Posts by danijelsh

@fannar182 I meant that you can use software that works in Windows to monitor the CPU downclocking while idle or in low use to be sure if your C states are disabled. Well if it's bothering you so much, put the pros and cons on a piece of paper and go for it (or don't).

for me the pros are:
-powerful machine for location recording/editing/mixing
-small and portable (you can record and create your music even when traveling)
-great screen, fast storage, good battery

and the cons for me are:
-less screen space than a dedicated monitor
-performance; desktop cpu vs laptop cpu (unavoidable track freezing)
-discrete high end gpu if you like gaming
-2017 series lack of ports

If you have the option to pay for it in installments, and if it will let you do more work and it pays for itself in reasonable time frame, and if you really need/want it,then go for it. I have a mid 2012 MBP, I just upgraded the storage to ssd and it still works amazing for almost 5 years.

Now back to the original problem... I don't know what else to suggest, would like to test everything myself, but we're about 3000km apart
However I would really like for you to fix the issue already and keep the hack and save yourself the money
Can you make a video where the guitar is plugged into kemper with the computer turned off, then turned on, with mouse moving/stationary, move around a bit, something like I did?

Yeah, the ultimate thanks goes to @Gary_W for suggesting the cpu tweaks and @nakedzen for suggesting the mouse tinkering. I wouldn't be able to solve this without your help.

@fannar182, disabling only C1E didn't work for me, I had to disable all of the C states in my UEFI to stop the noise. I see you disabled all of the C-states and it still didn't work for you. Try reading more about Package C state limit, I see you have it in auto mode; I have an older board (it's in my description on Tony's forum) so I don't have C7, C8 and package C state limit, so I'm not quite sure what they do. I see you also have Intel speed shift technology enabled, I'm not sure what that is, but I think it's something to do with P states. If you have dual boot, try booting into windows, and run Realtemp GT, or CPU-Z or something else (maybe this will work with Wine or in a virtual machine, not sure), I got from couple of other forums that the cpu multiplier won't change if you have C states disabled, so it's possible that you don't have them fully disabled. In the end, I wouldn't advise you to mess too much with the UEFI (without reading and learning about stuff first), especially if you're in the middle of projects.

Did you try the mouse trick? Look (and listen) what happens when polling rate is at 1000Hz, and when it's at 125Hz.
It's still there, but much less, and I don't move it when recording or playing.

What is the situation like when you turn off the computer and listen the kemper through your UAD with monitors or headphones? If you get the noise that way, it's definitely from some other source. I'm also close to a radio station, and had all kinds of interference when recording acoustic guitars (although a cheap mic was to blame).
Edit: Oh yeah, after almost 8 years, I completely ditched the hackintosh about a week ago, after increasing problems with usb 3 behavior and random restarts due to some ethernet kexts. As much as I miss Logic (I still have it on my macbook), I got into Reaper very fast and I'm quite satisfied with it.

The only interference with phones that I got is the standard reception noise that is heard when phone is near the speakers, or the internal processing of the device itself when I put it directly at the pickup.

Well, I got the solution! First, all of the things add up, and increase the noise, so as usual: keep away from the computer, turn off dimmable lights, turn off led strip if you have any, reduce the polling rate on the mouse (this is actually not that big of a deal, as long as you don't move the mouse), rotate yourself so that the interference is lowest at that position. The thing that removed the noise heard in my two videos is the disabling of C1E, C3 and C6 states in BIOS (or UEFI if you have a newer board). It is completely gone now, and the only noise I have is the regular noise of a high-gain setup. These states do not affect the performance of your computer, but do affect low power, or idle states, as in when you're reading something on the web, or computer is in sleep or hibernate mode (about to do a power consumption measurement with C states on vs off). Keep in mind that this is with an Intel 2500K CPU with a Gigabyte Z68 board.

Well, @fannar182, I hope you found your solution in the meantime, or this one will help you when you come back here.

