underwhelming sound through headphones advice

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cameron711

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I'm sure this has been discussed in the past but looking for some fresh ideas about this. I have a Kemper and an axe iii and I love both. I find I really enjoy the feel through headphones of the Kemper, mainly because of the space effect I'm sure. on the axe, I've toyed with room parameters and haven't come close to a warm effect to compare with the Kemper headphone output. I'm sure its my problem and am looking for some tips to get a good headphone "room feel." thanks!
 
Both factory preset and self built. I’ll give the enhancer a shot and report back! I don’t have Audeze lcd2 but I do have some beyerdynamic dt 990 that I do love
 
Some sort of room reverb relatively high (25-30% mix) and the notion that you are listening to a room can make it work. If you make it too “present” and aggressive like listening to a cab, your ears will fatigue pretty fast.
 
add around 2-6db(or as per taste) of output feedback compression using the dynamics tab in the amp block. it kind of adds the midrange compression you may find on Kemper maybe that's what you are missing, as it more apparent on headphones. I tend to use this on some of my patches as well the headphones I use are Beyer dt770pro 250's and it seems to make a positive difference . Please make sure you use the feedback type for the output comp.
 
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I turn the cabinet’s room level to 39 - 41% and as others have mentioned, add an enhancer block at the very end of the signal chain. It sounds great through my ATH M50x headphones. Btw, I personally prefer the enhancer’s “classic” mode and set the width between 50 - 100% depending on the patch.
 
Piing said:
I second that. Audeze LCD2. It is not cheap, but you don't need to add Monosodium Glutamate, ketchup, or any other artificial enhancer. And you get the same tone as with high quality studio monitors
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My experience is the same. I also get a better sound going from the main outputs into my Cranborne headphone amp. But the elephant in the room is I should not have had to buy such expensive gear to make the Fractal sound good through headphones. It should sound awesome with any decent pair.
 
Try putting a reverb block at the end of the chain. Make it 100% wet, try Recording Studio C and set the decay time to taste. I could play like that all day.
 
cameron711 said:
I'm sure this has been discussed in the past but looking for some fresh ideas about this. I have a Kemper and an axe iii and I love both. I find I really enjoy the feel through headphones of the Kemper, mainly because of the space effect I'm sure. on the axe, I've toyed with room parameters and haven't come close to a warm effect to compare with the Kemper headphone output. I'm sure its my problem and am looking for some tips to get a good headphone "room feel." thanks!
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The Kemper space effect that you're trying to reproduce on an AxeFX is similar to a subtle reverb, so start with adding a reverb block.
 
As others have said, either adding another reverb block (if available) or increasing the mix of the existing reverb can help. I will add that by experimenting with a handful of the Reverb and Cab block parameters can help as well. Reverb Block: Echo Density, Early Reflections and Size. Cab Block: Room Level, Room Size and Proximity.

The one that has the greatest impact in my experience is the Reverb block's Size. Turning it down has the effect of increasing the 'boldness' of the reverb so it works opposite of what you would think. Turning down the Echo Density and Early Reflections brings back more of the sound bouncing off of the walls.

You can also experiment with the Gain Enhancer mode of the Amp block's Output Compressor in the Dynamics page. From the Blocks Guide:

"The 'GAIN ENHANCER' type simulates the way a loud amp acoustically reinforces the guitar for a more reactive playing experience".
 
Honestly I run my headphones and axe to my monitors, and have never experienced a "this sounds terrible" moment. Im not sure what settings with any equipment get that result. That's Bose headphones, nothing fancy or high end. Even the skull candy ones didnt elicit "wtf??".

OP, what are the headphones? Are you straight into the axe fx? Apologies if those have been answered.
 
Beyerdynamic dt990 I believe. I think the best way to describe is the guitar feels less reactive and a little lifeless when compared to the same headphones through the kemper…don’t get me wrong through my Adam a7x it sounds great, but I end up having to play through headphones a lot because little kiddos and late night playing…I’ll give some of these tips a shot! And maybe I’ll give the audeze a try!
 
cameron711 said:
Beyerdynamic dt990 I believe. I think the best way to describe is the guitar feels less reactive and a little lifeless when compared to the same headphones through the kemper…don’t get me wrong through my Adam a7x it sounds great, but I end up having to play through headphones a lot because little kiddos and late night playing…I’ll give some of these tips a shot! And maybe I’ll give the audeze a try!
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Are you sure the difference maker is the "space" effect?
 
Budda said:
Honestly I run my headphones and axe to my monitors, and have never experienced a "this sounds terrible" moment. Im not sure what settings with any equipment get that result. That's Bose headphones, nothing fancy or high end. Even the skull candy ones didnt elicit "wtf??".

OP, what are the headphones? Are you straight into the axe fx? Apologies if those have been answered.
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Indeed. I play with apple earpods and can make my headphone sound just crushing.

I would say it´s 99% user error.

The most important thing IMO is to choose suitable IR for headphones.

it´s always different IR needed for headphones than for monitors in my experience.
 
Thomas Obester said:
Indeed. I play with apple earpods and can make my headphone sound just crushing.

I would say it´s 99% user error.

The most important thing IMO is to choose suitable IR for headphones.

it´s always different IR needed for headphones than for monitors in my experience.
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how do you play with apple EarPods? is it even comfortable? how about the volumes?
 
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