Any plans for a Kemper 2 amp?

  • It seems modelers are always updating algorithms to get closer and closer to the amp they're trying to emulate. The KPA creates a copy of the amp (more or less) although at one setting.
    You're pretty much there. The only thing I could see getting updated is a way to take one profile and it sounds authentic for all gain levels. (If you take a clean or slightly over driven profile then increase the Gain knob, it sounds fake the more it increases). This is why I'd rather take a higher gain profile and reduce the gain (using either the Gain knob or reducing guitar volume). It sounds more natural to me.

    The key to everything is patience.
    You get the chicken by hatching the egg, not by smashing it.
    -- Arnold H. Glasow


    If it doesn't produce results, don't do it.

    -- Me

  • It seems modelers are always updating algorithms to get closer and closer to the amp they're trying to emulate. The KPA creates a copy of the amp (more or less) although at one setting.
    You're pretty much there. The only thing I could see getting updated is a way to take one profile and it sounds authentic for all gain levels. (If you take a clean or slightly over driven profile then increase the Gain knob, it sounds fake the more it increases). This is why I'd rather take a higher gain profile and reduce the gain (using either the Gain knob or reducing guitar volume). It sounds more natural to me.


    I just hope no matter what its backwards compatible with existing profiles , Every other company has failed me on this and its pretty disappointing to create a tone on an older unit and be told oh the new one is better , but you cant keep that tone you saved , you have to start over ! Ugh


    So PLEASEEEE kemper if you do upgrade hardware have pity on us and let us use our existing profiles also !!!

  • OP came here to ask a legitimate question.
    He's certainly entitled to his views however far they may be removed from anyone else's.
    I think his arguments were discussed exhaustively.


    There's no need for what seems like the whole forum to turn against him.
    I never liked that dynamic.
    OP is welcome here.


    Did not expect this. Kudos Don for stepping in.


    I just came across this thread after posting in the Helix thread the other day about how I would like to see an updated new Kemper after seeing the Helix.
    I laid down a few of my opinions on this subject over there.
    Glad nobody came at me for pointing out some possible merits for a newer version.
    Granted this guy does seem to be a bit focused on a pretty minor point with updating being a pain.
    And for somebody like him that does not own one.....well he really should before beating it too much.


    It is kind of hard for some to take you too seriously if you dont even own one.
    Try it, I believe you will like it. Goofy looks and all.


    I think there are some bigger changes that I would focus on. This is after owning one for a good while now.
    Somebody pointed out a nicer display earlier. I give this a HUGE thumbs up !
    I believe one of the things that catches your eye and has been giving some members on here a woody with the Helix is the display.
    Not just the menu structure.


    This is your interface. This is how you see into the device. This is how you get around. The screen should match the quality inside.
    Its like building a high horsepower pc but only letting you get around and view it with a 640x480 CRT Monitor.
    I would like it to be bigger and much sharper. Of course the menu structure could be bettered too with a larger and nicer screen.
    The screen on any device will show its quality.


    I wont go into the layout of a new KPA but I believe....no I know, it can be much improved.
    I dont think the sound needs to change at all. I am just about totally satisfied there. If they can improve that........well that is just a plus.
    A lot of you bring up the tone and how that is ALL that matters. Well I and many others disagree with you. Although you must have it first. It IS a given.
    But now that you have that, move on to a nice interface. I believe the KPA is kind of old in this department. Even for the date it was first released.
    Not that it just feels and looks old but it can be done much nicer.


    When I look at and navigate through my KPA, I am definitely underwhelmed. Except for the LEDs.
    But when I hear it. I am ecstatic at times.
    Optimally having both would be nice.
    I would have to allow people to call, even me, a fanboy then. I would own it.


    For anybody to say the KPA cant be made better.....well, you aren't fooling anyone but yourself.

  • I love my toaster but the only design change I would make would be to move the type, browse and 4 soft buttons below the screen. The reason being is that when I reach for them my hand covers the screen and I need to twist my hand to view the screen. Small issue and if a software editor ever gets develop, that won't be an issue anymore.


    Cheers,


    jayson

  • Don't disagree with anyone that says it can't be made better (screen etc.) but $2k -$2.5K for a new one is not worth the upgrade at this time, for me anyway. I agree that the OP is welcome also but we are also allowed to have our opinion on the KPA and at this point in time it 's untouchable unless you want to own all the amps that I have at my disposal right now. The future may change that but at this point in time, I respectfully disagree. Throw in an editor in the next firmware and few add ons to efx (spring reverb) and many will be quite content, a few not. That's normal :thumbup:

  • I realized that after reading four pages of this stuff that I could have been playing guitar :).


