Are the Kemper folks working on an "Editor"?

  • +1


    I have 1 rig loaded in my Kemp.
    In letters: O N E.
    And I love it!


    HERETIC! :lol:


    I can't imagine limiting myself to that degree, but it's been the natural state of our people for a lot longer than amp modelers have been around. People can make a lot of different sounds from a single channel tube amp.


    That said, I took your advice (thank you again) and followed the simple instructions in the PDF on how to clean your Kemper off in one fell swoop. If you've got any experience with making archive files, it's easy as pie. I went from over 300 to about 30 rigs in about 5 minutes. I left only a few of my presets and one "set" of rigs from the Amp Farm bundle I bought.


    I modified the process a bit though. I put all the rigs I was deleting off the KPA in a folder called "shelved." Then I went to the KPA and went though the rigs I'd left on it with scrutiny. Ones I didn't like got moved from the Rigs folder to a third folder called "deleted." Then I moved another set of rigs from "shelved" to the "Rigs" folder, tar'd it up and put it back on the KPA to repeat the process tonight.


    Is it clumsy? Yes, it is.. a bit. Not too crazy and it does force you to have a backup on a hard drive. I figure if I continue this process for a while I can end up with a manageable sized group of rigs on my KPA with no software needed... well beyond 7zip. I wish Kemper would release an editor-librarian though. Until then this is a pretty good work-around.

  • Unfortunately I can't see myself deleting many rigs as a solution for navigation. I actually like exploring through the many options, often I find that a rig that I may like just doesn't go where I need it or that a rig I don't use very often surprises me and fits a mood/tone. If I were performing live then that might be a different thing, but as I'm just at home in my own little space I tend to just build many new rigs/tones/variants just for that time. I also enjoy downloading and trying out new profiles from the exchange, to me that's one of the main points of the Kemper and I wouldn't want to relinquish it just for the sake of failings in it's management, and don't think we should have to.

  • Unfortunately I can't see myself deleting many rigs as a solution for navigation. I actually like exploring through the many options, often I find that a rig that I may like just doesn't go where I need it or that a rig I don't use very often surprises me and fits a mood/tone. If I were performing live then that might be a different thing, but as I'm just at home in my own little space I tend to just build many new rigs/tones/variants just for that time. I also enjoy downloading and trying out new profiles from the exchange, to me that's one of the main points of the Kemper and I wouldn't want to relinquish it just for the sake of failings in it's management, and don't think we should have to.


    Oh, it's not a solution for navigation at all. We still desperately need things like "sort by amp" or "...by gain," etc. But, some of that can be helped a lot by naming rigs more meaningfully. The thing is that because of the vast amount of rigs available and that come with the KPA you can still delete many rigs and still have many rigs. Also, when you become adept at editing it's very easy to tweak a rig to fit a mood and tone instead of having to wander around and get surprised by one. I personally have been around long enough to know the difference between "oh, that's got potential in the future" and "not worth keeping."


    All that said, I'm not arguing against an editor librarian. IMO the KPA should have shipped with one. My $500 Pod HD500 did. I'm just saying that if you're using the lack of editor librarian software as a "deal breaker" you may just not really want a KPA.

  • Before my KPA, I was using a Line 6 POD X3 Pro for my studio work. It sounded ok, and I got good use out of it. I still use it for certain things, actually. One of the biggest reasons I use it is due to the "GearBox" editor. I can understand not caring about an editor if you're only using the KPA live, but for those of us doing scoring/session/producing work in a home studio, the ability to quickly recall rigs and tweak settings via a computer GUI is an incredible asset.
    Currently, I have to take notes of my settings and document them in each session I work in (within Logic, fyi). It's not ideal.
    An editor would be such an efficient tool to handle this task by being able to have all my rigs and info in one place, on a display that's MUCH easier to read and navigate than the 4" x 1" interface on the KPA.
    To me, it's a no-brainer. If it wasn't so common among other gear, I could understand the issue. But it's kind of crazy that a piece of gear this detailed is missing such a major component.
    I'd love to hear that the people at Kemper are at least sympathetic to those of us who desire this feature, and more so are working on getting this implemented.


  • Currently, I have to take notes of my settings and document them in each session I work in (within Logic, fyi). It's not ideal.


    I don't get it... why not just make a Rig preset and name it with something that references the session? Why would you need notes when you have the actual settings saved? I mostly use Live and I just name the track something like "KPA_presetname"

  • I just got an inexpensive bass modeler from Zoom, the B3. There is a guitar modeler called the G3. Very simple devises, and they sound pretty decent, but nowhere near a Kemper. These two little boxes are a tenth the cost of the Kemper, but Zoom's editing software is excellent and simple.


    They include a small program to completely manage your patches. You can move stomp boxes around in your signal chain, swap them out for other stomps, change amps and cabs, all through a visual interface using drag-and-drop. You can modify the parameters of each effect visually this way, too.


    You can rearrange your groups of presets inpouring different patch sets, etc. copy the delete the, whatever.


    My point being, if a Software can be written for a much lower end product, why not the Kemper?


