Help, I bought a Kemper.

  • Hello my friends,

    at first I'd like to apologise since I am sure with minimum amount of research I could get my answers without opening another thread. Anyways, I was planning to buy a Kemper at some point in the next few months. This Black Friday I made a very spontanious purchase and bought a Kemper with 200 bucks off. Since I was about to get it at some point anyways, why not get it now and safe some money, assuming the price wont drop in the next 6 months. Now this thing will arrive in the next few days and there is tons of resources about it on the internet. Right now I only know the very basics so I have the following questions:

    What are the sources for the in general most recommended must read/watch tutorials/guides etc to learn the fundamentals and dig a little deeper?

    I have a focusrite scarlett solo 2nd gen (which only has rca output) and I will probably buy some KRK RP5 Rokit G3s (unless someone suggests those are a terrible choice). What is the best way to connect my Kemper to the scarlett into the rokits, while recording into my DAW? What is the signal chain, what cables do I need and what outputs to use on the Kemper?


    Any Input is much appreciated.

  • Make sure you familiarise yourself with Kemper Tutorials...

    https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGGZ01rd9e82wTUK406XVaw

    Then check out Tone Junkie's Kemper 101 video....

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    And finally make sure you download and read the full manual as it covers just about everything to turn you into a Kemper Pro..

    https://www.kemper-amps.com/downloads/5/User-Manuals

    And lastly, welcome to the club and enjoy your new toy. :)

  • Read the manual. It's well written and if it gets a bit confusing just move on but I guarantee you'll pick up a stack of great information.


    I find it aggravating the number of users that come here requesting features that are already in the box. It's a brilliant device, well designed but full of things that you really ought to look into properly to make the most of.

  • Now I don't about the "best" way to connect the Kemper to Focusrite and KRK, but the easiest it: Guitar cable into the Kemper, main out (two TR cables if you want to be stereo in your Daw) to the two TR input of the Focusrite.
    Then Focusrite RCA out to KRK.

    Configure your DAW, that's all.
    You can also try the "direct monitor" = off to get no latency. But... looses stereo with this 2i2 model I think (the 2i4 seems to be able to keep it).

  • Having just bought my Kemper a couple of weeks ago, I totally misread that title as,


    "Help, I bought a Kemper, now I keep calling in sick to work so I can play guitar and I haven't slept for several days. Does anyone know of a good 12 step program?"


    Of course, I was wrong. That will be your post next week. :)


    Welcome, and hope you're having as much fun as I am.

    Kemper remote -> Powered toaster -> Yamaha DXR-10

  • Now I don't about the "best" way to connect the Kemper to Focusrite and KRK, but the easiest it: Guitar cable into the Kemper, main out (two TR cables if you want to be stereo in your Daw) to the two TR input of the Focusrite.
    Then Focusrite RCA out to KRK.

    Configure your DAW, that's all.
    You can also try the "direct monitor" = off to get no latency. But... looses stereo with this 2i2 model I think (the 2i4 seems to be able to keep it).

    This was excactly what I was looking for. Definitely going to try it this way.

    Also thanks yall for all the warm welcomes, reading your replies makes me so much more excited about my Kemper arriving in a few days. Looks like reading through the manual is a good source for knowledge and a nice way to kill the time until arrival.

  • I found the tutorial videos to be exceptionally good. Also love the tone of the voice of the dude who narrates them ;)


    If you have not heard the Kemper live like we did not before the package got delivered, I advise you to "cleanse" yourself mentally. Like I said before, after hooking it up and trying it for the first time I was like, this is BS, it cannot sound this good. :)


    Getting a lot of sleep ahead of time is a solid advice for both when about to have a baby and also before taking delivery of the Kemper.

  • I highly recommend you sell the Focusrite Scarlett Solo and get the Focusrite Scarlett 6i6 2nd Gen instead.

