Mini D Version 4.10 posted to fix Compressor bug.
Posts by RosboneMako
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I doubt any of those differences are from hardware. That looks purely software. And personally it looks good for me because it looks less compressed. Which is my only complaint about my Stage.
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As Ruefus said, you do not want the power amp to ever create any distortion. If it did you would be hearing the power amp and not the Kemper. So the idea is to play it at 20-50 watts, like a normal amp, so it never distorts.
You want the power amp sound to come from the Kemper profile.For any modeler you want a speaker capable of more freqs than a normal 12". And an amp that is flat and never distorts. If either of these are not true you are not fully utilizing the Kemper.
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This should be explained in the manual so RTFM
You need a decent sound card. Preferably one with multiple outputs. The audio latency may become an issue if it lags too much.
For a Stage you will:
Guitar --> Kemper
Kemper SEND --> Audio Card In (1 left)
Audio Card Out (1 left) --> Kemper Return
If you do not have extra audio outs you need to monitor the sound some other way because your output will be in use.
You could also Use headphones one the Kemper if your audio output is tied up with the Kemper.
For my setup I use:
Guitar --> Kemper
Kemper SEND --> Audio Card In (1 left)
Audio Card Out (3 left) --> Kemper Return
Audio out 1+2 go to studio monitors
Then you just follow the normal profiling steps.
My hints would also be:
1) Make any distorted profiles at edge of break up level instead of full on distortion. The results will be much better.
2) A tiny bit of noise gate on the Bias may help with noise and improve dynamic range in the Kemper. -
The only difference between High Gain and Low Gain is how much bass is present.
That is why DEFINITION rolls off the bass. If you want more control use an EQ.
Clean amps are generally Low and high freq heavy (50Hz, 10 kHz).
Mid Gain to Blues solo is Mid freq heavy (700 - 1000 Hz).
High Gain has no bass and a lot of highs. Usually a slope up to 2000 Hz or so. -
After making Mako Distortion 2, the goal was to post the code. However, that code is a nightmare. I am not a C++ or an object oriented programmer and was learning as I went. I tried to clean it up a little by making a limited version of the app. Most things are forced, hacked, and feel like rooting around in someones attic.
GitHub - RosboneMako/MakoMiniD: Mako Mini DistortionMako Mini Distortion. Contribute to RosboneMako/MakoMiniD development by creating an account on GitHub.github.com
The code is posted and included in the ZIP file. If you are on Windows and have Visual Studio it should be easy to get it up and running. Juce will default the build to the Standalone app which makes coding and debugging 10x easier. Switching the build mode to RELEASE generates the Exe and Vst3 files in the release folders. Read the Manual for a quick rundown of how to do it.
Using the code to build will also remove doubts about unsafe things happening. Since you can read thru the code and see nothing nefarious is in there.
If I get crazy I will try to post some videos about how to use the app and maybe some coding stuff. -
But man, i'm extremely frustrated about the kemper algo not being able to DI capture some amps
KNOWING WHAT IT IS TRYING TO DO
A typical clean amp might have:
-> preAmp EQ -> Gain stage -> Power Amp
A high gain amp may be:
-> preAmp EQ -> Gain stage -> Post Gain EQ -> Power Amp
For a modeller this gets boiled down to:
-> preAmp EQ -> Gain stage -> Cabinet IR
As far as frequency goes, the Kemper needs to do magic to get the PreAmp EQ. The Power Amp, post gain EQ, speaker, mic etc end up being in the Cab IR.
The Kemper will not be able to get the PreAmp EQ accurately if the Gain Stage is set too high. It is not possible. The Gain needs to be clean with a low level signal and distorted with a high level signal. So edge of breakup area.
This transistion lets you see the pre EQ because the EQ gets flattened with more gain. The difference of low to high gain = the preAmp EQ. If you have too much power amp/speaker distortion, the preAmp EQ gets obscured and flattened out even more.
If your amp has a much more complicated layout the Kemper may struggle. If you have EQ, then gain, then more EQ, then more gain, etc it is almost impossible to figure out what stage is doing what.
DEFINITION ZERO
As far as the issue with the Zero def, I have never seen this. Mine is always the other way around Def of 10.
A def of zero means there is NO BASS in your amp. If it is a fuzz turd that means you need to turn the def up. Because a Def of zero adds bass. Bass into gain = fuzz tone.
Make a profile and skip the last step where you play guitar into it. Set the def to 5 (noon) and that should sound exactly like your amp when profiled.
HELPED?
Hope that helps get you thinking the right way and shines a light on what could be the issue. It is best to think of the Kemper as a PreAmp capture device. Then let the Sag, Compression, Tube Shape, etc controls create the magic from the power amp. It is good to get a little power amp in there so it can understand it, but not so much it flattens out the EQ and obscures the preAmp EQ.
The Kemper could really do with a few more power stage controls to tune up the captured preAmp section.
My thoughts on the mid gain capture method in detail:
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I think they HAVE to get rid of this format. This is so limited now compared to the competition.
