Posts by ucnick

    Probably a dumb question, but I cannot find an answer.


    • Example: I have a rig set up so that the amp gain goes up by x amount when I hold down the button and it transitions into morphed mode.
    • Then I switch to another rig in the same performance and use it for a while.
    • When I return to the rig that was morphed it has returned to base value.

    Is there any setting that will allow the rig to remain latched in morphed mode, so that after moving to another rig and then back to the rig that was morphed it will still be in morph mode?

    I am a long time Kemper Powerhead toaster user and am considering the purchase of a Stage. I noticed it has some additional buttons for which I cannot find equivalents on my toaster, specifically the Effect buttons as described on page 13 of the Stage Quick Start manual. I also own and use several other different modeling platforms.


    I would like to find out how the Effect buttons can be used - can they be set up to simultaneously control a number of the modules, i.e. similar functionality to the Helix "snapshots" or Fractal "scenes", where the modules in a given "snapshot" or "scene" can be turned on and off and modified for each snapshot (or whatever)? The manual is somewhat vague on this subject.


    Thanks

    I wish. No floor unit and lack of a solid editor was the reason I have migrated to an AX8. Haven't touched either of my Kempers since last August, matter of fact literally just sold my rack unit. If they would come out with a player floor unit and a good editor, I'd buy it in a second.

    +1 for the KPA editor!


    I almost never use Rig Manager, for the simple reason I don't keep a hecka lot profiles on my KPA in order to speed up boot time. But an editor would be something much more useful to me. Just my druthers.


    Fer chrissakes, my Amplifire has an editor! It ain't perfect, has a couple bugs, but it's sure a lot easier than going through the panel knobs and buttons.


    And there is a 3rd party available for my GR-55 which works very well, again some bugs but nothing serious. So a third party solution would be fine as well. I guess I'll have to try the Toaster editor out when it works with OS 4.0.2....


    Apparently Roland and Kemper have similar mindsets about editors...Just kidding! No need to flame me on that!

    Click HERE to hear our new Lonestar single featuring Kemper tones. The solo starts around 2:00. I'm using my AC30TB profile for rhythm parts and my '70 Marshall JMP 20w for the solo. Thanks for listening! If anyone knows how to embed the video, that'd be great. Thanks!


    That sounds GREAT, Michael!! Your phrasing is really tasty, and your playing is outstanding - as always! And the tone, um-mm, omigish... that is the reason my MBritt profiles are pretty much my go-to for any given need.


    I cannot comprehend how anyone can say that the Kemper sounds "digital". In some ways, it surpasses the sound and capabilities of a tube amp, and I was (and still am) a tube amp fan, albeit one whose eyes have been opened to the possibilities inherent in digital modeling which allow a machine to take the best qualities of a tube amp, remove the undesired, unnecessary, and unusable bits, and distill it into a small, portable form suitable for recording and performance. It does cost... but you get what you pay for.


    I was going around with someone about it this week who uses an Eleven Rack he purchased for $200 and who insisted that a Kemper (or any digital modeler) could never sound as good as a tube amp. irregardless of the fact that he had never even heard a KPA. His judgment was based upon the "...harsh digital sound" of his 11 Rack, and his mind had already been made up, in fact he stated that digital modeling would "never sound as good as a tube amp". I finally gave up. No use wasting any more time on him. I wished him good luck and Godspeed. What else to do?

    That is pretty much what I used for this live performance of Jump (KPA Rack with DXR10, monitor out to DXR10, main out R to PA, unlinked at about -15 dB or so), using the bundled Gundy Brown Sound EVH factory rig... audio quality not that hot, as it was recorded on a little handheld camera. BTW this was the first night out with the DXR10, I received many compliments on my tone that evening, including from our bassist...


    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqQb9OWbNcU

    FWIW, I contacted B&O regarding the Icepower 1000A bandwidth. It is not an error in the datasheet. Below is the exact communication from their rep, Paul Meister. Take it as you will.


    *************************************************************************************************************************************************************************


    "Hi Nicholas,Your email was forwarded over to me from B&O. Thanks for reaching out. The 1000A was designed (15 years ago) with only low frequency applications in mind. Therefore there was no need to go above 3khz. When the 1000ASP was designed a couple of years later, they thought that they would get more full range applications, so it was designed up to 20khz and everything since then and going forward is full bandwidth.Thanks and regards,


    Paul Meister
    Sales Manager
    ICEpower America 847.909.0093



    Customer (Nicholas Maris) - 09/02/2015 10:02 AM
    (My inquiry to B&O)
    I am writing with regard to the Icepower 1000A power amplifier specifications. I would like to check and see if the typical -3dB bandwidth (at 4 ohm loading) value of 3 kHz, as given in the data sheet (see highlighted line on page 5 of attachment) is a correct value? It seems on the low side. Similar products, such as the 1000ASP, have a BW of greater than 20 kHz. Also, are there any - 3dB BW measurements at 8 ohm loading for the 1000A? Any errata sheets for the data sheet? Thanks for the help!"

    Howdy,


    Yep, the 3 kHz BW is something from the old AM tube radio era. We're talking pre-Armstrong here! :)


    I was for certain not looking at the phase response, it was definitely the frequency response curve. The 1000A has a 3 dB BW of 3 kHz, see page 6 of the 1000A datasheet (http://www.icepower.bang-olufs…ons/icepower1000adata.pdf). Top curve is amplitude response. It also states this value in the table on page 5, Typical value of the Upper Bandwidth Limit @ Rload = 4 ohm is 3 kHz. According to the curves, the 4 ohm/8ohm/16 ohm responses are almost identical.


