Posts by zerocrossing

  • Germanium Fuzz for KPA's effect loop?

    Suggestions? So far I've only just begun checking them out and I heard demo tracks of the MJM London Fuzz that I liked a lot, but I worry that it's a bit too limited... but great tone is the most important thing. My music is all over the place but I tend to like a lot of more experimental stuff. My guitar heros include Fripp, Belew, Gibbons, Hendrix, Prince, May... etc. I know they're the classics, but I also dig a lot of the sounds the Nu-metal guys are getting.

  • Which amp/profile is your favourite for use with external pedals?

    Quote from Dlaut

    My approach to the KPA (and modelers in the past) is to avoid pedals and just switch to profiles/patches with more gain if I want a *bump* in aggressiveness. To my mind, pedals are crutches for single amp solutions - obviously, that doesn't include time-based effects, etc. - that allow us to obtain gained-up sounds we couldn't have achieved easily with the native amp we were using.


    Certainly I can use the built-in KPA "pedals" (and sometimes do); but, I'd rather change the profile entirely for a lead or other emphasis as it also gives me an altogether different character to the sound.


    Apart from octave pedals, harmonizers, etc., I don't miss pedals at all. :thumbup:


    I couldn't disagree more. ;) Now, I'll admit that so far my experience with the KPA is that the best profiles are the ones that are simple amp/cab/mic set ups. However, I've found that the Kemper's stomps add a lot of life to amps in a way that no amp alone (or amp profile) could. I also have had amazing success using the battery of distortion/OD pedal emulations that come with my HD500 as well as the Blackstar HT-5 dual distortion tube pedal I own. I'm just now thinking it might be nice to have a true germanium based fuzz box too. Which one though? That's the real question...

  • Stereo effects with KPA and stereo power amp?

    There is no "way" to set up effects in stereo other than to tweak to taste and probably avoid a lot of heavy panning. Easy to avoid if you set the percentage of the effect down. When in doubt, go subtle. Stereo effects are great for the studio and even nice in small clubs, but if you're playing larger stages they're actually not very helpful at all. You don't want people near one side of a PA to be only hearing "half" of what's going on.

  • Not Good Sound Using Kemper Profiling Amp Live

    Quote from ckemper

    There have been a number of users having problems with that "real" sound.
    This is like kids, that don't really like the taste of a real orange, after they had too many orange candies (that is my orange story :)


    I have no plans to let the sound of the KPA degrade into the synthetic direction.
    There is too much competition in that domain :P


    Well, this wasn't discussed, but the KPA can and has been used to profile an Axe FX II and if you don't have one you can buy Armin's pack of Axe FX II or search the rig exchange for that sound. Frankly I've yet to be impressed with any Axe FX demo or the sound I heard from an Axe FX ultra I heard first hand. I bought Armin's full bundle and I found the Axe FX rigs to be pretty uninteresting... might as well just use Amplitube at that point if you want that kind of sound. There's a funny video on Youtube showing a Kemper profiling an Axe FX II and it's pretty clear to me that in it's inability to get the Axe FX exactly correct, it errs on the side of making it sound much better!


    Also, I have a Pod that I use as effects with the Kemper and I've a-b'd them as "amps" and frankly I have no idea why anyone would go for the Pod amp sound over the Kemper... for live or studio. Maybe if I was doing a small cafe gig and I just wanted pure simplicity I'd grab the HD500 just because it's a single modeler/controller solution. Even so... if I were doing a lot of live shows I think I would go for a HD500/DT25 rig over an Axe FX II, but that's not really modeling at that point, is it? More of a tube amp augmented with modeling.


    I was really on the fence about the Kemper vs the Line6 "Dream Rig" and the guys at Anderton's basically said go Kemper if you're mostly in the studio, but the Line6 set up might be a bit better for live use. Now that I've had the Kemper for a while I'm sure that with the right FRFR set up I'd be more than good with using the KPA for any live show.


    Anyway, I wouldn't be surprised if the original poster was just a troll who never even had a Kemper. Notice he only posted in the public forum. :| Very trollish post title too. Why not a title like, "Can someone help me get sound that's optimized for live shows?" He blatantly ignored all the helpful tips he was offered. Very poor behavior.


    I've been pretty good about saying things like "The Axe FX II can make some really good sounds... just not real sounding tube amp sounds" but this is probably a bit more diplomatic than I really believe. What I really think is "The Axe FX II doesn't sound nearly as good as the Kemper in any way and is far too expensive for the quality of sound you get from it." With the 15% off sales going on this weekend the Axe FX II will cost you a thousand dollars more... enjoy that fan noise! 8o

  • Where's the midrange ?

    Quote from old crow

    Now that's using the old penis. I need to take more of a mixing approach playing thru this Kemper w studio monitors. I'll give that a try.

    OK, it is kind of old, but it still works really well... well pretty well. I didn't use it to answer that question though or the answer would have been really different.

  • Where's the midrange ?

