Posts by dougc84

Quote from Raoul23

Eventide IMO our the bench mark for things like reverb and delays and I'm sure CK knows that he has to compete with these guys to make the KPA have what I would class as industry standard effects etc so I'm sure this day will come as the KPA is gain strength every new FW release

I went head to head with the Eventide Space vs. the Strymon BigSky, and the Eventide Timefactor vs. the Strymon Timeline. In both situations, the Strymon's were better. Not by much, but they had a little more tweakability/range, and their algorithms seemed a little more "smooth" whereas Eventide's seemed a bit "over the top."

Otherwise, Strymon has some algorithms that Eventide doesn't have, and vice versa. Eventide certainly excels in the harmonizer department, better than anything else out there, even to this day. I'd certainly go for an H9 if I needed an all-in-one box for the guitarist that doesn't use a lot of delay or reverb, but, for the Reverb or Delay heavy guitarist, I'd choose Strymon over Eventide any day.

Of course, it's all my personal opinion, and it makes me really, really excited to see what Kemper's doing with the delays. I'd love to see how they compare to the Timeline (and, for that matter, to the Timefactor).

Unless you're playing to a click, there's no reason to preset the tempo or compare it to your rig. Use your ears. If you can't hear when your tremolo or delay is off tempo, then maybe you shouldn't be using that effect. Otherwise, tap and done. There's no reason to judge the other bandmates for being off time because, unless you're playing to a click, everyone's responsible. Just tap it in when you're off and continue on. A little flashing light isn't going to tell you much.

I agree that a profile is certainly the best way to go here - profile it and you're done, and you can set it up with any cab you want.

However, that said, you can certainly feed the front end with a send from your amp. You would still need some sort of load box, which the Two Notes handles beautifully. If you want to use some of the Kemper's stomps, you could put a loop (probably a distortion loop, but a standard loop might work, best to experiment) in Stomp D, to the front of your amp, then back in, probably via the Reactive Load. You just want to keep an eye on your levels so you're not introducing a bunch of noise or overdriving the circuit.

And, with that said as well... I would hang on to your Two Notes. They are exceptional boxes. I've seen people use their Kempers into a Torpedo, bypassing the cab block altogether, and it sounded great. However, the choice is up to you. The easiest way of handling this would be to profile your amp, and then you have everything in one box.

Quote from DonPetersen

being able to put a delay in front of the amp is pretty cool for classic rock bands and even mandatory in some styles (Rockabilly etc.), having a serial delay is a must for Shadows type echoes, Led Zep tape echo madness? it's there (especially when coupled with Morph!)

a large userbase requested more and more powerful delays, so how can their implementation be 'out of touch'?

Certainly Dan, you're right on. I'm thinking your average "pure tone tube freak" guy (or gal) that probably hasn't looked into digital amps since the first Line 6 amps came out and hates the idea of pedals or effects at all. There's a lot of closed-mindedness when it comes to digital stuff in the guitar world, and plenty of players that just don't bother because it's different and scary.

Quote from Maxy

Based on that namm video there is nothing of interest to me. From a recording point of view I don't see anything usable. I'm not complaining because new features are cool. I just wonder what they are thinking. Those delays seem so out of touch... but maybe when I have them I'll change my mind. Is anyone excited about the new delay algos?

They aren't out of touch at all, and I'm incredibly excited for them. I wasn't excited at all about morphing (and I'm still not, it's nice, but I might only use it on one or two slots), but the delays made me almost pee myself. There are many genres that feature little or no effects (including delay) on the guitarist, and, for these, I could see how you could perceive this as "unusable." However, my main styles are post-rock and ambient, and I apply that to worship music on the weekends. Let's put it this way - I have close to 50 presets on my Strymon Timeline to get different delay sounds. Big swells, lots of space, shimmers, lo-fi, whatever, it's all gravy to me, as I'm often trying to fill my parts and the parts of a missing keys player, and tell a story that fits in with the song, all while trying to create some sort of vibe that doesn't sound overpowering. I'm the same way with reverbs - I have a Strymon Timeline that has probably 2 dozen presets that I use on a normal basis, at least half of which have 15s or greater decay.

So, out of touch? No way. Out of touch with your typical country band/bar band/cover band/classic rock band/death metal band? Yeah, probably. But there is more than just these genres of music and more than one way to play anything.

It seems like there's some floating-point rounding going on. Because, if you dial it in to something slow, like maybe 60 BPM, the issue isn't apparent. But faster tempos seem to round up or down their beat times, resulting in a strange offset time phenomenon.

don - any updates on when the ones we've already sent you can be converted to settings?

Mine's set up in a rack with a patch bay running a cable to the front panel. I have swapped the amp in cable with an FX return cable though... that was a nightmare. Haha.

