Is the Kemper overkill for me???

  • Been lurking a while on the forum and this is my first post. First of all, I AM AMAZED at what I've seen about the Kemper. I am definitely in the camp of how this equipment will revolutionize a guitar player's sound/flexibility. Also, I dig the vibe on the Kemper forum. I think that forums are a great way to get a feel for what a product is all about.
    I'm not a professional musician...not even a Weekend Warrior...more of a Holiday Hack. I love music, have been playing keyboards for 25+ years and guitar for about six months aftter emerging from deep hibernation on it (played for about 3 years in the late 90s/early 2000s). Just got a Les Paul Studio (love this guitar - satin finish) and play about an hour a day. I love tone. Doesn't matter if it is from a piano, hi-fi speakers, car audio, or a guitar amp. This is a major draw for me to the Kemper. I know that great tone will exponentially increase my enjoyment of the instrument as well as the amount of time I will play it. I have experienced this with several pianos.
    With that said, I will probably play through headphones 80% of the time. So, as the the subject of this post states..."is the Kemper overkill for me???". In other words, will the headphones allow me to fully experience the awesomeness of the Kemper? Of course I'd be using top quality headphones. I'm not conerned about the price. I just want to make sure that it will deliver the goods.
    Thx in advance for any input!

  • I've been playing guitar for about 32 years, though I have to say the last 10 years or so I've been focusing on my career outside of music (user interface design) which has made me more than a bit rusty, but like you I'm also a lover of great sound. That can come from many places, synthesizers also occupy a lot of my musical time. Some weeks I can squeeze in 5-6 hours of play time, but often it's less. Depends on work and basic life. For a long time I thought, "Amp modelers are good enough for my needs and the flexibility is awesome." It was true too. There are great sounds to be had these days in the better amp modelers, there's no doubt about that. We live in an awesome time! :thumbup:


    I always felt there was a special something... not in all guitar tones, but in some of my favorite types, that I don't get out of amp modelers I've tried including the Axe FX. Until the Kemper I figured this was the price you paid for a tube amp. By price I mean, the volume, mic'ing issues, limitations and flexibility. So, while I didn't have the cash for an Axe FX... I found the cash for the Kemper. So if you have it and want the best tech available, I think you know the answer.


    Now, could you be happy without it? Sure. There are some monster tones in Amplitube and S-Gear at a fraction of the price. Here's why I say get it though. Since I've purchased it I yearn to get back to it like I've not yearned to play in a long, long time. Good gear, as you probably already know, is a joy to play and can inspire you like nothing else. If money's not an issue, why not? My guess is that it will hold it's value for a pretty good run so if you tire of it you can always sell it. You can also use it to beef up synth tones as well. Also, until I had the Kemper I was always on the look out for something "new" in the world of amp simulators. Since I got it I have no more G.A.S. for guitar gear. IK released a special new pack that's supposed to be great, but I couldn't care less about it.. in fact, I sold my Amplitube 3 license.

  • I'm like you, a guitar hobbyist. The Kemper when I bought it, was a bit more than I needed. I already had an eleven rack, and, for all intents and purposes , it is plenty of bang for the buck. There isn't anything I couldn't do with the 11R, especially for my skill level.
    However, I was still chasing "The tone" in my head. I heard and reviewed the 'space lunch box' as in depth as I could. I was too damned intrigued! I purchased it, and for the first time after using modelers, I felt like I was playing through a real amp, thousands of them! My feeling now is, I will be playing for the rest of my life, I'm glad I made the one-time investment.
    So your answer may be: the Kemper may be overkill for you now, but after you've spent the time learning to use all of the bells and whistles, and progressing with it, you might find it really is- all you'll ever need.

    "Heavy Metal does have a message for the rest of the world: Fuck You!" -Sebastian Bach

  • "is the Kemper overkill for me???".

    Hi stompman,
    the way I see it is that I do not need a justification or a rational reason for buying something that gives me joy! I just can't see any reason in it :)


    If you like the idea, and can afford it, and are going to "pay" in person (don't know: no more cinemas for a year, rather than no more buffalo mozzarella...)... well, go for it!
    I don't think you're going to get better tones for your headphones with any other solution (provided the HP are well-coupled with the device of course).


    PS: welcome! :thumbup:

  • Oh yes, good headphone will let you fully experience the awesomeness... It is actually where it shine.


    The only problem of the Kemper is the insanely large amount of awesome profile available :)

  • Thx for all the replies! Much appreciated!!


    I am as steeldragon72 says above - "chasing the tone in my head". But I also don't want to noodle away on a processor for hours to try and get there (which is why I like the Kemper - it really seems to be built for players not tweakers).


    One of my favorite guitar tones right now is Pete Loeffler from Chevelle. I've researched his rig a bit and he really doesn't appear to use a whole lot of effects. Basically a solid Mesa Mark IV tone with a bit wrapped around it. I think his PRS pickups are even stock. That is inspiring and I think shows how good of a tone you can get out of the right rig setup. Anyway, rest assured that if (most likely when) I get the Kemper, I'll be downloading all the Mark IV tones I can find :thumbup: And of course I'll be happy to upload any "tweaked" tones I create if users upload these types of tones as well as "new" profiles. To me the rig exchange is a huge benefit of the Kemper vs. others with preloaded tones where most of the preloaded tones simply don't fit a specific users needs.


    As a side note, I looked at some mini tube amps for a while, but once I realized how much the tone suffers through a digital out (e.g., for headphones) and how expensive it is to buy a quality speaker simulator that will put the proper load on the amp my search ended rather abruptly. Not to mention the fact that I would have to live with a specific range of tones for the forseeable future from a single amp.


