Kemper Profiling Amp Successor

  • Freescale still manufactures the chip used that is necessary for the Profiler to function.

    IIRC a few years ago Kemper said something about the EOL being 2018.

    I guess it would have been hard in the 70's and 80's to imagine a large flat screen or a heads up display.

    Star Trek TOS aired from 1966 to 1969.


    IMHO there were many examples of solid forward-thinking like subspace, tricorders, transporters and holograms for practical purposes, impressive for the era.


    The Next Generation started 21 years later in September 1987.

  • IIRC a few years ago Kemper said something about the EOL being 2018.

    I thought I read a relatively recent interview where he indicated they were still being made. Clearly, I was wrong.


    It happens.


    More often than you’d think. Just ask my wife. /rimshot

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

  • Freescale still manufactures the chip used that is necessary

    You are correct.


    you are incorrect. These parts are not being manufactured any longer as far as I can tell.

    You are incorrect. You can even see it in the link you had posted, just need to click the other "i" (the ones in the actual product rows). It cleary says "No discontinuance decision has been made".

  • You are correct.


    You are incorrect. You can even see it in the link you had posted, just need to click the other "i" (the ones in the actual product rows). It cleary says "No discontinuance decision has been made".

    I put in a support ticket with NXP to get the definitive answer since the web page shows 2 different answers.

  • I put in a support ticket with NXP to get the definitive answer since the web page shows 2 different answers.

    I trusted what you were saying originally. I never really looked at the page you referenced.


    If you click on the actual chip names, you’re taken to this page:


    https://www.nxp.com/part/DSPB56720AG#/


    You’ll find a specific quote:

    Quote

    Not Recommended for New Designs

    • While existing customers can still order the part, NXP does not recommend the part be designed into new end products. No discontinuance decision has been made, ….

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

  • I think the synthesizer idea is a good point, if Kemper implements an innovative and unique approach to most things then a fully comprehensive and in depth synthesizer addition would be a great way to lead in. Especially if there's someway to get super solid pitch tracking without using a midi pickup.

    Yeah exactly.


    If we talk about being "innovative" and all the "next step" stuff there is no way around this.

  • Yeah exactly.


    If we talk about being "innovative" and all the "next step" stuff there is no way around this.

    Creating an algorithm that didn't require a proprietary pickup would be an off-the-charts achievement. Marrying magnetic pickup technology originally invented in the 1930's to a technology born 53 years later (1983)......Nutso.

    If someone has done it already, I've never heard of it. There are guitar synth units of course, but they convert the electric signal into the synth sound. You can't connect it to your computer and use a synth plugin with as you can with a keyboard.

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

  • I trusted what you were saying originally. I never really looked at the page you referenced.


    If you click on the actual chip names, you’re taken to this page:


    https://www.nxp.com/part/DSPB56720AG#/


    You’ll find a specific quote:

    The website is not as good as the direct sales discussion with NXP. I will see what they say. I do actually do this kind of thing for a living after all.


    FYI, I have never seen a chip listed as "Not Recommended For New Designs" for more than a couple of years before the EOL announcement. It doesn't show up in Digikey or Mouser TODAY which is a pretty clear indication that it is in trouble from a parts perspective. Additionally Arrow only has a price for the automotive temperature grad version (which is 4 times the price of the consumer grade version).


    I am sticking to my guns here. I would expect a KPA2 in the next 2 years.

  • Marrying the guitar and synth tech that they have in house already must be tempting. I guess the question would be - how many buyers want this?

    Not as many as the ones who just want more effects and dual amp cab profiles.

    But i would think they might as well do that and do all the other upgrade requests. Pull out all the big guns.


    Imagine, more effects, more profiles (pedals and amps), more routing, AND A GIGANTIC synth addition?!?!?!! That's the move right there, none of the other units have an in depth, fully-featured synth capability like what I think could be possible with Access Synths.

    Sure, there's a few here and there but not on par with the roland stuff. Some can get by and others laugh at the idea (although those are more synth oriented people).


