Posts by TheChicagoTodd

Quote from PNWSCUM

I recently just picked up my first stage profiler and I can’t be happier with it. I picked up a line 6 PowerCab plus and I’m on the fence with it. Clean tones are fantastic with this unit, however, the distorted tones all have this dullness that I can’t ever dial out. I’ve messed with the hf trim, low cuts and high cuts. Nothing. I want to hear y’all’s solution to this issue if anyone has come across this.

When I first played on the profiler I was running into a 2x12 Gemini and that’s what made me love the Kemper. Would y’all suggest the 1x12 Gemini for home use over the PowerCab? I plan on using real cabs for live so would the better option be a good 2x12 instead? I’m so torn!!

Lastly, when running into my Scarlett 2i2 the sound through my headphones are just absolutely terrible. It’s like the mids and highs got cranked and the bass just vanishes. When I record and listen back through my phone and just my generic iPhone headphones, it sounds great and how I expect that my guitars should sound? I have AKG headphones, nothing fancy but nothing super cheap. Just wondering if anyone has had similar issues.

Thanks

Ok....and so sorry if this is a dumb question, and not meant to be insulting.

But on the PowerCab, you are running on the "Flat" setting, and not one of speaker emulations on the cabinet itself.....right?

Cheers...

Todd in Chicago

Quote from kylehoegen

To paraphrase I think the Valvetrain manual says it can be used in two ways. At low volume it acts more like a monitor, higher volume gives you that warm tubey sound. To me, it sounds great at all volumes. As you crank the amps volume you can obviously turn down your rig volume so you don't make your ears bleed. No cons here. I've struggled to find the right monitoring situation for about two years now and this sounds by far the best to me.

Thx Kyle....

That sounds really good. I wish there was somewhere around here I can try one, but I don't think that is in the cards.

Cheers....

Todd

Very curious to hear more about these Valvetrains. Sounds like you two guys are loving it. I was looking at the 20 w version. I actually really love the design, despite it being so retro looking (I like to play more heavy stuff that than that would belie).

Any pros, cons, gotchas?

I'm assuming you don't have to crank the Valvetrain to add the tubey goodness to your tone? Or if you do, you can actually minimize the destructive volume (if needed) to play somewhat quietly but still get that tubey goodness?

Very intrigued....can't believe I haven't heard of these before.

Cheers...

Todd in Chicago

As previously said, wow! What a great time to be involved with guitars and have so many options available!

I literally (in the last 3 months) bought a Amp-1 Iridium Edition and really like it. I will be very, very curious to see how this one unfolds.

Cheers...

Todd in Chicago

I think I've mentioned this before, but everyone is different. Duh....lol.

For me, I love my Kemper Stage and it has what I have been looking for, which is....the best tones (for me) that can be played at regular volume and at low volume as well.

So for me, the QC doesn't need to be "better" than the Kemper, if at release it offers the same quality for similar tones that appeal to me, that's all I really need.....because, I like what I see in the interface thus far (the button/knobs and touch screen) and to be honest, the GUI looks pretty straightforward. Additionally, although the Kemper Stage isn't enormous, it's not in the same category as the QC, which is VERY appealing to me.

I think everyone can look at these points, and then when the product is actually released (IMHO.....then, and only then) can we fairly make legitimate comparisons to other products. We can make those comparisons now, as many have done and will continue to do, but I really don't think comparing a beta product that is 3/4 a year away from being production to a product that's been in production for a while is a fair and valid comparison. Here are those points I thought of....what other ones?

Quality/Quantity of Modeled tones

Quality of Captured tones

Quality/Quantity of amps and effects

Durability of physical unit

User Interface

Portability

Quality of support (updates, fixing bugs, etc)

Support for community (how easy will it be to share captured tones, will the online portal/interface be good)

Ability to use previously purchased Neural DSP plug-ins, and the quality of those on the QC

Quality of the tuner

Ability to have a larger combination of amps/effects

Quality of the audio interface

Anything I miss?

Cheers...

Todd in Chicago

Quote from TubeTom

I found the Kone prototype from the Namm 2019 more beautiful. It could be stacked nicely. The handle on the top looks nice, but is totally impractical, so you can't put the KPA Head on the box

Are there any real news? Kone and Editor were already introduced last year at Namm.

