Powered Or Unpowered??

    Getting down to purchasing a Kemper Unit. I am trying to determine the best version for my needs. Here is the basics of how I would use it:


    1. Recording into a M Audio Omni I/O Delta Series interface to Cubase.


    2. General Home Jamming thru some sort of cabinets. Stereo would be nice just for jamming and utilizing the effects for a big sound. I have settled on the new version of the M Britt Cabinet from Xitone for a main cabinet if the unpowered unit is the route to take. Would need to find a more affordable option for the stereo portion for now. A Tech 21 Sound Engine perhaps as the 2nd? I thought about a matrix poweramp and 2 passive FRFR speakers, but I am not big on fans running in amps. Have had a few traditional tube amp heads that had fans and just never cared for it. Could always hear them whirring away in the background.


    3. Occasional gigging out. Mono or Stereo(?) on stage for monitoring and then feed FOH in stereo.


    I currently have a Hughes and Kettner 2x12 standard cabinet with Vintage 30's that could be used, but not married to having to have a traditional cab.


    I also think that I read in the forum somewhere that the Powered version could not do stereo?


    Anyways that is the basics of how I would be using the unit and trying to determine the best toaster model to get for what I do.


    I play a wide variety of music and like a lot of dynamics and subtlety in an amp. Think Jeff Beck with volume knob dynamics, playing with fingers to get very nuanced variation in attack. Like to play with and off of natural feedback as well so not sure how FRFR handles that versus traditional cabs. But I do play a lot of different stuff from cover band 80's, rock, shredder type stuff like Doug Rappoport or even country now and again. I am in the Nashville area.


    Thanks for any help and input!

    Hi and welcome.


    You'll probably get a lot of different answers here. I went for the unpowered one, because - as you said - the powered one is mono. That might be fine for onstage monitor use, but for home use I wanted stereo for the fx. For a more affordable frfr option: I went for a Marshall Woburn, after watching this video:


    External Content www.youtube.com
    Content embedded from external sources will not be displayed without your consent.
    Through the activation of external content, you agree that personal data may be transferred to third party platforms. We have provided more information on this in our privacy policy.


    The Hanwell is the Woburn's predecessor. Woburn is small, loud, portable, stereo, cool looking. Of course. And cool sounding.


    Cheers

    Gear: Strats & KPA. Plug Ins: Cubase, NI, iZotope, Slate, XLN, Spectrasonics.
    Music: Song from my former band: vimeo.com/10419626[/media][/media][/media] Something new on the way...

    I haven't even bought a kemper yet so my opinion might be useless, but when I do get one, it will be unpowered.


    The Kemper already has cab emulation, I would want to use that instead of turning the cab emulation off and running all my profiles through the same cab.


    A major benefit of the kemper is that you can have the exact same sound with you everywhere you go. This is not the case if you used the powered version with a cab.


    You will still have the same old problems of mics, mic placement, and all the other factors that come into play. Half the reason I want a kemper in the first place is so I can plug straight into the desk and be done with it. No variability whatsoever in my tone.

    I have been leaning toward the unpowered version. The one thing that I like about the MBritt Xitone FRFR is the ability to have a range from full FRFR to flavors of a standard cabinet for a more traditional tonal range.


    I would like to take advantage of the full profile the way that the capture was intended thus the FRFR route. I have never played with a FRFR so I am not sure how they handle getting nice feedback versus a standard cab and tube head. I have used Line 6 modelers from way back when Line 6 first came out and I also like the Scuffham software so I am not too worried about navigating the digital world with the Kemper unit.


    Just looking to make sure when I do go to purchase that I am getting the best model for my needs.

    To be clear the powered version does exactly the same as unpowered but you have the option to drive a mono cab or FRFR speaker. So you can run stereo out of the main outs to FOH.


    I went powered because I'm not bothered about stereo live and didn't want a separate amp for driving guitar cabs.

    Quote from V8guitar

    To be clear the powered version does exactly the same as unpowered but you have the option to drive a mono cab or FRFR speaker. So you can run stereo out of the main outs to FOH.


    I went powered because I'm not bothered about stereo live and didn't want a separate amp for driving guitar cabs.


    This is exactly why I went with a powered head.

    So just so I am clear on routing options:


    1. The powered head is identical to the unpowered head with the addition of the poweramp output on the powerhead.


    2. So stereo FOH still the same on both units and either monitor out to powered FRFR or poweramp to drive a cabinet or standard cab from onboard poweramp.


    3. If messing around for home use and want to run stereo cabinets of some form, would you use the main outs that would normally feed FOH to cabinets (powered, poweramp to cabinets etc.)???


    Sorry still learning about the Kemper.

    Hi Tonester88


    Yes to your three questions. To qualify the 3rd question, if you wand to run stereo for home use, then you would run Main Outputs to active (powered) monitors, of which you will of course need two. Or, if you do not have powered monitors, and want to use traditional guitar cabinets, you would need an external, stereo power amp to accept the two Master Outputs from the KPA.


    Also, I most highly encourage you to read, in full, the Kemper Profiling Amp "Deeper View and Reference Manual 5.1", which is available on the Support ==> Downloads ==> User Manuals section of the main Kemper website.


    Cheers,
    John

    i have the unpowered version.Bought a custom made expensive A/B Class power amp and during live gigs it's great with a 1x12 cab, but after 4 years i think the powered kemper was a better solution.

    New to the forum. Hello everyone! I have the Kemper Powerhead and want to run Stereo via 1 - Powerhead Speaker Output to cabinet and a second (non-powered) output to a tube amplifier. I am confused if the non-powered output should be Monitor Out or the Direct Out. I know the submenu settings permit Monitor (Stereo) which sets up the Monitor and Direct Out as Stereo - Left and Right.


    If I am going Stereo and using Powerhead Speaker Out (which is tied internally to Monitor Out) to a non-powered Cabinet, what other output should be used for going to a tube amp? (Monitor or Direct Out)


    I don’t want two mono outs, but stereo for chorus and delays.

    I was able to connect with Hans-Jörg Scheffler with the Kemper Support Team. He explained the following setup to me for proper Stereo setup using PowerHead Speaker Out and the Direct Out puts to a tube amp combo. For anyone else interested in this setup, here is the note from Hans-Jörg:


    The setting for the monitor output also determines the settings of the PowerHead speaker output. In a stereo setting, they will both deliver the same side of the stereo signal.
    If your plan is to use the Stereo setup with an additional external tube amp, as a second power amp, you need to activate the monitor stereo option in the output menu, select master stereo as the output source for the monitor output and then connect the external tube amp to the Direct Out port on the Kemper PowerHead.
    Make sure to activate the Monitor cab off function in the output menu if you plan to use 2 standard guitar cabs for monitoring.
    Note that you will be using the Direct out for a second output. Since the Direct Out serves double duty as the effect send would not allow you to use the Effect Loop.

    I have an unpowerer and use it with a HeadRush FRFR. Absolutely no regrets.(ragrets, not even one letter)


    External Content www.youtube.com
    Content embedded from external sources will not be displayed without your consent.
    Through the activation of external content, you agree that personal data may be transferred to third party platforms. We have provided more information on this in our privacy policy.