Kemper 2 in the pipe?

  • It will sound more amp like than the current one then :) However I'm excited on a floorboard version of KPA complete with footwitches. Perhaps go wireless and seamlessly work with other devices for sound reproduction on stage, for recording or for someone like me who is just a plain weekend bedroom guitar warrior(that is after doing the dishes and mopping the floor for the wife :D Currently I'm more than satisfied with the current one that the next one should be way better to kick my gas again. I haven't used even half of the capabilities of my lunchbox yet.

  • There won't be a KPA 2.0 for a very long time (imho), for several reasons:
    - The haptic user experience of the KPA is very thoroughly researched, unique and visionary - in its essence comparable to iPhone / iPad
    - There are two different units available already: toaster and rack.
    - It is designed to scale for new features without hardware changes.
    - It does include hardware not really being used til now, so more to come.
    - A LOT of improvements, bugfixes and NEW features had been introduced by just a new software release (aka firmware upgrades)
    - And it scales for FREE!! I've never ever seen anything comparable like this before in any industry. An interesting combination of open source (rig exchange) and closed source (hardware, etc.)
    - The product has an appealing but polarizing design.
    - It definitly adds value to anybody using it, being hobbiest or professional.
    - They are just about to increase their trustworthy ambassador base (evangalists), though being quite very reluctant/hesitating with endorsments.
    - The company seems to have an autocratic/dictatorial mastermind as leader (CK instead of SJ) ;)


    Looks like they studied Apple quite well ;)


    So, I'd rather expect Kemper charging us for firmware V3.0, than introducing a new model, soon. The corporate strategy seems to focus on selling the existing hardware concept for a long time, before introducing a new model of our beloved Kemper.

  • Even FW 10.0 (if ever) will be free.


    Kemper promised two very important points:


    1) Software-updates will be free
    2) Old profiles will sound the same in newer FW

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  • Even FW 10.0 (if ever) will be free.


    Kemper promised two very important points:


    1) Software-updates will be free
    2) Old profiles will sound the same in newer FW


    Point #2 was one of the things that helped make up my mind about the Kemper. While the firmware updates added new features and fixed some problems (back in 2012 some seemed to be hearing aliasing on their KPA's) it never made the earlier profiled sounds "even more realistic." It seemed to me that the Axe Fx users, however, would keep saying things like "Version 10 makes it sound more realistic than ever" which meant that earlier versions that users had praised as the most realistic version actually wasn't. Interestingly, I've noticed on their site that update 14 is just a small link on the top of their home page now. Kemper did a great job in ensuring that from the start that what you captured was the sound of a specific amp, cab and mic set at a specific location. I feel safe in saying that most of us are pretty convinced that when an amp / cabinet / mic combination has been correctly profiled that there is an almost indistinguishable difference between that physical combination and the software profile. Could this be improved? Technically I am sure the answer is yes but practically I am not sure that most of us would be able to tell the difference (or at least I would not be able to). I do hope that development is going more to adding additional effects, the release of the mythical foot pedal, improved the rig manager (including to iOS and Android devices), and I could see future versions may have more buttons on the front for each effect like we have now for delay and reverb for example.

  • They can also do what Apple does - release a V2 of the same product, slightly tweaked for powerusers.


    I dunno, more memory, faster CPU, or a touchscreen interface.


    (I'm only partly kidding...)

  • But maybe one day we may have KPA 2 due to combined request from users for added features that the current configuration may not be able to handle anymore in the future like for example the CPU bandwidth is already nearing its maximum. I remember in one of Christoph's posts that KPA has spare bandwidth to absorb those improvements that we users wanted. He is reasonably accommodating in our requests for additional features as well as planning and putting other good stuff along the way. All these may reach the limit one day....

  • I also think that the KPA2 is not for soon :
    - there are still missing feature in the current version (Undo, ethernet,...)
    - the interrest for KPA is rising ... it is better to keep the current hardware for profitable investment. A new version is really useful when the interrest begins to decrease.
    - Using this idea of "profiles" able to reproduce almost any Amp:
    * there is no need of more CPU to model more amps
    * the user is able to select which profiles he want on his KPA, so no need to add memory to model a huge range of amps
    - there are still stuffs in the pipe like the foot controller