    You really don't want to miss out on e.g. stereo monitoring (and recording) of your beautiful Kemper Profiler, plus DI recording, plus reamping and all the other good stuff.


    Regarding the speakers … well, I do understand that you need to buy cheap. But why would you buy an expensive and professional piece of gear (the Kemper) and then not be able to enjoy its potential just because of tiny speakers that won't do the Profiler any justice? :) Save some more and at least get the 8" woofer KRK RP8s.



    main out (two TR cables if you want to be stereo in your Daw) to the two TR input of the Focusrite

    The Focusrite Scarlett Solo doesn't have 2 TR inputs!

    You can also try the "direct monitor" = off to get no latency

    The best way to have no latency is to actually use Direct Monitoring of the interface.

  • Regarding the speakers … well, I do understand that you need to buy cheap. But why would you buy an expensive and professional piece of gear (the Kemper) and then not be able to enjoy its potential just because of tiny speakers that won't do the Profiler any justice? :) Save some more and at least get the 8" woofer KRK RP8s.

    You're so right!!!!! I cannot understand why some guys will ruin their sound introducing shit materiel in their pro hi-fi chain . Guys... ITS A CHAIN !!! A Kemper is a high quality product and must be linked in a high quality chain. First good guitars and pickups then the Kemper than good cabs and good sound card . If you cheap on something in that chain you'll end up sounding like sh-t , Do like me I dont buy anything , I wait and put money aside and cut on some luxury like ... holiday at the beach or whatever , to be able to buy QUALITY only quality products . Then I'll be able to work as a pro and get holiday in Hawaii later on . You must think like a pro

  • You're so right!!!!! I cannot understand why some guys will ruin their sound introducing shit materiel in their pro hi-fi chain . Guys... ITS A CHAIN !!! A Kemper is a high quality product and must be linked in a high quality chain. First good guitars and pickups then the Kemper than good cabs and good sound card . If you cheap on something in that chain you'll end up sounding like sh-t , Do like me I dont buy anything , I wait and put money aside and cut on some luxury like ... holiday at the beach or whatever , to be able to buy QUALITY only quality products . Then I'll be able to work as a pro and get holiday in Hawaii later on . You must think like a pro

    Can you suggest me a better alternative regarding studio monitors? My budget is not too tight but I am just a hobby musician, I read good things about the g3s and I thought they would be a good starting point. I dont need anything big since I can not play that loud in my appartment.


    Also: Kemper arriving tomorrow, I am hyped.

  • Can you suggest me a better alternative regarding studio monitors? My budget is not too tight but I am just a hobby musician, I read good things about the g3s and I thought they would be a good starting point. I dont need anything big since I can not play that loud in my appartment.


    Also: Kemper arriving tomorrow, I am hyped.

    lightbox already did... get the 8" woofer KRK RP8s. You'll appreciate the bass response/freq's but you should also consider his suggestion of upgrading that interface! ;)

  • I would definitely suggest auditioning a few different monitors before buying. Although studio monitors are intended to be as flat as possible (unlike hifi speakers which intentcolour the sound) there is no such thing as a truly flat speaker so they all have their own character. Although I haven’t tried the KRK i know they are extremelt popular. However, a lot of reviews do mention a somewhat hyped sound that is particularly good for electronic music. Their particular character may be exactly right for you or another model may just be exactly what you are looking for.


    At a similar price point you could consider Yamaha HS7, Adam T7V or a number of others. I love my Adam A7x which are a bit more expensive. Other alternatives in the higher price range include Genelec etc.


    It is definitely worth trying before buying if you can.

  • Yup. I'd suggest the Yammy HS8 if you can afford them, or as Alan said, the HS7.


    Personally I've always found the budget-KRK offerings a tad "hard-sounding", but it's horses for courses I s'pose.


    At least with the Yammies you'd be looking at a budget-driven "neutral" sound; they're not known for hype, unlike the ol' Yammy NS10s.