Powered Rack through 4x12 cab

Larryarms · August 6, 2024 at 8:21 PM

Hello, I have the powered Kemper rack and need some help getting the best possible high gain sounds in a full band setting. I feel like I could be messing with the output settings to give more life to the bottom end & the over all presence of the profile as they mostly sound the same through my cabs. We play modern metal chug chug stuff!

Couple things I'm doing now...

Using DI profiles

Monitor cab off

Rack into 4x12 cab with v30s

Other guitarist uses a 6505 tube head through 412

DonPetersen · August 9, 2024 at 12:16 PM Official Post

ideally, you'll want to use Direct Amp PROFILES

DI PROFILES only capture the the preamp, while Direct Amp PROFILES capture pre- & power-amp, including the speaker/poweramp interaction

V8guitar · August 9, 2024 at 3:29 PM

Having had my power rack for 10 years, I started my journey with the Kemper using a 4 x12.....but I have now not used one for about 8 years unless at a festival etc...

Why? 3 main reasons:

1) They colour your sound massively - many profiles start to sound very similar which is what you are finding. This is a problem when going direct as well because the sound will be very different.

2) They do not project as well as you think they do - 4x12's are very directional

3) So bulky and heavy to transport

Therefore I would really question why you want a 4x12 as a monitor. If you are playing off the backline then that is a problem in itself and you should avoid that.

BTW I play high gain sounds ( Friedman and ENGL profiles mainly) and I get more projection and thump for the Kabinet. However, I use this less and less as most PA's have fold back and I rely on that. My focus is FOH sound not on stage monitor.

Hope that makes sense...

DonPetersen · August 9, 2024 at 11:51 PM New Official Post

at first (10+ years ago) I played the PROFILER over a Vox 4x12 originally intended for their Valvetronix series, which was more neutral and let the PROFILE + cab shine through better than traditional guitar cabinets,
I scaled that down to a 1x12 with a Cannabis Rex which I liked which was also fun

with the advent of the Kabinet, I was instantly converted to that, the powered Cabinet + Stage made it even easier to carry your gear to gigs.

over two years ago I made the switch to IEM and I couldn't be happier. We have gigs twice a week (at crunch time 3x a week) and the sound is always stellar and super consistent.
I recently had to play a smaller gig with traditional wedge monitors and it was pretty horrible in comparison.
After that gig I forgot to change the Output back to Master Stereo and while it did sound a lot better in my IEMs something felt a bit off - I realized my mistake, set the OUTPUT back to Master Stereo and wow! it was just beautiful.

Having a good (great) monitor sound does two things IME:
You are a lot less stressed about hearing yourself properly, in fact once you have a good IEM mix going it's simply amazing.
and (maybe more importantly), you can focus on the important stuff - dynamics, phrasing, stage presence(!) - once the age-old monitoring question is no longer an issue, you become a better player since you always hear everybody and yourself and you can trust that sound - it'll be the exact same way next show. You begin to forget about it and work on what's really important.

V8guitar · August 12, 2024 at 10:30 AM New

Quote from DonPetersen

at first (10+ years ago) I played the PROFILER over a Vox 4x12 originally intended for their Valvetronix series, which was more neutral and let the PROFILE + cab shine through better than traditional guitar cabinets,
I scaled that down to a 1x12 with a Cannabis Rex which I liked which was also fun

with the advent of the Kabinet, I was instantly converted to that, the powered Cabinet + Stage made it even easier to carry your gear to gigs.

over two years ago I made the switch to IEM and I couldn't be happier. We have gigs twice a week (at crunch time 3x a week) and the sound is always stellar and super consistent.
I recently had to play a smaller gig with traditional wedge monitors and it was pretty horrible in comparison.
After that gig I forgot to change the Output back to Master Stereo and while it did sound a lot better in my IEMs something felt a bit off - I realized my mistake, set the OUTPUT back to Master Stereo and wow! it was just beautiful.

Having a good (great) monitor sound does two things IME:
You are a lot less stressed about hearing yourself properly, in fact once you have a good IEM mix going it's simply amazing.
and (maybe more importantly), you can focus on the important stuff - dynamics, phrasing, stage presence(!) - once the age-old monitoring question is no longer an issue, you become a better player since you always hear everybody and yourself and you can trust that sound - it'll be the exact same way next show. You begin to forget about it and work on what's really important.

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Totally agree!

IEM's are the ultimate way to go but do carry the overhead of setting up and cost ( for decent earbuds especially).

DonPetersen · August 12, 2024 at 10:53 AM New Official Post

Quote from V8guitar

Totally agree!
IEM's are the ultimate way to go but do carry the overhead of setting up and cost ( for decent earbuds especially).

I tried a number of different IEM headphones from a wide price range and chose a surprisingly 'cheap' set purely by sound. More expensive doesn't automatically mean better.
The Sennheiser bodypack is a pretty good one, though it just sounds cleaner than the Shure we used before.

V8guitar · August 12, 2024 at 11:51 AM New

Quote from DonPetersen

I tried a number of different IEM headphones from a wide price range and chose a surprisingly 'cheap' set purely by sound. More expensive doesn't automatically mean better.
The Sennheiser bodypack is a pretty good one, though it just sounds cleaner than the Shure we used before.

Yeah I've had similar results in my very limited experience but even " cheap" is still a fair investment for people like me who are a pure hobbist.

I did invest in some Ultimate ears but not used them much

Its a minefield!

Wheresthedug · August 12, 2024 at 12:23 PM New

Quote from DonPetersen

I tried a number of different IEM headphones from a wide price range and chose a surprisingly 'cheap' set purely by sound. More expensive doesn't automatically mean better.
The Sennheiser bodypack is a pretty good one, though it just sounds cleaner than the Shure we used before.

In my (albiet limited) experience the biggest difference comes is secure fitting rather than cost of the actual drivers. I have amcouple of pairs of Shure (215 and 425) both sound just OK at best with the standard rubber seals. However, they sound excellent with custom moulded Snugs covers. Not only does the improvement in seal significantly improve the sound but also the comfort. I can wear them all day long and not ever be bothered by them. I think the Snugs cost me about £100 and the SE215 are pretyy cheap drivers so its definitely possible to get good results without spending a lot of money.