Strange - somehow I get tired of the KPA

okay, i would like to share a few thoughts.

i have played my KPA in reharsals and at home with two totally different power amps.
and if i say totally different i mean totally different:

• i connected the KPA output to the effect loop of a real cheap transistor amp. a hartke 60 watt!
  used a 1x12 from egnater and it sounded very good and the drummer begged for merci
• i connected the KPA output to the effect loop of a real gem. a 1965 JTM marshall with 2 KT66 tubes
  in it. a real gem this one. and? i tell it only to you, so this stays a secret between us : i did not hear
  any difference with the egnater.
• ofcourse both amps sound different and "better" with my vintage30 4x12, but both of them.
• i have not tried FRFR and will not in the near future. why waste a lot of money when i have evrything i need? plus:
  in case the mixer is deaf or unable (shit happens!) i have at least my sound a few meters behind me.
• about the first point i have to confirm that you have lost your mind. i wasted a lot of my precious life with moving
  microphones around speakers, never satisfied with the sound of most expensive amps (marshalls, oranges, soldanos
  among them). now i have the best sound possible by turning the "browse" knob. but i do have hope that this madness
  that has befallen you is only temporarily!

my 2 cents, cheers

As for the monitors;
Just like with everything in life, expensive does not equal good. The Behringers sound really, really good - very 'open' and airy, and quite loud meaning they will sound just like you want them to at any volume.

Regarding the KPA in general, i find that the abundance often tires me.
I can spend a whole day just jamming on a really good profile, or a day just fine-tuning sounds.
Both have their place, at least for me -
when i gig or record, which is pretty often, i know all my profiles by heart. I also know they are all at the same volume and general spectral character so that they all sound consistent.

For people who aren't as meticulous as i am or don't need the consistency and familiarity, i'd try and clean everything up.
Make a backup, erase everything, load up 10 profiles or so and just play around with them - the KPA is very good at letting you just play around with an amp with pickup combinations, different guitars, cranking the power section etc.

Sacapuntas, there's nothing wrong with you.
Simply take a week off (Kemper, amp and all things music), then go for it with an un- biased ear and then we talk...

Both/And bro!

Everyone has times when they prefer one or the other. Different tools for different purposes. I think we all need to have the Kemper AND at least one good tube amp handy. There are times when I really need to use one or the other for different situations.

Quote from troykennedy

Both/And bro!

Everyone has times when they prefer one or the other. Different tools for different purposes. I think we all need to have the Kemper AND at least one good tube amp handy. There are times when I really need to use one or the other for different situations.

My thoughts, exactly. I still feel the need for a tube amp. I have one tone I prefer over all others and that is the JCM800 2203 with KT-88s. For everything else, I have t covered between the Kemper and the AXE.

Yeah... Sometimes I'm tire of my amp tone.. Then I switch for an other profile!

Seriously I never got tire of my KPA yet, but I know what you mean because it happened to me with other modelers in the pass and I was sooo happy to go back to my tube amps... I would be surprise if this happens with the lunchbox thought.

Quote from diego

Hi gents,

Quote from diego

the KPA is amazing - no doubt. Sounds and feels really great. But recently I just prefer to play with a tube amp with a simple setup instead of dialing all those different amp profiles and effects. Do you know this feeling?? I will see how long it lasts

This Part is what I have always thought.. too much choice and too many options can be nice and also can turn our KPA's into something similar to modelling toys...
I really don't think we need anything else.. it's amazing for recording (quietly a home) and getting that cranked amp sound into your DAW without being arrested
SIMPLE is the word here... I mean how many time were you going to play your KPA and all you did was scroll through 1000 amps and really just play around with the thing.. I did many times, only now am coming down off the honeymoon... those lazy J profiles are amazing which is something I couldn't DO in my apartment, no cranking etc etc... I still think it's the most amazing thing ever to be invented for guitar players, but I would hope that one day there would be no more choices to add new things to it as it will never end and just end up like another modeler

steve

I have the same "feelings" from time to time. That's why I always kept my modded JVM 410. Then I'll play it for a little bit, take it (23kg) to rehearsal and then I'm fed up carrying it around What also helps: Profile your Amp, do an A/B, find out: it sounds the same. Maybe also check the KPA with a guitar cab, I'm currently using a Behringer EPQ900 and an Orange PPC112 for monitoring (plus in-ears). Somehow it sounds and feels much better than only inears to me.

Quote from mDan

Profile your Amp, do an A/B, find out: it sounds the same.

Ihave the same feeling. I need a tube amp. I fact, I think I'm going to buy a new one soon because I've just sold my Cornford.