Quote from joerch

If I get the it right, some users who have been at the KPA booth at the NAMM show posted here, that we'll be free to assign the delay to any slot we like. Therefore, you can for example put a delay into the x-slot and then have another effect in the mod slot. The delay trails could then be effected by whatever effect you choose (or if you put a loop after the delay also by an outboard effect). But with the updated delays (also part of the information spread here by visitors to the KPA booth), there might be no need to do so, because all you wish might be in the updated delays. There are, however, no precise details about that as of now, afaik. We might, however, need an extra mix control to adjust how much of the wet / dry delay signal is routed to the following effect.

I don't think that's what is meant here. What is meant is, say, you have a chorus or a flanger in the FX loop. @joerch is thinking that it would be great to be able to run the delayed signal ONLY through the loop. It's a popular option on a lot of delay pedals, and creates some great and interesting effects. U2's The Edge used this to great effect on many of their songs by running a light chorus through the effected signal, and leaving the standard signal clean.

Unfortunately, Kemper has decided to produce a couple videos for the profile morphing and really promote that feature. Morphing's all fine and good and all, but, to me, the delays are the real highlight, and, literally, all we've seen has been some screen shots of the effects list. Audio/video of the new delay functionality has been limited.

HOWEVER, side note, I did just find this video that actually talks a little bit about it:

Quote from joerch

I see it like this: When I bought my KPA, it was made clear, that the KPA was not a finished product, but a platform. Just one example: There was the perform mode knob position, it was in the manual, however, it wasn't implemented at all. KPA's website informed me that in the future, more features would be implemented. My decision was this: Do I accept that I buy a product that is in the process of being completed or do I want to go for something that is "finished" (and therefore might be replaced by a new product after a couple of years). I went for the KPA, because the concept intigued me. Now, I am happy about further steps the KPA team takes in order to develop the platform further, but I don't feel that a comparison to other companies which offer a more or less finished product right from the beginning are justified. Simple as that.

Unfortunately this is not a statement that has been made clear to most users of the Kemper, including myself. I did extensive research to find out all I could before I rebuilt my rig - I tried to find out everything about the Kemper, AxeFX, Line 6 options, and even debated an Eleven Rack... for about 5 minutes. What sold me on the Kemper was the quality of the amp sounds and the ability to have a simple interface without the need for for deep-diving into configuration. Unfortunately, this "idea" of an incomplete product was not something that was ever on the radar. I figured, like most digital amps/modelers/whatever, updates would be included, but I think Kemper kind of screwed themselves by releasing an "incomplete" product. A couple years of R&D without users on a forum complaining about things and asking for new features would have set them up in a better position to have an even killer product on day 1.

It's tricky, but I've done it. You have two options for output, considering you're using your mains for, well, the mains:

1. Connect up a 2 channel power amp (passive speakers) or 2 powered speakers to the left and right 1/4" mains (assuming you'd use the XLRs for the house snake/mixer). The downside of this is the front panel volume control needs to stay set (if set to adjust the main volume), or adjusting your mains volume via the volume knob will also adjust the volume sent to the house, and same with mains EQ. However, I believe the ASM-12 (which I think you said you're using) has their own volume controls - you'll need to use the volume control on it instead. Set the mains for what the house wants, and then you can adjust your stage volume on your ASM-12's, which sucks if you need to make minor tweaks. This would be semantically equal to daisy-chaining your Friedmans to send a mix to the house.
2. Connect up a 2 channel power amp (passive speakers) or 2 powered speakers to the direct out and the monitor output, and adjust your output settings so one is left, and the other is right. You can then tie your volume knob to control both of those outputs. This gives you the benefit of having separate house EQ/send volume that you can leave set, as well as separate volume/EQ for your monitors. The downside of this approach is if you adjust EQ for your direct out, you then need to make the same changes to your monitor out, as they aren't tied together. The other downside is this will not work if you're using the FX loop, as the direct output is used for the FX loop.

In either case, if you're playing a smaller gig, or a venue that doesn't do stereo that often (I've played my fair share), you can always flip to mono, though I'd also advise, in that case, only using one personal monitor, also set to mono. Your stereo field you hear on stage will be only used by yourself and could cause some weird phasing issues.

I've, personally, resorted to using a mono speaker for personal monitoring, and using the mains for just my feed to the board, whether mono or stereo. I've spent a lot of time trying to make it work and I was just never happy with a stereo rig on stage (for my personal monitoring, not the house), as the stereo field just got lost with all the other noise on the stage. But you may well be playing larger venues and have more capacity than I, and working with more professional sound engineers.

Unfortunately engineers often have a mindset that their way is the best way. And many who have never encountered players that use Kempers or Fractals and are used to mic'ing up amps consider it a toy.

I mean, in his defense, he's doing his job - make you guys sound as best as possible. However, "best as possible" is relative to the listener, and using a mediocre setting in Bias or Guitarrig just doesn't do the Kemper justice.

It's sad, because I've heard so many engineers say that guitarists are the most in tune with how their tone sounds and will notice differences much more than, say, a violinist or pianist. Yet they still want to do things their way.