    Amps in tolex....rectangular and square boxes have changed very little in 60 years..... Ok....I didn't buy a few that were in Creme tolex because I didn't like the look....don't really look at my amps while I'm playing though ;).


    Axe Fx......Digitech 2120, Mesa 20/20 and Dual Rectifier Racks.....look pretty much the same to me since the 1980's.....


    Kemper :). Looks like an amp to me....and by the way....didn't the Kemper Rack take care of the Axe Fx lovers wanting an ugly black rack box :)???

  • Inthrutheout,


    Your text is well done, you explain your point in a very convincing manner and I almost want to agree with you... but I don't. ;) (I fully respect your opinion thought!)


    Because yes, the tone is all for me. I would play anything if the tone is there. Even a pedalboard with a lot of color screens and fancy lights that, to me, just looks like a toy. ;) Why would I play Strat, Tele, ES335 and Lespaul and enjoy those instruments while they have no screens and no fancy lights? For the same reason: They have the tone! The day a guitar full of color screens that deliver better tone will appear I will certainly buy it and use it. Will I like it better because of all those modern features? Not especially I would confess, but I will like them for the always same old reason... :)

  • Putting aside all the Kemper 1,2 .....and Axe FX 1,2 .....stuff and acknowledging upfraont the + \ - of each current design etc....... to me .... the core fundamental difference between the KPA and the Axe is not sound or tone or design or features or anything like that ..... it is this:-

    => with the KPA anyone can make a profile of any amp - it may be great or rubbish - but anyone can [ and does ] do it and you can share it for free or cost and swap etc........


    => with the Axe [ as far as I know and Im happy to be corrected ] the only way an amp model can be added to it is from Fractal - you can save and share tweaks or preset-variations of a Axe FX amp, but anyone outsider of Fractal cannot add an amp to their unit


    For a simple example, when Mesa Boogie release a Mark 6 Boogie [ and they will :) ]


    - any Kemper owner anywhere who can access the amp from Day 1 of its availability can and will do profile's of it and make them available either for free or paid and over time, no doubt there will be numerous profiles of it made - don't like one or get bored with it, get another one or make your own


    - Axe FX owners will have to wait for Fractal to model / mimic it and then put it in a Firmware - and that's it


    To me, the Kemper way is open and "democratic" [ Linux :) ] whereas the Axe way is proprietary and "closed" [ Apple :( ]


    I prefer the Kemper way.


    Others prefer the Axe way.


    And neither is better or best or optimal ..... and yes ..... over time, each actual unit and methodology will get better.


    Ben

  • I guess if there is to be a Kemper 2, if the algorithm and approach cannot be bettered, how about perhaps a change to the user experience over all?


    I would like to see a better integration between the KPA and the computer especially for managing and organizing profiles within the Kemper.


    I have over 800 profiles in my KPA, of which I honestly only use a handful regularly and a few others intermittently.
    It would take me ages to go abouts deleting profiles that I dont use anymore.
    What I would love to be able to do, is to be able to store my regularly used profiles in a separate folder within the profiles selection, and have the rest of the seldom used ones in another folder.


    So I can hit my trusty store/folder for the sound Im looking for quickly, without having to dig through lots of profiles of amps that are not in the sound that I'm looking for.


    I know you can assign favourites and all and do something similar that way, but it would be nice if we could have multiple storage areas within the KPA of ones that we like, i.e., a favourites folder for high gain, another favourites for cleans, another for crunch, another for wacky sounds, etc.


    This is one feature I think the KPA is missing.


  • Do you know about Rig Manager? If you don't you should! This is a free Kemper software to manage your rigs in a computer. :)

  • I'll probably look at trying the Kemper at some point. Been looking at doing some recordings for a while and planned to keep it all digital.


    I still don't see the problem with suggesting that you be able to connect the Kemper directly to the computer for updates and loading profiles. If they added this feature, no one would complain about it. I can see why some may like to be able to load profiles with a USB flash, but I don't see it as a feature. But more of a limitation at the time of the design like how Blu-Ray players used to require USB flash for it's updates.


    And yes, I don't have a Kemper to have experience with the USB flash. But I had seen several Kemper owners complaining about having to use a USB flash and thought I'd mention it as something that should be updated.


