Posts by BayouTexan

I'm following this thread (non-owner. maybe later). I believe you should get usable tones right out the box. Why buy something on the hopes you "might" get usable tone later? I though Kemper was a "guaranteed" tone maker. I've never had so much optimism and pessimism over a product before. UHG!

I am much happier now! You guys hear it and know its there! Maybe this is why:

I always worked and played in loud db environments (go figure). To keep my hearing optimal, I went to a hearing doctor decades ago who told me to practice this every night - I turn the TV in bedroom at night down to an inaudible level and focus in on the speech part. I got very good at this over the years and still do it every night. This drives my wife nuts because she can't hear shit. I am always accusing her of "blasting" the TV when I walk in. If she walks into my studio during practice, she tells me I am going to go deaf because... it's too LOUD, turn it down! LOL.

Monkey_Man I think we nailed it. I guess my ears are just more focused on what you call "high-end grit" than some other people.

So, now my dilemma is; how can I ignore this high-end grit when I practice without a mix? Even more; how can I develop a heavenly tone out of a mix and then have it sound great in a mix when that grit has me dissatisfied with the tone - the million dollar question.

A while back, an Instructor ask my opinion on an iso track. I told him the track sounded like poop. He agreed. What he didn't tell me until after was it was an iso from Jimi Hendrix's album (can't remember which song but it's floating on the web). I thought is was just some guy trying to sound like Jimi. Pretty shocking moment for any tone chasers out there.

Thanks everyone!

So, I'm checking out IR's and found this Pete Thorn demo, which I say, okay no way he has that "fizz" but he does! I don't know what setup he is using for the IR's but if even Pete has it then maybe my ears are just getting anal too it. I hear very slightly in the mix, but if you go to the solo at 5:21, I can hear it good. You can also hear it at 6:20 where it is pronounced on the high strings. I am going nuts. I might have to unlearn my hearing.

V8guitar Neil "Spyder" Giraldo once said he tried a guitar and rig from another famous guitarist and thought he could sound just like him. He was disappointed because he said he still sounded like himself. True story.

Going from mono to stereo is like going from stereo to 5.1 surround sound. More channels = more life. Ping-pong delays and effects put you in a totally different world. I practice exclusively in stereo now. My next plan is to use a Leslie with surround sound. Whooooooaaaaaah! Yesssssssssss!

Quote from lightbox

So again we have someone connecting XLR instead of TRS. For this audio interface it's basically the same like the Focusrite example I discussed before. XLR is for microphone, TRS is for line inputs. See how low he turned the gain knob to have it not clip in the digital realm?

These kind of basic mistakes can cause things like "fizz" (I really don't like this term). Impedance mismatch, preamp overload, plenty of things can go wrong.

So XLR from Kemper out to TRS in on the interface. I am writing all this shit down!

Here is another vid where you hear nothing but fizz in the high gain profiles. I don't want to dis anyone or offend them but there is no way these recorded profiles sound good to anyone. I am so frustrated. Mind you, I don't hear any fizz with clean tones just breakup and high gain ones.

Quote from Wheresthedug

it sounds like something is clipping in that video

i definitely don’t hear that sort of thing on mine.

I checked out your Kemper Vs Boogie vid, and I did not hear any fizz. Thank goodness! But I would like to hear some super high gain profiles without a mix so I can be sure before I empty the bank account.

Quote from bobbyodell

I like those tones you're getting...nice and greasy!!

Seriously? Those tones sound like poop to my ears. You can't hear that awful fizz? BTW, not my vid --Someone else made it.

This video is a good example of the type of digital fizz I hear in the midrange section from cheap modelers. I hear it in both my desktop monitors and studio headphones. This is what I am trying to eliminate using my current modeler. To be honest, my Marshall Code 50 sims into DAW sounds way better on youtube than the sounds in this video. The only profile that sounded decent enough with limited fizz was Lotta Love at the 3:00 mark. Are you guys hearing that same "fizz" as me? How do you eliminate it?

Quote from SoManyGuitars

I bought a $5000 Gibson Custom Shop Les Paul.... and it didn’t come with a cable.

So I sent it back.

(No, I didn’t.. but there’s a point there.. Cables are subjective.... and cheap.... buy a cable that fits your needs.)

But I bet it came with strings. I would consider a cable sort of a string.

Quote from ST

You didn't mention the Kemper Remote. If you aren't planning to get one, order it now. I had my Kemper Profiler for a couple of years before I got my Remote. Within an hour, I wished I had gotten it sooner.

I am budgeting just for home studio now. Those extras will have to come later. My main focus will be to define my tone -not copy other artists. I just need 3 tones; clean, crunch, and high gain. If I get those 3, and they are heavenly to my ears. then it's a win. But I may consider the Kab for amp in the room feel before the remote.

Learn it so I can ask you some newbie questions.

This could be any answer from reading a particular article or watching a vid, to purchasing additional gear, to learning a specific settings... etc. I hope your answers will save this new prospect some anguish over fumbling to great tone once I get one. (Purchase plan is rackmount with two FRFR powered monitors to get studio sound first, and then move to live sound. I already have DAW monitors that I like and I am used to).

Could it be just "sympathetic resonance"? I get that on the same area of fretboard no matter what guitar I am using, and any amp or sim amp. It happens when chugging open strings with chords. It aggravates the hell out of me, but you just have to be accurate with palm muting - and "plectrum-thumb" muting.

If you lived in Dallas, I'd hook it up for free just to be able to demo some profiles on it. Good luck!

Quote from musicmad

Totally understand why you cannot get any usable sounds with the Kemper native plugin. Makes sense!

(hint: there is no such thing).

Can you describe what you are using again?

Sorry. I typed the wrong word. Corrected. Thanks!

I'm scared!

I am testing out Helix Native right now. I got some user made presets and user made IR's. The sounds are horrid (but much less horrid than the factory presets). You are right about sustain -- none with the Helix. And the low E string for me is always mud and highs are just plinky. Then I get a lot of top fizz on the mids when using any amp with gain. Drives me nuts. You can dial in some passable clean tones but anything with some crunch and gain sounds digitally horrific. I was using a cheap modeler before thru my studio monitors and it sounds light years better than the Helix mess (same interface, monitors, and DAW). The sounds are thin and lifeless, and you waste a lot of time trying to dial in something usable just for practice.

At least I did not shell out $1700 for the floor unit. But I am scared now of getting this Kemper. I have no place around me to go demo one. I really need to hear the profiles live 'without a mix' - just the raw guitar track. I wish Kemper would loan me one for 24 hours because if I can't get a pleasing sound in that short time then it is not going to work for me.

Anyone know where I can listen to a un-processed guitar track done with Kemper to hear through my monitors?

I'm using the *Helix* Native plugin, and not having any degrees of success. I've got only 6 usable high gain tones, and they only good for practice - nothing you want people to hear. Trying user presets and user IR's and it still sounds lame.

Can someone explain to me , in layman's terms, the difference of IR profiles like used in a Helix compared to amp profiles used in the Kemper? I understand that an IR is a "snapshot" of a cab mic'd up that is put into a small .wav file and loaded into software to emulate an actual mic'd cab. I don't understand the process of how that .wav file is used to create a virtual cabinet. I though that IR's and Profiles are just basically an EQ setting.