Kemper: better with frfr or through power amp and speaker

  • For a good spread sound i use deeflexx. Especially in stereo its so good

    This reiterates that guitar speakers sound radius is so narrow that deflectors to split the sound are needed. Not needed IMO for Kone/Kabinet.

    I avoid stereo as well because a "wider sound" can also disappear, especially in a dual guitar band although as per usual depends.

  • It's very cool that you addded the tube output section and that you like the result. I appreciate the work that you did. It is very novel. From an engineering standpoint, it is just not necessary. I'm only making this post to memorialize my view so that others are aware of a differing viewpoint. As a design engineer , this is a dubious method of improving a Kemper. YMMV and all that...

  • It's very cool that you addded the tube output section and that you like the result. I appreciate the work that you did. It is very novel. From an engineering standpoint, it is just not necessary. I'm only making this post to memorialize my view so that others are aware of a differing viewpoint. As a design engineer , this is a dubious method of improving a Kemper. YMMV and all that...

    the valves ad a feel an a realness that pushing air with a real amp does an better than a ss section for me. I just profiled my matchless an have got them exact. Exact. There no adding fluff or colour add room levels. A guitar experience is about feel as much as the sound, an this does it for me. Just bought a palmer AB box that uses the same cab an removes all variables in comparing sound. Even brain drifting when you change cables for 5 seconds. . I love it

    Edited once, last by goldensheaf (February 2, 2024 at 12:55 AM).

  • I recognize that you think your tube output section makes your Kemper better. For your conclusion to be factual, you are implying that the your tube output section PERFECTLY corrects all of the errors inherent in the Kemper as is. Did you indentify all of the errors in the Kemper and design a tube output section that perfectly corrects the errors or did you just get lucky or is it just not an accurate statement? I know which is more likely. You state "ears mean everything" and "the guitar experience is about feel as much as sound". Those two statements don't logically make sense. I think you must mean that both matter. Or can you hear the feel?

    Again, YMMV. And again, just making a note so others that read this thread understand that there is a rather large difference of opinion on this topic.

  • I recognize that you think your tube output section makes your Kemper better. For your conclusion to be factual, you are implying that the your tube output section PERFECTLY corrects all of the errors inherent in the Kemper as is. Did you indentify all of the errors in the Kemper and design a tube output section that perfectly corrects the errors or did you just get lucky or is it just not an accurate statement? I know which is more likely. You state "ears mean everything" and "the guitar experience is about feel as much as sound". Those two statements don't logically make sense. I think you must mean that both matter. Or can you hear the feel?

    Again, YMMV. And again, just making a note so others that read this thread understand that there is a rather large difference of opinion on this topic.

    I think this is why there is a large difference of opinion and as per usual the answer is possibly somewhere in the middle...people talk in absolutes when there are so many variables such as:

    1) No such thing as exactly the same sound, there is always some variation

    2) I think psychology plays a much bigger part than people realize. Unconscious bias ( I want it to sound better so it does and vice vera), how we feel, etc. Our ears are imperfect devices attached to a brain that can alter perception and reality

    3) Valves are not perfect. They are the sounds we have come to know and love but they have issues, artifacts as well etc. so for me "add a valve" is rarely a fix all..Its seen as the special sauce which has some truth but also a lot of folklore. This is why blind tests are always interesting...

    Personally I agree that a valve amp is not needed. We have a device that mimics a valve amp to a high level of accuracy and then add a valve amp, which to me will certainly add something. As you say, very unlikely it perfectly fills the gaps and so more than likely adds " even" more. Whether that is positive is another debate.

    Its the old adage, if it sounds good and inspirational to the player, that's great. Is it necessary? I think that is the point...

  • 2) I think psychology plays a much bigger part than people realize. Unconscious bias ( I want it to sound better so it does and vice vera), how we feel, etc. Our ears are imperfect devices attached to a brain that can alter perception and reality

    there is also the opposite effect of buyers remorse.

    When I forst got my Head I convinced myself there was something wrong with it as it didn’t sound as good as the demo model,I tried in the shop. The first couple of rehearsals I was parnoid that the sound throught guitar cabinet in the rehearsal room was too bright and scratchy both with and without monitor cab off. And I thought the PA sounded super harsh.

    Then a few weeks later everything started to sound absolutely awesome again just like thenday I tried it in the shop. It is possible something in my settings changed but I think it is much more likely that it was all in my head because Inhad justmdumped a bucket load of money on a product that was so controversial in the guitar community. “Maybe all those folk pn gear page are right. Maybe only tube a Vintage 30 Mesa Cabinet can ever get that special sound”. Self doubt can play amazing tricks on our perception.

