Posts by Laimon

I've forgotten plenty of times to ask this, so let's do it now that I have it in mind
So the two mid bands in the studio eq have the typical Q factor that defines how steep they are...but I never know if they get steeper turning the knob on the right or on the left!
My guess is that going right makes them steeper, but can anyone confirm?
Also: is the gain adaptive with respect to the steepness? That is, the less steep, the larger the range of frequency involved, hence the louder it gets if the gain is not somewhat "distributed" through the area...

A side question: I would imagine the PureCab option has any effect only when the cab sims are on, right? It wouldn't make a lot of sense to me otherwise.

This is seriously fucking sick
I won't be able to test it until like 2 weeks from now, but if history teaches me anything Cristoph would not put such a feature out if it weren't mature - where the term mature means that noone with properly functioning ears could hear it and not drop their jaw to the floor.
All hail Cristoph!

Quote from drew_fx

You're as bad as the Fractal fanbois.

Now, that's something offensive. Moderators, ban him!

So agree with Monkey Man. That chorus sounds freaking amazing. And in general the Theta Pro seems like a unit that on one hand will be very limited in features, but on the other hand will really stand out on those. I'm even kind of sorry for them that - expecially with the Helix coming out at the same time - nobody seems to give half a fuck

Anyway, I pulled the trigger and preordered an Helix. It will be available end of September, and I made a deal with the shop that I can test it for two weeks and - should I not like it - return it paying only 25 euros for shipping it back. Seems fairly safe.

Of course we will all know that ultimately I'll succumb to GAS and keep it

Quote from DonPetersen

the Hyper Chorus is a 6-voice chorus. with the amount parameter you can scale it down to 4 if that's more to your liking

TBH, I really don't dig, like, any of the KPA effects. And the chorus is not even close to what I hear in the ISP demo.
Damn it, I use a Strymon Ola, and even then I am impressed by the Theta Pro chorus.

HNGD!
You should have told me we do NGDs here, I am like 4 guitars behind

Quote from deadpan

Agreed, the cleans and bass sounds are good and crisp.

Heavy guitars are not good for me as is so far.

I have mixed feelings. I don't dislike them, but they still feel too overprocessed...and while I could stand them in a mix, when playing by myself I wanna see the raw, visceral dirt of my tone

Yes, that is my worry too. I have the KPA and a bunch of Strymon effects, I would like to simplify the setup but chances are that the Helix won't compare to the KPA for tones nor to the Strymons for effects...so I wouldn't simplify anything and I would pay 1500 euros for a controller

Quote from schneidas

Well... usually, if something has to create hype before you can actually hear it - that's a sign that it will just be average.

If a product was to convince you by its sound, they would have presented proper amp examples already.

Just my humble opinion of course - but it is basic psychology. (Create hype vs present results)

Anyway - I'm ready and open to be convinced otherwise - but c'mon, it's Line6 - I've been disappointed just too many times by their products.

I am not sure I agree with that reasoning.
True that hype makes you sell, but that doesn't necessarily mean there is no substance behind.
On the other hand, good sounds don't make much hype by themselves. This thing is gonna be out soon:

and - albeit very 80s sounding and not everyone's cup of tea - it crushes anything I've heard so far from the Helix.
This, on the other hand, is on the other hand of the line regarding beauty... (functionality list and usability are not so close either)

Yeah, I heard them. It's these three:

They sound good and all, and yet I can't help thinking there's a catch. I keep hearing this spongy character in the distortions/leads that just doesn't do for me.

Quote from guenterhaas

I don't get the sense of these videos....

Video 1: 6:35 minutes long, 55 seconds of playing and hearing 2 different sounds (clean / distorted), recorded with a cheap cam-mike.

Video 2: 7:56 minutes long, 48 minutes of playing and again just a few different sounds, especially the "Twin" sounds pretty awful, which could be a result of the cheap cam-mike, too.

90% on both videos is talking, promoting the Helix ("it's great, it sounds awesome ect".) and getting a short overview about the interface. For me these videos are totally useless, because the most important thing is HOW IT SOUNDS.... It would be great to have an A-B-test f.e. Helix - KPA, recorded with a proper interface under the same conditions.

Well, here I would have to defend Line 6 as those are not supposed to be demos, but interviews, and all the more made by other people, not Line 6 itself.
However, call me crazy, but I kind of liked the SLO test in video 1. The Twin in video 2 came out awful, no questioning, but the SLO lead channel seems - for what one can tell from a cheap camera recording - seemed quite punchy and roary. I could like it.