Quote from waraba

wow amazing !!!! I hope CK will put that much genius in the verb section

any update on the reverbs and the other stomps ?

I just read on FB that ckemper is planning on improved reverbs for later this year. It makes me wonder if the delays are part of a 4.1 release, and the morphing is a 4.0.

Quote from mdeeRocks

The main use in real life was/is to fatten up the sound using certain delay boxes, in other words, use them as a boost/overdrive with zero repeats and very short (<100ms) delay or no delay at all. There are pedals which do just that , EP Booster being one of them. .

Certainly not putting full on delay before distorted amp, because all you will get is uncontrolled mud - effects loop was invented for a very good reason. It works all right if amp is very mildly overdriven.

Pre-amp delay is fantastic or it can be catastrophic. For high gain sounds, an FX loop is certainly the better option. For edge-of-breakup sounds, pre-amp delay does two really nice things:

1. Essentially creates the same sound, but adds the "filter" that is the amp's processing. On a clean or clean-ish amp, this makes your delay sound completely different (less studio-processed and more like a guy plugging into an AC30)
2. With bigger delays with lots of repeats, it acts something like, as you mentioned, a boost, even with longer delays. You're essentially driving the amp with two (or more) sounds, giving you additional drive from the amp.

Both are good things, but, with a high gain amp, these do, indeed, turn to mush. Personally, I don't play a lot of high gain stuff, but when I do, it's typically during recording, and the delays are often disabled (are either added in post or sent to a pedal via a loop on my interface).

Side note: It's hilarious to see how many people are completely against pre-amp delay. There's been tons of people that have requested it, but, fun story - if you don't want to use it and continue using it in the delay block, you totally can.

Awesome, thanks!

I gotta say, I always get excited when I see your stuff in RM. Your Bogner XTC profiles are some of my favorite to mess around with. Thanks for what you do!

Quote from Dlaut

Yes Doug, you can place any effect in any slot, except for the reverb slot.

There are a total of 7 slots that you can dodo anything with.

..... And then add the morphing on top of that!

That makes my life happy. I like a very light compression + a maximizer after the delay, just to tame the high dynamic level of what I play just a touch. Now I'll be able to do this, either with the loop (with a Timeline + BigSky) or with just the Kemper. Excellent stuff.

Quote from Horspip

There is some news filtering through on other threads from people at NAMM:
Namm 2016 - Day 1 - New Kemper stuff! with pics
...about new delays and a new strobe tuner.

I've seen that. And that's very exciting stuff. But no official announcement for it.

Tell me... if we can put delays anywhere, does that free up the actual delay slot for other effects?

I stick with clean amp sounds. Leads and driven sounds are done via overdrive pedals. I literally get no benefit out of morphing, except maybe for a volume boost. So I'm pretty disappointed myself.

Most companies, however, announce all the new things at once. They don't say "Thursday, we're announcing the first thing, and Friday, the second thing..." because people get annoyed and disappointed. So if they plan on announcing more stuff, they need to do it quick.

A password on a non-networked device's USB port? That's silly.

1. If someone steals some profiles - so what?!? Is your sound that much of a signature that someone else can't figure out?
2. If you don't have backups of your stuff, you're just asking for trouble.
3. If you're worried about the original seller not getting their dues... well... I guarantee they aren't as is.
4. The only way someone can compromise a Kemper is by hacking into the bootloader or inserting a USB stick with a(n electrical) charge. In the latter case, a password would do nothing. You could override the former if you know what you're doing.

If someone's on stage messing with your equipment, they need to leave the venue and forfeit anything they've stolen, or the police should be called. If this is a common problem in your city/country, then you need to consider that your Kemper and/or your guitar will probably be stolen at some point. If someone had enough time to walk up to your Kemper and screw around with it, they certainly had enough time to unplug it and run out the front door. Keep a closer eye on your gear, and make sure it's insured, and you have a backup (especially if you're touring - if it breaks down or is stolen, a replacement can be brought up to your specs in a matter of minutes with a $5 USB stick). I know it's not easy to be around your gear all the time, but be anal about it. Go check things out every 5-15 minutes. Keep an eye on who's coming in and going out. And if you can't do that, then maybe invest in something like this:

https://www.thetileapp.com/

Connect it up to your phone and you can keep tabs on when things go "out of range."

You could also look into a port lock, if you're really that concerned about your profiles:

http://www.kensington.com/us/u…ith-blockers#.VqE2Ux8rI5k

Quote from Dauthus

[Blocked Image: https://scontent-ams3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/t31.0-8/12469432_10153396510342333_3383547271865589636_o.jpg]

Got a .Strandberg* Boden OS 7 (in red) 2 weeks ago... The photo also shows my Boden 8 Custom Shop (black)

Awesome guitars!!

My next guitar is probably going to be a Boden 8 custom shop in the Chris Letchford OS 8 blue.