KPA: Damned With Faint Praise

  • I'm starting to like the Kemper a lot more. When I came to the realisation that it doesn't sound like a real amp in the room, but like an exact copy of the recorded tone I started to get it and what it's about. That's not fully what I bought it for but now I see it's potential.


    I came to this realisation when I recorded my live amp and then played an Amp factory profile and heard it sounded the same.


    I'm not sure if I would play it live because I can hear those nuances that make it sound recorded, but as I learn more about it and get used to it more I'm sure I'll become more competent as making it sound more like something I'm used to.


    What I'm getting at is, it doesn't seem like this guy played it enough and it doesn't seem like he fully gets the Kemper, just like I didn't when I first got it.

  • I own an American Strat. I want a good 80's crunch for "Jessies Girl" cover type tone.


    I think you misspelled "Sultans of Swing"! ;)


    You make some great points. While I DO like to match tones exactly, and often can, most times I'm just trying to get a tone I really dig to play to. Takes the fun out of it to over-analyze A/B's. Besides, there's enough proof of the KPA's capability on YouTube in that test, and it passes with flying colors.

  • I think you misspelled "Sultans of Swing"! ;)


    You make some great points. While I DO like to match tones exactly, and often can, most times I'm just trying to get a tone I really dig to play to. Takes the fun out of it to over-analyze A/B's. Besides, there's enough proof of the KPA's capability on YouTube in that test, and it passes with flying colors.


    Depending on my mood, and which guitar I am wearing, I use one of these two rigs to play "Jesse's Girl" live:


    JUBILEE OPEN sm57+C3


    JUBILEE OPEN+2sm57


    (Both are on the Rig Exchange)

  • I'm not sure if I would play it live because I can hear those nuances that make it sound recorded, but as I learn more about it and get used to it more I'm sure I'll become more competent as making it sound more like something I'm used to.


    which by the way is all the audience ever hears: mic'ed amps.
    on most stages I played I also relied heavily on the sound I got from the monitors, IEM obviously is all mic'ed sound. It's the only way to get a controlled stage sound really.


    there are obvioulsy close mic'ed sounds like the classic SM57 setup, but there are alternatives to that, like using ribbon and LDC mics - often together - to get a more 'even' frequency response.
    if you simply need a 4x12 roaring at you, you can always use a powered Profiler as a 'normal' amp head, feeding your cabinet, while supplying the FOH with a perfectly mic'ed sound.

  • which by the way is all the audience ever hears: mic'ed amps.
    on most stages I played I also relied heavily on the sound I got from the monitors, IEM obviously is all mic'ed sound. It's the only way to get a controlled stage sound really.


    there are obvioulsy close mic'ed sounds like the classic SM57 setup, but there are alternatives to that, like using ribbon and LDC mics - often together - to get a more 'even' frequency response.
    if you simply need a 4x12 roaring at you, you can always use a powered Profiler as a 'normal' amp head, feeding your cabinet, while supplying the FOH with a perfectly mic'ed sound.


    This!


    Cheers,
    Sam

  • I'm starting to like the Kemper a lot more. When I came to the realisation that it doesn't sound like a real amp in the room,

    To repeat what Don said.
    The Kemper Poweramp (Cabs OFF) into a guitar cab is 'a real amp in the room'.
    I know guys who gig the PowerHead into a Cab and mic the Cab...that's how convincing an "amp in the room" tone the Powered Kempers achieve.

  • I might actually contact him and talk to him about the conclusions he drew from his own user errors.


    everyone is entitled to their opinion, but publishing false info as facts (high latency) is not o.k., I think.


    hi don, how much is the kpa's latency actually and officially?


    latency between guitar strumming and hearing the sound through the speaker (sitting directly in front of them). Of course you have to add 0,3ms each m of distance between ear and speaker.

  • the author (and some others) didn't get that the kpa is sold as a "profiler". the kpa's duty is to profile a guitar-amp-cabinet-mic-room-signal chain and to recreate that exact sound. it has some more options like adding effects and changing that sound in particular ways. and kemper is so kind to give away profiles for free to begin with. if you don't like them, make your own.


    the author compares the kpa to a modeler which can be judged by the accuray of it's sound replication of known amps.


    the kpa shows the world how difficult it is to create a good sounding guitar in a recording mix. it shows that the magic of a good recorded guitar tone is a result of a recoring engineers competence and isn't a matter of a 1-minute-setup. so thanks to all the great sound engineers that made, make and will make good guitar tone! :)

  • Let us look at it this way... a guitar and a KPA to a guitarist is like a brush and palette to an artist. Van Gogh did not create those immortal paintings the first time he painted on a canvas. He honed his skill for so many years until he created the Starry Night. So don't blame the equipment instantly, it might be the one using it. Take a closer look again, reality is sometimes difficult to see with half open eyes (err ears)

  • hi don, how much is the kpa's latency actually and officially?


    latency between guitar strumming and hearing the sound through the speaker (sitting directly in front of them). Of course you have to add 0,3ms each m of distance between ear and speaker.


    Actually, sound travels 343 m / s - which equates to 0,343 m / ms. So roughly 3 ms pr meter of distance.


    So if you are three meters from your "regular" amp, you should be fine with up to around 10 ms of latency :)

  • I stopped reading at latency. I am sorry, but this review has no credibility at all and is misleading. Adding a tons of effects in a DAW and monitoring through the DAW will always result in latency, but none of it comes from Kemper.

  • What is obvious in that review: the reviewer is not familiar with mic'ed amps.


    He praises Accept and Wolf Hoffmann. I have his original profiles at home. They sound great when he plays them. But if we put them to our factory content, they would not stick out at all. The reviewer would have said they sound awful :)


    If he had created a single profile, the review would have shrinked to a third of the size :)

    Edited once, last by ckemper ().