickups! (Dimarzio humbucker, and single coil) Just out of interest, what pickups are you using?

FWIW, I've purchased a few more Choptones DI packs since posting, and they're fast becoming some of my favourite profiles. They need a bit of EQing to be perfect, but - unlike e.g. the two packs I mentioned in the previous paragraph - the amount of EQ needed is well within the bounds of what the kemper can do before it starts sounding un-natural.

As for the Matt Fig ones, I do quite like some of his profiles, tho overall there's quite a lofi sound to them (for want of a better adjective) that generally isn't what I'm after. I do really like his "KPA bass pack" tho (Ampeg B-15) and have made these even better (at least to my ears) combining the direct profiles he provides with Celestion Pulse 2x10 bass IR's.

My new favourite metal lead is from TMS's Mesa MkV (V90) pack - hadn't really found many Mesa Boogie sounds I liked before, but this one is amazing - it's the "MkIIc mode" one. They're merged profiles so I paired with a celestion G12H75 IR and it's perfect!

Any chance we could start a thread listing favourite DI/merged profiles? Either commercial packs, or from Rig Exchange. Might also be interesting to know what IR's people are using with them too (if not running direct thru real cab of course)

Bit of info if you're interested: I finally started experimenting with IR's recently, and have been getting really amazing results. Have owned my Kemper for several years now, and built up a large collection of studio profiles - and though I've found some great tones, I have struggled to find certain sounds I'm after - to the point whether I was wondering if maybe I needed to change to one of the amp-modelling options out there so as to be able to dial in my own amp tones. However once I started messing around with IR's, I realised just how much the cab and speaker (and mic) choice influences the tone - turns out I did already have a whole bunch of direct profiles (which I'd previously ignored!) in various packs I'd bought over the years, and among these I found many of the tones I was after simply by combining them with various IR's. As far as IR's go, I tried packs and freebies from a few companies, and decided I liked Celestion the best - mainly the 1x12 and 2x12 open back versions - bought a whole selection, and the G12M65 gets most use, V30 and G12H75 sometimes, and the alnicos (esp Cream and Blue) suit cleaner or grainy Fender-type tones well.

Anyway, as most discussions on here seem to focus on studio profiles, thought it might be useful to start a thread specifically on DI/merged, and which companies do packs with these types of profiles in them.

I'll start with a few recommendations of ones I've had the best results with:

Live Ready Sound - have always liked their studio profiles, and most of their packs come with a good amount of DI's included - as with their studio profiles there's a wide range of tones, which does mean a bit of searching, and that maybe only a few with work with whatever pickups you use - BUT these few tend to be excellent! Great feel to these as well.

TMS - all their packs are either merged and/or include DI's of each amp setting profiled. The cabs they provide aren't bad, but for me, it was the Celestion IR's that really made them come alive. Again, not all worked for me, but those that did are top-notch. And again, great feel with these.

Choptones - was a bit on the fence about Choptones previously - had bought a few of their studio packs, and not really liked them - however maybe these just weren't their best stuff, or didn't suit my pickups, because some of my best sounds now come from their DI packs - in particular, I finally found my ideal rock tones in their Laney GH50R pack. Tons of choice, one of the best resources for DI profiles out there. Tip - listen to the audio demos for the equivalent "just play" packs to get an idea what the DI's will sound like.

Guidorist - most of his packs are merged profiles, and tho the packs are small (but also very cheap!) there are tons of great profiles to be found. Again, I didn't get on with the stock cabs, but paired with Celestion IR's they're some of my favourites - esp. the HiWatt pack - barely needed any tweaking at all, and both very versatile and unique tone (sort of a mix of Marshall and Vox)

Matt Fig - the SLX pack are some of my favourite raw, "hairy" Marshall tones, and take drive pedals great!

I also found some DI/merged profiles in packs I'd bought over the years from: Top Jimi, Reampzone, Deadlight, Rock Profiles, Pete's Profiles - I did find a few that were pretty good among these, but on comparison didn't like the tones or the feel as much as the ones I mentioned above - though of course for different pickups/tastes, you may have better results.

Please feel free to add to this thread any DI/merged profiles or packs you'd recommend, and/or if there are any profiling companies you know of that sell packs specifically of DI/merged profiles (or even just with a good amount of these included in their studio packs)

Quote from Delinquent

https://youtu.be/FgxaT887E3E

You might find this interesting.

Please don't take any offense, I appreciate your suggestion - but that's a marketing video... I've never seen anything in that guy's videos that you couldn't gather from the manual in a fraction of the time. And honestly, I'm already doing far more than that to refine the sound of Kemper profiles, and to a far more precise degree.

