Hi there,
yes, this is a thing I've been concerned about lately. In particular I got myself a spark bosster and a Nux Horseman, both great, but what if I turned everything up to 10 (both drive AND volume). Might this damage the input stage of digital devices? In an analog world I'd say no, but in a digital world? Hm...
Thx everyone and have a good time.
Alex
My GUESS is you would be safe. It is very easy to protect inputs from overload with electronic components. You will hear massive clipping way before you get to a voltage that would damage a unit.
The nice thing about line level instruments is they can have a high impedance (resistance). This limits the amount of current a bad signal can push to the devices in the unit. Just add some voltage suppression devices like a pair of diodes(super cheap) and the input will shunt/bypass any bad signals easily. This just gets easier and easier the lower the frequency is also. So audio frequencies are super simple to stop.
So in theory, you may actually damage the driving device (pedals) before you damage the Kemper. Since they may all of a sudden see a low impedance when the voltage protection kicks in. But they should also have high impedance output resistors that will protect themselves from shorting out. Or when you drag your guitar plug across something metal, it may short out and blow up your pedal.
TL:DR You should be fine.
I use Active pickups without fear of overloading the inputs.
Thank you very much guys.
Alle the best
Alex
