Posts by laco65

Sorry, but I don't understand what you're asking. Once again: Even if you buy the STUDIO profile witch was close miced, its settings of the microphone and the used speaker were made (usually) by the creator of the profile so that the sound (sound from the microphone output + additional sound adjustment) sounds the same as in the sweet point. (You buy this sound like a ready-made mixed cocktail.)

So you got a snapshot of the resulting sound projection at some specific point in the room because it was intentionally done that way.

Because that's how it's used to be properly by making a song in a studio.

But you didn't bought a snapshot of the sound source itself - but only the resulting sound cocktail.

This is the right way to use it directly into some song in the DAW. All you have to do is fine-tune it to your taste and it sounds OK in the song. But for live performance, the situation is different. I'm talking about the fact that if, for example, you practice guitar at home with such a STUDIO profile, it just sounds dull in your headphones or monitors - 99% of STUDIO profiles sound like that. I know it: I've bought a lot of profiles of M.Britt, Tone Junkie, Top Jimmy, Choptones, Selah Sound, Big Hairy Profiles ... they all sound the same dull if I just play the guitar through monitors or headphones! It just doesn't sound like practicing a guitar on a real amp. The same situation was with the band when I used the STUDIO profile to play guitar through my monitor (good quality almost linear 12 inch PA box). I searched for a long time until I realized that the only rescue for that situacions are DIRECT profiles.

The charm of DIRECT profiles lies in how they are made. Unlike STUDIO profiles, they do not set any specific sound but rather general universal settings (in almost all I have this is the case - and I have many of them) Because it makes no sense (and it's not even possible) to mimic some sweet point sound if you're doing the profile of the amplifier itself without a speaker.

Eg: all potentiometers in EQ in the middle. Then more treble, then more mids, then more bass, then less treble, then less mids and so on...

So, for example, for SOLDANO bright lead sound was enough for me to choose a DIRECT profile with more presence and treble + use the right IR and it sounded like G. Moore in 1993 (almost....) with minimal additional sound adjustments. But the most important thing is that:

it doesn't sound like that from the line directly to the DAW, but the final listening when I play standing 3 meters from the monitors is like that. And if I want to use this sound in a song in DAW, it can be tuned for this very easily.

If I need some sound, I first look for a sample of the raw sound of the amplifier.

Here is an example of what I used as a template for SLASH sound:

First I chose the introduction to the song Sweet child ... where only the guitar sounds

Then I found a preview of a raw Marshall sound of a similar nature. Especially one where you can't hear the sound from the room, but direct from the microphone close placed to the box. The preview starts at 1:42

Then I was looking for the most similar DIRECT profiles + IR which gives me the best result. And finaly I did adjustment the sound according to my ears.

I have bought a lot of Marshall profiles. Many of them are ala SLASH SOUND. But neither sounds like the result I achieved this way.

No, quite the opposite. When you use such a profile for live playing, there is that effect. Imagine you are playing your amplifier. The real sound is right on the speaker membrane. From there, it spreads into space to where you stand. For the purpose of recording, remote microphones are also used in the studio to capture the best sound at the sweet point. The KEMPER profile made in this way is not suitable for live play. Therefore, if you compare the sound of your amplifier and such a profile when you play live via FRFR, monitor or PA box, the sound sounds dull.

If you use such a profile in a song in the DAW, usually only small adjustments according to your taste will be enough to sound good. At least that is my experience with KEMPER profiles from M.BRITT, TONE JUNKIE, CHOPTONES, etc.

The only thing that works well is the DIRECT profile + IR (or CAB) with microphones placed very close. At least for my ears....

This is my journey from the disappointment of how bad the purchased profiles sound to understanding the problem and the solution. Maybe it will also help someone ...

1. UNDERSTANDING WHAT WE HEAR.

If we hear a real amp in a sweet point, we do not hear the real sound of the equipment itself. We hear a mixture of speakers membrane sound with heavily modified freq characteristics of the speaker in the place where we stand + the amount of reflections from the room. If we listen to Kemper profiles on YouTube, they seem great to us because they sound similar to when we are standing in a room 3-4m from the amplifier. BUT ATTENTION: In the vast majority of sound examples on YouTube we hear sound directly from the KEMPER output to the DAW, which already sounds like Sweet point sound of amp + room. BUT IT'S A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT SOUND THAT COMING FROM THE SOURCE ITSELF. (The sound source in our case is the membrane of the speaker). You have to keep this in mind when you listen to YouTube demos.

(It's also better to just listen to the audio of the demo without watching the video. This way the sound can be evaluated much better. Try it...)

Such profiles sounds dull and covered when played live. This is because the sound of the source itself is replaced by the sound from the sweet point+room. But no worries. It will sound very suitable on the recording.

2. SOLUTION FOR LIVE PLAYING:

For this purpose, we need a profile made directly from the sound source. Therefore, if you want good sound for live performance, you need to use DIRECT or MERGED profiles. For these profiles, you must use IRs captured with a very close microphone to achieve the sound of the source. (one of the best IRs are for example on celestionplus.com). All you have to do is select the correct IR for the DIRECT profile. The RIG created in this way usually only needs to be fine-tuned to our taste.

3. EMERGENCY SOLUTION:

If you have purchased many STUDIO profiles or do not have the budget to buy new DIRECT profiles, the best way is to try to replace the CAB module with the most suitable

(or brighter) IR. If you don't have it first try to find more suitable CAB and then adjust Hi SHIFT, CHARACTER and PURE CAB. By combining these three parameters, very useful natural-sounding results can be achieved. Only then try adjust the EQ and DEFINITION in the AMP for the last fine-tuning of the sound. It is best not to use headphones, but rather monitors if possible. This procedure is not perfect, but usable results can be achieved (sometimes even very good results...)

FINAL THOUGHTS:

I had to understand that the profiles intended for use in a recording must be different from the live playing profiles. From a good profile for live playing, it is much easier to make a good profile for a studio work than vice versa. I must always keep this in mind when buying profiles.

More EQ types in the amp module would be great. Eg: Marshall, Fender, VOX, Mesa Boogie, etc. Personally, I consider this to be the biggest negative on Kemper - Amp EQ has little to do with EQ in a real amp and therefore the sound adjustment with this EQ will quickly start to differ from the real amp. Particulary mid freq are completely different from a real amp EQ.

When using LOCK function, a small orange symbol will appear on the icons in the RM. With the MORPHING function, it is not possible to see which effect is affected until I click on it. A small blue symbol on the effect icons would solve it. It would be nice if it appears in the next update...

I think that this single option alone would significantly increase the flexibility in programming PERFORMANCES and also the live control on stage. The number of PERFORMANCES needed to cover the entire repertoire would also be significantly reduced.

Many of us are always using first slot like a basic rhythm position for each song.

An Example : For a Song Nr. 1 I use the slot 3 for the solo with delay and chorus ON. In the Song Nr.2 I use the same slot with delay and chorus OFF for the solo. Now I have to step on the footswitch several times to get the sound I want. And there isn't just enough time for that in many songs.

It would by very helpfull to add the possibility of the keeping the changes of the effects on/off within a Performance. This would allow you to pre-select before a song which effects will be active while playing the solo. It would be much more flexible on a live stage and each slot can be used for multiple songs.