Posts by HappyPicker

Quote from G String

this statistic is totally off, at least at the time of writing. we have very accurate figures on what's going on in studios, don't you worry.
best, gs

Maybe you have and maybe you don't.

Things change.

Macs dominate the music studios in the US. Most musicians use Macs and now many use iOS devices.

Not all people use the same equipment for web browsing as they do for recording.

My company has over 200 Apple computers but we run Parallels on all the machines that need to use windows only software. All of our employees use Macs and all of our associates use Macs.

I would say this informal poll isn't random but as Kemper users go worldwide it might well represent the correct ratio of Kemper musicians who use Macs.

In the US, Mac users outnumber Windows user by far in the music business.

Apple pretty much has a lock on music and audio recording tools. Especially with all the new IOS audio programs.

Thanks db9091,

Yeah, my issue is not so much pick noise due to the pick used or my playing technique. It is due to the KPA as I don't have the same problem with an Eleven Rack or an HD500. Also it isn't so much the clean tone pick noise that bothers me, it's more the distortion tone pick noise.

I think I am going to try raising my pickups to increase my pickup output level. That might make it easier to use clean sense to balance the sound and help with my distortion sound having more input from the note picked and not from the percussion of the pick.

For example, I can put my guitar volume at max, Set clean Sense at 12, absolutely hammer the strings and not get much more than a flash of yellow from the input LED, when the gain is at 0. I think that weak of output just doesn't drive the KPA properly and causes some of the issues I am hearing.

Quote from nightlight

I didn't understand the original post to a certain extent. If your problem is volume, you need to turn up the rig volume so that the level of a clean tone matches a distorted tone on another profile. Or alternatively, turn down rig volume on your distorted profile, then adjust master volume to a level that is audible.

My approach to clean sense is to have one setting per guitar. Then, if I switch to another guitar, I would just browse through the input settings to select the appropriate clean/distorted sense settings for that instrument. I don't use it on a "per profile" basis, since I figure that my guitar characteristics would remain the same, just the sound of the profile changes. And in such a situation, I'd tweak the profile, rather than trying to tweak my guitar (through clean/distorted sense) to achieve the desired results.

No, I am not really talking about the volume of one rig vs. another rig.

If you read the KPA wiki that describes the proper setting and response of the "Clean Sense" parameter, here is what it says.

Clip from Wiki "You can think of distortion and clean as two parallel paths in the Kemper. Every profile contains a clean and distorted sound. The Gain control not only changes the amount of gain on the distorted path, but the volume of the two paths. Gain at 0 contains only clean tone. Gain at ~4 or above is only distorted tone. Anything in between is an interpolation of both.
Clean Sense (CS): whether CS controls loudness depends on how much distortion there is (what you hear). It affects loudness from completely clean into some distortion (Gain 0-4 on my setup, with DS at 0). How the amp is profiled doesn't matter - only the current Gain setting matters.
Distortion Sense (DS): A pre-gain level adjustment of the "distortion path". It results in more/less distortion and applies to all rigs. Whether CS has an impact on loudness still only depends on what you hear (how much distortion). IOW, the transition between clean/dist on the Gain control will be shifted up/down as you adjust DS.
When you push the Input button you have Gain, CS and DS right beside each other, so you can play around with them simultaneously and quickly hear the results"

It goes on to say that the "Clean Sense" should be set so that the perceived volume with the gain at 0 should be the same as the perceived volume with the gain set at 4 or above for distorted sounds.

My issue is that in order to get close to the same perceived volume for clean and distorted gain settings, I need to crank the "Clean Sense" to 12 and I still can't exactly balance perceived clean tone (Gain at 0) with perceived volume of distorted tone (Gain > 4).

So it makes me think that there is a problem with either my KPA or with the way I am interpreting the method to set the "Clean Sense" parameter.

It also makes me wonder if that is why I have too much perceived pick noise when playing distorted. If my 'Clean Sense" is unable to balance the gain then possibly I am not getting enough tone signal to the amp and instead am getting too much percussion noise from the pick instead.

Another Mac user her.

Quote from ckemper

Your pick sound is independent of the volume, hence the Clean Sense.
Turn down 'Definition' in the Amp pages to balance your pick sound or try another pickup setting.
Try another profile that fits better.

Since your guitar seems to have a very soft output, this might be caused by using very thin strings that will also emphasize the pick sound. Actually we have never had a case where a full Clean Sense could not manage to bring the clean sound face to face with distorted tones.
Record a sound clip, so the forum can tell if it really sounds odd, or maybe everything is just fine.

