Monitor Cab On vs. Monitor Cab Off with speaker cabinet

    Hey all. Running a Profiler Powerhead into either a 210 or 112 speaker cabinet.

    It seems the prevailing wisdom when running into speaker cabinets is to turn the Monitor Cab Off in the Output section, so you're not running the profile's speaker emulation into your real cab. The problem is, no matter how I try to stage the gain, I find the sound to be very spiky and DI'y with the monitor cab off, at both low volumes and high (high being up to around 95-100db). With the monitor cab on, I find the feel to be much nicer, squishier and more reactive - but you do get a bit of that phasey flub thing which I assume is a byproduct of running a speaker emulation into an actual speaker.

    Here's what I want: my real cab to sound/feel as awesome as the Kemper does out of the headphone jack. Since no amount of preamp compression seems to do the trick with the monitor cab off, I'm wondering if power amp compression/soft clipping will give me the feel I'm looking for? Is there a way to do this?

    Not even sure if I'm asking the right question. Just bummed that I can't get that pristine profiled sound out of two decent-quality cabs (the 210 has a V30 and a Greenback, the 112 has a Weber Blue Dog).

    you should get plenty of good responses.

    I know what you mean about using phones as a reference and I’ve tried everything .

    The only thing I’ve not tried is the Kone. I’ll probably do that, as I pretty much stick to

    Vintage tweed amps, or vintage combos,

    I have tried a 1 x 12” open back cab. With a 12” Celestion. I get one good sound. Sure there’s

    some variation between profiles, but a Celestion in a cab is a huge part of any amp sound.

    Hey all, bmfguitar here, new in the forum. I just bought Kemper Stage about 4 weeks ago, I'm excited about this product and this forum. Great!
    I don't have much experience with that yet, but I bought the Carl Verheyen Vintage Amp Collection on recommendation. Great rigs! I can recommend. With rigs from Michael Britt, they are my favorites. Because my Profiler Stage does not have an amplifier, I solved this problem by connecting Kemper Cabinet (speaker: 12 "Kemper Kone) and Camplifier SHP
    (RITTER Amplification) and it works great! See picture.
    Cheers!
    bmfguitar

    Edited once, last by bmfguitar (January 4, 2021 at 1:28 AM).

    Hi, bmfguitar.

    Welcome to the community. I'm glad you joined us.

    Congratulations on getting your Kemper Stage. It sounds like you're having a wonderful time.

    Thanks for the picture.

    You've had four weeks to explore. I hope you've found the resources below, but if not

    Kemper Manuals and Quick Start guides

    Rig Manager Download and Documentation

    Kemper Tutorials & Demos

    Cheers!

    ST

    Quote from DavidUsselman

    Hey all. Running a Profiler Powerhead into either a 210 or 112 speaker cabinet.

    It seems the prevailing wisdom when running into speaker cabinets is to turn the Monitor Cab Off in the Output section, so you're not running the profile's speaker emulation into your real cab. The problem is, no matter how I try to stage the gain, I find the sound to be very spiky and DI'y with the monitor cab off, at both low volumes and high (high being up to around 95-100db). With the monitor cab on, I find the feel to be much nicer, squishier and more reactive - but you do get a bit of that phasey flub thing which I assume is a byproduct of running a speaker emulation into an actual speaker.

    Here's what I want: my real cab to sound/feel as awesome as the Kemper does out of the headphone jack. Since no amount of preamp compression seems to do the trick with the monitor cab off, I'm wondering if power amp compression/soft clipping will give me the feel I'm looking for? Is there a way to do this?

    Not even sure if I'm asking the right question. Just bummed that I can't get that pristine profiled sound out of two decent-quality cabs (the 210 has a V30 and a Greenback, the 112 has a Weber Blue Dog).

    I have a English V30 and Greenback speakers and did not like either of them with my powered Kemper. (too colored) I took a hint from M britt and use a CL80 and love the cab sound. it's the farthest thing from spikey/Di like. But even with the V30 or GB it was never horrible. I have this feeling something else in the setup is the problem because my problem with cabs were always that it sounded darker than direct, the exact opposite of your issue.

    paults Yes, I gave that a whirl... didn't really help. The issue was never EQ so much as reactivity, if that makes sense. It feels like a compression issue somewhere along the line.

    Dynochrome fair point! I'll keep testing through other cabs.

    old crow the Kone is the best fix I've discovered so far. Really helps the cab feel stretchy and squishy, like a real amp.

    Couple of points from me

    1) I didn't realise how much of an effect the cab actually has so definitely try different cabs as you limiting factor here could be the cab's themselves

    2) Have you tried merged or DI profiles? Studio profiles do not have a cab emulated, they have it part of the chain. This is a subtle but important difference because the removal of the cab is an algorithm.

    3) There is no right and wrong on whether you should have Monitor cab on or off when using a cab as some people do prefer it on. So no issue if it works for you :)

    I run my powered Kemp head into 2x12 w/V30s or 2x12 w/G12T75 cabinets with Cab Off on the Kemper Profiles. Every profile is different and will need front panel EQ tweaks, some allot more then others and some I just give up on. I will occasionally add another EQ into the X soft button for even more tweaking. I find the Kemper to sound exceptionally well running into real cabinets. Not sure what your issue could be.

    You could always go FRFR into a Kone or the one I use and highly recommend F12-200X. This will give you allot more "cabinet" options. I like to choose a good Profile and then bring in other cabs from other Profiles to see what matches up best.