    I will say there is some potential in a few units, axe fx, empress zoia, poly effects beebo/digit. But there aren't as gnarly as the Boss or Roland guitar synths but it wouldn't be fair to not give a few honorable mentions. Don't @ me lol

  • Creating an algorithm that didn't require a proprietary pickup would be an off-the-charts achievement. Marrying magnetic pickup technology originally invented in the 1930's to a technology born 53 years later (1983)......Nutso.

    If someone has done it already, I've never heard of it. There are guitar synth units of course, but they convert the electric signal into the synth sound. You can't connect it to your computer and use a synth plugin with as you can with a keyboard.

    We know that. But for sure there are "many ways" to achieve something. We'll see. For sure "some people" are working on solutions for this issue and I remember a musician called Dweezil Zappa demoing a 100% violin sound on an axefx.This was years ago.

  • Not as many as the ones who just want more effects and dual amp cab profiles.

    I am not 100% sure about this. In any case I will agree that there are many players who will never get enough of tweaking and trying to "sound better" through the "more fx" thing but I never had the feeling that these guys are a "majority" to be honest.

    Also I dont see any problem in producing such a "KPA XXL".. should be not difficult.


    But this should not stop R&D for something more revolutionary.

  • I have to confess that I don't get the desire for "guitar synth" capabilities, to be honest.

    Get a synth (and a keyboarder) and you'll get better (and more versatile) results.

    Some people have keyboard chops and some don't. The expressive capabilities that guitarists have with variations in picking attack and muting of notes plus finger and trem vibrato and pitch bending techniques and the ability to bend polyphonic stuff into tune with their fingers - all of this stuff becomes available with guitar synth. It definitely has its market.


    Roland have their hex pickups which gives some very powerful capabilities - true polyphony and all manner of tuning options etc. I imagine they might license that stuff and maybe the patent has lapsed in any case. Nobody else seems to want to go that route - hex pickups on regular guitars. The other route is dedicated instruments that mimic the guitar but are in fact digital control surfaces with guitar like features. Some of those have appeared at the NAMM show etc over the years - not sure how many of those projects are extant.


    What remains is what Roland are doing with the SY series (only the flagship model, the SY-1200, has both hex and regular inputs) and numerous pedal companies are doing - synth sounds directly off 1/4 inch guitar leads. I would be surprised if Kemper couldn't use the DSP skills base they have to make a competitive product in that domain should they so choose.

  • I have to confess that I don't get the desire for "guitar synth" capabilities, to be honest.

    Get a synth (and a keyboarder) and you'll get better (and more versatile) results.

    I get what you’re saying, but like so many other things - it’s a matter of opinion.


    Adding a keyboardist is expensive. In ways a lot costlier than money. You’re also not in control of the creativity.


    “Better” results is 100% subjective.

    A ‘better’ result in 1956 for Johnny Burnette’s Rock and Roll Trio would have been fixing the channel strip in the mixing console…..instead of leaving it. Thereby creating the first distorted guitar track.


    A ‘better’ result for Link Wray would have been *not* to take a knife to his amp’s speaker and create The Rumble. The only instrumental ever banned.

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

  • I have to confess that I don't get the desire for "guitar synth" capabilities, to be honest.

    Get a synth (and a keyboarder) and you'll get better (and more versatile) results.

    Absolutely. 100% agree..


    But here is "the thing"..


    What about bringing all this to the rehearsal and ofcourse live on stage; I don't need keyboard players in my projects. I need more "different sounds" (mostly lead stuff) for myself.


    If I can't get that I will never ever buy another guitar modeler. My KPAs are already great for my "guitar-needs" as they are. No complaints


    It is just before I spend the next 2000-3000€ on a kpa2 or whatever future(!) modeler I expect to be able to do "sounds I never did before" in a stand alone tool for recording & gigging.


    And I KNOW that there are a lot of folks out there who would wish for something like that.

  • Virus has 3 - 4 times more buttons than KPA, many of them have multiple functions and some menu diving is still necessary. In order for synth to be fun and easy to program KPA UI would have to become a monster. Synths are complex and programming synth patches using 4 soft buttons... no, thank you. I'd rather prefer KPA to remain simple and maybe just emit expressive MIDI via MIDI OUT / USB. This way everyone could connnect their own favorite synth.