Kemper Stage sound suddenly cutting out, no output. Turning it off and on fixes it. Since second to last firmware update. Need help rolling back firmware safely.

  • Hi everybody and thanks in advance for the help and support.

    I have an almost new Stage unit. No issues at all, noticeably faster than the Powerhead, been super happy.
    After the second to last firmware update, on a soundcheck the sound suddenly cut out. I thought it might be the wireless, but I can still see signal on the Stage's input. Both FOA and Monitor engineer lost me. Volume pedal=nothing. Change performance=nothing. Dead. Display shows changes. No sound coming out. We troubleshooted the wireless, and all points to just the Kemper not putting any sound out. Turned it off and back on and worked. Thought it was a random abnormality.

    Another release came soon, so I rushed to install it.

    Today it happened three times during the show. I have to manually turn the unit off and on and it seems to be fixed. Sound engineer thought maybe of a power issue. The unit doesn't consume much. The theater's power is regulated and safe. Everything was working fine until the second to last update that permanently set the new presets in.

    At this point, I don't feel it's safe to bring it to the show tomorrow. I made the mistake of also updating the firmware in my powerhead. I can bring the powerhead to work tomorrow and hope that I don't encounter the same issue.

    While I wait to hear back from Kemper next week, I figured maybe I can get some help on the forum.

    Should I reset to factory settings first, or try rolling back the driver and then resetting? It's been a solid unit, but I only had it for a couple of months. Certainly hope I don't have to send it for repair!

    Thank you all!

  • I just rolled back the Stage's Firmware to 7.1.5. Didn't lose any performances or rigs, so far it booted as if nothing happened. I have the Powerhead running 8.2.2 next to it. I've turned them on and off, several times, playing them for hours before heading back to the theater. I'll bring them both. Worse case at least I'll have a backup.

  • UPDATE:

    Here’s what ended up happening: I figured even if the issue was firmware, it would be extremely rare for it to happen to both units, so I brought the Powerhead to work….no problems.
    I troubleshooted the Stage at home.
    I rolled back the firmware and reset all content.
    I loaded it back.
    Played for a bit, then it suddenly happened again. I started going thru menus and cables, switching everything from guitar to cables in and out of unit.


    Ends up that it was the cable going into the volume pedal. It randomly intermittently cut out/shorted. They were good cables, I tested it before! From Strymon. I made a video of when I found the issue, you can see the volume and wha levels on the pedals menu go to 0 suddenly. Quite strange. When this happens, changing patches, unplugging pedals, changing rig, nothing will make the unit emit a sound. Live during the show, not knowing what happened, I had to turn it off and on….
    What was disconcerting live and at home to troubleshoot it, is that it was natural for me to unplug the volume pedal to rule it out, but even doing so, the volume remained locked at 0. Even changing performances, the volume never came back up. Is this is normal behavior? I reported this on my support ticket. I guess if anything similar happens again I'll know.....


    In any case, I was so relieved to find the issue and so certain that it was the problem that I updated the firmware back again to 8.2.2, with no issues so far.


    I wonder if there’s any settings that I can change to avoid this to happen. Shouldn’t the volume be reset if the pedal is disconnected? Or reset when changing performances into the next rig’s/bank volume?


    I’d appreciate any feedback on this minor regard.


    Sorry for the long post and thanks for the support!

  • I'm glad you identified the trouble maker!


    There is a tendency to relate really any issue to the last software update ... and there is always a last software update given the fact that we are constantly enhancing the software. Since nearly 100% of issues are not update related, it is most effective to seriously investigate other options first. This is even more evident for release revisions, which have usually been tested in the field since weeks if not months.


    You can assume that within one day after publishing about 1000 users have already upgraded and if you are the only one experiencing a particular significant change of sound or aborts or loss of volume .... it's probably not the update.

  • I'm glad you identified the trouble maker!


    There is a tendency to relate really any issue to the last software update ... and there is always a last software update given the fact that we are constantly enhancing the software. Since nearly 100% of issues are not update related, it is most effective to seriously investigate other options first. This is even more evident for release revisions, which have usually been tested in the field since weeks if not months.


    You can assume that within one day after publishing about 1000 users have already upgraded and if you are the only one experiencing a particular significant change of sound or aborts or loss of volume .... it's probably not the update.

    That really sounds a bit condescending. Just because this time it was related to a cable, you are assuming that others who experienced similar problems were dealing with cable issues. I have had very few issues with my Kemper and have only "bothered" support with it twice. I have experienced no output on my left stereo out in my studio and on stage. It has happened three or four times over the past two years and every time I cycled the power on my Kemper and the problem disappeared.


    The first time it happened I changed my XLR output cables and it didn't help. So, I powered the Kemper down and turned it back on and it was fine. From then on, I just cycle the power on the Kemper and the last three times that has fixed the issue.

  • It appears, that the cable tricked you out! ;) Such things happen.


    Often there seems to be an element of selective perception. People seem to start from the assumption "whatever happens must be caused by the last update" and then oberservations seem to fall in line and seem to support that.


    What I'm suggesting is just in the interest of everybody's effectiveness: When one is using release revisions - no betas - and is facing an issue as generic as loss of sound, which would normally be obvious, affect many users and therefor come to the surface during the weeks if not months of internal tests plus beta tests, one should try to rule out other possible causes objectively, before sharing uncertainty and doubt amongst other users and consider downgrades.