Any plans for a Kemper 2 amp?

    Sorry, why would you need thousands of profiles on the Kemper itself? You may well have a valid reason I don't understand, but that is what the Rig Manager is for. I think I have about 20 profiles on my actual toaster and 5 performances. The rest I have on my Mac and Rig Manager.

    I know I did, but that's not really how I want to work... it just reminds me iTunes and that you have to always transfert some of your music on an iPod that is too small to allow you to get all your music library. To me, it just doesn't work. I want it all... (I know, I'm just a spoiled little boy, but I know what I want and how I want it).


    My interest in the Kemper is mainly based on the fact to be able to have all this marvellous profiles (there's over 3,000 good ones from the main Profiles sellers out there)... and I have over 10 high-end amps I would profile myself to get all possible sounds when I go somewhere, everything in the rack and nothing else. Just use the tag to filter what I'm looking for and that's it... make my life simpler to carry as little as I can and still have the best sounds possible. With my current back injury, I don't want to carry the Mark V, Fender Twin and all cabs, G-System and stuff such computer and so on... the less the better. But I still need as much flexibility as I can with the largest choice possible ever.


    The current Profile library (free and paid) makes this possible. Memory this day is cheap and I'd mind to pay an extra to have more memory on the Kemper to get as much Profiles stored as I want... considering I would also automatically profile every single recording session (which could easily increase over the years)


    Please, note that I'm no bashing Kemper... Not at all. This is actually my favorite gear so far (as said, there's one in my previous studio was going), the first one that really convince me to go with digital Amps instead of tube amps. But I also know very well what I'm looking for and what I need to fit my way to work.


    I always prefer to study very well before to purchase something and be disappointed because it won't work the way I would hope for...


    1,000 Profiles to me just doesn't make it... it's not even enough to cover all Amp Factory packs.


    Thanks anyway for the info, I'll still keep an eye over here to follow the updates :)


    PS: if the Rig Manager would be on my iPhone and I could store all Profiles on it (I have 128 GB version), and I could easily manage the Kemper using bluetooth, I wouldn't mind then... I would still have everything. Not the perfect solution to be honest, but still workable. But the end goal is really to carry the Kemper, the foot controller and nothing else... two hands to carry and nothing else.

    A week with the Kemper and you'd realise you don't need/want thousands of profiles!!! I'm a hoarder (I have about 3000 in RM, not including the 6000+ on Rig Exchange) and I generally end up using the same few from a pool of about 30. Believe me, that's more than enough. Unless you want to spend your time auditioning profiles, rather than playing...

    Quote from sambrox

    A week with the Kemper and you'd realise you don't need/want thousands of profiles!!! I'm a hoarder (I have about 3000 in RM, not including the 6000+ on Rig Exchange) and I generally end up using the same few from a pool of about 30. Believe me, that's more than enough. Unless you want to spend your time auditioning profiles, rather than playing...


    Well, as a sound engineer and producer, I indeed spend way more time auditioning sound and sculpting them than playing... I'm not seeking for "MY" tones and sounds... I'm seeking for everyone else tones and sounds. That's why, the more the better. I already spend a week with the Kemper at the previous studio, and it went from 50 to 500 profiles in a week... and it was just some test.


    So yeah, a dozen of profiles wouldn't work at all and wouldn't be more than enough for me. We already have more real amps at the current studios. But it's a real PITA to carry them now that I have back injury. That's where the Kemper could become handy and I could still get the same sound at home by only carrying the Kemper around.


    Anyway, no need to argue about that. As said, to each his own. I got the info I was looking for.


    Thanks guys!

    I'm also a sound engineer and producer. You'll find that some profiles just work with all guitars with minimal tweaking of the gain knob and not much else. When it's so easy to get the sound in the ballpark with these particular profiles, you won't bother searching through the other 6000...


    FX presets, on the other hand, are a different matter.


    Just a suggestion, but you can get a Microsoft Surface and just leave it in your rack (I know, you said you have an iPhone - I'm an Apple guy myself, but these are seriously nice tablets), connected via USB to the Kemper, and store all you want on there. You can find a used one for pretty cheap, though I'd opt for at least the Surface 3, which you can get new for $500, used for probably $300. You don't need anything more than the base model. Each profile only takes up approximately 4k of storage space, so you could easily store 3k rigs on a device like this, and connect to WiFi to get more if you need to. Plus, it's lightweight, and would fit in a rack, possibly even between the top or bottom mounted unit and the case itself, or in one of the lids.


