EQ in amp block will be great :-)

  • That they haven't changed their hardware in a decade, support it for free and continue with (effectively) 100% feature parity when compared to the new stuff (Stage). That is totally unheard of. It still blows my mind that you can take a first-run KPA Toaster from 2011, update it to the latest OS and it has the *identical* features as one built this morning.

    That a light or button becomes redundant as the OS evolves is a minor niggle, if that.

    This is a huge thing IMHO. I think people forget this. I bought an Axe FX Ultra (I still have it but don't use it) and would never buy another product from them again. I was very unhappy at how fast they abandoned it for the Axe FXII. At 2K per unit, I don't want to have to buy a new one of those every few years. The fact that Kemper still supports the original hardware is one reason I bought the Kemper Stage. I have much more admiration for a company that cares and stands by their customers instead of throwing them to the side and just offers the newest unit as an answer.

    Yeah. Or a simple ifdef statement in the code. Not rocket science.

    It honestly may not be that easy. When an application gets many subroutines in it there can be tentacles in all sorts of directions that could have issues from adding one little IF statement. There is significant value to a company if they can maintain just one codebase. It keeps costs down as well as bugs.

  • thanks not a problem of another eq. It’s just to have it as an option in the amp block.


    You’re aware that 4 stomps and 4 effect slot is really not that much in the guitar world?
    1 stomp already taken by wha, another by noise gate for high gain players that left only 2

    1 slot for eq or widener, 1 for delay, 1 for reverb and you got only one left...


    But I’m ok with the fact that it’s’ not the thing to do first. First thing is to remove digital compression. :)

  • Same for me. I hope there will be a good substitute for that button. I think many profiles only come alive when eq comes in and therefore I would be happy freeing up one of my slots.
    If stage users have multiple benefits why not provide something for head-/rack-users? If there will be a different added value I am sure many would rather go for the rack as for me Fuzz-Stuff and wireless is useless.
    Personally I doubt that it will be a major effort to provide such eq that can be easy accessed by legacy customers as there is so much going on for stage users in comparison.

  • It honestly may not be that easy. When an application gets many subroutines in it there can be tentacles in all sorts of directions that could have issues from adding one little IF statement. There is significant value to a company if they can maintain just one codebase. It keeps costs down as well as bugs.

    Totally understand the concept, but it's not a realistic goal for a company like Kemper in the current market. Not all your products will have the same buttons. They might want to compete in the HX stomp segment as well as others eventually.

    Kemper PowerRack |Kemper Stage| Rivera 4x12 V30 cab | Yamaha DXR10 pair | UA Apollo Twin Duo | Adam A7X | Cubase DAW
    Fender Telecaster 62 re-issue chambered mahogany | Kramer! (1988 or so...) | Gibson Les Paul R7 | Fender Stratocaster HBS-1 Classic Relic Custom Shop | LTD EC-1000 Evertune | 1988 Desert Yellow JEM

  • Totally understand the concept, but it's not a realistic goal for a company like Kemper in the current market. Not all your products will have the same buttons. They might want to compete in the HX stomp segment as well as others eventually.

    That's a bit of a different animal though. The HX Stomp doesn't have the same abilities as the Helix, XL or the LT. It may be the 'same' firmware, but you can't make an HX Stomp function like the big Helix. By necessity (and plan) the software must be adapted to the different unit. You can't (that I know of) take a backup of a Helix and run it on an HX Stomp, nor vice versa.

    This is in contrast to Kemper where you can. Even across certain OS revisions, this will work. All three form factors have the same abilities. Keeping a unified feature set seems to be the plan. Should they ship a 'mini' KPA....then that would obviously need to change.

    “Without music, life would be a mistake.” - Friedrich Nietzsche

  • Not looking for a big argument but you can't make a stage work like a rack because it doesn't have the eq button. Same argument. Different scale. You can dump down the rack by removing functionality and making buttons obsolete though. I just don't approve of that. But that might be me only :)

    Kemper PowerRack |Kemper Stage| Rivera 4x12 V30 cab | Yamaha DXR10 pair | UA Apollo Twin Duo | Adam A7X | Cubase DAW
    Fender Telecaster 62 re-issue chambered mahogany | Kramer! (1988 or so...) | Gibson Les Paul R7 | Fender Stratocaster HBS-1 Classic Relic Custom Shop | LTD EC-1000 Evertune | 1988 Desert Yellow JEM

  • Not looking for a big argument but you can't make a stage work like a rack because it doesn't have the eq button. Same argument. Different scale. You can dump down the rack by removing functionality and making buttons obsolete though. I just don't approve of that. But that might be me only :)

    Not looking for an argument either. But on the rack the EQ (and Amp) button turns off the Amp and the EQ. Just like the stage does with just the amp button.


