Kemper - Tips/Advice for Creating Profiles?

[metropolis_4]

What tips/advice would you give someone who has never made a Profile before attempting it for the first time?


… asking for a friend

 

[Mongillo19]

 

[TubeStack]

 

[MirrorProfiles]

Have everything set up so you know exactly what it should sound like before the kemper is involved.

Make sure you are using the correct cables

Check for ground loops/noise, get noise as low as you can.

I prefer doing amp only profiles, the built in IR load in the Kemper is kind of crap because the IR's are so short. Merged profiles are quite a cool happy/flexible medium but I would only attempt these once you have practice making profiles. Having a DI box that has a pad/can handle the output of an amp is handy, but if an amp has a direct/slave out, that can be used. Load boxes are also cool for this.

Using Rig Manager to make the profiles is MUCH nicer for entering info. Try that method and get used to it.

 

[metropolis_4]

Have everything set up so you know exactly what it should sound like before the kemper is involved.

Make sure you are using the correct cables

Check for ground loops/noise, get noise as low as you can.

I prefer doing amp only profiles, the built in IR load in the Kemper is kind of crap because the IR's are so short. Merged profiles are quite a cool happy/flexible medium but I would only attempt these once you have practice making profiles. Having a DI box that has a pad/can handle the output of an amp is handy, but if an amp has a direct/slave out, that can be used. Load boxes are also cool for this.

Using Rig Manager to make the profiles is MUCH nicer for entering info. Try that method and get used to it.

Thanks for this! Is there a post-Profile refinement process as well? Or am I thinking of something else

 

[metropolis_4]

The story is I’ve got store credit to spend, I went in planning to spend it on pedals and such, but it happens to be the exact amount of a Kemper Stage. So I thought it would be fun to give this a try since I’ve got the Mark VII to Profile.

 

[la szum]

 

[la szum]

Stage is a cool unit. I loathe the whole search through mountains of turds for a decent profile.

It is a cool unit. I preferred it over the Helix, personally. More compressed and warmer than the
Fractal (as Jarick has pointed out) so you may really dig it.

Congrats!

 

[la szum]

How are you going to power/monitor it for playback? Ever decide on a Cab setup for the VII?

 

[MirrorProfiles]

Thanks for this! Is there a post-Profile refinement process as well? Or am I thinking of something else

Yeah, you’ll want to refine to get them sounding close. Sometimes it’s cool to adjust the deeper parameters but it can be risky too, most of the time you don’t need to mess with that stuff.

You could also watch some videos of the liquid profiling stuff if you want the eq to behave more like the real amp. I personally didn’t care for it too much

 

[Jarick]

How are you going to do the cabs?

I haven’t profiled real amps but I profiled some NDSP plugins and the Friedman IR-X. It’s pretty dang easy to profile. I don’t really know how to best refine profiles though, sometimes you get really close other Times not so much.

I do wish the cab section was a lot better. I tried making merged profiles using the Plini plugin and it sounded a lot different than The studio profile or whatever it’s called.

 

[metropolis_4]

Stage is a cool unit. I loathe the whole search through mountains of turds for a decent profile.

It is a cool unit. I preferred it over the Helix, personally. More compressed and warmer than the
Fractal (as Jarick has pointed out) so you may really dig it.

Congrats!

I spent last summer gigging one and that jives with my memory of it.

I remember thinking it was a bit smoother and more polished than Fractal. Fractal has more detail, Kemper a little more compression.

I remember I loved the feel of the Kemper

How are you going to power/monitor it for playback? Ever decide on a Cab setup for the VII?

Still deciding on a cab. Right now everything is going through a little mixer into either IEMs, Blue MoFi headphones, or a powered wedge.

How are you going to do the cabs?

I haven’t profiled real amps but I profiled some NDSP plugins and the Friedman IR-X. It’s pretty dang easy to profile. I don’t really know how to best refine profiles though, sometimes you get really close other Times not so much.

I do wish the cab section was a lot better. I tried making merged profiles using the Plini plugin and it sounded a lot different than The studio profile or whatever it’s called.

I’m planning to use the CabClone built into the VII. Those have been sounding pretty good to me

 

[JiveTurkey]

Watching this show right now. It's great!

 

[NightWalker]

 

[texhex]

What tips/advice would you give someone who has never made a Profile before attempting it for the first time?


… asking for a friend

I’m not sure how much it matters but the best results I’ve had come from starting with a Profile that is as close as possible to the tone of the Reference Amp you are trying to Profile. Sometimes I even shoot a Profile of the amp, refine it and save it, and then use that as the starting Profile.

 

[metropolis_4]

Ok, getting mixed results. Clean, light gain, medium gain are all working great. But I can’t get high gain Profiles to work.

Every time I try a high gain Profile of ch3 in either IIC or MKIV mode the final Profile sounds like a fuzz pedal. No definition, fuzzy, zero definition, loose flabby low end…

What could I be doing wrong?

 

[Mongillo19]

Ok, getting mixed results. Clean, light gain, medium gain are all working great. But I can’t get high gain Profiles to work.

Isn't this the moto of the Kemper?

 

[metropolis_4]

Isn't this the moto of the Kemper?

If so I can see why the high gain chuggers hate it so much!

Honestly I’ve never used Kemper for anything beyond Aerosmith sort of gain levels. I figured as long as I was profiling my Mark VII I’d better do some high gain stuff

 

[Mongillo19]

If so I can see why the high gain chuggers hate it so much!

Honestly I’ve never used Kemper for anything beyond Aerosmith sort of gain levels. I figured as long as I was profiling my Mark VII I’d better do some high gain stuff

It can definitely work for high gain but it can take some work. A common user gripe on the Kemper is high gain for sure

 

[BenIfin]

What tips/advice would you give someone who has never made a Profile before attempting it for the first time?


… asking for a friend

What Amp / Amps are you wanting to profile ?

The current FW OS 10 list of 45 x LP Amp Channels is currently as follows, so you may well already be covered by grabbing the free 3 x Official Kemper Liquid Profile Packs .... they sound, respond and feel better than anything I have ever used :)

These 3 LP Packs include 32 x new Ground Up Liquid Profiles covering the following 14 Amps, with 29 different LP's

2 x Fender Deluxes
3 x JCM 800's
4 x JTM 45's
3 x Rectifiers
5 x 5150's
1 x 68 Plexi 50w
2 x Marshall SuperLead
2 x Fender Twin
2 x Marshal SV20 Re-Issues
1 x AC15
1 x AC30
1 x 59 Bassman
1 x Friedman BE
1 x SLO 100 Rock

All the best,
Ben