    Additionally, it's a much better interface for searching, as you can type in what you need and find what you want quickly. The "filtering" functionality on the Kemper works well for a few dozen rigs, but it loses its usefulness when you get in the hundreds. And, if you're recording someone, you want to work as quickly and efficiently as possible to nail down the sound they should use; putzing around on the front panel of the Kemper for 10 minutes trying to find that one rig that's awkwardly named is going to make the client mad at you and less likely to return to your studio. Being able to search, filter, make folders, and instantly preview and load a profile onto the device with a few taps and keystrokes will make your clients much happier.


    As an added benefit, you can then make performances of the band's setups, save them on the tablet, and remove them from the device. If they need to come in at a later time to, say, retrack a solo or redo a rhythm part, you have their sounds available to you on your tablet - load up the performance for the song, and you're right back to where you were before, edits to the profile completely intact.


    The Kemper not being able to store 3k rigs is understandable, because it's not feasible to use it in that manner, nor was it designed to be used this way. Each rig is pulled from the database and loaded into memory (RAM) from flash storage on boot, which is part of the reason it takes time to boot up the Kemper, and why, when something gets messed up, it often takes a long, long time to load the database into memory. Even though each profile's file may only be 4k each, at 1000 rigs, that's only 4MB. But then they need to be processed each individually, which expands the memory footprint. That said, my best guess is the Kemper probably only has about 32MB of memory (RAM) on board. There's no need for more for a device of its nature - it does what it needs to do, keeps costs down, developers paid, and updates coming. It's the same reason your internet router in your home doesn't have a Core i7 processor in it - it doesn't need it to handle what it does.


    You won't find other devices that can handle that much either. An AxeFX has 768 presets you can choose from, but it's with a specific set of predefined amplifiers. Line 6's typically have 32 banks of 4 presets, totaling 128 presets you can use, but, again, with predefined amplifiers. Out of the box, the Kemper is still more capable than all of these other devices in terms of storage. The only thing more capable would be something like Logic + a ton of plugins.


    Not trying to argue or persuade, just trying to bring up some concepts, as a fellow researcher that wants to know everything about everything before a purchase, that you may not have thought of. Good luck!

    Guitars: Parker Fly Mojo Flame, Ibanez RG7620 7-string, Legator Ninja 8-string, Fender Strat & Tele, Breedlove Pro C25
    Pedalboard: Templeboards Trio 43, Mission VM-1, Morley Bad Horsie, RJM Mini Effect Gizmo, 6 Degrees FX Sally Drive, Foxpedals The City, Addrock Ol' Yeller, RJM MMGT/22, Mission RJM EP-1, Strymon Timeline + BigSky
    Stack: Furman PL-Plus C, Kemper Rack

    Like 3
    Quote from Spid

    I disagree... 2 Kempers isn't the best solution (from a routing point of view all alone).
    I would definitely prefer to have a Kemper with twice the power, even if in the end, the price will be close to 2 Kempers.


    So 30 seconds for 300-400 Profiles... that's what I knew so far, but how long now with 3,000-4,000 Profiles?


    IIRC the number if rigs on the Profiler isn't really influencing the boot time any more.
    there is a 1000 rigs limit for locally stored rigs now, but with a USB connection to a computer and Rig Manager, you have instant access to the whole Rig Exchange (!) and to whatever number of profiles you have on your machine.

    First of all, I'm always amazed how some people think they can know better what's good or not for others. I didn't really ask for advice but for very specific questions (dual path and number or profiles we can load).


    Also, I'm not here to argue. I might have only few posts but I'm here since 2012 and I'm familiar about the Kemper. I just don't spend all my time on the internet about it (nothing wrong about that, everybody does whatever he/she wants with his/her time, it's just that I don't have enough time for that). But it doesn't mean I'm not familiar with the Kemper (or other brand product).


    As already said, I love the Kemper and from a sound point of view, it's perfectly what I'm looking for right now. The only thing that I'm concerned is that I'd love a dual path routing with two Amps and Cab and I don't know if it could be done with the current Kemper version or if we would need a new more powerful one. We never heard anything about that from Christoph (from what I recall) and that's why I did ask again (just in case there was new info about it).


    And the last time I checked, there was some limitation about the profile number... which apparently is still there. That's all I really needed to know. Every other consideration might be true for you guys, but again, to each his own. After almost 30 years, I clearly know what I want, what could work and what would NOT work for me. And I'm not trying to convince someone else about his preferences and workflow.


    However, Doug actually did mention something interesting. Even thought I'm an Apple guy, I do agree that the Microsoft Surface is a very great product... from both hardware and software, I do think Microsoft did a fantastic job. But as said, I'm an Apple guy and I don't use Windows or Android. Nothing wrong with them, they're perfect tools for people that like them. I just don't like them enough and I do prefer iOS and OS X.


    However, if we could have the Rig Manager on iOS (and Android for other people out there), and have some kind of USB-Bluetooth dongle to be able to wirelessly connect to the Kemper directly from the smartphone to manage Profiles... THAT my friends, that would be even better for me to be perfectly honest.