The whole point of the Kemper is this signal chain setup:
- It makes it a no brainer for people who are not computer/phone savvy.
- You need to change a setting, click the button and edit. Simple and easy to do on stage.
- The controls are actual switches. Not some sensitive annoying touch screen.
- It mimics a real world setup, not some imaginary studio wiring nightmare.
- Users do not need to understand CPU usage and number of blocks working.It is designed to hit 95% of use cases and be as simple to use as possible. That is main draw to this product.
What you said has some merit. I agree, I personally would have fun if it did more. But it sort of defeats its core purpose.
TOUCHSCREEN TIRADE
Personally, I hate touchscreens. They are hard to work with in many cases. Work differently if you are sweating, its raining, wearing gloves, etc, etc, etc. I can press a switch with any part of my body even if its wet or clothed.A miss-click on a touchscreen can take you several menus away from where you want to be or make radical changes you do not want. If I do not hit the switch perfectly, nothing happens.
If I am in a weird menu with a touchscreen, I need to find some magic BACK or RETURN button and mash that a bunch of times praying to the spaghetti monster I do not inadvertently hit the wrong area with a knuckle/palm. If you need to change the Mod on the Kemper, press MOD. Done. Simple.
Then you have weirdos like the ding dongs at Apple who have decided that the alignment of your finger has to match the screen orientation. So you cant touch a button from any angle other than straight on and perfectly aligned. Again, a mechanical switch does not care what angle your finger tip is when you hit it.
In my mind a touchscreen is a loaded gun with no safety. Great when you need it but is prone to causing many accidental deaths. -
Guys, I am trying to find the place where CK discusses this perspective problem in the way the Profilers reproduce amps.
Thanks for your comprehension!
Hope you find it. But the priofiling system figures out what the pre gain frequency response is. Any Wah before the amp gets merged into that response.
Lets say the pre gain freq response is perfectly flat. Add a wah with a 700Hz 9db boost and a Q of 2. The freq response the Kemper stores will be the Wah response (700 and 2).This post I made explains the process of detecting the pre gain response.
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Does anyone remember (or can point me at) where the comment was?
The wah sound is just a simple bandpass filter that is before the gain stages (Amp). There are two BP filters in the STUDIO EQ. Set the frequency between 400-900Hz, set the Q to 1.4 - 3.0, and set the gain to 6dB or more.
A Wah pedal in general is just a foot adjustable bandpass filter. You move the frequency up/dn with your pedal.Or you can use the WAH effect. You have less control but have cool things like adding gain dynamically.
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You can jump brands for reasons other than sounds.
One big plus with the Helix is using it in a studio situation. With multiple inputs and routings it makes a flexible audio interface. A Kemper Player with a new Helix could be a perfect storm for these users.
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How much time have you even spent with any Line 6 effects? So much nonsense already in this thread
I am a Line 6 fan boy. I never had issue with my Pod XT Live, UX8, or Pod HD effects. The Helix effects are ok, not great.
It could be that I expected more and was let down. And that some effects seemed to be missing. Or the fact that I like the Kemper effects more.I am assuming you have problems from others trashing Line 6. Because OneEng1 always has a logical engineering non-personal take. He stated "is considered" meaning the general feel from internet forums. Pointing out that Line 6 needs something new or to retouch those effects to really make a big splash. Which it appears they have not.
I still have all of my Line 6 gear and love it all. But the Helix has sat idle for years while I play the Kemper. I personally find the Kemper effects to be much better sounding. Just one opinion out of millions.
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You can easily record a cover song by simply downloading the cover and dropping the MP3 or Wav into a DAW track. If you are serious about recording then a DAW is required. Anything else will give you amatuer results.
Open Broadcaster Software (OBS) is the free program 80% of the world uses to stream/record video. Twitch, YouTube, etc. The problem is it doesn't use ASIO, or at least my old version didn't. So the easy answer is to use another interface that has good Windows drivers. but the OP is asking if there is another way.
I have not played with voicemeter, but it probably has the same issues as OBS. That is a cool audio mixing/control program streamers use.If you can afford a Kemper, you can afford a $60 audio interface was the way I looked at it.
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It looks like hardware is updated to enable more software updates in the future.
Yes. People are excited because it is something new from the geniuses at Kemper. But it is not a "new" machine. So they are kind of let down.
The question I am thinking about is what do people want:
- a fancy new doodad with fancy screen etc.
- a small hardware upgrade that lets Kemper build on for the future.
Since I am poor and the Kemper folks have always been great about updating, I choose the small hardware upgrade with room to grow. To me that is better than not getting any meaningful updates for the last 4 years while they engineer the new unit. And it keeps the price down. It is win-win to me personally.
Others have fatter wallets, want it all, and want it now. I feel for them. But I also fear the day when Line 6, Fractal, Kemper, etc go bye bye because you can get some chinese NAM box for $99. Does it really make sense to dump 4 years of R&D into what could be a dying market?
