Posts by dougc84

Quote from JeffTD

Thanks for explaining that one way more eloquently than I have patience for!

Even a cursory understanding of VCS or Git would be hugely beneficial for anyone who uses software. People have this crazy idea about code being a huge pile that gets added to all the time... not the case. It's more like a ton of pallets that get carefully and constantly stacked and re-stacked, only its really easy to open up one of those pallets and change what's inside without ruining (or even touching) the rest of the shipping container.

When I graduated college (2007, I have a BS BS (yep, haha) in information systems, with a focus on software development), there was never a mention of Git, Subversion, Mercurial, VCS... none of it. I can't imagine developing without Git these days, even if I'm just developing a project solo. That was only 8 years ago. And what was taught then was simply, when working with teams, just share files or lines of code via IM or email. I can totally understand why the normal consumer doesn't get this stuff if it wasn't even taught in undergraduate, specialty-focused programming courses.

I have a better tone from my Rokit 5's than the cab that I'm using, because I'm getting more or less a FRFR sound. They sound fantastic, and they are, by no means, top of the line monitors. It's convinced me to go FRFR as a Christmas gift to myself

Quote from JeffTD

Bug fixes and feature development absolutely do not have to happen independently of each other and are not mutually exclusive. A lot of the comments in the thread are derailing the request with hairbrained/whimsical ideas of how some people think development works.

I can promise you this:

There will never be a point in time at which there are no bugs. Fixing ALL the bugs is just not a thing that happens - there are and there absolutely will be more bugs that never, ever get fixed. There will even be some bugs that never, ever get looked at or even remotely prioritized; the notion that Kemper & co should wait until all the bugs are ironed out before working on anything else is as ignorant as it is asinine.

As a web developer myself, I totally understand. For those outside that bubble, here's how a typical development process works (techniques and nomenclature vary, but this is more or less how it works):

1. You have the current code. It's called "master." Master is the current production code, or the most recent release.
2. You have hotfixes, which are, at least when using semantic versioning (major.minor.patch for version numbers), your patches. These branch off of master, and their code is merged back in when deemed acceptable. These are typically bug fixes.
3. You have features, which are features being worked on. For example, with the Kemper, there may be a feature branch of code for a delay improvement, one for spring reverb, one for some yet-to-be-named feature, etc. These branch off master, and are eventually merged into #4.
4. You have releases, which are a set of features (and sometimes bug fixes as well). A release is a combination of one or more completed features, and typically result in a minor version update (3.1.X to 3.2.0, for instance).
5. And, finally, you have Epics. Epics typically result in a major version update, and are a combination of many different features that represent a bigger thing. For instance, Kemper OS 3.0 brought in new profiling methods. I guarantee Kemper was working on these since 2.0. These result in a major version update (2.X to 3.0, for instance).

Because of the beauty of modern technology, one developer can be writing a bug fix for something, two other developers can be working on a new feature simultaneously on separate machines, and a final developer can be improving a function already on master. As things get done and can be run through quality control and testing, all of the code that is released is merged back into a release. All branches of code stay up to date, and any bugs found and patched are applied to anything outstanding. This is not sharing a Word document on Dropbox. This is sharing code across networks, with a running database of what has changed, what's been added, and what's been removed. Everyone stays in sync, regardless how far they differ from each other on what they're working on.

However, when you do add new features, bugs are prone to rear their ugly head more often. Why? Because you made an internal change to the way the software works. Think about writing a long, detailed email to your boss. If you forget something, you can throw a paragraph right in the middle of your email. But that next paragraph may not make sense. You need to go back, re-read it, and make changes. Maybe move that paragraph to the end instead? Or maybe the beginning? Now, imagine that with hundreds of thousands of lines of assembly/machine code (this is hardcore programming right here, used for performance, speed, and file size), and imagine the possibilities that one update can make on the entire infrastructure of the Kemper software, especially when it's not as legible as a more modern programming language.

