PowerHead and PowerRack offer an additional Speaker Output to directly connect an unpowered guitar speaker cabinet. That's the only difference! All other capabilities, analog and digital inputs and outputs, .... are identical amongst all powered and unpowered Profiler models. Powered Profilers have no feature and connectivity limitations compared to unpowered Profilers.

Dimensions

Head/PowerHead

Height: 21.7 cm (8.54 inches) Width: 37.8 cm (14.88 inches) Depth: 17.3 cm (6.81 inches)

Rack/PowerRack

Height: 13.9 cm (5.47 inches), 3 HE (3 RU) Width: 48.3 cm (19 inches) Depth: 22 cm (8.66 inches)

Remote

Height: 7.5 cm (2.95 inches) Width: 42 cm (16.53 inches) Depth: 18 cm (7.09 inches)

Weight

Head

5.32 kg (11.73 pounds)

Rack

5.00 kg (11.02 pounds)

PowerHead

6.5 kg (14.33 pounds)

PowerRack

6.18 kg (13.62 pounds)

Remote

2.9 kg (6.39 pounds)

Standby: >0.5 W

Operation: Head/Rack 13-27 W, PowerHead/PowerRack 30-800 W

There are basically three options:

Either you chose one or two neutral (powered) PA monitor speakers on stage. Sometimes the term "FRFR" (full range flat response) is used for neutral speakers. This way you leverage the flexbility of the virtual cabinets included in the Profiles and get a tone as close as possible to what the audience is hearing via the PA system.

Or you chose a classical guitar speaker cabinet directly connected to PowerHead/PowerRack or powered via an external power amplifier (preferably mosfet or digital). In this case you switch off the cabinet simulation for the output driving this guitar cabinet specifically. Simultaneously you could send a stereo signal including cabinet simulation to FOH mixing desk. If you own a guitar speaker cabinet and like its sound, this might be an inexpensive option. However, you will always experience the same physical guitar speaker sound on stage.

If you are using in-ear monitoring you obviously need no cabinet at all and monitor the same sound as the audience.

The internal power amp delivers up to 600 watts at 8 ohms and 300 watts at 16 ohms. At 4 ohms its power is electronically limited to 600 Watt.

The power amplifier provides sufficient headroom to avoid clipping, even with dynamic clean sounds. Very loud signals and transients will then be compressed by a nice, organic-sounding, soft-clipping circuit.

You should, however, use these 600 watts of power with caution - if you are running at high volumes and notice any indications of speaker distress, turn down "Monitor Volume" or "Power Amp Boost".

The Profiler Remote is the perfect companion for your Profiler and can be seperately ordered in the Kemper online store.

Basic remote control functionality is available for simple applications with expression pedals and/or switches directly connected to the Profiler.

Via MIDI it is possible to load Rigs in Browser and Performance Mode via program changes as well as switching effects on/off and controlling continuous parameters like for example "Pitch" via control changes. Please refer to the manuals for more details.

In addition it is possible to control nearly all internal parameters with the 14-bit MIDI protocol NRPN. Please consult the MIDI Parameter Documentation for details.

The Profiler offers two and the Profiler Remote four sockets to connect up to six pedals, single or dual switches via TRS cables. For single switches TS cables are sufficient. 

All types and brands of expression pedals are supported. Analog volume pedals are not recommended.

Switches must be momentary (not latched).  The polarity can be adapted for each switch in the System Settings. Tube amplifier channel switches usually latch and therefore cannot be used.

There are video tutorials available focussed around technical prerequisites and the set-up of expression pedals and switches.

In case you are using an expression pedal to control your Wah effects and rarely want to control your volume via pedal, you don’t need a second pedal. You can activate the Wah Pedal Booster in the X or Mod Module instead and use Wah Pedal to boost the signal. This is a Rig specific approach.

You could also link Volume Pedal as well as Pitch Pedal to your Wah Pedal globally in the System Settings. If currently a Wah effect is active in your Rig your Wah Pedal will work as usual. If there is no active Wah effect, but a pedal pitch effect in your Rig, the Wah Pedal will control the pitch. If no Wah and no Pitch Pedal effects are active, the Wah Pedal will function as a Volume Pedal. That means: one expression pedal leveraged for three different purposes.

You could also use Morph Pedal as your "master pedal" and control Wah effects, pedal pitch effects, Rig Volume as well as other continuous parameters with it, even simultaneously.