Another product I've been using lately is Thomas Blug's BluGuitar Amp-1 Iridium edition.

One of many cool things about that amp is that he built it with a little scooped out portion of the body so it fits on cab's with handles. Nice little design touch.

Cheers....

Todd in Chicago

Yeah....

I don't need to be that impressed right now. Although I prefer a heavier sound, I did not like that "Screaming Lead" sound, but really for me that's just a personal taste thing. I actually liked the clean stuff on this, thought it sounded cool.

I happened across a YouTube video of one of my guitar heroes George Lynch doing a clinic at PitBull Audio very recently. He was trying out the Tosin Abasi plug-in (sounds like he was very new to it), and I thought it sounded great. On his Instagram, he noted:

"At #pitbull music in San Diego for @espguitars clinic. First time running the @neuraldsp @archetypoe @tosinabasi software Wow!"

George is a monster and a self-proclaimed gear addict, with access to tons of stuff......and if he thinks it's seems cool, who am I do disagree. Mind you this is the plug-in, not the unit. Just for grins, he also mentioned that he had built his tiger stripe guitar for something like a $100 back in the day, and just sold it for $125,000.

I had the opportunity to see his Lynch Mob this past fall at the Arcada Theatre, it was his 65th birthday...and the dude can jam!

Cheers...

Todd in Chicago

Folks...

I didn't see this posted here yet, but sample sounds were posted earlier today.

Cheers...

Todd in Chicago

Well.....I did place a pre-order because it's intriguing. I'll decide at a later time if I want my $200 back.

There is a live Q&A tomorrow on YouTube with the CEO at 1pm Central time.

Ask your questions there. I'm very curious to hear him talk more about the Neural Capture.

And to be honest, for me it doesn't have to be better than the Kemper (which I think they are "claiming" it will be), because if it's simply "as good" as the Kemper, but in that form factor......I'm in!

Cheers...

Todd in Chicago

Quote from DonPetersen

The PROFILER can do the so-called amp-in-the-room sound by taking a Direct Amp Profile (from the speaker out of an amp using a DI box that can handle speaker level signals, preferably the Kemper DI, and playing it back through a neutral power amp (like the one in the PowerHead) over a guitar cabinet.

Don....

Thank you! Now I understand! Much appreciated sir! And I think I heard once (and just looked) that in Rig Exchange, those are typically marked with a DI in the Rig Name....?

Cheers, and thank you for the knowledge drop!

Todd in Chicago

Quote from RookGarner

Wow, they claim they do profilling and I also saw the word rig on their site.
Plus it shows a "refine" page - just like Kemper.
Looks like this is heading for trouble... or maybe not, maybe they do not violate Kemper's patent - who knows.

They claim to have perfected profiling - wow, bold! Definitely interesting!

Something that I thought I picked up on, and correct me if I misread this, but Kemper profiles provide a "mic'ed" cab sound and do not provide "amp in the room" sound. If I read the Neural DSP stuff correctly....their AI is able to reproduce the sound to what the human ear hears. I'd like to see what this means....does this this mean they might be able to reproduce amp-in-the-room sounds? If so, game changer for sure. Please let me know if I'm offbase here.

Cheers...

Todd in Chicago

My preorder is in......For me if this sounds as good as the Kemper and is this size....it's a killer. I have been, as many other have followed, that Kemper should release something in more of a HX Stomp size. Someone may be beating them to the party.

Of course, the truth will be told when the rubber hits the road.

Cheers...

Todd in Chicago

Quote from Terence T

Thanks for those who've made suggestions and helpful comments, Kemper on its way back to home base. I'll see what they say.

Cool....Good luck Terence, I hope they can figure out what is going on.

Cheers...

Todd in Chicago

Actually.....

I've purchased a new amp that I've been having a blast with.

It's the BluGuitar Amp-1 Iridium edition; and I've paired that with their Nanocab product which houses a 12" speaker, yet is incredibly small, not much larger than the actual speaker. If you are not familiar with the BluGuitar Amp-1 series, you should check it out. It basically is a "pedalboard" amp that uses a Class D power section with a real Russian technology nanotube incorporated into it. The tube is not in the pre-amp, it's incorporated into the power section. Thomas Blug is a genius, and really knows tone.

