C'mon Kemper, release an au/vst already

  • Vertibration you created the same request thread in 2017, why do you create a second thread?

    Now the moderators have to merge this thread also.

    "C'mon Kemper, release an au/vst already"

    C'mon Kemper, release an au/vst already


    This topic has been discussed several times and I think the arguments for them not doing a kemper vst remains solid to me.

    There are many different successful business strategies depending on many factors.

    Some seem to believe that every company's goal is to reach the biggest market and expand, but that is not how it works.

    Many smaller companies that have a very exclusive product in the high-end market share that is doing great already are fully content with that and have no interest in getting bigger, upscaling, losing margins, devaluing their exclusive hardware products and RDA with easily copied/pirated software. Kemper is far more exclusive than Line6 (unique profiling patent, cab tech, amp & effects and everything is in the coding and algorithms) and they rationally have no interest in releasing that in a simple software version, they are doing great as a company already. Sure it would be convenient for users, but that's not how business works and it makes perfect sense.



    This is my previous reply from your first thread from 2017:

    "As soon as a company release a software product they know they can no longer protect it from piracy.

    All popular software gets cracked. I think the majority of all software amps are cracked by now, ilok offers no protection.

    Helix, Scuffham S-Gear, Amplitube, Overloud TH3, Peavey Revalver, BIAS Amp, Pod farm, TSE, Kazrog, Kuassa, Studio Devil, Softube and other amp sims are cracked.


    Helix was cracked more than a year ago and Line6 just released a new firmware update, that new version is already cracked within a day. Software companies calculate a certain loss to piracy in their budget and still manage to make a profit, but not all.

    It usually involves that they keep coming up with many updates and features to keep customers interested.


    I think the Kemper has proven to be a very successful, unique and different product compared to traditional component modelers that it makes 100% sense for them to only offer hardware. The software code inside the kemper is everything and it's logical they should protect it. Since the majority of kemper users don't profile amps, a software kemper "profile player" would kill the hardware.

    Soon all profiles would be pirated as well and easily shared because the interest would be much bigger.

    Only a few can afford a kemper, but everyone can get a free cracked software."

  • I don't get the whole "protect it from piracy" thing . This is valid feature request for many resons.

    For me it can be handy for tracking and bounce tracks in DAW faster then real time(witch is pain in the ass with single kemper and several guitar DI tracks) .Yea - I know you can buy several KPA's to track in real time but you still can't bounce like with plugins.

    So big +1 from me . And I would leave "piracy" thing for the KPA Team to worry about.

  • Firstly, I am not a software dude so I really have no knowledge of what is or isn’t involved; I am merely thinking aloud as an uneducated guitarist tar player.


    Surely the biggest issue is that the current hardware version runs on a specific audio chip? In order to make it a VST would presumably require a massive amount of time and effort to try and rewrite it in a code format that would be compatible with Mac and Windows formats. As the team already seem to have their hands pretty full on other projects it would seem they would be overstretched in trying to do so.

  • All those amp sims you mentioned that got cracked, are not running the latest ilok. Neural DSP is running the latest ilok, and has not been cracked. None of their plugins have been cracked, and thats a fact. So worrying about Kemper getting cracked, is valid if they choose their own authorization methods, but if they use ilok, its a pretty solid protection against piracy.


    Line 6 uses their own proprietary method of licensing, and thats their problem. Neural DSP was smart enough to use ilok

  • All those amp sims you mentioned that got cracked, are not running the latest ilok. Neural DSP is running the latest ilok, and has not been cracked. None of their plugins have been cracked, and thats a fact. So worrying about Kemper getting cracked, is valid if they choose their own authorization methods, but if they use ilok, its a pretty solid protection against piracy.


    Line 6 uses their own proprietary method of licensing, and thats their problem. Neural DSP was smart enough to use ilok

    First of all. Everything will be cracked eventually. It's just a matter of time. Kemper is all about profiling and not about ampsims. If you want ampsims, there are plenty of them already. Do I want an ampsim of the kemper? No way! When the kemper arrived, my days of ampsims was over and I will never look back. The world seems to be full of spoiled ppl demanding this and that and they expect it right now. If you want both, well then get Helix. Just becuase they did both doesn't mean kemper should do the same.

    Think for yourself, or others will think for you wihout thinking of you

    Henry David Thoreau

  • while everyone's point is valid about licensing, you also have to take into consideration that a lot of those cracks dont even work half the time, or have issues installing properly. Some people who pirate software jump through hoops trying to get programs installed, and working correctly.


    I actually understand what your saying Monkey Man about Kemper not wanting to expose the guts of the Kemper. What about Fractal FAS-Reverb?


    That has not been cracked. I think your right that pirates put their attention on certain plugins way more than others, and a one off plugin that is a pain in the butt to crack, may not be very enticing for them.


    The question is whether a Kemper plugin would be enticing enough for them to crack, if it had good copy protection.


