How flexible are the Kemper FX buttons? I know that the rig buttons are effectively limited to the 5 rigs in the current performance page - BUT - what can be done with the 4 FX buttons? Will they only turn on/off one FX channel per button, or can each one control a complete set with different settings (as well as on/off)? Can this come anywhere close to the flexibility of the FC-12 switching channels and scenes?
Here's the reason for my question:
I'm looking at going [back] to all-digital in the next 60-90 days. I'm already running most shows direct with my head through a loadbox/IR, so digital vs. tubes isn't the issue, and I have plenty of monitoring options.
I have used the Kemper before, but never with the dedicated controller (I used my MIDI controller). I love the way it sounds, but found it VERY limiting due to the 5-rig limit in performance mode.....but I am questioning whether I may have sold it short based on the MIDI approach.
Given the advantages of going all-digital (weight, flexibility, weight, size, weight, etc.), I think I need to re-visit the ways in which the Kemper can operate with the dedicated controller. It still doesn't have enough inputs for all the instruments I use, but I can keep my XR-12 in the rack and continue to use it as my master mix point.
My use (mix of theater and band gigs) often calls for wide swings in sounds in very tight time frames, i.e., country to traditional jazz to metal all within a single "song". My tube-based rig is simple - a controller for the amp that gives me 6 gain levels, and a MIDI board that gives me up to ten totally different FX patches per bank. That means I can access up to 60 different sounds with no more than two presses.
While the KPA can easily recreate all of the sounds, the way I've tried to program it before meant building a whole lot of performance pages for each and every new show.....ugh. Workable, but way too much effort; trying to work around it by changing performance pages is way too slow, and doesn't work within a song. I thought about keeping my rack FX and using the KPA just for the amp section....but If I'm dropping this much coin it needs to result in a far more streamlined gig rig, preferably with a single floor controller.
What say you - can the Kemper let me access a series of radically different FX groups across the 5 rigs without changing pages, or am I looking for something that it really isn't intended to do?