Also, would like to keep the thread on topic - I'm well aware of the myriad of ways a profile's tone and feel can be refined, but really this is a technical question, more out of curiosity than anything else, about the the difference in feel between profiles before any tweaking is done. And it might not be as easily answerable as I thought - but am still hopeful some people who are experienced in creating profiles might be able to shed some light on it.

Quote from Wheresthedug

remember that everything about guitar playing is subjective. One person’s idea of good tone is another’s idea of total garbage. The same could be said for “feel” some people like spongey while others like really “stiff” and aggressive. Some like the notes to “bloom” while others crave a super fast attack. Maybe it really is just that different profilers are happy with the results they get rather than the Kemper can’t do X,Y or Z. Or maybe I’m talking nonsense 🤷🏻‍♂️

No, you're probably right - there are plenty of profiles out there where I try them and think "who wants that tone?" - but clearly some people do! - so similarly I suppose some people prefer a more compressed stiffer feel, and certain profilers maybe intentionally go for this while others strive for a more natural feel.

I do think there is something objective about feel though, at least in terms of realism, which is kind of the Kemper's main selling point - sure, tone can be very subjective, from deep sludge-rock doom to thin scratchy punk, it's all worked at some point - but with feel, there is objectively a feel that feels like a real amp feels. Some people may prefer something with less dynamic range for certain playing styles, and there's nothing wrong with that in itself - it's not like that's objectively bad - but I think you can say it objectively feels less like a real amp.

Quote from Wheresthedug

Just double checked. The actual adjusted values would show e.g. if the profile returned compression 0.0 but the author changed it 3.4 and saved the value would show as 3.4

OK, thanks for checking/clarifying - as you can probably guess, I've never tried profiling, so not sure exactly what the process is (& hence why I'm curious about this topic!)

Sounds like that's not it then, and anyway, as I'm unable to reproduce the feel of a really dynamic profile by dialling in more sag/comp on a flat-feeling one, makes sense it's something else. Probably is, as you suggest, more to do with finding the amp's sweet spot where Kemper's profiling signal (or whatever you'd call it) can detect the full dynamic range of the amp. But who knows - I find when buying profiles, with some companies everything I've tried from them all feels very flat - whereas other companies (and with same/similar amps) I can generally find nice dynamic ones - so is it really just that some aren't finding the amps sweet spot, or something else they're doing differently? Maybe it's not that anyone's doing anything "wrong" as such, but some people add some extra magic somehow to bring out the full dynamics, something in the signal chain maybe? In which case they're probably not going to share their secrets And it's the same with rig exchange btw, scroll thru a bunch all of the same amp, differences in tone aside, they'll all feel very different under fingers also. I guess the Kemper "measures" various things when profiling: captures the tone, but also the dynamics according to different volumes of the signal fed thru it etc - so that it's possible to capture a good tone, but not necessarily a good feel - or vice-versa!

Oh well, no problem really - I've got an abundance of profiles now that feel and sound amazing - but was just curious about the factors that go into capturing this realistic feel. Will have to try my hand at profiling one day, maybe it'll all make more sense then, though currently have no tube amps to try it on!

Quote from cmbrowns

But to avoid really simple edits or changes just because there is a large library to choose from is kind of like getting a new tube amp, then not using it because you don't want to tweak treble and bass. Nothing special about a raw profile, and that raw profile is really only meaningful to whoever created it and what they were after.

I've stated several times above that I do tweak these parameters... in fact there's rarely any parameter I don't adjust to some extent once I've found a profile I think I'll be using a lot. I find that every control on the Kemper is very useful and can potentially help turn a good profile into a great one. I mention comparing raw profiles because that's what the question is about - why some profiles have so much better feel/dynamics than others - it's a question about the profiling process really. I mentioned raw profiles to try and avoid all the suggestions re. sag & compression etc... point being simply that these parameters are not a factor in what I'm talking about.

Quote from Wheresthedug

The amp being profiled obviously makes a massive difference. Most amps have a relatively narrow “sweet spot” where they just come alive. As the profile is a snapshot of the full signal chain settings profiles at different amp settings or speaker/mic combinations will capture the changes in dynamics from the original amp. Some just wont feel as good as others. That’s what happens with real amps too.

Tweaking - things like sag and compression obviously affect the feel. I know that you don’t want to tweak these but want to understand the root cause. However, many of the profiles have already been tweaked during the profiling session. If the profiler felt it was nearly there but just needed a little more sponginess they may have dialed in some sag and/or compression before saving.

