Have you tried it with good headphones straight out the KPA headphone socket yet? You need to isolate the variables as much as possuand trouble shoot systematically. The first thing to do is makes sure you are only hearing the effect of the KPA with nothing else in the signal chain. Test a pair of headphones with music sources you are familiar with to make sure they are working properly. Then use them straight into the KPA. That way if the sound isn’t right you know the problem is in the KPA. However,if that sounds OK then start moving down the signal chain one step at a time.
I sure did. That’s kind of how I realized I had 2 separate issues going on rather than just one. In fact I’ve started a spreadsheet of different combinations and settings I’ve tried because it’s getting overwhelming! Lol. My signal chain at this point is just kemper to interface to daw. Ive removed my rack and peripherals completely. I believe the kemper issue may be the distortion/clean sense as suggested by another user and I’m going to try that tomorrow!