Posts by MKB

Be sure to look at the News page on the Kemper Amps site, some very interesting info there. From reading this and what was said at NAMM, I'm beginning to be convinced that the Kemper Kone is not a F12-X200, but a proprietary design unique to Kemper. The Kemper Celestion appears to be basically a fuller range driver that can do FRFR to a point, but the dispersion of the highs is controlled to be more like a standard guitar speaker. Maybe a variant of the F12-X200?

The Kemper Kone can be driven by a powered Kemper, or an unpowered one with "any external solidstate power amp".

This was very interesting: "In addition to the passive model of the Kemper Kabinet, we have plans to offer an active Kemper Kabinet as well. Further, we will offer the Kemper Kone as a replacement speaker for any regular kind of 1x12”, 2x12” or 4x12” guitar cabinet. All digitally controlled features are applicable to all kinds of cabinet configurations once the Kemper Kone is driven."

I'd agree with the $499-$599 or so price. Shipping to the US will be high as it will come from Europe. All of Kemper's products are highly engineered and top quality, and prices reflect that. However maybe it will be less than the above, as at that price you are well on the way to a Line 6 PowerCab, which has much of the same features including an integrated amp for the unpowered Kemper folks.

It will also be interesting to see what Kemper charges for the driver itself in case you want to "change your tires" as CK put it. In any case the NRE for the imprints might need to be recovered from the speaker sales as that is what is driving the work.

Now on making an imprint; the hardware is most likely already there in that I am convinced the imprint is really a special IR. Been thinking for months on how to make one speaker sound like another with an IR, and it can be done I'd think, but it will take some software manipulation. Maybe something like this:

Standard impulse > FRFR speaker > reference mic. Record the impulse. Take the inverse of the impulse, and use that to take an IR of the speaker you'd like to imprint using the reference mic. The IR taken from the speaker imprint, using the inverse impulse from the FRFR, will make the FRFR's response sound like the imprinted speaker. You'd also have to do other tricks like using an anechoic chamber and flat reference mic, along with an infinite baffle to remove any cab coloration.

Perhaps it's just a matter of time until speaker makers like Celestion sell IR imprints to make say the F12-X200 sound like a G12-65 or V30.

Quote from Duplicate Sir_Digby

He told me about the deal he struck along time ago with Yamaha that wanted to make a joint amp with him. Hopefully this goes better for Mike since Yamaha didn't listen to him on parts and chose their own to cut costs. I believe BAD has a pretty good handle on things.

I have one of those Yamaha amps, a T100C. Very interesting amp, says on the back it was made in Thomaston, GA. I gigged with it for a long time and it served me well, but I never got into that Soldano high gain "grind". It is very similar to a SLO, in fact an improvement in one way in that you have separate tone controls for clean and OD, and the SLO doesn't.

You could contact Soldano and they would send you a sheet detailing all the things they did not like about the T100C, and how to fix them. One suggestion was to add a power supply inductor in place of a resistor (mine already had this done when I bought it used). Also Mike didn't like the stock G12H-100 speaker, he preferred a V30. Mine would not output 100W, and after some troubleshooting found there was an issue with one of the stages that limited the output (a design flaw), probably another thing Mike didn't like as it wasn't in the SLO. That was quickly fixed and the amp was loud and proud after that.

Hope this thing goes up in value. And our local GC has a Hot Rod 50 Plus for $1800, kind of pricey IMHO but is gorgeous with that purple cab and white chassis. I am SO tempted...

Got a Line 6 G50, and love it. Sounds and works flawlessly, and lasts a long time on 2 AA batteries.

I place mine in several locations depending on the gig. At church I place it on a nearby subwoofer. For gigs I sometimes place it under the stage where it is protected; one of the great things about the Kemper remote is that it displays much of the standard UI on its LCD.

On my last gig I placed it on top of my Rocktron S112 cab, and it fit perfectly there. I'll probably set it there from now on when I use the cab.

Quote from JasFasola

see here:

back, back panel

yeah, agree about icepower,

i’ve got diy mod with my unpowered kemper, i’ve use icepower 50asx2 board, its stereo 2x50W class D amp.

I did some mod and can switch between stereo 2x50W for around 2 ohm or mono 170W in btl mode. I don’t remember specs but you can find some here:

https://static.qobuz.com/info/IMG/pdf/icepower50asx2.pdf

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Wow, I'm very impressed! Very nice work! I haven't mustered the courage to pull my Kemper apart, but did find a way to install one securely through the opening without pulling the back panel. The 50ASX2BTL cannot be dropped right in but can be carefully inserted with the correct bracket. I need to post pics.

Actually, judging from the room in the unit, you can install 2 x 50ASX2BTL in the Kemper and have 170WPC stereo. Coool...

Have you been able to convert yours from 50W X 2 stereo to mono 170W? I have not seen how this can be done, and there are some significant component population differences between the stereo and mono versions of the 50ASX2.

