Pretty nice pedal
Pretty nice pedal
Nice, shiny, expensive and heavy like a bar of GOLD
But comes from the factory with no pads on the bottom side, right?
But the missing pads that's the only complaint for me - pretty sure you'll like it too
Oddly, yes, it is surprisingly heavy.
From the initial tests it is very good.
Thanks for recommending!
Maybe you can share a test profile ?
It would be interesting for me to have 2 profiles - one with the Archer baked in and one without the pedal (same micing, setting...). So if you share the Archer settings as well, we could compare how well the pedal was profiled vs real pedal into Kemper.
Two profiles attached. First is Ch2 of the Fuego unboosted, second is the exact same amp setting but with the Ikon all dials at noon.
Curious how close profile 1 boosted with your real pedal sounds to profile 2.
Some drives I like for cleaner amp settings - Morning Glory, Xottic BB pre, Tumnus Deluxe. A couple of dirtier drives - JHS AT+ and Wampler Paisley Drive are both more amp style distortion gizmos - Marshall and Fender style respectively.
With more and more cleaner amps coming in I may look at drive pedals that are more preamp based.
Currently I only use them to push the preamp a little. The settings on the Ikon in test file above was a bit more drive than I usually use but it worked pretty well.
Short and quick comparison:
First you hear the Kemper profile "LRS Fuego AlCr 02" which has the Archer Ikon pedal baked in then my own Archer Ikon pedal with same settings (all knobs at noon) into Kemper and boosting the profile "LRS Fuego AlCr 01".
A 2013 Gibson Les Paul Studio with bridge pu (498T) was used. Rusty old strings and bad playing as always - sorry
Interesting, Tobi.
The baked-in version is definitely smoother as a stand-alone sound; easier on the ear, but the real-pedal version just might cut through a mix more-easily.
Interesting, Tobi.
The baked-in version is definitely smoother as a stand-alone sound; easier on the ear, but the real-pedal version just might cut through a mix more-easily.
It's just exactly as you say. But a bit tricky to tell why!
I think the profile with baked in pedal sounds very tube-like. Not like a pedal boosted amp, but very natural, smooth - almost as if the Kemper did make it "even more tube" But I can hear some Kemper trademark mids here ...
In the second example I hear more of what I did expect from the Archer boosting an amp. It sounds good to me, but the characteristics of the pedal are a bit "exaggerated". Just like what you get when using a transistor amp as a pedal platform, but more "tube-like sounding" here.
And one must bear in mind, the Archer here is boosting a profile - a snapshot of the real amp. So the profile will probable not react in the same way as the real amp would do when pushed. It's more like turning up gain on the Kemper - you are adding Kemper gain characteristic (more gain not altering the overall sound of the profile). Plus the characteristic of the pedal. It seems to change some of the "Kemper Trademark mids".
Only deadpan can say, how the real amp sounded with the real pedal
I'll vote for the Anthrax, "Among The Living" era boost, the TC Electronic Classic Booster + Distortion pedal. Pair it with a nice '82 JCM 800 and you too can party with Captain Trips!