Kemper Profiling Amp Thread

[JohnIce]

So the new reverbs are finally out! Really, really good sounding stuff. I'm bummed to see they didn't include the Formant reverbs which I was looking forward to the most, but then it hit me that maybe those were in fact combinations of the new Cirrus reverb and some form of formant/vowel filter in the DLY slot, showcasing the DLY>Rev routing option (which is now in Rig Settings, not the delay settings). I had a mess around with that just now, using various Touch Wahs in the DLY slot and turning the DLY>Rev routing all the way to the right, causing the wah to only effect the reverb. You get some seriously cool, evolving verbs that way

One other thing that I'm a little concerned about. Obviously all these profiles at the time of creation are dialed in around the guitar and pickup used, so once I download them and plug in my guitar with a different pickup, how different are things going to sound? Is this the rabbit hole people go down as far as finding profiles that work for their guitars or can most of the differences be rectified with the Kemper EQ?

While differences in guitars matter, the big differences are in the tastes of the profile author. My experience with the Kemper has been that it's better to learn which profile authors you like, than to look for amps that you like. If you compare SinMix's 5150 to MBritt's 5150 profiles, you'll notice they sound almost nothing alike, whereas SinMix's profiles of other amps will sound more like his 5150 profiles than MBritt's 5150 profiles.

However, if you just type in a certain amp into rig exchange, that's a good way to find profile authors that you like. A classic scenario for me is I type in an amp (let's say Mesa Triple Crown), find a good profile of that amp, look who made the profile and type in their name instead. Then you get all their profiles, and you may realize the best out of all of them wasn't the Triple Crown, but a Marshall Superlead. Well there you go, you found your perfect profile and it turned out to be an amp you never expected it to be.

 

[IbanezIsLife]

So the new reverbs are finally out! Really, really good sounding stuff. I'm bummed to see they didn't include the Formant reverbs which I was looking forward to the most, but then it hit me that maybe those were in fact combinations of the new Cirrus reverb and some form of formant/vowel filter in the DLY slot, showcasing the DLY>Rev routing option (which is now in Rig Settings, not the delay settings). I had a mess around with that just now, using various Touch Wahs in the DLY slot and turning the DLY>Rev routing all the way to the right, causing the wah to only effect the reverb. You get some seriously cool, evolving verbs that way




While differences in guitars matter, the big differences are in the tastes of the profile author. My experience with the Kemper has been that it's better to learn which profile authors you like, than to look for amps that you like. If you compare SinMix's 5150 to MBritt's 5150 profiles, you'll notice they sound almost nothing alike, whereas SinMix's profiles of other amps will sound more like his 5150 profiles than MBritt's 5150 profiles.

However, if you just type in a certain amp into rig exchange, that's a good way to find profile authors that you like. A classic scenario for me is I type in an amp (let's say Mesa Triple Crown), find a good profile of that amp, look who made the profile and type in their name instead. Then you get all their profiles, and you may realize the best out of all of them wasn't the Triple Crown, but a Marshall Superlead. Well there you go, you found your perfect profile and it turned out to be an amp you never expected it to be.

That's some good advice, I just got my Kemper yesterday so I'm going to keep this in mind!

 

[KnightBrolaire]

Hi Guys. Sorry if I seem a bit lazy to trawl through the 140 pages of this thread, but in anticipation of getting a Kemper real soon, what are some of the best free metal profiles you guys have come across? I figured recommendations early in this thread may be somewhat outdated anyway so it would be cool to get a more up to date list. So far I've downloaded the Sin Mix free pack and the Dual Rec/Fortin 33 Reampzone profile.

sinmix, kosten, pete turley, liveready, mago/origin audio, warm chord music. that should get you started. easiest thing to do is trawl the rig exchange and look for certain amps, and download a bunch of profiles to see which ones you like best.

One other thing that I'm a little concerned about. Obviously all these profiles at the time of creation are dialed in around the guitar and pickup used, so once I download them and plug in my guitar with a different pickup, how different are things going to sound? Is this the rabbit hole people go down as far as finding profiles that work for their guitars or can most of the differences be rectified with the Kemper EQ?

pickups aren't going to make a huge difference ime. The bigger issue is how well they profiled the amp to begin with, and which cab you use with the profiles. I used to lock in the cabinet sound to kosten's 5150 plat cab (or later I used IRs) and just swap between profiles.

