Andy Sneap talks about the Kemper Profiling Amp
- Thread starter loktide
- Start date
Mago
Austrian Blech Machine
you guys are freaks, what you should realise here is the impulse was taken at the end of the session and the riff we were a/bing with was probably slightly tweaked for the song/riff so its as close as we could get it. Like someone said here, tell me where on the album we punched in with the kemper and I'll send you the kemper as a prize, bet you can't tell! I can literally record with the mic, then the profile, piece the tracks together and I can't tell where the join is, thats how close it is.
I love it, its such a time saver and problem solver and it speeds creativity up which to me is important.
PS Sonodynes are on trial, not bad...... @ Charles J, thanks for noticing, down 45lbs and training like a bitch
Hello to everyone!
sooooooo, does that mean you'd use a kemper reamp instead of the "original" for final rhythm tones/the majority of those on an album?
I always said that when this becomes the case then I'm sold on the thing
And what do you think about the tweakability of the the built in tone stack?
I think a lot of people hope that they can replace all their costy equipment with the kemper, after having profiled everything you need.
Having profiles from the gurus would be great too, but we all know that it comes down to the player in the end on how that profile sounds, you'd need to be able to tweak it to get the best use out of it.
::XeS::
Member
Definitely usable. To me the first is the kemper and the second is the real amp. The difference is like......... the kemper tracks are played with a single coil instead of an humbucker for the real amp tracks. They feel a little bit undergained and with less low end (speaker movement/air). But it's definitely usable....way more spot on than the axefx/pod simulations
lolzgreg
Cereal Shipping Sneapster
I'd say the second half of the clip is the real amp as well; it has more "sag" and the pick attack is less irritating.
Trevoire520
Member
Yeah the second has a bit more low end compared to the first. I'll agree that I think the Kemper is first. VERY close though.
I would be really interested in hearing what the results are like if you profiled the preamp section and the poweramp/cab section seperately (obviously you'd have to reamp twice) as I bet that with seperate preamp/poweramp/cab profiling and Recabinet style speaker dynamic's you could close the gap and get that last 5-10% that the Kemper is missing.
The big point I want to enforce though, is that there are guys who are already making good sounding records using amp sims (Pod Farm, Axe Fx, Lepou etc) and the Kemper certainly seems to be the next step on from that. I don't think anyone on here can honestly say that given an album to mix with Kemper'd guitars they couldn't get a more than useable result.
I would be really interested in hearing what the results are like if you profiled the preamp section and the poweramp/cab section seperately (obviously you'd have to reamp twice) as I bet that with seperate preamp/poweramp/cab profiling and Recabinet style speaker dynamic's you could close the gap and get that last 5-10% that the Kemper is missing.
The big point I want to enforce though, is that there are guys who are already making good sounding records using amp sims (Pod Farm, Axe Fx, Lepou etc) and the Kemper certainly seems to be the next step on from that. I don't think anyone on here can honestly say that given an album to mix with Kemper'd guitars they couldn't get a more than useable result.
Ermz
¯\(°_o)/¯
Not only that, but the low mids are actually tolerable.
Be funny if it's the other way around though.
MarcusGHedwig
Member
Whichever the first one is, that's the one I prefer - sounds cleaner and more defined to my ears, whereas by comparison the details are kinda obscured in the 2nd one, and everything sounds slightly flatter and sorta mushed together to me; the character is definitely there in both though, quite impressive!
Brett - K A L I S I A
Dreaded Moderator
Megin
Member
It comes as no surprise that most guitarists are suspicious, negative, and conservative when it comes to equipment that is not analogous.Damn right! So, now you're calling Andy, Ronnie and myself a liar too? I COULDN'T hear a difference in the room and everybody's saying that we can't be right because the microphone on a camera/iPad is more accurate than our hearing.
Some profiles aren't perfect, sure, but the Mesa we made was 100%, no matter what you guys hear in a YT video.
keyboardists: new digital solutions. Yes, hooray! Guitarists: new digital solutions: No, it sucks!
Maybe in the future it would be cool to pick one of these up, but for now I am perfectly happy with Brett's reamps.
