Posts by Jarick

    I remember i saw Muse in '99 maybe 2000 for the showbiz tour for a like £5 with a then unknown band called Coldplay...Muse were and still are to this day one of the greatest live shows ive seen they were incredible.Coldplay were dull dogsh*it even back then too lol i heard Muse are trying to go all metal recently...weird.

    I saw them in early 2000 as they were the opening band for Foo Fighters and Red Hot Chili Peppers in the US. They were incredible, just a wall of sound and that wailing operatic voice. I got their CD and it never really grabbed me the same was as their live stuff. And the later singles I heard didn't do much for me. But that show the same time you saw them was awesome, especially in a big arena.

    Thanks everyone for the feedback!

    I think this may be more a Mac problem than Kemper. I got an Apple USB-C to USB-A adapter because my Macbook doesn't have older USB ports. I connected the Kemper directly using the adapter and it works the same as using the hub. No issues while using normally but I think if the computer goes to sleep then connection sometimes gets lost.

    But I also found this seems to happen with other devices as well (Fractal, Line 6, Boss). It seems to happen mostly when the Mac goes to sleep. Some of the devices are able to reconnect consistently after waking up, but others like the Kemper may need to be physically unplugged and plugged back in.

    Bumping this if I can,

    Has anyone with a Macbook Air M1 had success with a USB hub or dock and the Kemper? Or has anyone used a USB B to USB C cable?

    I've had non-stop issues running my Kemper through a USB hub which requires unplugging or restarting Rig Manager many times a day. I don't have any USB B to C cables and before I go that route, want to see if there's a good reliable hub out there.

    The one I'm using is a $100 "J5Create" hub from Best Buy, works great for everything except for Kemper.

    I'm on my third Kemper because I would always jump around to try different things. I think all the digital devices have pros and cons and nothing has been perfect.

    What I really like about the Kemper is that there's a lot fewer parameters to worry about, and there's really only a handful of very simple controls that are very powerful (like definition and the main tone stack). I also like that I can turn physical knobs to adjust things like main effect parameters, and have buttons to toggle things without diving through menus. Also things like morphing are incredibly useful. And of course the core amp tones can sound great with no tweaking, and the core effects also sound really good and organic.


    To really take it to the next level, I'd love to be able to realistically scale the gain up and down in a single profile. I can tweak it up or down a bit, but not a lot. That requires multiple profiles at different gain levels, but sometimes whoever shot the profile also tweaked the EQ or mics, so an amp may sound awesome with the gain at 5 but not as good at 3 or 8.

    I'm still learning the device though and really committing to figuring it all out. If I can really understand the parameters and the best way to shape tones and scale the gain up and down, that will be awesome. I've already got way too many quality profiles, just want to use a handful going forward.

    Does liquid profiling model specific amplifier gain structures?

    For example, could I take a clean Fender Deluxe profile and crank it up in a realistic manner?

    Or same thing with a Marshall JCM 800, can I take a slightly crunchy amp and turn it all the way up to sound like the same amp on 10?

    We're seeing more and more digital modelers in rig rundowns, from what I've seen. And I don't think Premier Guitar shies away from Kempers or any modelers at all when they pick artists. I mean look at Aaron Marshall from Intervals, he goes into great detail about his modeling setup (which changes a lot) including amps and effects and monitoring and everything.

    I can't speak to why artists use tubes and analog over digital devices, but one thing I like about Kemper is that it has more knobs than other modelers. I like the tactile interaction more than going through screens and pushing buttons and using a mouse on the computer. It could be some people really like having knobs and the interaction of these modular devices over more of a programming approach.

    I'm a big headphone junkie and probably have a dozen pairs currently with another dozen or more recently owned.

    For playing guitar I prefer closed back headphones because open back will let in the sound of the strings and the unplugged guitar reflections in the room. It doesn't work well especially for distorted guitar in my opinion. For music or listening to mixes in a quiet room, open backed headphones do tend to have a cleaner sound as the waves don't bounce back into your ears.

    For impedance (ohms), the Kemper should be able to drive anything 300 ohms and less just fine. Most consumer headphones are in the 30-100 ohm range. If you have the option (like Beyer headphones), I'd go with 80 ohms as you can drive them off anything and they tend to still sound pretty clean. With the 250-300 ohm, you have to turn them up more and they may not have quite as much low end. They are more for people with dedicated headphone amps. I've tried those headphone amps and they honestly don't do much for the sound.

