Is the Kemper headed for the same tech graveyard as the Virus?

  • I'm with Chris.

    I also only buy "as is". If it does what I need today - count me in! If it doesn't - sorry I'll pass for now.


    In business I have been on the receving end of software providers promising that their product did most of what I needed but would shortly be able to provide the additional missing piece of the jigsaw. You guessed it! It NEVER EVER worked out like that. It was a hard and expensive lesson to learn but i DID learn it. Never again will I buy anything (software or otherwise) that doesn't do everything I need of it TODAY. Of course I hope it might improve further and continue to develop with new features that I currently don't need or haven't even thought of but that is a nice bonus.

  • I'm waiting for my Kemper to arrive by the end of this week. Buying the Kemper is a quite significant investment for me (as for most people here, I guess) and I didn't take this decision lightly. I bought it because of what it can do right now. I consider any update or new functionality as pure bonus. I was tempted to wait for NAMM to see if they would bring out anything new, but in the end the Kemper does already do all I need and much more.

  • When the Kemper was released there were features that were not yet finished, so there was definitely an expectation of further development. However, after adding many of these and maybe ditching some, such as the tone stack presets, they have continued to develop the product further than their initial plan. Very appreciated.


    Seemingly the only limit to catching tube amp tones is the creativity of the profiler.


    So regardless of what tomorrow brings for the Kemper this model will always catch and playback the amp tones.


    Thanks again for designing and developing such an innovative product.

  • I purchased it as it is too. Everything they made better and will release is just a bonus. I mean most of us, if not everyone,a own or has owned hw-amps. Have anyone complained after a while it doesn't have this it doesn't have that and no updates? As soon as something is digital people start to act differently. Why? I just don't get it.

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

    Henry David Thoreau

  • Definitely purchased it "as-is" too. Being an old-school fuddy-duddy, all I was looking for was something that could emulate tube amps well.


    Heard about the unit in 2012 but, silly me, I continued on the L6 path I started with POD 1.0 back in the '90s, tearing my hair out with an HD500 and only switching to Kemper 3 years after having heard about it. Shame on me!

  • I bought my Kemper thanks to the video review Tony McKenzie posted at that time in 2012 but for me was very important their statement that Kemper will be updated in the future and all updates will be free.. this was quite important to me when considering if I buy Kemper or not.. 8)


    but if they quit the updates (for instance today) I will be not disappointed because big improvement has happened from Kemper 2012 to Kemper 2018.. for me if they add those pre-annouced new Reverbs I´m done.. do not need even updates on stomp boxes because I still use my beloved Robert Keeley´s Red Dirt Mini Overdrive in front of it.. ;)

  • it should be this video:

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    14:42 "..this is 10 out of 10.. .. and buy one!.." so I bought it :D:D:D

  • I think the whole premise of the OP is a flawed one.


    When I was a kid in the fifties, the 'next big thing' was going to be flying cars. My dad did not buy his '57 Belair expecting that in '66 he could fly over route 66 instead of driving on it. Note to those still waiting; the FAA has enough trouble dealing with air traffic without flying cars.


    I even question whether the title of this thread is valid. Virus is not in the "tech graveyard". I saw an interview from Burkhard a year or so ago in which he said that he might revisit the Virus development at some point after the point at which he felt he'd nailed the Kemper. He is obviously still working on the Kemper.


    But more importantly, the Virus A, B and Indigo just got a huge upgrade from Spectrasonics. Not only is there now hardware integration with Omnisphere 2.5, but there are Virus specific features and presets in Omnisphere 2.5 that are exclusive to the Virus.


    The hardware integration more than adds the Virus' physical controls to Omnisphere's sounds. As you adjust any hardware control on the Virus, the two way communication between Virus and Omnisphere updates the on screen graphics and actual Omnisphere sounds in real time. In effect, Omnisphere 2.5 has become a new engine for the Virus hardware.


    Want more than a new synth engine? Add Keyscape. It has 36 modeled instruments covering acoustic pianos, electric pianos, clavinets, harpsichords, etc.


    Keyscape is fully integrated into Omnisphere. So you can use Virus' hardware controls to control Keyscape's models. From the website:


    Quote

    As a bonus for Omnisphere 2.5 users, Keyscape also integrates fully as a satellite instrument within the Omnisphere® interface. Keyscape will simply appear as a library inside Omnisphere’s browser for users of both plugins. This capability allows Omnisphere 2 users to harness additional functionality like Live Mode, Stack Mode, Multitimbrality, endless FX routings and the full synthesis power of the STEAM Engine® to explore endless new sonic possibilities and combinations.



    Keyscape also has a way to meld two of the models (like a clav with a Rhodes) to create an entirely new instrument.


    Quote

    Along with the hundreds of patches based on the 36 instrument models, Keyscape includes special hybrid "Duo" sounds which combine two of the instruments to create something entirely new. The unique timbre of these Duo patches make them some of the most creative and inspiring sounds in Keyscape!


    So Virus now has a second new engine.


    Who cares that it was made by a different manufacturer? I know I'd buy a set of wings for my Buick Encore if Ford made them. As long as it turned my GM car into a tiltrotor so I could fly over traffic, I'd shell out the money.

  • Definitely purchased it "as-is" too. Being an old-school fuddy-duddy, all I was looking for was something that could emulate tube amps well.


    Heard about the unit in 2012 but, silly me, I continued on the L6 path I started with POD 1.0 back in the '90s, tearing my hair out with an HD500 and only switching to Kemper 3 years after having heard about it. Shame on me!

    Your'e forgiven my son. It's never too late being on the right side. ;):D

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

    Henry David Thoreau

  • I'm just not sure how anyone can buy a product based upon its future potential...when that is not stated anywhere. I can see its an added bonus, but not part of the decision whether to purchase or not.

  • Since October the KPA made it possible for me to get jobs which brought me three times the "investestment" I did when I bought it years ago..actually the KPA enables me all the time since I bought it to do jobs I never ever even thought I would do in the future.If this does not sound like a tool which evolves then I don't know what..


    In the first time of three decades of making music I have the feeling that I am "ready" for everything to come my way gearwise.And for the first time I am absolutely fine with the idea to support Kemper for this..buying "everything" from them.Funny enough..for the first time in my life I feel like a "shareholder"..:P


    Sometimes things have not to develop "fast"..they just need to "make sense" and to have this "special seriousness".We talk about "trust" in the end.I have absolutely "trust" in this little company to let me not down in any situation.Big words..sorry for the drama..


    But right now I feel much more secure to have two KPA than to have a dozen tube amps,a hundred pedals or any other digital tool out there which changes every few months like a smartphone gadget.