Just to clarify, it's not that I don't want to tweak these parameters at some point - once I've found a good profile, I'll usually end up tweaking almost every parameter available to some extent! I'm simply ruling these out as a factor for the differences in feel by comparing the raw profiles. Also, I am comparing profiles of same amps at similar gain ranges, otherwise, yes, of course there would be "natural" differences from amp to amp. However you mention something interesting - that some sag or compression could be added during the profiling process before saving - this I didn't realise could be done. But just to clarify, are you saying that if this was dialled in on the Kemper during the profiling process, then the raw profile would contain this even with all the parameters set at default/zero? Or you just mean they save it with e.g. sag set at 1.2 - and that you'd see these values displayed when you load it up?

Quote from Kellerblues

Compression Parameter in the Amp section is there as well

Yes, but that's not it - I do generally dial in some of this to any profile when tweaking, but in so far as what I'm talking about here, in regards to feel/dynamic range, am comparing raw profiles (parameters at default).

Quote from RosboneMako

I am very curious about this topic. How much gain is in the profiles that "feel" dynamic?

I would say it's most noticeable on mid-gain profiles (say between around 4-7 on the gain knob) - with cleaner profiles it's harder to hear, but the difference I mention is definitely still there from profile to profile - with VERY high gain profiles, these of course get inherently very compressed with all the distortion - but again, I can still feel the difference between ones with a realistic dynamic range, and ones with less.

Quote from cmbrowns

You can try the Power Sag. I set it to around 4-5 on most rigs for exactly this purpose. Works great for me.

Yes, I always dial in a bit of power sag, but I'm not really asking for ways to make less dynamic profiles more dynamic - I'm just curious as to why some are so much less dynamic to start with. Trust me, in terms of tweaking, I've tried every trick in the book by now - conclusion (and you find this said many times elsewhere also) is: if a profile isn't around 90% there to begin with, you're never going to get it sounding as good as one that is no matter how much EQ or parameter-tweaking you throw at it!

In the constant process of narrowing down the profiles I own to just the very best, I find to often comes down to feel. e.g. I may have several profiles of the same amp at similar gain ranges, all which SOUND good tonally, but there's usually one I'll come back to more due to how nice it FEELS to play.

I guess this is mainly due to a wide range of dynamics, where you can change the sound just by pick strength. The Kemper is definitely capable of feeling almost exactly like a real tube amp. And some profiles have this, and feel totally natural, very inspiring to play. However some, even thought the tone/sound itself may be good, just feel horribly "flat" and "brittle" to play - limited dynamics, whether you pick soft or hard it results in much the same sound. btw when comparing dynamic feel/touch responsiveness of profiles I have been careful to make sure there are no compressor or noisegate setting that could be responsible - it's definitely something in the raw profiles themselves.

Question is, is there something in the profiling process that determines the range of dynamics?

And are there people who maybe find a limited dynamic range preferable? Because I've notice even some of the most popular profiles can feel very flat.

Quote from Sollazzon

cheers.. just jokeing.. no problem man.

Yep, Wall of Sound also works as "just" an IR loader in Your DAW.

I started using it intensly 'cause the free Cab already included is actually a Marshall 1960 AV (4×12 w/V30) that was and still is my Main/Fav. cab for a long time.

So I ve stared experimenting with it..

It was a lot of fun, easy to use and damn consistent.

About Celestion IRs, as I've said before, My Favourite one is the Mix of 57+121+421 of a 4x12 V30. But with Wall of Sound I've also made my "Signature" preset Mixing those 3 singol IR in a different, personal way.

If I don't go wrong I ve also shared it in a profile on rig Exchange.

I Know Celestion did his own plug-in to use their 'Dynamic IR' or whatever they call them.. but it was f' expensive so I've never even tried it.

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Planning to demo a bunch of IR loaders this week - been using the free NadIR plugin over the last few days, just to get a feel for mixing IR's (tho you can only mix 2, and can't export) - definitely some interesting possibilities, e.g a close mic and room. Also planning to demo the Celestion dynamic IR thing - it's pricey, but you do get 10 free "dynamic IR" cabs (of your choice) with it, so it's not actually a bad deal. It can't export IR's tho, so I'd be stuck with loading this (and a corresponding preset) for each DI Kemper profile I use. If their "Dynamic" IR tech really makes a difference, I may consider it. Otherwise MixIR3 and Libra are also on my list.

btw, after extensive testing of the Celestion IR's, with all sorts of different DI profiles, I was surprised to find that my favourite cab by far is the 1x12 (open). I always gigged with 4x12's, and just figured that this, or maybe a 2x12, was what you needed for rock. But the 1x12 sounds far more present/controlled/dynamic/immediate/punchy no matter what type of tone I throw at it. I did buy a pack from York Audio too (Mrsh M25), and they're good, but don't like them as much as the Celestion ones.

