Thought I'd try keeping this alive. Both some observations and some likes around direct profiles.
- I have seen some profilers move to a "neutral" tone stack approach i.e. everything at noon. I'm not sure I like it. The problem...as I see it...is I can't get the high end to sound present and right through use of amp treble and presence on the profile. And, sometimes the low end is too woofy. I could use other types of EQ cuts but don't want to have to do that.
- I wish more profilers would share their EQ settings, especially direct. Reampzone is great about this.
- I also wish I had my own amps, or, dare I say it...a modeler. It gets expensive searching for your ideal sound by trying out commercial profiles.
I've got 3-4 profiles that really work for me in terms of my set up. I'm using a Kemper Kab and an Ownhammer IR. Mostly I'm playing and rehearsing through my Kemper Kab these days whereas I was all MBritt profiles and direct to my CLR and/or the board before. The direct profiles I like the most for my current set up are:
- Tone Junkie 72 Superlead Direct profiles (Jumpered) - my favorite current setup. Minimal adjustments on the EQ and the low end, mids and high end are all where they need to be. Sounds like the Marshall sound in my head. To a lesser extent, I like his Purple Plexi direct profiles but they need less low end and more high end, at least for humbuckers. If I didn't have another profile, I'd keep my Kemper for the 72 SL.
- Reampzone Friedman JJ100 - Reampzone is hit or miss for me. I like a few of the JCM800 profiles (just not enough in there) but really like the JJ100. I always liked the Mbritt Soldano pack but the Reampzone direct profiles are just too dark and don't have any presence relative to some others. This JJ though is nicely dialed in and is in the same neighborhood as the TJ 72 Superlead
- Tim Owens HAWP Freidman BE 100 - these are free. Lots of detail around the EQ and setting used. He's done various shoots on request of others with certain EQ set ups. My favs is the HAWP21 BE 100 session. The bass is a bit a little lower than others, the different saturation settings and such are off, and the high end and mids are dialed in right...all for humbuckers. Pretty similar to the JJ100 but like it, more gain on tap than the Marshall Superlead if needed.
- Tone Junkie AC 50 - These are cool for a vintage Marshally vibe. Nice cut (more tweaking needed for me) but a little less gain on tap than the 72 SL. I like these better than the 68 Purple Plexis.
For those familar with these profile packs and sounds, I'd be interested to see if there are any others I should check out that you feel are in the same neighborhood. Seems like Tone Junkie gave up on direct captures as I haven't seen any in the last number of profile packs he's done. Still looking for a really good vintage JCM800 sound. The Reampzone is close, just limited in terms of which captures I actually liked.
I too often wonder if I shouldn't have gone for a modeler, or switch to one! As you say, if you're at all particular about tone, it's very difficult to find profiles that work well for your specific gtr/pickups/style. I don't even like to think about how much I've spent on profiles... probably about a hundred packs from dozens of different companies, and out of all these, only a handful of individual profiles that really sound completely perfect (once tweaked...) - I've probably got about a dozen (all DI's plus IR's) which I feel couldn't really be improved on, then maybe about 2 dozen more "in reserve" that aren't bad, but just slightly off tonally despite extensive eq-ing. And these do cover a pretty broad range of tones, so mainly I have what I need - but often I just want e.g. a basic Marshall crunch tone, something I could probably dial in easily on any modeler (or the real thing), but no-one seems to have profiled it with quite the settings that suit my pickups! Gets very frustrating/expensive... I guess the axe-fx and possibly helix are on my radar as far as modelers go - but the thing is, I do have some really unique and dynamic tones with my Kemper that I suspect I'd be hard pushed to recreate - but what I do think would be easier with a modeler is just basic workhorse tones, simply due to being able to dial in the modeled amp to taste.
Re. JCM800 profiles, for some reason good ones are really hard to find! I see posts all the time on the facebook groups from people struggling to find ones that work for them. There's lots out there, but almost all are too muddy. What I've settled on for "basic" 800 type tones is this:
1) Choptones Laney GH50R - obviously not even a Marshall, but in this DI pack there's a perfect mid-gain crunch tone that comes closer to how I'd dial in an actual 800 than any actual 800 pack I've tried! Have two great boosted leads from this pack too.
2) Choptones 800C2 - there's a profile in here, boosted with a Plexitone pedal, that doesn't exactly sound quite like an 800 (due to the pedal) but does give a great Marshall crunch.
Re. Marshall type leads/higain, again, I've ended up mostly with other amps - e.g. the Engl Savage, tho a bit more brutal, is pretty Marshall-esque - and probably my all-time favourite profile is the first one in Guidorist's HiWatt pack (boosted with 808) - haven't liked any other HiWatt profiles I've tried, but this one is the closest I've come to finding my ideal gtr tone - swapped the stock cab for a Celestion IR tho of course
But it really does become like a lottery buying profiles - you pay to try them basically, and most of the time you wish you'd saved your money...
To my mind, the best way to improve the Kemper user experience would be to be able to try any profile before you buy it - e.g. if Kemper set up some sort of of official marketplace, maybe an extra tab in Rig Manager, where you could try the profiles for a limited time, or with a sporadic bleep or something (like when you demo a soft-synth for example). Thing is, I suspect if profiling companies sold this way, they'd make far less money! Think about it: almost everyone says that out of the many profiles they've bought only a few are really any good - therefore the vast majority of the money these companies make is from customers who are not satisfied with their purchase! Not many businesses can operate on this basis...
The other thing that would help, and this especially with DI profiles, is if someone made packs that really covered a lot of tonal options. Take a very popular, but really rather basic amp like the JCM 800. Most packs, if you try the first profile and it doesn't work, chances are the rest won't either, because generally people seem to dial in the tone knobs to what sounds good with their gtr/pickups, then try and tell you it'll work on yours too ("works great with single coils or humbuckers" - yeah right...!!) - however what really would work for anyone would be a pack where say just two gain ranges were chosen, e.g. a crunch and a high gain, and profile each of these with multiple tone settings. Some, scooped, some mid-boosted, some less bass, more treble etc. This way you'd be almost certain to find something that worked for your pickups. Gain can be quite effectively reduced on the Kemper - it also takes pedals rather well - so in a way, finding the right gain range is less important than the right tonal balance. Yes, you can EQ a profile to improve it - but there's only so much EQ you can apply, either pre or post amp, before it starts to sound unnatural. Yet oddly, most packs focus on a variety of gain ranges and boosts... all nice to have, but if the basic tonal balance isn't right, all useless!