Posts by HappyKemper

Quote from collectiveamnesia

If that's true, it's unfortunate. I remember when Will Gelvin got caught making multiple accounts to help with the Gelvin guitar brand in luthier polls. As unfortunate as that is, it doesn't mean his guitars suck, nor would it mean that Axe-FX sucks. Couldn't find the thread, do you have a link?

Sure, link (scroll down)
https://www.thegearpage.net/bo…orms-heres.1681714/page-5
It was Line6 staff who saw it, and Cooper just laughs it off.

Some might want to save the thread for future reference, a large amount of threads have been erased from history on tgp and the fractal forum. They have close connections since TGP is the biggest marketing platform for fractal and one of the TGP owners is affiliated with fractal.
In a recent TGP thread a link to the fas forum showed a harmless feature request thread where fractal users also simply wished for some kemper pitch effects (pure tuning & formant shift). Fractal staff who read tgp quickly erased the thread on fas forum so others shouldn't see that. That's how fractal rolls unfortunately.
For us who have been following TGP and Fas for many years that's nothing compared to the unethical FUD tactics that Cliff use on TGP and fas forums to sway user opinion.
On TGP users can read how Cliff's Kemper unit is not working properly. Calling users agenda trolls. Making up his own facts posting about "kempers dirty little secret" causing users on many forums to ask questions including on this forum, forcing Mr Kemper to reply to the false FUD claims. It's sad to see such unprofessional behavior from a company CEO. We all just wish he would focus on making good gear and leave PR to others.
More examples:
Kemper KPA vs. Axe-FX II (Yes, another one...please read!)
And a funny satire article of what is going on.
http://www.ultimatemetal.com/f…nsorship-software.932876/

I enjoy some of the Cooper Carter fractal axe fx videos, but it was sad to see him, as a very prominent fractal employe, getting caught cheating red handed in a user poll on thegearpage last year. Fractal wasn't doing good in the poll, and he (representing a company) asked for help elsewhere and suddenly fractal did better in the modeler poll. They even posted print screen images of it on tgp as evidence before he deleted his help question. AFAIK he didn't get any reprimand from tgp staff. It's sad to see companies cheating and manipulating gear forums.

Quote from Ingolf

Fact is: The EOL cycles introduced by other companies to their products in order to establish a new flagship line have nothing to do with the way Kemper run their business.The Kemper concept, as opposed to others, stands for value and longevity.
The Profiler that has been on the market since end of 2011 is, now 7 years later, every bit as NOW and modern as if it was introduced today.
Everybody knows that eventually, perhaps in a few more years time, a Kemper II will see the light of day.
But suggesting it is outdated only because FAS or Line 6 have established new flagship lines with 'more modern' processors is utterly ridiculous.

+1 The kemper product business model and marketing strategy is completely different than Fractal or Line 6. It's all about longevity.
Good for all kemper owners is that Mr Kemper has posted that even if a kemper 2 would come out in the future it would be back compatible. So no sounds lost with all the hard work and time put into making profiles. When I use the Axe fx (same with Ax fx 3 from what I've read), if I update then I lose all the work put into the patches, and have to retweak them. Multiple times every year. That is tough when having 100 favorite patches. They will never sound the same again. So it can be a good thing to jump around between different firmware if one had a better sound.
Fractal has really put themselves in a corner when claiming each fw is realerer and betterer, because nobody would pass an ABX blindtest and place all the firmwares in the correct order from 1 to the latest. The results would be all over the place. That marketing strategy can go on forever because the confirmation bias is strong and many believe marketing that says so.
Fw updates and fixes are great for any product, but not losing sounds and spending days retweaking.

Also, for those who have paid attention over the years, Romeo Rose is now here on the forum.
Do a little google on that alias (several aliases) and see the fractal forum posts about the notorious klon request and youtube videos.
All the same patterns. I hope things don't turn really bad.

Quote from ColdFrixion

Higher quality effects often use algorithms that are more CPU intensive. Reverbs set to high quality in the Axe FX require more horsepower than Reverbs set to normal. I do tend to prefer the reverbs in the Axe FX vs. the KPA. I've compared the tuners side by side and in my experience they're equal. The Axe's effects offer a lot more versatility with the editor.

