Hey Guys,
So I brought my Kemper to a gig this past weekend, not to use for the whole night, but just to test it out on a PA system and see how it sounds before I actually bring it as my sole setup for a night. I've been using it with the Yamaha DXR10 at home, and it sounds great aside from some issues I've been having with the DXR (nothing to do with the Kemper).
When I got it to the gig, I plugged in from the left mono out, to a channel on the board via XLR. Everything was hooked up the same way I had it hooked up for the DXR (aside from using the different output - used the monitor out for the DXR). On both outputs, I had it set to Master Mono, output set to -15dB, cabinet feature was enabled, etc.
Anyway, when I tested it through the PA, using the same AmpFactory profile I've been using (AF9-BE SS Full 4+), it sounded okay, but not great. It had a bit of "fizz" to it rather than sounding like a nice thick guitar, the way it did with the Yamaha. The PA was a decent system. Big 3-way PA, mostly JBLs (JBL bins and tops). I'm not sure what model the tops were, but the brand was JBL and they were about the size of a 4x10 bass cab.
So what I'm wondering is, the main purpose of the Kemper is supposed to be getting high quality sounds, and the ability to have tons of different amps at your disposal. Both of which it does wonderfully. However, the idea behind it is that it's supposed to be giving you consistent sounds. But it occurred to me this weekend, that just like a regular guitar amp, even though I'm running direct to FOH, my sound is going to be different every time we play on a different PA system, even if I have the sound guy set the EQ for my channel to flat (as I did in this case).
I understand that this isn't the fault of the KPA, because technically, it is going to send the same consistent sound each time regardless of what I'm using to monitor the sound. But how do you all get around the fact that your profiles and rigs are going to sound so different, every time you play on a different PA? How do you minimize these inconsistencies as much as possible. Or is this something that simply can't be controlled since we're at the mercy of whatever PA the clubs are running? For the most part, they're all nice PA systems. But the sound is going to be different with all of them.