Posts by creative360

For thirty years or something, Princetons for clubs, Deluxe Reverbs for bigger clubs and Twin Reverbs for stages, yes all modded with Mids knobs, maybe EV speakers etc etc, seemed to cover just about everybody, no matter who you were. Haha what happened? Meanwhile, regarding easy .. how easy does easy have to be to count as easy? Haha .. ugh .. it's all good.

Easier or not, I'd miss definition, power sagging, pick, compressor, clarity, tube shape/bias parameters. I'm not a totally endless tweaker, but this stuff does come in to play, often after the profiling process, even years after, when those controls are used for a particular guitar, mix, etc. I'm surprised that NDSP didn't include a suite of post-capture shaping options. Their easy-peasy plug-ins sound good too, but besides being dsp hogs, you're basically stuck with what you get. I guess it's a sort of curated mindset, versus putting more aspects of sound design in user hands. (But kind of like Garageband vs Logic, iMovie vs Premiere, working around those oversimplified interfaces is often a bigger obstacle than simply learning the deeper tools, even if you only use a fraction of their functionality.)

Quote from drew_fx

Speaking completely blue-sky a minute - What if Kemper releases Profiling 2.0 in 6 months time, which further automates the process and uses more tones during it's capture process that all of a sudden the Kemper is then way closer than the QC.... would I be out of order if I then jumped on the NeuralDSP forums and started talking about how I now prefer my Kemper for profiling?? Coz that's exactly what would happen!

You making the effort to document and share your frustrations with the Kemper is appreciated, not out of order or anything like that. You're relating anecdotal experiences. I don't get why anyone would feel the need to invalidate your opinions, and from what I've read I don't think anyone is. Even with CK, maybe there's a bit of impatience or frustration in his tone, but ultimately I'm thinking that's because he's hoping for you to have the best results possible, not because he wants to smother a dissenting viewpoint. He's let years and years and years of misinformation about his products posted on TGP go by without a response or even a peep. Anyway, it should be enough for anyone feeling defensive (?!) that there's also a ton of anecdotal evidence, many many years of examples, where musicians are unable to discern a source amp from a profile. The Quad Cortex is a polemic device. The rollout was characterized by a lot of ugly behavior among people who hadn't even tried the device. And then there were enough discrepancies between the touted capabilities and what was delivered at release to at least question the integrity of the claims. All of that aside, you getting specifically at the tech, the capture capabilities as you measure them against the Kemper, is an interesting read. I hope you don't stop.

In the end, all of this stuff is pretty much the same. That goes for drive pedals too. My preference in the studio has always been little vintage amps—Valco, Bell & Howell (more recently), Vibro Champ, Magnatone, things that you turn on and it's instant vibe—and Dumble-related amps live (which can be anything, a modded DR with a EVL speaker, or sure a Dumble-clone). Neither of those ideas is original, in fact that's common. Kemper works for a guy like me. If it was super-challenging to get at tones, or the manufacturer had an icky vibe ... yknow, always looking for personal data or berating owners on the internet, it wouldn't be worth it. Great tones is only part of it.

For the most part, Kemper is there. Not so, so much to talk about. Then a new, heavily promoted device with aped tech from CK's arsenal of magic is now on the market. Why wouldn't that be interesting to people who are already wasting time posting comments on the internet?

The accuracy is there. For the purpose of punch-ins, or other later use, or archiving album tones for potential use on the road, the Kemper is there. Sounds like the QC probably is too. Mind you, none of those uses is truly about granular scrutiny outside of a mix, which is why for decades before any of these devices existed plenty of folks were able to go back in and add punches that are relatively invisible. And in terms of live, even the most diligently curated concert scenarios are beholden to the realities of each venue, and so it’s not as if artists are going around the world sounding exactly like their records, except maybe in their in-ears.

The earlier point about not obsessing over accuracy is a good one. Who knows what Bert M’s Filmosound amp sounds like in the room? What I do know is that I’ve played through one of the guitarist’s amps that inspired a few of Bert’s rigs in that pack, and I’m telling you the feel and the vibe is close enough, and it’s not even the exact same physical amp. Again, this is not to dismiss any of the frustrations experienced by people who are diligently attempting to get the most accurate profiles of their amps, for the purpose of sharing or selling.

There’s also a mindset involved, and more general musical experience too. A Bert Meulendijk or Michael Britt or name your session ace, dials in pretty much anything to sound like ... himself. We’ve all seen it happen in person. Someone who is identified with a particular rig is standing in front of a whole different setup and still sounding exactly like himself. They’re not particularly hung-up on the minutia that may frustrate scientists. So maybe a more relaxed attitude about this stuff actually gets you there more easily.

And again, for years already the accuracy has proven to be such that most people are fooled most of the time so I don’t think anyone’s saying that it doesn’t matter at all.