What matters is great efficient and smart coded algorithms and it's proven many times that great sounding effects doesn't require expensive big horsepower. Fractals marketing fails when they year after year claim they don't compromise with quality and then talks all about horsepower. Then why does Kemper, digitech, electroharmonix have better pitch effects?
Because of better algorithms, not dsp horsepower. Why do I and many others prefer several other effects in units with much lower dsp horsepower than fractal? Why did the dsp powerful Axe fx 2 sound a bit better later compared to the first firmware, because of reprogramming. For Axe 3 fractal now says they needed to compromise in previous units because of lower horsepower, despite their marketing claims saying they don't compromise.

Give 100 programmers the task to create a modeler and it will result in 100 different codes and algorithms. Some can do it great and very efficient, some will not be so good and also be a cpu hog, and everything in between.

Every company makes marketing choises. Fractal has chosen the "more horsepower must sound better" approach.
They are even targeting the notorious "audiophiles" now in their latest marketing for Axe fx 3. It's surprising because not many serious companies want to be asociated with audiophiles. (Marking pen on cd's improves sound, oxygen free colden cables and a bunch of other stuff sold based on hyperbole, belief and more expensive must be better).
Is any of the other modeling companies targeting audiophiles in their marketing?

Fractal is always pushing very hard to convince consumers that horsepower equals better sound.
From a consumer standpoint I think this is a psycological marketing trap that some will fall into, others won't.
Horsepower is great for using many things at the same time (multiple amps and fx chains), but not for sound quality.
Most know that a DAW project will sound the same in a low or high powered cpu computer. The big difference is how many channels and plugins can be used at the same time. VST plugin companies are competing in having awesome effects and amp sims coded as efficient as possible, nobody is marketing their products as more demanding and heavier on cpu.

I can play great sounding software amps and effects on computers with huge variety in spec and horsepower and the sound is identical. Even a low powered pc will play just fine with plenty of cpu left. The sound is in the code and algorithms, not in the cpu power, even the cheaper cpu's and dsps are powerful enough for programming stellar code and algorithms for amp and effect sounds.

Quote from fredrikn

I don't the Helix effects are in the same league as the Axe Fx effects. Not even close.

Speaking of Fractal effects I think they are good but way overhyped in their marketing.
Quality comes from code and algorithms, not super horsepower, that fractal often insinuates in their marketing.
There is not one effect from Fractal Audio that I prefer over my choice from favorite hardware or software effects.
I think the Helix in general has better drive pedals, univibe and a few others than the fractal effects.
I think the kemper has better pitch (also pure tuning and formant shift), transpose, compressor, chorus, delays, wah wah, ambient room space reverb, leslie, tuner, than both fractal and line 6.

No I haven't tested those two. But as you experience and what I also experience, spring models can sound good but different when compared to the real deal. It's a bit like why many use the Kemper, because it replicates their own amp gear.
For most users spring reverb in most units are just fine and do their job. But if I want the spring reverb to behave and sound exactly like the real gear then most spring reverbs will disappoint.
In surf music the reverb itself is an instrument that change the whole tone, not just a background effect, and it responds very dynamicly to picking and gain.
The usual test I do is to play surf songs and compare the tone and character of the "boing" using hard picking single string, clean and muted. Then compare hitting a chord hard, muting it, listen to the tone and "wash wet length".
For spring pedals I recommend the Topanga.

Quote from CJGOMEZ

How good the spring reverb?

As a reverb nerd I have compared Line6 and Axe fx spring reverb to many pedals, software and the real deal spring amp and separate fender spring tube tank. They are passable but neither of Line6 or fractal comes close to the better pedals and software and certainly not close to the real deal. The most realistic and best way to get spring reverb from software for recording is to use an IR loader software with an impulse response taken from a real spring tank.
All other reverb types are easier to create in a realistic way, spring reverb has very specific characteristics that are difficult to model, it must also respond in the correct and musical dynamic way when pushed hard.

Quote from MementoMori

This is an unpopular opinion here and usually ends up being argued by forum members or accusing me of exaggerating the issue.

I have no clue why you bring up past negativity in a thread like this where there is no negativity, and in many other threads like this one.
"here" can't refer to statistics of all thousands of kemper users on the forum.
Let past negativity go.

Quote from Metal Greg

that's what I figured however, by that statement does that mean the Kemper really doesn't sound like a tube amp tgat it profiles?