@nakedzen I'm gonna try those now, and @Grumpter the noise is there when the screen is off. In this exagerated example I got very close in the beginning of the video, and when I sat down, it was about 50 cm away (20"), maybe a bit more. And in usual recording/playing conditions, it's about a meter away (around 3 feet).

edit: Well, here's an interesting one: the mouse makes half the noise. The polling rate of my mouse is 1000 Hz, when I cycled through 500, 250 and finally 125, the frequency of the noise changes, and at 125 it's almost inaudible. That's why whenever I moved a window or a cursor or whatever, I could hear that noise. I tried a wireless mouse, and by hearing the frequency, I'm guessing it's at 500 Hz, still audible, but not as bad as 1000. As I said, it's only half the noise:
the cpu still makes noise when doing stuff, and it's still a high-pitched one, as you have heard when I moved through bios settings. I tried bios and windows environment again, with mouse disconnected; with another keyboard, and it's definitely the cpu. So, ideally the guitar should be at least 1.2 meters (4 feet) away from the computer, ideally 1.7 (5.7 feet) or more, well, at least in my case.
But then again, laptop is so much cleaner, there is noise, a dirtier one, lower in frequency, literally noise, as in brown, white, pink, and you have to get really close with the guitar to pick it up.
I have yet to try and build a Faraday cage for the computer...
Now I'm off to read about C and P states and how they affect all of this.

Cheers

It isn't, because it stops when I put the computer to sleep or shut it off. When I walk around with vox amplug, completely disconnected from kemper or fireface, the same high-pitched noise is present.
Edit: I just made a video with an open case, gpu disconnected, ssd's disconnected, and it's definitely a cpu generated noise.
Now imagine being inside of an os, running a project in your daw when cpu does something like this all the time.

@fannar182 I just replied to your post on another forum. Found the same thing here, read these two pages, and decided to respond. Everyone, sorry for reviving an old thread.
Were you able to fix this issue since posting about it?
I have absolutely the same problem with my pc, not on a macbook though. Doesn't matter if the macbook is running on battery or connected to the same socket as my pc or a different one. Interface is RME fireface UCX, no matter if I record directly or via Kemper. When the pc is running, noise is being picked up by guitar. Humbucker, single, p90, doesn't matter. Since everyone is suggesting it is transferred via guitar cable, I tried playing with vox amplug running on a battery and listening through headphones - same noisy crap.
I don't have mechanical drives in my pc, only 2 ssd's. Big graphics card, 3 fans with a fan controller, aftermarket CPU cooler and PSU with it's own fan which cannot be deactivated.
Now this noise happens whenever the computer is doing something, so it seems CPU related. Right click, opening a file, moving content on screen, even moving the mouse cursor causes it.
edit: Oh yeah, fannar, after listening to your file, it sounds like the PSU dirt, try getting close to macboook's power brick, you'll hear the same dirty noise. My noise is high-pitched and in intervals.

I agree with Michael, it will reset output eqs, output levels, input settings and routing, brightness of all LED's, buttons and LED collar, and of course the screen color, nothing that actually changes the profiles. But even if you boosted the eq on the main out for example, maybe you should try going with everything flat after the reset, that's the cleanest setting really.
Try taking the signal from the main out, I noticed around 60-65 samples of delay when recorded with spdif at 44.1k. Probably won't hear it, but it kind of bothers me.
Well, if you don't have any expression pedals or kemper remote for which you tweaked the settings, you really shouldn't notice any changes after resetting. Well, I hope that the only change you notice is the better sounding device
I would be really happy if you reset the device and it actually worked out for you the same way it did for me

deadpan, that's a good advice with pre and post eq, it works for enhancing the tone, but sometimes you can easily get carried away and/or end up fixing an initially bad tone, so maybe what Sonic has is a different problem, I also tried to fix those profiles I found okayish with more and more post eq-ing, and now after that reset, everything is flat, there's no need for tweaking. What exactly do you mean by those drastic changes during the refinement? Everywhere I checked it's advised to strum full chords, and strum them hard. Is there something different we should try during that stage, and what kind of difference can we expect?