I am using a set of DR regular 10s on all my guitars, these strings are pure nickel and not thin. I suppose the pickup height could be raised to increase the output but I would expect more pickup noise would occur if the pickups were raised higher.

When you say "never had a case where a full Clean Sense could not manage to bring the clean sound face to face with distorted tones", What is the procedure to test this?

The KPA wiki says that If I take a given profile and turn the gain down to 0, I should have the same output volume as the same profile with the gain at 4. The only difference should be that the 0 setting is clean tone and the 4 setting is distorted.

In my case, I must turn the clean sense all the way up to 12 in order for the perceived volume at 0 gain to come close to perceived volume at 4 gain. And if I turn the gain up higher, the perceived volume goes up even more.

Is this a correct procedure to test "Clean sense" setting, or should I be setting it based on some other method. In all cases I usually leave the distortion sense at 0.

Quote from VESmedic1

The clean sense is an absolutely great tool, Even using the same guitar, I use different levels depending on the profile. It's generally much more apparent what it is doing on obviously clean tones, and low gain semi broken up tones. Cranking it wayyyy up can really bring a profile to life. Also, I am not a fan of touching the gain control really. If the profile I like is slightly too gainy for my tastes, I will actually drop the distortion sense before I would even consider dropping the gain. Same thing If I need alittle extra push in the overdrive department and don't feel like coloring it with a pedal. This to me sounds more transparent and doesn't take away from the tone, which can happen when you go too far outside of the initial profiled gain level. Try this sometime. For this reason, I do not lock my input settings, but rather have them set up for each specific profile I am using, this works well for me, but may not for everyone.

This is good info, thanks.

I thought it was odd that some were reporting to keep clean sense low but in order for me to get what I considered proper sound I need to have it set high. Otherwise my clean level output is way too low.

I will try using the distortion sense as you suggest because that makes sense to me. I always worry about messing with the original profile gain as I suspect that it was set that way based on the actual amp profile.

Do you have any ideas on how to better reduce pick attack sound when using delays on the KPA? Like I mentioned before, it doesn't bother me while playing clean without a delay but playing partially distorted with delay (like a David Gilmour solo setting) I get a lot of annoying repeating pick noise, often louder than the initial note which decays in volume over time.

Thanks for the input. I guess my guitars must have lower output than most. I am mostly into vintage sound and even my Les Paul is fairly low output.

If I turn clean sense all the way to 12 then with my gain at 0, I have nearly the same output level as gain set at 4 but gain at 4 is still louder.

I do not have parallel paths checked.

I have never liked the pick attack sound that the KPA produces, it just doesn't sound right. Even using the pick adjustment in the amp menu doesn't fix the issue. I have very little problem with pick noise on the Eleven Rack and HD500. KPA just sounds wrong somehow,

It is not such a problem until I use delay or reverb. I am also finding out that if I turn up the bandwidth a little and choose a negative center frequency that it helps to reduce the strong repeating sound of pick attack. I think it will require more playing with the settings to find what works best.

I do wish that there were more digital delay options and ability to set lag time on the delay or so that you can reduce the percussive effect on subsequent reverberations.
Delays, Parametric EQ, and spring reverb are all effects that I would like to see enhancements to.

I have read and read on the forum and wiki about clean sense, yet what is described is not what happens for me.

If I have the gain control at 0, I get very little sound from the KPA to my speakers. If I turn Clean Sense all the way up, it comes up in volume some but not much. If I turn the gain up, the volume comes up with gain and gets very loud and distorted.

I had thought that the clean sense adjustment could balance the volume (say at 0 and at 4) but that the 4 setting would start to distort and the 0 setting would be clean. There is no way I could ever balance the volume because my volume always increases with gain regardless of the clean sense setting. I have my distortion sense set a 0. My input led always lights green, never red, except on some rigs if I strum very hard.

This bugs me because I have read on the wiki that I should be able to balance the volume between a gain at 0 (totally clean) and a gain of 4(Distorted). This is an impossibility for me because clean sense effects volume for both gain at 0 and gain at 4 equally. I really think this is why I have so much pick noise. The KPA for me has a weird (pluck,pluck) attack sound that seems stronger many times than the actual notes picked. This can really be heard in the delay effects which seem to echo (plucks) pick attacks more than echo tones.

I am looking at the Zoom TAC-2 for my Mac. It is a zero latency thunderbolt interface. It is a little more money than I'd like to spend at $399.00 but it has great features and works well with OS X software.

That new vintage rig pack in the latest Kemper Announcement is pretty nice. There is a Fender Vibrolux in the Rig pack that is beautiful when played with a Les Paul or Tele.