It does sound like a tube amp, but it's up to you how you want to play it.
If you want the "guitar cab speaker in the room sound" then use a guitar cab, try DI profiles, or bypass the kemper cab.
if you want all the different flavors from many different amp profiles then use a full range monitor.
It's the miced guitar cab sound we are used to hearing from records and seeing live bands hearing the PA.
You can see plenty of bands using either or both options when playing live.

I have profiled a lot of amps and the vast majority comes out very close to the point where the small difference doesn't matter at all to me. A few profile results sound identical to me. I have been fooled several times by profiles in abx blind tests (not knowing at all what gear was tested and if a kemper was in the test).
A few times have profiles been more noticeabley different from the source amp. That has been improved with refining the profile or profiling it again to avoid any error that may have occured.

I have never heard a profile being remotely close to the term "light years away" from the source amp.
Perhaps MementoMori and I simply have a completely different choice of words when describing differences.
To me the term "light years away" suggests as far away as possible when using comparison words, meaning it's at the very extreme end of the scale in a comparison test. It sounds to me like something must have gone terribly wrong in the profiling process or malfunctioning gear if that is the profile result.

Just make sure to follow all steps and it shouldn't be any problem making good profiles.

Kemper Amps Profiling Demonstration Live on Air with John Huldt

My Amps Get Profiled | Tim Pierce | Guitar Lesson | Learn To Play

Nashville Profiling Session - Dave Cleveland @ Sunset Blvd Studio - 60s Princeton Amp by Tyler

Quote from Zepplehem

3) Analog or digital set up:
- Advantages? Disadvantages?
- What's the difference between analog and digital recording?Which one do you recommend and why?

Welcome to the forum!
Many tests over the years show no sound differences in sound using analog vs digital connection with various gear.
The producer Andy Sneap use analog connection with his kemper.

Quote from joes70

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Stevie Ray Vaughan tone (Pride and Joy) - Kemper
SRV - Pride and Joy tone
Fender Stratocaster YJM (Van Zandt p.u.)
Kemper profiling amplifier (GRStudios Fender Super Reverb modified profile + Mbritt cab)
Ibanez TS808 (booster)

That was beautiful Paults.
Cheers everyone!

Tonester88, click the link in my signature to hundreds of bands and producers using the kemper live and on records.
Plenty of info with links to gear setups and music videos.

Here are some videos with Doug Rappoport using the Kemper profiler live playing with Edgar Winter Band.
Playing the kemper through a Marshall cab.

Quote from eljodon

I wish the powered Kemper would come with a stereo amp with the option of bridging it for mono operation. I like running in stereo.

If having a stereo power amp fitted in the kemper is important then I think the Camplifier is the only option.

Quote from MementoMori

Well, if you say such things here they will call you an egoist while they question your abilities and experience. They’ll also question your ear despite many here not being able to hear the difference between Kemper & amp.

No need to be passive aggressive and exaggerate again, using all us thousands of kemper/forum users as "them" when you refer to a small handful of users. Nothing constructive comes from doing that, it only brings polarizing negativity.
There is a red thread in many of your posts about previous beefs with a few users or moderators doing their job to those who repeatedly have violated forum rules. Just let it go and don't keep bringing that to new threads.

Tonester88, here's a video if you want to see Michael Britts live kemper setup when playing with Lonestar.

Tonester88, troubleshooting is important and can be difficult when having new gear.
It's always a bit of a learning curve with all gear. Here are some tips you can try.

Some common things causing bad or unwanted sounds in the Kemper can be;
-Unwanted locked or unlocked global settings of paramaters/effects. Go through them.
-Noise gate setting(s) too high creates unnatural sound (there are three noise gates)
-Proper gainstaging is very important, go through the level settings.
-Check with other guitar and speaker cables and play through other guitars.
-Wrong in/out
-A second hand Kemper can have odd settings set by previous owner.
-Test with profiles you know sound good when others play them (to leave out a bad profile cause).
-Profile your own amp or amp sim.
-Check the full manual for info

Quote from MementoMori

It’s not required to list your employer in your signature here, and no idea why it would be. I once answered a single question asking which type of cable that was needed for a specific function and linked to a description of It on our website before, though the Hosa website doesn’t allow you to buy online, so it was more of an FYI. I removed the signature after getting some awkward messages here as it relates to my job. I’m here representing myself not my company. At no time did I attempt to advertise or sell Hosa products here unless I was asked in private.
As for the power amp discussion, I’m not saying people can’t use SS power amps without success. Hell, I have for a long time. Still, being in the same room with both there’s simply no comparison to my ears. The main reason my KPA can hang with my other guitarists Orange is the passive Mission cab I use.

