Lush Chorus & Phaser like the Theta Pro DSP

  • Can you post a link to a demo of that specific chorus sound?


    Sorry Paul, these are the only 2 demo I can post from the Theta Pro DSP:

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    But you really need to experience the Chorus and Phaser for yourself to see how much superior it is than what the Kemper has to offer... Both these FX are really incredible

  • Those tones starting around 4.25, 7.40 and 8.10 are up there with my favorite tones ever. I love the super lush sound of the first and the spanky cleans of the latter. Shame the unit has such shortcomings otherwise, like not even a USB port for future updates and that clunky interface. It's still on my radar because of the few great tones though.


    Schneidas, did you buy it and return it to the store, or was it a friend's?

  • GB, I bought it to try it out. I would have kept it if it was really great - but after about 20 days of testing - I sent it back.
    If you're interested, I can give you a short and totally unbiased review - I say "unbiased", because, although I'm one of the early KPA adopters (got mine in 2012) and a beta tester - I'm always on the lookout for something new. I'm one of the guys who thinks the KPA is a great piece of gear - but far from perfect!
    So, the below, is always IMHO:


    First - the good:
    Generally, the unit is really good. It has great tone and if you tweak it a little, you can get a great feel as well.
    The 80s sound of this is superb!!!
    The FX are stellar - though some more than others. E.g. as I said here, it has the best chorus I've ever heard from a unit. And the Phaser, is the best one - as well. If you put it to the 4-stage option, you'll have an instant vintage script Phase 90 one. One of my personal favorite phaser sounds is the Phaser Dave Murray of Iron Maiden uses on the solo of Powerslave - for me that's a trademark phaser sound and one I've been trying to nail all my life with various digital boxes. Well the Theta had me instantly there with 30 seconds of tweaking - bringing tears to my eyes!


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    (listen at 3:05)


    I would have almost kept the unit for just the Chorus and Phaser!
    Also - and I think nowadays this is important - the support is great! I've been in contact with the Wallers - the owners of ISP and been exchanging mails with them, telling them exactly what I think about the unit and where I think this should be improved. They were very open to my suggestions and more or less told me that almost everyone of my suggestions were agreed with and would be in the plans for a future revision.


    Second - the dealbreaker (for me):


    1.)first of all, the unit's updateability: well, it *is* in fact updateable - but you gotta open it up, remove the DSP card and send it in to the guys to update it, than receive it back, re-insert it and you're done! This is so old-Pod2-1998-days.IMO, this is unacceptable in 2016 - and I'm completely stupefied how one can design an updateble piece of gear without a common USB interface. Although ,to be fair, they are planning of this being updateble via the built-in midi ports at some point - but common!!!


    2.)the absence of an on/off switch. Really annoying for a homestudio, when you have the device on your desk and have to continuously bent down to get it rolling… At this price point, and as this product is also targeting the home studio environment – this really should have had a simple on/off switch – would have made life a lot easier.


    3.)The unit always starting from preset no. 1… another annoying thing! E.g. the last preset I used to record something was preset no. 203. I unplug, come back to the unit to continue recording with this preset, and it always starts from preset 01… this is just super annoying! I have to scroll up to 203 which takes a minute or two... Minor, yes, but annoying nonetheless!


    4.)no tuner!!!! Another thing that is kind of annoying – this could have been an “all-included”-box, but no tuner means you have to have one more device with you.


    5.)Preamp: it has 2 preamps: 1 CLEAN and 1 DISTORTION - that's it! Personally, I don't mind, as the DISTORTION preamp is versatile - and this thing is meant to be a digital amp by itself, not an amp simulator - but I just mention it here/


    6.)Cabs: this thing has one of the best 4x12 Greenback sims ever!!!! The 4x12 Greenback cab is my favorite cab in real life and I know exactly how this one sounds and they completely nailed it!
    BUT - it is the *only* 4x12 cab sim in the device! Which means if you want something more modern - you can't have it!!!
    It also has one 2x12, one 1x12 and one 4x10 cab sim - so a generous 4 cab models in total!


    7.)The 80s sound - it is great!!!! But you cannot get it more modern. If this had more cab models you could - but as your stuck with one 4x12 model - I always felt that you could not get rid of it.


    8.)Delay: You get a good mono digital delay – but no stereo option, no ping-pong, no multi-tap! You can only chose it to go center OR left OR right - and it stays where you choose it to be!


