Profiling An Amp; General Considerations - Kemper PROFILER Grundlagen Anleitung

8 KEMPER PROFILER

Profiling an Amp

Now we're getting to the fun stuff! Profiling your own amp, custom digital simulation, or favorite stomp box, is
what sets the Kemper Profiler apart from every other digital amplifier out there. We've spent years getting our
Profiling system to deliver the goods in terms of sound quality, playability, and ease of use — all wrapped in a
user-friendly interface. So while there's a lot of science and technology behind the concept of Profiling, you'll find
that it's actually quite easy to do; this guide can show you the basics and get you started right away.

General Considerations

In order to make a Profile, the original amplifier (which we will refer to as the "reference amp") has to be con-
nected to the Profiler using the DIRECT OUTPUT and the RETURN INPUT on the back. The Profiler then sends
various tones and signals into the reference amp — it will sound like warbles and static at various pitches and
intensities, in other words: not too musical! To get technical for a moment: these dynamically changing sounds
allow the Profiler to learn about the nonlinear behavior of the tube architecture, and the dimensions of the pas-
sive components in the original amp. The Profiler then listens to how the reference amp reproduces these sounds,
and analyzes the results. These characteristics are then recreated in the virtual signal flow of the Profiler. Even the
characteristics of the speaker cabinet and microphones, including all the frequency buildups and cancellations,
are detected and become a part of the Profile.
If that sounds a bit complicated, don't worry about it. The important thing to understand is that those weird
sounds are how the Profiler determines the unique way that your reference amp changes the sound of your gui-
tar, dynamically, over time. This information is then used to create a digital Profile of your reference amp.
You can profile solid-state amps, and also software modeling amps, although the results from profiling modeled
amps can sometimes be underwhelming. The reason for this is that some emulations use techniques that don't
necessarily match the analog reality.
Profiling with Effects in the Recording Chain
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Many guitarists get their signature sound by combining their tube amp with distortion pedals, booster pedals,
and equalizers/filters. If you want to, you can keep these in the signal chain during the profiling process — they