Ever want to go back to real amps?

Maybe it's because they play with more distortion. I'm using Classic Rock gain, not the heavy metal kind of distortion that a lot of heavy metal bands use with the Kemper. The Kemper seems to be very popular in that genre. I'm not sure about Classic Rock bands.

The Kemper didn't cut it for me either until I learned to use it. Not trying to be mean just honest. If it were me I would A/B a cab that does cut the mix and the Kemper and play with EQ until they match, the dynamics are all there just might take some effort to pull them out. I've learned more about sound in 2 years with the Kemper than all my other years of playing combined. Good luck and hope you get there.

I got my Kemper five months ago... I have actually switched on my Engl Savage 120 only like two times after that. I still use mainly Savage profile in my band, but I find Kemper sounds better, thanks to tweakability in amp section... like a Savage on steroids

Quote from jroobz

...
But it got me thinking, ditch the KPA and get a dark terror + Torpedo Live.

....

I just got the KPA few days ago after extensive research and trial and error.
KPA simply sounds better for the following reason:
1-Torpedo live is an attenuator, so regardless, the amp sound will change , high frequency loss is imminent and that's why they probably provide EQ to correct the loss, not the same.
2-I have an ISO cab and I tried the DI approach without an attenuator using a tube amp into impulse loaders. Even though the tube amp was happy connected to real speaker cabinet, when loading impulses, it's not the same at all unless the impulse is the same of the speaker being used. Even that leaves so much unresloved issues.

I don't know the technical aspects but I know enough that the resonance of the speaker of the impulse response wouldn't match, and the impedance curve of the speakers and the Impulse response also won't match. I have no idea how the torpedo factors for both the impedance curve and the resonance frequency but it most likely an approximation. I think profiling the full amp is the most accurate.

Considering that speaker interaction defines how the amp will sound with different speakers, finding a matching IR, is like a shot in the dark. Even using the KPA I also can notice the loss of quality when switching away form the original cab that's part of the profile.

I'm still in my honeymoon phase with the Kemper. Got one gig and two rehearsals with it so far and it's performed stunningly. The guitar sits really nicely in the mix regardless of the tone or profile I'm using, and the rig just feels right. Not to mention the ease of use, low weight, and tons of flexibility. I can't wait to record with this baby.

Yeah, I'm done with amps for a while.

I actually went from a Mesa/Boogie Quad pre-amp and 295 power amp to ditching the Quad and running a Pod XT as a preamp to running a Pod HD as a pre-amp, and finally after getting the KPA, I went full digital for cab/mic as well as amp. Obviously, my main concerns going digital weren't to improve or match tone but to make things more integrated, so I could quickly dial up a wide variety of sounds. Also, portability was a factor. I'm a hobbyist, not a touring musician - I never felt the need to buy road cases or racks.

The KPA is best - it allows me to get real cranked amp sounds in headphones or low volumes, which is critical to me. The Pods worked great as a preamp - it's not super great, but it was good enough. Pod HD was definitely better than the XT/X3 in that regard; however, they were pretty horrible in the cab/mic department. I tried going fully digital with the Pod HD, but it was never great.