  • Is there a thing where playing loud thru a speaker is always going to sound better than an IR?

    A speaker will eventually go into compression. When this happens, its freq response may change depending on the source material (guitar notes, chords). Where an IR is probably always the same no matter what you play.

    Maybe that is why people complain about digital fizz in digital gear? You are playing something that on a speaker would not have fizz, but the IR always has fizz no matter what? Our bodies are so much more in tune with feel than our heads :)

  • I think (just a theory) that much of what many guitar players call "amp in the room" sound is about volume.

    A decent tube amp and a 4x12 (even a 2x12) can put out a crazy amount of sound (way more than the stage should be subjected to IMO .... which is another discussion entirely).

    I have had a single 100W tube head overwhelm a 5000W PA system.

    Some guitar players that need to "feel" the palm mute on-stage. Certainly all of us love the feel of a guitar in a room with such high speaker feedback that the strings are so alive they just sing themselves right off the fretboard :).

    This is just my theory though. YMMV.

  • I think (just a theory) that much of what many guitar players call "amp in the room" sound is about volume.

    A decent tube amp and a 4x12 (even a 2x12) can put out a crazy amount of sound (way more than the stage should be subjected to IMO .... which is another discussion entirely).

    I have had a single 100W tube head overwhelm a 5000W PA system.

    Some guitar players that need to "feel" the palm mute on-stage. Certainly all of us love the feel of a guitar in a room with such high speaker feedback that the strings are so alive they just sing themselves right off the fretboard :).

    This is just my theory though. YMMV.

    My personal view is that this is definitely a significant factor...

  • I think (just a theory) that much of what many guitar players call "amp in the room" sound is about volume.

    Totally agree.

    A decent tube amp and a 4x12 (even a 2x12) can put out a crazy amount of sound (way more than the stage should be subjected to IMO .... which is another discussion entirely).

    Indeed. FOH engineers are always complaining that they cant get a decent FOH mix because the guitar is too loud off the backline. When I was you and stupid I once had the engineer in a 1200 capacity hall with a 40kw pa tell me to turn dow because I wasn’t even in the PA and I was still too loud for the mix. Being totally selfish about volume isn’t big or clever. One of the greatest, most liberating, things about moving to the Kemper was the ability to get the sound and feel of a cranked valve amp at any volume.

    I have had a single 100W tube head overwhelm a 5000W PA system.

    me too.

    Most of the power in that 5kw PA would be soaked up by kick drum, bass guitar and the bottom end of keyboards. Guitar frequencies are much easier to hear per watt of power.

  • Most of the power in that 5kw PA would be soaked up by kick drum, bass guitar and the bottom end of keyboards. Guitar frequencies are much easier to hear per watt of power.

    TRUE!

    In my DSR112 top speakers, there are 2 transducers. A HF tweeter, and a 12" woofer. It is clear that 75W of tweeter can blow away 1000W of woofer any day.

    Guitar amps aren't quite this bad, but still, a guitar amp doesn't need to pump out huge bottom end so it can spend all its energy pushing out tons of volume in the mid range ....... right where our ears are most sensitive!

    This is exactly WHY a 100W tube amp can blow the mix on a 5K (or pick a number, it really doesn't matter) FOH system.

    I just spent the afternoon with my drummer going over the last practice virtual sound check multi-track through the PA. The guitars were glorious in the mix, and the mix sounded great through the PA. I don't have a monitor for my guitar on-stage, and the other guitar player has very low output that is mic'ed (and we have vDrums). The KPA sounds SOOOO nice in the mix.

    We all use IEM's (Shure PSM300) so we have no loud wedges on stage. I have been playing in a band setup like this since the late 90's. The loud and loose bands I used to play in when in my 20's and 30's seem like Kindergarten compared to what I do now.

    I do wonder though if the younger generation growing up with world class modelers and profilers/capture devices for guitar will not bring about a change to the "amp-in-the-room" expectation since these kids will never get used to the idea that band practice ends with your ears ringing :)

    I also think that IEM's will start becoming much more affordable in the next few years (like digital mixers did) as they become the norm for bar bands (has been my norm for quite some time).

    Thanks for all the feedback guys.

  • As I always say - it's all about foh and what the audience hears. I'll then work backward from there to get the best monitoring I can.

    I'm often singing as well, so I don't want my guitar blasting my head off or creating mic feedback. I want to hear a nice balance of the whole band.

    For me it has to be a really weird room for me to not run stereo. Say what you will, but it just sounds better and more interesting with at least some stereo effects.