Kemper Amps Forum

I posted this on TGP where I spend most of my time (I have unlimited internet access at work, so between doing real work I post my ass off, as you can tell but figured I would cross post here because I have a lot of experience with FAS products, every other good modeler under the sun and now the Kemper. I have my serial number (at home) but I still don't see an option to add it so I can join the private section. I have a few profiles that I would like to share and some clippage as well. I want to become a part of this great community! Ok, here is my post CAUTION: MANY WORDS!!!)

Home studio setup:


I figured I would merge my two posts which are basically my own reviews / pros and cons of the two units as I see it now. I want this to be my last word on the subject as my fingers are getting tired (from playing AND typing . I should mention that I'm going to change my signature and I'm keeping the KPA. The II is sold already - the one nagging point that always bothered me with the II is having SO MUCH going unused for my purposes and that the price (coupon) was out of my personal comfort zone). I know that may seem silly to some people, but for some reason it factors into my decision making, always. Another reason is that I have recouped some cash from the difference in prices between the II (used market) and the KPA (new) and I can pay off all gear debt while being completely satisfied with my "rig" while I save up for FRFR and prep for gigging again. The stock profiles that come with the KPA right now are more than enough to keep me busy and happy for a long time. If I never profile an amp, it will still be a great purchase for me, but as it stands I'm going to do a meet with a close friend and have a profiling party to grab clean tones from his Heritage Victory and a friends Allesandro Working Dog As I get more comfortable with this process I have not ruled out booking some studio time to hunt down treasures to profile so I can "give back" to the Kemper community (probably in the summer sometime). It will be fun, and that is what it's all about! (I will be cross posting this in the Kemper forum as well.

Here are my musings:
"The difference to me in direct recorded tone and through nearfields (and I therefore assume FRFR) is very close. Actually, even going into my EHX Magnum + cab is also very, very close (although I have not tested any profiles that were done with preamp's only or using the Palmer DI which are supposed to be the best ones to use with power amp + cab.
I'm trying to find the right words to describe the actual available tones and I can't. I guess I would say the II is more "HI-FI" while the KPA seems a little more "earthy". Both are exceptional in every way. I honestly was not expecting the KPA to hang so close in virtually every aspect.
Now, when I think about "workflow" and dialing in MY type of tones the KPA just sits so well in my wheelhouse. I explained before, most of the clips I did were done in minutes (seriously) with my kids berating me in the background many of these were dialed in on headphones or super low nearfields and I still think they capture the essence of the amps they are profiling. I did little to NO tweaking on most, except a little more indepth on the AFD, just to figure out how to do everything.
A while back there was a big thread on nearfield & far field IR's. Jay Mitchell jumped in and helped out a lot with technical stuff, others jumped in talking about the speaker resonance controls in the II, then a new firmware came out that included more controls. At that time I was just starting to mix a far field and nearfield together and I was just getting close to thinking I had the cab/IR stuff figured out. But that thread was kind of a blessing and a curse (for me). I just could not get my head around it and my mind froze up thinking about still dialing in cabs to get where I wanted. I just DO NOT have time for anything like that, at all. 3 small kids, long hours, trying to get back into some semblence of shape, etc...
I'm not thinking about any of that with the KPA because it's not there. The profile either works or it doesn't. The cab either fits, or it doesn't. If you are not getting there, you just have to move on.
I also have barely scratched the surface with the FX. They are good quality but overall similar to say the 11R or so. The only drive I tried was a TS and that actually sounded great, do I want to dig into the drives. But again, I'm all about core amp tones and this is delivering, right out of the box, quickly.
When I say HI-FI I mean the II (direct to disk and through nearfields) is very polished, all of the time. The high end sometimes seems a little "crunchy" to me as well. The KPA seems just a little rawer all around, sometimes the high end gets washy a bit, smeared... but it just works well in most cases.
Finally, for me cost is a consideration and the KPA comes in $400 less than the II even if using a coupon. You're also not finding a II used for less than $2300 nowadays. That is a significant chunk of change to me because I can use that to flesh out the rest of my "rig".
On the flip side the KPA is still technically beta and is not complete. I think they are going to get everything happening really soon and I'm confident we will see cool advancements, a software librarian / editor, dedicate foot control within the next year or so.
The form factor goes to the II, but if you say a PIC of my home studio the KPA looks like it was meant to be here Plus using the EHX Magnum 44 the KPA head actually works better sitting on top of my cab, the Mag fits into the back nicely.
Hope this helps."

"Having now worked with both the AxeFX II and the KPA I feel very relaxed and chill. They are both amazing products, so far beyond the scope of what I could imagine needing (or wanting) for my purposes. If anyone now tells me one is way better than the other or there is a large gap between the two I will literally laugh in their face, because that is complete and utter bullsh*t.
IMHO, the KPA feels no better than the II. As a matter of fact, I think the II might actually have the slightest of edges in the feel / volume knob interaction at this point, but it's ridiculously close. If the KPA form factor will not work for you (it is growing on me more and more, the look, size, fact that I can fit the EHX Magnum power amp in the back and use as head on a real cab, etc...) than there is no need to even consider a change until Kemper releases a rack version. And when that happens, the end user controls on the front panel will have to be compromised to some degree, which will change front panel access.
I personally LOVE that the II offers USB audio/midi and it's implemented extremely well and most importantly, sounds GREAT. Better than results using my outboard Focusrite Scarlett, but the Scarlett has much more I/O which will come in handy (and also allow profiling with phantom power) and I also like not having my guitar processor tied to my audio needs / home studio all of the time.
As far as FX, it is really not even close. I've mentioned before I use FX sparingly so this is not a huge deal for me AND the FX in the KPA are very good. The drives actually seem to be quite well done, probably the best I have heard out of any modeling unit, at least on par with the gen I or II of the AxeFX. Delays, verbs, all time based FX and pretty much everything else is crazy good on the II. The params are also much deeper on the II so now you can get the HI-FI stuff AND dial it into Low-fi... IF YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING. Personally, I have neither the time nor inclination to get into the FX that much, so this is not super high on my list.
In the end I find it intriguing and comforting that there are now two geniuses heavily invested in their amazing creations that seem to have the passion, drive and determination to continue to push the envelope of guitar processing. Someone mentioned waiting until L6 starts doing profiling so that the tech will be less expensive in the future. Personally, I say "Good Luck". I just do not see the type of commitment that I believe is required to come up with this type of product and improve/enhance it at the level these two guys are doing. It's personal for them and it shows. I really feel like they think about the cost secondarily and the bottom line is not their priority, "margin" is not their prime motivator for doing what they are doing."

Quoted from "schneidas"

To update your user account, go to the main Kemper site (not this forum) and log in there. There you should see an "upgrade" tab or something like that.

Oh, Ok. I was looking for something in my profile here. I will try that tonight, Thanks!

Quoted from "schneidas"

Very neat looking home studio.

...but you clearly had that PC-keyboard for far too long

HAHA, yes. I need to borrow a USB based keyboard from work, preferably in black. BTW, the pint was Victory Hop Devil which is a great US borne IPA (India Pale Ale) brewed with German and US malt and a mix of US and German Hops (Tettnanger) so I found it fitting for the occasion of my first KPA test