I have an unpowered Kemper, and have done a lot of experimentation with different power amps over the last few years. Basically I tried every amp I could get my hands on, from Marshall solid state and tube amps, to class D amps, and everything inbetween. In all cases but one, I was not totally pleased with the feel and tone of the results. There was always a tinge of artificial feel and hardness, basically in the lower mids and bass.

The power amp that sounded and felt the most natural was an ICEpower 50ASX2BTL module. I can play the Kemper with that module into most any speaker (FRFR or guitar driver) and I have the same thrill with the tone as I do with headphones or studio monitors. I can play the rig and totally forget it is not a real tube amp.

IMHO the ICEpower amps have something really great going on with the Kemper, even though every engineering fiber in my body doesn't want to believe it. Since the powered Kemper uses an ICEpower module as well, I'm sure the tone from it is spectacular. YMMV of course.

I only have two regrets since entering the Kemper world: 1) I didn't buy a powered Kemper in the first place, and 2) I spent any money on the horrible Kemper brand carry bag.

Even if Slate can read Kemper profiles, I wonder how useful it actually would be. Kemper profile files are very small (say 6k), so I wonder if they hold much more information that simply settings for the actual algorithms in the Kemper itself? An analogy that could be made would be if you compare a Fender tweed Bassman to Marshall's copy (JTM45); it's possible that the "profile" simply contains a picture of the front panel and the control settings. Marshall could decipher the picture and make an amp that has that information, but the internal circuitry is not in the "profile", so even if the settings are the same an the amp looks identical to the info in the "profile", it won't sound the same.

It would be very interesting if the Slate software will get identical sonic results as a Kemper, using the same profiles. I'm skeptical that it would. Not only would they need to decipher the .kipr files, but also reproduce the tone generating algorithms in the Kemper itself. And to my understanding all the code in the Kemper is in assembly, so it would be difficult to reverse engineer. You would need to clone the hardware as well.

This is just speculation though, I have no idea of the content of .kipr files.

Well, the news from NAMM 2019 (the Kemper proprietary Celestion and Kemper Cab imprints, and Kemper offering the drivers without cabs) has in one clean shot killed any desire I have to buy a F12-X200. I'll wait for the Kemper Celestion, as it promises to have all the functionality of a F12 plus a lot more, at least in the Monitor Out. And from CK's description of the DSP interaction with the proprietary Kemper\Celestion driver, the new solution promises a lot more than just IRs with a FRFR.

Quote from lk_bill

Will the various Kone imprints work only with this specific Celestion speaker, or with any other speaker?

Too early to tell. I'd guess they may not sound the best using any driver than the Kemper Celestion, as the imprints were designed for it. However it will be fun to experiment, and since the cab is passive with only a speaker cable connecting it to the Kemper, the imprints will most likely be available to all users whether they have a Kemper cab or not (unless Kemper limits it to only a powered Kemper in software). I REALLY hope they don't do that...

Very informative interview with CK. Sounds like there is some real Kemper voodoo in the Kemper Cone imprints and speaker. The Celestion does not appear to be a stock F12-X200, but a proprietary design for Kemper that may not in its stock form be a true FRFR type. It sounds like an imprint is necessary to make it behave as a FRFR as well as any number of other guitar drivers.

CK seemed to say that a lot of attention was paid to dispersion in the speaker, there are DSP tricks being done to control beaming. In all it sounds like Kemper put a LOT of engineering into this solution. Just another example of Kemper thinking outside the box and advancing the art of tone as a result.

It is such a thrill to be part of these advancements by being a Kemper owner and beta tester. Not only does the Kemper get far better effects and functionality as time goes on, I am still stunned every time I play it at how great it sounds.

Another thing; when I think of the cost of the Kemper, it turns out to be a bargain as we keep getting new functionality and effects. There is a growing list of external effects I do not have to buy as Kemper has given us better internal effects (enhanced reverbs, wahs, and it looks like I no longer need to buy a F12-X200 as Kemper is offering the Kemper Cone driver for sale).

Quote from Tritium

How does one remove the microphone from an IR? I mean, a microphone is the central piece of equipment that captures an IR signal, yes?

There really isn't a way to do that to my knowledge, however it is possible to do things like place the speaker in an infinite baffle in an anechoic chamber, and mic it with a neutral instrumentation mic. It would be similar to what they do when they take a frequency response plot, just take an IR as well.

The reason different mics are used in IRs is generally because of their individual tones, a SM57 sounds different than a Sennheiser for example. An instrumentation mic such as is used on a RTA is meant to be as neutral as possible.

Wow, interesting! My boss is fond of saying: "You don't get any flak unless you are over the target". Kemper is obviously hitting a few nerves out there! And if a company has reverse engineered Kemper profiles... just wow.

Quote from tommyguitar

Kemper DI is best

Agreed. Most standard DI's or direct boxes have a lot of circuitry that can affect the profiling results and is not really necessary for profiling. The Kemper DI appears to only have what is necessary to do the job and nothing else, so it sounds great.

