Metal Tone Problems...

  • Not one to Flog a Dead horse but here I am again STILL all depressed about the situation. I've tried MULTIPLE well set up and moderately top end guitars (over the £1000 mark) and MANY MANY MANY metal/distortion kemper bundles and they ALL have the same problem...that horrific midd/high range glitchy/fizz horrific sound that i just can NOT shift.I do drastic cuts to the point where the tone is smashed beyond any resemblance to what it originally was and i STILL hear it. I get this horrific noise on ALL of my guitars using any distortion bundle regardless of the level of distortion be it extreme or even slight. There is just no way its the profile or the guitars the odds it happening on 4 different guitars on ALL of these profiles is quite astonishing so it MUST be the chain going into my interface or my interface going into my PC...i just don't even know anymore its just not at all inspiring to even turn my kemper on anymore.

    I recorded a little ditty using individual strings to bring out the noise using my brand new Solar A1.7C in Drop A with four different profiles to show the demon noise happens in all regardless of the profile.

    My chain is simple. Guitar into main front input. Balanced cable from the kemper main out left direct into input one on my Focusrite 4pre clarett USB going straight into my PC.

    I have my Yamaha HS7s plugged direct into the back of my 4pre.

    I record into Cubase pro 10 in mono and double track panning far left and far right. There is no EQ on the track because any amount of EQ'ing does not shift it.

    Clearly something is wrong here i need help or its in the bin this machine goes.

    External Content soundcloud.com
    Content embedded from external sources will not be displayed without your consent.
    Through the activation of external content, you agree that personal data may be transferred to third party platforms. We have provided more information on this in our privacy policy.

    #sadkemper #lastchance

  • OK , that sounds horrible .... Like a hive full of mosquitos :pinch:

    You say you have done "drastic cuts" .... Where and with what ?

    What profile do you use ? ( so I / we can do a reference test )

    Any stomps activated ?

    Mono setting in Main Output ?

    Cab on / off ?

    Anything "Locked" in Amp, EQ or Cab section ?

    Cheers !

    The adjective for metal is metallic. But not so for iron ... which is ironic.

  • I know it sounds like utter arse that's why I'm here lol.I attempt cuts in my DAW (Cubase pro 10) i try to eliminate it but any amount of cutting does not fix that glitchy beehive fizzy bizzy garbage noise. Its apparent on ALL distortion profiles on ALL of my guitars. Cab is "ON" even though it sounds like its off lol. The mono setting I have tried them all and its there tried Master Stereo tried STACK tried Master Mono nothing is working. I tend to not use the stomps they just seem to amplify that horrific noise.

    I'm sure its something to do with my connection to my PC because when i go direct into my interface (Thats guitar direct into interface not using the kemper at all) and use a virtual amp like the Neural DSP stuff it does it there too that fizzy arse noise is there.

    Its devastating because i have spent sooooo much money to try and fix this and I'm no further forward,

  • To me it sounds like the actual profile but it has another tone coming through the same signal...an awful sound that resembles the kemper with the cab turned off and its hitching a ride on top of the actual nice profile if that makes sense?...two signals fused together...im going bonkers here lol could it be my PC sending a signal that is merging with my interface signal? am i making any sense to anyone? apologies if i sound mental.

  • Thanx for more info :thumbup:

    Try to put the "Studio EQ" in "X" slot ( after Amp, EQ an Cab section ) and adjust "High Freq" to approx 6 - 7 kHz

    and then turn " High Gain" down to approx -5 dB. Listen and adjust :thumbup:

    Cheers !

    Edit : How does it sound with headphones direct from "headphones out" on Kemper front ?

    The adjective for metal is metallic. But not so for iron ... which is ironic.

    Edited once, last by Hoki Toki (December 27, 2020 at 10:15 PM).

  • Thanx for more info :thumbup:

    Try to put the "Studio EQ" in "X" slot ( after Amp, EQ an Cab section ) and adjust "High Freq" to approx 6 - 7 kHz

    and then turn " High Gain" down to approx -5 dB. Listen and adjust :thumbup:

    Cheers !

    Edit : How does it sound with headphones direct from "headphones out" on Kemper front ?

    I don't really use my headphones in my kemper my ears are smashed to hell from years of loud band stuff constant tinnitus so i tend to avoid playing guitar directly into them to save what little hearing i have left lol Oh! doing that Studio EQ in the "X" spot is helping I'm actually getting a hold of that horrid Gremlin frequency. Currently playing around with it now i will keep you posted of my progress thanks ma' man the real test will be doing individual string hits in the higher frequencies those are where the rotten tinker likes to dwell. ;)

  • UPDATE!! sadly its still there no matter what tweeking i do that bizzy fizzy frequency is there.Ya cant realy hear it when doing lower notes and chugging its only when i start to go up the neck in higher frequencies its there but saying that i still think its there on the lower notes but its just not as apparent.

    It HAS to be something from the interface into the PC or something going on within the PC. I've de-activated all the soundcards within the PC and activated only the 4PRE USB soundcard clutching at straws really trying to eliminate anything and try anything at this point. I must say I've had previous PC's with the exact same problem using other interfaces its like its demon following me around being a real pain in the butt and just really killing all fun would SHOULD be had.