It just means that there are several factors that come into play, in terms of the totality of the experience and the joy of using the device.

I don't doubt the veracity of your firsthand experiences recounted here. I only wish that the difference—those disparities in one direction or the other—were the key to making better music. Historically I don't enjoy being part of the profiling process. Something about that granular scrutiny—and it happens in the studio a lot too, a/b'ing compressors and eq's for instance—that goes against my musical orientation. I find it creatively draining. That's why I do appreciate how you others so deeply invest in the process. I also wish that good tone, in general but especially in the upper echelons, was more common. I live in the epicenter of small, guitar-centric venues in NYC, and I've also spent a lot of time in the studio (because of another career) with big names. Point being it's not surprising to hear venerable, internationally-established musicians delivering mediocre sounds. No matter the gear. Sometimes it's the room, but not always. Those tones can hinder the performance, but with the greats, not as much as you would think. In the studio, yeah I love my vintage amps. But I also love the Kemper. I don't know. Tone is a thing. And I know how to get it. But it's both easier and less important than what you'd think if all you read about are the experiences recounted in these forums. That's why consistency, reliability, basic mechanical functionality, etc is still a big part of the value of the Kemper. It doesn't mean there aren't other ways to sound great, or easier ways to implement the magic processes that CK invented. And yeah if CK decides, and if the QC is a big part of the impetus, to "revisit" profiling, who knows, it may not be a bad thing. But in 2021, for me the Kemper platform is still the easiest way to sound good and get it done. (Yes I want a Stomp—a cheap tiny alternative, but would that really make me happy? I'm not dying to make the effort.)

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I’m biased, but the worst Kemper production snafu—the handful of interrelated problems during the Stage rollout—was handled with class, and mercifully with zero endless explanations or excuses, just quiet, prompt replacements where necessary. And oh boy that can’t have been a fun summer for them. By comparison, the FM3 rollout was a debacle. The Quad Cortex, with ground noise, dsp allocation, and wifi issues, and an absolutely useless web-based user experience—and so many nuts and bolts functionality deficits—may be even worse. But it’s such a huge hit that the fact that it can’t deliver on the basic expectations of serious and pro users may not even matter. They’ll be fine, and I’ll be happy to see them get it together. That said, I don’t think Kemper should do it in public, but they deserve to do a merry, gloating dance of self-satisfaction around their offices. Always doing things their own way, no matter the babies whining about timelines and marketing and business decisions, and still somehow delivering novel products, elegantly designed, that from day one can handle so many different kinds of musical applications in mission-critical scenarios. Sorry but whenever people start saying how CK&Co should’ve done this or that differently, I think really? They did it their way.

Ive never used the Remote. Ive always been disinclined to use anything on the floor especially at a show other than cheap expression pedals, and maybe a very minimal midi controller. And that would still be my preference. In someone else’s studio, a laptop is kind of crucial, but now if all you need is RM, that could be an iPad. I would say that the interface on the toaster has probably limited my deeper exploration of the device’s potential, but I would still not want the front panel to become dominated by a large screen. for what I’ve needed, which is yknow guitar tones, the user interface has been brilliant. Recently I’ve migrated almost completely to rig manager, but nonetheless throughout the day a lot of tweaking still happens on the front panel of the Kemper.

Spdif slaving, variable impedance, wifi .. faster boot times, double the exp jacks ... It’s becoming more and more compelling to consider getting a Stage (versus my vintage powerhead but alas no amp), but as these features add-up Kemper themselves must be planning a hardware refresh to get racks and heads in line with the Stage. Please don’t call it Mk II. Just call it a Kemper.

It would be nice if the delete function applied to factory presets. I don’t see why it shouldn’t. And I didn’t know that “virtual pedal board” user effects presets isn’t a thing on the Stage. That’s too bad. And there’s a lot that would make RM better. On and on and on ... Anyway buggy or not I’ve always jumped in to fw updates and been lucky I guess, some odd behavior here and there but no major crisis.

Excellent, thanks CK.

Obviously I am a fan and none of these developments has taken me too far from my earliest successful approach to this device. And of course I’m the beneficiary of your effects designs.

To those reticent about incorporating rig manager—and this is from someone who is still a fan of the front panel of the device—if you’re working in a studio or even a controlled stage setting the software can be very quick and easier.

Why the aggressive and defensive responses to Yoda? His posts sound angry, but based on actual experience using a device workflow that he committed to years ago that is now being transformed in fundamental ways. You don’t have to agree. But no, many many people bonded with Kemper because using it was the closest reflection of using traditional rigs in the digital domain. In large part because it was the most personal, or most person-izable.

