In over my head..Newbie Noob

    Hello everyone, I am a noob beyond noobs and think I am in over my head here. I just received my KPA yesterday and I know there is a lot of information to run this but dang. Ok, questions.

    1. I have the power rack. I hook up my 4x12 cab and it plays o through ok, but it is not as loud as it clams to be. It does not feel like 100 watts coming out, surely not like my Marshall head. I have tried both 8 and 16 ohms and both monitor out and speaker out, and adjusting the volume through the soft knobs. Also, I am aware of turning the cabs sims off to help out with any coloring issues. Any ideas??

    2. I want to make my own presets up using the amps, cabs, mice, etc that are within the KPA. I cannot figure out how to do this, even after reading the entire reference manual and set up guide. Any help?

    3. Is there any instructional videos or links that can help guide you through getting the most out of the KPA.

    4. What size thumb drive should I use to transfer files, upload updates and create back ups?

    And finally, how can I using monitor out for PA use and speaker cab for an on stage monitor at the same time...is that when you link the two together and how can you switch back in forth?

    Thanks for reading and any help you can provide. Rock on and have fun :thumbup:

    Mojo

    :thumbup: "A single note can be short lived but a melody will last a life time." Paul Muller

    Well, I can't help you with No.1 cos' I don't have the powerrack. So I'm sure someone else will help with this.

    No 2: The KPA is not designed to 'create your own presets' per say in the way I think your getting at regarding mics etc. I think you mean building a preset from scratch in the way you can do with say the Axefx? The 'presets' come as 'profiles' which is basically a file containing a combination of an Amp, cab and generally the mic or mics it was profiled with. Once you have a profile loaded in (use the stock profiles built in for now), you can't change the mic (like an Axefx) but you can change the cab by long pressing the cab button then browsing through the cabs and picking one you like. From there you then can add in things/effects that would go before and after an amp as you would in the real world.

    No 3: There are a number of videos up on Youtube that can give you hints and tricks but not really 'getting the most out the KPA', we're all searching for different tones and the KPA has plenty of tools inside to help you 'get the best out of it' for whatever tone your looking for. But again, tone is all subjective so maybe it would be best to start a thread asking people on the forum if they know a particular profile to point you in the right direction to the tone your searching for. Try and be a little bit more specific in regards to 'getting more out of it'.

    No 4: The files that go onto the flash drive for the KPA is minuscule. The profiles are in KB's and the Firmware updates are usually around the 5mb mark I think. So basically a 1gb drive should be plenty. But you can get them pretty cheap now so no harm really in getting maybe a 2gb. Entirely upto you.

    I'm not quite sure on your final question. Monitor out for PA use? That's usually what the Main Out's are for. Use those to go to the mixer/FOH. As for 'switching back and fourth'....I have no idea what you mean  ?(

    Delta, many thanks for the reply.

    I meant "getting the most out of it" and by that you cleared up all of the questions I had with that. I just need to modify the "rigs or presets" that are already within the KPA or I could purchase "profiles" that are already constructed and then modify them.

    Switching back and forth with the monitor and PA. I know there is no reason to actually do this, but I question should have read. How to have a cab on stage as a monitor and the KPA into a PA system, not so much switching. If today I was to use just a cab how would I do that, if tomorrow I want to use it through a PA how would I do that and if I wanted to combined how would I do that.

    Oh yea, when modify a rig how would you save that into the KPA and where...under favorites or is there a user rig area?

    Thanks again for the help, this will be a journey but I just need a little guidance to get going...can't go anymore spinning out of control ? :wacko:

    :thumbup: "A single note can be short lived but a melody will last a life time." Paul Muller

    Quote from mojorising

    Switching back and forth with the monitor and PA. I know there is no reason to actually do this, but I question should have read. How to have a cab on stage as a monitor and the KPA into a PA system, not so much switching. If today I was to use just a cab how would I do that, if tomorrow I want to use it through a PA how would I do that and if I wanted to combined how would I do that.

    Hey no problem mate this is what this forum is for. Ok I now understand your question. When you have a cab on stage and your going into the PA use the MAIN OUTS on the rear, usually XLR into the desk to go to the PA. Upto you if you want to go stereo or mono. If mono, use the L side (XLR) and make sure you have the MASTER OUT (press the output button and it's on one of the pages) set to MASTER MONO. If stereo set it to MASTER STEREO. Then come out of your powerrack into your cab. So now your connected to both the PA and your cab. Now again, i'm not familiar with the inputs/outputs of the Powerrack so someone else will have to chime in to confirm this. Again make sure in the Output menu you choose to have your monitor out in mono or stereo.

    If your not using the PA then simply don't connect anything to the MAIN OUTS and just use the monitor out/powerrack to power your cab.

    Saving/modifying a profile: When you modify a profile you have 2 options...save the modified tone OVER the original profile OR save it under a different name and if you do the latter it will then leave the original profile unmodified (so you will then have a 'duplicate' profile of the original with your new tweaked settings). So once you've tweaked a profile to your satisfaction, press the STORE button. You should then see (if my memory serves as my Kemper is not on right now) 2 options...STORE AS, or REPLACE. Replace does exactly what I mentioned earlier, it will overwrite the original profile with your newly tweaked profile. Pressing the STORE AS soft button will let you rename the new modified profile keeping the original intact. What I would normally do at first is to simply add a number '2' at the end of the profile name. So if the original was for example 'Fender Twin', I would call the new tweaked one, 'Fender Twin 2'. That would then put them right next to each other in your browse list and enable you to quickly compare the 2 should you wish via the browse knob  :D


    Hope this is clear and it helps!

