Kemper questions...need answers please...

    I've got a few amps from the library sounding pretty good through head phones.
    The goal is to have that exact same sound go to the board and have it come out to the main PA speakers, plus have a cab onstage so I can have the sound like an actual "head into cab "amp. So far, I can get a great sound out of my head phones, but not a great one from the cab.
    I've tried turning off the cab feature but it still isn't satisfying.
    You can remove the cab sim tone for the cab onstage and still have the cab sims go to the front right?

    The cab doesn't seems to have the same tone coming out that I would get as if I was running a traditional head directly to the cab. Almost as if I'm re-amping it 2x.
    In theory, if I connect the XLR's from the kemper and go to a board, is it exactly what I'm supposed to be hearing in the head phones?
    Can anyone offer advice on how to do this properly? Getting disappointed quickly...
    Many thanks,

    XLR to board and PA should sound similar to phones, but different phones sound different and cabs too. Are you plugging your phones to the board or to the Kemper? Plug them into each and listen.

    Never too old for rock'n'roll

    Quote from GTARPLR

    Plugging the pones into the Kemper. Will try the same into the board and give it a listen.
    Am I missing anything else?

    Maybe the problem is that you consider your Kemper as an AMPLIFIER HEAD . It is not the way I see it . I heard friends that just plug their Kemper directly on the PA board and makes terrific shows with super sounds... Some even dont carry CABS at all but FRFR as a monitor reference to hear themselves on stage , period. But for others is the engineer that takes care of installing monitors for the show But still the Kemper is plugged in the board directly. So maybe the mistake here is to consider the Kemper as an amp head. Hope it helps

    Edited 4 times, last by Gforce guitar (August 29, 2018 at 2:11 PM).

    I ALWAYS go directly into the PA now. I don't mike up at all so my backline ( if I take one) is just for on stage monitoring.

    Guitar cabs always colour the sound and often cover duff profiles. However, I've generally found this is less the case the other way round. However, the "cab off" is not perfect ( as its an algorithm) so you'll always get a difference.

    So, will headphones sound similar to FOH - generally yes. Will headphones sound similar to guitar cab, generally no, because the cab has such a big effect ( real generalizations here!).

    Couple of suggestions:
    Try merged profiles as these should do what you want in terms of relative consistency
    You need to audition profiles via an FRFR speaker/PA.
    Focus on board sound first as personally I think that's the main prioirty. Only the band hear your on stage sound, the whole audience hear your out front sound. If you still struggle go FRFR ( which I do now anyway). My cab is mainly for looks..

    You can get a great sound using the Kemper as a traditional amp but as the signal chains are different you can't easily get them to sound exactly the same.

    I recently recorded a gig live, made loads of mistakes. Plugged my Kemper in to my audio interface and re-recorded some of my parts....using EXACTLY the same sound. Worked brilliantly.

    Quote from Gforce guitar

    Thats my point. Kemper to... PA and not Kemper as amplifier head to a cab. Its not an amplifier head .
    Then you decide if you need FRFR (or cab) for monitoring to help you to hear yourself better on stage or not...as you may also let the sound engineer take care of that

    While I generally agree with this and only ever use direct to PA in a band context myself, I have done a comparison on a few occasions between my own Mesa Boogie amp/speaker and a Direct profile of that amp played through an identical speaker.

    I have 2 Mesa Thiele ported 1x12 EVM12L cabs so can set them both up and use an A/B box to switch between them for instant comparison. Cab A straight from the Mesa and cab B running the direct profile on Kemper (powered toaster). The two sounds are so close to identical as to make no difference in a band stage mix. Therefore, while I would concluded that running the Kemper as a traditional amp head isn't the best solution for MY needs, the KPA itself is a traditional amp head if that's what you want it to be.

    I also agree you can use it as an Amp head BUT if you try to compare headphones to cab, the cab section is the main variable so won't sound the same.

    It's also true that you do need a different mindset when looking at the amp ( amp in the room vs recorded sound) - lots of detail on the Kemper site about this.

    Quote from V8guitar

    I also agree you can use it as an Amp head BUT if you try to compare headphones to cab, the cab section is the main variable so won't sound the same.

    It's also true that you do need a different mindset when looking at the amp ( amp in the room vs recorded sound) - lots of detail on the Kemper site about this.

    Yep, I agree but I think the main variable in that scenario is headphones V speakers of any sort reacting in a room (cab, FRFR or studio monitor).

    The difference between mic'd real amp/cab and studio profile of the same mic'd real cab is minimal in the using as an amp head scenario.

    Personally, I never liked having a real cab on stage anyway as it was always hard to get a sound I was happy with and could hear clearly without being too loud for band mates (particularly horn sections whose moaning was the bane of my life for 20+ years) so a monitor/FRFR/IEM type solution is infinitely better for me. In fact, I can never understand why so many people are obsessed with getting the Kemper to sound like an amp in the room. However, it is important for lots of people so "each to their own" as they say. My observation was simply that, if you want to use the Kemper as a traditional amp head with a real cab (whether to mic and send FOH or simply as an onstage monitor the KPA is easily capable of the task.

    I think it takes time for people to adjust as the amp in the room was your sound.

    Like you I've become less interested in my sound out of a cab, although it took me 18 months to go direct/FRFR and not mike my cab :)

    I think that's the mindset shift...I still like some control over my on stage sound but I also try to use IEM's when I can..

    Plus a 4 x12 always looks great!

    My mate has a Helix but takes an empty 4 x 12 ( he actually uses it to store his stage gear) for the look :)