I do not need a new Kemper. But I may get one just to support such a great team. Because I applaud everything they have ever done. It is always smart, logical, and meets my simple needs. -
workarounds that don’t involve rerouting everything through Voicemeeter or using a separate interface?
Uhhh, I use a separate interface
I do not think anyone here uses OBS. I started using another interface when I ran into using a VST that only liked working with ASIO and I could not get ASIO to work in OBS. It had bad lag any other way. It made things so much easier. Then I just stuck with that.
I know that doesn't help much, but wanted to give your post a bump.
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Something I do on all my drive profiles is turn up the tube shape to like...5-6. This changes the sound and feel from compressed preamp drive to more like a power tube drive in an amp.
I have just started to play with this recently. My thought was the Kemper compression kicks in with gain so maybe having the tubes bite harder I can get the sound without the compression. Thanks for the tip, I will keep working at it.
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I noticed that in the video that you can opt to drag the cursor towards the corners, representing core sounds of amps or effects, and all the parameters move, including gain and volume. Which means a form of volume compensation. Find a spot you like, then fine tune parameters manually.
I did not look closely because I probably will never buy one. But it looks like they have really thought outside the box to make it easier to use. That drag around option looks pretty cool.
As a computer person I have never used my Stage interface. Rig Manager all the way.
I have never used my Helix LT interface either. But HX Edit is pretty bad. Rig Manager crushes it. And I am sure the new version will not be much better. They give you a list you scroll thru. And as it is moving things under your mouse start scrolling. Which basically starts randomly changing settings. it was not well thought out.
Either way, Line 6 can do what ever they want with their little LCD screen, nothing beats my 43" 4K monitor, mouse, and keyboard.
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Certainly Transpose adds it's own latency. It's inherent to the physics/mathematics of pitch.
Other than that effect, my understanding is that the 3.2ms does not expand as you add effects (also excluding the wet part of delay/reverb effects), bug haven't measured it. IIRC there was an official statement about this recently (without these exceptions).
I am an amateur and have no idea but have been writing some VST code and I dont really see why there would be any latency beyond transpose or other FFT based things. Things that you need to see the past before you can calculate.
I would assume some small buffering for the hardware to work cleanly and a large buffer for USB outputs.
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Marshall. Man... How can you attribute Kemper with your wrist pain?
He stated that the "feel" is off. I agree with his idea. If I get a profile that feels like I am fighting the guitar to play I stop using it.
This could be from too much noise gate, too much noise gate when the profile was made, tube shape, etc etc etc.
KEMPER FATIGUE
My prob with the Kemper is it is too compressed. When you guys are playing at high volume all the compression must "feel" right for you. But for me at low volume, I tend to play way harder trying to get some dynamic range out of it. And I have to constantly turn up the volume. I don't do this with any other device. Set the volume and play... done.Every other device, I play for hours and am happy. The Kemper I play for about 10-15 minutes then I have to stop because it just causes this drowning feeling like you cant play hard enough to get thru this muted, blanketed sound. And this may come from being too close to a real amp for me. But I would pay cash money to get rid of the feeling because I love everything else about the Kemper.
To help this, I make profiles with some soft gating/expanding on them so I have more range in the low to medium area.NAM
I like the idea of including NAM tech but I have also never heard a NAM capture I like. You cant beat Rig Exchange for finding what you want. I have gone thru a ton of NAM stuff and went... meh its ok.
HELIX STADIUM
The new Helix is doing so much crazy stuff that I am torn. I love that they have put all that stuff in there. But there is a point where there is so much crap I will never learn it all and I will just not use the device. Again Kemper is king. They do the bare necessities and do them perfectly. Yet add just the right amount of tools to modify if needed.
VST
I love that I added Thump and Air to my VST and now Kemper is focused on cabinet reproduction. And every code I every wrote has a text line that gives you tips/info on the control you are using... Helix Stadium now has this. Now if I can just get someone to ease off the Kemper compression a little...hmmm...hmm...
KEMPER
Still my favorite piece of gear. Fav to work on. Love the ecosystem. It is the best. I just dont use it because of the feel everyone else seems to love
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Since every company seems to be updating their hardware this summer, I decided to release version 4.00 a little early.
- V4 is not backwards compatible.
- V4 uses Juce controls for DAW automation.
- Minor improvements to many effects.
- New effects added.
- PDF manual added.
The major change is the conversion to using Juce controls. This lets the DAW automation work. However, it should not be used on everything
Reworking all of the controls was basically rewriting 60% of the app. Since no one is using it anyway, I did not worry about being backwards compatible.
There are probably a lot of bugs. Rewriting the controls got boring fast. And it was a lot of work.
I may make some videos for YouTube at some point.
I may upload the source code soon. It is a giant mess so I do not feel it would help anyone write good Juce code. It may lead them down the wrong path fast. So I may make a smaller version of the app for that.
Now I can stop coding and play guitar while we wait for the new Mark II profiling to land!
Nice that both my Stage and Helix LT are obsolete in the same month.
Cheers