Jeff's absolutely right. Code, regardless how much it's tested and run through quality assurance, will never be 100% bug proof. It may be code running on a machine, but that code is written by humans, and those machine parts are designed by humans. You can't possibly keep every single line of code, every chip specification, every state of a button, every state of the screen, every internal library and API, etc. in your head, and sometimes something just gets missed. Sometimes things cause abnormal things to happen that are completely unexpected because there's a weird conflict. Look at similar players in the industry - Line 6, Eleven, Fractal... their software all has bugs. And it gets kind of scary when you think about more complex things like life support machines and self-driving vehicles - they operate based on code written and developed by humans. Who aren't perfect.

Quote from Rescator

thanks for the hint Doug ,will check it out tonight ...
EDIT , just checked ,an yes ,Reverb was locked .......
You was right ......I was stupid

Haha, happens to the best of us. Somehow I had the input block unlocked at one point. Hadn't gone into it in weeks and just... for some reason, everything sounded different. Turns out there were greatly varying values for clean sense instead of a standard, across the board value. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Quote from johnboy10

Cool thanks for the replies. I was thinking of getting the new JHS Andy Timmons pedal.

off to search the web

That looks like such a great pedal. Considering it just came out, you won't find any better deal than on JHS's site. Post some clips when you get it!

Quote from Rescator

Performance mode : if I change Reverb parameters in slot number one say , after saving , ALL the slots are saved with he same Reverb as in number one slot .
It becomes annoying ...
Is this about 3.2.1 bug or something else ???
Thanks !

Are you sure you don't have the reverb block locked?

I keep my clean sense on -4, but... that's only because that was the setting it was on and I've set up everything based on that. Oops.

That said, yes, it reacts just like the amp would. I've got a wah and 3 overdrives in front of my Kemper, and two FX in the stereo loop, and they sound just as good as they would through the actual amp (though, the amps I tend to use normally don't have an FX loop, but we're not gonna talk about that!).

Quote from mightypudge

Good point @dougc84. Sometimes the reverse is also true. I have a lot of profiles in my collection that sound absolutely brilliant alone or in the studio, but they are overly bright in a live setting. Rather than retune each profile, I'd likely make any necessary adjustments at the output EQ. It's not perfect but it works.

Alternatively, I've found the Mbritt profiles are very well tuned for live use, at least from my perspective. They require no additional EQ. Admittedly there isn't an over abundance of high gain profiles in the Mbritt collection. But between the new Driftwood profiles, and some other fine choices strewn about the other packs (5150, PT100, Diezel, etc) there are a lot of good choices for metal players.

I tend to use Pete's profiles, with the VOX AC-30 being my pretty consistent go-to for 90% of what I play. It sounds great on it's own but also great live. I also use the lower gain rigs driven with overdrive pedals, and the profile I gravitate to the most uses a Sennheiser MD421 (Dynamic), Heil PR20 (Dynamic) and a MXL R144 (Ribbon). It cuts through live (particularly with a bridge pickup) but has the ability to stay warm, passive, atmospheric, and in the background when I want it to (neck humbucker pickup with lower volume and tons of reverb from my BigSky, for instance).

I've tried several Vox profiles and it sounds the best, and it works the best for both live and home use, at least based on how I play, who I play with, and my particular setup. But everyone's got their own tone they're looking for, and what works for me may not work for others.

Quote from RonZombie

Stupid question from a new user. How do I move profiles from the Kemper to RM?

You should open a new thread or search the forum for answers instead of posting in an existing thread about an unrelated issue.

However, that said, welcome. If you have the Kemper and your computer connected properly, and are running Rig Manager, copying rigs from the Kemper to Rig Manager is a matter of simply dragging and dropping. You can create folders as well to organize your rigs. Your Kemper, once connected, will show up in the sidebar in Rig Manager, and you can browse from there. If, for some reason, it doesn't show up, you might want to try an alternative USB cable.

Quote from MichaelRiesenbeck

Doug, interesting remark about profiling with multiple mikes to get a full sound. Is this done by merging various profiles into one single one? I don't have a KPA yet, but did read a lot and checked out many youtube clips, but haven't a seen this mentioned?

Cheers,

Michael

Quote from mightypudge

I believe multiple microphones are summed using a small summing mixer or a similar process before sending the signal back to the KPA for profiling.