Just because someone makes their own product doesn’t mean their opinion is meaningless. Especially when these guys know their stuff and speak openly about things, mainly because I work in this industry and people speak their true feelings privately more easily. They also compliment competing products and all these guys know each other (and are often friends), so it’s not as if their motive with me is to lie. Since then I’ve compared Kemper power amp to some of their powered FRFR cabs to see what they’re talking about. I still use the powered KPA for convenience but I have a better understanding of the broader spectrum and what it offers. But in the end if it works for people then that’s perfectly fine. I just don’t like pretending all things are equal (and there have been many on this forum in different threads making such claims).

"But yeah, anyone who thinks the KPA power amp is comparable to a tube head needs to share what they’re smoking."
"As for the power amp discussion, I’m not saying people can’t use SS power amps without success. Hell, I have for a long time. Still, being in the same room with both there’s simply no comparison to my ears. The main reason my KPA can hang with my other guitarists Orange is the passive Mission cab I use."

I have no problem with you prefering tube amps, but I don't get why you initially post your personal preference as some elite univeral truth and then ridicule and insinuate all those who have no problems replacing their tube amps with ss amps are wrong.
It's passive aggressive, completely unneccesary and only brings negativity to threads. It's not the first time I see such posts often derailing threads.

"It’s not required to list your employer in your signature here, and no idea why it would be"

Most gear forums have clear rules of conduct like; not spamming, no swearing, polite manners, no personal attacking other forum members, no marketing, disclosure of affiliations etc. I was sure I had seen them on the Kemper forum but I guess not (kemper, post a rules of conduct please) , still I'm sure they want gear affiliations to be seen in the signature.
Net transparancy is more important now than ever in social media to protect us consumers. A steady rise in bought reviews, bought product placements, agenda trolls, planted forum/facebook opinion users etc.
An example: Rules of Conduct on The Gear Page Forum https://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?help/terms

"Just because someone makes their own product doesn’t mean their opinion is meaningless. Especially when these guys know their stuff and speak openly about things, mainly because I work in this industry and people speak their true feelings privately more easily. They also compliment competing products and all these guys know each other (and are often friends), so it’s not as if their motive with me is to lie. Since then I’ve compared Kemper power amp to some of their powered FRFR cabs to see what they’re talking about. I still use the powered KPA for convenience but I have a better understanding of the broader spectrum and what it offers. But in the end if it works for people then that’s perfectly fine. I just don’t like pretending all things are equal (and there have been many on this forum in different threads making such claims)."

From a consumer perspective it's basic life psychology 101 not to trust company business sales people reviewing competing products. The web is filled with that and it's not pretty. Companies with good business ethics don't do it.
Many have been fooled by digital amps and SS poweramps, including myself. They can't be 100% molecular perfect but they don't need to be 100% to fool many people, it's easy to accept that fact. Talking absolutes makes no logical sense and is never constructive.

Quote from PhilsKF

Hello ALL -
Having owned a Powerhead now for about 5 months, I thought to give an honest personal opinion of the Kempers' built in 600 watt amplifier section.

Having A/B the Kemper with numerous Tube amplifiers I find that using the Powerhead falls way short in comparison to a TUBE amplifiers power output
For my tests, the very same cabinet was used in all trials; a 212 Orange PPC212 with two Celestion 8 ohm Redbacks wired in series for a 16 ohm impedence.
16 ohm impedance gives the Kemper internal amplifier a 300 watt output rating.

A FEW Personal examples: 1. Marshall JTM45 Offset rated at 45 watts output blows away the Kemper powerhead in volume and sheer power.
2. Vox AC30 rated at 30 watts output blows away the Kemper powerhead in volume and sheer power.
3. MP CS-40 rating up to 75 watts output depending on the output tubes used. I tried with KT66's. Result: blows away the Kemper
powerhead in volume and sheer power.

CONCLUSION: Tube amplifier technology literally obliviates any amplifier output section based on Solid State technology - like the Class D amplifier in the Kemper.

