Kemper guys...

[xzyryabx]

Just ordered a Kemper Stage and started looking at into rig profiles and felt like I had stepped back into the world of impulse responses...way too many options and opinions that I have no idea what to do and can't invest the time needed to get oriented so I need your help.

What should I look into for the best Engl/Mesa/Diezel/EVH/Friedman high gain tones?


And please tell me it plays well with Yamaha HS8s otherwise I just royally fucked up.

 

[Monkey Man]

Plays great with the Yammies, mate. Some folks using HS5s have complained about a lack of low-end oomph, but that's only been because they had the 5s and not the 8s.

For those high-gain tones you'll find that there're more options than for low-to-mid-gain ones.

Choptones, LiveReadySound, MattFig, CiliLabs, Nik K Profiles... the list goes on and on, but the ones I mentioned are off-the-top-of-my-head standouts IMHO.

 

[Metlupass2]

I've never been able to find any profiles I liked because there are too many variables in how they were profiled. I've been buying lots of amps, profiling them myself how I want, sell them or trading them.

 

[thrashinbatman]

SinMix, ReampZone, and ChopTones all do really great high-gain profiles.

 

[xzyryabx]

Thanks guys!
Can you help me to understand how these will work?
As I understand it, each profile is capturing a specific profiling setup, i.e. amp settings, mic, cab.....
Then the kemper is able to extrapolate what turning the knobs on the amp would do?
When I look into some commercial packs I see a multitude of profiles with one amp, what are they changing around other than the mic/mic position/cab?
Do they create a set with all else being equal and they just change one thing (ex gain knob position) and then repeat again and again only changing one thing?

 

[nigelpkay]

I’ve had a Kemper twice, same thing here it becomes a rabbit hole and you’re at the mercy of other profilers tastes. Thing is even when I made my own I wasn’t that happy because it sounded like an inferior digital copy of the mic’d version, or I just didn’t have the right equipment to get a superior profile like a good mic pre or good broken-in speakers. I’ve tried IR and reactive loads and just can’t get into them, so I believe Kemper is superior to those things and the next best thing to the mic’d version.
Having said that, my favourite profilers were M. Britt for lower to mid-gain tones, hi-gain I liked Lasse Lammert’s free pack, and Josh Middleton’s paid packs. I liked some Choptones here and there but it’s all over the place in quality.
Any pack by someone who produces music and knows how to mic an amp and make a mix-ready profile is usually best.

Now that the Kemper Stage is released and KillerToneTexas has a pack coming out I will probably jump in again

 

[nigelpkay]

Thanks guys!
Can you help me to understand how these will work?
As I understand it, each profile is capturing a specific profiling setup, i.e. amp settings, mic, cab.....
Then the kemper is able to extrapolate what turning the knobs on the amp would do?
When I look into some commercial packs I see a multitude of profiles with one amp, what are they changing around other than the mic/mic position/cab?
Do they create a set with all else being equal and they just change one thing (ex gain knob position) and then repeat again and again only changing one thing?

Yeah, a profile is a snapshot of the entire signal chain. So many packs have tons of profiles for each mic/speaker combination, and with clean, crunch, and high gain settings depending on the amp.
I would advise trying out all the good free profiles and packs available before shelling out on paid profiles.

 

[Metlupass2]

I use the Kemper DI box which makes a direct profile of the amp. I strongly suggest getting one if you plan on profiling any amps yourself.

 

[xzyryabx]

Yeah, a profile is a snapshot of the entire signal chain. So many packs have tons of profiles for each mic/speaker combination, and with clean, crunch, and high gain settings depending on the amp.

Gotcha, now I get the full picture.
I foresee a lot of chug-chugga, press a button, chug-chugga, press a button, chugga-chugga, fuck which is better, rinse and repeat, bang my head on the wall, sell the kemper, go back to my trusty iron ball straight in!

 

[xzyryabx]

I use the Kemper DI box which makes a direct profile of the amp. I strongly suggest getting one if you plan on profiling any amps yourself.

Good to know, thanks!

Asides from the ethical issues, what's the deal with the 100k+ profile packs on ebay?

 

[vultures]

Yeah, a profile is a snapshot of the entire signal chain. So many packs have tons of profiles for each mic/speaker combination, and with clean, crunch, and high gain settings depending on the amp.

Gotcha, now I get the full picture.
I foresee a lot of chug-chugga, press a button, chug-chugga, press a button, chugga-chugga, fuck which is better, rinse and repeat, bang my head on the wall, sell the kemper, go back to my trusty iron ball straight in!

I'd suggest recording a DI of a riff or two you like to test amps out with. Then run that DI signal on a loop into the Kemper. I just ran mine on repeat on Reaper. Open Rig-Manager and then simply select the first profile and keep hitting ↓ on your keyboard to swap profiles. Sounds complicated, but once you get it set up it's a really easy way to go through 100s of profiles FAST and favorite the ones you like the most. Forget tweaking, just find the profile that sounds the best and go with it. Rinse/repeat for Leads.

I'd suggest Sinmix profiles, he has a ton of great high gain profiles. I've had a lot of profiles and when I bought Sinmix's Dual Rec pack I didn't really need anything else. Came with 115 profiles for about $17. I've been thinking about buying the Sinmix producer pack, but the profiles I have are so good already I don't need to buy more.