Posts by Michael_dk

  • KPA: Damned With Faint Praise

    Quote from db9091

    The KPA requires speakers of some kind. Headphones, Monitors or Cabinet. And the setup to get a good sound out of those require good gear, as good in quality as the KPA, and some knowledge with setting up audio gear.

    I have 5 headphones, and 3 sound awesome with the KPA. I have 2 sets of Monitors, and it's the Subwoofer that makes it, and truly, I like both pairs on at the same time (5" gives a little more high end for the effects to be heard with greater clarity). And I have an Avalon Cabinet 2x12 with a Vintage 30 and G12H I recently setup using an ISP Stealth.

    With Pete's Tone Matched "Paranoid" profile I can rock out to Sabbath on the Monitors. Using Andy's Laney from Pack 6 and tweaking the gain and EQ, I can get the Cabinet "there" too. Both quite authentic. If anyone said it didn't sound real, they'd be flat out lying.

    Part of the problem I think is that people probably play their monitors at much lower levels than they play their amps. Turn up the volume to analog amp decibels and tell me what the KPA sounds like? It sounds exactly like the real thing. And not the 'recorded' real thing. Either get a proper sub, or tweak the low end back in to restore what the Microphone bumped out. What people are NOT used to is also hearing a real amp at lower levels without the tone suck that attenuation steals. So hearing a Kemper profile at low levels is a unique experience we all WISH we could get out of our amps without headphones. But we've never heard it before until now, so it takes getting used to. I like it loud personally.

    If the Reviewer were in the room with any of the guys here, Ingolf, Andy, Don, etc, you just know they'd have an entirely different opinion. I hope he gets the chance one day.


    There's also the Fletcher-Munson curve to consider. Which is not picked up by the mic.

    Basically, as sounds are increased in volume, our ears scoop out the mids (that's in layman's terms, but I think it gets the gist across).

    So if you listen at lower volumes, you will PERCEIVE less bass and high end. That might be a factor here as well.

  • Making-of Michael Wagener Signature Rig Pack

    Quote from lasvideo

    And recording clean allows you to reamp it with added effects thru the Kemper so you have lots of choice of tonality after the performance is locked? Is that correct?

    Yes, correct.

    It is (relatively) common practice in recording studios, too. Especially if the guitar player is ADAMANT about "that's my TONE, man....", and the engineer knows it will never work in a mix - that's a good way to get the performance, and then later (when the guitar player realizes that the tone SUCKS in the actual recording - the engineer can dial in something more suitable and record the exact same performance, sending the DI track into the amp and recording it. (this is done through a reamp-box - or in our case, just directly into one of the inputs of the Kemper. Or via S/Pdif which is my preference).

  • Making-of Michael Wagener Signature Rig Pack

    A DI track is simply a direct guitar track, i.e. directly into the computer, no amplifier. That is not to say that the guitar is necessarily plugged directly into the computer; best results are when you go via a DI box with a high input impedance. But since you have a kemper, you can get it easily, since it can be set to output the guitar signal only. This can be set on the first page of the "master" screen (push the button labeled "master"). For more info, read the reference manual (not the quick guide).

  • Reverb VSTs

    Those reverbs DO get a lot of love, don't they? :)

    VERY fairly priced, too. But there is a bit of a learning curve (for me at least). Luckily, the programmer is a smart guy, and has sized the controls in order or importance/impact on the sound :)

  • Making-of Michael Wagener Signature Rig Pack

    Quote from nakedzen

    Apparently they're pretty humorous about it: :D

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    Damn, that's funny! Love when people don't take themselves too seriously.

    However - I actually REALLY dig the snare sound on St. Anger, even though I may be the only one. the most radical snare sound since the snare was invented. The balls of that! Apart from that, I think it sounded darn cool too.

  • KPA: Damned With Faint Praise

    Quote from elfredo

    hi don, how much is the kpa's latency actually and officially?

    latency between guitar strumming and hearing the sound through the speaker (sitting directly in front of them). Of course you have to add 0,3ms each m of distance between ear and speaker.

    Actually, sound travels 343 m / s - which equates to 0,343 m / ms. So roughly 3 ms pr meter of distance.

    So if you are three meters from your "regular" amp, you should be fine with up to around 10 ms of latency :)

  • Tutorials?

    Quote from PhilUK84

    Possibly. But having someone guide you with a syllabus and a comprehensive step by step guide with the ability to question and get answers provides a much better source of information to the fragmented, incomplete way that I'm learning now.

    I can totally dig that. It's also something I have done. I don't have that many recommendations for the basic stuff, though... Anybody else?

