Posts by Bilinguitar

  • Is anyone interested in the Fractal FM9?

    Quote from sambrox

    I'm on the waiting list. I already have an FM3 and enjoy playing it at home and with one particular project. When I'm out doing bigger shows, I take the Stage and a couple of Kabinets; can't beat it for ease of use and set up. I also have an HX Stomp for jamming and putting down quick guitar lines at work. They're all great yet different solutions. I would probably be happy with just one of them, but where's the fun in that?

    For me, the Kemper is an amp and pedalboard replacement. It just sounds and feels more organic to me, whereas the likes of the FM3 is more like a studio rack set up, in both sound and routing possibilities. Horses for courses. I enjoy shredding 80's style on the FM3 more than the Kemper, though.

    Can you explain why shredding is better on the FM3 while the Kemper sounds more like an amp? Because of better delays/effects?

    I recently tried the NDSP Petrucci and really it sounded better than my Kemper for Petrucci's tones. But it didn't FEEL as good.

  • for people who have axe fx aswell as kemper

    Quote from nightlight

    You can look at the clip I dialled in to get an idea of how I think one should approach the Axe FX. I had the Thorendal and FAS Modern rigs running into a single output and completely killed the gain and whole lot of mids, bass and treble to get a sound I liked. In the case of these models, they sound like nothing in the real world.

    So I dialled it in based on my own tone choices, with settings that would not look normal on any amp. And it worked (I think),

    I would approach any of the other Axe rigs with the same mindset, I.e listening with your ears rather than looking with your eyes. There are some kicks tones to be found.

    In that regard, I also found the Axe to be as amp-like as the Kemper when it came to feel, which is to say they are almost there but the latency kills the experience.

    Latency on both?

  • for people who have axe fx aswell as kemper

    Thanks for the info! Not exactly what I was hoping to hear, but useful. Ugh what to do?

  • Neural Quad Cortex

    Quote from Awesome_Elvis

    Hard to say. I'm not a lead tone person as far as being able to say what "really nails it". Most lead tones I've ever crafted for myself are really basic and I'm not too picky either. Same with cleans i think they are the easiest to obtain but i also have been lowering the neck pickup on all my guitars to be as low as possible lately. Mostly for cleans or a rolled back volume knob type of instant effect. Both the Fm9 and cortex i feel are really great units but I had to guess I'd say the Fm9 has the edge right now on lead tones. Both in the delay and reverb, and the ability to do deep Amp tweaks. But, the cortex with its captures also has a lot of tonal possibilities. You could stack your gain staging with multiple captures. To attempt to try to sum it in the tone department, maybe the fm9 is a little fatter and thick feeling more like a Kemper and the cortex maybe is a little bit more on the cleaner side of things even with high gain. It's just got this airy clean distortion kinda thing going on inherently I feel. It's really getting neck and neck here while at the same time they all have their own vibe and flavor.

    Thanks for the comparison! That's good to hear.

    TBH it is Kemper's profiling and relatively limited tweakability that has me looking at modelers, so QC's captures are less enticing to me unless the tone is just leagues above.

  • Neural Quad Cortex

    Quote from Awesome_Elvis

    I think what else is interesting here to me about low to mid gain sounds with the Kemper is what we can do after a profile. Lots of these older and boutique amps only have so much clarity and gain in them inherently. So all the things we we can do after the fact really give the potential for sounds, tones and dynamics that are not only impossible with the real amp but most likely impossible with any amp. Most I've seen that where dimed and maxed out only have a gain of around 5.0 and definition even less. By the time we add clarity more or less gain, an overdrive with the mix less than 100 percent, dry mix added in and all the other pick, compressor, tube bias/sagging/shape and cab shifts, it's a whole other level and realm of response, feel, dynamic and tones. One could even say this is the kempers sweet spot haha.

    So, say a guy just wants to sound like John Petrucci, especially with gainy neck pickup leads. FM9 or QC? I have a Kemper so it's not so important to compare...

  • for people who have axe fx aswell as kemper

    Quote from JEverly

    I think part of whether someone likes the FM9 better than the Kemper is how high gain of tones you are going for. The FM9 has a lot more gain than the profiles I have for my Kemper. I don't really play super high gain tones though. Thankfully I am in a position where I can keep both of them and will. To me they are just different units that do things from different angles.

    It took quite a bit of adjusting time to get the FM9 in the ballpark of the Kemper with the Dirty Shirly amp model. I have the Tone Junkie profiles of this amp and I also have a Twin Sister amp that has two of this same circuit in it. That gives me something that a lot of people don't get and that is the ability to compare the kemper and FM9 to the real amp. The Kemper is way closer to the real amp than the FM9. I have the gain down to 1.5 on the FM9 just to get in the same ballpark. The models of this amp in the FM9 have more gain than the real amp has. I bought three York Audio IR packs on black Friday. My next step will be to add a creamback IR to both units to see if that gets them closer.

    What do you think about single coil cleans between the units? That's also something I care about.

  • for people who have axe fx aswell as kemper


    It may seem like a lot but essentially any 1 unit from a generation should meet the needs of the user as long as they are happy with the effects at the time of release (and really, may meet your needs for multiple generations). The higher dsp power just lets people add more/better effects. If a user wants that, they can get it. But the base unit's amps will sound the same.

