First time live, not convincing.

I am not a pro, but profile's EQ and all of the rest of settings cannot be the same for bedroom and for loud gigs .

Low level , bedroom type playing, include more bass and highs , where loud level , gigs, ask for more mids , less bass and less highs in a manner to pass through the mix , and to sound fat and organic.

In summary , as soon as you increase your volume on Kemper or on amp , everything get changed , so you must tweak it for that particular volume level and particular amp, cabs or PA.

The best sonic results I have gotten were thru my FRFR QSC K10. It SOUNDS like a guitar amp & cab, but it doesnt color the great profiles like the Marshall probably did.

Quote from Rescator

I am not a pro, but profile's EQ and all of the rest of settings cannot be the same for bedroom and for loud gigs .

Low level , bedroom type playing, include more bass and highs , where loud level , gigs, ask for more mids , less bass and less highs in a manner to pass through the mix , and to sound fat and organic.

In summary , as soon as you increase your volume on Kemper or on amp , everything get changed , so you must tweak it for that particular volume level and particular amp, cabs or PA.

This!

And welcome!

Agreed with the above.
Also, acoustic resonances which take place in a different room may dramatically change the overall sound (for example, bass and mid-bass freqs can cover mids and make them muddy). This is more noticeable as long as the volume is higher.
I'd try to play by alone in the rehearsal room. If you don't like your sound, and it gets better when lowering the volume, it's the room/cab placement. If you like it at any volume, you'll have to EQ your sound as stated.

HTH

If you hear your tube rig you get:
amp-cap-room

When you profile your amp (mic before the cab) - and play it via your KPA and the same cab you get:

amp-cab-room--mic(coloring)-cab-room

I would recomment to profile the output of the amp via DI and then let the amp&cab block active during play.

In this case you profile:
amp

And get later:
amp-cab-room

I'm sure you used the Monitor EQ, so I won't mention that.

Ignore the name of the Profile, don't choose by "Amp" name, choose by tone.
Reduce Gain on the Profile, like with most real amps guitarists use too much gain, they most probably do the same thing when Profiling.
Add the Compressor Stomp upfront, especially when using single coils, and moderately when using humbuckers...it sounds great in the audience and gives you the feeling onstage of a tube amp in cooking mode...you might be missing that 'feeling' right now.

You probably did this, but just in case, switch off cabs when running into an actual cabinet.

My guess? One problem could be you're used to hearing a cab blow all that air underneath your ears. If you could hear your KPA with a high powered FRFR system, that would help somewhat. Maybe you could borrow a CLR and crank the piss out of it. Or at least try your Mackies.

The 2nd issue could be that you need to acclimate your ears to hearing a "studio mic'ed amp sound" as opposed to an amp sound onstage. They are very different animals. It's the hardest transition for live players. This is probably what's making you crazy.

You already know the KPA excels at getting great recording tones. You know national and international guitar stars are using the KPA live. You just need to get your mind and ears around your live situation.

If you're using lots of different tones in your performance then look at the earlier suggestions (they're all good) and look hard at FRFR systems. If you just need a good primary tone or two and if you're set on using your 4x12, I'd really consider Armin's advice.

he , he ....do not tell anyone, this is what exactly happen to me (few times, not only once ) when I started with Kemper-what a shit sound-exactly like OP described ...

Quote from nightlight

You probably did this, but just in case, switch off cabs when running into an actual cabinet.

Happened to me as well at my secong gig with KPA took me two sets to figure it out

If it sounds good to you when recording it, a FRFR speaker or two will give you the same sound you like when you are recording. I don't re-EQ profiles I like for live use.

Quote from viabcroce

Agreed with the above.
Also, acoustic resonances which take place in a different room may dramatically change the overall sound (for example, bass and mid-bass freqs can cover mids and make them muddy). This is more noticeable as long as the volume is higher.
I'd try to play by alone in the rehearsal room. If you don't like your sound, and it gets better when lowering the volume, it's the room/cab placement. If you like it at any volume, you'll have to EQ your sound as stated.

HTH

I concur 100%. there are places in which the kemper, while sounding superstar at home, sounds like garbage. for example, I gigged at the Hard Rock Cafe in Florence, couple of weeks ago. the place's acustic was so bad the kemper was almost not playable. I had to anyways but it was a torture because I had to play a very hard and difficult repertoire.........with a smile on my face!

as a matter of fact, I'm thinking about having a plan B for places like this, which will comprise the use of an ISO box (hooking the kpa into the return of an amp) since I'm tester/demonstrator of a magnificent one (the montarbo iso box).

in places like the mentioned, there is no way to have the kemper to sound good, either on a poweramp or into the consolle........the use of an isobox, being virtually sealed, solves all the acustics trouble.

and consider that I tried various solution. for instance: I have gathered many profiles for both poweramp/cab and consolle use, with the same timbre but different harmonics. so sometimes while a plexi isn't sounding ok, a mesa might as well. but in the room like the HRC, no amp was sounding playable........

I always wonder what 4x12 cabinet folks are using with their Kempers. I've tried a few different versions of various manufacturers. From all of my tests, I've found V30 speakers to be the least desirable with the Powered Rack at least to my ears. That is not that they sound bad, it is the fact that every single profile sounds the same through them. I started with my previous custom Mesa 2x12 with V30s. Everything sounded great but the same. I borrowed a friends Bogner Uberkab with the V30/T-75 combo and it sounded a bit better. I finally picked up a slightly used but nicely broken in Marshall 1960AX with Greenbacks and I can say without a doubt that this is a fantastic setup for the powered rack if you are not able to get used to an FRFR solution and really want a cab. For me, it works. I've made a couple of output changes when playing louder and stored those and all works fine. I can distinctly hear the difference between patches, etc.