  • New firmware released - 2.4.1 beta / 2.4.2 beta

    The upgrade information from KEMPER mentions the following NEW FEATURES - it makes no mention of fixes. So not mentioning the bass bug does not necessarily mean that it was NOT fixed - just means they don't recount bugs.

    Until someone says "I tried upgrading and the bug is STILL there", I'm going to assume the people who say that the Kemper team told them that the bug is fixed - are correct.

    Please let me be the last to flood this thread with speculation! :D

  • Tutorials?

    Phil, that's a great idea :)

    If you want, PM me when you have an update, just in case I don't catch it here on the forum.

    I've learned A LOT from podcasts about this stuff. I can specifically recommend inside home recording and the home recording show. Some of it may be advanced, but just stick with it. Start with the first show of each.
    That is, of course, if you like to learn while listening.

    Most importantly: When you think you need new gear because of something you hear or read - you DON'T need new gear :) You have a perfectly fine setup. Keep that in mind. The internet, podcasts and everything else really tends to focus on gear, and not enough on the bread and butter stuff, which NO gear in the world can help you with. Actually, check out therecordingrevolution.com as well. Graham is a great guy, and keeps a tight focus on the fact that you DON'T need a lot of advanced gear.

    Also, take everything with a grain of salt :) opinions differ.

  • Tutorials?

    Quote from PhilUK84

    Okay thanks. By XLR outputs you mean the Main output? I'm not going to use XLR I'm gonna do what you suggested and you 1/4 inch cables to 1/4 inch cable.


    Yep, main output. You CAN get cables with XLR on one end and 1/4" jacks on the other, but either way is fine.

  • Tutorials?

    Re. where you set the level on the Kemper.

    The output volume can be controlled by the "master volume" knob, if it is linked to it. Or you can set it individually.

    I have it setup where the master volume knob just controls the headphone level on the kemper, and if I used the XLR outs, I would then adjust that within the "master" submenu:

    - Press the "master" button
    - Scroll to page number two from the beginning
    - The first knob from the left controls the XLR output volume - I THINK :) refer to the manual.

    to the top right and the top left, you see two "buttons", showing "Main out link" (left) and "Headphone link" (right). These indicate whether the "Master volume" knob on the Kemper controls the "main volume" (e.g. XLR) and/or the headphone volume. So so the "Master volume" can turn both up or down, or just one or the other if you prefer that.


    I hope this makes sense and doesn't just muddy the picture :)

    I prefer to link the master volume to headphones ONLY, and then control the XLR level from within the submenu, so the level going to the recording software doesn't accidentally get changed between takes etc.

  • Tutorials?

    Sorry for going off on a tangent there, Phil :)

    In short:
    - Connect the KPA from the XLR to the "line in" inputs on the back of your tascam, and set LEV to "+4"
    - Open up your DAW, and start a track with the kemper as the input
    - Have the fader of that track set to zero (i.e., don't adjust it! :-))
    - Play for a bit as you normally play
    - Adjust the output of the KEMPER so that the PEAKS of the signal are around lets say -12 on the METER of that track while playing*. This is, I think, done in the menu you get by pressing the "master" button. Find the knob corresponding to the OUTPUT of the Kemper you have connected (the XLRs). Refer to the kemper manual.
    - You're done!

    *) you may have to turn something like "input monitoring" ON for the track, if you see no meter movement while playing, and this might mess with what you hear in the headphones. But it is important for setting levels. Just turn it off afterwards.


    It's important to do it this way (or equivalent), because once the signal reaches your Tascam, you can't do anything to fix it afterwards if the signal is too hot. This is also how you set levels for any other tracks (vocals etc).

    My interface has input metering LEDs right on the front, as well as in a control panel application that comes with it. I would go by these rather than the DAW to set my levels, but I don't think the Tascam has these. It has clip LEDS on the front, but these only react when you are JUST below the clipping threshold, so I don't think these are too useful.


    Be aware that if you clip the signal on the way in, that won't necessarily be evident in the DAW - especially if you turn down the faders. But it will still be on the recording.


    I don't think clipping on the way in is your problem, really (the sound you complained about was most noticable in the decay of the last chord). I just tell you this because it is recording basics - and very important :)


    I think the main problem (if it's not with the Kemper or the profiles) is that you use the mic inputs turned down to zero, and they are not built for that kind of signal. Turning down the level of the Kemper may still help, though, so try that until you get the proper cables.


    "LEV" is tascam's label for choosing between the two different line level "conventions". It derives from level, yes.


    - regarding your question about the tracks not being loud enough to monitor when recording... Can you explain a bit more about what you mean, in detail - and how you monitor?