 

[JohnIce]

So there were a few bugs in the new Beta... as can be expected with a Beta. However, the Kemper team came up with a fix immediately anyway, and released it just now, on a Sunday... man, the Kemper team deserves some credit for this.

 

[DudeManBrother]

I will probably just wait for the official release. I don’t use much reverb so I’m fine with letting the beta test run it’s course. They really got ahead of those little bugs in a hurry, which is awesome.

 

[DudeManBrother]

Looks like an official Kemper Editor is coming out, as well as a few other cool features and products from the Kemper team. They posted a short video on their insta; but I found a video on YT that covers it.

 

[KnightBrolaire]

Looks like an official Kemper Editor is coming out, as well as a few other cool features and products from the Kemper team. They posted a short video on their insta; but I found a video on YT that covers it.

jesus, took em long enough

 

[DudeManBrother]

jesus, took em long enough

I have gotten along without complaint for 4+ years without an editor; but I know a lot of people have been really wanting this. I agree it took them forever to get it done, so hopefully it is reflected in the interface.

 

[lewis]

I have gotten along without complaint for 4+ years without an editor; but I know a lot of people have been really wanting this. I agree it took them forever to get it done, so hopefully it is reflected in the interface.

in large studio environments its a fucking ballache to not have one. Keep having to get up from the chair, walk across the room, make a tweak, then check it out back at the desk.

If it didnt work, get back up, walk back across the room and try again.
Imagine doing that umpteen times per day when reamping and sorting guitar tones haha

 

[DudeManBrother]

I have a 75’ XLR and a 75’ Speaker cable so I can keep my Kemper or tube amp at the desk and mic a cab in the other room. But, I’m happy they finally got it worked out. I’m sure I’ll check it out and some point; but I never really even got around to messing with Rig Manager; as I got my Kemper before it was really a big part. I still load updates and profiles through the USB. I’m sure it’s very handy for most people though, and I’ll download it at some point I’m sure.

 

[SenorDingDong]

Anyone else have their Kemper clip seemingly effortlessly on the output? I've tried adjusting so many settings, cant generally put rig volume past half without mostly yellow light. Pickups aren't overly high, either. Clean Sens ins't making a difference, neither is Distortion Sens.

 

[DudeManBrother]

Anyone else have their Kemper clip seemingly effortlessly on the output? I've tried adjusting so many settings, cant generally put rig volume past half without mostly yellow light. Pickups aren't overly high, either. Clean Sens ins't making a difference, neither is Distortion Sens.

As far as I’m aware: the distortion sense universally controls the gain of every profile. If you’re switching from a Les Paul to a Strat, you can have a distortion sense preset to automatically up the gain universally so that the gain can stay roughly the same.

The clean sense is what you want to turn down to control the input clipping. I know my other guitarist had me put the Nazgul/Sentient pickups in a few of his guitars, and his signal was always clipping; so perhaps there are a few pickups that overload the input no matter what. He has the Lithium’s now and I was able to set the clean sense to keep the input signal mostly green with an occasional yellow (usually with palm mutes).

The other thing I noticed is there is an awful lot of unnecessary low frequency present in every profile. Try setting a studio EQ in a pre slot and setting the low cut up around 150-200hz (at least for me in D standard, it could vary if you tune real low). You should find a sweet spot that eliminates woofy bass, but retains low end. I don't think this would effect the input clipping; but it has a very positive effect on the output and how much level you can send to IEM setups and a clean FOH signal as well.

 

[SenorDingDong]

As far as I’m aware: the distortion sense universally controls the gain of every profile. If you’re switching from a Les Paul to a Strat, you can have a distortion sense preset to automatically up the gain universally so that the gain can stay roughly the same.

The clean sense is what you want to turn down to control the input clipping. I know my other guitarist had me put the Nazgul/Sentient pickups in a few of his guitars, and his signal was always clipping; so perhaps there are a few pickups that overload the input no matter what. He has the Lithium’s now and I was able to set the clean sense to keep the input signal mostly green with an occasional yellow (usually with palm mutes).