Bingo. Many (read: some but not all) professional and paid profiles use multiple mics to get a different sound. Because the Kemper is capturing what it hears and reproducing it as a profile, it captures something different per mic. Every mic has strong frequencies and weak ones, and the distance between the speaker and the mic makes a difference as well, both in tone (an on-axis and an off-axis mic are going to sound very different) and with native decay/reverb (such as when using a room mic). Combined, you achieve a different sound than you would with separate mics.

You basically run multiple mics run through a desk, mixer, interface, etc. to profile an amp with, well, multiple mics. Some people like to add some EQ as well to balance out certain mics or kill some way high or way low harmonics. The problem with it is this - if you're using a profile that was mic'd up with a combination of a really warm condenser and a really warm ribbon mic, it's going to sound like the best thing you've ever heard while you're at home, by yourself, like listening to a gorgeously captured recording. Live, however, it could (not always though) lack the mids and high end that cuts through the mix, and you're just going to get lost.

Quote from Ulle

Sorry for starting a new thread on this subject. I`m a new Kemper owner. I just sold my Mesa 2:90 / Triaxis rig cause I always use UE11 in ears and my gear is always on back stage, so Its only noise for the rest of the band ( and the sound engineer as well ). Anyway I have found a lot of profiles which sound awsome in my In Ears, Headphones and the PA as well, but when It comes to a live gig the KPA sound seemes to dissapear in the front and I miss the attack, response and the dynamics the Mesa rig gives me, even when the right sound is delivered from the Kemper. I am open for any suggestion cause the Kemper is the best sounding guitar rig I ever owned and I am 100% sure I will keep It. I believe my problem is solved by dialing some knobs in my setup. PS I never use huge amount of time based effects, reverb, delay ect.
My Kemper goes straight in FOH with nothing inserted in the signal chain, and I play high output guitars as LP standard and Lucille ect.
I`ll never had the chance to profile my old rig so I stick to the proffesionel guys to do this.
I hope to hear from you Guys.

Best regards from Carsten in Denmark

Welcome!

First off, your guitars wouldn't exactly classify as "high output." That's typically reserved for pickups like EMG actives and aftermarket ceramic passives. Your guitars are probably more mid-output. However, mess around with the input sense knobs, and you might be able to get an even better sound, bringing back in some of the dynamics and attack.

As far as not being heard, it typically ends up being an EQ thing. When you were playing your Mesa, it was only producing a subset of sounds that you have direct control over the EQ and shaping, and that subset is being pushed through a guitar cab, which natively limits everything over (these are estimates, actual cabs vary) 5kHz, and everything below 100Hz, just due to the nature of the speaker. Throw a mic in front of there, and you get a highly focused midrange (2k-ish) sound going through the PA.

A great Kemper profile captures much more tonal range than a cheap, venue-stock, abused $99 SM57 does. Often profilers will use multiple mics to capture a sound, so you end up getting this great, full-range sound. The downside of that is you end up with this beautiful-sounding profile when you're by yourself, but gets lost in a mix. Why? Your guitar is now sitting, tonally, on top of every other instrument in the band, instead of being more focused on a particular frequency range.

The best suggestions would be:

1. Try using Pure Cabinet. It'll seem a little more "live," but people generally don't love it on high-gain settings. If you're used to having your Mesa's gain on 10, you won't find any benefit here.
2. Try pulling the gain back a bit. It might be a bit painful at first, but a cleaner sound will cut through harder than an overly gainy profile, as you don't have as much compression due to the overdrive.
3. Bump your mids up. Cut your low end as well. You might need an EQ in the Mod or X slot to handle this if the EQ block in the stack section doesn't work good enough and want some more precise control.
4. Adjust the amp's compression, definition, etc. Read up in the manual about these parameters.
5. Try a different profiled cab. It might not be as clear and punchy when you compare it to a different option. Till's cabs are excellent and might be worth checking out.
6. Try different profiles. A profile may sound excellent recorded, but doesn't sound great live, and vice versa. A profile mic'd with an SM-57 or an Audix is going to (generally) sound better live because it will cut through better based on the properties of those mics. However, it might not be the best tone for practicing or recording.

