First impressions and a couple of questions...

  • All right; so I received my Kemper today and rigged it for my home studio. I just browsed through the presets. I am underwhelmed, to put it mildly, and couldn't find one tone I liked, judging from this quick browse-through. It feels stiff, doesn't respond anything near amp-like, and the sounds are harsh. This irritates me, because I really want to like this unit. Makes me think that there's a setting somewhere that's not right. I didn't cycle through an initial settings process -- I think I read somewhere that you're supposed to do this. Maybe somebody has fiddled with the unit before I got it, maybe it's supposed to be like this. I'll keep on digging, and first of all I'll update to the latest firmware. Next up is a few user rigs.


    Ok, so how do I register for a full membership in this forum?


    (Edit: A small disclaimer -- I also use and love the Axe-FX, and I post at the Axe forums. I'm not into starting pissing contests, though; I'm interested in making the best of both units.)

  • Lots of good info on the forum but some questions that typically come up when a thread such as your appears is:


    What are you playing the amp through? If traditional speaker cab - turn off cabs(but you know this if you have an Axe). There is a thread about how the Kemper doesn't completely take the cab out but there is also a thread about how to get around it - upload a rig that was done d.i. direct input, go to the can and save it as whatever you want to name it, go to another rig, browse for that d.i. (no cab) cab and then hold the lock button down to lock it so that when you switch profiles you don't have to keep doing this.


    What outputs are you using to accomplish this? Is it correct based on what the manual suggests? Hopefully this is all it is since the two different outs are different.


    What firmware are you using? The current non-beta firmware has been recently updated (I believe 1.04) or you can try the newest beta but should anticipate potential bugs.


    You might also want to look at adjusting the input settings and you might want to save it for that guitar and lock it.


    Check your noise gate levels.


    I'm no expert by any means but the above are some decent starting points.

    "Tone is in the fingers" is not a necessary response to anything that I might type on any internet forum threads. Thank you.

  • Stock profiles are not the best and threw me as well.
    User rig exchange has the stuff you need.
    Profile your fave axfex amp sounds if you need proof.


    PS upgrade to new firmware.
    What its shipped with is old and there is latency.

  • As with most stock sounds, I found about 5 that I liked, the rest I could do without. Until user ones started popping up, will you get an idea of what the box is capable of. What type of sounds do you like to gravitate towards? perhaps I can suggest some user profiles...

  • Best place to start is profiling your favorite amp. Tweak the settings on your amp, move the mic around, make a bunch of profiles. Then use your profiles to learn the Kemper. This way you start with your sounds that you're comfortable with.

  • All right; so I received my Kemper today and rigged it for my home studio. I just browsed through the presets. I am underwhelmed, to put it mildly, and couldn't find one tone I liked, judging from this quick browse-through. It feels stiff, doesn't respond anything near amp-like, and the sounds are harsh. This irritates me, because I really want to like this unit. Makes me think that there's a setting somewhere that's not right. I didn't cycle through an initial settings process -- I think I read somewhere that you're supposed to do this. Maybe somebody has fiddled with the unit before I got it, maybe it's supposed to be like this. I'll keep on digging, and first of all I'll update to the latest firmware. Next up is a few user rigs.


    Ok, so how do I register for a full membership in this forum?


    (Edit: A small disclaimer -- I also use and love the Axe-FX, and I post at the Axe forums. I'm not into starting pissing contests, though; I'm interested in making the best of both units.)

    Import the 'cabs' into your Kemper.
    http://dl.dropbox.com/u/551117…2%20-%20Kemper%20Cabs.zip


    And here are most of the user Profiles.
    http://dl.dropbox.com/u/551117…iles%20Feb%207%202012.zip


    And here are the Axe-FX11 Profiles.
    http://dl.dropbox.com/u/551117…-%20AXEFX2%20Profiles.zip


    If you try some of these Profiles with Till's cabs and you don't like them then don't waste your time, it's obvious the KPA doesn't gel with your playing style and favourite tones...return it.


    Try not to do a review on day one, rather wait a day or two for your ears to adjust.
    Also, post a clip of some recordings you've done then perhaps we can put you onto some appropriate Profiles.

  • When I first got my unit I updated to 1.06 with no problems and immediately uploaded user profiles. One thing I had to do though was tweak a lot of them for my ears. Typically I adjust the presence and treble up... I don't know why, but some profiles sounded muffled. It takes me literally seconds though to tweak them. I have yet to go through all the profiles, because I get stuck on so many good profiles. Maybe after the update you will feel different, but like guitartone said if you don't like it return it. I was a real tube amp guy and I can't imagine returning mine. I play through some pretty crappy speakers as well.

  • Thanks for the replies, folks. No, I'm not dissing it after a couple of hours playing time. I'm intrigued by this take on the whole modelling-thing, and I'm going to give the Kemper my best. Yesterday, I upgraded the software and imported a ton of new amps. I didn't get to test more than one or two, but upgrading and installing new profiles definitely helped. Still, there are some things I'm struggling with, but much of this is may be a matter of habits and what I'm used to.


    As for the things I hook it up to: I've been using the Axe-FX Ultra for the last couple of years and the Axe 2 for the last few months, so my entire amplification eco-system is built around FRFR (apart from my old tube amps that I can't seem to let go of :). I tested the Kemper in my studio through monitors I know. I run it as it's supposed to be run for FRFR applications.