The other thing I noticed is there is an awful lot of unnecessary low frequency present in every profile. Try setting a studio EQ in a pre slot and setting the low cut up around 150-200hz (at least for me in D standard, it could vary if you tune real low). You should find a sweet spot that eliminates woofy bass, but retains low end. I don't think this would effect the input clipping; but it has a very positive effect on the output and how much level you can send to IEM setups and a clean FOH signal as well.

Thing is, my input is absolutely fine, it is my output that clips constantly. I tried the global EQ idea but it doesn't seem to make a difference. I have Seymour Duncan T6-6 Distortion (bridge) and Seymour Duncan SH-6N Distortion (neck), and to my knowledge it isn't an overly high output pickup, so I'm stumped.

 

[DudeManBrother]

Thing is, my input is absolutely fine, it is my output that clips constantly. I tried the global EQ idea but it doesn't seem to make a difference. I have Seymour Duncan T6-6 Distortion (bridge) and Seymour Duncan SH-6N Distortion (neck), and to my knowledge it isn't an overly high output pickup, so I'm stumped.

When you switch to a clean profile does it still clip? When you say it’s clipping is it audible or just the LEDs? If you turn down the profile volume does it actually effect the LEDs? I don’t have my Kemper here so I can’t test anything.

 

[SenorDingDong]

When you switch to a clean profile does it still clip? When you say it’s clipping is it audible or just the LEDs? If you turn down the profile volume does it actually effect the LEDs? I don’t have my Kemper here so I can’t test anything.

I clip in some cleans, not all. It is mostly just LED, but sometimes it will go bright red even on low volume on certain clean settings. There are certain times the clipping can be audible.

Turning down rig volume does effect it, but it has to generally be at roughly 1/4 volume or less. Master volume has no effect on the output.

 

[crankyrayhanky]

Thing is, my input is absolutely fine, it is my output that clips constantly. I tried the global EQ idea but it doesn't seem to make a difference. I have Seymour Duncan T6-6 Distortion (bridge) and Seymour Duncan SH-6N Distortion (neck), and to my knowledge it isn't an overly high output pickup, so I'm stumped.

Do you have a bunch of ODs and EQs pushing the signal?
Regardless, let's eliminate variables.
Go guitar> cable> Kemper (no wireless or anything in between that may be boosting)
Turn off all of the Stomps and Effects.
Try a few profiles made from different people.
Are you still getting output clipping with the Rig Volume at 12 to 2 o'clock?

 

[SenorDingDong]

Do you have a bunch of ODs and EQs pushing the signal?
Regardless, let's eliminate variables.
Go guitar> cable> Kemper (no wireless or anything in between that may be boosting)
Turn off all of the Stomps and Effects.
Try a few profiles made from different people.
Are you still getting output clipping with the Rig Volume at 12 to 2 o'clock?

Without EQs and effects, it is less clipping, but still get some clipping at 2 o-clock on multiple profiles. May end up buying another guitar (I've minimized to my USA Soloist) just to try different pickups/woods/electronics/etc to see the effect.

 

[DudeManBrother]

Without EQs and effects, it is less clipping, but still get some clipping at 2 o-clock on multiple profiles. May end up buying another guitar (I've minimized to my USA Soloist) just to try different pickups/woods/electronics/etc to see the effect.

How is your output setup? What are you monitoring the sound with?

I send everything through a mixing console, so I have immediate indication of the signal coming from the Kemper. It is a line level device, which can be way too much signal for certain equipment. I set all my outputs to “off” except the specific outputs I’m using (Main Out and Monitor Out). So I run Master Mono for the Main Outs; and de-link everything from the Master Volume except for the Monitor Out. This way the FOH (and my IEM) signal can’t fluctuate if I want to increase stage volume to my cab. I think I have to set the Main Outs at -25db or so to avoid clipping our mixer, and all the sound engineers we work with seem to like that level as well. If you have the “-12db” soft button engaged, then you’d further set the Main Out to -13dB to get to -25dB total.

It’s easy to get confused when there are multiple Outputs linked to the Volume. I really simplified the process by only turning on what I’ll be using, and being able to monitor the signal I’m sending. Once the Output levels are clean (ie not clipping) then the Master Volume is just for my guitar cab, and the Volume is only for matching levels between rigs.

 

[LeviathanKiller]

About dang time
I was close to selling mine. This may change my mind

 

[lewis]

is it full version or just Beta?