Power amp compression, is it possible on a Kemper?

1st Official Post
    The Profiler Model referred to in this thread is ...
    ☑️ Profiler Stage

    Hi folks,

    What I heard a couple of times, is that some of the 'sweetness' of tube amplifiers, is that if you crank the volume up to really loud levels, the power amp compresses the signal somehow, which in some cases can create a nice tone. So if someone creates a profile of an amp, and doesn't put the volume on level 9, but say level 4, and I load this profile in my Kemper, it will sound just like an amp at level 4. Would it be possible to make it sound like it would when it's volume is at level 9? If you turn the gain down and the amp volume up, does the Kemper 'simulate' the power amp stage compression that I heard happens if the volume of a tube amp is set to a high level? I can imagine that being a very difficult thing to simulate, since the profiler 'measured' the amp's response on level 4, it can't know how the amp responds if the volume were at level 9. But maybe with the new 'liquid' thing, which I think maybe 'simulates' some part (more mathmatically?) of the amp instead of applying a 'profile'. Not sure if I understand the deeper workings of the liquid thing, so forgive me if I'm completely wrong here. Would be nice though if it were possible to simulate this power amp stage compression, so if you have any info on if that is or isn't possible, I'd love to hear it. So please share!

    Cheers! :)

    Pier

    It sounds like you are talking about SAG. That setting is in the AMP section. On lower gain profiles it really helps to get that sweeter overdrive feel and sound.


    Sag is when the amp is being pushed to the point the power supply cant maintain a constant voltage. Its voltage begins to sag (or drop). People also would try to do this by using a transformer, at the amps power in, to reduce the voltage/power going into the amp.

    Quote from RosboneMako

    It sounds like you are talking about SAG. That setting is in the AMP section. On lower gain profiles it really helps to get that sweeter overdrive feel and sound.


    Sag is when the amp is being pushed to the point the power supply cant maintain a constant voltage. Its voltage begins to sag (or drop). People also would try to do this by using a transformer, at the amps power in, to reduce the voltage/power going into the amp.

    Thanks for the tip, the manual covers this with some technical language I don't fully understand, it even says: The realms of clean and distorted sounds move closer together, causing the velocity and energy of the crunch sounds to grow. The amp doesn’t just distort everything mercilessly - all the nuances are represented faithfully. The overall sound becomes much more alive, with more punch and juice. It almost sounds as if a compressor has been switched off, thereby allowing the guitar to establish itself more easily among the other instruments on stage, such as the drums or bass.

    So I figured this is not it, but the rest of the text seems to support your tip, I'll be trying it out, thanks again!

    Quote from Simon S

    Did you tried to increase the compression in the amp stack? There are a lot of options to change the amp sound

    Thanks, will try that too, though I believe this won't be the same as the compression that occurs in the power amp stage of an amp that occurs if the volume is set to a very high level. At least that's what I read when researching Google. Then again, it may just work too, so I will try this also.

    Quote from Pier75

    So I figured this is not it, but the rest of the text seems to support your tip, I'll be trying it out, thanks again!

    I have never read the manual :) I have my own broken preconceived notions of what it should do.

    But the theory is exactly what you are looking for. My way to think of Sag as the power supply is out of juice. So it can't really drive as hard on the rising edges. There is just no juice to drive it. But the falling edges should remain close to normal since they do not require power. This change in waveform shape slightly reduces the high frequencies on the rising edges and tops. Which should give a softer, fatter tone, and a touch similar to a compressor.

    And personally, the Kemper Sag is the best I have ever heard. Any edge of breakup sound, I tend to settle around the 2.3 area. Sometimes go to 5 for a more bluesy sound.