    Again, it may or may not be for me, as Guitartone pointed out, but I'll try the different suggestions mentioned above. I'll try to post a few clips as well.

  • But; how do I register the Kemper for full access to the forums?

    Go to the webpage (not the forum), up right you have a login link, after you're logged (with e-mail and password, not nickname) click on your name and then on the tab "register your amp"

    "Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music" Serghei Rachmaninoff


  • The Input section has Clean Sens and Distortion Sens parameters that have helped for me (turn them down). Try turning down the mids and the lows in the Output menu, the Kemper is voiced different from the Axe and turning these down helped me until I got used to the Kemper.


    Profile some of those tube amps. I was having a hard time with factory and user profiles and was considering sending the KPA back, I created my own profiles and am really happy with them.

  • Stock profiles are not the best and threw me as well.
    User rig exchange has the stuff you need.
    Profile your fave axfex amp sounds if you need proof.


    PS upgrade to new firmware.
    What its shipped with is old and there is latency.


    Bill is correct, although the factory presets are like many others in that they are trying to catch a wide range of tonal tastes as a "demo" thing. Similar to me in there are some amps I just don't personally like.


    There are som nice profiles done and landing on some things which are goind to appeal is something I was able to get, and I'm not easy to please.


    I'm in the midst of lots or recording right now, but I'll be doing some profiles of some interesting amps as soon as possible.

  • Ok, so fellow forumite Audioholic sent me some profiles, and man! did this make a difference. In addition, I upgraded to the latest beta which also helped the latency problem (there's still some latency, but I guess it'll be better with later firmware upgrades). But different models from the stock ones really did the trick. I'll post a few clips from my favorites later on, but there's a couple of Marshalls around that I really like, a Splawn and a Vox (AC-30 I guess) that will be useful.


    Now, the latest firmware beta is unstable, so befor I'll use it live, this has to be remedied. I can't use the master output without silencing the entire amp, having to reboot (which takes some time). Also, I look forward to more effects -- kinda spoiled with the Axe-FX.


    But the amp is starting to sound seriously good, which is the most important thing to me.


    I sold off most of my tube amps when I had used the Axe Ultra exclusively for a year or two, so I only have a couple left. But I'll borrow or rent a couple of mics and attempt to profile my modded JCM 2000 and my Blankenship Variplex.

  • Also an ultra/axe2 guy. Only about a week in and I am loving this thing. Here are some axe2-headed thoughts...
    I dont use the axe2 to it's full extent and the only thing I miss is my violin patch(wonder if I could profile a synth patch?). Synth blocks can be useful, but I only used it as color on a floyd tune or two. The kpa/midimate was a blast last night. I can't remember the last time I was this happy with my tone. Cut like a chainsaw through the mix-when I wanted it to. Sunk back into it when I wanted to. Just perfect. I try to keep 2 banks of 5 patches from clean to mean so I can NOT mess with the head itself for the most part. I had to turn down some bass in a patch or two but that is so simple and fast with the retro interface. After the first ten minutes or so, I pretty much stuck on my first 5, which was a Nuno clean MP1, a bogner-maybe PT bogner blue or something, and a slash jcm I think. I really was just looking at whatever names I had stuck in the midimate. A mesa orange patch I got recently and a JSX ch3 or something round out the five. I have a cool Tills engl on the second bank but I didnt get to that. Didnt need to! Over 900 profiles, and I pretty much used the main 3 last night.
    I haven't had any issues like the ones you mention. I have the latest non-beta on one, and the latest 1.07 beta on the other(yeah I got two of them). Neither has an issue so far. My only complaint is that the backup doesnt completely clone one system to the other. That would be perfect. I lock my effects(on the axe2 I make one catch-all patch and change the amp/cab and sometimes drive pedals) The restore doesnt keep the ones I locked. Easy fix. Make one preset with all the effects I want and just relock those. Hope to do that this weekend. Got some wah specs off the forum and it works great.
    I dont use any of the default profiles. Many sound like they are in another room, or stuff in a closet. When I find one that hits hard like a real amp right outta the gate-that is a winner. I'm sure you can tweak to get more of them that way-but time isnt something I have a ton of. I've also found profiles I really like that I would never have even wanted to based on the amp choice. The glamorous high end amps that i want to like, so-so. Some little combo amp or mp1-wow. So ignore the name, trust your ears. Also, mess with cabs. If you don't have the cabs that Tills made, get them-I like the 1960 -6 a lot. Sometimes even good presets matched with a kickin cab get even better. I always struggled with IRs on the axe2.

    Guitars-Lifeson Axcess Red, Lifeson Axcess Brown, Iced Tea Axcess stop tail, LRP Sig 57
    Amp-Axefx2, KPA, G5, GSP1101, RCF, QSC, Matrix, EHX-Mag44

  • Now, the latest firmware beta is unstable, so befor I'll use it live, this has to be remedied. I can't use the master output without silencing the entire amp, having to reboot (which takes some time).


    It is just that the main outs volume gets cut because they are linked and this can be unstable ..if this happen try to turn several time the master to the right (2-3 turns) ...may be mute your power amp while doing this..
    You can also enter the master menu and you will see that volume is on minus infinite..you do not need to reboot ;)