It works for me.

Hey PBGas,
Just curious about your 4x12 experiences. Are you using standard rigs or DI profiles or a combination of the two? Going thru your cab, are you able to use any rig at will or does your 4x12 only like certain ones?

Quote from PBGas

I always wonder what 4x12 cabinet folks are using with their Kempers. I've tried a few different versions of various manufacturers. From all of my tests, I've found V30 speakers to be the least desirable with the Powered Rack at least to my ears. That is not that they sound bad, it is the fact that every single profile sounds the same through them. I started with my previous custom Mesa 2x12 with V30s. Everything sounded great but the same. I borrowed a friends Bogner Uberkab with the V30/T-75 combo and it sounded a bit better. I finally picked up a slightly used but nicely broken in Marshall 1960AX with Greenbacks and I can say without a doubt that this is a fantastic setup for the powered rack if you are not able to get used to an FRFR solution and really want a cab. For me, it works. I've made a couple of output changes when playing louder and stored those and all works fine. I can distinctly hear the difference between patches, etc.

It works for me.

Quote from michaelmellner

I concur 100%. there are places in which the kemper, while sounding superstar at home, sounds like garbage. for example, I gigged at the Hard Rock Cafe in Florence, couple of weeks ago. the place's acustic was so bad the kemper was almost not playable. I had to anyways but it was a torture because I had to play a very hard and difficult repertoire.........with a smile on my face!

as a matter of fact, I'm thinking about having a plan B for places like this, which will comprise the use of an ISO box (hooking the kpa into the return of an amp) since I'm tester/demonstrator of a magnificent one (the montarbo iso box).

in places like the mentioned, there is no way to have the kemper to sound good, either on a poweramp or into the consolle........the use of an isobox, being virtually sealed, solves all the acustics trouble.

and consider that I tried various solution. for instance: I have gathered many profiles for both poweramp/cab and consolle use, with the same timbre but different harmonics. so sometimes while a plexi isn't sounding ok, a mesa might as well. but in the room like the HRC, no amp was sounding playable........

Display More

Everyone has experienced this from time to time, I have played gigs that were horrible sounding but the crowd ate it up.

Any new rig will take time to dial in and getting it to sound its best. The Kemper is no different than any other amp live, what sounds great at home will not necessarily sound good in a live band situation. The power amp and cabinet choice is important and you need to adjust your settings to accommodate different amps and cabs. How is the Kemper getting to the pa? Direct? Or are you mic'ing the cab? Take your time, start out with a basic sound and build from there, you'll get there. It took me 2-3 months of using the Kemper live to get it dialed in. I use a MosValve MV-962 into a vertical 2x12 with 1973 Celestion Creambacks in it and it sounds great live. I do not like going direct but like having the option. When you want to sound good with a minimal amount of gear, go direct.

Quote from michaelmellner

I concur 100%. there are places in which the kemper, while sounding superstar at home, sounds like garbage. for example, I gigged at the Hard Rock Cafe in Florence, couple of weeks ago. the place's acustic was so bad the kemper was almost not playable. I had to anyways but it was a torture because I had to play a very hard and difficult repertoire.........with a smile on my face!

as a matter of fact, I'm thinking about having a plan B for places like this, which will comprise the use of an ISO box (hooking the kpa into the return of an amp) since I'm tester/demonstrator of a magnificent one (the montarbo iso box).

in places like the mentioned, there is no way to have the kemper to sound good, either on a poweramp or into the consolle........the use of an isobox, being virtually sealed, solves all the acustics trouble.

Sorry, I don't quite get it. Wouldn't you have just the same problem using an iso box if the place sounds that bad. In other words, what would be the benefit of using an iso box instead of going direct with the Kemper?

Quote from MLScola

Hey PBGas,
Just curious about your 4x12 experiences. Are you using standard rigs or DI profiles or a combination of the two? Going thru your cab, are you able to use any rig at will or does your 4x12 only like certain ones?

I'm using the standard rig profiles at this point. Pretty much everything I have put through it sounds great. Could be that I have finally found the right cab after all of these years! I haven't tried the DI profiles but will definitely experiment with those at a later point.

PBGas,
Thanks for responding. This is very good info. I didn't expect to hear anybody say a 4x12 guitar cab would work with most rigs. This definitely opens my mind to experimenting with a cab and the KPA.

Quote from mrs-zambesi

Sorry, I don't quite get it. Wouldn't you have just the same problem using an iso box if the place sounds that bad. In other words, what would be the benefit of using an iso box instead of going direct with the Kemper?

hi mrs. Zambesi...................good consideration you're making. the answer is the following, at least according to my experience. if I use the isobox I can use my preferred sound. for instance, my kpa/poweramp/guitar cab most wanted sound is TAF plexi. on the other hand I have good sounds for plugging directly to the mixer but never like the plexi mentioned played with guitar cab. But TAF plexi doesn't sound as good into the consolle. In fact I had to search for dirrerent amps and timbre for direct plug in.

I have tested an isobox hooked to a karaoke mixer (the worst possible scenario) and it sounded great anyways. this is why I figured it is a good solution at least for my needs.