Good luck, hope that helps, and, again, welcome!

Wow, I'm surprised no one's mentioned this one. I've heard this one too many times being on worship teams.

What is the holiest of all chords?

Gsus.

Quote from strabes

@dougc84 yeah you nailed it. Can't beat the flexibility of a traditional board.

I am considering a midi switching system for the strymons and possibly my overdrives. I'd put the strymons in an always-on stereo FX loop on the kemper and choose the presets via midi. The nice thing about this is that then I could have some effects presets on the kemper that rarely change (clean boost, trem, phaser, flanger, etc) that I could also switch on and off via midi, right?

All of this seems like it might just be a waste of time and money though, since I'd still have to lug around all the pedals, they would just be in the same rack my kemper is, instead of a traditional pedal board. Plus I'd have to bring a midi controller also.

Yes, you can do that with MIDI. I basically have about a dozen performance mode presets that I keep the stereo FX loop enabled on, and, using my controller, call up, say, my AC-30 edge of breakup sound with whatever presets I want on my Timeline and BigSky. I also have a MIDI switcher/true bypass loop that I run my overdrives through, so I turn them all on or off according to my needs, all based on the preset on my controller, and regardless of what slot I pull up on the Kemper.

Also, with some MIDI controllers, either via mods or built-in, you can run a single 7-PIN MIDI cable to your controller which will supply phantom power and bidirectional communication to the floorboard from the Kemper. You just install a box in your rack that interfaces with the Kemper and provides power. If you do this, and you keep your Timeline and BigSky in your rack, you literally only need your MIDI controller on the floor, connected by a single MIDI cable.

I don't feel like, for my personal needs, that's it's a waste of time or money. Sure, I have a huge pedalboard. It's bigger than anyone else's that I know. The MIDI controller, the Morley Bad Horsie, and the two Mission pedals (one volume, one expression for my controller) probably consume 75% of the space on the board. But, because of it, I'm giving myself the ability to have a unique, tailored sound that Kemper owners don't get out of the box. I have the benefit of analog overdrives that are all unique, the flexibility to stack them when needed, and 4 remaining stomp slots on the Kemper not consumed all by overdrive presets. I have some of the best delays and reverbs you can get. And, with my normal gigs needing me to fill up space and create ambience, it's not abnormal for me to run a large pattern delay into a 20 second cloud reverb. That's just things the Kemper can't do. And I'm OK with that. Plus, if I'm somewhere that I don't have access to a Kemper for whatever reason, I can still utilize the majority of my effects (most of my sounds are based around a Pete's Vox AC-30 that's set at about the "edge of breakup") using nearly any amp with a relatively clean sound, and still have all my delays, reverbs, and drives.

But it really depends on your needs. What works for me may not work for you. What I play is not what you play. And that's OK - find what works for you and build accordingly.

This is a very similar technique that Don Lappin uses. He's an assistant professor at Berklee College of Music and has developed his style completely around tapping due to his inability (like myself) to be able to shred as efficiently with a pick. Don's also got a great instructional video that I've (unfortunately) only scratched the surface of. I'd certainly encourage people who like Erlend's style to check him out. http://www.donlappinmusic.com/

As a mac user with a Thunderbolt display (not the cinema, I know, friggen semantics), I gotta say... they gotta update those things. There hasn't been a fresh update of those displays since 2011 I believe. For most of what I do, it works great, and it's resolution is pretty fantastic without stepping into the 4k realm. However, it does have some issues with compatibility with certain things - things that really shouldn't be an issue. Your Cubase issue is just another confirmation that it just needs some reworking.

To comment on the MIDI stuff - you really have two options if you want a rig to operate with two separate reverbs or delays:

The complex method: Using a MIDI controller that can send SysEx, you can send messages to the Kemper to set and assign every single parameter. This includes reverb type and delay type. Unfortunately, SysEx is rather complex and you can't (easily) sweep values using an expression pedal, and not everyone has a controller that can send SysEx. I was able to create a setting using my controller for a gig this last weekend where I wanted a tremolo to go from about 60% mix to 25% (where the effect was still on and present but less of a primary feature), and I did so by assigning a button on my controller to send the proper SysEx commands. It took about 30 minutes to figure out the spec for it and to understand the Kemper's guidelines for doing it, but it worked.

