Played My First Gig With The Kemper.....WOW!!!

  • Last night was my first gig with the Stage transitioning over from the Fractal FM9. I spent a good two months dialing it in, setting up performances and building my new live board. All I can say is WOW. This unit is what ive been searching for. That perfect blend of digital with the REAL feel of a tube amp. Ive always liked the tones I got with the fractal and the amazing effects and versatility it offers. But ive always struggled with the feel and punch of a tube amp that is right in your face. The "Space" feature is a great touch since im primarily an IEM user live and also the lead vocals. It really gives the in ears a much better feel overall. One other im finding is that im able to use lower gain setting than I normally would with the fractal. I never liked the sound and feel of the low gain or clean amps in the fractal. Therefore I would always get better results by using a higher gain amp and dialing back the volume on the guitar. It ended up being much higher gain settings than the song called for but that was really my only work around. The lower gain amps just had zero feel or punch to it.


    Im extremely satisfied and have already had other musician friends decide to make the switch. Cant wait for our next gig. FYI the *removed by mod - commercial PROFILE * is amazing. I used it for 70% of the show. Put my Klon KTR in front of it and It was tonal bliss.


    One thing I need to figure out is how to get more stereo delay separation. Delays during my solos were a little too tight.

  • Dude you have negative impacts on my business. I am trying to sell my fm9 in this forum! ;)


    (it is also on ebay, for those interested. Just dont believe this guy, Kemper is not that good:))

    Better have it and not need it, than need it and not have it! - Michael Angelo Batio

  • Dude you have negative impacts on my business. I am trying to sell my fm9 in this forum! ;)


    (it is also on ebay, for those interested. Just dont believe this guy, Kemper is not that good:))

    the fm9 is awesome. I’m sure it’s capable of having the same amp feel as the Kemper. I’m just not that good at the parameters. Kemper was plug and play for me. It’s all about amp feel for me personally. And the Kemper nails that part.


    The fractal in my opinion though has far superior effects. The Kemper does all that I need but is fairly limited in the size of a preset you can create. I had huge preset layouts with the fractal and pretty much play the whole night in one preset. That’s where the fractal shines in my opinion. Also the routing was awesome. I would run two separate inputs which allowed me to run both a chain for magnetics and piezo.

  • the fm9 is awesome. I’m sure it’s capable of having the same amp feel as the Kemper. I’m just not that good at the parameters. Kemper was plug and play for me. It’s all about amp feel for me personally. And the Kemper nails that part.


    The fractal in my opinion though has far superior effects. The Kemper does all that I need but is fairly limited in the size of a preset you can create. I had huge preset layouts with the fractal and pretty much play the whole night in one preset. That’s where the fractal shines in my opinion. Also the routing was awesome. I would run two separate inputs which allowed me to run both a chain for magnetics and piezo.

    What exactly are you referring to when you say "The fractal in my opinion though has far superior effects?" I see this all the time with no detailed information on this.


    I find the effects in the Kemper to be as good as the Fractal effects. Are you referring to the more obscure effects that the Kemper does not have?

  • What exactly are you referring to when you say "The fractal in my opinion though has far superior effects?" I see this all the time with no detailed information on this.


    I find the effects in the Kemper to be as good as the Fractal effects. Are you referring to the more obscure effects that the Kemper does not have?

    just a lot more options as far as what effects they have modeled in the fractal. Some effects that are not in the Kemper. And a lot of adjustment parameters for the effects. Most of which I don’t know how to use. 😂

  • Last night was my first gig with the Stage transitioning over from the Fractal FM9. I spent a good two months dialing it in, setting up performances and building my new live board. All I can say is WOW.

    Thank you for sharing your experience. Great to hear that! Would you like to provide a little more detail? What genres of music do you play? What guitar do you use? What kind of PA was installed? Did the s sound engineers have to "adjust" your sound coming from the Stage (for your IEM & FOH)? Did they comment on your sound? Cheers!

  • Rock cover band. Good mix of oldies, classic rock, 80’s and pop. I play a 61’ custom shop strat with dimarzio rail I put in the bridge. And a Gibson Les Paul trad pro with suhr thornbuckers.
    the PA was a mismatched mess. Ceiling mounted QSC and a stand mounted turbo sound monitor due to the other qsc being blown. I didn’t use any stage monitors or backline monitors. I’m not sure what tweaks he made. I doubt he made many. Was kind of a set it and forgot it sound tech.
    he actually said at one point he may have to take off early. lol although he never did.
    I went out the the crowd to check the sound a few times and it sounded great.
    I ran the headphone jack to my stereo iem and the main out Left xlr to the FOH.

