Dave Friedman’s view of kemper.....

  • Oops ^^


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  • Haha nothing I suppose but I’m sure his view was not the same for the axe fx and/or the helix. He obviously thinks the kemper gets real close sound wise and maybe not the digital completion? Food for thought..

  • Interesting. Maybe the Kemper got too close?

    My point of view: I do not like to carry huge and heavy amps. I do not like to depend on Mic positioning on stage. I did not sell any tube Amp after I bought a Kemper. I'd like to have some of the Tube Amps I like as a profile. One of them (Tube Thomsen) cannot be bought anymore. Still looking for small and good sounding Tube Amps...

  • It is so sad to see such great amp designers not to grasp how much the profiler actually "helps them" and does not steal anything..as MentaL says..there is no KPA without tube amps.And maybe there will be not as much tube amps in the future without the KPA..;)

  • Instead of attacking profiling by calling it "piracy", it's a shame he doesn't see the value of putting out his own official profiles based on his amps. He could tap into the market that can't afford his multi mega bucks amps. A win-win for him and us.

  • Reminds me of that Tone-Talk interview with Tom Abraham (great interview BTW... you should listen to the entire thing if you can). Anyway, he gives his view on the AxeFX here:


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    He doesn't really talk specifically about the Kemper, but it's interesting none the less.

  • I believe this is where the KPA does a great job against all the other modelers..if your profiles are good it behaves like a real amp even in a dense mix.What Abraham is saying about plexis..I have profiles (for example the ones from top jimi) which are absolutely there on top of everything.Just like an old Marshall.


    The Kemper should mit be compared to the other modelers anymore.It is on a different level.You can see this when guys like Friedman loose their nerves about it..:D

  • What Abraham is talking about with the Plexi model from the Axe getting masked is not about anything subliminal or inaudible. It is all about high frequencies. The model has presumably been shaped by ear by the guitarist and sounds very like his amp but probably has low pass filters killing some of the highs that are critical to avoid being masked in the way that Abraham describes. It could be that the models have aliasing of other artifacts (fizz) that need to be removed to sound good to the listener but this filtering is at the cost of the frequencies that cut through in a mix. I suspect adapting the model to the live sound situation could address this to some degree.


    This is the same problem keyboard players have - they set up their synth pads etc in their home studio and then take them to band practice or a gig and they just dissapear - not enough highs. The player then goes back and tweaks all the filters to make them brighter. Problem solved.


    This sort of calculus predates the era of sound reinforcement. Eg the reason why an opera singer or a solo violin can be heard unamplified over a symphony orchestra is that they are the loudest thing on the stage in a band of frequencies in the kHz range - this is text book stuff btw. If you look at the frequency vs amplitude profile of the orchestra it is like a mountain with the peak in the mids - it is much louder than the singer in the mids but the operatic singing approach projects sufficiently in the mid kHz range that they are clearly audible in the audience even though all of the lower mid frequecies in the singer's voice are completely masked by the orchestra.

  • Tom Abraham has run FOH for a who's who of rock and metal legends for decades. He knows what he's talking about. So when he says that the Kemper is the best modeler/profiler sonically but that all of them are inferior to a tube amp in the mix, I'd listen to him.


    And he's not just talking about frequency response and "EQ". There's also compression and transient response at various frequencies and how those things affect the ability of the guitar to cut through the mix even though they may "sound" identical.


    He's not dumping on modelers, or profilers. He's just describing his experience, which he admits completely surprised him. He thought the guitars sounded IDENTICAL when isolated, but for some reason they disappeared in the mix.

  • Maybe it is the inaudible stuff that real amps have that are missed by modellers? Think of the complaints by guitarists over the "amp in the room" sound lacking in modellers. I think, and this is just my opinion, that this amp in the room sound is all the inaudible noise either side of the audible sound. Think of the chug of a muted guitar chord. The air movement. The pressure. That's all inaudible noise but it has power behind it and does affect the sound, particularly in a mix. Miced cabs and profiles lack this because no one sits right next to their cab when listening to a good guitar tone. Real amps move air. That's the missing ingredient.

  • Tom Abraham has run FOH for a who's who of rock and metal legends for decades. He knows what he's talking about. So when he says that the Kemper is the best modeler/profiler sonically but that all of them are inferior to a tube amp in the mix, I'd listen to him.


    And he's not just talking about frequency response and "EQ". There's also compression and transient response at various frequencies and how those things affect the ability of the guitar to cut through the mix even though they may "sound" identical.


    He's not dumping on modelers, or profilers. He's just describing his experience, which he admits completely surprised him. He thought the guitars sounded IDENTICAL when isolated, but for some reason they disappeared in the mix.

    True but modelers are getting better and better. Who knows what 2019 will bring

  • Recently HW from Tone Junkies talked about an amp manufacturer that was not OK with profiling and that wrote to him in bad manners to take down his profiles of his amps. I guess it must have been Friedman then.


    My thoughts are exactly what has been said. What should think Marshall about Friedman then?

  • That's a little much coming from a guy whose entire amp line is minor variations on a couple Marshall mods developed by somebody else 35-40 years ago...

    (And I say that as somebody who's considering picking up a JJ Jr. when they become available!)

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