If you do have to buy an off the shelf direct box, you want as good a unit as you can afford, especially if you buy a passive one with an internal transformer (for input\output isolation as well as impedance conversion). Good sounding transformers are NOT cheap.

The thing that concerns me the most about any FRFR with the range split over multiple drivers is tone cohesion over volume changes, especially at higher volumes. More times than not, if I use the Kemper with any standard wedge monitor, the tone is awful on a loud stage. Way too many brittle highs, it seems all you can hear is the tweeter and no woofer at all. This does not happen at all at the same volume levels on the same stage if a single driver is used, such as a guitar speaker or a single "full range" driver like a Eminence 12LTA.

The only thing I can figure is the woofer hits its maximum acoustic output and starts compressing while the tweeter (often much more efficient than the woofer) has lots of acoustic headroom. You end up with lots of tweeter and not much else. I really hope the F12-X200 doesn't do this.

Here's an alternative to the alternative to the alternative...

https://www.lowes.com/pd/AWP-H…losed-Tool-Bag/1000395027

IIRC another member here suggested this bag, and it works very well with a few quirks. The internal loops for tools do not get in the way too bad, and a toaster and remote will comfortably fit. However it has no padding.

As a temporary solution I put my entire Kemper factory bag inside this bag, and that gave plenty of padding and will still accept the remote on top. Works great, however there is little room for cables, no room for expression pedals, and the bag itself weighs 17lbs empty, so it's a heavy tote. But it rolls great. I plan to make some dividers and add some 1\2" foam as padding, and am hopeful that will then allow carrying of cables.

I really wish Celestion would hurry up and get the F12-X200's in some US distributors. The price looks to be around $149 street judging from a few sources.

BTW, what looks to be a promising cab for a F12-X200 is available as a used item, the Rocktron S112. It's a 1X12 cab with a port, not sure exactly how it compares to the PDF in post #40, will have to check. The stock driver is an OEM Eminence that is fairly flat 60Hz-5.5kHz or so from my measurements. It has no tweeter so it's not a FRFR. It has a sturdy handle and good feet, a metal grille, T-nuts on the speaker, carpet covering, and appears to be made of 5\8" plywood (not pressboard or MDF). It's fairly light without a driver.

However the S112 is really cheap (around $70 or so used), and does not appear to be hard to source. I was able to buy two from the local Music Go Round for $109. Used it on a gig with a V30 and it sounded great, am greatly looking forward to dropping a F12-X200 in there (if they ever arrive stateside...)

EDIT: It appears there are some perhaps later versions of the S112 that are made of particle board instead of 5\8" plywood. Mine are clearly plywood, but one on Reverb (https://reverb.com/item/160594…ktron-1x12-guitar-cabinet) has an internal pic that shows it is clearly particle board. The one in the Reverb auction has a painted or vinyl finish and corner protectors, no T nuts on the speaker screws, plus a curved grille. Mine has carpet covering, no corners, T nuts, and a flat grille. Might be worth checking closely if you are going to purchase one.

It's good to see that the bag was upgraded, as mine has shredded and dropped with the Kemper twice. One of the handle attachment loops broke on mine (but they are the older green ones different from the picture above). When the strap broke, strangely enough the hook did not break, but the metal loop holding it to the strap.

My bag is several years old and has shredded itself through light to moderate use, and I am extremely disappointed in it, especially for its inflated cost. I'll never buy it again.

I couldn't get the remote in mine with the upright toaster, but am glad I wasn't able to as the bag couldn't handle the weight of just the Kemper.

Someone on the forum recommended this one:

https://www.lowes.com/pd/AWP-H…losed-Tool-Bag/1000395027

I bought one of these and it's plenty large enough for the Kemper, remote, and lots of cables. However the bag itself weighs 17lbs, and that plus a toaster and a remote makes for a weighty tote. There are a few tool loops inside that will need removal, but not too many. It will also need foam or the aforementioned towels for padding. But it is much cheaper than the Kemper bag, and FAR better built and more rugged.

Quote from benvigil

That's so interesting because that's exactly why I don't like the MaxGrips... too much "grip". Like it's sticking to my fingers.

But the Petrucci picks have just a little bit of grip more than a plain old pick.

I couldn't use the Petruccis as I had to hold onto it so hard it made my hand cramp up. But I got annoyed, dug in the basement for a piece of self-adhesive 120 grit sandpaper, and put a piece on both sides of the Petuccis. Now that is a bit on the grippy side. But the MaxGrips are perfect.

Dunlop MaxGrip Jazz III's. Just started using these a few weeks ago and am thrilled. I have dry hands and most picks go flying out of my hands quickly, especially small ones like Jazz III's. I tried the Petrucci picks and found them far too slippery. But the MaxGrip process completely cures that problem with the Jazz III's. I'd love to find the person that invented MaxGrip and buy them a beer.