Hello everyone, and a quick question!

    Hi - new to the boards, and a Kemper Powerhead/Remote/Atomic CLR owner. Enjoying just about everything about the Kemper so far. I feel like I've been able to dial in some of the best rigs in the world on this thing, and it's amazing!


    Name is Mark, 51, playing since I was about 13 - hobbyist. Tech guy by day. Music taste ranges from classic rock, hard rock, classic metal, fusion, blues rock, etc. etc. Have lots of fun guitars - about one of each you might expect, including some custom shop Jacksons, ESPs, etc., guitars, and more Marshalls and cabinets that I can ever use, including a custom Plexi amp handwired by David Bray. Can't wait to profile them all and bring them with me whenever I gig - which is about once a month. Before I leave the Earth, I plan to give all my gear away to promising young players - as I struggled for years before I could afford my first professional instrument.


    A recent playing highlight was hanging out in the studio with Paul Gilbert - jamming, recording, drinking wine, and swapping stories. Well, mostly listening to his. LOL. The guy is both an amazing player, and an awesome person. Attaching a selfie of he and I jamming with him on my Gilbert FRM250MF - which I had him sign. :)


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    Paul recommended the Kemper, so I had a look at it, and it's more than lived up to the hype in terms of tone, flexibility, portability, and the like. It's a game changer, in my opinion. I'm getting ready to do my first gig with it next weekend. In preparation, I decided to give it a stage volume test through my Atomic CLR (and to check my profiles at performance volume), and was surprised that it really could not compete with my EVH 1x12 combo, and I'm wondering if I made a mistake assuming that this will be my main live rig. At nearly full volume, the Kemper could not compete with channel 2 of the EVH on volume 4. Here's a pic of the test I just got done with in my hallway.


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    Am I missing something? Could this be related to the profile? Should I not be planning to use this as a backline cabinet, but rather, as a front of stage monitor blasting me in the face? Is there more power here than I think there is? I am using the speaker-out jack in the back. When I play in my studio, I use the mains in stereo to my board into some powered Event monitors.


    Appreciate any insight you all can provide - and I look forward to talking and contributing to the board here in the future. I have some nice mics coming to make profiles of my stuff, and I'm looking forward to sharing them.

    Edited 2 times, last by Losper ().

    Like 2

    Welcome aboard!
    This is what's going through my head after reading your post: A 50-watt amp is only 3 db quieter than a 100-watt amp. Going further, a 30-watt amp is only 5 db quieter. And, somewhat astoundingly, a little 10-watt amp is actually half as loud (or -10 db) as the 100-watt amp!


    Any powered wedge you compare to a 50 Watt Tube amp will fall short, still I thought the Powered CLR had about 120db continuous which should be very loud specially if you're already connecting to the house system.


    Edit: Just saw your post as we must have posted at the same time, glad you had a solution which is great.

    Quote from Dean_R

    Welcome aboard!
    This is what's going through my head after reading your post: A 50-watt amp is only 3 db quieter than a 100-watt amp. Going further, a 30-watt amp is only 5 db quieter. And, somewhat astoundingly, a little 10-watt amp is actually half as loud (or -10 db) as the 100-watt amp!


    Any powered wedge you compare to a 50 Watt Tube amp will fall short, still I thought the Powered CLR had about 120db continuous which should be very loud specially if you're already connecting to the house system.


    Edit: Just saw your post as we must have posted at the same time, glad you had a solution which is great.


    Thanks for thinking about my situation! Just for clarity, I have the PASSIVE CLR, not the active...and am depending on the 600 Watts of Power from the Kemper Powerhead to create my stage monitoring. I'm thinking the Poweramp Booster will do the trick...if not, I'll be looking at other options. Thanks again!


    Quote from Zappledan

    Welcome to the forum! :thumbup:


    Thanks man!

    Hey Mark, welcome :)


    check if (aside the Booster) the Profiler is (was) outputting a robust signal, or you won't be exploiting your rig at its fullest.


    What volume were you keeping @ almost full? You should refer to the Monitor volume. But also the rig volume of course affects the level (they are on top of each other). And, the input should be maximized as well.


