Do cabinet IR's really make a difference?

    Hey my fellow Kemper brothers and sisters. I never bothered to use Cab Maker or cab IR's and was wondering if they are still popular and/or being used much? Another thing I don't know is if when you grab a tone through Rig Exchange, does it include the cab IR sound if you don't have the IR installed on your Kemper? Thanks in advance! :thumbup:

    Quote from riplead

    I never bothered to use Cab Maker or cab IR's and was wondering if they are still popular and/or being used much? Another thing I don't know is if when you grab a tone through Rig Exchange, does it include the cab IR sound if you don't have the IR installed on your Kemper?

    Oh yeah, the IR is in there too, only, it's not an IR... unless the author converted one to Kemper-cab format and used that.


    Still popular? I'd say that whilst most are perfectly-happy with the Kemper's ability to capture cabs as part of the Profiling process and produce organically-alive-sounding results, those who use their favourite IRs tend to stick with them. So, it's popular, but not something the majority of us do. I know of many who've never bothered to try importing IR's.


    Hope that helps, riplead.

    For what it's worth, I've seen a number of users when this has come up talk about how much they prefer importing 3rd party IR's. I've never seen one saying they tried 3rd party IR's and felt the Kemper's profiled cab emulation was good enough or better.


    Personally, I'm not such a tone junkie that I've invested the time worrying about 3rd party IR's, but those who have seem to much prefer it. I can see the benefit and may one day give it a try.

    Quote from MementoMori

    For what it's worth, I've seen a number of users when this has come up talk about how much they prefer importing 3rd party IR's. I've never seen one saying they tried 3rd party IR's and felt the Kemper's profiled cab emulation was good enough or better.


    Personally, I'm not such a tone junkie that I've invested the time worrying about 3rd party IR's, but those who have seem to much prefer it. I can see the benefit and may one day give it a try.

    I've seen the opposite! People trying IRs and feeling that they sound flat and lifeless compared to the Kemper Cabs, though this has been when they've converted 3rd party IRs using Cabmaker.

    Quote from sambrox

    I've seen the opposite! People trying IRs and feeling that they sound flat and lifeless compared to the Kemper Cabs, though this has been when they've converted 3rd party IRs using Cabmaker.

    This. I can't imagine going back to IR's any more. Kemper cabs sound and feel so much better to me.

    ^ this is not really surprising, since the creator of a Profile chooses all the variables - amp settings, cabinet/speaker choice, microphone and mic placement - to make sense, to sound musically as a whole.


    he or she has a sonic goal in their head and uses the above mentioned components to achieve this goal.


    with 3rd party IRs you get cabinet/mic sounds that were made in a much more 'mechanical' manner:
    mic x, on axis, cap, 1 inch distance, repeat with 2 inches, 3 inches... etc.


    I was involved with IRs ever since Sonic Foundry's Acoustic Mirror was released - way before real time processing became an option - and used them A LOT with all other gear...
    ... except with the Profiler


    it's a nice option to have, but what works much better, for me at least, is to sometimes change the Cabinet to that of another Rig (in the 'From Rigs' tab)


    my 2cts

    Quote from luntho

    I've tried red wirez, ownhammers and celestion ir's and while the celestions are ok, they're not even close to a good kemper cab...IMO of course 8)

    And now I have.

    Too many variables to say a Kemper studio profile will ALWAYS sound better than a merged IR. It's all about the person who is doing the profiling and, honestly, 75% of what I get off of the Rig Exchange is unusable. But, a quality IR can sure wake up some of those bad profiles, including my own.

    I only have the Celestion IR's converted to Kemper format. I find they can work well for some rigs, just as changing a cabinet does. It gives me some more options. I found the Celestion IR to be equal to a well made Kemper profile.


    One thing I do like with the IR's I have...I can quickly change to a certain sound for an amp with picking one of these quickly. For example, if I have a fender rig that sounds a little dark; I grab a Celestion G12 to use and it brightens it up. It's like an instant EQ. It saves me from auditioning countless cabinets to find what I want.

    Quote from drog

    I only have the Celestion IR's converted to Kemper format. I find they can work well for some rigs, just as changing a cabinet does. It gives me some more options. I found the Celestion IR to be equal to a well made Kemper profile.


    One thing I do like with the IR's I have...I can quickly change to a certain sound for an amp with picking one of these quickly. For example, if I have a fender rig that sounds a little dark; I grab a Celestion G12 to use and it brightens it up. It's like an instant EQ. It saves me from auditioning countless cabinets to find what I want.