The easier, but convoluted, method: This works best in performance mode, though you can do this in browse mode by duplicating rigs. Set up one performance with one reverb/delay/whatever, and then copy it to a new slot (or duplicate the rig after saving). Modify the desired effect to meet the secondary need, and save. You will have two copies of the same rig which you can call up by their slot (or the assigned PC # in browse mode). The problem with this is if you need to make a change to the rig as a whole (less gain, EQ tweak, etc.) - you then need to make that same change twice. Additionally, if you prefer to use the Kemper in a manner where you don't use presets and you flip on stomps like you would if it were a pedalboard, your on/off settings for your stomps will not be retained when switching over.

There's no real great solution, but, as far as I know, Fractal's the only ones that have done this, and done this well, by their usage of multiple signal paths and scenes. Kemper, Eleven, and Line 6 (save for the Helix and X3) operate under a single chain method, and you're pretty much locked in on a preset-by-preset basis.

All that said, back to the original topic, I use a slew of outboard effects with my Kemper. I have a volume pedal at the start of my chain (that also operates as an A/B between my wireless and wired connections), a Morley Bad Horsie wah, and three overdrive pedals (6 Degrees Sally Drive v1, Foxpedals The City, and an Addrock Ol' Yeller). I also have a stereo loop in the X or Mod slot (depending on the performance slot) that runs a Strymon Timeline and a Strymon BigSky. I've found that, for myself personally, the modulation, compressor, and EQ effects on the Kemper are fine for my needs, but the overdrive and time-based effects are lacking. I've been able to get some usable overdrive sounds, but not to the degree that I'd like, so I stick with my own pedals. As far as the delay, the Kemper does a fantastic digital delay and a fantastic shallow reverb. Some of the U2-style delay presets are actually really great, and Meamboboo (sp?) has some really nice reverb patches available. However, a lot of what I play out live requires me to build up a lot of space and ambience, and the Strymon pedals let me do that in a very easy manner, and without having to create several dozen different presets for each delay/reverb combo sound. The Kemper is severely lacking in these respects.

Someone mentioned earlier that the Strymon pedals have their own Sparc chip - this is correct, at least with concern to the BigSky. I don't believe the actual chip used in the Timeline has been published. Either way, they're processing delays and reverbs at a level that I simply don't believe the Strymon's DSP will be able to achieve. Some of the Strymon stuff (Timeline's Ice, BigSky's Shimmer) does harmonies with the sound, meaning, from a programming perspective, that you'd be using a delay or reverb, which it's trails would be fed back into a pitch shifter. This requires a lot of processing power. You can do 30 second decays on the BigSky, and that requires an immense amount of processing power. Something like the Strymon Timeline's dBucket sounds would be relatively easily achievable with the Kemper, though locking it to the next to last slot is incredibly limiting for my needs, and if I can't get a huge 18 second hall sound, I won't be switching over.

So, all in all, I stick with MIDI-controlling my overdrives (via a switcher) and my Strymon pedals from my board apart from the Kemper. I have the best of everything for my needs - a fantastic amp setup with some great compression, EQ, and modulation (when I do need it, which is rare), the beauty of analog overdrives chained together, and the ambience-building abilities of the Strymon pedals. The biggest downside is my pedalboard is pretty massive, and I have to run a snake to the Kemper from my board. But I get the sound I need.

I would totally love to do this on my rack. I have a 2U vented blank made out of wood and finished in a dark brown, almost black color. It would be awesome if I could skin the Kemper to match.

I understand the need for two amps. But to join the forum to tell people they "don't understand sound" is trolling to the max. Your smily emoji only accents the point that you're just trying to get people fired up.