Quote from OldShredderhand

Bulk Rename Utility to the rescue! <:)=
(www . bulkrenameutility.co.uk)

Cheers

That's the one I ended up using! I replaced the lengthy speaker description in each file with a shorter one, the identifiers at the end of the name just about show up now

Quote from Sollazzon

Soon after I've realized that DA profiles + IR Works for me, I ve started to use Wall of Sound. It's a free plug in by Two Notes.

It really opened up a New World for me.

Now I use it (with a Topredo Captor) Everytime I profile an Amp so I get the DA profiles (just the amp, without the plugin) and also Studio profiles with my Personal/Custom IR's mix (in case I need something a little bit different from Celestion IR or Wall of Sound Presets).

PS alligatorlizard 2 Z in Sollazzon please

Hey, at least I got the 2 L's right Wondered why it didn't come up as a tag! Was typing quickly while waiting for files to copy...

Just been looking at the plugin you mentioned - I had been wondering about the possibility of loading IR's with some sort of IR loader in my DAW - seeing as I'm always using the Kemper thru it anyway. Have heard there's a bit more fidelity/accuracy as opposed to the Kemper-converted cab files - plus, would be interesting to blend several IR's - e.g. the one thing I feel is lacking with the Celestion packs is multi micing - there are only a few multi mic mixes available, and the only tonal options here are "LoGain" & "HiGain", as opposed to 6 different options with single mics. But with an IR loader, presumably I could blend my favourite single mics of different types together. Anyway, thanks, will add the plugin you mention to my list of possibilities

Quote from CKDexterHaven

I am not dedicated to any particular source for IRs. And, some of the darlings on TGP I don’t find to be up to the hype. I have some Ownhammer, Tone Junkie, York Audio, some random freebies. Just a mixed bag.

I don’t think I’m in the position to answer your second question. I don’t bother swapping IRs until I’m already happy with the profile I’ve tweaked. And I have profiles that are tweaked for each specific guitar. So, before I audition IRs, I have edited the profile for that guitar, it’s working and I’m happy. Then, finding a better cab is like turbo charging the profile sometimes and sometimes it’s like a significant modification of the tone.

It’s shocking, typically, to go back to the profile I was happy with (before delving into alternate IRs) and find that what I liked now sounds pretty bad in comparison. IRs make a huge difference.

I finally got around to experimenting with IR's and really glad I did! I tried various direct profiles I've accumulated over the years (and had previously ignored) and paired them with the Kemper's free IR's - interestingly, the one that worked best for me happened to be the same one Sollazon mentioned above (GM12 65 creamback 112 open R121 bright). And it didn't just "work, it worked really well - instantly I got a type of sound I'd been looking for, but never managed to find in any studio packs. So I auditioned a bunch more free IR's from Valhallir, tried the $1 pack from York, but none of these worked as well as the free celestion ones - also considered Ownhammer, but they've got no free samples, plus looks like way too many options in their packs... So spent a while researching Celestion speakers, and decided to go for their G12H75 pack - and wow, it's taken my Kemper to a whole new level! Never fully appreciated how much difference the choice of speaker makes before, and turns out the creamback sound is the one I've been chasing. Yes, it takes a while auditioning IR's, but thankfully not too many options in the celestion packs, and the ones that are there just work - have now got some of the best sounds (pairing these with direct and merged profiles) that I've ever got with the Kemper - maybe not objectively "better" than the studio profiles I've used previously, but more tailored to my pickups and the "ideal sound in my head".

Anyway, will definitely be trying some more Celestion packs in the future (e.g. the G12M 65 creamback) and maybe from other companies too. As much as people say the whole IR thing is a rabbit hole, I'm finding it far quicker (and cheaper!) than buying tons of studio profiles in the hope that a few in each pack might suit my pickups.

TLDR - many thanks for the suggestion and info re IRs!

Quote from Burkhard

Unfortunately all meta data of IRs are included in their names and there is no convention.

The entire original IR file name should still be available in the tag Cabinet Comment.