There are multiple options:

You could leverage the Volume Pedal to control Gain in particular Rigs. On page "Volume Pedal Settings" in the Rig Settings you are able to chose the position of the Volume Pedal in the signal flow ("Off", "Pre Stomps", "Post Stomps", "Pre Effects", "Post Effects"). If you select "Pre Stomps" or "Post Stomps" you are able to control the Gain of the Amplifier Module in a Rig.

The parameter Gain can also be directly controlled via Morphing. So you could for example use the Morph Pedal to raise Gain from level x to level y in a particular Rig. 

Yes, the Profiler can send MIDI commands to up to two different external devices whenever Slots get loaded in Performance Mode.

You can configure the two external MIDI devices in the System Settings globally and edit the MIDI commands by Slot under "Edit"/"Slot Settings"/"MIDI Settings".

Please refer to paragraph "Transmitting MIDI Commands in Performance Mode" in the Reference Manual for more details.

The Profiler offers koax S/PDIF in- and outputs. It acts as master of the clock. Please set your soundcard to 44.1 kHz and 24 bit.

If you have acquired a Profiler second hand you should create your own Kemper user account and register the device in your account like any new owner. Simply click on the small icon "Login" at the top right corner of the Kemper homepage and follow the instructions. At that time the former owner will receive a warning e-mail and owner priviliges will be transferred automatically.

The serial number can be found on a sticker on the bottom of the Profiler and is displayed on the last page of the System Settings.

Yes, you can register multiple devices in your Kemper user account.

Turning the Browse Knob while an Effect Module is in focus you can select from a list of Effect Presets. Such Effect Presets include an Effect Type plus all its settings. Users are able to create such Effect Presets themselves under a name meaningful to them. The preinstalled Factory Content includes Effect Presets for demonstration purposes. These are excellent starting points checking out effects and their wide range of possibilities and then fine-tune parameters as needed to find your intended sound.

Turning the Type Knob while an Effect Module is in focus you are able to select one of the Effect Types built into the software. This list of Effect Types is fixed and could only be changed via update of the Profiler operating system. While you select another Effect Type all parameter settings are maintained. This is a very effective method to compare different effects algorithms like for example a Phaser against a Flanger without the need to redial all their settings.

If you should be missing effects, either your Profiler operating system needs to get updated

OR

you are turning the Browse Knob and there is no Effect Preset associated with the Effect Type you are searching. The Profiler comes with a few Effect Presets for demonstration purposes. However, Effect Presets are user data like Rigs. You are free to create or delete both.

If you turn the Type Knob you will see the complete list of Effect Types built into the operating system installed on your Profiler. Effect Types are fixed and cannot get lost.

Return and Alternative In can be used to feed a stereo audio signal into the Profiler's output stage. You just require a cable feeding the stereo signal into two separate TS jacks. 

There are individual mix controls for the Main Output/SPDIF Output, Monitor Output, and Headphone Output in the Output Section. 

Master Volume is the master control of those output volumes linked to it. Linked could be any combination of Monitor Output Volume, Main Output Volume, Direct Output Volume, Headphone Volume, and S/PDIF Output Volume. While you dial Master Volume the relative volume differences of the linked outputs are maintained at any time.

Let's assume the output volume of the Main Output is set much higher than the output volume of the Monitor Output while both are linked to Master Volume. If you now crank up Master Volume starting from 0, at the beginning there will appear a signal on the Main Output only. At a certain level, which could be far above 0, the Monitor Output Volume will start to follow. This behavior is intended and very useful for some applications. If you just use one output, unlink the others in the Output Section and the Master Volume will emerge into a dedicated output volume control.

Rig Volume (bottom row left) is made for adjusting relative volume differences between Rigs for your performance. In general it should be placed on or around the middle position (unity volume). If you do that, you should rarely see a red Output LED.

We have put weeks of work into the Profiler for creating a constant volume situation. One aspect of this is that the volume is automatically fine-tuned during the profiling process. But this cannot be done 100% perfectly, because a perceived volume is not necessarily equal to a measured energy. The sound (here the frequency spectrum) of your guitar will also have an impact on the perceived volume. A Strat single coil will deliver totally different results compared to a humbucker on a 7-string guitar. This cannot be anticipated or calculated. Last but not least, the most important: The output volume of your guitar. The levels of various guitars could differ by more than 20 dB. That's a lot! Clean sounds fully depend on the volume of your guitar (unless you use a compressor) while high gain sounds are mostly constant due to the compression aspect of the distortion. This is why it's mandatory to "tell" the Profiler about the volume of your guitar by adjusting the Clean Sens parameter in the Input Section. Please read the respective chapter in the manual or view the tutorial video about the Input Section. If you set the Clean Sens parameter correctly for your guitar, so that clean an distorted sounds have the same energy for your ears, you will have the perfect setting for your guitar: - only minor volume differences between different Rigs - no red LED on Input nor Output. The Profiler performs automatic leveling during the profiling process. This can later be modified by you with the target guitar, your ears and a simple tweak of a knob.

