PSA: Turn Your Clean Sense DOWN If Using KPA To Track DIs.

fluff191 · November 8, 2013 at 5:05 AM

I am recording an album and using the DI output of the Kemper to capture my DIs for re-amping later. My friend Keith Merrow alerted me to the fact that the KPA will compress the crap out of your DIs. Upon further investigation, I do not have this problem, and am fairly certian its because I always have my Clean Sense all the way down (-12dB). Here is a comparison shot Keith did of a DI using a Countryman DI box (bottom) and the KPA DI (top).

[Blocked Image: https://scontent-b-sea.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/1454919_708660622495973_624039551_n.jpg]

I am sure this has probably been discussed somewhere before, but I had no idea. I always assumed the DI of the KPA was a legit DI.

nakedzen · November 8, 2013 at 7:42 AM

Interesting. I've never touched the clean sense for anything. I took a look at my DI files and they are pretty compressed.

Nothing like the image in your post though. But mine are tracked at a way lower volume, like -25dB.

lohworm · November 8, 2013 at 7:49 AM

While discussing about the new threshold on the input led, lighting red at -12dB with hot pickups, it has been told it's actually hard to clip the input for real, even when input lighting red, because of the headroom of the input AND an internal SOFT LIMITER...

A soft limiter being basically a compressor, it may explain this, no ?

nakedzen · November 8, 2013 at 8:07 AM

Quote from lohworm

While discussing about the new threshold on the input led, lighting red at -12dB with hot pickups, it has been told it's actually hard to clip the input for real, even when input lighting red, because of the headroom of the input AND an internal SOFT LIMITER...

A soft limiter being basically a compressor, it may explain this, no ?

Ah, I didn't remember that. But that would explain the compression. A limiter is basically a really high ratio compressor, it won't let any peaks through past a certain threshold.

Any way to bypass the limiter for recording di's, anyone?

fluff191 · November 8, 2013 at 8:18 AM

The strange thing is I have personally never experienced any compression of my DI. My bridge pickup is 16k. And my wav's look fine.

[Blocked Image: https://scontent-b-sea.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn2/1452155_10151688124191607_1814487569_n.jpg]

lohworm · November 8, 2013 at 11:34 AM

OK my bad, I think i've been fooled by the terms 'hard limits' and 'soft clipping' (vs 'soft knee' and that kind of things)...

CK:

Quote

The Profiler is not designed like a classic digital device with hard limits. It is soft. The soft clipping is actually much softer clipping than a tube has ever clipped! (Yes, that is possible.) It is hard to make a bad sound by applying too much level.

ckemper · November 10, 2013 at 12:53 AM

Use version 2.2. No compression!

Read the Reamping chapter in the Addendum Manual carefully!