Thanks Pippopluto.
I guess that’s something else worth asking..... are they intending the Kone to go into your own ‘flat’ cabinet or are the saying, because they can make it sound like a real guitar speaker, that it will work well in a real guitar cabinet? Logic would say that the acoustic sim would work better in a flat cab but for the actual guitar shapes? I wonder 
There’s a brief sound bite of the acoustic sim on Kemper’s FB feed
A question.... I haven’t played live for a while and am unlikely to in the foreseeable future. The Kone price isn’t horrific and I have an actual guitar cab that is unused with a regular guitar speaker in it where I could obviously drop the Kone in. But I have an unpowered toaster.
Forgive me if this is silly but...... for home use, could I simply use a hi-fi amp? I have an old one laying around..... not quite sure why folks are needing 600w power amps to feed a single speaker?? It’s kind of overkill isn’t it?
Have a look on social media - a Kemper / Celestion speaker is shown
NAMM teasers here we come
At the 2019 Winter NAMM they showed an early version of the editor and also the cone. They also mentioned the acoustic sim. So it’ll be good to get an update on these.
I’m loving the editor and am hoping it will evolve to allow complete fx chains to be saved / allow batch editing so as you can quickly and easily put in your own preferences when you buy a profile pack. Maybe we’ll get an update on ‘evolution of the editor’ too.... I’m sure we’ll all be listening out for the interviews.
Who knows what else? All I know is that it continues to improve after all these years and I haven’t felt the need to investigate other products since I’ve had it. Which is good going for digital gear in the guitar market where you’ve normally been superseded 2-3 times by now.
In - PRS Vela
Out - Burny Les Paul copy
Apart from that it’s been the odd bit of software. Got my eldest daughter a Ululele for Christmas so I might need to learn to play that
For sure the guitar is the first ingredient in the recipe. How much that original ingredient comes through really depends on the amp / fx chain.
Keeping with the food analogy. You start off with pork or chicken (Strat or Tele) If you just fry in butter you can absolutely tell them apart. But if you put it in a dish with 48 other ingredients then the differences between those original ingredients are masked. You might still spot which is which but not necessarily. If you start off with beef (les Paul) it’s still easier to tell but again give it enough chilli and garlic and the dish tastes more of those things.
Sorry, it’s Christmas. I’ve been cooking for several days now as that’s another hobby of mine
So the bad news is I'm short on time this weekend.
The good news is that my first impressions are 'absolutely fantastic'. Thank you very much to the team that made this. I've had my Kemper for many years and it's incredible that it's actually still improving each year since the time I had it. This does not happen with most other electronics and I'm very grateful that it's the gift that keeps on giving.
I have been politely asking for an editor for many years and I am over the moon - the layout for doing this stuff on a PC screen vs going through 6+ menus on some of the delays just makes so much more sense to my brain. For the guys that don't want it / need it, no worries. For me, this has given my beloved green box another massive boost in the usability. We are all wired differently and this works for me better than the front panel. Strange but true.
As I use it more over the coming weeks I'll no doubt make some suggestions but so far, so good
One thing - I followed the instructions (latest software via USB and then installed Rig Manager). Reboots, cable fiddles etc did not help me - the Kemper worked, and I could see my local library but the Kemper just would not talk to the PC. I unistalled Rig Manager and re-installed. It then worked without any further problems. Thought I'd share in case this helps someone else.
I appreciate the update and look forward to seeing it when it’s ready
Being able to pull performances together in the editor is one of the main things I’m hoping for. Personally, I am not a massive tweaker who obsesses about the small things - for my own mindset I am hoping for something that makes it easier to make a performance in terms of the fx layout / morphing and then save this as an fx chain that I can easily duplicate elsewhere. It will also be great to see (for example) all of a delay’s parameters on one screen as I am convinced I’m missing some neat tricks simply because I don’t go to the 4th or 5th screen of parameters. There is hidden magic that I’ve been too lazy to find so that will be good too.
I’m hopeful it makes the obsessive tweakers happy too and I’m sure it will - we all want different things out of this box that make sense to our own personal needs and preferences. For me, it’s about simplifying certain aspects of the use.
Looking forward to it whenever it drops and I am grateful the company showed it in January - I know some folks have got upset and for sure I’d have liked it already but, for me, I prefer the excitement of knowing that something is coming as opposed to complete silence. The complaints are changed from ‘can we have one’ to ‘when is it coming’ so I guess Kemper can’t win but, as a customer, I have preferred this 9 months of knowing.
There was social media info last week about CK doing a video with Andertons music. As Andertons is a shop, that will likely be hardware as in the new cabinet for the Kemper Kone.
The editor was shown back in January and the occasional questions on here by mods have still said q3.
My guess is that we’ll see both at the same time so ‘keep hitting refresh on the Andertons Youtube channel’.
The company does not currently have to worry about piracy as they do hardware based modelling.
If they have a sustainable business that makes them happy and they have zero worries about someone stealing their IP then why change? I realise protection can be effective but it can never be 100% and, when it’s gone, it’s gone. You’re then relying on the honesty of customers which isn’t a business plan. They’re obviously making enough money to make the business work and indeed grow with new hardware whilst being able to afford to give free updates to customers who have zero chance of being pirates.
