New Overwhelmed Kemper User

1. How are you monitoring with the Thump? If you have it sitting on the ground vertically, you will get a very boomy response. This is not unique to the thump but almost any PA speaker. To get a flatter response, it needs to be pole mounted or on it's side used as a wedge.

2. Please be more specific regarding sounding "kinda digital". More than likely something is set up incorrectly. Are you perhaps overdriving the Thump's input? The KPA can send a very hot signal. Do you have cabinets disabled either on the front panel or in the master output?

3. The Thump series are rather noisey. They have a noise gate built in to try and help things. At quieter room volumes, you will probably be hearing it kick in and out. Used to drive me nuts when I had mine. Just a heads up if things sound a little noisey and you hear it kcik in and out, it isn't the Kemper.

The starting pack of Maurizio is fantastic but I would definitely recommend you explore the factory rigs to start with.

A lot of them have not been tweaked to the taste of their creator and that means that you will have the true sound that was profiled since everything is basically at the noon position.

From there you will have a better idea how your whole setup behaves and you can make quick and basic adjustments to get the sound that you are after.

You will soon find out that some patterns will come out of your exploration and then you can tackle the rigs of others more easily since you will know what to boost or reduce to get what you want from those rigs.

My experience from Line6 to Kemper was literally night and day, a real eye opener as to what things should sound and behave.

Welcome here by the way.

"Digital sounding" often means that you're getting preamp only.. Check how it sounds through headphones. Make sure that the Cab section is enabled, and whichever outs you're using to the thump don't have the cab disabled (output section) for monitoring.

Try to check the EQ-settings in the OUTPUT section (by pressing the OUTPUT knob for a few seconds) - maybe there are some unwanted settings done?

I hate to say this, but "kinda boomy" is the Thump. That's one of my least favorite powered speakers.

I'd attempt some corrective EQ. Start with the EQ on the back panel of the Thump. Listen to some recorded music through the Thump and try to tune out the boominess. If you can borrow some decent studio monitors for comparison, so much the better.

As far as the level goes:

Turn down the level control on the Thump; this'll let you raise the master on the KPA. In no case should the Thump's volume be more than half-way up; this gives it a sensitivity of +4 dBU for full output (which is going to be quite loud).

I'm glad to hear you are having some success. Please stick with it - the end result is very much worth the effort.

It's a sad reality that all monitors and FRFR speakers are not created equally. And most of them aren't really a flat response.

Also, like StealthAMD said, try out all the factory patches. If you find one that's close, tweak it to your liking. The trick to getting the most out of a Kemper (or any modeler) is to get the speaker right. Unfortunately, it can sometimes be a challenge. But when you do, BAM! All of a sudden the KPA will become a whole new tonal world.

..try factory profiles along with backing tracks also.. maybe you will be amazed good luck!

ps: it will take a bit of time till you find what works for you, your guitar, your ears ecc.. but you will find it, definitely!!

It shouldnt sound drastically different. Maybe different but thats why there is a monitor out eq and a main out eq. Have you tried these yet? They are in the output section (output soft button). If youre going into your Mackie using monitor out of the Kemper you can set the eq how you like it on just the monitor. The main out controls the eqs to the main outs (XLRs) You'd be surprised how just minor tweaks, especially to the low end can really help. This is one of my favorite features of the Kemper. Good luck!

Quote from facefirst

I think my biggest worry is that I'll get it to sound good out of my monitor and that when I send it out to FOH it will sound drastically different.

It will. Even without taking into consideration that each soundman will treat your signal differently. Each system will sound different. In fact, even the same system in different rooms will sound different. In fact, the same room will sound different when empty versus full of people. Don't get too concerned with things sounding different, they always will even with a traditional amp. Your best bet is to dial thing in at a fairly loud volume and then hope the soundman knows what they are doing.

Quote from Will_Chen

It will. Even without taking into consideration that each soundman will treat your signal differently. Each system will sound different. In fact, even the same system in different rooms will sound different. In fact, the same room will sound different when empty versus full of people. Don't get too concerned with things sounding different, they always will even with a traditional amp. Your best bet is to dial thing in at a fairly loud volume and then hope the soundman knows what they are doing.

Very true. Don't worry about what you can't control

But seriously, get your sound as good as possible through your monitor, and if you find that you can't stand the sound at FOH (because the EQ is so hard for your monitor), you can always have the soundman mic your monitor.

Keep at it. For my ears I found several Mackie cabs unacceptable. I think they were designed primarily for DJs and not meant to be very flat response. Just my 2 cents

The story is often the same - when you get a new amp (in this case the KPA), it takes a few days until your ears acclimatize to the new sound. I never had this with most of the modellers (and I had a lot of them), they all never had the sound I expected but after working a little with the KPA, I found my "own sound" in a rough version quickly. Till now (over one and a half year), I´m tweaking it in every studio session and every performance till it´s getting perfect. I´m nearly there....
"It sounds digital to me..." is just a synonymously for dialing in a not optimally rig or worked to little with the amp - the KPA is like a chameleon and can sound however you want, it´s just up to you!