Profiles that are too loud and clip the Kemper (lots of them)

lower the SPDIF volume until your interface gets a good level. (press and hold 'Master' - page 5/5)

mine is by -0.0dB by the way and everything is fine.

is your Master LED turning red?

Mikeb, what are your Sense controls set at?

Quote from mikeb

When I use the SPDIF vs XLR outs I notice one huge problem with some profiles and that is they are WAY WAY too loud and clip my interface.

Meaning what? Is the analog or spdif or both outputs clipping your interface input?

If the spdif is clipping, your profiles are too hot. If only the XLR outs are clipping your input, you must configure your interface and/or lower your Main out on the Kemper.

This needs more analysis, as by definition a Spdif input cannot be clipped.
If the Spdif output was clipped, the analog out would clip as well.

How do you notice that clipping?
Does the Profilers output led go red?

I definitely have noticed many rigs from the Rig Exchange are clipping. Sometimes I don't notice it, but in headphones, it's clear as day. First place I check is my SPDIF in level on my interface mixer software. Usually if the meters are even close to red it's clipping. I don't consider it a fault of the KPA but the profile authors. I don't think any commercial profile I've bought has experienced output clipping. Yeah, it's a pain, but as a general rule, turn down the Volume knob as soon as you load any Rig Exchange profile before rendering judgment.

So you think S\PDIF can clip?

No - the output method has nothing to do with it. Its the overall level of the rig/patch. I find many times they have a pure booster or eq thats boosting or the volume control is turned up. They clip internally - all output methods will do it - theyre just outputting an already clipped signal

If someone with low output pickups makes a profile, it may clip when someone tries to use it with higher output pickups.

Quote from paults

If someone with low output pickups makes a profile, it may clip when someone tries to use it with higher output pickups.

Unless they have Clean Sense locked. Meaning, those who don't have CS locked for some reason should always check where CS is set in downloaded profiles.

I have set it to locked in Browser mode and unlocked in Performance. This way CS is set to my current guitar when checking out profiles, and set guitar specific in Performance Mode.

Quote from Trazan

Unless they have Clean Sense locked. Meaning, those who don't have CS locked for some reason should always check where CS is set in downloaded profiles.

I have set it to locked in Browser mode and unlocked in Performance. This way CS is set to my current guitar when checking out profiles, and set guitar specific in Performance Mode.

This is a very useful tip for everybody who is experiencing clipping.

the profiles i'm referring to are high-gain. Clean Sense should have no impact. The practice of trying to make patches louder than the others isn't exclusive to Kemper. Pod HD community still have tons of patches pushed passed the device's digital limitations. Some people actually like this - think it adds that "cranked amp" tone to their patch. *facepalm*

It's also worth pointing out that the KPA doesn't handle audio like many other digital processors, and cannot be clipped internally unless you try to crank the final output level of the patch. I tested this - I ran 4 EQ's with volume maxed out, then turned down volume to compensate - no clipping. So there's no need to gain stage your patches like you would analog or even other digital gear, at least not to avoid clipping. In my most extreme test, there was noticeable degredation of the signal, but no clipping; and that case was so so far from real world usage, I can safely say it's simply not an issue. Excellent work by the KPA team on this front.

I have experienced several high gain rigs from RX as being infernally clipping. Nearly shot my ears once. Some rigs have turned up Cab vol and Rig vol and when i hit these with my guitar they clip like hell. I've proposed to force Rig Volume to 0.0 when loaded via Rig Mnager to mothership to avoid this. I don't have any idea why these settings are used as i can't imagine a guitar with an output low enough to avoid clipping them.

Hmm, I was wondering about this too. I've noticed that a lot of the clean profiles - from TAF for example - seem to be way too hot. So much so that I have to turn them down by 6-8 db. Now, I am aware that you can change the clean sense settings, but the fact that there are HUGE differences between profile volumes means that it's not a problem of the overall settings, right? If the problem were with my clean sense (which is locked in both browse and perf modes )being too high, then all clean profiles would have the same behaviour. But even with TAF, some are fine while at the same time lots of them drive my KPA (together with my ears) far into the red zone...

Anybody have an idea why this is so? I know that the KPA is supposed to normalize profile volume levels by default but it is evident that there are still big differences between them. Might it have to do with how hot the mic preamps are set? Maybe PAD switches on the mics?

I know it's a necrobump, but this question doesn't seem to have ever been answered as far as I can tell.

As an example, load up Rig Manager and look for "CRY EXCESS GTR SOUND Peavey 6505". Turn on the cab module, and notice how insanely loud the profile is. All the volume settings are at 0, so my best guess is that there's another volume parameter baked into the amp and cab data for each profile. Swapping either module out helps, swapping both fixes it... I dunno. I have one of Jevo's Mesa cabs saved as a preset, it sounds great for 90% of the amps on my Kemper, but if I use it with the the CRY EXCESS amp I have to turn the cab by 9db.

TL;DR Can we please have some sort of "normalize" function? Sure, make it optional, but personally I have no interest in huge volume change from one amp to the next. That's what my volume knob is for.

If you're clipping the output, just lower Volume (or any other volume from stack forward) and resave.
NB: not Master volume!

Is it possible that those who make the loud profile have used Limiting or RMS compression?

Quote from viabcroce

Profiles that are too loud and clip the Kemper (lots of them)[/url]']If you're clipping the output, just lower Volume (or any other volume from stack forward) and resave.
NB: not Master volume!

As a workaround, sure. But why am I having to deal with this in the first place? Why is there an invisible volume knob attached to each profile that we can't adjust?

Quote from Dean_R

Is it possible that those who make the loud profile have used Limiting or RMS compression?

No, limiting would raise the perceived SPL (raise the overall energy of the signal) but keep the peak output voltage the same or lower: it's exctly the other way round.

Quote from Lokasenna

As a workaround, sure. But why am I having to deal with this in the first place? Why is there an invisible volume knob attached to each profile that we can't adjust?

I loaded the rig you suggested, and I touch the orange on the output when I strum the hardest. So definitely no clipping here.
I also noticed that this doesn't change whether the cab is on or off.
Note: only stomps A & B were active by default.

are you by any chance clipping the Input as well? If yes, do you have it unlocked? If so, check CS when you load that rig: maybe the profiler saved it with a very high CS value.
My CS (Input actually) is locked for each of my guitars.

Input is locked with the Clean Sense at -12, never even turns yellow.

The cab that the rig loads with doesn't clip, but it's significantly louder than a typical profile - if I've got the speakers turned up to a comfortable volume for a different patch, and load this one, it's insane. Combined with one of my favorite cab profiles, it clips the KPA's output. However, I don't want to save that cab with the volume turned all the way down because then it's too quiet for every other amp, and having to save two copies of the same cab is annoying.