    Check that the Input LED touches the red when you strum the hardest; then check that the Output LED blinks red at the same time. At this point your Profiler is processing the signal with the highest amplification, and Monitor Volume will just attenuate it. When the latter is fully clockwise it will not attenuate your signal at all.


    HTH
    Keep in mind

    Quote from viabcroce

    Hey Mark, welcome :)


    Thanks! I've benefited by reading all your informative posts in the forums thus far! Thanks for being so willing to share your knowledge with noobs like me. :)


    Quote from viabcroce

    check if (aside the Booster) the Profiler is (was) outputting a robust signal, or you won't be exploiting your rig at its fullest. What volume were you keeping @ almost full?


    Where do I start with this? When I was getting surprisingly low volumes, I had the master volume on about 8 and the rig volume at about the same level. This was before I started using the poweramp booster, which is now on +10 Decibels and much louder now.


    Quote from viabcroce

    You should refer to the Monitor volume. But also the rig volume of course affects the level (they are on top of each other). And, the input should be maximized as well.


    How to I refer to the Monitor volume? Is this the monitor volume, or is it buried in a menu somewhere?


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    Quote from viabcroce

    Check that the Input LED touches the red when you strum the hardest; then check that the Output LED blinks red at the same time. At this point your Profiler is processing the signal with the highest amplification, and Monitor Volume will just attenuate it. When the latter is fully clockwise it will not attenuate your signal at all.


    Which adjustments do I use to maximize the input signals? I may have missed that, because my input light is completely green, and my output light is mostly green, and occasionally flashes into yellow.


    Thanks again! Appreciate your help so much!

    Edited once, last by Losper ().

    I/O light levels sound good, Mark.


    The Volume knob you point to is the Rig (name for presets storing the amp, cab and effects) level. Use this to balance volumes between Rigs for more-seamless switching.


    Way out of my depth with the live-usage thing, so I'll defer to our cohorts on that stuff.


    Welcome, buddy! You're a beautiful man, my friend; this much is obvious to me, and let's face it, that's all that really counts.


    Thanks so much, and you are very kind. :) Glad to be here with you!

    Quote from Losper

    How to I refer to the Monitor volume? Is this the monitor volume, or is it buried in a menu somewhere?


    Click the button called "output" or possibly "master", on the right side of the unit, above the master volume dial. In one of the pages, you can set the output levels for the various outputs. I think there should be one for the speaker outs as well (though I don't have the powered version). You might want to (if possible) "unlink" the setting from the master volume dial, or not - depending on your preference. There is some scaling going on between values set in the output page, and the master volume dial if they are linked. I'm not sure there is a control for the speaker outs, but worth a check :)

    Quote from Losper

    Thanks! I've benefited by reading all your informative posts in the forums thus far! Thanks for being so willing to share your knowledge with noobs like me.


    Thank you Mark, appreciate it.
    We are here to help each other :)



    Quote from Losper

    How to I refer to the Monitor volume? Is this the monitor volume, or is it buried in a menu somewhere?


    As Michael pointed out, all the volumes (unless unlocked) respond to the Master volume knob; so when you turn it you operate on all the (unlocked) volumes. If you unlock a volume you can change it alone, and when you lock it back it maintains the gap you've created (Vs. the others) when you operate on the Master.
    Just check that Monitor Volume is maximied when Master volume is all its way clockwise.



    Quote from Losper

    Which adjustments do I use to maximize the input signals? I may have missed that, because my input light is completely green, and my output light is mostly green, and occasionally flashes into yellow.


    As The Monkey (AKA "Shock") wrote, these settings seem ok. By having the input barely touch the red you'd only have a marginal gain increase. Anyway, the parameter you shall refer to is Clean Sens in the Input menu.


    On a general note, I'd suggest you read the two manuals at least once: you seem to be missing a lot of basic settings, getting to know them will certainly give you a much more rewarding experience.


    There are at least two sources I'd advise you visit (courtesy Harry's signature ;) :(


    Kemper Profiling Amplifier - Tutorial for first use


    wiKPA


    Have fun!