Two amps does create a sound you couldn't otherwise get - an overdriven plus a clean sound, or layering a British amp with an American amp, for instance. People understand that. But to not give the Kemper a shot based on this alone is a fallacy on your behalf. The Kemper is not a modeler. It's not a Line 6 pedal. It's a digital head unit. Now, tell me, what's the last head you used that produced two amps simultaneously? None of them. Just like you would buy two tube amps, you would need to buy two Kempers.

There is no Kemper 2.0 on the horizon at this time. The DSP in the current unit, as stated by the owner himself, is not powerful enough to run two profiles side by side. That said, I don't miss my old two-amp setup a single bit with the Kemper. I can achieve fantastic sounds out of it, and the tubes are collecting dust. I don't miss the interplay between the two amps because it just sounds that good. It's not a "failure" because there are very few people that want this feature. Most of those that do have used it on their Line 6 units and don't understand that a great tone can be achieved without this functionality.

Maybe you should jump ship to AxeFX. The Kemper doesn't offer you what you "need." And the Axe forums like to bash the Kemper all day. You'll fit right in.

welcome!

Quote from waraba

regarding the AC30 there are great selections in the official kemper packs, but for me nothing equals Pete's commercial 65' AC30 (okstrat). what are your guitars ?

I'd second this. I use Pete's AC-30 almost exclusively. Sounds equally great live as it does recorded.

Quote from Feinberger

I have an Anderson Crowdster Plus 2, Duesenberg Starplayer TV, Custom Fender Strat w/ Dimarzio Area 58's and 61

Nice setup. Those Duesenbergs are supposed to be absolutely amazing.

Quote from Zappledan

Hi Paul. Welcome to the forum! Get Rig Manager installed and check out the Rig Exchange. You might try the Morgan AC20 by rmpacheco.

Seconded. Rig Manager will make your life easier. While it's not a full-featured Kemper editor, it certainly makes it easy to store and maintain all of your rigs. The Rig Exchange is hit or miss - some rigs are great, but you might find some you really love. The Morgan AC20 is a spectacular rig as well - it's one that's mentioned around here quite often. Check out stuff by r.u.sirius as well - He's got a set of Bogner profiles on the Rig Exchange that are magnificient. Check out the VELOCETTE 10 335 rig as well (on the Rig Exchange) - it's based off a Trace Elliot Velocette, and as a really nice sound, not dissimilar from a warmer AC-15.

I would also recommend downloading the Reference Manual. The manual that comes with the Kemper is a good "getting started" manual. The Reference Manual is a free download, and you can just google "Kemper Reference Manual" and it'll pop up (it's a PDF, by the way). It'll give you everything you ever wanted to know about the Kemper and then some.

One other suggestion no one else brought up - you might be using amp profiles with frequencies that clash with the other instrumentalists. An "ideal" guitar tone for an individual can be very different than the "ideal" tone for a mix. Not to say that the other things you've mentioned aren't problematic - you may genuinely not be getting enough volume due to the volume level of the cab out, the individual profiles, and the fact that you're running 16 ohms (ohms is resistance - increasing the resistance means the amp is being resisted from outputting as much as you'd like, which is why running at 8 ohms is louder).

Back in the day (I believe it was a Sunday, actually), I was playing with a Line 6 Ax2 212 (yep, WAY back in the day). The tone was my ideal heavy rock/metal sound at the time, and it sounded great on it's own (at least to my 16 year old self). But, in a band setting, I could increase the volume all the way up to 10, and still not hear myself. I realized that, due to the amount of gain I was pushing out, I was creating a wash when I played, and, due to a higher gain's natural corresponding increase in compression, my amp was essentially becoming a white noise generator. The room was louder, but there was no goodness coming out of what I was doing. Tweaking the EQ - adding some mids, killing some bass, and lowering the gain - actually allowed me to be heard much clearer than before, and the perceived volume in a band setting was much better. I was no longer stepping on the bassist or the other guitarist, and I was in my own sonic space.

You can probably accomplish a similar feat by tweaking the master EQ out to your cab when it comes to live performance. You can then set it back to whatever you want for practicing at home. Or, if you're using performance mode, you can set up a copy of the amps you're using in a new performance (or set of performances) and tweak them accordingly.