While Rigs include all settings of the Input Section plus all eight Effect Modules plus the Stack, you could create Presets of one individual Module of the signal chain (Input, Effect Module, Amp, EQ, Cab) or the entire Stack Section (Amp plus EQ plus Cab).

If you for example have the Stack Section in focus and push the Store Button, you can choose either to store the entire Rig including the complete signal chain from the Input to the Rev Module or you capture a Preset just of this Stack. In order to load this Preset later in another Rig, you just need to bring the Stack Section into focus again, use the Browse Knob and select your Preset from the list of Stack Presets stored in your data pool. While an Effect Module is in focus you could press Store and create a preset of an effect, which includes the Effect Type (e. g. Wah Wah) plus all its parameter settings. This way you could capture your favorite Wah and easily reuse it at any time.

The Profiler comes with as set of Rigs and Presets. Like with Rigs you can create Presets and delete Presets. Presets are a very effective tool to capture and reuse your favorite building blocks for your sounds.

It is also possible to create Presets of your Output Section to accomodate settings of Output Sources, Output EQs,.... This way you could create Presets for different enviroments like your home studio, rehearsal rooms of various bands, various stage environments. And wherever you arrive with your Profiler, you just need to load the appropriate Output Preset.

Clean Sens

Different types of guitars produce different output levels depending on their pickups and string gauge: for example, humbucker pickups generate higher voltages compared to single coils, and active guitars generate even hotter signal levels. If you feel that clean sounds are either very loud or very soft compared to distorted sounds, you can adjust Clean Sens to a level where clean sounds have the same perceived loudness as distorted sounds. Clean Sens determines the volume of clean sounds, but not the way the amp or the effects are driven. A guitar with low output level stays cleaner; a hot guitar will still distort more easily.

Extremely “hot” guitars can generate unwanted distortion, indicated by the Input LED flashing red. This is only relevant for clean sounds, however - prominent amp distortion will fully mask a subtle clipping of the input.

Distortion Sens

Distortion Sens should normally stay at zero (middle) position. Every Rig will react as if you had connected your guitar to the original amplifier.

If you feel that your guitar tends to drive the distortion too hot (or too soft) for most of your Rigs, then calibrate your guitar by adjusting Distortion Sens accordingly.

Clean Sens is not a simple input gain; you will notice that it does not affect the gain of a distorted sound. Distortion Sense is also not a simple booster, as it does not affect the gain of clean sounds. Neither of these parameters colors the sound.

The Input Section is locked by default in Browser Mode. Clean Sens and Distortion Sens will be relevant for every Rig until you decide to unlock it. If you unlock this Section, the input settings will be individually recalled per Rig. In Performance Mode, the Input Section is not locked by default, because most users prepare and store their Performances including the settings of the Input Section for particular songs and guitars.

There is a dedicated video tutorial available about the Input Section.

In addition to the Input Noise Gate, which is controlled with the Noise Gate Knob on the front panel, there are two noise gate stomps available, developed specifically with the hi-gain player in mind. Use the Type Knob to select those from the list of Effect Types while an Effect Module is in focus.

Whereas the noise gate in the Input Section is designed to preserve the guitar's dynamics exactly, the stomp noise gates behave like classical downward expanders. Downward expanders attenuate a signal once it has fallen below a certian threshold, and are often used to tighten complex metal-riffing. This is because a palm mute will still retain all of its "chunk", but will also become more percussive, thereby preventing the dreaded "mud". The two noise gate stomps feature different expansion ratios that were deemed the most musical.

Noise Gate 2:1

This noise gate is a soft expander, with an expansion ratio of 2:1. If the level of the input signal lies below the treshold, it will be attenuated with a ratio of 2:1. In other words, each dB below the treshold leads to 2dB attenuation of the signal. 

Noise Gate 4:1

This noise gate is a more aggressive expander, with an expansion ratio of 4:1. If the level of the input signal lies below the treshold it will be attenuated with a ratio of 4:1. other words, each dB below the treshold leads to 4dB attenuation of the signal.