    Right now I'm using the Beyer DT-770 Pro in 80ohms, which are good for all around use and a little easier to drive/less bright than the 250 ohm version. They are really flat and clean sounding, outside of a boost in the high treble (like all Beyers). They are also comfortable, block out noise well, and should be very durable.

    If you're treble sensitive, try the AKG K371, which don't have the boosted treble. They're still pretty flat although they don't sound quite as clean, and they look/feel a bit cheap and aren't as comfortable. I've also got the Sennheiser HD 300 Pro which are the upgraded version of the 280, and those are good tracking headphones as they have a boosted midrange and block out noise well. But they aren't as flat as they have a little boost in the lows and rolled off high end.

    I've tried many other closed headphones listed here too including the Shure 840, which sounded good and flat although they were heavy and uncomfortable and made a lot of creaking noises and seem like they will break over time. Tried the KRK 8400 which had earpads too small to fit my regular sized ears so they were uncomfortable, plus boosted lows and highs. And the Audio Technica M50X which are also have slightly small earpads and a generally colored sound (but they aren't bad for music).

    For open headphones, I like the Sennheiser HD 6xx from Drop. They are basically the HD650 at about 2/3 the price. They are really flat and sound great all throughout the midrange, although the low end and high end are both a little rolled off. Awesome for music or listening to mixes but as they are open back they let guitar string sound in. The HD 58x are really close with a little less bass roll-off and a little more treble roll-off.

    I've also tried the Beyer DT-880 Pro and DT-990 Pro. The 880 Pro are fairly flat in the mids but they have that big treble spike in the high end and rolled off low end. I prefer the Sennheiser overall for open back or the 770 Pro for a flat headphone with a boosted treble. The 990 Pro is similar to 880 Pro but with a little bump in the low end (still not bassy) and even bigger treble boost. It's a pretty bright headphone and I don't like it much either.

    Another +1 to trying Kemper headphone out vs interface to see if they are different. Mine sounds better out of the Kemper because the interface panning doesn't scale evenly at different volumes. Just sounds cleaner through the Kemper. I want to get a better interface with more inputs though.

    Digging it. I use some med gain profiles and morph to different gain settings. So what did you do to the profile between settings?

    I think on the lower gain I added some high end through definition treble and presence and for higher gain I did the opposite. Kind of subtle. For the lead I added an eq before the amp to boost the mids a bit. Really basic stuff as I don’t know the Kemper too well yet!

    I'm a new Kemper owner and have been learning my around the device. I had heard that it's not recommended to tweak the profile too much, but then listened to some great podcasts from Tone Junkie and Michael Britt dispelling that.

    In that spirit, I used Michael Britt's free Dirty Shirley profile from the rig pack and made a patch that goes from clean to high gain lead. It sounds pretty good to me!

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    I've also been playing around with swapping cabs on studio profiles, which also seemed like a no-no to me but in practice sounds pretty good. The Kemper seems to break a lot of rules!

    Thanks everyone!

    First couple weeks have been a roller coaster...having used the Helix and AX8 for the last couple years, this is a big shift. I wasn't quite sure, but I plugged into Helix Native to check against the Kemper stuff I've been using and it wasn't even close. So I really feel I'm on the right track.

    So far I've been really enjoying the Tone Junkie stuff. I have several of his packs now and really like the Plexi and BE for heavier stuff as well as the Morgan and Ace packs for cleaner tones. Lots of great free profiles too and the new 65 Deluxe sounds awesome.

    Coincidentally, I was just playing my ASAT Special with Vintage Vibe P90's through the Tone Junkie Morgan AC20. Sounds great to me! Use the volume knob to go from dirty to clean. Not too bright or dark.

    How do you like the Reverend? I've kind of had my eye on the Bigsby Charger 290. I'm not 100% in love with my ASAT or my Mexican Tele and was thinking about moving both and picking up a Reverend, but not quite motivated enough. Need to get out and play it!

    Hello everyone! Some of you may recognize me from other forums but I figured I would join in over here for the Kemper-centric discussions.

    I'm a long-time modeling user (going back to the Digitech RP stuff in the 90's). For the last few years I've been using Helix and AX8, but I decided to sell both this week and jump into the Kemper. I picked up a toaster along with the remote and an expression pedal.

    For me I was having fun with the modelers but also getting frustrated with dialing in amps and the impulse response rabbit hole. Because amp tones are #1 to me and I don't use a ton of effects, I decided to finally jump into the Kemper world to see what all the buzz was about.

    So far so good! I am learning the device and tinkering with different profiles. Tons of great clean and breakup tones so far. Still trying to find some heavier crunch and gain tones that really blow me away but getting closer!