    Thanks again for the quick response. You cleared a lot up, now if I can figure out the power side... I will keep you posted on my learning curve, and when I say keep you posted it may be a while. Still trying to figure all of this out. Going to the store in the am to get the thumb drive probably a 2 gig and then set up the computer side.

    I haven't even touched on getting my midi foot controller set up I am sticking to understanding the basics right now. Again, thank you.

    :thumbup:

    :thumbup: "A single note can be short lived but a melody will last a life time." Paul Muller

    Hey Mojorising,
    Concerning your first question:
    You might have tried this already but if not:
    Hold the output button on the far right of your KPA which will bring up 6 pages of output information on your screen. Use your right arrow to navigate to page 6. It is designated for the poweramp in the KPA and you can use it to turn up the volume of the poweramp. I hope I've made sense. Let me know if that helps.

    Welcome, mojorising!

    I encourage you to read through the manual once or twice.
    It is very well written and will get you started about pretty much everything KPA.
    Also there's a document by the user named Viabcroce that is even more comprehensive with a lot of very valuable tipps around the profiler.
    ;)

    Hey as for saving presets, you can edit any effect block, the amp block, and the cab block by holding that button on the unit. Once you are editting a block, press STORE and you'll get an option to save the full rig (patch) or whatever block you're editing. For an effects block it will store all the associated settings - the type of effect plus all parameters. You can name it whatever you want. For example, if you have a Green Scream with Drive 0, Tone +5, Volume +5, you could name that "Screamer Bright Boost". Then on another patch/rig, if you want to add that preset, you hold an effects block to edit it, then just turn the Browse knob to select the "Screamer Bright Boost" preset.

    For the amp block, the preset saves not only the settings, but the amp profile as well. Similarly, a cab preset saves both cab parameters as well as the cab profile. You probably won't use the cab profiles, but the amp profiles you might want to consider saving as presets - I often dive into the "deep" settings on the amp block, which can have a big impact on the way the amp sounds. I store the full rig with those settings, but maybe I want to punch the amp profile into a different rig where I already had my STOMP and EFFECTS sections all set up.

    I think you can also save the STOMP and EFFECTS sections as presets too. So if you have a couple common signal chains, it can save you time to pull these up rather than enter the individual effects each time.

    Just keep in mind that the KPA does not default the preset name based on any tags - it initially displays the default name or the last name you used. This is often meaningless, and will only serve to confuse you if you don't change it before saving the preset.

    Also, whenever you store a full rig, it is automatically tagged as one of your favorites. So if you filter your rigs by favorites, you'll only see the ones you've saved. If you find a good rig you really like while browsing, my advice is to hit STORE > REPLACE. Now that rig is in your favorites.

    Meam, thanks for the heads up!!! I actually think I am starting to figure this out....but then again bam.

    You got any idea why the power rack is not putting out the power like I think it should. My 100 tube can't put it on 2, the little bitty spider 6 75W my son has is crazy, stupid loud but when I can turn up the KPA all the way then there ain't no way I am getting 300-600w of raw power. Why is that?

    :thumbup: "A single note can be short lived but a melody will last a life time." Paul Muller

    Quote from mojorising


    You got any idea why the power rack is not putting out the power like I think it should. My 100 tube can't put it on 2, the little bitty spider 6 75W my son has is crazy, stupid loud but when I can turn up the KPA all the way then there ain't no way I am getting 300-600w of raw power. Why is that?

    Have you turned on the boost???

    have you held the OUTPUT button then scrolled through those parameters? I don't have the power'ed version, but I remember seeing some of the outs had default send levels of -30 db or something like that. I would just try to work backwards turning up whatever output levels you can.

    My god people, the boys has hit oil. Took a little time to figure this it out but I got it and I got it good. Thank to everyone for the guidance. Now to figure out how to make a back up and hook up midi so I can switch through rigs.. Thanks again to everyone.

    :thumbup: "A single note can be short lived but a melody will last a life time." Paul Muller

    It was a combination of things. First inserting a boost helped and the turning p the amp boost. I was not aware of these features and completely new to the KPA. I didn't understand the rig set ups, I thought the rigs were already to go and in fact there are but not they way I was thinking about them. Now I am gaining a better understanding on how these all work together to get the sound you want.

    Thanks to everyone here I have been able to start tinkering with the rigs and making my own. I won't be long until I will be ready to attack the midi issue (foot controller set up) and organizing rigs so I can use the foot controller to change rigs. Then I will concur the expression pedal install or routing.

    If anyone has any ideas on these and can point me in the right direction that would be great.

    Again, thank you to everyone for having the patience with a noob to the KPA. Without all of you I may have return it and been sorry to do so.

    :thumbup: "A single note can be short lived but a melody will last a life time." Paul Muller

    Oh wow!!! Thanks a lot…I am going to check this out, unfortunatley I have to travel until Tuesay but when I get back I am going to work on this. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I will keep you posted on my developments.

    :thumbup: "A single note can be short lived but a melody will last a life time." Paul Muller