Profiling an amp or profiling the OD pedals I use in front of it doesn't always work but it almost always works! As the manual says, not everything can be profiled (e.g. Tube Screamer and clones). But the KPA is going to stay at home because I can get one thousand awesome tones.

Saludos!
Paco

I had the same feeling - therefore I bought a Reußenzehn TubeAmp and ran it with the kemper as preamp - now I've the tube feeling and the kemper sound (best of both worlds)
and I'm very happy with it.
If nothing helps take a view days of and reload your batteries (sometimes it's very helpful)

greetz
Peter

That is called digital/FRFR fatigue. Will happen with all owners. The hardest part is the sweating when you ask yourself if all these new toys are worth it and the exceptance of the thousends of dollars wasted.

There are two ways to cure this:
- buy some new toys and continue with your digital holy grail hunting.
- sell all the digital/FRFR stuff and return to where you came from.

Good luck with your decision! And remember there is no good or false decision because it is your decision.

Quote from DADA

That is called digital/FRFR fatigue. Will happen with all owners. The hardest part is the sweating when you ask yourself if all these new toys are worth it and the exceptance of the thousends of dollars wasted.

There are two ways to cure this:
- buy some new toys and continue with your digital holy grail hunting.
- sell all the digital/FRFR stuff and return to where you came from.

Good luck with your decision! And remember there is no good or false decision because it is your decision.

Well, I don't know where this sentiment comes from (your personal experience?), but I don't agree with it at all.
I have kept my Marshall 6100 stack and my Vox AC 30 and also educate myself to actually play them from time to time, but I NEVER EVER get a feeling of 'oh, this is the real deal, and the KPA is fake'.
When is the fatigue happening in your opinion?
I have been using the KPA almost exclusively for more than 15 months now and I'm still excited everything I turn this thing on.

Quote from DADA

There are two ways to cure this:
- buy some new toys and continue with your digital holy grail hunting.
- sell all the digital/FRFR stuff and return to where you came from.

There is another one. Keep both your digital and analogue equipment.

Some months ago, I sold my MPF and recently I had the opportunity to play that amp again. I miss that tone.
I tried to profile it at home with 2 mics, through DI, at a professional studio, ... although some profiles were very good, no one captured the awesome tone of that amp. I thought about selling my KPA and going back to analogue but lately I think about the possibility of having both digital and analogue amps. I'm not sure about it...

Well I'm a bit sad for you ! The KPA is the holy grail in terms of guitar sounds for me , I never get tired of it like I used to with older processors. I also kept my vintage amps to get that specific feeling with huge basses, but I much prefer having everything under my hand at the push of a button, at room volume with FRFR monitors.

The best part is having some people profiling their cranked amps for the community, I try most of the vintage & replicas ones , i don't like modern amps ( modern started after the mark IIc+ for me , but if can find a good replica ( like the truetone bassman this week), I add it to my collection of favorites. I get used to them , and we become good friends forever

I really feel like a pro going to a recording session when I lit up my KPA : Come on guys, wire me that 59' bassman for the rhythm part , and also this blackface for those whawha in the background & don't forget the 65' JTM for my leads and also my favorite markIIc+ . I never get tired of these amps with a single combination of strat , tele and les Paul, you got all the musical history from the 50's to now. I couldn't imagine playing on such a beautiful setup when I was a guitar noob. I'm really in tone heaven, and it inspires me each and every day.

Quote from diego

I just prefer to play with a tube amp with a simple setup instead of dialing all those different amp profiles and effects.

Don't punish the messenger! It's your choice to keep your fingers away from that Browse knob.

I am a one amp player and I use the Kemp in the same way. Just one rig. And, yes, I kept my old amps. And I do play them from time to time. And I am always happy to get back to the KPA with it's sweet-spot-sound at any volume.

But, I have to admit, it took me almost a year of scepticism and experimenting to be really convinced.

The feeling of being overfilled with KPA happened to me also. It's sort of like an IPod that I was excited the first time because I can have all the music I want in one location. But I got tired of flipping from one song to the other without getting them finished so now what I have are collections of my favorite record and play them often.
In the case of KPA the magic of those boutique amps that I was gassing for is now gone. Their sounds are beautiful off course no doubt about that but now I often play only three profiles and savor their little nuances that made them different from other amps. Sometimes I will drift to other profiles but stay with a single profile for few days then learn and enjoy them along the way. in that way I enjoy my KPA every day. I learned to resist jumping from one profile to the other in short period.

What you said about the iPod is so true and it explains well how one can get overwhelmed by the endless number of profiles. Good point!