Sorry to sound so dramatic… but they sound horrendous, I am not even trying to exaggerate here. They all sound like the taste of orange juice being drunk out of an aluminum can right after brushing your teeth and getting dental work done. It serious boggles my mind what is going on.
First off, I have no idea if a “capture” is just an amp, or an amp and a cab. I know that is something that will be updated in 2.0 (thank God!), but even still, I add a cab to these captures and they sound slightly less terrible. They sounds so unbelievably bad, I am convinced I am doing SOMETHING wrong. I have to be. No way the amp models be so good and the captures be so awful.
At best I can get these things to sound like a Kemper direct profile, without a cab. Please help. Why do they sound this way?
If you see a capture and #di or #nocab tag, you have to add a cab or IR after the capture. Without them they really sound awful, but once you add a proper cab they sound great
You’re really gonna have to be more specific or provide an example of what you’re trying if you’re actually seeking help here. What do you mean “bad”? Link to a capture of which you speak?
Most captures are amp DI or pedals on the cloud - but it’s also trivial to determine which it is if you listen to it (at least, for anything with distortion).
Have you tried capturing any of your own gear to try for validation purposes? Regarding kemper: QC is more accurate than the kemper profiles, but that doesn’t mean they will be more to your liking. Some people (even myself to an extent) miss the aggressive undertone of the kemper even though it mischaracterizes the real amps.
Can you take a preset and start there? Go to stomp mode for now. Idk how u r using it btw. I’m using return fx of a real amp. Btw not every amp head will sound good. This one sounds good and a real guitar 1x12 guitar cabinet. Just take let’s say what your favorite amp sim is and stick it in the middle of the line. Well I’m saying what I do. So say a Soldano amp sim. Then in the very front of it if it needs it put a simple noise gate. Turn it down as low as u can stand. Humbuckers make less noise. Studio rats has great videos on it. It’s on utube. He’s a session guy. Ty en if you want a compressor or overdrive p deal put that in front of that amp block. Modulations go after the amp. I don’t use a lot but maybe the equalizer 9 and very low reverb very low. Just start with that no matter how u use it amp return rx n cab or another way. It’s typically user issues at first. Don’t give up. You can get this.
The only way for you to verity that would be to be doing the capture yourself. At that moment you can compare the source and the capture. I can tell you, I captured my deluxe reverb, as well as a few pedals, and when I a/b them with the original they were almost identical. I do use an API preamp as well as a great mic. Now, if you were to use a crappy mic to capture, or the mic is positioned the wrong way, well, that’s what your capture will sound like.
What I am saying is that if you have an amp you like, try capturing it, and then decide if you like what you hear. If the amp sounds bad, that’s what you are going to capture.
The captures that come with the QC were done in professional studios. I am sure they were very careful when they did them. But again , everyone hears things differently. There’s nothing wrong with the capture process on the QC. If anything, a bad sounding capture is the result of poor choice of amps/speakers/mics.
I found the same thing at first, same with my Fractal AX8 and same with my Kemper.
One thing found that helps is to find out about the amps themselves. I have always used Twin Reverbs, so I know how they are supposed to sound. I don’t really have experience with other amps. Unlike the Kemper, the the tone controls on the captures really make a big difference, so you can tweak those. I found that Marshalls like medium gain and like a tube screamer in front of them, I found that Mesa Boogie combo amps like a an eq between the amp and cab, I found a few high gain Amps that like a little boost in the highs and lows and a little mid cut.
Everybody’s ears are different and like different things, but hopefully this will give you a little idea of what can be done with plain sounding captures.