    It would mean I wouldn't even need to carry the Kemper everywhere I go if I know there's already a Kemper there. For instance, I could have a Kemper at home and another one in the studios and I could make and/or recall any profile at anytime, directly from my Rig Manager on my phone (that I carry everywhere I go). I could use the smartphone keyboard to type words, or even have filters by brand, type, mic, cab, creator, date, or any comment I could have such band name, song name, song version, etc... and easily find what I need amongst the thousands of profiles in my hand, directly few clicks away from my phone. THAT would definitely work for me...


    And from a technical point of view, it would provide a great addition to everyone because it would probably not require any modifications and would work for all current customers already. The application could be developed quite easily because it will be based on the current Rig Manager away. And it will be more elegant and practical because most of the time, people carry their phone anywhere... while we don't always carry our tablets or laptops. That's my point...


    Anyway, as said, I got the info I needed to know, and don't take it wrong but I won't spend my time on a forum to argue on personal preferences. I express my concern and opinion, free for anyone to understand and share it ... or not. To each his own...


    Cheers!

    Totally agree on the iOS/Android front! I considered getting a cheap Windoze 8.1 tablet for that purpose, but I'm loath to go down the MS path. I've had my fingers burned too many times.


    BTW, I'm only sharing my experience (which may or may not end up being similar to yours, but might be useful either way), not trying to preach or invalidate your methods or workflow. I was just trying to point out that you can spend an eon trying to chase a sound, scouting different profiles and tweaking, when in fact there are some that just work for any given situation, with minimal tweaking. Not all profiles are created equal and a good few day's work is required to sift through the Exchange, at least.

    One of few things which would make me want a new version of Kemper would be ability to "profile" tone stack of the amp somehow. Not sure if it's possible at all, probably would require manual turning of amp knobs during profiling process or some sort of motorized attachments :) Crazy.


    But, this is the main thing I miss. I can get 50+ good tones out of any decent amp, having separate profile for each of these is sometimes cumbersome.


    Other than that, after a while, I think Kemper would benefit from more gain stomp boxes pre-made simulations.. but this is a software update.

    Quote from Spid

    I disagree... 2 Kempers isn't the best solution (from a routing point of view all alone).
    I would definitely prefer to have a Kemper with twice the power, even if in the end, the price will be close to 2 Kempers.


    So 30 seconds for 300-400 Profiles... that's what I knew so far, but how long now with 3,000-4,000 Profiles?


    Do you really need to have 4000 profiles instantly accessible?

    Quote from sambrox

    Totally agree on the iOS/Android front! I considered getting a cheap Windoze 8.1 tablet for that purpose, but I'm loath to go down the MS path. I've had my fingers burned too many times.


    BTW, I'm only sharing my experience (which may or may not end up being similar to yours, but might be useful either way), not trying to preach or invalidate your methods or workflow. I was just trying to point out that you can spend an eon trying to chase a sound, scouting different profiles and tweaking, when in fact there are some that just work for any given situation, with minimal tweaking. Not all profiles are created equal and a good few day's work is required to sift through the Exchange, at least.


    I understand and I apologize if I was too direct. But I'm just not much into some sterile debate on forums... because in the end, everyone is different and there's no point to try to convince others. Therefor, I don't like the idea that I should have to explain why I do the things the way I do them... I do appreciate feedbacks and some different opinions that might help us to see things differently, maybe even consider to change the way we do things, but trust me or not, I already spend a lot of time to figure out what I really want and how I like to work.


    Few decades ago, it was crazy to think we would ever need more than 640 kB of memory. It was crazy to think we would need keyboards more than 128 presets. And guess what? Today I have computers with dozen and dozen of TB storage and a gazillion of presets to choose from... and it just works like a charm for me. YMMV


    If it was only for "MY" guitar tones, the Mark V and Fender Twin with the G-System would be more than enough... That's why I've used for years and I wouldn't even need anything else (not even a Kemper). Except that is a lot of stuff to carry and now I want a solution that fit in my pocket or my backpack... The Kemper could possibly be the best solution so far.


    Note: Well, actually, I like a lot the PositiveGrid BIAS approach with the coming soon BIAS Head, apparently wirelessly controlled by the iPhone... That could possibly be another alternative for what I want. Definitely not the same as the Kemper, but from a workflow point of view, that would also work. That's crazy how far the technology can go. And that's why I was checking on a potential Kemper 2 and/or a way to handle Profiles (more profiles on the unit, or even better a way to manage them directly from the iPhone). To me, the smartphone Profile / Rig manager app seems to be the best solution... but who knows what Christoph will come with ;)


    Anyway, let's wait and see... Have fun!