Posts by drew_fx

  • Power amp

    You can test what I'm saying by doing this - profile an amp with its bass control fully cranked, its mids and treble fulled reduced, and the presence reduced. Use a cab with speakers that produce extremely bright frequencies, say... Celestion Vintage Century's. Use an SM58 with the filter cap removed, and put it up against the speaker at the edge. Your profile will most likely be completely bass heavy and sound utterly bad ;)


    Now in the Kemper, save the cab out as a cab preset. Change the rig to another amp, one that was profiled with reasonably neutral or clear settings. Now change the cab to the preset you just saved. My guess (and it is a guess, because I've not actually done this!) is that it will now sound ridiculously bass heavy... because the cab has elements of the original amp in it still. This will work vice-versa as well I think.


    Correct me if I'm wrong Christophe ;)

  • Power amp

    Quote from viabcroce

    Well, I'm not sure I'd agree with this. In a profile or an IR the mic is not simulated, it rather works like a filter. This is not just splitting hair, since you're not limited by software.


    If you use a calibrated (measure-A) mic, for example, there's practically no colouration from the mic (FRFR, this time for real). Getting an IR that sounds like the amp is possible, like Jay Mitchell has explained.


    Also, when it comes to linear cabs Vs. guitar cabs, the difference has to be taken care of at model/profile level: it's up to the device to send a linear cab a signal which doesn't contain anything unrelated to how a guitar amp/cab sounds. You can't blame the microscope because you see the viruses, so to speak.
    As the Man Himself says, if you don't like what comes out of your linear cab, you don't like what comes out of your device :)

    Whether the microphone is simulated or not, it affects the tone. With a real microphone you have diaphragmatic distortion which can add saturation, you've got the frequency response of the microphone, as well as the impedance of cables, and any extra colouration of your preamp too. All these things affect the tone to some degree. Even with a calibrated microphone you have to bear it all in mind, because they are *not* full range frequency microphones, they're just flatter than most others - source: http://realtraps.com/art_microphones.htm


    But even then, lets say it were true... you're still getting a certain picture of the amp+cab setup depending on the position of the microphone. So you're not going to be able to capture a full picture of the amp with that setup. This is necessarily true and is the chief difference between the Kemper and other digital solutions - the Kemper captures the whole chain in situ, and does not seek to build a chain from the ground up. What this means is you cannot fully separate any of it. You can compensate, sure. But you cannot do a 100% nullification separation.


    BTW, you slightly contradict yourself in that you say the microphone isn't simulated, then you say it works like a filter... which is simulated in the Kemper. So yes... it is simulated.


    Not a diss against the Kemper, as I've said... I love it!

  • Power amp

    Quote from Ingolf

    Well, no. ;)
    Like CK himself has stated several times, it's actually very easy: if you want a traditional experience, switch off the cab in your profiler and play with a traditional poweramp/setup.


    Um... I have tried that and it quite simply does not work. Disabling the cab does not fully disable the tonal effects picked up when profiling. That's the whole reason for direct profiles in the first place. But not everyone has the capabilities of doing that.


    Listen, I love the Kemper. But it isn't very good for this solution - playing through a poweramp and a real cab - it needs improvement in this area. End of story.

  • Power amp

    When you use an FRFR system you get full range speakers outputting - amp modeller with simulated cab AND simulated microphone. So immediately right there you have an extra variable that you do NOT have when playing through a classic half-stack setup.


    When you play through a poweramp and guitar cab you get frequency limited speakers outputting - amp head, no simulated cab, and no simulated microphone. So even if you use a digital modeller this is still closer to a traditional rig.


    I strongly believe it has nothing to do with people expecting an off-axis sound, and everything to do with that extra microphone colouration. Which you cannot get rid of with the Kemper. For this reason, if you want a more traditional experience, I don't think the Kemper is going to do it for you. You'd be better off with an Axe FX, Pod HD, or perhaps even a Blackstar ID amp.


    I think there is a lot of conflation about what people are actually looking for. Some people want the studio sound on stage, going to monitors so that they can hear what the audience hears. Other people want the ultimate in flexibility whilst retaining as much of the traditional experience as possible. For live performance, I am more of the later.


    I dislike it when people try to push FRFR at me. It isn't the same. It'll never be the same. The differences between each approach are fundamental in the designs. The Kemper *CAN* work really well in a live situation, but you have to mould yourself into its design, not the other way around.