    I have an Eleven Rack from Avid that I still use occasionally and the geniuses who designed it force you to insert your USB iLok authorization key into your computer, then launch Pro Tools, to get to their patch editor. Seems way too over complicated to do what the user needs.


    I would gladly donate to any third party developer who writes a Mac and PC compatible program that reads the info off your USB removed from the back of your Kemper, adjusts it to your satisfaction, then puts it all back together again for you. Then all you do is reinsert the USB in the back of the Kemper and boot up. If it can be done without removing the USB, then fine.


    We're not asking for a feature only two or three users care about.

  • +1
    I went on a few weeks vacation this summer.
    When I came back there were so many new rigs uploaded on the Rig exchange I did not have the time to download to USB, put it into and load the rigs in my KEMPER, and then delete perhaps 90 % of the patches because they were not suiting me.
    To compare with TC G-System, BOSS GT10 etc. that I owned, were you hook up the pedal with the computer (USB), choose a rig/patch and directly hear the result and IF you like something THEN you save it into the pedal.


    That is a big difference and if Kemper had an editor I would easily go thru the 300 rigs I still haven´t tried on the RIG exchange.


    Mike

  • +1
    I went on a few weeks vacation this summer.
    When I came back there were so many new rigs uploaded on the Rig exchange I did not have the time to download to USB, put it into and load the rigs in my KEMPER, and then delete perhaps 90 % of the patches because they were not suiting me.
    To compare with TC G-System, BOSS GT10 etc. that I owned, were you hook up the pedal with the computer (USB), choose a rig/patch and directly hear the result and IF you like something THEN you save it into the pedal.


    That is a big difference and if Kemper had an editor I would easily go thru the 300 rigs I still haven´t tried on the RIG exchange.


    Mike

    second that!

  • Got KPA for two weeks now. Organizing profiles and rigs takes too much time. now there are many good profiles out there. it just scares me to upload and check new profiles. of course I have a several backups now. one of them are empty backup so that I can erase everything and build new backup. it's just so unpractical to organize things on the actual KPA machine.


    Surely it sounds amazing. I do not doubt that. I'm glad I bought this. but the kpa seems not completed. many functions not working like favorite. I love this product but I think they should have done lot of things that people have complained about before launching. this is why I didn't buy as soon as this product launched. samething happened to axe-fx before. they didn't have an organizing program but after lot of people came and complained about it and now they have it. It's good they did something after all but it should have done before I think. Maybe I'm asking too much but at least some functions that are not working is very disappointing.

    Edited once, last by STC ().

  • These are basically my thoughts as well.
    Many months ago I wrote about this subject on this board, suggesting that Kemper had not taken advantage of Fractal's experience. I also wrote that Kemper had not had the (real) final user in their mind. I was criticized for this.


    What I think (and please, consider this - again - as my personal view on the subject, and that I can be constructively critical even while appreciating the machine, the idea and the crew!) is that Kemper have been surprised by the KPA's popularity and misleaded as what the target would be. I have the impression that they have conceived the unit for a professional niche (recording studios for example) and a very specific and limited use, and discovered they had a much larger audience which wants to do everything with the unit. And the unit was not ready to do everything in the best way. They didn't want to compete against Fractal, but they discover they actually were. People started arguing whether Axe Fx was better than KPA.


    Of course it takes time to react to the market's feedback, specially if you're not putting millions on the table for R&S and customer feedback. Many things in the KPA concept seem done quickly and incompletely because they were not thought organically from the beginning (see the Rig Exchange, which lacks several services which would make it really usable at last; or a librarian, which at this stage is nothing but strategic for the KPA's success. We already know that Kemper were surprised by the number of rigs the mean user loads into the machine. And I'm sure that if they had a clue about how many people would request a MIDI board, they would have started developing it much earlier; because the board sells the KPA, an the KPA sells the board).


    I believe when introducing a new product,"packaging" (I mean usability, services... everything that makes the idea work in the real world) is as important as "hardware"... and "concept". Accurately picturing the real target is the key to design packaging.
    That's why I'm still waiting :)

  • I've not read all the nitty gritty, but isn't there pretty through MIDI mapping? I'm betting a third party could build both a librarian and an editor. The issue (as always) is the time involved and is there a pay off? I mean, if a user puts in hours and hours building an editor and/or librarian, gets it out, and 2 days later Kemper releases theirs...

  • I've not read all the nitty gritty, but isn't there pretty through MIDI mapping?

    That's a good point but I'm not sure if the NRPN which have been released recently include how to change things like patch names. I would imagine an editor would have to come after things like performance mode has being released. We do seem to be ticking things off gradually though, with items such as favourites and copy and paste (for patch names) being added over the last few weeks...

    Suhr Classic Pro, Fender deluxe Strat & Baja Tele, Gibson ES335, Ibanez S Prestige 2170FW, Eastman AR371CE, Variax JTV > KPA > Patch bay inc. Strymons (Mobius, Timeline, Blue Sky), H9 Max, TC Triple Delay, & POD HD500 > Adam A7Xs