Tones Sound Good In Headphones, But Not Out Of Monitor

    I tried searching for topics on this but couldn't find any. None of the profiles I have tried (I've tried a lot) don't sound good through my studio monitor. I also played through a p.a. and still didn't sound good. The tones are thin, brittle and lifeless. I tried playing through headphones today and it was a huge difference. Tones were full and rocked. Is there a setting I need to tweak on my rack to get the same tones out of my monitor? I recently played my Digitech GP1000 through my monitor and it sounded great, so I know it's not the monitor.


    Thank You

    Chances are you are clipping monitors/PA. What is the output level? Do you get the same results through Main and Monitor outputs?


    also, your HPs might have a role in creating the sound you like. Recording from the HPs out through a stereo cable like Ingolf suggests might give us a reference point.

    If you can remember the most important tweaks you've made to the system / UI / I/O settings, jhguitar, it might be worth doing a System reset.


    This way, any anomalous EQ or other settings that you or someone else (somehow) may have made that might be causing this issue will be reset to the defaults.


    Be sure to back your current preset state (all presets) up to a folder using RM. After the reset you can delete everything on the KPA and drag the contents of this folder to your rig to restore everything you had rig-wise. If you've created a bunch of your own FX presets and / or have added cabinets to the KPA, you'll probably have to implement a backup / restore procedure using a USB stick as RM doesn't handle cabs or FX presets.


    At least this way we'll have a "known quanta-titty" to work from should the issue continue to manual-titty-fest.


    Uugghh... sorry about the language. These things slip out of their holsters once in a while in Jungleville. Call 'em wardrobe malfunctions if you like. :/

    <p>Ha Ha! I think I will take your advice and just start from scratch. I'll read through the manual, but what is the best course of action for backing up presets. I don't have any set presets as nothing sounded good enough for live use, in my opinion. Thus, if I lose anything it's not a big deal.<br />
    &nbsp;</p>

    Quote from viabcroce

    Chances are you are clipping monitors/PA.


    Very likely. OP wouldn't be the first. Guitar-players with traditional amps never had to care much about signal levels. Among the first things new KPA-owners should learn is the difference between line and mic-level signals, and in which situations the different levels are used.


    My follow-up-question would be: have you tried any clean sounds? I've seen several players struggle and complain about thin/brittle sound, not noticing that there is unwanted distortion involved, simply because they haven't even tried to play any clean tones.

    Well, don't worry about it this time then; you've nothing to lose.


    Just do a straight-up system reset. I've forgotten exactly which button to hold down whilst powering up in order to initiate this, but you'll find it easily enough here. Someone will likely chime in on this.


    An even safer option which would eliminate the possibility that the firmware is itself not corrupted:


    1) Re-download the update in case it was somehow corrupted by the Kemper.
    2) Place the kaos.bin file onto the USB stick, but not inside any folder - at the root level.
    3) Insert the stick and switch the unit on into Browse Mode whilst holding down both Page buttons.


    The display will read, "Booting and Burning from USB device".


    If you do this we'll definitely have a "known quanta-titty" to work with. With any luck, it'll solve the sound issue.

    Quote from hjscheffler

    I would start by using the "init globals" function in the system menu. That will return the values of the input and output menu parameters to their factory default state.


    Thank you, HJ.


    I called it a "System Reset", but this is exactly what I meant - we just want to ensure the factory defaults are restored as a starting point.


    Thank you again for chiming in, mate.