He is also from Germany.

Kemper is also in Germany.

Thomas has an incredible 1x12 cab, which must be the smallest 1x12 on the planet yet sounds fantastic. He also has a groundbreaking 100w amp using a nanotube that fits on a pedalboard.

Kemper has the best sounding tube emulations on the planet. I've also heard that when you run your Kemper into a tube power supply, it sounds phenomenal.

What if......

These two German companies got tipsy together one night and had a love child.

A small pedalboard amp using Thomas's Class D nanotube technology combined with the ability to play Kemper profiles. If they were able to replace the speaker in the Nanocab with the new Kemper Kone, I think that combination could possibly rule the world.

You would end up with a highly portable, yet extremely loud/powerful amp. By not making it a combo, you could just travel with the pedalboard part, and plug into real cabs if available, really lightening the load (of course you would then had to disable the cabs in the profile).

Ok....I'll put my wine down now....clearly I must have had too much....or have I? Is that just an insane idea, or an insanely good idea. LOL...

Cheers...

Todd in Chicago

Quote from schludi

I switch to tuner mode with "Mute Signal" enabled.

That does the job perfectly.

Dude!

This sounds like it will be perfect, I'll give it a shot! Yeah, I've been a little annoyed that I can still hear the signal while tuning, as I prefer not to. Of course.....this is a Kemper! Had I thought about it for more than 2 seconds I would have realized there would be a way to mute the audio as you mentioned. Problem should be solved! Thx bro!

Cheers...

Todd in Chicago

Quote from Yoda Guitar

Do you use the audio-loop from your Kemper ?

If not you kann use the looper at slot X, without a return loop its like a kill switch.

I modified my expression pedal (volume pedal) I changed the temporary switch to a toggleswitch.

This shortens the potentiometer output with a 100 Ohm resistor to ground.

So it simulate a heel position. Volumen 0.

Display More

Thx, but I do not use the audio loop. However the other option mentioned above sounds like a winner to me!

Cheers...

Todd in Chicago

Quote from Finally

I love my Sennheiser HD280 Pro headphones. I've tried a couple of other pairs and they sound the best to me.

I have the same ones....Sennheiser HD 280 Pro and think they sound great....but don't really have a good way to compare them to anything else, but I do like the sound I get from them.

And my Kemper usually doesn't leave my bedroom, so can't really comment about sounding the same as "gig volume".

Cheers....

Todd in Chicago

Quote from digbob

That should convince all Tube fanatics

fantastic , serious Demo, Kemper can sound so vintage

unbeliveable

Give us all your Profiles from this Video plz

DigBob....

At the end of the video they mentioned that they plan on profiling several of their really cool vintage amps and offering those profiles (presumably for purchase) on their website.

I did comment on the video on YouTube because several folks commented on there thinking that they were about to get free profiles of hard to obtain vintage amps. I mentioned that it may look like two old dudes sitting on the porch talking sh*t about guitar stuff, but I"m pretty certain that they actually run this like a business. As such, I don't think they would pass up an opportunity to help them fund and grow their channel. Especially if they might have something that very few others might have (in terms of vintage tube amps).

With that being said, there is probably a LOT more to making high quality profiles than the quick "slap it together" method they showed on the video. Different mics, placement, etc, etc., so if they really wanted to sell their profiles, I would hope they would take it a little more seriously than doing what they did in the video, which was mostly for illustration purposes.

Just my .05$.

Cheers...

Todd in Chicago

Quote from Block Inlay

Zappledan the link you provided helped me install an older OS. thank you SOOOOOOOOO much!!!!

Cool! Great to hear you were able to recover. And thanks to Zappledan for the tips in case anyone else has a similar problem.

Cheers...

Todd in Chicago

Folks...

I may be simply ignorant of this, but I would like to see a standby switch, or something equivalent.

For example, for some of my guitars with high output pickups combined with a high gain profile, I get unwanted noise/feedback. For example, when I'm done playing, I'll roll my guitar volume down and put my guitar on the stand, and then need to immediately go to the Kemper and change the profile to a low gain profile, otherwise I get unwanted noise.

Is there already a way to cut the output power, without changing any of the settings such as volume or the profile?

Thx!

Love my Kemper Stage!

Cheers...

Todd in Chicago