Thanks for clarifying! And yes, I just checked the Cabinet Comment tag, and full file name is there - I thought I'd already looked here, but must have just moused-over the "name" tag above "comment" - anwyay, good to know, as at least I can now verify which IR I've loaded

Someone elsewhere mentioned using a bulk renaming program, so maybe that's the best solution to shorten all the file names before importing them.

Am totally blown away by how well it works combining direct/merged profiles with 3rd part IR's btw, instantly taken my Kemper to a whole new level - not that this way is necessarily "better" than studio profiles, but opens up new possibilities of creating specific tones I hadn't previously managed to find in studio packs.

Hi,

When dragging and dropping IR files into Rig Manager, it shortens the name of each file (only a certain amount of characters seem to be allowed in the "name" column). For IR's with long names this can result a whole bunch of them being displayed as having the exact same name, as the identifying terms like "bright"/"balanced" etc are always at the end of the file name, and are cut off.

Is there anything I can do about this? e.g. set up Rig Manger to display longer file names, or some other way of importing them? I suppose I could rename them all manually, but we're talking hundreds of files...

Also, I noticed there is no information shown about the cab (speaker mic type etc) when I load these imported IR's into a rig. Maybe this is normal - I'm not sure if wav files can carry metadata like this? - but with the free IR's that come with the Kemper, this info is shown when you load them. Again, is there anything I can do differently to get this info to show up for imported IR's?

First time working with IR's, so bear with me if I'm making some basic error here! btw, they all load fine (and sound great!) and in case anybody asks, yes, I've widened the column width in RM, that isn't the problem And I'm using the 44.1k 200ms ones, which I believe is correct.

Thanks!

Quick question about signal flow - when increasing direct mix, does this:

1) simply add the direct signal (which as I understand is taken after pedal slots, and mixed back in before the cab) to the mix, or

2) "divide" the signal going into the amp, so that the more you turn up direct mix, the lower the volume of signal going into the amp

I am assuming it's the first option - but just want to make sure! Especially as elsewhere ckemper stated that at full direct mix it's 50/50 direct/amp - so another way of putting the question, does this just mean that the parallel direct signal is as loud as the amp'd signal at full direct mix - or that at full direct mix the signal's volume is divided 50/50 between amp and direct (hence the volume of the signal going into the amp would be 50% less)?

Reason I'm asking is that when I add a boost of any sort to the stomp section, I set it carefully so it drives the amp just how I like it for response/feel and gain. So if the second option is the case, this will mess up these settings when I increase direct mix. Again, I'm pretty sure this is not the case, but can anyone confirm?

Quote from CKDexterHaven

IRs are kind of amazing.

Each time i buy a new amp profiles pack, or go on a tone-matching quest, i start with stock profiles and tweak them to reach a specific objective. I'm usually very happy at the conclusion of that little process. But, then i go into the IRs thing. I start by sticking the stock IR into a folder i call "A/B testing." And then i go through the 100 or so IRs i have been working with, but only with the appropriate IRs for the amp. And as i go through them, i drag the ones i like into the A/B folder. I eventually end up with about 10 in the A/B, and i just go through them and compare one to the next, and delete the copy that 'loses' that individual battle. From that, i end up with a winner. And 95 times out of 100, the winner is much better than the stock.

Which is bizarre, because i started the whole process really, really liking what i had done with the Stock IR. But, after A/B'ing all my favorite IRs, when i go back to the Stock, the stock sounds flat and muffled.

I think the key, though, is to create a process for auditioning IRs that keeps you out of a rabbit hole. Something that limits the number you will test and the time you spend. I do all of what i just described in five to ten minutes, just strumming the same few chords and just getting very quick impressions and making quick decisions.

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Interesting - if I decide to dive back into IR's at some point, which ones do you recommend?

Also, do you find they help with profiles that didn't quite work tonally with certain pickups (e.g. too bassy or trebly), or do you really need to start with a profile that works well already?

I started down the IR rabbit hole recently - tried all the free ones you mention (didn't really like them) and the ones in Petr Canov's pack, with which I had more success. However I never managed to get better results than with studio profiles where the cabs had already been carefully chosen (and carefully mic'd up) to suit the amp. No doubt if you buy some Celestion or Tonehammer IR's, the possibilities expand - but, as said above, it's enough work finding studio profiles that work well - add into this almost endless combinations of direct profiles and cab IR's, mixing and matching in the hope that something gels... not sure it's worth it!

Also, to my ears, merged profiles never sound quite as good as studio profiles - I'd say the latter are what the Kemper does best. Of course, opinions may vary, but that was my conclusion.