Free vs Commercial rigs

    Let me lay down on the couch here first......


    Ok...it all started......


    Oh what guitars do I use-


    I have 2 Schecters
    - Hellraiser Extreme
    - Hellraiser S Sustainiac


    1- Music man Steve Morse


    2- Takamine Acoustics (Japan made)
    -12 string
    -6 string


    1- Seagull Acoustic


    I play the Schecters the most. The Extreme more than any of them

    Ok, you got some kick-ass guitars, check!


    Now, how do you hear them? Headphones, studio monitors, FRFR, power-amp to 1x12 cabinet, what?


    I'm curious because when I first got my Kemper, it didn't sound so good out my monitors as it did in headphones. I found the problem in adjusting the MASTER out volume and then the input to the audio interface. I notice directly plugging into my Mackie MR8's sounded way better than through the audio interface. So I did it that way for a while. So profiles don't sound so good if the setup of volumes isn't proper.


    I also had 5 different headphones to try and choose what I liked best. I'm trying to see if it's your setup that makes the profiles not sound their best.


    BTW, I bet that Music Man is awesome!

    I am very happy with the tones I am getting with the Kemper. That is not a problem at all.
    I was just curious what the paid ones had to offer.


    I am using a pair of Adam A7X Studios. These things are fantastic.


    The MM is for sale. It is a very versatile guitar with all of the PU configurations it has. It does sound awesome but I find myself playing the Schecters a lot more.
    Something about the feel of the board on the Extreme just works for me and I play a lot more of the hard stuff. Active pickups and all.

    I think there are great free ones. You have to sift to find them.


    But TAF has some that can't be beat by free exchange. Although he has given great quality ones for free.
    MBritt really upped the game with his Pack 2 I think. After 2 years of collecting commercial, those really excited me again.
    sinmix has the best metal around.


    But... if the free stuff works for you, save your money. No need to search when you're content. THAT is a blessing!


    I'll look into that pair of headphones. My favorite right now in the sub $200 are my AKG K240's.

    Judging by your choice of gits, I'm guessing you're a metal head ? if so, I'm out....
    but seriously, what is your genre ? If I know that and some of the songs on your play along list I may be able to help you choose some amps.
    have you zero,d in on the Zo Di AC ? Or the Ampro, or TAF,s sample of the AC 30 used in Apple studio.
    tons more on my list......

    Edited once, last by old crow ().

    Yeah I am pretty much a metal head from way back. I have been learning some other stuff here as of late though. Trying to break it up a bit.
    I am a heavy rhythm player mostly.


    I am open pretty much to anything I find I can learn. Mostly 80s and early 90s. Hard rock and heavy metal. All the hair bands.

    Quote from Inthrutheout

    I have a couple TAF profiles already but most of those 10 did not do it for me.


    What ones do you have??my love for the Marshall pack, will not have gone in noticed here. For me i'm a big JCM 800 fan always have been and Andy has nailed them in this pack. I would recommend finding an amp that you know well and love and buy the profiles for that one. If they sound like that amp to you then I would say you have found your seller

    Quote from sinmix

    It's simple - people still need to believe in something, better guitar, better amp, Kemper :D , profiles, - it's just a tool - it all depends on you :thumbup: sory!.


    Stay Metal!



    I like this point of view. But at the same time, I have to say that guys like Sinmix are at the top of their game as far as profiling amps is concerned. A lot of us could spend a lot of time gaining that knowledge. You might luck out, you might not.


    Best thing is to try some of the free rigs put out by guys like Sinmix and see if you like what they do. Then invest in a pack as the final test.

    There is no such thing as Best or Worst, there is only whats good for you!. - just because some are available it wont mean you will like them all. same with real amps, real guitars. - the choice is staggering.


    If your into metal, then look up sinmix under the free rig sections, he annouced a few free rig packs.. if you like them therafter.. then buy some and support him.


    best of luck!

    I have a Kemper now for a few months and have bought several commercial packs.
    So far my top 5 profiles are two free, three commercial.


