Making your own profiles is the ideal way to go if you still have the real amps.
As far a fre profiles go there are some killers in the Kemper Factory Content. One of my favourite profiles ever is the Crunch SLO from Bert Meulendijk pack 2 in the factory content. Absolutely awesome ?
I checked out that Crunch SLO from Bert Meulendiik...sounds great!
2. Most profiles sound nothing like in the youtube videos that advertise them.
3. Most profiles sound bad "out of the box". Working with the Kemper is all about tweaking.
2 - 100% agree! This is why I stopped buying profiles. If I am going to sit there and "tweak to my liking" ALL the time, I could have done that with a free profile from the Exchange...or my own. And there are MANY free great ones out there...just look and save yourself money. Just because you are paying for something doesn't mean its any better. These guys are probably making an awful lot of money selling profiles to people like me (in the beginning) who have it in their mind that we are really getting that amp's tone. Sorry but it isn't happening. Too many factors come into play when a profile is made, and by the time it gets to you its a mess.
3 - See above. If they sound so bad out of the box (which I agree they do), why buy them? I could get that same bad profile from the Exchange and tweak them as well. As a matter of fact, I have NEVER loaded a purchased profile that sounds anything like the youtube vid or the real amp itself. However I have found free profiles that did sound good as soon as I tried it. My top 5 Profiles are 4 from the FREE exchange and one that I made myself. All my purchased profiles sit in a local directly and not on the Kemper.
The Kemper is a Tweak Machine...even more then a Helix and that's hard to believe. I can pull up a Helix SLO amp, set everything at 5 and its acceptable. Not so with a Kemper profile.
I run my powered Kemp head into 2x12 w/V30s or 2x12 w/G12T75 cabinets with Cab Off on the Kemper Profiles. Every profile is different and will need front panel EQ tweaks, some allot more then others and some I just give up on. I will occasionally add another EQ into the X soft button for even more tweaking. I find the Kemper to sound exceptionally well running into real cabinets. Not sure what your issue could be.
You could always go FRFR into a Kone or the one I use and highly recommend F12-200X. This will give you allot more "cabinet" options. I like to choose a good Profile and then bring in other cabs from other Profiles to see what matches up best.
Maybe you didn't use it correctly or didn't understand the imprints concept? I am personaly excited with Kone, I never had such great sound before. I am using both modes (full range & imprints)!
I used it correctly. I spent hours on it, even days. Looked at the manual and posts, it just wasn't for me. The F12 sounded great right out of the box.
I've just placed an order for a custom made 2x12 Vertical Cab with F12-X200's. Fingers crossed it delivers what I need
Good choice! I have my one F12-200X in a Mesa 1x12 cab.
If you want the same sound as you can hear at the FoH, you should go the FRFR way -> X-200.
I agree 100%! Not only the same sound as FOH but just a much fuller and rounded tone period. The X200 is the winner.
I tried both the Kone and F12-200X and in my honest opinion it wasn't even close, the F12-200X sounds much better and more like a real cabinet with all profiles, dirty and clean. I obviously do not use the imprints but never intended to. I wasn't impress with the imprints when using the Kone anyway, I rather use the whole profile and having the option to merge cabs is much better. I personally do not understand why the Kone is so popular, maybe because it has the Kemper logo on it. The F12-200X is the way to go...but to each his own.
it would just go WTF and probably explode
lol NICE!
When I first got my Kemper I though the same, too bassy. I have found its always best to use a FRFR speaker for true profile tone, but the Kemper still does an exceptional job using a real cabinet with Cabs Off. I prefer the F12-200X over the Kone, it delivers more "amp in the room" and just sounds better to me (I do not use imprints). The power amp is also very important as it will add color. I have the power head and it does sound great coming out of the FRFR speaker, but sounds even better when I bypass the power of the head and use a real tube amp power section. When using an FRFR you get to choose more cabinet options, and I also use the Pure Cabinet setting which will remove some of that "bassy" issues you are referring to. I find the sweet spot at 3.0. I am not much into IRs, the cabs and merging cabs is the better option imo.
that’s not how refining works.