Quote from Laurens

I honestly think that purely sound-wise, Native's Guitar Rig can rival almost anything on the market; even the Kemper. It doesn't feel as genuine, which is why my Kemper is still on my desk and why it'll probably stay here for a long time to come, but in a recording and with a skilled hand (which I don't consider to be myself, btw), I don't think Guitar Rig would do worse than an Axe FX or a Kemper.

Well, right, those are (some more, some less) powerful tools but it's really the hand that uses them, that makes the difference. But if we abstract away from that, I think a guy with a minimum of experience in tweaking this things has better chances of getting a better tone from a KPA than from Guitar Rig. I just find that the KPA has wider sweet spots than other digital solutions.

Quote from Laurens

Now on the other hand, I don't feel like purely based on what you hear, you'd believe it's an amplifier. Of course I can't do a blindfold test, because it's already spoiled, but it just sounds digital to me in a way the Kemper (and in a lesser degree the Axe FX) doesn't. I don't think I'd think it was an actual amp in a blindfold test, which is something I look for in a good modeller.

I think you're drawn to say that "that sounds fake" by the amount of polishing in the presets he's showing. Pure 80s style, indeed but listen rather to the less polished parts: e.g., rhythm at 2:12, listen to the low end, DAT PUNCH, it is fantastic if you ask me. Or at 5:15, the "jazzy but not too much" cleans, those are warm, thick, and yet super intelligible and not the least bit mushy or dull.

Quote from Laurens

It could be just me, but the sounds in that video don't make me want to have it, really. I think it sounds like a VST plugin and it sounds 80's, but that could be the guy playing. Not my cup of tea at all.

I agree it sounds SO 80s, I am definitely not gonna question that it's not your cup of tea, but saying that it sounds like a VST...well, by all means, shows which VST because I'd get it in a heartbeat.

Quote from Pick909

On the ISP website we can read:

''THETA PRO™ the ultimate DSP processor with the tone and sound quality surpassing any digital guitar processer available.''

Well, considering the existence of the Kemper and the Axe FX, the less we can say is that they are very confident in their product!

Bold statements indeed, and also not very substantiated with arguments, but I give him that the direct sound is impressive. I never got something like that from my Kemper, which I love through real cabinet, but just does not do for me direct. It might be just the cab emulation then, but still I think it slays.

Quote from whippinpost91850

I've known the owner of ISP for 30+ yrs. He told me about this new processor about 2 months ago. I'm hoping to stop by his offices and give this a try on my next day off. I'll report my feelings on it compared to KPA as soon as I can.

Please do let us know! There is some "physical" quality to this clip with respect to most clips I hear, that just makes me feel like I have the freaking cab next to me

I don't know.
Honestly, I see people complain that it won't load IRs...who cares, if it sounds like this direct I wouldn't feel the need for IRs. Rather, it looks like the routing is fixed, and in general the interface is like 30 years old. I was eyeing an Helix as a complementary controller/multieffect for the KPA for the exact reason, that is, the amazing interface...now I don't know. What we heard so far about the Helix doesn't sound even close, if you ask me.

It is indeed very pricey, probably too much. On the other hand DAT CHORUS

When I saw this over at TGP I was like "what is this shit?"
Then I heard it.

Have a listen while I pick up my jaw from the floor.

I am not sure I solved the issue entirely, but I seem to have found the main culprit of what I perceived as a missing part of the body: sub-lows. I don't know exactly what frequency range is the "Low" knob on the tone stack supposed to work on, all I know is that cranking that up things get easily get muddy. I did instead place a parametric eq right after the amp, and cranked up a few dbs the area around 60 dB. That seems to bring back the punch in rhythms and give more mass to the leads. I love my KPA

Quote from XpennoKPA

They are different, of course. The eq response of the tube power amp should be captured in the profile so you are doubling this effect. I generally find that if I do this that the guitar gets lost in a band mix as the mids are too scooped. I generally go -2 on bass which tightens things up and maybe a small boost on treble and presence but usually flat. Sounds killer.

Yes, I agree that in a band or mix context you'd want to cut the lows and strategically boost the mids to cut through, but here I am really just trying to see how close to the real tube poweramp sound and feel I can get

Quote from Michael_dk

Yes, I did connect the cab as well, as recommended in the manual

[quote='XpennoKPA','http://www.kemper-amps.com/forum/index.php/Thread/22856-Recreate-tube-amp-with-powered-KPA/?postID=236536#post236536']Try tweaking the monitor out eq, -2 mids and +1 to +2 on presence. Bear in mind that you are effectively emulating the tube section twice though.

I did indeed sth similar, but on the amp's tonestack, rather than on the monitor out eq. Do you think they behave differently?