NEW USER WITH UNIQUE SITUATION & SOME QUESTIONS

  • Hi folks.



    I once asked some questions here about the relative accessibility of the Kemper. As a tone-obsessed but totally blind guitarist, it has bothered me for years now that I cannot learn to use most of the better multieffects boxes or modellers, either because the physical hardware contains a touch screen or very few controls, menus and other lists wrap around, or the companion computer software to manage content on the hardware won't work with the screen-reading software I use. None of that appears to be true with the Kemper. Bravo Kemper GMBH! Whether this was intentional or a happy accident on my part, yours is the only world-class guitar processor I have a hope of mastering. Thank you, and please don't change this inclusive design philosophy! I apologize in advance for the length of this post. I'm an excited new user looking for some asistance.



    Key points that are game changers for blind people like me are:
    * 55 well organized, logically laid out actual knobs and buttons on the Kemper head! (having things organized into little tactile groups is cool!)



    * Lists of rigs, effect types, presets etc. don't wrap around! This is crucial when you can't see the visual display. I can crank a knob all the way left, confident that I am now on the first item, and then count clicks as I turn to the right. Kemper, please don't change this, even though I bet light-dependent folks are requesting wrap-around scrolling.



    * While the Rig Manager application for windows isn't fully accessible with my screen reading software — "I currently hear 'name ro 1 selected, null; name row 2 selected, null;" etc. as I arrow down the rig name column in the table — I found an accessibility consultant willing to craft a solution for me. Luckily, he's interested enough in the challenge to not want money, as his company usually gets $150 US an hour for this sort of consulting. It would be great if, in 2018, companies considered accessible UI design from the start, when developing their applications. If someone who has actual influence at Kemper is willing, I would love to have a conversation about making Rig manager more accessible to screen-reading software out of the box.



    Now, some questions.



    NOTE: Someone has gone through the entire front pannel of the head with me, and I took notes, so I do know where all the controls are, and I have the PDF manual for reference.



    1. The head I bought was demoed in the store for a couple of weeks, and somebody changed the main XLR outs to Mono. I need to change this to stereo.



    Specifically, what do I need to do, after pressing the Output button, to accomplish this? "press this, turn this two clicks to the right, etc." is the sort of help I need.



    2. Apparently, there's a function in the Kemper that will let me audition HEAR presets as I slowly turn the Select knob. How do I enable this? And, Kemper, if you're reading along, this behavior, where one can hear things change as they select or scroll through choices is prefered by those of us who can't see the visual display. Thanks for making the Rig Navigation Cross behave this way.



    3. I know about the glorious tones available from M Britt, Choptones and TopJimi, and the authorized Dr. Z and Benson profile packs. Have any other amp builders produced their own profile packs? Let the rig hoarding begin! :)



    4. I don't yet have the Kemper Remote, but am I right in thinking this will give me more physical control, and more immediate access to editing things on the hardware?



    5. If I have this right, Up and Down buttons in the Rig Navigation Cross move in groups of eight rigs. So, I'm thinking that to simplify my life, I should come up with five categories of sounds, eight rigs per category, something like: clean/jazz, slight breakup/blues, classic rock, hard rock, and metal/high gain. That leads me to:



    6. What's the difference between a "snapshot" and a performance", and which should I use to organize my 8 x 5 rig collection mentioned above?



    7. I see there is a new firmware release. Apparently Rig Manager will update the firmware on the attached Kemper automatically. I haven't noticed this happening yet. How often does the Rig manager phone home to check for updates? (Yes I have both checkboxes checked in Preferences)



    Again, sorry for the long post. Thanks in advance to anyone who can help with any of that.



    P.S. Does Kemper monitor these forums? Anyone have any connections in the company beyond the front-line tech support people? i.e. actual firmware or PC software devs? Heck, I'd love to express my gratitude to Christoph himself if possible, since he probably never envisioned blind folks using his product.

  • Just an idea like that, depending on where you live maybe Kemper , or someone in this forum, could suggest you a musicien or technician that would agree to go at your place to complete the installation... ex put it in stereo etc. Coz it is rather complicated at first for everyone. So a helper for 2 or 3 hours should be enough to get you a good start . Good luck PS where city do you live if i may ask ?

  • Hi,
    here is how to put the main output to stereo:
    you have to press the output button, that´s in the top row, the button to the very right.
    than you have to press the "page" buttons, these are the two buttons at the right side off the display.
    The output display has 6 pages, you have to make sure you´re on the firs page, all the way left.
    With the second rotary knob under the display, you can change what you´re sending to the main output.
    optins are: all to the left: off, Git+processing, Git Studio, Stack, Mod left, Mod mono, Mod stereo, Master left, Master Mono, Master stereo, delay/reverb wet.
    so if you turn it all the way to the right and than back to the left a little bit, you should be in stereo again.


    sounds much better in stereo ;)

  • you´re welcome BlindGuitarist!


    regarding your 2nd question : the autoload is activated as follows:
    when you turn the "Browse" rotary knob, the one to the upper right of the display, you can select presets.
    once you turned it, the autoload function can be activated by pressing the 4th button right over of the display.
    Once activated, the rigs load automatically as you scroll.


    a perfomance consists of 5 rigs that are all prloaded at the same time, so you can switch fast between them, a snapshot is just, well, a snapshot of the current settings in a rig that you can recall.