Sonic, you can also try switching the eq block to pre so you have more control of what goes into the overdrive, that's an alternative to putting an eq in the insert slot. Anyway I find that if I need to eq heavily, something is definitely wrong, so I suggest you go for a factory reset from the maintenance menu (just backup everything). What is your current setup with the Kemper, are you using it through a cab, a frfr, studio monitors? How many outputs do you use and what else do you have connected? Some pedals maybe, a controller?
I would like to know how big your setup is to try and help you minimize the hassle of restoring to a previous state. What do you think will go wrong if you reset the device?

I understand you, I was close to giving up on the Kemper myself, but it's just impossible that it works so good for so many people and not for me, so I'll give it another go. So far, things are looking good, I was jamming with that factory profile from deadlight, edvaha 5150 iii, something like that. Try it if you can, tell me if it works for you, it did really nice for me today.
What POD do you have? Maybe we can compare presets and I can tell you my experience. I have the XT (non live) version, and I'm fairly satisfied with some high gain tones, but it doesn't really come close to Kemper.
What exactly are your problems with the Kemper? Same as mine? Describe them, please.
It would be nice if you recorded the same (or similar) riff using a profile which you like and compare it with author's demo, as I'm about to do with that Jevo's profile I'm rambling about...

What kind of tones are you after and what gear are you using?

Yes, you got it correct, there were frequency response problems from the first day, even after updating, but I didn't quite know what to expect from the kemper, so I didn't pay much attention to it; I just thought that I still haven't found the right profile. The thing is, I got a couple of free profiles before I bought the kemper, and noticed immediately that Jevo's profile didn't sound like in his youtube video. It was that tone allright, but the thump was missing. I've yet to try that profile after the last night reset.

I'm fully aware that my pickups, scale length, string height and tension, different tuning, and ultimately my picking style all affect the tone, maybe that's something you need to take into consideration as well.

As for the reset, just backup your profiles, take note of the input/output settings (pedal settings if you use any) and go for it. I don't know how many profiles you are using, but I guess I'm at mostly 10 usable for different genres (clean, chorus, overdriven for a singe coil strat, tweaked clean, chorus and overdrive for humbucker type guitar, clean and high gain for low tuned guitar, you get the idea), so reseting the device and restoring it to a previous state isn't much of a hassle.

That's a great point, tylerhb, but I thought that the older Triple XXX didn't have a noise gate, now I read that it has a "noise reduction circuitry" which isn't technically a gate and won't cut off signals bellow a certain threshold, but rather attenuates hum. It might be that this is what affects the profiling stage, ending in different frequency print (but it's just so much different).

And Michael_dk, now I get your question about a gate.

SonicExporer, it was only a statement, I didn't bother applying any plugins later, because that would mean one more device after the kemper, and defeat the purpose of it.
Now, about that frequency response - Kemper suffers from the lack of that natural thump you hear from a cab when you cut a sustaining chord with your palm, that was the most frustrating thing, because I had this problem for years trying to get a good result from amp modellers in VST and AU form, I simply couldn't get my head around how some guys get such great sounds from plugins, it NEVER worked for me. I tried using a passive DI box, my RME interface has an instrument input which has 470 kOhm impedance, active and passive pickups, and the results were always underwhelming. I don't have this lack of thump only when I use a miked cab.

Back to the point - so last night I booted Kemper in maintenance mode, and applied a factory reset, initialized settings and factory rigs. It sounds much better now, a couple of high gain factory profiles sound really good and finally have that thump I talked about! Unbelievable!
Now, I bought the Kemper used about a month and a half ago, and it had some commercial profiles, none of which I found impressive. I tweaked extensively a couple of both free and commercial and those were kind of ok for me.

