Input and Output Settings

input ; leave distortion sense at 0 unless you have a specific problem with very low or high output pickups. Set clean sense to whatever makes you clean and distorted rigs sound broadly similar volume. Remember this perceived volume could change as you turn the volume up because of the way our ears work so set it for the way you play most of the time. For me I keep the noise gate just barely on but once again that is a personal choice based on how noisy your guitars are and how much gain you run.

output; Main outs Master Stereo if yo want to use the effects from the KPA, Stack if you want to add them in Logic. For SPDIF toy should be able to run the output at 0db but personally I’ve been reducing mine to around -12db on the basis that I want to preserve headroom in the overall project without the need to keep the channel faders mega low. This may be Muddled thinking on my part so I would be happy to have any input from studio engineers who really understand this Monkey_Man ??? when using SPDIF i typical run Git+Main Outs for simplicity and to make me commit to a sound early but the Git signal still gives me a get out if I really screwed up and need to change it.

Quote from Wheresthedug

This may be Muddled thinking on my part so I would be happy to have any input from studio engineers who really understand this Monkey_Man ???

I don't think it's muddled at all, Brother Alan.

That's a sensible level to begin with IMHO, especially if the Rig's output is 5 or 6dB below the ceiling in the first place, which it ought to be IMHO, or at least a few dB. I wouldn't recommend tweaking Rig volumes to sit too close to the ceiling simply due to the risk of occasional overs.

So, the 12dB attenuation you're running, in combination with the headroom you're operating at exiting the Kemper, should give you around -18dB for your signal, and I doubt many engineers would argue with that as being a great default starting point.

For those who're wondering why Alan takes this approach, it's not just to minimise having to constantly dial down the levels of his channel faders as he adds more components to the mix, which is something you'd have to do if you started out hot, applying the old-school analogue-level mentality, but, and I don't know if this was part of his thinking, fader resolution is better around unity gain, as a bonus. This means that minor adjustments in level will be less of a pain to implement, especially with a mouse.

Thanks Nicky ?

i havent done it purely because I like more organic amp tones so don’t have a need for it. I’m sure it would be a great option is modulation, delays and reverbs are a bog part of your sound and you want to leave options open as long as you can. However, I have seen a number of top producers recently saying that one of the things that made so many older recording great was that people committed to sounds early in the process and worked around those decisions. I wouldn’t begin to suggest I have any knowledge of whether this is true or not but I like the idea.

Hey Mike,

The only "problem" I can foresee is possible phase cancellation / comb-filtering when mixing the stereo mod channels with the mono Stack in your DAW to-taste.

How successful this will be relies on the Kemper's sample-accurate phase alignment between the signals at the outputs, which we should assume is perfect, but IMHO if it is it's a bit of a "feat" for Kemper to have achieved and foreseen. This is because there'll be a tiny delay imposed at the Direct and Monitor outputs for the mod feed due to the time it takes for the D/A conversion. The S/PDIF out, OTOH, is carrying the Stack signal which you'd be blending with the mod one, so unless Kemper has foreseen and compensated for this hookup scenario, there'll theoretically be a tiny delay on the mod outs relative to the Stack.

If you're able, I'd be interested to hear what you find when you line the tracks up in your DAW and inspect the waveforms to see if you can detect a misalignment. If you can't visually notice a difference and aren't sure what's going on, try nudging, for instance, the Stack track at sample resolution (you'll have to set the resolution in your DAW for the editor window, I'm guessing) whilst it's playing back alongside the stereo-mod one/s, and listen carefully. Count the number of times you had to nudge in one direction 'til phasing becomes obvious, then go back that number of increments to the neutral position and nudge in the other direction. If it takes the same number of steps in either direction to sound wrong, this could theoretically mean that alignment was correct in the first place.

In all honestly the exact phase relationship shouldn't matter too much 'cause the mod signal is already-messed-up in the sense that phase tricks are likely to have been employed in or be the result of the modulation in the first place. As always, experimentation will tell you what you need to know and put your mind at-ease.

Overall, the 6-way approach described in the video makes perfect sense to use as long as you don't mind the extra tracks and have chosen to use the Kemper's modulation effects rather than your DAW ones.

HTH, mate.

I'm not a professional, Mike, and I'm not currently recording either (long story), but I plan to use the XLR outs for monitoring from a small desk and the TS outs for recording via an interface.

There's no need to stress about the quality of the XLR vs TS vs S/PDIF quality IMHO; the differences are small-enough to be deemed a nothingburger.