    Check out the FullRes IR's. They are pretty cool imo.

  • for people who have axe fx aswell as kemper

    Quote from GuyJames

    Right on man, I’m looking at getting the FM9 to replace the kemper. Kemper has been great but I’m ready to branch out. I’ll keep the stage I’m until I can achieve better results with the fm9

    I am doing the same thing. I have had some success with the Kemper, but in the end there are tones I couldn't quite nail. Petrucci's JP2C in particular has driven me crazy trying to reproduce. Fractal has a ton of Mesa models that from clips sound more up my alley.

  • DI box for hum?

    I have long had issues with hum in my house. Had a guy come and check the ground - and the connection is apparently good. I have A/C units that cause noise when turned on - that is the major culprit, and my computer also gives out sound. All my guitars get the same high-pitched hum (including humbuckers but less so).

    The ground lift on the kemper changes nothing.

    I have read about DI boxes with amps removing hum - but wouldn't it be doing the same thing as the kemper's ground lift?

    Thank you

  • How to get this clear light OD tone that's not muddy (video)

    I really want to get this tone at 1:00 . I can get like straight cleans and fairly gainy stuff - but things in this area don't sound so good with what I've been using.

    I've tried Fender profiles with a green scream boost and compressor, marshall at different gain stages, vox, etc. - and I always end up needing to increase the gain/compression to add sustain, which ruins the clarity.

    What amp profile/stomps/etc. do you recommend to achieve this?

    Thank you!

  • Only 1 profile works well for gain and I've had my Kemper for 2 years

    Quote from nakedzen

    Also a quick fix to remove mud is cut low mids around 300hz. But first, are your monitors elevated and aimed off the table? Preferably on iso pads as well. You might be hearing table reflections that cause a boomy/muddy sound.

    Thanks for writing. I will try the eq change.

    As for my monitors, they are about 1 foot below my head level, but aimed at my head. I'd need to buy a new desk if I were to elevate them more as there is a shelf that blocks them from being raised. I am using rubber door stoppers under them to angle them toward my head. If I lower my chair though, where I am directly level with them, there isn't a big difference.

  • Only 1 profile works well for gain and I've had my Kemper for 2 years

    Hey guys you lead me in the right direction to diagnose a major issue: my monitors!

    I have to fool around with the headphones still, but I looked on the back of my HS-5's and noticed I had the high trim on -2b. Turning it to 0 made it much better. I also increased the volume on the monitors themselves and that also seemed to help. I'll keep fooling with the monitors and see if that is enough.

    Thanks!

  • Only 1 profile works well for gain and I've had my Kemper for 2 years

    For the monitors, it's ear level and direction. Can't adjust them though.

    Turning down rig volume does make it less clear.

    I'll have to check out the original song through the setup tomorrow.

    I kinda get the feeling most users here are going for the recorded song level of clarity where it sits in a mix, whereas I'm using it to practice guitar as a solo instrument and want lots of presence and clarity. Maybe my goals are just unusual?

    To me all the factory ones just sound like there's a blanket over an amp to me, or like the amp is in a completely different room. That said, a lot of classic songs also have that quality to them.

  • Only 1 profile works well for gain and I've had my Kemper for 2 years

    Sound test

    Actually these profiles don't sound bad in terms of overtones, but they are muffled. You can hear the MAR900 is way louder and gainier - but that's the point. It came loud and clear. No other profiles come that way.

    1971 Mars Golub Crch

    GB - Diesel VH Four

    MB - Kranker Rev Jr 1 8

    Choptones Brit 900 2CH EL34 - no effects

    Choptones Brit 900 2CH EL34 - with effects


    Done with a Les Paul with Duncan Custom.

  • Only 1 profile works well for gain and I've had my Kemper for 2 years

    Now this is not a Kemper bash - I am sure there is something wrong with my setup that I just can't nail down.

    I have tried thousands of profiles both commercial and not, and the only ones that don't have weird overtones or sound outright muddy are the Choptones MAR900 profiles. Even their other profiles sound strange to me now.

    I'm using a Zoom UAC-2 with the gain knobs at 0 as I was told to on this forum. They were up before but I had problems then.

    I'm using Yamaha HS-5s and K240 headphones.

    I have multiple guitars.

    On this computer, not only the Kemper but also software like Helix Native and S-Gear sound muffled and bad.

    Plugging the kemper direct to speakers or headphones gives a slight clarity boost, but still not like other peoples' youtube videos.

    I cannot figure it out. Clean sounds are no issue. Gain sounds are just not clear and often have some weird overtones like bees in a can or something.

    It's really driving me crazy. Any ideas?

  • M Britt Kemper Profiles

    Quote from rabatavus

    You definitely need a studio eq post-amp, I'll be back home in a couple days and can share the settings I found work for my beyerdynamics dt880

    thanks ravatavus. I think the sale will be over then though. Actually I’ve kinda stopped buying new profiles as I have so many anyways, but these were getting praise in this thread so I wondered. I think I’m going to sit this one out since my expendable cash should go toward my Musicman Majesty fund (next year maybe...)