2 quick questions - dials continuous or discrete and sag

    2 things I've always wondered about the Kemper:


    1) When turning the dials on e.g. EQ or amp parameters, are the values discrete (i.e. go directly from e.g. 6.1 to 6.2) or continuous (i.e. you can actually dial in values between the displayed values even though these are not displayed)? I ask because if you watch the graphical slider closely when turning the knob, you can see it move inbetween numerically displayed values - sometimes I think I can hear a difference with the slider moved slightly one way or another before the numerically displayed value changes - other times I think I'm imagining it... which is it?


    2) When profiling, does the Kemper "capture" the natural sag of an amp? I often dial in various levels of sag in the Amp section, but am curious whether I'm adding to the sag already "captured" by the profiling process, or if in fact sag is not something that a profile can contain, and in order to match the sag of a given amp it is necessary to use the sag dial?

    Quote from alligatorlizard

    2 things I've always wondered about the Kemper:


    1) When turning the dials on e.g. EQ or amp parameters, are the values discrete (i.e. go directly from e.g. 6.1 to 6.2) or continuous (i.e. you can actually dial in values between the displayed values even though these are not displayed)? I ask because if you watch the graphical slider closely when turning the knob, you can see it move inbetween numerically displayed values - sometimes I think I can hear a difference with the slider moved slightly one way or another before the numerically displayed value changes - other times I think I'm imagining it... which is it?


    2) When profiling, does the Kemper "capture" the natural sag of an amp? I often dial in various levels of sag in the Amp section, but am curious whether I'm adding to the sag already "captured" by the profiling process, or if in fact sag is not something that a profile can contain, and in order to match the sag of a given amp it is necessary to use the sag dial?

    1. The controllers are continuous.

    2. The profile contains the amount of sag the amp shows when profiling. The profile can be altered however by adding sag in the amp menu.

    Quote from Ingolf

    1. The controllers are continuous.

    2. The profile contains the amount of sag the amp shows when profiling. The profile can be altered however by adding sag in the amp menu.

    Thanks!


    Good to know the profiles capture the sag.


    However, I kind of wish the controllers weren't continuous! I'm now going to be spending even longer setting the definition etc.. e.g. does it sound better at 7.5 with the dial almost at 7.4, or at 7.5 with the dial almost at 7.6...

    No offense to Ingolf, but could I get a second opinion on the controllers being continuous or discrete, as I'm not entirely convinced...


    I can hear a definite difference when moving certain parameters from one numerical increment to another - e.g. from 2.5 to 2.6 - but I'm not sure I can hear any difference between e.g. the dial on 2.5 but almost at 2.6, and the dial at 2.5 but almost at 2.4. To put another way, is there really any sonic difference when you turn the dials just a tiny bit, i.e enough to show the graphical slider moving a bit (and the green LED's around the dial change a bit), but without the numerical display changing? My ears can't decide...

    They have higher resolution than what is displayed. Nothing is "continuous" in the digital realm though.


    But try setting EQ to zero. You'll see both <0.0> which means zero and 0.0 which probably means something like 0.04.

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    Like 1

    OK, thanks, good to know. And not that I had any reason to distrust the original answer, just wanted to make sure this was a technical fact, not just an opinion.


    Sometimes when setting e.g. definition I feel like it might sound very slightly better with the dial adjusted slightly "within" the numerical value I've chosen - obviously this is getting into the realm of very fine tuning, but good to know I'm not imagining it! It is a bit frustrating you can't easily return to specific values within the broader displayed ones (e.g. 5.72 definition) - instead you just have to fish around with tiny movements of the dial. Most of the time of course such precision isn't really needed, which is I guess why they chose not to display higher resolution in the numerical values displayed - but sometimes - especially with EQ stack and definition, I feel like very fine adjustments can make a subtle difference. But anyway, good to know I'm not imagining it!!


    And yes, point take about nothing being truly continuous in the digital realm

    Just to report back - setting the dials very finely, kind of by "feel" within the discrete values shown on screen, does seem to be worth the while.


    I took some of my all-time favourite profiles - ones where I was happy I'd set the various parameters to the best values, and got the EQ just right - then saved new versions and "fine tweaked" every setting within the values selected. A/B-ing the results, it's not like the previous versions were terrible in comparison - but the "finely-tweaked" ones were noticeably a bit tighter, and even more spot-on EQ-wise. Probably not worth going to these lengths for profiles you're just experimenting with, but for ones you intend to use regularly, adds an extra "gloss", if you will.


    Would be great if there was someway (e.g. in rig manager) to see the dialed in values in more resolution - just one more decimal place would do it!