    If I end up picking up a Kemper. I'd have to get a new interface as my current one doesn't have S/PDIF. I was looking at the powered unit, but I've already gotten rid of my cabs. So since I'd be using the Kemper for recording mainly, probably would save money and get the regular one and use FRFR speakers to listen to the digital amp/cab.


    One thing I didn't like about the Axe FX II, was that it sounded like it had a blanket over the amp to the sound. Though I only used studio headphones to listen to it.

  • Be aware that different headphones sound very different (including "studio" heaphones) - just a heads-up, you MIGHT experience the same thing with the kemper IF the "blanket is in the headphones" so to speak.


    Second point: You don't NEED spdif to record or to reamp. At all. It CAN be convenient sometimes, but don't change your sound card unless you really want to.


    Have you considered using studio monitors rather than FRFR? Since you want to use it for recording, that might be a better option (considering the other steps of the process - getting sounds for the other instruments, mixing etc etc) - but I don't know how much you want to go into it. I guess it's also a bit different experience playng-wise.

  • @jasonsmith The USB is only needed for updating FW, which happens about 3 times a year (if you skip the betas). You can use Rig Manager on your computer connected via USB to your profiler for loading, organising, renaming, tagging and previewing profiles, stored locally on your computer/KPA or directly from the online Rig Exchange. I think you might not have fathomed this.


    If you do make the leap over to Kemper, you'll find not only great tone and playability coupled with ease of use and tweaking on the fly, but also a great community on this forum and to a lesser extent on facebook. I admit that I was a bit condescending in my previous posts, but I honestly can't for the life of me imagine that your hang ups would matter to you for a second longer, once you'd started playing around with a KPA. For that, please accept my apologies.

  • Exactly Sam. I thought it was obvious that if only used for FW upgrades, the USB "gymnastics" would rarely be required, and therefore failed to mention that. I concentrated instead on the fact that the "routine" was far from complicated. In fact, it's the same for my TD-30 brain as well as for the INTEGRA-7.


    Glad you've stuck around, Jason. I hope you understand that folks here, including myself, were simply reacting mainly to the fact that you appeared to value aesthetics highly enough to preclude your purchasing (or even auditioning?) a KPA. There was no name calling, AFAIK. Just a bunch of tone devotees expressing their dismay! LOL


    I'm sorry if my sarcastic impersonation offended you in any way, Jason; it was obviously intended to be funny and I'd hoped that in some way it'd help you to see, at least from our perspective, that the looks vs. sound argument just didn't hold any water. For us. YMMV, of course.


    Your bravery for sticking around will hopefully be rewarded in the form of... a real-life audition of our beloved beastie one day!


    Cheers mate.

  • as others have already stated,
    managing the rigs is covered pretty well by the, uh, Rig Manager :)
    here's a screenshot:
    [Blocked Image: http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e229/donelectro/image.jpg1_zpsgchr8wno.jpg]


    you can search the local files on your computer, the stuff on your USB drive, the content of the Profiler itself and it automatically syncs itself with the Rig Exchange (6k + rigs)
    double click a file and it is sent to the Profiler where it can be auditioned at once.


    you can do a standard search by name, or by putting in a number of plus signs '+' you can even search for a certain gain range (2.0 to 2.9) for example.


    good to see this thread is back on track :)

  • Personally, I'd be excited by an all-in-one pedal board kemper. The unpowered head is a slightly awkward product live. It's not in a rack, looks like an amp head, but powers nothing by itself. So where do you sit it live? If you are going the typical FRFR route, it barely can stand on my DXR12 when positioned upright behind me, and not safely, so I could sit it on floor next to the DXR. And when I use my DXR pointed up at me like a monitor why would I position the Kemper on a stand or the floor behind me where an amp and cabinet would normally sit? Should I sit it next to my midi controller? That's the most logical place, in which case the kemper may as well be built into the controller. While it is convenient for editing when at the right height, If I'm going to spend significant time tweaking such a product, I could sit it on a table the way I did when with my PodHD years ago. And of course, a software editor would even solve that.
    So for me a future kemper wouldn't sound any better, how could it? Perhaps more reverbs, delays, and effects, but those could be integrated in current kemper as well and probably will be at some point. Who cares about usb firmware? Like the extra 30 seconds it takes once every few months? For me only and all-in-one floor kemper would be worth. On the other hand, I'd rather the Kemper keeps improving on what it can than for the company to abandon it because they release a new Kemper that becomes their new focus.



  • Hmm, Windows RM seems more spacious than Apple RM :( !!

    CURRENT:
    (FLOOR) Kemper Remote w/ Mission exp + EB VP
    (RACK) Kemper PowerRack