    They function the same.

    “Without music, life would be a mistake.” - Friedrich Nietzsche

  • If the EQ button has to go, a good option could be adding the Studio EQ parameters o similar EQ options in the Amp <pages>, this could benefit Profiler, Stage, KemperMini, Kemper Pedal or any other unit using the same OS.

  • Not looking for an argument either. But on the rack the EQ (and Amp) button turns off the Amp and the EQ. Just like the stage does with just the amp button.


    They function the same.

    Exactly :). The rack EQ button has become obsolete. That was kinda my point :)

    Kemper PowerRack |Kemper Stage| Rivera 4x12 V30 cab | Yamaha DXR10 pair | UA Apollo Twin Duo | Adam A7X | Cubase DAW
    Fender Telecaster 62 re-issue chambered mahogany | Kramer! (1988 or so...) | Gibson Les Paul R7 | Fender Stratocaster HBS-1 Classic Relic Custom Shop | LTD EC-1000 Evertune | 1988 Desert Yellow JEM

  • I think you're kind of missing the point here. I agree that after 5 different EQ's in your chain, you might as well find a different profile. But, it's not so much about adding yet another EQ option, but rather reorganizing the interface so that we can consolidate all of our EQ options to the dedicated EQ block. Mainly, so we don't tie up a potentially valuable fx block with an EQ

  • I think you're kind of missing the point here. I agree that after 5 different EQ's in your chain, you might as well find a different profile. But, it's not so much about adding yet another EQ option, but rather reorganizing the interface so that we can consolidate all of our EQ options to the dedicated EQ block. Mainly, so we don't tie up a potentially valuable fx block with an EQ

    Okay, this makes more sense to me but I 'sort of' get the impression that CK wants to keep the amp block looking & functioning like a real guitar amp for the guitarist & the masses. This was the original vision of the KPA to be a 'guitar amp'.


    Maybe CK can chime in today & give us his thoughts as he may see & accept your point.

  • Exactly :). The rack EQ button has become obsolete. That was kinda my point :)

    Yes - the EQ button is obsolete. I think where we differ is whether or not that actually matters. I personally never turned the amp EQ off when I could....so the button's loss is inconsequential to me. More than once I thought "What's the point of the EQ button?"

    One would think that eventually, new hardware will delete it (and the Stack button) entirely.

    “Without music, life would be a mistake.” - Friedrich Nietzsche

  • Yeah and the STOMPS and EFFECTS buttons. Which is my concern. Thanks for the chat.

    Kemper PowerRack |Kemper Stage| Rivera 4x12 V30 cab | Yamaha DXR10 pair | UA Apollo Twin Duo | Adam A7X | Cubase DAW
    Fender Telecaster 62 re-issue chambered mahogany | Kramer! (1988 or so...) | Gibson Les Paul R7 | Fender Stratocaster HBS-1 Classic Relic Custom Shop | LTD EC-1000 Evertune | 1988 Desert Yellow JEM

  • ... CK wants to keep the amp block looking & functioning like a real guitar amp for the guitarist & the masses. This was the original vision of the KPA to be a 'guitar amp'.


    Maybe CK can chime in today & give us his thoughts as he may see & accept your point.

    That is right and some real amps like MesaBoogie, Hartke, Carvin, have graphic EQs, in addition to the Treble/M/Bass. So, by adding a dedicated studio EQ in the amp section, Kemper could still look like a modern amp and we all get the X stomp button for something else. It is a win-win situation.

  • Okay, this makes more sense to me but I 'sort of' get the impression that CK wants to keep the amp block looking & functioning like a real guitar amp for the guitarist & the masses. This was the original vision of the KPA to be a 'guitar amp'.


    Maybe CK can chime in today & give us his thoughts as he may see & accept your point.

    yes but 10 years later everybody knows that it’s not a real amp and the EQ does not work like a normal amp :)

    People are now used to use all kind of modelers, plugins etc. So I don’t think that assuming kemper as it is (not an amp) will be a great deal for potential buyers and users :)

  • I see an additional benefit to such a feature: organization. Any EQ adjustments you make is then saved with the profile, not just a part of the Rig. So if you dial up that profile in a new Rig, the EQ travels with it, vs. being a separate preset you need to assign to the X slot.


    then put on a page after the amp blocks parameters (clarity, pick, compressor, tube sag, ect... ) So for those that don't have use for it, don't have to ever go to that page.

  • I like the Idea of adding a eq choice in the amp block pre amplifier and leave the post amp stack (front knobs) EQ block the way it is.

    Seems most people like to add an EQ in the stomps section so pre amplifier would work as the stack section eq would handle post amp EQ.


    I agree I have never wanted to press the front EQ stack button for any reason, it could be used for something else.