Still on v6 FW. Am i missing out?

  • Im happily running v6 firmware and its been serving me well (touch wood)

    In the past i’ve updated with each public release that came along but i get the impression that v7 was a big release with some significant additional functionality mainly to accommodate the stage floor-unit. But, I regularly read of issues and bugs being reported and fixed and wonder if i am as well to continue with my v6. It’s obvious the kpa OS is becoming more and more complex to deal with the new hardware and new software features (rig manager, kone, new menu-sorting etc) Only today, i read of some removed functionality (external switch polarity option) perhaps in a quest to streamline/simplify the OS.

    Kemper are great at dealing with issues and keeping us up to date and I appreciate theres likely to be many silent users (the forum voyeurs) that run the latest firmware without issues and probably never comment on these forums. Perhaps the old adage of “no news is good news” is the case here...

    This is in no way a moan or complaining post. Im just in need of some reassurance, either way.

    I’m telling myself “if its not broke dont fix (upgrade) it.”:/

    Does anyone else feel similar or maybe there’s some v7 users happily gigging and playing with nothing to add to these forums?

  • Same here. I'm still a happy v6 user - unpowered rack plus remote, so no real need for v7 so far. Only thing I miss is the new editor. But that's not urgent for me. Reliability counts. Still once new features like acoustic simulator and the high and low pass eqs for the Output section come in I will certainly upgrade.

    Kemper are great at dealing with issues and keeping us up to date and I appreciate theres likely to be many silent users (the forum voyeurs) that run the latest firmware without issues and probably never comment on these forums. Perhaps the old adage of “no news is good news” is the case here...

    I would believe this as well and I also appreciate the way how the Kemper crew is dealing with the issues here. And in many cases from what I read the issue comes rather from misunderstanding or wrong use rather than being real issues. Which are certainly there and certainly not a nice thing. But not the end of the world either :)

  • OS 6 here also . No problems and steady as a rock ( n´roll ) 8o

    Reading about many users here at the forum who has problems

    after upgrading OS and RM so I´m not eager to upgrade at all :S

    "If it works, don´t touch it" 8o


    Cheers !

    The adjective for metal is metallic. But not so for iron ... which is ironic.

  • If reliability is key and if you don't really miss any of the new features ... stick with V6 for some more time.

    While I don't have many issues with V7 as long as I keep my profilers away from Rig Manager ... V7 requires RM3 and RM3 still is quite an unpredictable mess, tbh.

    If Kemper decided to add an option to completely deactivate / unload / get rid of the editor portion, it might become just as fine as non-editor Rig Managers were. At least I'd hope so because right now, Rig Manager / Editor is way more source of trouble than source of help (to me).

  • Upgrading the Kemper is a bit like an iphone; you only hear the bad news stories. I waited until 2 weeks ago and haven't run into problems.


    I wasn't really in need of an editor after owning the Kemper for so long, but updating a large amount of live patches was considerably quicker with it.

    Karl


    Kemper Rack OS 9.0.5 - Mac OS X 12.6.7

  • I did every update (incl. beta) and I never had any big problems so far.

    Kemper Head - Kemper Remote - Palmer Box with Kemper Kone - TC Electronic BAM200 - Laney LFR 112

  • If I wouldn't have purchsed the Kemper Stage last October I'm pretty sure still having rested on v6 on my Rack... as a Linuxer I have no deal with RM anyway...

    But with the Stage the v7 was necessary because of content exchange between the two devices and so I keep updating the final versions, no betas...

    I never had any serious issues with my 2 Kempers and OS versions, neither on stage nor in rehearsal room.

  • -Save your kaos file from v6 and old RM somewhere and back up your kpa.

    -Install new release + editor

    -Find out for yourself

    -If you find occasional bugs that are deal breaker, go back to the old v6 + RM


    The transition to OS 7 hasn't been as smooth at it was with other versions for me. Still running on the beta and first editor beta with many bugs but will upgrade as soon as I'm done with this recording project. I'm guessing by now it should be pretty stable.

  • according to “if its not broke dont fix (upgrade) it.” I'm still with OS 7.1.5. and RM 2.3.14;

    (basically the last that doesn't require Win 10 to run)


    I'm useing the KPA almost every day and everything it's ok Here; it works fine.

    (to be honest the only, only, thing I noticed is this: I've done a profilie so far, then recently I've tweaked a bit and I've saved it Replacing the original one, and it happen that it changed the Author's name. it happend only once. I don't know why but it did it.)

  • Ok, we've got some “down time” so Im going to try out the latest OS 7.


    Just before i leave the safety and comfort of v6 os, how do i return to v6os should i not like my trip to os7 county?

    I do make frequent backups but, unless im mistaken, understand that a v7 backup may not go well into v6 os. I guess it makes sense if i do return to v6 fw that i should recall a v6 backup.

  • I would save the v6 firmware you are on somewhere. Create a v6 backup.


    If you really don't like V7, just be prepared to lose any tweaking you did while on V7.


    For me, V7 is a pretty big upgrade. I really like having an editor and presets. I went through nearly all of my performances and modified things based on being able to quickly mix and match presets I created on another performance for some part of the rig.


    Even if you don't want to use the PC editor (which is really pretty nice now), having the drastically improved preset management on the unit is really nice. I can't believe my little scroll knob for efx didn't simply wear out since 2013 ;). It is really getting a break now since it is very easy to navigate to a specific effect or preset directly on the unit.


    Have fun!

  • Am on v7, did not encounter any issues. I do not use the editor too much and stick with my „old“ performances, so far so good. The preset management really helps, one of the main things for me. The new reverbs are nice to have but the legacy reverb was fine for me. I use the spring reverb from time to time but more or less only because I can.

  • I can re-enforce what others have said here, OS 7.*.* has been working well on my Kemper. I have the Stage unit and must use 7.*.*. The only issues that I have had were A) easy to fix and B) only when I connected to the RM3 software.


    The most recent release version has the Kemper Kone imprints in it as well so there is functionality that you do not have on V6 now.

  • thanks for the comments, everyone. I hardly use RM and can manage without it and i have no requirement for the editor in my situation.

    The most recent release version has the Kemper Kone imprints in it as well so there is functionality that you do not have on V6 now.

    I understand the newly-added "kone-imprints" is only applicable if you use the hardware to go with it?

    Or is there something to be had from my regular FRFR monitor setup?

  • Am on v7, did not encounter any issues. I do not use the editor too much and stick with my „old“ performances, so far so good. The preset management really helps, one of the main things for me. The new reverbs are nice to have but the legacy reverb was fine for me. I use the spring reverb from time to time but more or less only because I can.

    The new reverbs are way nicer IMO than the legacy. I have pretty much eliminated all my old legacy verbs now. I find that even for higher gain rigs, the new verbs bring new life to the rig giving it a much clearer ring of harmonics. I guess I thought the new verb engine was in 6 already which is why I didn't mention it.


    If you don't have the new reverbs, then you should really update.... no doubt.

  • The new reverbs are way nicer IMO than the legacy. I have pretty much eliminated all my old legacy verbs now. I find that even for higher gain rigs, the new verbs bring new life to the rig giving it a much clearer ring of harmonics. I guess I thought the new verb engine was in 6 already which is why I didn't mention it.


    If you don't have the new reverbs, then you should really update.... no doubt.

    Really? I thought all the new reverb-stuff was already present in v6.

    Have i missed something (i dont recall any seeing any announcement to this effect )?