    The Icepower 1000ASP has a 3 dB BW of approx 30 kHz. This is as shown on page 9 pf v1.5 datasheet (http://www.icepower.bang-olufs…s/icepower1000aspdata.pdf). This agrees with the 30 kHz value.


    It comes down to what is in there. I haven't wanted to open it up and look at what is inside, I'm afraid to void the warranty. Can you please tell me which one it is? That will put it to rest.


    Thanks!

    Ah hah - thanks, Timo! Yep, I know, v1.1 doesn't support it, that's why my 1.1 floorboard doesn't show it. But since the KPA needs to be in that mode first, I'm not clear on why it changed. The v1.3 floorboard worked the same as v1.1 since last November and then suddenly during that rehearsal it changed modes, so the setting must have changed for some reason in the KPA, as I did not mess with the System settings at all at the time. It was a very noisy environment electrically speaking, so perhaps that had something to do with it. Our keys guy had weird stuff happening with his status lights on his boards while we were there, so the poor electrical quality may have been the cause after all. I was even using a Furman filtered strip and, while it reduced the noise quite a bit, it was still there. Maybe I should run the KPA on a battery-backed-up UPS when I rehearse there in the future. :)


    Anyway, thanks for pointing it out to me. I think I'll stay in the mode for a while and see how it works out, it may actually have been a serendipitous occurrence. Thanks again!!

    I have been using my FCB1010 with the U4K v1.3 PROM for some time. It has always worked whenever I switched banlks in Performance mode by going to the last slot selected. Yesterday at rehearsal for some reason it seems to have gone into "performance pre-selection mode", as described by the U4K FW rev history (from the U4K website):



    "v.1.3 (25/02/2014)
    ------------------
    -> Press switches 1+2 during startup to activate stomp config mode (this avoids interference between stomp config activation and beat scanner activation)
    -> Support for beat scanner activation by keeping the tempo switch pressed (this needed a change in transmitted MIDI messages)
    -> Support for "performance pre-selection". In this mode, while browsing through performances their index is displayed on the FCB1010 display and
    the slot LEDs are blinking. Only after clicking a slot switch the performance is activated. When clicking no slot switch within a certain time,
    the previously active performance and slot are activated again.
    "


    It now seems to be in this mode permanently, when I switch banks all 5 slot LEDs flash together 8 times and the KPA screen is grayed out, and when I select a slot it goes right to it. All that is well and good, and I think it may actually be useful, but I don't know how I managed to put it into this mode, and I would like to know how to get in and out of the mode. I did the FCB1010 U4K factory default reser but no difference, I also did a backup restore on the KPA from my last backup, and it still does it. If it is a soft switch in the Kemper I don't seem to be able to find it, I have looked through the addendi and the manuals and didn't spot anything about that mode.. My FCB1010 with v1.1 does not show this behavior, and according to the FW history notes it never will. Anyway, I will use the mode now, especially as I have no choice, but if anyone can tell me how to control which mode it is in it would be appreciated. Thanks!

    Hopefully this post will not upset too many Power Head fans, but I would like to post my observations about the Power Head with the Icepower 1000A amplifier (and the Power Rack as well I assume, since they use the same power amplifier) .


    I purchased my first KPA, a Power Head toaster model (as an Xmas present to myself) back in Dec 2013. My intention was to use it as a standalone amplifier to drive a cab and eliminate my pedalboard and boat-anchor tube amp. Since I bought it, I have had many comments from fellow bandmates (in the bands I have been in or am in) regarding how dark the sound was from the cab, no high end. Going through the main out direct to the PA sounded nice and sparkly all the time, but the cab sound was dark no matter what I did. I was using a Weber Vintage speaker at the time in an old Lopoline 1X12 convertible cab, as well as some Carvin 2X12 cabs.


    I figured the issue was the speaker. I went to a Beyma 12GA50 in my little ol' Lopoline 1X12 cab, no difference. Then I bought a Mission Engineering Gemini 1-P passive FRFR cab, but still no substantive difference. Weird. Then, for grins and chuckles, I tried running the toaster monitor out into my Quilter Tone Block 200 into the Gemini 1-P, and it really opened it up. I went back and looked at the Icepower 1000A -3dB upper bandwidth spec, it's only 3 kHz (albeit at 4 ohms, likely a little higher at 8 ohms). The Quilter Tone Block 200 has an upper -3dB BW limit of 10 kHz (I know, I emailed Quilter Labs about it, Pat Quilter answered me personally and told me the bandwidth). That explained the more sparkly and open sound, it was getting close to the direct-through-PA tone I was experiencing.


    I then went and purchased a Matrix GT800FX, which has an upper -3dB BW of 24 kHz, and I now enjoy even more high-end goodness out of my rig. It sounds darned near just like the PA tone. My bandmates have stopped complaining about the blanket-over-the-amp tone from my cab, another benefit of higher bandwidth.


    I have purchased a KPA unpowered rack unit and intend to use that with the GT800FX for live use, and I'll use the toaster with the Quilter for rehearsals and recording. So all's well that ends well.


    If I had known then what I know now, I would not have purchased the Powerhead, I would have just bought the unpowered version and used an external power amp with wider BW for driving a cab, as well as just biting the bullet and buying a good FRFR cab. I know, I know - if I didn't like the tone, why didn't I just skip the cab altogether and go with the PA and some monitors maybe some DXR10s? Well, I LIKE having a cab behind (or sometimes in front of) me interacting with the guitar, and I like the traditional cab look. Just my druthers. Anyway, I thought I should share the results of my experience with you all, it may help someone else shorten their path to tonal Nirvana with their Kemper. .