Profiling with the Kemper

By: thebommel
Category: Blog
26. September 2019

1. The CAB

If you use the the Torpedo Live

Play your amp.
Look for a cab before profiling, to go for sure that it is tweaked like you want it.
If you like the cab make a profile with the cab on.

If you use the the Torpedo Live + MIXREADY IR

Turn the Cabsim in the Torpedo Live off.
Record the cabless signal.
Add a cab or mix cabs until everything is quite right in your DAW.
EQ it like you would in the mix.
Import a sweep from Voxengo Deconvolver, export it with all eqs and cab applied.
Convert it into a IR.
Use the kemper cabmaker to convert it into a .kipr file.
Load it onto the kemper via a USB stick.

If you use a cab + D.I. Box

Mic the speaker as you like it.
The closer you are the less room influence you’ll have btw.
Plug the mic into a parametric eq or a digital mixer.
EQ the the sound beforehand to your liking.
Get rid of fizz by lowering between 4 and 5k with a very high q.
Profile it so you have a cab for the following d.i. profiles.

If you use the the Torpedo Live + Match EQ IR (of your favorite Sound)

Turn the cabsim in the Torpedo Live off.
Record the cabless signal, play per string the whole octave with a powerchord or something dissonant to fill the spectrum.
Load in the guitar stem of the sound you would like to copy (liverecordings or bands that use just one amp work best, if the production uses more sounds in one track there is no chance to do that).
Make a match EQ with Izotope Ozone.
Then look where differencies are in the distortion itself and tweak the amp to fit the amp on the recording better.
Match eq again and do that until it is spot on.
Import a sweep from Voxengo Deconvolver, export it with all eqs and cab applied.
Make a IR out it.
Use the kemper cabmaker to convert it.
Load it onto the Kemper.

2. Profiling

Now you’re Ready for Profiling !
Turn the cab sim off or connect the mic cable to the d.i. box, choose „no cab“ and you can start profiling now!
The same settings can sound drastically different with more or less poweramp saturation, that is why i recommend 2-3 poweramp settings and 2-3 gain settings. Of course this will cause many profiles but the systematic approach saves time afterwards and captures more of the amp.

Now per channel do these combinations (for example)
Gain Low% – Master Low%
Gain Mid% – Master Low%
Gain High% – Master Low%

Gain Low% – Master Mid%
Gain Mid% – Master Mid%
Gain High% – Master Mid%

Gain Low% – Master High%
Gain Mid% – Master High%
Gain High% – Master High%

Where to set the different Values ?

Low Gain – Cleanest setting with the gain knob, just before it starts to break up.
Mid Gain – Just before the distortion gets muddy.
High Gain – As much as the Kemper can do.

why?

Lowering gain on the kemper works better then adding gain.
Just before the next drastic change in gain the amp is simply more dynamic.
Totally clean signals do not get the gainstructure right, so by profiling at the very edge to breakup it gets that right and by lowering the gain in post it is way more accurate).

Master Low – No Compression and saturation (tightest Tone).
Master Mid – just before saturation and compression starts (best of both worlds).
Master High – maximum volume as much as the kemper can do (less fizz but more mud!).

why?

just check it yourself with a different Volume everything changes, compression, reaction, frequency response tightness, the gainstructure changes… simply everything.

How to dial your amp in ?

Use more mids and highs than you’d do normally.
Be careful with bass the subbass can be sometimes too much.
make it bright but be careful, the presence knob can mess up the measurement in extreme settings on some amps!

why?

Frequency masking! Some EQs intruduce so much noise and especially transients and they will give the kemper a hard time sometimes and boosting frequencies raises the noise floor. This noise floor tricks the kemper then into thinking this is the gain structure. So if you profile a very bright clean amp and the d.i. profile is completely different and distorted, turn the eq knobs down.

How to refine?

I got the best results by using 3 guitars, i used a active 8 string guitar (when using this the lowend turned out better ), a passive Ibanez with a 5 way switch, and a Tele.

I played strummed chords hard and steadyly and house of the rising sun because of the appregiated chords.

Sometimes the transients mess up the measurement especially with ultra tight amps or very clean ones.

Play a loud chord first, then press refining, so that the kemper only hears the ringing out of the note, then stop refining. Do the same with more chords and openstrings.

What to do if your amp sounds different ?

Get even closer by adjusting definition, sag, clarity, bias tube shape and so on while being in this Comparing/refinig window…
Sometimes the definition is too high! this and the tube shape knob are the most important knobs!
Sometimes noise interferes with the signal use a noise gate (preferably the isp decimator g string II) und just use is very slightly. Instead of the „amp too noisy“ dialouge the „noisegate detected“ will appear but it will not abort and sometimes it works fine.
Sometimes the ground lift switches reduce also the noise!

This is how i made almost all of my profiles, i really hope you find something you like and i hope this helped!

Have fun guys!