    I'm with you on this one

    My take on it is the following


    There is nothing wrong with options. I'd rather take a killer IR which I know has a frequency response I enjoy and create a custom direct profile of my own that works with it. You cannot take someone else's profile and mold it to an IR though.

    If anybody could do a comparison of a Kemper cab and a 3rd party IR, that would be interesting, as well.

    Thank you for all your replies. (or should I say "responses" as in IR... ^^ ) It was suggested to me at one point to try them by the place I bought it from. Honestly I never even profiled an amp. I only have 1 amp now that in my opinion is not worth profiling. I just use the built-in tones and tones I find on Rig Exchange. ElDoca says earlier in this thread that 75% of the tones he gets from Rig Exchange are unusable. I guess I should just buy some profiles? I really dig fat 4/12 cab Marshall tones. I strive to get a tone with lots of sustain but not buzzy distortion. I had someone comment years ago who was not musical as far as I know, "why does your guitar sound so "fizzy". I had to think about that. I was running through a Laney 100 watt head and a Marshall 4/12 at the time, and with all the frickin' tweaking I did back then, I still had a "fizzy" tone. If anyone can recommend some good, fat, sustainy, non-fizzy Marshall-like profiles, please let me know! Thanks again.

    Quote from riplead

    Thank you for all your replies. (or should I say "responses" as in IR... ^^ ) It was suggested to me at one point to try them by the place I bought it from. Honestly I never even profiled an amp. I only have 1 amp now that in my opinion is not worth profiling. I just use the built-in tones and tones I find on Rig Exchange. ElDoca says earlier in this thread that 75% of the tones he gets from Rig Exchange are unusable. I guess I should just buy some profiles? I really dig fat 4/12 cab Marshall tones. I strive to get a tone with lots of sustain but not buzzy distortion. I had someone comment years ago who was not musical as far as I know, "why does your guitar sound so "fizzy". I had to think about that. I was running through a Laney 100 watt head and a Marshall 4/12 at the time, and with all the frickin' tweaking I did back then, I still had a "fizzy" tone. If anyone can recommend some good, fat, sustainy, non-fizzy Marshall-like profiles, please let me know! Thanks again.


    Hello @riplead,


    I think you will find that, on the whole, the prevailing consensus is that the Kemper Cabinets (which become an intrinsic part of the Studio or Merged Profiling process), are as good if not superior to 3rd party IRs. Even prior (or current) users of Fractals Axe-FX, who have built up sizable libraries in 3rd party IRs (at considerable investment) will acknowledge that there is something special about the how the Kemper captures not just the heart and soul of a tube amp, but also the unique contribution of the particular mic'd Cabinet.


    While there may be a few who still prefer working with 3rd party IRs, I would strongly recommend you look rather towards building up a library of Kemper cabinets, which you can save as cabinet presets. You can best do this by looking for profiles in the MERGED format. That way, you can more authentically copy a specific Cabinet profile (e.g. a Marshall 4x12 w/ Celestion Greenbacks) and paste it onto whatever amp profile you happen to like. Changing the stock (original) Cabinet can easily make a mediocre amp profile into something incredibly special, in that it better suits your particular ear and tonal needs.


    Here are some possibilities that I highly recommend:


    Till's Cablab:
    http://www.tillschleicher.com/tills-cablab/


    Top Jimi Merged profiles (a few rig suggestions, below):
    http://www.topjimi.com/NEW-BEye-Pack-BEYE-20161228.htm
    http://www.topjimi.com/NEW-Brown-Sound-Pack-BROWN-SOUND.htm
    http://www.topjimi.com/NEW-Med…ce-Pack-3-MEPO-BFACE3.htm


    Or, for some sweet Free merged profiles, I recommend you check out Tim Owens HAWP sessions, here:
    Have amps, will profile the BE100: Lets make some profiles...
    I particularly recommend Phase #53, The entire group of sessions is available here:
    http://foobazaar.com/kemper/HAWP/


    Some other great free Merged profiles, are available on Rig Manager / Rig Exchange, by searching for the author "Thumas". A specific example would be a profile named "Soldano HR 4 TS Merged", which I believe uses a Mesa Boogie 2x12 Recto Cab.


    Last, but certainly not least, there are Free MERGED profiles available in the following Kemper Rig Packs:


    Michael Wagener Signature Rig Pack (May 2015)
    Merged Rigs Pack (February 2015)
    both available here: https://www.kemper-amps.com/downloads/10/Rig-Packs



    Good Luck, and cheers,


    John

    Edited 3 times, last by Tritium ().

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