I dont understand, the mic is pointed at a live signal from the amp to the cabinet. I would assume it is picking up that signal from the mic'ed cabinet no? Lets face it...the Kemper is great but it does not profile/copy 100% of the same exact tone coming from the amp and cab. I understand mic choice and placement has allot to do with it though.
The mic that is was originally pointing at the tube amp/cabinet when profiling was done.
I will try it and see how it goes.
Lets say you dial up your tube amp to a particular tone of a recorded intro of just a guitar track. Lets use Limelight by Rush as an example, again trying to get your amp as close as possible, but some room for refining. You go ahead and capture your "close" tone to the Kemper, but now for the "Refine Profile" option you point your mic to a looped intro of Limelight playing from studio monitors. ok...beat me up now, crazy idea? lol
If you are using an FRFR as the Headrush 108, I wouldn't keep that Pure Cabinet off, 3.0 seems to be the sweet spot for more clarity and bite when using FRFR. The 108 is a bit dark but still a great choice. Add some Presents and Treble control.
Many profiles also sound dull to me, the best I have were the ones I created myself. However there are MANY great ones out there for free in the Exchange. Look for author "RickyStorti" or "Till Schleicher" in the free Exchange (no need to purchase any), there are some great ones for metal. One in particular that I use allot is the RickyStorti Diezel VH4 and the Diezel VH4 LEAD. Check them out.
Hi thanks for your replies that have just ordered the Seymour Duncan powerstage 170 as I thought it be a good option. Hopefully it will all work ?
Do you have a real tube amp with an effect loop? You can use the return on your tube amp to power your non-powered Kemper unit, and imo this will sound allot better and allot less "flat" then any solid state power amp. Trust me I have tried many including the 170 and an Orange Pedal Baby. I have the powered head myself but I like to experiment. The best results always came from a tube power source, in my case it was a Marshall DSL 50w head. It even sounds better going through the Marshall power section then the Kemper 600w section. But for gigs and convenience I still use the 600w power on the head, just more tweaking needed. BTW...always make sure your CABS are OFF when running this way into a real cabinet.
Sorry Guys, I tried both the F12-200X and the Kone (both in FRFR mode) and I liked the F12 better. To me the Kone was too dark with no bite. When "Kemper Kone" was engaged it sounded too bright and sterile. Then I tried the imprints and wasn't impressed. I like the F12-200X in FRFR mode and will stick with that.
I use it for all my mid to high gain amps, sweet spot is usually about 3.0 for me.
Yes. I don't often use them on my Kemper because the profiles are usually better. However, they sound better than most IRs on an HX Stomp I use for backup. For virtually nothing you can try out a good few cabs.
I agree, the profiles usually sound better and are the way to go instead of IRs.
Don't mean to be a wet blanket but the majority of people I have talked to (including top studio guys & producers) all say IR's do not seem to be as good as using the Kemper for speaker cabs. I've heard some amazing tone from the Kempers without using IRs to the point of I could probably work with cab controls to get anything I needed. Those cab controls will do a LOT and open up a big rabbit hole!
I agree, IRs are really not needed, most profiles are just fine the way they are. I just like to tinker allot and play with new options.
You can't go wrong with the $1 pack that has quite a few profiles from the Mesa 2x12 v30. I have found York Audio to be well balanced, but it is all down to personal preference of course.
There is a pack from York for $1 that has Mesa 2x12 V30?
Check out your Celestions and see what you think. What kind of flavor are you looking? British, American, Mesa-ish, etc.?
I have always been a fan of G12T75...I am very old school. I also like the V30. The G12T75 pack that I purchased was from Celetion was a bit disappointing. I want to try a good V30 now.
