Well...Finally got a Kemper after months of research..And...Not so good

    Oh this discussion is interesting.


    I have never used a cab with the Kemper but today I was setting different outputs for Reamping, using my DXR10 and a 2x12 with GT-75s in so I can account for various situations.


    I have never used a cab so I gave it a go at low volume. Loads up Deadlights JVM profile as I own that physical amp, disabled the cab and it sounded fantastic. Tested the AFD and Mesa and the AFD sounded OK (needs v30s) and the Mesa sounded terrible (again wrong physical cab)


    It is amazing how much the cab effects the sound and until I owned the Kemper I had no idea.


    The Kemper still amazes me.


    Mike

    Hey Square.


    It's wasn't that I hadn't tried in a while I had never tried it. I purchased the Powered Kemper Rack with the intention of having the inbuilt amp as back if the DXR10 failed.


    I was pleasantly surprised at how nice it sounded albeit a little dark due to the GT-75s being dark speakers. I am sure a 2x12 with v30s in would sound as good as the JVM profiles I am using.


    Be aware this was at extremely low volume.


    Mike

    Yep, that's why I always profile all my amps with many different cab combination and always merge the profiles so that it sounds good through a cab too. I always include additional D.I profiles because I find that profiles to tend to sound as good through a cab when they are not merged or a D.I profile.

    I have the power rack and it sounds great through my Rivera 2x12 can with Celestion Vintage 30's. I will say that the clean tones aren't as good as my tube amps (the MJM Princeton profile is great for cleans) they lack some of the liveliness and dynamics, but the low to high gain sounds are incredible. It sounds great at low volumes and band level volumes.

    I make sure to turn the definition parameter down below 5.0 on any profile I use. It's amazing how many profiles I've downloaded that have it set on 10.0 which sounds terrible (no low end and cocked wah sounding). Turning it below 5.0 brings the low end thickness back.

    Quote from houseofglass21

    I make sure to turn the definition parameter down below 5.0 on any profile I use. It's amazing how many profiles I've downloaded that have it set on 10.0 which sounds terrible (no low end and cocked wah sounding). Turning it below 5.0 brings the low end thickness back.

    Never thought of this, I'm gonna give this a try!
    On the down side though it would effect the front of the house sound.

    There should be a sticky thread about the Fletcher Munson Effect. https://ledgernote.com/columns…ng/fletcher-munson-curve/


    Without a fundamental understanding of this there will be much head-scratching when playing at different volumes. You might have a speaker cab onstage at reasonable levels that sounds great, but the audience will perceive much more treble and bass from the louder PA.


    Always tweak at stage volume is the rule.

    Quote from Deej09

    This may help some folk if they already have a tube amp but still wants the versatility of the kemper?


    https://youtu.be/Q25XqgrZfQk


    Okay, my fellow KPA forum colleagues know I just can't hold my tongue when it comes to this kind of crap. I am not taking about the patient and kind uploader, who felt the need to make a public service video explaining such a basic concept -- a concept that should be "common knowledge" for any guitarist who owns a tube amp with an FX Loop. The fact that a tube amp owner may have never had occasion to make use of their tube amp's FX Loop does not get them of the hook...as this is clearly described in the KPA Reference Manual. I also would bet my bottom dollar that your typical manual for your typical tube amp would explain this connection possibility, as well -- that is, using a guitar preamp with the tube amp's FX Return.


    Ultimately, this comes down to the owner not lifting a proverbial little finger to open a manual and learn a little about a product they just spent approx. $2,000 on.


    In reviewing the responses to his video, it is shocking to see how many people were clueless about the ability to connect a preamp (here, the KPA) into the FX Return of their tube amp.


    I mean, this is analogous to owning a car, yet not knowing where or how to re-fill the windshield wiper fluid...or where the spare tire is located.


    IMHO, there is no excuse for this willful ignorance...and it shows that many people are just damn lazy.


    From page 29 of the Kemper Reference Manual:


    [Blocked Image: https://i.imgur.com/TgyXvFX.jpg]

    Edited 2 times, last by Tritium ().

    Like 5

    You have to be careful with this trick. If you keep turning up at festivals and accessing the power amps through fx returns, you might be at the mercy of mains hum. Often the heads provided with be like the Peavey 6505 and have no master volume. That will leave you at full tilt on the power and lowering you Kemper volume to compensate. I had quite a few shows like this with large amounts of noise before I decided to go full in ears instead.

    Karl


    Kemper Rack OS 9.0.5 - Mac OS X 12.6.7

    Quote from karlic

    You have to be careful with this trick. If you keep turning up at festivals and accessing the power amps through fx returns, you might be at the mercy of mains hum. Often the heads provided with be like the Peavey 6505 and have no master volume. That will leave you at full tilt on the power and lowering you Kemper volume to compensate. I had quite a few shows like this with large amounts of noise before I decided to go full in ears instead.


    Hello Karlic,


    Yes, definitely. If your tube amp has it's master volume before the FX Return, then the MV will not attenuate volume, and you have to be careful of the KPA's volume levels. However, many tube amps that feature an FX Loop have a PPIV master volume, which would be after the FX Loop. It all depends on the tube amp.


    Nevertheless, my post was not about whether it is ideal or not ideal to connect the KPA to a tube amp's FX Return. That obviously will depend on user preference, as well as the topology of the amp's FX Loop vis-a-vis the MV. I was simply bemoaning the fact that something I consider to be "basic knowledge", obtained by experience or by simply reading the bloody manual, apparently is completely foreign to a bunch of guitarists. Moreover, I would describe such a state of affairs as willful ignorance, when someone can't be bothered to make even a cursory scan of an operator's manual.


    Cheers,
    John

    if the master volume us post effects loop, what are the balanced ratios for kpa "whatever output you choose master volume" to the master volume in the amp? And before anyone says use your ears, that's not what I'm talking about. I've already done this before and could never figure out if i should dime the amp MV, or should I dime the kpa and slowly raise the amp MV. I also tried setting them both somewhere in the middle but then which one do I raise first if I need to be louder? I found myself raising both without a real sense of what i was doing was best/ideal. Chairs.