AceFireForce117
Member
What's all the big fuss about ?
First off it's a youtube video so forget about comparing sound clips. I think there's already some good comparisons between a kemper and a axe-fx II in the forum
First off it's a youtube video so forget about comparing sound clips. I think there's already some good comparisons between a kemper and a axe-fx II in the forum
Nuno Filipe
You talkin' to me?
It sounds a little bit different definitely.But only engineers can actually understand the difference(and not all of us).In a few years the difference will disappear of course.
The problem is if everyone tries to copy each others sound,just like many guys have this approach(especially with the peavey/boogie stuff),so productions will be really boring
The problem is if everyone tries to copy each others sound,just like many guys have this approach(especially with the peavey/boogie stuff),so productions will be really boring
Trevoire520
Member
Max Morton
Member
When I first watched this video with Andy I only had a single cheap speaker in front of me, being on the road, far away from the studio. I did not even expect to compare the two tones cos I had no monitors to do it.
And that's why the difference turned out to be so obvious. Thanks to the narrowband mono signal, I instantly heard the difference. When I returned back home, I heard much less on my monitors. Perhaps I should try using shit control more and checking the midrange in mono on it )
Anyway, the first thing I thought was that it's a tweaked tone because there was definitely less gain and a bit less lows. I believe Andy meant similar feel while playing, similar gain structure, and totally identical and natural sounding frequency spectrum of the speaker cabinet.
What I think is the best use for Kemper is having it TOGETHER with real amps, not INSTEAD of them. Finding your perfect tone with the real thing (amps, cabs, mics, pres, whatever) and then actually "freezing" it with Kemper and never ever worrying about keeping the guitar chain untouched. Who needs an authentic tone controls on a Kemper then? I think they're more for bringing back that low end etc etc etc. I may be mistaken, haven't laid my hands on a Kemper yet.
And that's why the difference turned out to be so obvious. Thanks to the narrowband mono signal, I instantly heard the difference. When I returned back home, I heard much less on my monitors. Perhaps I should try using shit control more and checking the midrange in mono on it )
Anyway, the first thing I thought was that it's a tweaked tone because there was definitely less gain and a bit less lows. I believe Andy meant similar feel while playing, similar gain structure, and totally identical and natural sounding frequency spectrum of the speaker cabinet.
What I think is the best use for Kemper is having it TOGETHER with real amps, not INSTEAD of them. Finding your perfect tone with the real thing (amps, cabs, mics, pres, whatever) and then actually "freezing" it with Kemper and never ever worrying about keeping the guitar chain untouched. Who needs an authentic tone controls on a Kemper then? I think they're more for bringing back that low end etc etc etc. I may be mistaken, haven't laid my hands on a Kemper yet.
ArthurD
Member
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLZ9yLRPpYY
6:18
Really nice, but not so close to the original.
In the end of the day the only gear that makes the difference is your own ear. Thats why even with Sneap profile the guitar sound will never sound identical to its mixes.
But I would apreciate a Sneap profile. My dream would be a Michael Wagner profile
6:18
Really nice, but not so close to the original.
In the end of the day the only gear that makes the difference is your own ear. Thats why even with Sneap profile the guitar sound will never sound identical to its mixes.
But I would apreciate a Sneap profile. My dream would be a Michael Wagner profile
Still though, is it good enough to make an album with? Maybe it's not exactly like Megadeth's tone, but we're not Megadeth.
Every mix is different.
Josh Burgess
Member
FWIW, I thought the difference was pretty obvious. I noticed it immediately on laptop speakers in one listen. I guess the profile was made from a tweaked tone, but without knowing that beforehand, it seemed as if the intention was to show that they were identical, and they definitely didn't sound identical. As others have said, the kemper had less low end, sounded less saturated, and more dry/stiff/static in the mids... and, honestly, these differences were exactly the same differences I heard in other comparisons... I really don't think you have to be a freak to notice. I think it gets closer than the Axe-FX, POD, etc., but I wouldn't spend $1850 on one. That's a lot of cash to drop on something that still isn't quite there & doesn't also do high end effects... Particularly for leads, I imagine it wouldn't be as fun to play as a real amp...