    9.)Reverb – the current one is good and tweakable to a wide variety of hall reverbs – but I expected a reverb to knock me out and didn't really get one. Just a good usable hall reverb. No room, no spring, no cathedral, no cave... (I'm a reverb junkie btw! And yes, the reverbs of the KPA are also not wow'ing me currently)


    10.)Disabling the preamp. not possible currently! So if I want to route my acoustic/classical guitar with a PIEZO through the unit and use just the FX – it's not possible. A a simple “disable” option in the Preamp menu would have been what I'm looking for - but not possible. To be fair, they told me that putting the CLEAN preamp with all values to 0 results in a neutral sounding preamp - but still, common!


    11.)Tweaking this thing: really simple but felt a bit 80s early 90s. I would have loved a PC editor on this one.


    12.)The built-in ISP Decimatior noise gate: I have never used this one so far - and here you get one built-in. Sounds good? Well, personally, I did not like it. Yes, you can get rid of the noise, but it also cuts your sustaining notes. It had only 2 parameters to manipulate - so it was fairly easy to use - but nomatter how I set it, I was unable to cut off all noise without also cutting off sustaining single notes. In the end, I settled for a little audible noise floor - just so my sustain did not get killed. I tried all of my 11 guitars through it - but experienced this phenomenon with each one of them. The stomp noise gates in the KPA work far better IMHO.


    ---------------------------------------------


    So all in all, the negatives outweighed the positives for me. I could not justiyfy keeping it for just one completely great, awesome 80s sound, or for the best phaser and chorus ever.
    I had to send it back - but I'm really going to miss those 2 FX!


    Anyway, this is my personal experience with this unit - you may love it - so try it out for yourself, if you can :)

  • Wow, thanks a lot. That's the most in-depth review of this unit that I've seen, and it seems fair and balanced. If they brought out a chorus/phaser pedal, I'd be on it like white on rice, but otherwise it seems like it has some annoying limitations. I hope they keep updating it but my impression is sales have been very weak so I'm not counting on it. For me it's not just about the price (I'll spend that on yet another guitar I don't need, so why not on the best chorus/phaser you've ever heard?) but also that I live in a relatively small apartment and I have enough gear cluttering up my place as it is.


    Anyway, I endorse your feature request. Great suggestion.

  • You can't really get close with the KPA to that chorus and phaser. They are in another league... that depth... that color of the chorus... super lush... the phaser is alive... it breathes!!!


    I was told by the owners that the same people who did the Intellifex did the FX for the Theta Pro DSP...


    A totally different league from the KPA! It's like heavyweight vs lightweight!

  • A totally different league from the KPA! It's like heavyweight vs lightweight!


    I beg to differ. I agree that they are very different in character but that does only point to a difference in taste. Not that one is better than the other.


    I think I will take into account your signature. :D


    Cheers,


    Mats N

  • Respected!


    But I'm not basing my observations on taste. There's a difference in depth and quality. In a "aliveness" of the effect if you will...
    Those 2 effects are very three dimensional in the DSP - they jump at you and you can feel them around you as the sound comes out of the speakers.
    The same effects in the KPA are very 2-dimensional, almost flat and lack the flying colors and breath...


    Did you play the Theta Pro DSP or are you basing your difference of opinion on the youtube clips?

    Edited 2 times, last by schneidas ().

  • Did you play the Theta Pro DSP or are you basing your difference of opinion on the youtube clips?


    I have played almost every product Buck Waller has designed both at Rocktron and at ISP. They are great products in many ways. I have also played the KPA for almost 5 years and have extensive experience of the Axe-Fx. Yes, there are differences in sound and I like some products better for some fx and another product for another kind of fx. But still, it's my taste that dictates what I like better, not a quantitative method of measuring quality.


    Cheers,


    Mats N

  • me too


    Fair enough - it appears we do have a difference of opinion then.


    Indeed we do, and I'm very cool with that. And I'm sure we will both be very happy with the choices we make in our pursuit of playing good music on good sounding gear.


    Cheers,


    Mats N

  • I hope I don't get flamed for this, but the best chorus I've ever heard is the one from the mighty Roland JC 120.
    And I personally have congratulated @ckemper for having nailed it in the profiler with the air chorus.


    Carry on. ;)