    Hope this is helpfull,


    Chris

  • Thanks Chris. that sorts out autoload too. :) This is all pretty easy. :)


    I went out to hear a band tonight and honest to God, the lead guitarist was using an original POD. Absolutely no highs. We've come a long way in 20 years!

  • Hey there,


    First of all, I love the mindset behind the 'light-dependend folks' thing, and how it turns the tables completely ;)


    As for question 4: the Remote serves to be used in 'Performance mode'. There you will have a number of performances, each consisting of 5 rigs (say clean/crunch/distortion/high-gain/and something else. On the remote you can scroll through these performances using up and down buttons, and choose the rig you use within that performance using 5 rig buttons. By pressing the corresponding rig button twice you also have access to the morph function. You then have 4 knobs which you can map to the FX slots (to switch these on or off), both before or after the amp module. You can access the tuner (although I suspect you are doing this by ear), and you can turn the rig buttons into a looper using an extra button. And you can connect expression pedals for volume, pitch, wah, morph. You obviously can't edit parameters like the amount of gain or reverb from the remote. The remote is designed to quickly switch settings in a live setting, which usually consist of a carefully prepared collection of presets, which must be switched on a dark stage. From the dark stage to your condition is not very far...


    As for question 5: well, maybe the performance mode in combination with a remote gives you a more consistent way of sorting your rigs. You see, in browse mode, the screen indeed shows 8 rigs, but which rigs are shown together is just a result of the sorting of the list of rigs. You can sort rigs by name, author, show only favorites, and last but not least by gain. The sorting by gain may bring you close to what you wanted in your question. But then, when you would add a rig to the profiler, the list gets longer, and that rig is sorted in between the others, so your grouping by 8 will be offset. I can imagine what a pain that will be if you must navigate by touch...


    In performance mode, you must go through the hassle of loading your favorite rigs into performances and thus sorting them manually, but once that is done you can use the remote to scroll through them, and adding an extra rig in browse mode wont mess up your sorting pattern.

  • Sorry guys, just catching up now. The site was down for most of monday (at least according to Firefox here)



    Thanks @808illest for @ckemper's username info.



    SKollapse: Ooo, Victory Amps? Definitely grabbing those! Hopefully the V30 II is in there.



    I gather "wholesome" means the same as "righteous" "bitchin'" or "da bomb"? :)



    Great about the Remote.
    Question: can I sort rigs into performances using the Rig Manager?

  • Great about the Remote.
    Question: can I sort rigs into performances using the Rig Manager?

    You can, but I do remember that the time I tried it, it was a bit buggy... Could have been me or my computer, and in the mean time many updates have been released. I suggest you try it: performance mode also works without the remote :) The folder with the list of performances found in your kemper is all the way down in the left panel.


    Oh, and if budget would matter: some people use a Behringer FCB1010 fitted with a Uno4Kemper, which is a custom firmware for the FCB so it works with the kemper just like the remote. Only 2 downsides are that you don't have a display like you have on the remote, but more importantly, you run 2 MIDI cables + power to the FCB, instead of just an ethernet cable providing 2 way communication and power. Offcourse some people found a solution for this too, and use a 7-pin two-way MIDI cable with power for the FCB sent through the MIDI cable. On the upside, the FCB is fitted with 2 expression pedals, which are not standard on the Kemper Remote.

  • If you open two windows in the Rig Manager you can copy and paste rigs from one window into a performance in the second window. That performance you may then copy into the Kemper. You may need someone to help you or not. I hope you can manage.

    Never too old for rock'n'roll

  • .
    Oh, and if budget would matter: some people use a Behringer FCB1010 fitted with a Uno4Kemper, which is a custom firmware for the FCB so it works with the kemper just like the remote. Only 2 downsides are that you don't have a display like you have on the remote, but more importantly, you run 2 MIDI cables + power to the FCB, instead of just an ethernet cable providing 2 way communication and power. Offcourse some people found a solution for this too, and use a 7-pin two-way MIDI cable with power for the FCB sent through the MIDI cable. On the upside, the FCB is fitted with 2 expression pedals, which are not standard on the Kemper Remote.

    i used to use the FCB1010 with UNO chip. Unless I was using it wrong the other downside is that the top row of pedal are configured for Stomps A,B and C plus FX slot X. There were other modes you could set it to but not the instant flexible routing you get from the remote where you can instantly assign one or more stomps/FX to any of the four remote switches.


    FCB is also quite a bit bigger and heavier than the remore if that matters. i carry my KPA toaster and remote plus expression pedals in the single Kemper gigbag which makes get in and get out super easy. I couldn’t do that previously with the FCB.


    I’m definitely glad I upgraded to the remote but the FCB1010 is a good low cost solution.