Quote from dmbandtimmy

I have an alto 12. It's good, but I just ordered a CLR. Can't wait. It will be here Thursday.

Let us all know how you like the CLR as I am interested in this setup as well.
Thanks!

I think that an editor/librarian software interface would be a major convenience that would help a lot of users and make the KPA an even better piece of gear. Generally, a well laid out software program can visually help to diagram the signal chain, show the stomps with their "real world" look and feel, show graphical EQ plots to help a person design the sound for a proper mix, and make naming and organizing rigs a breeze.

All of the other amp modelers have a software editor/librarian. PodHD, ElevenRack, and Axe FX. So I can see why a person who purchases a new modeling device like the KPA which has a USB port and is near the high-end price-wise would expect some sort of computer interface software to make updates, rig manipulation, and pre-set design easier.

But No, I would not sell my KPA just because it lacks a computer software editor/librarian.

However, I fully expect a librarian/editor from CK in the near future as I understand that it has been promised to be forthcoming. If one never comes, I might think about trying an Axe FX II which has an editor to see if that would fit my needs better.

Most of the time, two senses are better than one.

It helps me a lot to both see and hear what I am doing to the sound. That way I can see and listen at the same time, it helps me to know what to listen for. Just turning a dial it is often difficult to tell how you are shaping the sound from just listening. Graphical interfaces are always a good enhancement. I can't see why anyone would complain about adding this visual in a future feature update.

Ok, thanks for the information.

I seem to have the problem both with single coils and humbuckers. I think most likely it just takes some getting used to. I used to primarily play just clean and with the KPA, I have so many more options that I started experimenting with smoother high gain sounds. This is just a different tone than I am used to using and I tend to hear more of the noise in my playing than I did playing clean. I thought maybe I needed to change some settings to knock down the pick noise but maybe it is just my technique.

It's just that I don't see how I could reduce the pick noise by playing differently because the slightest of touches of the pick to a string seems to generate a very strong (mid to high frequency) "pluck" sound, that really gets annoying with added gain or delay that stacks the "pluck" noise.

These are excellent. Did you use the stock profiles from the Amp factory or did you tweak them some with special EQ or effects? I would be interested in your KPA settings with the named profiles.

I am new to the KPA and I am having a hard time figuring out how to get a smooth higher gained sound (like your JCM 800 +TS) without so much pick attack noise. For some reason if I turn up the gain I get way too much pick noise, cleans sound great. I have tried turning down the pick attack setting for the amp but it doesn't help much. I think I just don't have enough experience with the KPA yet to get the sound I want. You seem to have it mastered. Unfortunately there are not a lot of tutorial type videos out there for the KPA. There are a lot that show how to profile but not many that show how to tweak the basic profile settings to achieve specific tones.

I agree this is a bit disconcerting. I also always turn the browse knob the wrong way.

To me the profiling process is already accurate enough and works well. I think profiles will only improve over time as better and better tube amps, mics, environments are profiled by professionals or talented amateurs.

Where the Kemper can improve a lot is in the user interface and effects offered. A rig editing program that connects to a computer via USB and/or a librarian program is desperately needed to manage the growing number of profiles. I think the effects can also be increased with models and controls more like their real world counter parts.

Quote from Per

But that's considerably slower than the current methods with the rig buttons and scrollwheels, and would be no faster than simply having the "direct entry" method but with the full name search rather than numeric input.

I don't see how you come to that conclusion. I can enter a 3 digit number, 0 - 999 to address 1000 rigs, in a second or two with only a few twists of the selection dial. However to scroll from location 999 to 0 would take several hundred or so spins of the browse knob, or 999 back arrow presses, or about 100 down arrow presses.

I would like to see a librarian or preset building application as well but that requires a lot of programing for a completely new application. I am only talking about a small firmware change with a feature update.

Obviously if you have already selected favorites it is easier to browse because there are fewer to browse through. But that doesn't help you when you want to go back to the master rig library to find a different rig that isn't in your favorites. With direct entry, as long as you had a list or knew approximately where your rig is in the list, you could access it almost immediately rather than having to scroll through 500+ profiles.

Quote from Per

How are you going to enter any numbers at all into your KPA in the first place?

The same way you enter a date or a name, etc. when you first set up the Kemper. All you would need is another choice under the "Sort by" option. It would be something like "direct entry". Then it would go into the input mode, and put up a screen like the date and time screen, where you would enter a rig bank number, using the scroll wheel and numbers 0-9 on the screen. Enter up to three numbers and then press the softbutton to go to that entry.