Posts by RosboneMako

I only have a stage. But things to think about from comments I have read on here in other sections:

1A) Some like the toaster and remote because it only needs an ethernet cable run between the two. You may not need power as its in the cable POE?

1B) If you use pedals you will probably have power at your feet anyway. So the Stage will work better. You will want the unit close to the pedals.

2) If you have rack mount effects you will want the toaster/rack version and remote so all the routing cables can be in the rack.

3) The Stage is the newest model and is much cheaper, so there is that.

The important thing to note is that You do the profile and the refine (play loud chords etc). Then you have a few adjustments available that can make that profile sound even better than the amp.

In the AMP section you want to pay attention to the DEFINITION control. This will add/remove some of the bass from the signal BEFORE it goes into the amp section. Low settings for Clean Fender type bass and High for tight high gain amps. This should be the first thing to adjust.

If you are doing clean amps you will want to add a little compression to even out the dynamics of the amp. This tries not to color the sound. Use the Compressor stomp to add some color (also useful for clean and slightly dirty). Use the Michael Britt settings (all dials on 12-1 o'clock) and adjust the mix to taste.

I usually like to play around with the AMP CLARITY setting next to remove some hair on the sound and then use the AMP MIX to add a little clean sound to fatten up. Use small amounts of mix.

Then you can adjust the CABINET hi/low and character to put the amps fizz in the right frequency range and make your speaker sound larger or smaller. Then I tweak the CHARACTER if the sound sounds too muffled or it in a tube. Lower to get rid of frequency effects of cab/mic.

Then add a TREBLE BOOSTER after the amp if you want some extra presence and boost. Mix at a low value (5-20%) and adjust tone to get the presence you want.

Add a graphic or studio EQ in the first stomp slot and you can dial in the sound even more. This tweaks what hits your amp front end so you can adjust it to tweak the pickup sound or boost the mids to get thicker gain from the amp.

You should now have a sound that is even better than the real amp and you have not even played with effects, post amp EQ, etc

Cheers

Quote from Wheresthedug

The SHIFT key for fine tuning feature makes it possible to enter exact values but I strongly agree with you that the ability to just type a value straight in would be a MASSIVE advantage.

SHIFT for tuning and CTRL for MORPH settings are very cool (Thanks Wheresthedug).

I agree that typing a value would still be a huge improvement. Especially for me as I stand a lot of the time so my wrist has to bend 60 degrees to operate the mouse with any degree of precision.

Lets start off with I love tweaking. But tweaking is also a blurry distinction between the Kemper and others.

On most modelers you can tweak a lot of things. But you are stuck with the basic sounds programmed into the unit. So you can only tweak so much.

With amp profiling you can tweak infinitely. There are 18000 rigs on the Rig Exchange you can start with. And you can make your own profiles. So you can dream up all kinds of bizarre real world things to profile. Like screw a speaker to your acoustic and then mic it up and make a profile. Setup three amps that are all mic'ed and summed to a mixer. YOU could be the person who creates the greatest guitar sound ever heard.

Not to mention the Kemper software is super tweakable. They really should get a lot of credit for how great the software is when it comes to adjusting tone. They did an amazing job. I was playing with my POD HD last night and was constantly reaching for adjustments that only exist on the Kemper.

My point is:
- Most people get the Kemper so they DONT have to tweak.

- If you like to tweak in hardware, there is no substitute for a Kemper.

The only thing Kemper is missing is the ability to profile itself. But I keep asking for it so maybe.... some day....?

Quote from BayouTexan

How are you guys "not near" your Kemper? My Kemper and guitars are only feet away from me all day unless I go to the bathroom in which case I am thinking of them.

Another great reason for a lower priced Kemper Mini. Maybe it should also come with class D amp and speaker for bathroom reverb jamming. And a built in mic for reverb IR capture. Just needs a cool name like the Kemper Loo or Johnny.

Quote from BayouTexan

What is an Ipad?