As with the Input Noise Gate, there are are no attack and release controls, as we have selected the shortest possible times without introducing any signal degradations. The attack time is 0.05 ms while the decay time is 50 ms.

You can combine the Input Noise Gate with one of the stomp noise gates to benefit from their different noise gate characters.

Yes, this is especially practical for Rack and PowerRack users. You need to select the Alternative Input as your Input Source in the Input Section. This setting is global and not included in any Rig.

Even with this setting the Alternative Input will only function as guitar input if no jack is plugged into the Front Input at that time. It is not possible to use these two guitar inputs simultaneously.

Yes!

Any Studio Profile consists of an Amplifier Profile and a Cabinet Profile. Therefore it is possible to virtually combine amps and cabinets as you like or even play an Amplifier Profile through a physical guitar speaker cabinet. You could also use the Cab Maker application to transform cabinet impulse responses into Profiler Cabinet Presets, which you could then import and combine with any Amp Profile.

In Browser Mode you could limit the list of Rigs to select from by turning the Type Knob and choosing the View "Favorites". Now only those Rigs from your pool get listed, which are marked as your Favorites.  

You flag any Rig as your "Favorite" by either holding the Rig Button for about one second or flagging "Favorite" on page 1 of the Rig Settings. In order to unflag a Rig as your Favorite, just repeat this process. In addtion you can manage your Favorites via Rig Manager.

Favorite Rigs are indicated by a small "*" on the right side of the Home Screen in Browser Mode. The Favorite Flag is owner specific! So if you share your Favorite Rigs with other users, these don't automatically become their Favorite Rigs. Consequently if you change the Owner Name in the System Settings or via Rig Manager, your former Favorites will not show as Favorite Rigs anymore. However the information isn't lost. As soon as you return to the original Owner Name, the corresponding Favorite Rigs will get listed again.

There is another important option "Auto Favorite" in the System Settings. If your prefer, that every Rig you store will automatically be flagged as your Favorite, please select this option.

In Browser Mode you could use the Type Knob to select the View "My Rigs". In that case only those Rigs from your pool get listed, where the Rig Author matches the Profiler's "Owner Name".

You should have entered your Owner Name, when you started your Profiler for the very first time. However, you can always go back and change the Owner Name pushing soft button "Edit Owner" in the System Settings or edit the Owner Name in the Rig Manager under "Preferences".

Whenever you create your own Profiles this Owner Name will be set as default for the tags Rig Author as well as Amplifier Author and Cabinet Author. You can change the Rig Author later in the Rig Settings or via Rig Manager. Amplifier Author and Cabinet Author cannot be changed via Rig Manager, but only within the Profiler's Amplifier and Cabinet Modules.

All Profilers come with a representative selection of sounds for various genres and applications. All our Factory Rigs are available in Rig Manager and can also be downloaded from the Kemper download page.

We recommend to keep the selection on the Profiler tailored to your real playing needs while maintaining the larger sound collection in Rig Manager.

Each Profiler operating system revision includes a hidden selection of Rigs and Presets. This "Factory Content" is preinstalled on every Profiler leaving the factory. And that is what you find in the Browse Pool, when you start your Profiler for the very first time. Should you have deleted any of these preinstalled Rigs or Presets, simply press "Factory Rigs" in the System Settings and all missing Rigs and Presets will be recovered and added in one run. None of your data will get lost and no settings will change.

During the evolution of the Profiler operating system features are added and also the hidden Factory Content gets revised frequently. For example operating system 5.1 includes a few additional Effect Presets demonstrating the Pitch Shifter Delay Types added in that revision. Any new Profiler coming with OS 5.1 preinstalled has also these new Presets in its pool right from the start. However, if you upgrade your Profiler OS - regardless if via USB flash drive or via Rig Manager - your sound pool doesn't get touched. New Rigs and Presets don't get added automatically during the upgrade. 

So, after upgrading the operating system you could use the function "Factory Rigs" in order to import new Rigs and Presets. None of your existing data will be lost. Only Rigs and Presets currently not stored in your Browse Pool will be added. This is "all or nothing". If you prefer to pick and chose Rigs and Presets to be imported you could download the current Factory Content from the Kemper download page and pick individual Rigs and Presets to be updated via USB flash drive. All Rigs are also available in Rig Manager, where it is easy to check these out and copy selected Rigs into your Profiler's pool. 

