A Simple Noise Gate question

No its really just on the input. But you can add the 2:1 or 4:1 gate effects in your chain and toggle them on/off with your distortion effect. Also the distortion loop for external pedals has its own gate, but its not adjustible

Well a gate doesnt suck the noise from individual effects. Its typically an expander that reduces the volume of the entire signal when lower than a threshold at that point in the signal chain. So its best to place it at the most dynamic point in the chain which is almost always input. Some advanced gates will measure the threshold at input but expand after the amp pre amp, so itll kill the noise the amp makes even with null input.

The 4:1 and 2:1 gates are true gates. The noise gate knob is something else. Kemper didnt really explain how exactly it works but it does seem active even with a full signal passing and for high gain it does create some artifacts on very high settings. Typically we only notice noise when not playing, but it is clearly evident in older recordings where signal to noise ratios were much lower than current productions.

Ah well. Im with ya. Noise is evil. I wish there was a magic bullet, but it seems noise reducing devices often create worse problems than they solve IMO. its best to use good components and good gain staging and get the best SNR from your gear than to add another thing to try to suck it out.

Quote from CrossHairSB

Or is the main noise gate an across-the-boards kinda thing?

It depends. If you lock your input it is global. If you unlock it, the noise gate settings get stored with each rig. But be aware that clean and distortion sens is not global anymore too when unlocking the input.

Also, Browse Mode and Performance Mode have separate Input Settings.

LOL!