Posts by monotone

I like the Kemper very much.

If you cannot get the two units to sound identical this is no fault of the equipment only the operator/user.

Respectfully If one is thinking/commenting without partiality then they are scientifically, potentially with the right operator, absolutely sonically equal.

IF one has the talent to dial the Helix it is equal. I've conducted my own tests scientifia lly and my god.. there are enough blind tests on the web where no discernable difference is heard.

They are all sonically equal if you know what you're doing. In terms of feel some say the kemper has the slight edge for now... that could easily change. Through a real cab the top products are all equal in feel and sonics and the only difference is routing and work flow and price.

The Kempers neat design saves you some tweaking by making it automated that's about it.

Maybe 5 years ago the Kempers approach had the edge in terms of Sonics and what it really boils down to is routing flexibility and price. Dont be fooled by the hype or conjecture when someone says this is better than that. It could be a bad profile or a bad I.R in either case.

If the Kemper released a floor version at a cheaper price....then you may as well just call it a Helix/Axe fx with a Kempers badge. So if a floor version is your tool buy a Helix. Makes common sense.

I don't understand brand loyalty that a person would wish something was more like something else but won't admit to buying something else because...

90% of these Kempers 2 expectations are just pointing at what other products already do but cheaper.

Has anyone else noticed the extremely high number of Kempers hitting the auction sites.

There seems to be a very high turnover for the Kempers. I see way less of the other modelers on the used market. Honeymoon phase? The novelty dies?

Quote from JedMckenna

Man, I'm playing stadiums with my Kemper. From rehearsal to performance to recording, it's literally at the center of my professional life. So much for your "consumer product"... if you'd be the least bit involved in the professional touring circuit, you'd see how popular it is among us. My colleagues have all sorts of gear and our common goal is just to kill the next gig with the least hassle possible, period. I just can't understand where some of those complaints are even coming from, it's so disconnected from actual musician things. If you are one and your goal is making music, drop the "THD, DSPs and generic codecs" because I assure you your focus is at the wrong place!

I've had the pleasure of working with a few bands Biffy Clyro to name one who have used them in the past but no longer do because they didn't like it and switched to using iso boxes loaded and mic'd.
At this level in my experience convinienece isn't always the first choice.
I'd say 90% percent of the bands ive worked with and respect use the real deal and I've seen plenty trial it and switch back to amps.

You're not the first person to use consumer products on stage though. I remember seeing Steven Carpenter use a laptop with some plugin running to the desk...he uses axe fx now.

I guess that because I did not buy a Kemper only loaned one for a test period, I can be impartial and not systematically deluded about it, my money is not invested in a unit. Only my time testing it. Financial investment and partiality generally go hand in hand. Some things are just scientific facts.

So monkey, do some actual lab tests and then you will know what you are actually putting your money and biasedness behind. It's a great consumer unit. Its convienient. It just wouldn't be my personal choice in any situation of professional guitar audio.

My feature requests are economically realistic and achievable for a future improved product. This is the threads topic no?

There are alternative products on the market that are equal in performance sonically that offer much better consumer convenience at a cheaper price.

The simple fact is for the money it should be a better system. I'm a firm advocate of quality over quantity but at the current price point of a unit one would hope to expect improvements not necessarily more variables to play with.

If your crowd is convienience and your joy is giving the soundman an easy job there are cheaper options with more flexabilty.

Things I'd like to see In a Kemper 2.

Less THD and improved linearity/noise floor.
Dedicted converters not generic codecs. DSD support. Enough dsp to get higher resolution unfiltered 20to22khz direct amp profiles. Distortion resolution accuracy at 1-1.

An editor.

Here they come frothing at the mouth...dont insult the precious Kemper...

Quote from karlic

I don't think anyone is a blind fanatic with their Kemper. An editor would have been very useful in the first 6 months I owned it, but now I probably wouldn't bother. The front panel was designed to make everything accessible and I am more than happy having bought mine for £1,179 before prices soared in the UK.

Thats a bit delusional, defending the shortfalls is kinda my point there....£1179...such a bargain. You forgot to factor in the expense of buying an audio interface to actually record it and buying a real amp to profile it. Learning how to build an editor from scratch....Wasted time is wasted money. This puts the final cost to tape way way higher than £1179.

Mr Kemper just makes the consumer do all the leg work so he doesn't have to. The hardware is consumer and feature limited but the price is a premium and has the community expecting more.

It is embarrassing almost boarding on humiliating that Kemper haven't released an desktop based control software. The price of a kemper is not chump change.

This is the year 2018 and the competition has left them way way behind in terms of features for value for money Variable spdif rates have just become an option...you can buy behringer audio interface from 2012 with 96khz sampling that is not a big deal.
The hardware is beyond a joke average and Kemper don't even release relevant performance specs to prove otherwise.