    I need to get an actual person here to see what the heck is going because its really hard to explain something that ya not sure is going on.

    The crazy thing is i bet its a simple switch hidden away somewhere and all i need to do is press it and everything sounds incredible hahaha.

    #keeponpushing #remainpositive

  • Check out this thread and let us know if your problem is similar.

    I gave up...the Kemper ships back tomorrow. (Solved)

    I'm not so sure its the high grit tone it sounds more glitchy than the high end gritty like there is something broken. Its like ya know how the Kemper sounds with a distortion tone but with the cab turned off? horrid right? its like that tone on top of the nice profile tone but fizzy glitchy its hard to explain.

    I know its not my kemper because when i go direct from guitar into my interafce (no connection to the kemper) and then open up a virtual amp sim like Neural DSP the same broken noise can be heard...starting to think maybe my ears are just f#cked haha i hope not...i recorded two little guitar takes one from my kemper and one using the neural dsp i will upload them now.

  • In the clips im playing octaves because thats when its really evident also in single note melody its really bad.

    External Content soundcloud.com
    Content embedded from external sources will not be displayed without your consent.
    Through the activation of external content, you agree that personal data may be transferred to third party platforms. We have provided more information on this in our privacy policy.
    Neural dsp no kemper connection at all just direct into interface.


    External Content soundcloud.com
    Content embedded from external sources will not be displayed without your consent.
    Through the activation of external content, you agree that personal data may be transferred to third party platforms. We have provided more information on this in our privacy policy.
    Kemper nasty. used eq's to attempt to remove the glitchy noise but it remained no matter the EQ change.


    To me its phazey glitchy fizzy kinda Pewww Peww swishhhh swish is the only way i can describe it.

  • Hellu.

    In your post with 2 different "samples" , one without Kemper, the other with Kemper, I can

    hear no difference at all ...... :/ Must be something in your interface or DAW that does

    not match ..... Too hot signal ? Sample rate ? Line / Mic settings ? I Have no idea, I do not

    use interface and computer to do recordings .......

    I urge you to do a test with headphones out from KPA ( despite your tinnitus ) But start at low volume :thumbup:

    Cheers !

    The adjective for metal is metallic. But not so for iron ... which is ironic.

  • My 4pre interface has the clipping halos that tell me when im going into it too hot it flashes red.When im good it stays a lovely green.Its always a lovely green.

    Sample rate ive tried 44100,48000 and took it up to 96000 my interface goes up to 192000 but i never go past 96000.

    Buffer size 128.


    I use a TS guitar cable (Hosa) into front "INPUT" and a balanced cable from my kemper (Main left out) and go straight into the front channel 1 using "LINE IN" into my interface.When going into "INSTRUMENT" it is far too unstable and clips out like crazy. so i use line in.

    I use SPDIF too but theres no change in the problem regardless if i sync up the clocks.

    My Cubase project setup is:

    Sample rate 96.000khz

    Bit Depth 64 bit float.

    i had the same problems with my previous interfaces its a problem thats haunted me forever and i just bet its such a simple fix.

  • My 4pre interface has the clipping halos that tell me when im going into it too hot it flashes red.When im good it stays a lovely green.Its always a lovely green.

    Sample rate ive tried 44100,48000 and took it up to 96000 my interface goes up to 192000 but i never go past 96000.

    Buffer size 128.


    I use a TS guitar cable (Hosa) into front "INPUT" and a balanced cable from my kemper (Main left out) and go straight into the front channel 1 using "LINE IN" into my interface.When going into "INSTRUMENT" it is far too unstable and clips out like crazy. so i use line in.

    I use SPDIF too but theres no change in the problem regardless if i sync up the clocks.

    My Cubase project setup is:

    Sample rate 96.000khz

    Bit Depth 64 bit float.

    i had the same problems with my previous interfaces its a problem thats haunted me forever and i just bet its such a simple fix.

  • through the headphones (Sure SRH440) sounds awesome!

  • Is it a balanced TRS cable or XLR to TRS cable from KPA out to interface?

    Maybe there´s a phase issue .....

    Try a regular TS guitar cable from left main out to interface Line in.

    Positive that it sounds good with headphones :thumbup:

    ( Perhaps the KPA doesn´t end up in the bin after all ......

    But if it does, may I ask where you live so I can go "dumpster divin´ 8o )

    Cheers !

    The adjective for metal is metallic. But not so for iron ... which is ironic.

  • Hahaha ;) ;) Yes it a balanced TRS cable from the kemper into the interface i will give it a jam with a regular TR cable and see if there is an improvement. Thanks for your responses though dude its nice man :)

  • Maybe try plugging the Kemper directly into your Yamaha HS7s to see how it sounds bypassing the interface altogether. Since you liked the headphone sound, this should be pretty much the same. If this result is alright, at least you know it's something in the interface settings.

  • I'm not judging, but if I had to put a band-aid on those wasps I might start with:

    Fizz Shite 1: 4267Hz / 1.59Q / -16.29 dB
    Fizz Shite 2: 3621Hz / 1.34Q / -12.51 dB
    Fizz Shite 3: 4311Hz / 1.83Q / -14.22 dB

    ...those are some pretty big cuts for sure!

    -djh