Epic Quest: "Finding the perfect Djent tone"

    Introduction:
    Hey, in this thread I'll show you (hopefully) how to get to the perfect djent tone. There are 2 methods I dicovered so far. Of course I did not discover everything by my own so I'll be giving credit to the peeps who did and from whom I gained my inspiration. But what are we after by wanting the "perfect Djent tone"? This is a tough question, right?... Which I really can't answer you because it changes from person to person. Most of you propably want a Misha Mansoor kinda tone. For those guys, please check the 2nd method. What I want to achieve is unveiling some methods you may have not known and give you some tips, tricks and inspiration. Another thing I'd like to cover is "how to place my djent tone in a mix" since I guess most of you are producing music as I do.
    Honestly I have to say... I haven't really finished my Quest and I don't really know everything about the "Djent tone" so if you have any further tips, please share those in the comment section! :)
    P.S. : Every profile edited by me or used by me in this progress will be uploaded on my dropbox. I will attach the link at the end.

    Method # 1: Tweak till you die
    As the title says... tape your fingers and start tweaking! ;) ;) ;)
    Profile choice:
    But where to start best? - The maybe first and best way to start is to chose a "raw" profile. On my approach those would be "Rect Modern" by Simon Dorn, any of the Ola Englund Ridck Package, "AXEFX2 Engl powerball" and "AXEFX2 Fryette D60" by MillA. Last two presets can be found in this thread: kemper vs axe fx 2 for high gain progressive metal type tones
    In my opinion the Amps of these presets are really nice but try to find a nice Cab. You can find some in the thread mentioned above. Some of them are actually pretty interesting such as: "-C4,-C40,-C41,-C41,-C49,-C6,1960 SM57,Bigner SM57,H&K 2x12 V30, any of the Tills 1960" Of course this is just my taste. So go and explore - use other Amps and other Cabs, I'm shure it will sound nice as well! :)
    Stomp section:
    Having Amp and Cab of your liking the next step is quite simple: put a noisegate infront of everything (A-stomp). With this one you might chose a 4:1 gate and set the Threshold to 5,0. The effect on this gate is just to provide a very "clean" signal (without the clipping and noise may occur while playing exaggerated) to be modified, since this is the thing we want in djent.
    For the next stomp you have several options: you can put a compressor in there which will tighten your signal. Set the Intensity on 5, a very low Attack and Squash on +5. But please tweak and find your liking!
    You can also place a EQ in the B stomp. I prefer a Studio Equalizer, in which you want to cut the lows and tops and boost the mids. The method here is to put the Gain on 12 dB and then changing the frequency 'till you reach a spot sounding awesome or awefull. Depending on which one, lower/increase the Gain untill the spot sounds better. Giving you frequencies is not the key since I might use other gear and chose another profile. ;)
    The C stomp is a distortion stomp! ^^ If you went for the compressor in the B stomp you might want the "Metal default" distortion pedal to get an EQ (on the 2nd page). Set the drive to your liking and the try to set the EQ as mentioned above.
    Boosting the mids in the "dry" signal will give you a dry and tight tone.
    If you went for the EQ in the B stomp you might wanna chose the "Green Deafault" distortion pedal. Set the drive on 1,5 - 2, the tone on -2,5 - -3 and the volume to your liking. Again - this is just my way! You can comment if you have a better way! :) :) :)
    And the last stomp will be a NoiseGate again. Again 4:1 and now set the threshold to your needs. Try playing diffrent styles on your guitar as much as possible. We dont want any noise while palmmuting etc. so tweak it 'till is nice and clean.
    Amp section:
    Try and play with the Definition knob. I usually go for 5,5 depending on the Amp. I'd leave the other options alone since they don't really provide something to us. You might want to check the clarity knob out as well.
    EQ section:
    Boost the bass to ca 2dB, cut the mids to 2,5 dB and boost the treble and presence to ca 2dB. Again this depends on your profile. The post EQ will give you the high-end crispness and provides nice and thick basses.
    Cabinet section:
    You might want to lower the High Shift a bit to give you a prphry like deepness.. if this makes sense :D . The character is also quite interesting to tweak with but don´t go to far in any direction!
    Effects section:
    On the X effect you can basically chose anything. Maybe a cool phaser or something. Another EQ is also viable.. but this can be done better in a DAW.
    The Mod effect should be another NoiseGate - just in case, you know :) .
    Try to dont use Delay or Reverb... at least not for a djenty rhythm tone.


    Also try to apply the "Noise Gate" (big knob) not too hard but just the right amount... :P


    Check out Johnnys tutorials (from whom I took an Idea or two :P :(https://www.youtube.com/watch?…2&list=PL26855E6BFEA3AA9A


    That should be all - suggestions in the comments please!


    Method # 2: Creating your own IR/Cab
    IR=Impulse response wich can be transformed to a Cab.
    Software you need:
    -EQ Matching software (Izotope Ozone 5)
    -Kemper CabMaker (http://www.kemper-amps.com/pag…mplifier___Downloads.html)
    -Voxengo Deconvolver (https://www.voxengo.com/product/deconvolver/)

    Please watch this video firstly! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJAneHMzkjU

    So with matching EQ you have the possibility to get the sound someone else allready made. Think of it as profiling with one parameter. You won't be abled to get the exact same thing like f.e. Misha Mansoor has with his AxeFx which means you can't simulate the dynamics, effects etc. as well as you propably don't have the same gear as Misha and not the same "playing style". But it's a nice starting point.
    So.. like the dude in the video said: shut your Cab section off! It won't work without.
    As far as my experience goes.. you have to chose a similar Amp like used in the reference track, so go and research!
    When you have produced your IR use the CabMaker to transform it into a kemper Cab. In my case I had to try hours around 'till I had a decent Cab but I never really reached the point where I had the exact same sound like the Intro of "Letter Experiment" on my kemper. But as I said.. it's a nice startingpoint from which you can refine your sound and create something unique.
    Having your Cab loaded it's pretty much about fixing the dynamics. So try to use compressors and of course NoiseGates. Sadly I can't give you an accurate instruction since the sound and dynamics vary depending on your guitar. Of course you can take your preset, made with method # 1 and simply replace the cab, but this will be harder to fix (in my experience).
    I hope you'll succeed! :) :) :)


    So here's the link to some of my presets: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/0ey…AADIAIMEVwszVEZUoX7f1T52a


    The "sitting in the mix" thing might be updated later.
    cya

    Edited 4 times, last by JapsidoOdle: updated ().

    Yeah that´s true indeed!
    Just search for "bulb" in rig exchange.. I think it was caveman1 who profiled these axefx2 presets. But they did not exactly sounded that djenty to me :)
    But I didn't want to go into profiling since.. someone who owns an axefx 2 won't use a kemper for djent 8)

    There are actually some really nice profiles of the Axe FX that I was fooling around with yesterday. They were profiled by user Chris.O, a nice mix of heavy and clean tones, check them out on the rig exchange. But not all Axe FX profiles sound good, as I've often found to my irritation.


    If the job is done right, I don't think there's anything the Axe can do tone-wise that the Kemper cannot cop. Its effects, however, are a different story.