My Kemper Frustration

asimmd

Hi Guys

A few weeks ago i asked questions about the Kemper Profiler.

The answers were excellent and the conversations very informative,I joined

the Kemper Forum and......well.

I had a few questions that i thought best answered on the Kemper Forum,and after many messages,it was decided that i should do a test recording,then someone would put that recording through their Kemper and post the results. 

The recording was done with no effects at all,just the guitar plugged straight into the Interface,then into Logic Pro. 

The resulting file was put through 10 different clean amps on the Kemper,imagine my surprise when they all sounded the same and no better than my Blackstar ID30 Amp. 

I have listened to demo's on youtube of some amazing clean tones,and i think i would like to sound like that,but based on recording i did it doesn't sound anything like them. 

My question is,was this a fair test? 
Why did all the demo's sound the same? 
Does this mean the end of me getting a Kemper? 

Apologies for asking again,but it is really doing my head in. 

Any comments would be appreciated. 

Thank you 

Alan 

guitarfishbay

Could you post the test please?

It could be for a number of reasons and we'd just be speculating until we know more about the test.

If you want speculation, here are some possible answers:

- Youtube tones might have been further processed than the tones you heard on your test

- 10 different amps set clean don't necessarily sound drastically different if for example they were mic'd the same way (same mic / speaker / cab etc) or EQ'd by the same person (some people EQ a lot of amps to sound broadly similar each time).  It could be that the differences were too subtle for you to notice in your listening environment or maybe you didn't think the differences were worthwhile between them.  Without knowing what profiles are used this is a pure guess.

- Those specific profiles might not work well with your guitar / test DI - the profiles might need tweaking for your guitar to sound good through them

ToneControl

I've found quite a lot of exceptionally good clean amps for my Kemper since I got it a few weeks ago. I don't think reamping is a good test, you should get one on approval to try yourself (the factory patches are poor, but many excellent ones are on the rig exchange thingy), I highly recommend it, I think it sounds better than most real amps on sale in a typical guitar shop

btw

A few years ago, I reamped some guitar through several amps, and since I had set them all up to do my thing, even these real ones sounded quite similar too

You will never know if a Kemper will be right for you by forum-based research. 

However, I think it's 90% likely you will find it works for you, buy one mail order, and you can return it

David5150

My favorite Kemper clean profile is one of a Bognor Goldfinger from The Amp Factory.

Through either the PA system or guitar can abd poweramp it just sounds wonderful - the demo's on the amp factory's website that are recorded directly and give, in my opionion, a good feel for the end sound.

 

Handsome_Chris

Alan, @ToneControl makes a great point:

You will never know if a Kemper will be right for you by forum-based research. 

However, I think it's 90% likely you will find it works for you, buy one mail order, and you can return it.

That is the way I tried out my Axe-FX II (which has been a faithful companion to me, although we've had our moments). I think that it's the only way you'll find out if it's for you.

asimmd

Thanks for the replies guys.

Apologies if i am going about this the wrong way but after my experiences on the Kemper forum

i am beginning to wish i had never asked,......,anyway.

Here are 3 links to re-amped demo's - the name of the amp used is in the title.

Please note there is a long delay at the beginning of each file,that was so i could sync it up 

to my backing track.

http://www.4shared.com/mp3/Y0h3RC-kba/TAF-1961-Fender-Twin-Clean.html

http://www.4shared.com/mp3/ZgWIbBzWce/TAF-Soldano-100-Clean.html

http://www.4shared.com/mp3/0ZLQPuBkba/TAF-TwoRock-Custom-Reverb-Clea.html

Thanks everyone,your help is much appreciated.

Alan

ThePrettyDamned

What's wrong with the kemper forum?  I'm not a member, just curious.

Handsome_Chris

Alan, are there any KPA users near you?  You know how guitarists are about having any excuse to talk about or even show off gear.

ToneControl

sorry, I don't want to install that downloader, can you provide via soundcloud?

asimmd

As far as i know there is no-one close to me.

I guess there's nothing wrong with the Kemper forum,it's just that i asked a few questions here and everyone was so positive about it

then the Kemper forum seemed rather negative.

As many people said don't bother as said it was great.

I coud not believe the difference in sounds between the youtube demo's and the demo's that were re-amped for me.