    What I like about commercial profiles is the constant quality and often various profiles of the same amp with different gain stages/channels, speakers and/or mics. They feel complete.
    I know I can't go wrong with profiles from the Amp Factory, M Britt, Pete's profiles, Top Jimi and others. They all are excellent to my ears. And i still want to try out others like Choptones, Soundside and sinmix


    And there are some excellent free ones too. Life is good..if you have a Kemper :)

    I think the thing to recognise is that there is an overwhelming field of tones available for the Kemper. This is usually what gives rise to doubts mentioned in the OP, i.e. I'm not sure whether I'll get better results with commercial profiles.


    You don't have to go commercial with profiles to get the best out of the Kemper. But that does not exclude the possibility of getting some killer commercial profiles that cop the tones you are looking for. I like Sinmix's tones (perpetually delaying a purchase of the producer pack and the price has risen by 1/4th as a result), but I also like the work done by djemass and r.u.sirius. These tones have a place in my Kemper arsenal because they sound great. Similarly, I have latched on to the Morgan AC20 profile that's got quite a few followers.


    With the free tones I have, I feel less motivated to buy commercial profiles. Except, I know for a fact that there's likely to be even more mind blowing tones to explore and I think in a way, a certain tone fits a certain situation. So eventually, I shall do it someday, but till that day (likely to be a gloomy one in which I'm thinking that I'm not getting the tones I want out of the Kemper), I'm quite happy to dabble with the free ones that are put up for download by users.

    Another thing to consider is profile saturation. You can always end up with way to many profiles than you know what to do with. I have thousands of profiles in RM and dont forget the thousands in RE and you can become a tone chaser, always trying to find that tone better than the one you have. ;) I learnt this years ago when i was in my first band. I brought and sold loads of amps chasing that sound of other band players both Famous and local but in the end its how you play and what sounds good to you. At best i use around 20-25 profiles when using my kemper, most of these are TAF or from the free Lasse pack that kemper released and i think there might be 1 or 2 from the RE that o thought were really good. I think alot of users here might be in the same boat with profile saturation and owning way to many :)

    Free profiles, in my opinion, sound good at low(er) volume at home, so perfect for you and your cat I'd say! If you play with a band and at louder volume then the commercial ones are way better. I never used a free profile on stage because I know there's no such thing as a free lunch.


    Maybe worth a try to buy a package or two and compare them to the free ones...I think at least your gear deserves that :)

    I use mainly commercial ones, which I have bought from Soundside, TAF, Pete's, MBritt and some others. I don't have the time not I want to waste a lot of time to try to find ones I really like from Rig Exchange, it's just too much effort.


    Here are my other reasons:
    - I trust the judgement of this vendors and the expertise to capture the sound of whatever they are profiling (I try a lot of profile's of amps I never have even heard before so I don't know what they even should sound like before I try the Profile). I also trust in general that I get quality stuff when I buy from these trusted vendors and if I don't like the profiles, it usually means it just does not suit me for whatever reason, I don't need to wonder is it just because the profile is crap.
    - I like to have multiple profiles of the same amp with different settings (for different guitars, for finding the ones I like)... though sometimes some vendors go a bit overboard with this.


    I think the commercial profiles are generally pretty cheap (compared to real amps!), and even if I end up not liking some profiles, at least I didn't pay too much. The cost easily covers the time (time costs money) I would need to spend to go over the free ones.


    One thing, I'm actually a bit surprised how different the profiles are between different vendors. There is definitely difference how Soundside profiles sound vs. TAF or vs. Pete's (tough some of this is related on what effects are set on as default). So even if you don't like one vendor's stuff, it doesn't mean you wouldn't like others.


    btw. I didn't like many of the free TAF-rig pack profiles for some reason, but I liked many of the packs I bought from TAF.. go figure.


    You gave yourself the best advice :) If there is something specific that you are looking for, go for it. But, if you aren't after a specific sound or two, having a couple dozen (or a couple hundred) more great sounding profiles will just give you more sounds you are not likely to use.

    Quote from Ilelee

    One thing, I'm actually a bit surprised how different the profiles are between different vendors. There is definitely difference how Soundside profiles sound vs. TAF or vs. Pete's


    this is very true, each of the vendors have quite a distinctive sound which is noticable throughout all their profiles. best to have a listen to the clips on their websites before buying and see which sounds like your kind of thing.
    personally i use about 70% free.