I don't remember what os version it had when I bought it, but I updated a couple of times and now I have 5.1.1.12825.

The types of high gain tones I'm after are mostly Peavey-ish Machine Head type of tone, (or something similar with a dual recto), a bit of Sylosis-like Marshall tone and a bit of not so sharp (Gojira, Helmet, and Metallica Diezel type of tone - more lows and mids, less highs). I Actually found a free profile of 5150 III by Jevo, which was all that I needed but I was dissapointed when it sounded a lot different with my kemper/guitar/playing style.

I don't have the cab anymore, so I can't test the profiling now, but I'll go to a friend who has a dual recto with a mesa standard 412 cab and try to make a profile of that. Until then, time to revisit those commercial and Jevo's 5150 III profiles.

Thanks, Michael. Due to high gain profiles, I mostly keep it on, but during the profiling stage I kept it off.
The thing is, when I'm not playing, and I alternate between kemper and the reference amp, there is a very audible difference in "hiss", or that constant background noise, frequency-wise, even after several refinements. I would have to apply a matching eq to get those two to sound alike.

Bump.

Hi everyone, I recently bought a kemper lunchbox, and so far I'm not too satisfied with the profiles from the exchange. A couple of amazing cleans, but distorted not too much, so I got my Peavey Triple XXX and an Orange PPC212OB from a friend (since I don't have a cab yet) and decided to make a few profiles. I used both crunch and ultra channels, with gain at 12 o'clock, eq's at pretty much 12 o'clock, channel volume at 12, and master at 9-10 o'clock. No matter how many times I refine the profile, there is a difference in sound, and the amp sounds better - more subs, clearer, less saturated mids and crispier high frequencies. Kemper profile is without those sub frequencies (actually almost every profile from rig exchange is missing those subs for me, except for the ones that are captured with ribbon mics, but that as well may be a different bass response than what cab+mic produces), mids are overdistorted, and highs are missing, like there's a low pass filter present somewhere in the chain.
My setup is: Mayones setius 6 gtm with SD JB in the bridge and Jazz in the neck (or LTD EC-1000 with EMG 81 and 60), planet waves cable into front input of the kemper, direct out (with another guitar cable) from kemper to the front input of the peavey, shure sm 57 somewhere between the cone edge and speaker edge (don't remember, it was a quick test just to compare a profile with the real amp), xlr cable from mic to xlr return on the back of the kemper, main out from kemper into rme fireface, monitoring through a pair of genelec 8040's, and headphone out on the front of the kemper into audio technica m50x. Oh yes, and the cab is in a different room.
On the kemper, input settings are 0 dB for both clean and driven sensitivity, output eq is flat on all outputs, main out is master stereo, direct out is git analog, space is off for headphones, pure cabinet is off. Both insert and fx sections are bypassed on the kemper. I read the manual on profiling and it says that I should find a similar sound to start with, and set the return level to sound close to the profile currently loaded, so I did that, set the distorted mode for profiling, left eq at flat, tube shape at default 3.3, actually everything at their default value, except for the return level, and back to the beggining - I refined it two times in a row, heavily strumming open chords and chords up the neck, and there is no improvement after the refinement.
I got a little better result after turning the master volume from 12 o'clock to 9-10, but this still isn't a convincing copy of the tone.
So...what am I doing wrong? I have the kemper for about a month now, and I'm not too satisfied with it so far. Cleanish tones, gently driven tones are really great (morgan ac20 profile for example), but high gain stuff I just can't seem to find or setup the way I want.
I have a quick demo I made with logic's factory drums where I alternate between kemper profile and reference amp every four bars, first with drums, then stereo guitars, and then mono, centered guitar, if you want to hear those differences in frequencies. Just give me a suggestion where can I upload a wave file and not have it converted as I've got with soundcloud.

Advice, anyone?