    Again, thx for sharing your thoughts!

  • no more cinemas for a year, rather than no more buffalo mozzarella...

    :D:D:thumbup:
    I definitely agree!!!
    Keep getting your Mozzarella di Buffalo (the cheaper cow's milk Mozzarella sucks!) but cut back on the cinema!
    (Oh man! Italians and Greeks always think with their stomachs!)

  • Every tone I've ever imagined is in the Kemper, and some that I never imagined were possible. (listen to the clip)
    If you can afford the price then it's an easy decision, buy it.


    IMO, use your Kemper through any set of studio monitors rather than headphones, it sounds great through headphones, but no guitar amp deserves to be played & judged through headphones.


    Listen to this clip through expensive headphones and then listen to it through cheap studio monitors...you'll see what I mean. :)
    http://soundcloud.com/jayapala/folk-song-kpa-d-clone-demo-dt

  • OT: I strongly disagree on this one!!! Have you ever tried a fresh made one or a "Burrata" in Puglia? You would die for it! :P

    Actually no, I've never been to Puglia. Cowsmilk Mozzarella has yet to convince me. Hmmmm... But it may be worth a try...
    I hear it's not too far away from Corfu... :P



    To the OP: sorry for being OT! Pretty common with us around here...

  • To chase a sound that you know from records is almost impossible with conventinal amps. You got to make tries, buy and resell stuff and search for weeks or even longer. Far easier with the kemper, you just need to load and audition rigs, that's all. Searching a certain sound you also find some more well known classics on the way. Fast, cheap and funny.

  • From what I've experienced and heard from other users, the KPA is something special when it comes to headphones. The headphones out is really amazing, sounds great, fine in volume, etc. So the KPA is your best bet for headphone usage.

    Use your ears, not your mathematical sense.

  • As a side note, I looked at some mini tube amps for a while, but once I realized how much the tone suffers through a digital out (e.g., for headphones) and how expensive it is to buy a quality speaker simulator that will put the proper load on the amp my search ended rather abruptly. Not to mention the fact that I would have to live with a specific range of tones for the forseeable future from a single amp.

    When I was on my "quest for tone" my first idea was to buy a tube preamp and use the Two-Notes software for amp and cab simulation. I kind of felt this was a bit limiting but could have been a good solution. Another route was to buy a tube amp and use something like a Two-notes Torpedo Live. This way you get real preamp and amp distortion. From what I can tell this would have been about the same quality as the KPA but the Torpedo Live is about $1000 USD. By the time you find a multi-channel tube amp head you like... you're easily over $2K and own no effects. Of course you could go cheaper but if you're looking for the Mesa Boogie IV head, you're spending $2300 for it new or $1600 used. If you're a touring musician who likes to have a real amp on stage but something silent for the home studio, this would be a great route.


    It kept coming to the point of money. I had a pretty firm $2,000 USD to spend. I could have waited, I guess, but I wasn't convinced that something more expensive would be better. The real amp/Torpedo route plus a decent effect processor might have worked but I would have been limited to a single amp and I must admit that amp modelers have spoiled me! I like a wide range of sound, I always have. Another route was to get a iso cab, but the only one I found that I thought didn't sound terrible was the Rivera Silent Sister and that was $1000 USD. That would have also been a not totally silent situation but I could have put it in my garage which is adjacent to my studio. Too much fuss. I did come very close to getting the HD500/DT25 and Rivera Silent Sister though. I think that would have been a fantastic rig and with the addition of a cab I could have a more traditional amp set up.


    But in the end I realized I didn't want a more traditional amp set up. I was yearning for the physicality of a traditional amp set up, but not realizing the "cost" of it beyond just the money. Those things take up space and heat up the room and it already gets a bit stuffy in my studio in the summer. The beauty of the Kemper is it's a little box that looks like an ultrasound machine and it's a single solution. I got the HD500 to accompany it, but that was really not needed. The included effects are fantastic and probably all most guitarists would ever want or need. Plug that weird looking thing into my audio interface and play. DONE!

  • Actually no, I've never been to Puglia. Cowsmilk Mozzarella has yet to convince me. Hmmmm... But it may be worth a try...
    I hear it's not too far away from Corfu... :P

    I agree with both, but would rather say "the cheapest cow mozzarella sucks": there're so many producers, cheaters, swindlers... that you should try the ultimate one in order to judge the state of the art :|


    Quote

    To the OP: sorry for being OT! Pretty common with us around here...

    This :thumbup:

  • Burrata is something special though as its basically cream inside of a mozzarella ball. However I too can thoroughly recommend fresh cow mozzarella, it's also exceedingly easy to make at home (and as a bonus you get a cup or so of ricotta at the same time), it's one of the few foodstuffs that changes consistency in many marvelous ways as you eat it as it cools down when fresh, and for that it's well worth the experience of doing, even if it will stink the place out a bit.

  • Wtf, guys, stop that...I'm constantly hungry when I get to see the updates on this thread!


    Additionally, as the mozzarella posts rise, there's a risk of terminology confusion with the words used so far (e.g cow, milk, ever tried?, buffalo, balls, stink, cheap, sucks...) :D

  • I am definitely encouraged (and have a strange hankering for some fried cheese - too many to thank for this :D ) by all of the favorable headphone feedback. It's also nice to see that I haven't missed anything obvious in terms of alternatives (thx zerocrossing). I definitely like to make informed decisions. Afterall, half of the fun is researching new gear, isn't it!
    Now I need to go find a good pair of studio headphones and monitors...oh, and I want a looper for the effects loop...let the research continue!