Alan

ThePrettyDamned

The other thing is a) they're solo, and not in a mix there isn't much in the way of picking dynamics in it, which isn't a bad thing - in a band mix C) there are not chords. How about a different track to reamp that combines chord with melody and has more picking dynamics which go from soft to hard? For example, big chord stabs, followed by a melody. The style shown is one that doesn't put a great deal of demand in terms of showing the amps off, and it's dynamics and the interaction of the melody with the backing chords, that really makes pieces like this work. How about you record a chord backing track, then record the melody, then reamp each track individually and mix together? It'll give you a better idea of what the amp is capable of. I hope that's some help! Fwiw, I liked the tone of all 3, but preferred the soldano.

David5150

I think the re-amping procedures/proces has thrown up a lot of questions. There is a a lot of threads on the Kemper private forum about re-amping - most of which suggest using the unit's SPDIF output into a DAW for re-amping.

As a Kemper owner I can read through (you need to own a unit to get to the private forum) and pull the useful bits out and PM them across

Or there is a wikipedia-esque kemper page with a section on re-amping

http://www.wikpa.org/Recording#Reamping

I'm based in Essex if you want to hear one live - honestly, it will blow you away

 

asimmd

Thanks for the replies,

Unfortunately all my recordings are clean,at the moment i don't use overdriven or distorted sounds although

i am going to learn some Eagles stuff.

Just for comparison here is what i sound like with backing.

Strat using Emulated out from my Blackstar ID30,into Logic Pro with some echo.

Not the full song,just a clip.

http://www.4shared.com/mp3/G5RKrK7f/Let_It_Be_Me.html

Question is,would a Kemper do anything to improve the sound?

Bye the way,I live in Lancashire between Preston and Southport,if anyone with a Kemper could help out i would be grateful.

Thanks

Alan

ThePrettyDamned

Well, the question is how do you want the sound to improve?

My favourite clean tone is, without doubt, a silverface fender twin reverb. However, lots of people like fender blackface amps, or tweeds, or a whole host of other tones. The reasons why they like them vary. I like silverface amps because it's 'that' nile tone, snappy and funky and totally clean, yet warm. Tweed amps have a bit of breakup, and are very warm indeed, and blackface amps are plain and uninspiring to me but others will pay through the nose for that sound.

So when you say improve, what sound do you want?

And what I meant was a constant volume of picking will only reveal the amp doing one tone. If that varies, different amps respond differently.

ToneControl

I listened to a few of those trials you did, I am getting way better (to my ears) clean sounds from my KPA: blackfacey, matchlessy, etc

asimmd

ok,what i would like is to be able to vary the clean sounds between my Blackstar to a Two Rock - Soldano - Fender - Matchless - Dr Z - Vox etc.

They will all be clean sounds,but will sound different,i suppose i would like the variation.

Here is a clip from a youtube Kemper demo.

The sounds start at 2.20 in,i know he has chorus on but listen when he hits the bass strings.

Alan

asimmd

ToneControl said:

I listened to a few of those trials you did, I am getting way better (to my ears) clean sounds from my KPA: blackfacey, matchlessy, etc

Hi ToneControl Is there any way I could get to hear what you have done to the sound? Thanks Alan

ToneControl

not recorded anything yet, give me a week or so

ThePrettyDamned

His demo sounds normal - yours would probably sound similar if you used the same amp model and turned the bass up enough.  

Like, scooped mids, and more bass and treble to balance.  

Also, those different amps all have different characteristics.  Which is the point of a modeller, but you have to play to their strengths. 

Have you got a sound clip showing the sort of sound you want to get?  On the previous one, the chorus is a bit dominating.  Is there a specific band or player you like?

asimmd

Thanks ToneControl ThePrettyDamned My musical taste is quite limited,I was brought up on The Shadows and later Hank Marvin,that's the reason I play instrumentals and use clean sounds. I do like Knopfler and the Eagles are one of my favourites,I will be trying to learn some Eagles songs soon. I don't really know who to listen to in order to broaden my musical palette,any slightly overdriven sound would be interesting. Any recommendations appreciated Alan

ThePrettyDamned

A vox AC15 or AC30 model would ballpark that sound.  

So on the Blackstar, you could choose a low or medium gain preamp, and the EL84 model.  That'll get you a nice clean and OD sound in that kind of ballpark.

Beyond that, it's experimentation I'm afraid.  Just keep tweaking till you're happy

Remember, even the way you pick will affect the sound.  So try picking harder or softer, and see what happens.  You might find you prefer the sound of a louder and slightly gainier (slightly overdriven) AC30 sound being picked gently to sound clean, for example.