Also, if they were to make a full Kemper plugin it would have to be a fraction of the cost of the hardware. Whilst some folks would ‘need’ the hardware, some potential buyers would be happy with the plugin so you’d see a fall in sales of the hardware. Would this be overtaken by masses of sales of plugins, especially when some folks would inevitably wait for the crack?
They’re a business. If it was do-able with the team they have and the numbers looked favourable they’d do it. Who knows, still might but I’m not holding my breath for the above reasons.
I’d still like to see the plugin that controls the hardware Kemper at some point - it would be another great feature that adds value to their product and gives no risk of lost sales / piracy.
As Nicky says, piracy concerns would make most companies think twice about this.
I would like a vst but purely to control the Kemper - it would be nice if you selected a channel on your DAW with a Kemper Control vst that did not have the ability to be a Kemper but just talked to the hardware Kemper and selected the profile you were using last time. It’d be nice if daw automation worked too, again just to play with parameters on the hardware Kemper.
Thanks for this tip Don - I’ll try it when I’m home. Outside delays / verbs, trem is my most used effect.
I recall prior to the update last year that a tweak to the legacy reverb was suggested as a means to getting a spring reverb sound. The tweak helped but didn’t really get where it needed to be. The actual spring, when it finally came, was awesome and showed that tweaking only gets you so far vs having a better algorithm for the effect in the first place.
I am hopeful that the new rig manager / editor will allow users to share tweaked presets that could help users get ‘as close as possible’ for certain things that they’re struggling to get (such as the harmonic then mentioned here). That’s a quick win all round as both factory and community can, hopefully, do some inspiring things with what is ‘in the box right now’ and tips such as yours above will be shareable in ways other than a description.
In the meantime, I hope that FX such as the trem / other modulations / stomps get the kind of love that the delays and reverbs have had. Delays and reverbs have gone from ‘ok if you tweak them but basic’ to ‘brilliant quality and crammed with creative possibility’. I’ve had a Strymon Flint for years which used to outdo the Kemper for spring and trem. IMO it still outdoes the Kemper for trem but you’ve stolen its crown with the verb update. I am convinced that, if you decided to do it, the trem in the Kemper could outdo the Flint / Mobius for quality and flexibility. Here’s hoping
So my first question for the lucky folks who get their Stage is.....
How’s the new 7.0 browsing and is the acoustic sim in there (it was mentioned at Winter NAMM as ‘coming’ so I believe it’s supposed to be in 7.0)? If so, ‘clips please’
And, of course, any other good things you want to share that might also be in there
I don’t know the answer but I believe the guys for rig manager (editor) might not be the same guys for the KAOS version. So, whilst it was said on here that rig manager would be a while longer, nothing was said about the latest software for the existing units so maybe that is still possible?
Either way, the thing about enjoying the Summer is making sense here as my little room where I play is crazy hot on the rare occasions that we have nice weather so I thank them for allowing me to sweat outside rather than sweat in a small room due to playing with new software..... I’m really looking forward to it all but I’ll survive for a while longer. I’m looking forward to users getting the Stage so they can feed back how the browsing is. Also, I wonder if the Stage will have the acoustic simulator on there that was mentioned at Winter NAMM? If it has 7.0 then I think it’s supposed to be there??
Were I starting from scratch with Kemper it’d be my choice as I’d want floor control plus the core abilities of the unit. The pricing would sway it for me to go the ‘all in one’ route.
As I’m lucky enough to have a toaster and remote, I’m good. Looking forward to seeing other happy folks getting though
I just got a marketing email from Andertons with the Stage on it.
This has been a good social media buzz campaign well done and it’s great that they had partners such as Andertons who could keep quiet despite obviously having known this for a while.
I keep checking this site excitedly for editor / new OS details as I am hopeful that these too are close
My belief on the editor is that it’s imminent.
The editor will need the new OS that gives browsing enhancements on the unit / easier editing on the unit. I don’t think Kemper would release the new Stage hardware with old OS on there that makes editing on the unit no better than we have now - no one knew the Stage was coming out so no reason to release it until it’s 100% ready. So logic says it’s got the new OS on there so therefore the new OS must be ready. If the new OS is ready, the editor is possible. If it’s basically a Toaster and floorboard combined with extra I/O then it makes sense to have a common OS level between it and our existing products.
So I recon the new OS for existing products plus editor is going to be out very soon. Hopefully coinciding with the floorboard but we’ll see. If true, that’s excellent as the folks wanting new hardware for stage use are happy, the people who twiddle knobs on the unit and don’t need an editor will be happy as it’ll be easier and the guys who want an editor will be happy.
Forums will be empty
It’s exciting news for the company and community. Personally, I’ve got a floorboard and toaster so, once the editor is out ‘I’m good’, provided they continue their excellent support and tweaking for the future...... for instance, I’d love it if the rest of the fx get a similar overhaul as we’ve had with the excellent update of delays and reverbs. This ‘I’m ok with the old one’ is astonishing considering it’s digital hardware I’ve had for over 6 years. It’s still a killer product that continues to improve therefore me saying I am unlikely to invest in the new one is not a negative comment about any new product - it’s a positive comment to how right they’ve got the original
Of course, if the new floor unit adds functionality that does not come to the toaster then my decision may change but otherwise I’ll watch with positive interest for others on here who will surely jump on one of these...... I can see why this is a big deal and for sure will attract new users to the brand too. I’d go that way were I new to the brand for sure. I’m looking forward to further news and hopefully editor news too
