Kemper Profiling Issues. NEED HELP!

[motrock]

Hey guys. I am having trouble with profiling my amps. I have been to 3 studios so far and my profiles sound terrible. They are starting to get better; however, I am still struggling with some issues. I seriously hope you guys can help me to address the problem; as the manual doesn't tell you much!

1. How do you monitor what you are profiling before you start profiling? When I profile, I have to mix everything through the board then connect to the profiler. Mainly because when I plug in and click over to profile I still hear whatever profile I had selected last. This is really annoying because I can't hear my amp until after I profile. Then I have to keep going back over and over until I get it kinda close. Can you mix and get your levels correct before you hit profile?

2. When recording with multiple mics, do you guys just use an analog board? Do you come back in the Kemper using an XLR? I was told by a buddy to do that because its going to come through much cleaner.

3. I have successfully profiled a 5150 Combo using one mic straight in to the unit. It came out amazing! However; when I do multiple mics and come back out of a soundboard, everything sounds squaky. Its like I have a squaky/sqeeky sound. Its terrible! Any ideas on whats going with multiple mic recording? Usually what happens is that the tone sounds amazing through the studio monitors, but squaky through the Kemper. Again, I can't monitor anything through the Kemper because until I hit profile, I hear the last profile selected. Again, I have the headphone plugged in to the Kemper. And each studio I went to, they REFUSED to plug there monitors in to it. Last studio guy said he wasn't plugging his monitors in to anything he doesn't understand. Freaking dumb!

I hope this made sense. If not, I hope I can verbalize it a little better. I plan on borrowing a analog board and some other gear and doing the profiling here at home. Studio people don't have a clue what kind of a sound I want anyway!

Any ideas of what I am doing wrong? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

 

[stratotone]

If you aren't listening to the reference amp through the kemper profiler, you've already lost. Just follow directions in the manual, your studios are doing so many things wrong I don't see how a profile is getting captured in the first place. Not hooking up the kemper to monitors to compare the amp you're profiling and the profile you're pulling is an absolute recipe for failure.

FYI, I've spent several hours just getting mics set up for some of my profiles. The ONLY advantage I've seen to using a real studio for profiles is nicer mics, but you can get great results with cheaper mics too. I'd rather use a cheaper mic and spend hours getting placement correct than a really expensive mic that was thrown down in 5 minutes. And if you're using multiple mics and the tone isn't there, I'd bet you have microphones out of phase with each other.

 

[crankyrayhanky]

^word

and how can a studio not understand the outputs on the Kemper? Ridiculous and cause for a walk out- that's a deal breaker

 

[Shark Diver]

Not trying to be a dick - but wouldn't it just be less expensive, and less time consuming, to buy some after market ones? Some of the stuff I've heard is pretty sweet.

 

[motrock]

If you aren't listening to the reference amp through the kemper profiler, you've already lost. Just follow directions in the manual, your studios are doing so many things wrong I don't see how a profile is getting captured in the first place. Not hooking up the kemper to monitors to compare the amp you're profiling and the profile you're pulling is an absolute recipe for failure.

FYI, I've spent several hours just getting mics set up for some of my profiles. The ONLY advantage I've seen to using a real studio for profiles is nicer mics, but you can get great results with cheaper mics too. I'd rather use a cheaper mic and spend hours getting placement correct than a really expensive mic that was thrown down in 5 minutes. And if you're using multiple mics and the tone isn't there, I'd bet you have microphones out of phase with each other.

So, its not a good idea to monitor with the headphones? I guess that would explain why I only hear the current selected profile instead of the reference amp? That is until I actually hit the profile button. Thats always been the problem. I never can hear the reference amp till I hit profile! I would be willing to think that the squaky sound is in fact the mics out of phase.

Yeah, the guy on Monday at the studio would not plug his monitors in to the Kemper. He said he wasn't about to plug his speakers in to something that he didn't understand. It was weird!

I am going to buy myself another mic. I already have an Audix i5 and SM57. I have some friends that have mixers and monitors... along with plenty of mic cables. I have a good friend that is a professional sound engineer that lives locally. He has another mic pre. He's going to come over and help me out. He's been researching the Kemper for a week now, and is curious. I will follow the manual to a T.

Pete, your profiles that you have done on your own actually sound better then the studio you went too. You have more top end; which I like.

 

[animal]

If you aren't listening to the reference amp through the kemper profiler, you've already lost. Just follow directions in the manual, your studios are doing so many things wrong I don't see how a profile is getting captured in the first place. Not hooking up the kemper to monitors to compare the amp you're profiling and the profile you're pulling is an absolute recipe for failure.

FYI, I've spent several hours just getting mics set up for some of my profiles. The ONLY advantage I've seen to using a real studio for profiles is nicer mics, but you can get great results with cheaper mics too. I'd rather use a cheaper mic and spend hours getting placement correct than a really expensive mic that was thrown down in 5 minutes. And if you're using multiple mics and the tone isn't there, I'd bet you have microphones out of phase with each other.

So, its not a good idea to monitor with the headphones? I guess that would explain why I only hear the current selected profile instead of the reference amp? That is until I actually hit the profile button. Thats always been the problem. I never can hear the reference amp till I hit profile! I would be willing to think that the squaky sound is in fact the mics out of phase.

Yeah, the guy on Monday at the studio would not plug his monitors in to the Kemper. He said he wasn't about to plug his speakers in to something that he didn't understand. It was weird!

I am going to buy myself another mic. I already have an Audix i5 and SM57. I have some friends that have mixers and monitors... along with plenty of mic cables. I have a good friend that is a professional sound engineer that lives locally. He has another mic pre. He's going to come over and help me out. He's been researching the Kemper for a week now, and is curious. I will follow the manual to a T.

Pete, your profiles that you have done on your own actually sound better then the studio you went too. You have more top end; which I like.

When you first go to the profiler section up the top there is a kemper amp and reference amp selection on the two left hand buttons above the screen so you can switch between the two and get levels etc.
Also the return level you adjust how loud the reference amp is in comparison (next to volume)

If you are using multiple mics use phase reversal!!!!! So many of the multi mic profiles have phasing issues

you should really read the manual or watch some profile videos on youtube

I would NOT use head phones to monitor....the studio guys sound like morons
You can just take the monitor out and put it into a channel on the desk ...I just run my monitor out into my soundcard XLR input and monitor that way
make sure the miced cab is isolated somewhat at least from the monitors you listen to (ie in another room)


Don't feel like you need to do multiple mics either....a 57 in the right spot plugged straight into the kemper will produce killer results

 

[crankyrayhanky]

Don't feel like you need to do multiple mics either....a 57 in the right spot plugged straight into the kemper will produce killer results