There are four methods to create new combinations of existing Modules within a Rig:

For a temporary test the Locking feature is most effective. You can lock single or multiple Modules of the signal chain e. g. Module A, Cabinet, the DLY Module, or even the whole Stack. When you now load other Rigs only those Modules not locked will change, while the locked Modules are "frozen". This way you can test new combinations without making permanent changes. If you store a Rig, it will be stored with the Modules that you see and hear.

In the Stack Section you could use the "Selective Browse" feature, while either Amplifier, Cabinet or Stack is in focus. Turn the Browse Knob and select the option "From Rigs". Now you can for example browse through all Amplifier Modules embedded in the Rigs in your pool while all other Modules of your current Rig stay "frozen". This is very effective, if you just want to checkout another amp or cab in combination with your current effect configurations.

In all Modules and Sections you can use the Browse Knob to pick one of your Presets. If you have created Presets of you favorite effects, your favorite amps, your favorite cabinets or your favorite stacks, you could just load one of those.

In order to create new permanent combinations the copy and paste feature is very convenient.

Press the Store Button once followed by the Soft Button "Export Rig to Pool" and the Rig in the Slot currently loaded will be stored in your Profiler's Browse Pool.

If you are monitoring your playing via neutral speakers or headphones connected to the Profiler, you could levergae the same for band monitoring by using the Profielr's Aux In feature to mix in the band's monitor mix from FOH. This way you keep local control balancing the band's monitor mix versus your own guitar signal.

You would need to feed the band's monitor mix into the Profiler's Aux In sockets (Return plus Alternative In). In the Output Section you will find three controls to selectively mix the Aux In signal into Main Outputs/SPDIF Output, Monitor Output, and Headphone Output. So, you could feed the monitor mix just into the Headphone Output for example. 

Depending on which outputs you use to feed your guitar signal to the mixing desk e. g. the Main Outputs, you want to make sure, that you don't send the band mix signal back to FOH. Otherwise you create a feedback loop. 

In Performance Mode there are different tags for Slot Name, Rig Name, and Performance Name, which help you to organize your sounds. 

On the Performance Mode home screen the Rig Name gets displayed below the Performance Name. The Rig Name comes with the Rig, when you pick it from your pool into a Slot. However, as Rigs in Performance Mode are stored seperately and are independent from their parent Rigs in Browse Pool, you could later modify the Rig Name in the Slot. Like in Browser Mode you can edit Rig Name at any time within the Rig Settings selecting "Rig Tags" and then "Edit". Again, such modifications don't affect the parent Rig in the Browse Pool.

As long as Slot Name equals Rig Name, each time you pick another Rig into a Slot the Slot Name will also adapt the other Rig Name. So far Slot Name and Rig Name will stay in sync. However, you can edit the Slot Name independant from the Rig Name. Select "Edit", "Slot Settings", and "Rename Slot", then enter the new Slot Name. If you organize your sounds in terms of a Performance representing a song and a Slot representing a musical scene, Slot Names like "Intro", "Refrain", "Solo" might be convenient. The screens of Profiler and Remote offer less space for the Slot Names than for the Rig Name. Therefore you might prefer short memorable Slot Names. As soon as Slot Name and Rig Name differ, the Slot Name won't be touched, if you decide to pick another Rig. So you could change the Rig in your Slot "Solo" and the label "Solo" will be kept.

Performance Name can be edited while you store a Performance and can be modified at any time via "Edit" and "Performance Tags".

Yes, modelling amps or software can be profiled, although the results from profiling modeled amps can sometimes be underwhelming. The reason is that some emulations try to mimic the typical tube sound using techniques that don't necessarily match the analog reality.

Yes, absolutely!

You could profile your favorite bass amplifiers or just leverage our Factory Bass Amp Profiles. Some are included in our preinstalled Factory Content. All Bass Rigs are available in Rig Manager and on the Kemper download page.

In Browser Mode you could turn the Type Knob and select the View "Just Bass", so that only Bass Rigs will show up. Current software does also include some specific features for bass players such as Parallel Path and Analog Octaver. Please refer to the related information in the manuals.

Yes!

As a matter of fact, we offer multiple Factory Profiles taken from one of the best-sounding solid state amps in history: the Roland JC-120*.

*Product name and company name are trademarks of Roland Corporation. Kemper GmbH is not associated or affiliated therewith. These names are solely used for purpose of identifying the specific products, which have been used during profiling.

Be aware that locking is completely independant between Browser Mode and Performance Mode. This includes Modules of the signal chain as well as Volume Pedal and Tempo. If you want to establish a permanent Wah Effect across all Performanes, you need to lock it in Performance Mode.