unwanted distortion of sound

    Hi all,


    Only got the KPA yesterday and been playing around with it a bit, but lots and lots to learn. I've been playing through an Atomic passive wedge and have the powerhead. I've found plenty of nice clean tones but no really nice OD ones and I think the reason is that I am getting unwanted distortion on many of them, so much so that I thought maybe the tweeter was gone on the monitor, but it seems the same on headphones-AKG 240. I am wondering if there's anyway I could be getting unwanted 'clipping', distortion of the sounds in anyway from the KPA? My output and input LEDs are green, so I'd assume they are fine, but maybe someone more knowledgable could be of some help? The 'distortion' sounds like speaker distortion as in when it's blown. Only happens on OD tones so far and can be at very low volumes and doesn't seem to get worse as I increase the volume.



    Any help appreciated and if anyone needs more info to do so, pls ask:)

    Hi netheravon, welcome here :)


    It's impossible to overload the Profiler internally, except the A/D and D/A converters (i.e. input and output).
    Have you checked the clan and distorted sens settings?
    Also, try and reduce the gain on those profiles to see if you like them more.
    You might also want to try a tube screamer module before the amp section, that tightened sound might be what you're after :)


    HTH

    Thx for replies guys. I have played digital stuff before, but not digital amps. Why do you ask please? Any advice I may well have missed being a noob? I am coming from 20 years or so guitar experience, mainly with tube amps, but recently I've been using the HD500X for an easy solution for DI FOH at gigs and recording. I went for the Kemper for the same reasons but wanting something that actually sounds good without a ton of eqs set up and tweaking to get a decent tone.


    I've tried messing around with the clean and distorted sense settings and they make no difference. The only thing that seems to clean up the horrible digital sounding distortion is using the pickup splitting on the PRS to get a lower output, single coil sound and either reducing the gain or lowering the volume on the guitar itself. Now while this does clean up the sound, so I lose what sounds like speaker flub, it also, of course, reduces the gain. So I feel like I am taking an overdriven profile and having to clean it up to use it, sort of negates the whole point of the profile.


    I'll try the tube screamer etc to see what happens then, but again this seems to negate the point of the profiler: If I can't load up a Dr Z Maz, then a Two Rock, then a driven Fender Bassman and get nice but different OD tones for my blues, then I might as well stick with the Fender Hot Rod I have and use my real tubescreamer?:)


    I have by no means yet given up on the KPA, it seems awesome, I just need a way to lose this speaker flub. I'm going to try to play at rehearsal volumes today if I can (in the house, it's a dangerous proposition) and see if it is any better / different. If I can get these OD tones better, I am gonna be a very very happy man;)

    Maybe you are not familiar with the virtual sound of a mic'ed cabinet.


    To check if something's wrong or not you should try to make a recording by the main outputs.
    Listen to the sound again by other speakers and post it on the forum, to get a proof.


    Did you switch of the cabinet section on the Profiler? You should not.

    Hi,
    Thanks a lot for taking the the time to reply Mr Kemper;) You may well be right about having to become accustomed to the sound. I've been playing with it more this morning at differing volumes and can only say I am still blown away overall by the quality of sound. If I combine, for eg, a tubescreamer effect with a clean sound I like, I don't get any of the noise I don't like and it still sounds great! i haven't turned off the cab sims or anything else not suggested by the manual.


    I think I just need to find profiles I like and go with my gear.


    At the moment I am a very happy customer who is just searching for the right sounds. I wasn't at any point suggesting error with the Kemper, by the way, just looking for advice in case I had something set up wrongly;)


    If i think there's still any issue, I'll do as suggested and record the sound and post it.


    Thanks again for all the replies guys, love this forum and love the fact Mr Kemper himself participates

    If you're using the Gain knob to add distortion you'll probably be happier with a cleanish profile plus any of the distortion pedals. The "Muffin" is fantastic, and the "Fuzz DS", while not perfect, responds like a fuzz box to changes to the guitar's output volume and pick attack. It's a very good fuzz effect. The "Green Scream" as mentioned is excellent with clean profiles and single coils but you might want to set the tone a tad dark.


    The Gain control can be on the harsh side past about halfway but it's a quick method to get into rock-out mode. It's actually very useful for beefing up a bass or keyboard but some of that effect is likely just volume. It also works well in reverse to nicely clean up some distorted profiles, maybe even better than going the other way.


    There are some great high-gain profiles that are either already on your machine or are free at the Rig Exchange. For amazing OD tones I'd start with browsing through your available rigs. I like to find one that's close to what I'm looking for and start playing with it.


    I find it surprising that you've not found any good OD tones in a device that excels at them. The KPA's EQ effects are very good at dialing in tones and you may find adding one or more (multiple EQs seems to be fairly common) improves things.


    A lot people on here like to hear recordings of what's being talked about, so that approach might be useful. SoundCloud seems to be the go-to place for that.


    The main thing I find is that a solo guitar only resembles the sound of a guitar in a mix -- live or recorded. What sounds great on its own will usually sound less so in a mix. The tones that I go far generally cut all of the highs and lows and exaggerate the mids. They sound so-so by themselves but are huge in a mix when they need to be.


    You probably already know most of this but it took me some time to work this stuff out, so hopefully this is of some help.

    Hey man I know Exactly what you're talking about with the digital distortion thing on heavy sounds. It drove me absolutely crazy for the last 2 months...... I literally auditioned better than 1000 profiles from the rig exchange and same as you.... The cleans were incredible but I couldn't get a heavy tone without that horrible digital fizz.
    Here's what I've learned
    1) lower the main output volume setting to -20db... The xlr's are line level and are super hot
    2) It's a profile thing. Go to The Amp Factory website and buy the Marshall JCM 800 Hot Mod pack. I play a PRS USA Tremonti with Bareknuckle Nailbombs.... There's about 20 different profiles in that pack that are spot on.... NONE of that horrible digital fizz. I'm using those profiles for all of my sounds now and have achieved maximum tone:)

    < digital fizz? Again?! >


    My mind tells me that if the Profiler intrinsically produced digital fizz, all the distorted profiles would present some.


    Some real amps, when crancked, just sound "too digital". Specially when you close-mic them


    :D

    A little feedback: I went through all the settings and found that the Cabs were turned off!! How daft am I not to have noticed :whistling:


    I've been able to find some decent sounds now, and have used the KPA at a rehearsal, where it sounded great 'in the mix'. The issue I have with lots of the profiles is that they now sound very boxy. But I've talked about this I think in another thread and others have helped there too. I've been using an Atomic Reactor cab and am hoping to get a DXR10 today to compare the sounds, as the feeling is the Reactor colours sounds more, and I can believe this going on how many of the profiles sound as if they have a blanket over the speakers.


    Thanks again for all the replies, I am hoping to have time with the KPA again this evening and will try out the suggestions mentioned. Again, big thanks to all!! Great community:)

    I've now had a little time with the DXR10 and it sounds much better than the Reactor with the KPA. Suddenly no more blanket over the speaker kind of sound and the Amp Factory and Soundside stuff that sounded unusable before sound great!

    Glad you found the cause and the solution for your problem. :)
    Usually it's not very wise to believe opinions in the internetz without trying on your own. But you were lucky to have the opportunity to try and it looks like you're convinced now. Enjoy!


    Cheers,
    Martin