I think it is some form of feminine hygiene product

I just learned today that you can press the 1-8 keys on PC to turn effects on off

I think the reamping features may be a distinction. I have never done this so so I could be way off base...

The Kemper will let you Reamp thru the 1/4" analog ins/outs or thru SPDIF. These are a few extra connections you will need to make.

Many other modelers may just require a single USB connection.

I am not near my Kemper but:

On the Kemper if you have the amp selected, try turning the browse knob. It may give you a list of every amp on the Kemper to pick from. It does for cabs.

Since I installed Rig Manager I have not touched my Kemper. In Rig Manager you can make your own folders and then drag and drop amps/cabs/effects into the folders. When you are editing a new rig, you can drag and drop the amps onto the AMP section in Rig manager. Or select them and press Ctrl-Enter.

Rig Manager is the best way to do anything Kemper related.

As far as headphones go, it depends on what you are planning to do with them. Just listening or tuning profiles. Headphones meant for listening purposes will have beefed up lows and highs. Headphones for tuning or studio monitoring usually have very flat frequency response.

And when your headphones have too much high end, high gain guitars with a ton of fizz and chainsaw action will be very annoying to listen to.

The same goes for speakers. A 4x12 cab and a studio monitor have completely different frequency responses. So you may want to pick the one you will be using the most so you can tweak profiles to match it.

I agree 100%! Most settings do not require fine control over values, but some really do. Like frequencies and the Cab Hi/Low values are a PITA to set.

Would be a great addition. And would really cut down on the carpal tunnel I am getting from having to wheel the mouse around for 1 minute trying to get a specific value.

Quote from BayouTexan

I now own a Kemper Mini!!!

I took a picture of my rackmount and shrunk it down to wallet size to show my friends.

Genius!

Check the OUTPUT SECTION and verify SPACE is turned off. That adds a stereo effect that will cause one side to be louder.

My Kemper pops a little when I turn it on. I wonder if you are losing power to the unit momentarily? I would verify that the power cable is tightly seated.

I have also seen times when a power cables ports are spread out too much and they barely make contact to the plug in a unit. So trying a different power cord would also be a good idea.

Quote from BayouTexan

There are always two strings that give me the most difficultly dialing in; Low E and A. I am always looking for a certain "growl" on those two strings without changing the tone on the rest. I am going to try raising those two pole screws and see what happens.

I agree, a lot of profiles are too bright on the top 4 strings and not enough on the lower strings. So you play a lot of games trying to make them work. Curious how you make out.

Step 1 is get it connected so you can make sound. Step 2 is download RIG MANAGER. That makes everything EZ as pie from then on.

Quote from r_t

Yes! When I use XLR Cables, I set the audio interface to Mic level instead of Line!

I think the Kemper only puts out a LINE LEVEL signal. I do not use it that way so I do not know for sure. I hoped some of the pros on here would fix you up. I was just trying to quickly get you on the right path

Very interesting thing he said about Allmans setup. Sounds like he was trying to drop the pickup then raise the poles up. If you did this on one coil only would that be a way to balance a humbucker between noise reduction and single coil tone? Has anyone tried this?

The YouTube sounds amazing. Just got it! You keep us all rockin in the free world Mike!

NOTE: I noticed that the video was very close to 21 minutes and 12 seconds on 12/21....

EDIT: I only made it thru about half of the profiles before I had to change my underwear. Wow. Perfection. So many great tones.

Just throwing this out there:

Are the XLR outs on the Kemper at LINE-LEVEL? Then connecting them to the interfaces XLR MIC-LEVEL preamps? This will be putting a much higher voltage signal into the preamp than it is designed for. I normally see people saying they need XLR -> TRS cables to go into the LINE LEVEL balanced inputs on their audio interface.

I am a noob so I just use TS ->TS all LINE-LEVEL signals.

Quote from JoshuaL1

thanks! So it’s like a « cut more »

Yes. Exactly. Sorry I was not clear in my psychotic Doc Brown ramblings