    Well, mic placement and mic type is huge. I notice a lot of people like to use more "full range" styles of mics, and I never think that does a better job... in fact, the good ol' Shure SM57 is still my favorite mic for guitar cabs mainly because it does such a good job of capturing mids. Make sure you experiment with mic placement. Don't go by where you think it should go. Place it where you get the best mid range response. Also, when profiling don't be afraid to crank your mids a bit to over emphasize them if you don't feel the profile is getting the mid range you want. Again, mic and cab are crucial... even the room can make a difference. Remember, what sounds good on it's own is often terrible in a mix. Rig presets often capture what a good guitar sounds like alone but need to be properly EQed to sit nicely in a mix.


    Last, but not least, is don't be afraid to use the Kemper's EQ post cab. I'm pretty sure I've never left a miced guitar cab unEQed in all my born days.. either live or in the studio. Before you go boosting, make sure you roll off your lows and then increase the volume of the overall signal. Usually I find this does the trick.

  • Got my Kemper today but never thought I actually would!

    It's been a long time since I've played a live show, but the Kemper's "amp like" controls on the front panel should make tweaking live a breeze. It and a FRFR monitor of some sorts (I used to be fond of just using a couple of keyboard amps) should be all you'll need for a successful live show. One of these days I'll take this thing to a real gig but I can't imagine it not being super excellent unless you try to do something stupid like put it in the effects loop of a guitar amp. (little joke based on another thread) ^^

  • 15% off Kemper Sale!!!!

    Quote from resonator48

    My Sweetwater rep isn't as willing to match or discount prices like some of the other reps that's been mentioned. He was willing to sell the KPA for $1650 "IF" I also bought a pair of Focal CMS 65 Studio Monitors at $1800.


    Oh screw that. I wouldn't buy from them in that case. I have a friend at Sweetwater, and they've always been fair to me, even before he worked there, but frankly they're not great on price. I know they talk a lot about "customer service, but what does that mean in this day and age? They're going to fix it if it stops working? No. They know it better than the developer? Nope. Yeah, they opened up and loaded my HD500 with a set of celebrity presets... that I'll never use. The Kemper came stock standard. They really need to focus more on being competitively priced.

  • 15% off Kemper Sale!!!!

    Quote from Zappledan

    You can get 15% off with the offer mentioned at the top. Just tell your Sweetwater rep that you're going to buy one at the stated price, and you'd prefer to buy from Sweetwater. If he still won't meet the price then buy it elsewhere ...


    I originally ordered one from JRRshop only to find they didn't actually have them in stock (though my card had been charged) so I called Sweetwater and explained their sale and they matched the price, though I did pay a few dollars for shipping.

  • Axe 2 lover " fair and balanced" review of the KPA.

    Quote from ckemper

    Both are recorded thru the camera mic.


    There's one on his channel where he goes though a bunch of amp models on the Axe and an actual amp where he's not using the camera mic and the audio is actually good.


    This does bring up something though. Why has crappy Youtube audio become the defacto standard for examples of audio. Sure, you've got a $99 plug in, though up a demo on Youtube, but when you're selling a $1850 piece of audio equipment it deserves better. I'd love it if Kemper actually put some professionally recorded high quality wav files up. I know it would have made my decision process easier.

  • Axe 2 lover " fair and balanced" review of the KPA.


    Well, I think it makes us mad because when he reviews his Axe FX he runs a nice signal out of a board and makes a good recording, yet somehow he can only do crappy camera sound for the Kemper. This clearly shows he has an "axe to grind" as we say here in the states. :D

  • Finally got my kemper but a bit overwhelmed.... thoughts?

    Quote from bigmuff

    Most of the profiles suck, especially the included ones. Finding good ones is definitely a chore but they're out there.


    Really? I felt that most were either good or very good and even the ones that seem "lack luster" make nice fits for deep in the mix guitar tracks. Not every sound has to be in your face and sparkle. I bought the Amp Factory and Armin's bundles and while they're very good, in the end I felt that if I had just stuck with what came with the Kemper I'd have had more than enough to work with and never be unhappy.

  • Finally got my kemper but a bit overwhelmed.... thoughts?

    Somewhere if you search the forum you'll find a method for "clearing" your Kemper. You basically do a back up and then dig into the backup file and remove the rigs you don't want and put the others in a new folder for safe keeping. They can be then added back as desired. This really helped me get a handle on things and now I'm slowly going though my Amp Factory rigs and figuring out what ones I'll keep. When that's done I'll go though Armin's and I should by then have a very nice and complete complement of rigs including some from the factory set which I've already tweaked to taste. It's still a lot of rigs, but not overwhelming like it was before.

  • Short Review of the KPA - Compared with the AxeFX II

    Quote from francodimo

    :D I didn't have an Axe ... think I don't need one ... I'm sure.


    That's always been my take on it. Every time I'd see someone gushing about it on a forum I'd have a listen and think... "Ok... and for how much? :huh: " It just never seemed to have that special something that would warrant spending whatever they were asking for it.


    When I heard the Kemper KPA for the first time I had quite a different response. "Woah! :thumbup: What does it cost? I'd better find a way to get that money together. 8) "