Need some help understanding the difference between Kemper Kone / Pure Cabinet / IRs and Cab Sims

The manual explains it all pretty clearly.

Quote from jsr2497

Using this classic M Britt profile as an example, and without the kabinet activated, we are hearing a 74' Fender Champion, through a Switchback 2x12 cab with Celestion CL80 speakers, into a SM57. Right?

Yes.

Quote from jsr2497

If I activate "Pure Cabinet", the Kemper will attempt to remove the SM57 from the equation, but keep the Amp + Cab the same?

Not really

Pure Cabinet (Page 99 of the manual) isn’t removing the mic but merely trying to smooth out some of the phase issues a mic can create. Its prety subtle compared to totally removing the mic from the equation.

Quote from jsr2497

And if I activate the Kabinet's "Cabinet Off" function - it removes the cab, speaker, and microphone from the original profile and replaces just the Cab + Speaker w/ the Kabinet + Speaker imprint?

Only for the Monitor Outs. Imprints are never present on the Main Outs etc. Page107 - 120 of the manual explains better than i can.

Quote from jsr2497

Lastly, what does this setting achieve? (as in the picture)

Pure Cabinet: Off

Kemper Kone: Enabled
Cabinet Off: Disabled

What is the Kemper Kone setting doing by itself?

You are running the Kabinet in full range mode without an imprint.

The Kone On option is activating the DSP which adapts the EQ to compensate for the speaker’s character and make it a flat response.

Quote from jsr2497

Which means it's the "same" as the main output: amp, cab, speaker and mic as M Britt profiled it, right?

Yes although it will obviously sound slightly different on different speakers.

Quote from jsr2497

Last weird question: assuming there is a profile with a 1x12 cab with a celestion greenback. Choosing Pure Cabinet or the greenback speaker imprint would be almost the same thing?

No. They are quite different.

I don’t fully understand how Pure Cab does its thing but it definitely not the same as an imprint.

Pure Cab is trying to remove some of the unpleasantness of close micing but the mic and its position still play a major part in the final sound. Think of it like this: PC is a single algorithm that affects all signals in a similar manner. However, an SM57 right up against the grill, on the edge of the dust cap will be a totally different starting point for the algorithm to work than say a 121 in lone with the centre of the speaker but 1m away from the cabinet. PC has no way of knowing what it is dealing with so can’t remove the mic and leave the pure speaker.

Imprints on the other hand start from the point that there is no mic involved at all and attempt to alter the eq of the Kone to match that of the actual speaker.

I am just guessing what the Kemper is doing below. I have not played around with PURE CAB much.

When you mic an amp, you will not get a perfect sound without some work. The mic will not only pickup the speaker but also any reflections in the room. You will also have sounds hitting the mic from different parts of the speaker at different times. If you have a 2x12 or 4x12 you will also be getting sound coming from the additional speakers which are a further distance away and will be delayed/out of phase.

The reflections are never in phase with the original sound. Sounds that are "out of phase" will reduce the volume of a particular frequency. This creates little suckouts in the frequency response. The higher the frequency the more change an out of phase signal will do to the speaker signal (due to the ratio of distance traveled to wave length).

If I were to write a PURE CAB algorithm I would first look at the freq spectrum of the IR. Then I would try to average out any fast dips/changes in the response. These would not normally come from a speaker but from mic phase issues in the making of the IR.

Having suckouts may be a critical piece of a high gain tone due to the high amount of harmonics in the signal. That is why the manual states PURE CAB may not work great for high gain stuff. With a clean tone, large changes in the IR are not as noticeable.

The manual states that PURE CAB affects badly recorded IRs more than good IRs. I take this as "We cant fix what isnt broken". If there are no suckouts to fix, we wont do anything.

Like I said, just a guess. The first time I made a sweep of my 2x12 cab, I was blown away at how bad the suckouts were. It took a lot of blankets and foam to clean it up.

If it sounds like it is being played thru a tube, it has suckouts. It is amazing how many speaker IRs from big companies sound like they are in a tube. You would think they would make the IRs in a single speaker cabinet filled with sound deadening material while being in an anechoic chamber to reduce any outside reflections. Or use Room EQ Wizard to record several sweeps and average them together to make the IR. Amateurs

Always switch Kone on when you use a Kabinet or Kone speaker…switch cabs off if you want to use imprints, leave them on if you want the Kone to act as a fullrange..and playback cab/mic in the profile.

Always switch Kone off if you use something else then a Kabinet. Switch cabs off if you use a guitar cab, leave them on if you use fullrange.

These settings do not impact the main outs.

To clarify, *Monitor* cab off.

If you turn the entire cab section off, all cab simulations are off regardless of simulation type (Kemper Cab/Imprint) or the output(s) used.