Kempers' 300 watts at 16 ohms - well, you go ahead and try it for yourself.
The "measley" 30 watts of an AC30 tube amplifier will BLOW AWAY the Kempers 300 watt amplifier rated at 10 times more power!

Don't get me completely wrong here, I still really like and use my Kemper Powerhead for a lot of obvious other reasons.

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PhilsKF, I and others have compared the kemper SS and tube power amps played through the same speakers and have no problems matching the volume loudness ranging from 1x12, 2x12, 4x12.
SS and tube power amps will have about the same RMS at the same watt with identical setup. See my previous post. A doubling of the power amp watts only results in about 3dB more volume, and 10x watts will result in about double percieved volume (9-10 dB).

When you describe huge volume differences in your examples it sounds like something is wrong to me.
Have you made sure you have turned up the power amp levels in the kemper settings? Perhaps you have a defective unit.
I have seen a few forum threads where users asked about low volume in the kemper power amp, and other users pointed out how to set and turn up the correct volume settings in the kempers menu settings and that solved the volume problem.

There will be sonic differences since the kemper profile used has captured the power amp color and dynamics from the tube amp it profiled. Therefore a transparent power amp makes sense in the kemper. Playing it through a tube power amp will color the sound more away from the original tone that was profiled. Both can sound great though, nothing is right or wrong, but one option is more true to the original tone and one is more colored. Some tube power amps are very stiff, some in the middle and some very spongy.

Quote from MementoMori

Beyond just volume, SS and Class D power amps lack the body and warmth of a tube head. I’ve heard a few times that the Fryette Power Station with the KPA & other modelers does a lot to add back what’s missing, though that is a tube power amp.

Speaking to a number of SS power amp and FRFR cab manufacturers, none of them like the KPA power amp. Still, knowing that I still got the powered KPA because I can always use powered speakers or a different power amp with it if I want, though I’m a sucker for convenience.

But yeah, anyone who thinks the KPA power amp is comparable to a tube head needs to share what they’re smoking.

There's no need to be passive aggressive when posting about what others think about gear.
I think you exaggerate way too much when saying that the kemper SS amp (a 600w Bang & Olufsen model) is not even
comparable to a tube amp, and insinuate that those who think it is are wrong.
There are hundreds, if not thousands of bands and artists using the kemper+ ss poweramp, replacing a tube amp without any problems. There are plenty of posts to be found over the years by users replacing a tube amp with a powered kemper or other SS amps. I don't think it's a good way of gathering facts or information when you refer to what other amp brand makers (salesmen with a business interest) think of a competing product.
It's easy to get stuck in a confirmation bias trap, not seeing what others think.

I've seen many being fooled in blindtests when asked if they think it's a tube amp they hear/play or a solid state (when playing a kemper with SS amp). That includes the kemper SS, Matrix SS, Camplifier SS and some other SS amps.

Some info previously posted about solid state vs tube amps.
copy paste from a previous post:
"Here is a link with some food for thought info, Amp Power Myths, tube vs solid state:
http://ww1.guitarnuts.com/amps/myths.php/?gtnjs=1
As mentioned earlier, a 100w is 100w both from tube or ss amp when measured, RMS. compared with exact same setup.
Yes a tube amp can be pushed above the rating, but that can only add a very small extra dB gain.
If you double the watt in an amp you only get about 3dB louder.
So a 200w amp is only 3 dB louder than a 100w amp. A 100w tube amp don't add that much dB over the rating.
If you want double the percieved volume then we need about 10xW, meaning going from a 100w to a 1000w.
It's much easier to get louder by using a very loud sensitive speaker.
sensitivity, also known as SPL (Sound Pressure Level)
A 40 w amp with a very loud 100dB sensitive speaker will sound louder than a 100w amp with say a 92dB sensitive speaker.
A 512 w amp coupled with an 86 dB speaker will be just as loud an an 8 watt amplifier with a 104 dB speaker.
Here is a chart good for interpreting SPL ratings."
http://www.colomar.com/Shavano/spl.html

As a side note question, MementoMori, are you affiliated with any company?
I thought your signature used to say something like "social media expert, HOSA company" or similar.
I've seen you recommend HOSA cables recently in the forum. Just wondering why it was removed from your signature since the forum rules require forum users to list any affiliations. Apologies if I'm mistaken.