FM3 with Kemper Kabinet??

boz52

Experienced
Anyone try the FM3 with the Kemper Kabinet??
I use the Headrush 112 but not really feeling it...
 
FYI.. Seems like you'll also have to get a power amp since it is an unpowered speaker. I've seen some conversation online about whether the Kemper Kone speaker is similar to a Celestion F12-X200. It looks like this might be the case. There's a thread or two about the Celestion F12-X200 speaker in the Amps and Cabs section of this forum.
 
Mary Shelley got a bestseller in the 19th century thinking like that.

Would it become a modfiler?

There is a powered Kabinet but does the KK not need a KPA to supply imprints to do the biz?
 
I just got the powered Kabinet. It’s very nice! Unfortunately, without the corrective EQ that is applied when selecting the Kemper Kone in the profiler’s output section, it isn’t anywhere near FRFR, more like GFR, but somehow duller. With the Kone selected though, it sounds great and the imprints work well. The key to using it with the FM3 or other modellers would be to reverse engineer the corrective EQ settings, in my opinion, but you could only use it as FRFR, given that the imprints are a software feature of the profiler, unlike Line6’s Powercab plus (or whatever it’s called).
 
sambrox nailed it. Kemper chose to engineer the Kabinet to work exclusively with their software. There are many other options for Fractal stuff.
 
sambrox nailed it. Kemper chose to engineer the Kabinet to work exclusively with their software. There are many other options for Fractal stuff.
What would you suggest? I’m currently using a QSC K10.2 which sounds good, but I’m thinking the SS power amp/cab option might be better for live use. There seem to be many options out there. I tried to get some feedback regarding the barefaced audio Reality 112FR, but it seems no one has tried or reviewed it. Here is the link for reference..

https://barefacedaudio.com/products/reality112fr
 
What would you suggest?

There's an entire forum on here dedicated to the topic. I'm still using an RCF NX12SMA, and I'm happy with it, even though it's not recommended very often anymore. Current favorites seem to be Atomic, Xitone, Redsound, the smaller Friedman, and a bunch of others I'm not thinking of at the moment....
 
I also have a Headrush 108, which seems to be great for low to mid volume scenarios, though it is slightly brittle in the top end. Can easily be tamed by the output EQ on the FM3, though.
 
I tried the Kone in my Matrix NL12, but didn’t like it. I bought a cheap Peavey 1x12 extension cab and put it in that and it sounded better to my ears. Might be down to the ported design of the NL12 versus the closed box Peavey. I should compare the Peavey with the Kone to the Powered Kabinet now, come to think of it.
 
I just got the powered Kabinet. It’s very nice! Unfortunately, without the corrective EQ that is applied when selecting the Kemper Kone in the profiler’s output section, it isn’t anywhere near FRFR, more like GFR, but somehow duller. With the Kone selected though, it sounds great and the imprints work well. The key to using it with the FM3 or other modellers would be to reverse engineer the corrective EQ settings, in my opinion, but you could only use it as FRFR, given that the imprints are a software feature of the profiler, unlike Line6’s Powercab plus (or whatever it’s called).
Well, you could take a Kemper, connect its inputs to an audio interface, connect the monitor output to the input of the same audio interface, disable everything but the cab section, set monitor out on the Kemper to Kone mode and create IRs of all the speaker imprints, as well as the FRFR mode.

And if you feel like going the extra mile, some impedance analysis of the speaker and cabinet to use in the amp block would be perfect. ;D

Unfortunately, I sold the Kemper. Still have the Kabinet, though.
 
Well, you could take a Kemper, connect its inputs to an audio interface, connect the monitor output to the input of the same audio interface, disable everything but the cab section, set monitor out on the Kemper to Kone mode and create IRs of all the speaker imprints, as well as the FRFR mode.

And if you feel like going the extra mile, some impedance analysis of the speaker and cabinet to use in the amp block would be perfect. ;D

Unfortunately, I sold the Kemper. Still have the Kabinet, though.
True. I’ve thought about doing it, but to be honest, I’m happy with the different options I already have for the FM3. Seems like too much hard work in that context.
 
I have three Kones in various cabs, and used them with my Kemper for well over a year now. I also have some amateur experience in reconing, and have owned F12-X200's in the past. So here's some impressions.

The Kone is a Celestion made (and designed I would guess) multiple cone speaker, sometimes called a whizzer cone, somewhat similar to an Eminence 12LTA or the new Celestion F12M-150. It does not have a separate tweeter like the F12-X200 and Line 6 PowerCab does. It looks to me that the Kone is designed specifically to have a response that can be optimized to the greatest degree with what I believe to be custom IRs to allow either (mostly) flat response or specific speaker emulation with the Kemper "imprints". I think the Kone is deliberately designed to be used with IRs to flatten the response, but using it without the processing isn't its intended use. Whizzer cone speakers tend to have a non-flat response, and Kemper seems to have embraced this and worked around the shortcomings with clever processing.

The Kemper DSP used for the Kones could be as simple as specific IRs and simple EQ to modify the response. Since the Kone doesn't have a tweeter, it is easy to make it sound more like say a V30 or Greenback with simple IRs baked into their system. For the tweeter equipped Line 6 PowerCab to do this, the tweeter must be disabled, requiring more electronics in the system.

I have made IRs of the Kemper imprints and used them with an external IR loader, and the Kones work very well with other modelers in that way. It is the main reason I'd like to see the IR block implemented in the FM3, it would host the Kemper imprint IRs for monitoring. With the proper IRs, the Kones sound outstanding in flat response or imprint mode, better than any other such speaker solution for stage monitoring I've used, especially on loud stages.
 
Back
Top Bottom