I appreciate that some people are blindly Kemper fanatic and for some reason are emotionally defensive when you do bring up the facts and so will dissagree till they're dying breath frothing at the mouth screaming the kemper is 'perfect'...

I thing the main issue I see again and again on the forum is that the inventor has priced his creation at a pro level with the level of performance and features of a consumer product.

Quote from Finally

The "roadmap" is a loose term and that comment is something that Kemper could say, but they don't talk BS about vapourware.

I believe the German way is to under promise and over deliver rather than talking stuff up

...I think not.

The emissions cover up at VW. One of the biggest corperate scandals in human history.

Thanks Mike.

It's not a matter of using the kempers di profiles or any profiles. It's simply this, can the kemper take a hi z level input to line level output hard bypassing the a/d/a. Acting as di box if you will.

Also of great use would be If this is possible going spdif input(d/a) to instrument level out.
Acting as a reamp box if you will.

Does it do it anyone?

I can't find any specifics on the signal path of the input and outputs on the kemper.

I want a instrument hi z to line level output guitar d.i track without any interference of a/d/a in the signal.

What's the appropriate input/output to do this?

And for reamping with my tube amp, what output will allow me a instrument level to my guitar amp? Going spdif out of my interface to the spdif input on the kemper.

I even have the option to go line out from interface line level into the kemper. What would be the input/output choice avoiding a/d/a to get a instrument level output.

Regards

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This "complex" sound wave of an electric guitar consists of multiple sine waves of different frequency and amplitude, low-passed below 10 kHz through a guitar cab. Yeah, a real challenge for a 44.1 converter

I've come to the conclusion this forum is the completely wrong place for any kind of academic conversation on the subject. This is a consumer forum after all.

Will be keeping an eye out on the kemper for the future.

Regards

Where to start.

I won't indulge in a wordy lecture addressing all half understood theory's/opinions verbalised as facts.

I have never had a client book the studio to record sine waves which are easy to digitise and have been for many many years.

Snowy is right. A guitar signal is not a sine wave. There is alot more going on than just fundamental notes. This fact makes a huge impact on how well converters work if lazy coding has been used. I'd like to see the chap in the video run a complex sound wave from a instrument with multiple harmonics beyond the fundamental.

To say odd-even order harmonics in guitar don't effect timbre is an excuse for lazyness. At any point in musical production. This is where compromise is made.

Correct 44.1khz on paper is sufficient bandwidth for human hearing according to Nyquist (a term internet gurus seem to throw around without understanding it and its shortcomings in the real world) however, if the anti aliasing filters are cutting out frequencies because of lazy coding or hardware limitations etc etc (guitar note is complex and made up of added harmonics) you are NOT going to get full bandwidth at even at 44.1k. Sorry sambronx there is more to the story than just Nyquist theory and 'covering the bandwidth of human hearing range' at 44.1k'.

Just because a digital converter running at 44.1khz can accurately replicate a sine wave at 20k does NOT mean it can replicate a complex sound wave digitally (say from a guitar) without distortion or aliasing issues. The solution? Cut off the offending frequencies.

Raising the sample rate will assist the need for aliasing filters and help lazy coding amongst other things reducing latency. Nothing to do with increasing the hearing bandwidth which so many here seem obsessed with the only reason one would increase frequency range.

I will stop here.

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"Analogue outputs at 44.1"? You do know the meaning of analogue, right? Anyway, as confused as your statement was, you'll be pleased to know that the KPA operates at a sample rate of over 700 kHz internally, so don't worry about your 44.1 analogue outs! ]

So the outputs of any digital amplifier will only operate at the set frequency range of the D/A converters software and op amps....analogue isn't some magical term to describe maximum fidelity its just non quantised audio as opposed to digital.

Bottom line is guitars sound better tracked at 96khz. Maybe its a lack of odd or even order harmonics accuracy in the algorithm of the kemper.

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Have you conducted and passed proper blind tests to verify your conclusions?

Yes. There are artefacts that once you know what you are looking for you will notice. The kemper matches Eq and frequency response and veiled in a metal guitar scenario genre type mix the difference is inaudible or not exempt from a workaround. I was hoping the kempers merits extend beyond that application.

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There is a reson that 44.1 khz have stood the test of time and is still the most used by pros making music.]

There is a growing number of high profile artists and a push the industry for the adoption of high resolution audio. Does't leave the kemper terribly future proof when it does become standard soon.

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In my signature there's a link to hundreds of bands and producers using kempers on albums and live, have a listen to what many professionals produce.

Convenience never rules over audio fidelity for any real sound engineer in my opinion. Its my profession and art after all. Even more so in a studio.

In 50 years time who will look back and actually care if making an a song or album was more convenient than if the best possible quality was put into into the final production recording.

I guess i'm just an analogue guy in a digital world.

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From my understanding the internal sample rate of the audio processing is MUCH higher than 44k and down sampled to 44k]

Meaningless if what actually passes through the op amps isn't higher.