    Don't get me wrong, I am absolutely loving my Kemper. As I have said, I prefer it to my Axe FX. But if you're in a rock band and you want your trousers to flap on stage when you stand next to you Marshall 4x12, and you want the musical feedback that sounds soooooo good with Vintage 30's or T75's (for example!) ... then FRFR isn't for you - imho.


    And once you say that, the FRFR crowd start saying things like "well you must not care about your audience" or "who cares.. the audience cannot tell anyway" .... infuriating. I wish people would just accept that all our needs are different.


    At the end of the day, when I can truly feel connected to my instrument and my amplifier, I play better, the band sounds better, and the audience gets a certain experience that you can't get any other way.


    Remember... not all of us are playing huge stages or quiet little restaurants and not all of us gig regularly. Some of us (like me!) play sweaty little bars and pubs with a maximum capacity of 150, where the PA's are very poor quality and where it's actually *better* to turn your amp up loud enough to fill the room.


    Again... all imho.

  • Kemper Versus Axe FX II - My opinion

    Quote from meambobbo

    You did omit where the Axe apparently performs better, though. From what I've seen, the Axe switches patches faster. It also cleans up better when rolling down the volume knob. For me, the Kemper does both of these very well, and I don't need perfection in these regards. The Axe has more routing and advanced tweaking options, but again, I don't need or even want them. It seems like a longer way to get to a sub-par result. And of course the Axe has way more effects - I certainly wouldn't mind having them, but do I need them? No - I don't use all of the KPA's effects!

    Hmm, in my honest opinion the switching is the same; when talking about presets. The Axe has scenes though, which are a whole different beast. I actually think the Kemper cleans up better, horses for courses!

  • Why «mix ready» is a problem

    I think my main beef - and actually I've noticed this with more commercial profiles than freebies - is the "roominess" of the high-gain tones.


    Room reflections in a high-gain tone, imho, are not very good. They mush everything up and sound crap. Also distant mic'ing... sounds crap for high-gain, again... imho.


    I much prefer a maximum distance of 4inches from the speaker. But I've noticed a lot of commercial profiles trying to do the "amp in the room" sound by distance mic'ing and allowing room reflections... and thus they're useless to me.


    Again, imho ;)

  • Why «mix ready» is a problem

    I generally agree... but you must know that as soon as you put a microphone in front of a speaker, you're not going to get a raw full frequency amp tone. You're going to get some sort of "mix-ready" sound... just depends on the mix!!

  • Kemper Versus Axe FX II - My opinion

    Quote from Ingolf

    I always make sure that the sound I want to hear for myself and the sound the audience gets to hear are in the same ballpark at least. The closer the better.

    Well yeah, I dial in my amp to be settings that are more suitable for live performance, versus studio performance. I obviously give the PA+venue+soundman a fighting chance!

  • Kemper Versus Axe FX II - My opinion

    Quote from viabcroce

    OP: you'll never know how the two units "sound" until you try them both with a really linear and transparent cab.


    Also, when using direct profiles with a guitar cab, leave cab sims on: it's the only way to get the full profiled sound into your cab.


    HTH

    Just to clarify, I am comparing the two units through monitors - Tannoy Reveals, not through the guitar cabs solely. I also did leave the cab sims on when going into the FX return of my Diezel; actually I tried it with and without.

  • Kemper Versus Axe FX II - My opinion

    Quote from ckemper

    Now that you let your monitor sound kill on stage because you don't like it, you don't care too much what the sound is that your audience is presented from the PA. I am afraight that it was that sound that you didn't like .... :)


    Hmmm... I wouldn't say it was a sound I don't like ;)
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    But you're right to an extent. I don't care about the sound the audience gets - that isn't my job. It's the soundman's job in my honest opinion. I need the best sound for me, so that my performance is not impaired or held back in anyway.

  • Kemper Versus Axe FX II - My opinion

    Quote from burningyen

    Good review. So you haven't tried either the AxeFX or the KPA through a stage monitor?


    No mate, I don't really like playing through monitors. I like the trouser-flapping-head-thumping wallop that you get from a 4x12 cab. I always ask the soundman at gigs to kill my guitar in the monitors completely, and to just give me some kick drum.