  • What exactly are you referring to when you say "The fractal in my opinion though has far superior effects?" I see this all the time with no detailed information on this.


    I find the effects in the Kemper to be as good as the Fractal effects. Are you referring to the more obscure effects that the Kemper does not have?

    I see it for Helix too, but i don"t find delay and reverb better.... I think, just a question of preference or the number ?!

  • Everything is a matter of taste but I would say, fes, the fx in the fm9 are "better". It is difficult to explain why, you have to listen and compare yourself. It is their "behaviour", their overall sound and their gorgeous high resolution and creamyness. The fact that you can route several effects in parallel only adds to that: try 2 delays, a reverb and a shimmer reverb (all in parallel, not interfering and affecting each other) and you will understand. You can custom tailor your sound more effectively.


    Do you really "need" that? No. I still prefer the Kemper for many reasons. You can find workarounds for almost everything so that the end result sounds great.

    Better have it and not need it, than need it and not have it! - Michael Angelo Batio

  • I wonder how important effects are in these units. For recording, I add most effects thought Pro Tools and for live, the quality is not so noticeable anyway.


    Since Kemper updated reverb and delay sections, I cannot see a fault.

    Karl


    Kemper Rack OS 9.0.5 - Mac OS X 12.6.7

  • I wonder how important effects are in these units. For recording, I add most effects thought Pro Tools and for live, the quality is not so noticeable anyway.


    Since Kemper updated reverb and delay sections, I cannot see a fault.

    Try to play U2 live with a big sound and you will understand.

    Better have it and not need it, than need it and not have it! - Michael Angelo Batio

  • Try to play U2 live with a big sound and you will understand.

    Surely The Edge requires mainly a dotted 8th delay and almost anything from a pedal to a DAW can provide that. To be fair, I'm not really playing covers though.

    Karl


    Kemper Rack OS 9.0.5 - Mac OS X 12.6.7

  • Surely The Edge requires mainly a dotted 8th delay and almost anything from a pedal to a DAW can provide that. To be fair, I'm not really playing covers though.

    Well you've already answered to yourself but to make it short: no it can't. Only in theory. First of all there is much more needed than a dot8th delay. You have to know what you do, you cannot rely on changing sound guys in different venues.

    Better have it and not need it, than need it and not have it! - Michael Angelo Batio

  • Everything is a matter of taste but I would say, fes, the fx in the fm9 are "better". It is difficult to explain why, you have to listen and compare yourself. It is their "behaviour", their overall sound and their gorgeous high resolution and creamyness. The fact that you can route several effects in parallel only adds to that: try 2 delays, a reverb and a shimmer reverb (all in parallel, not interfering and affecting each other) and you will understand. You can custom tailor your sound more effectively.


    Do you really "need" that? No. I still prefer the Kemper for many reasons. You can find workarounds for almost everything so that the end result sounds great.

    I have an FM9 as well as a Kemper Stage. I am pretty familiar with both. The effects that are in both units are very good and I don't see one as being better than the other. From the explanations here it sounds more like people are referring to how many of these can be used at once. I think those use cases are fewer in number than people that just use a few effects live.

    I wonder how important effects are in these units. For recording, I add most effects thought Pro Tools and for live, the quality is not so noticeable anyway.


    Since Kemper updated reverb and delay sections, I cannot see a fault.

    I am like you. For recording, I want to add the effects in my DAW. That way you are not painted into a corner that may cause you to have to record a track again.

  • But that is one band/use case. This is not something that is done in most covers. It is more of an Edge case, pun intended.

    Yes but that was not the point (thanks for confirming what I said but there are a lot more examples, not only U2). The point is maybe that we tend to define facts and reality on just our own horizon, needs and experiences and claim things that we have no clue of, just because we've never experienced those needs and applications. But others who have and who also have found the solutions for themselves and for others with the same needs, know better...maybe? So: YES, we "need" good fx in an "all in one unit", CK agreed on that 12 years ago. Good that he did.

    Better have it and not need it, than need it and not have it! - Michael Angelo Batio