I’m not fully understanding the impetus for baking settings in to the device. I’ve always appreciated that each Kemper is essentially a custom box. One is filled with Marshall profiles and another is filled with Champs, Supros and Gibsonettes. For many of us, ninety-nine percent of the effect presets would never apply. Therefore the device becomes more toy-like, like Line 6 or Zoom, designed for hobbyists to scroll through aimlessly with zero specific musical intentions. The dials on my vintage Tube Screamer haven’t been touched for years. My (relatively) vintage synths have incredible presets, but with editor apps I removed everything I never use, and customized the order of the presets - user and factory - that I do use. Many people wouldn’t want or need most of what’s in any of those preset lists. It is way way cooler to not be saddled with extra stuff on a device created to facilitate personal approaches to making music. So then it’s like, who is this change really for?

RM could have a section called “current factory presets” that could each be auditioned individually and installed or ignored. This new baked in direction does seem a bit like abandoning the original KPA ethos.

If anything, I would have loved a development that made it even easier to pare down these lists to only include what we use, without losing the option to revisit at a later date.

ymmv

Separate subfolders for User and for Factory, per effect.

And as long as legacy profile tones are preserved, any new features that sort of deliver for newbies what it is they’ve been programmed from the internet to believe they want or need—if it’s good for business I support it.

More importantly any evolution that keeps it interesting for you and your team, well so far all of those kinds of developments have resulted in inspiring creative possibilities.

Thanks for that.

For any subfolder that includes factory presets, there should be one additional subfolder called “factory” and one additional subfolder called “user“. Then you could at least choose whether or not to see the presets on offer.

Despite the hyperbolic language, I can understand not wanting to see a list of preset names that I’m not interested in using. I think it’s great that presets are being created and even that they’re being baked into the operating system. But long lists every time should be a choice. It’s an easy fix.

And while team K is at it, it would definitely be worth figurIng out a way to display preset names that are being used in the main window of the effect editor controls in rm, not buried in the subfolders and not no verification at all which is the current way.

It’s true, one of the best things about the Kemper is that it can house only the profiles that each owner/guitarist wants it to. That’s important to me, and it has always separated the KPA from the other devices. It’s good that someone is out there reminding the team that sticking to the original ethos of the device, in as much as it’s possible to do while still continuing to evolve the thing, is a worthy goal. (And I believe that so much of the evolution has been fantastic.)

No, for many of us not toys. And for many, a device that gets at what the artist is after creatively is good enough—in fact brilliant. That’s maybe why CK & Co seemed, historically, to be bemused by the incessant, vocal hypothetical frustrations of home players. Even so, they have incrementally addressed so many of those “demands”, necessary or not, improvement or not.

This presumption that dual amps or a touch screen—or even lovely new fuzzes—would inevitably improve the Kemper experience ... I personally don’t get. That’s based on owning so many other devices that purport to offer a “modern” UI.

But yes I love that the team is getting deeper in to sound design with effect builds.

I’d like to see a bottom-up redesign of the storage framework, and the rig manager interface in general. But really, that would only improve my life a little. I’d hardly call it a necessity, or an impetus to get a different product. If music comes first, Kemper has been “there” since the beginning.

Anyway yeah I’m pretty sure CK can deliver something new that answers some of the relentless global chatter without fully sacrificing the mindset ethos design sensibility at the core of the KPA identity.

The element of surprise, of delivering on core amp functionality while introducing novel parameters we didn’t know we needed but quickly realized that we did, continues to mean sweet tones and a fun ride.

DXR10 sounded better than the CLR neo, and was just better in a lot of ways ie build, form and features. I owned both at the same time and gigged each around fifty times. And then what a relief to leave them behind for real cabs and/or simply going direct. Haven’t tried a Kone. I’m a believer, just a bit reticent about a specialized speaker devoted to one device. Eventually I’m sure I’ll get one. Regarding presets, I don’t know man sure eight years ago maybe, but it seems as if these days Kemper comes with a lot of pretty basic rigs, all those free rig packs etc. And even way back when all those years ago, I actually purchased a handful of TAF profiles of amps I already knew well and loved, and loaded them up before ever auditioning presets ... and gigged those tones two or three nights later. Still using those. Just saying, historically gear bonding happens relatively immediately or I move on. ymmv

Drive and more so fuzz is its own cultish terrain, and I sort of think it’s justified. But from a sound inventor’s standpoint, it’s probably a kind of thankless preoccupation. I hope that the concerns of the fuzz fanatics do get heard, but also that Kemper’s decision to go down this road at all—and for free—is acknowledged. He’s already delivered the best fuzz(ez) that I’ve experienced in the digital domain.

It is frustrating to be a powered head devotee now that there are relevant sonic considerations for buying a stage, and wondering if/when the toaster will be updated.

But these are privileged problems to consider.