    Look at it this way, it takes a bit for pirates to crack software. Now if Kemper released a plugin, offered a preorder sale a month in advance, that would seem to me like a very profitable way to offset pirating at least in the beginning . Neural DSP did that with the Fortin Suite, and its still not cracked.

  • The Kemper feels like an amp to me, but if it became a plugin that would feel like a lesser product somehow. Without the hardware costs, the team would also not be able to support free upgrades and the product would change. A lot of time and cost would have to be devoted to futile attempts to protect their intellectual property, while customers would expect a Kemper for $100.

    Karl


    Kemper Rack OS 9.0.5 - Mac OS X 12.6.7

  • I think that's an important point you made, karlic, about the free upgrades. The model that Kemper have chosen is the front loading model where a customer pays upfront for the privilege of free upgrades to the system over time. In fact it is one of their primary selling points for the profiler so if they went down the path of the vst software profiler, that philosophy would have to change to a continual cycle of selling new versions over time.

  • The company does not currently have to worry about piracy as they do hardware based modelling.


    If they have a sustainable business that makes them happy and they have zero worries about someone stealing their IP then why change? I realise protection can be effective but it can never be 100% and, when it’s gone, it’s gone. You’re then relying on the honesty of customers which isn’t a business plan. They’re obviously making enough money to make the business work and indeed grow with new hardware whilst being able to afford to give free updates to customers who have zero chance of being pirates.


    Also, if they were to make a full Kemper plugin it would have to be a fraction of the cost of the hardware. Whilst some folks would ‘need’ the hardware, some potential buyers would be happy with the plugin so you’d see a fall in sales of the hardware. Would this be overtaken by masses of sales of plugins, especially when some folks would inevitably wait for the crack?


    They’re a business. If it was do-able with the team they have and the numbers looked favourable they’d do it. Who knows, still might but I’m not holding my breath for the above reasons.


    I’d still like to see the plugin that controls the hardware Kemper at some point - it would be another great feature that adds value to their product and gives no risk of lost sales / piracy.

  • Almost everyone said the same thing about iLok1 - that it couldn't be cracked, and yet after a year or two, viola!

    And they said the same thing about Cubase too and then C5 was cracked. Monkey_Man Waves abandoned ilok. They have their Waves Central instead.

    Think for yourself, or others will think for you wihout thinking of you

    Henry David Thoreau

  • The question is whether a Kemper plugin would be enticing enough for them to crack, if it had good copy protection.


    Look at it this way, it takes a bit for pirates to crack software. Now if Kemper released a plugin, offered a preorder sale a month in advance, that would seem to me like a very profitable way to offset pirating at least in the beginning . Neural DSP did that with the Fortin Suite, and its

    It becomes a sport for them to crack something that's not easily to crack. It took very long time to crack Cubase 5. I took a long time to eventually crack ilok. A kemper vst will surely be cracked. No doubt about it.


    It doesn't matter what sales method anyone offers. It will be cracked sooner or later. I remember I read an interview with Native Instruments a long time ago. They said the first of couple of weeks when they released something new they sold much but after that, they sold so little it was embarrasing low. Why? Becuase by then it was already cracked and it annyoed them of course.

    Think for yourself, or others will think for you wihout thinking of you

    Henry David Thoreau

  • Making a vst would require more staff. And more employees cost. Making a vst that soon will become cracked and less and less buyers would cost more in the end You have to take that into consideration too.

    Think for yourself, or others will think for you wihout thinking of you

    Henry David Thoreau

  • Also let's not forget that the profiler is not coded in any official language API nor is it using a X86 platform. Both the Motorola 56K coupled with an API built from the ground up by CK himself is the secret sauce of the profiler. To go and create a vst to work on a generic platform would require an entire rebuild from the ground up in official APIs. Not an easy or cheap task by any means...

  • A VST that offers Total Integration similar to the Access Virus synths would be cool. It is really overdue to have some method of recalling the settings that were used in projects. I am keeping my fingers crossed that the Librarian will be something like that.


    As far as a full-fledged Profile player, I wouldn't hold my breath. It would be akin to Kemper Amps shooting itself in the foot.

  • It is a shame that there is no way to protect plugins, but that is the same problem for our music as well since digital. I particularly remember feeling disenchanted after spending thousands on plugins like Sonnox etc and then seeing everyone using cracks.


    I could see Kemper having an AAX or VST plugin that recalls the settings and rig as long as a hardware unit is connected. The only thing is that I prefer that their efforts are spent on improvements in tone instead of external software.

    Karl


    Kemper Rack OS 9.0.5 - Mac OS X 12.6.7

  • a plugin for hardware recall would be so handy. I’m working on different projects regularly and it would be so much more convenient to have all the relevant profiles saved within the session.


    The editor will be so helpful too, it’s hard to position the kemper in a visible space in my studio and certain menu’s can be cumbersome to scroll through.