Posts by Voojagig

This is definitely one of the great things about the Kemper. Especially if you load up a load of profiles in RM and scroll through them without looking to see which is which (preferably with the cab locked). Can learn a lot about what you like/dislike.

To the point about mics & cabs making a big difference, this is one of the reasons I wish more commercial profile vendors would include more Direct profiles (although my preference is probably based on mainly playing live with a powerrack and guitar cab). Was glad to see ReampZone include DI profiles with all the knobs at 12 o'clock. While the Kemper EQ may not replicate that of the original amp its a good starting point for tweaking.

I'll echo Ingolf's comments about finding the right profiles, especially choosing ones that suit your taste. Personally while I think mbritts profiles sound great (and I've bought a lot of them) they're often a little compressed for what I want, especially in a live setting, in comparison to TAF profiles which I've found to feel more open (to me). Both very good and have their use cases but definitely have different feels.

Apart from that it's worth checking the Compression setting in the AMP section, and some times the Definition parameter in AMP as well. While definition isn't really compression it can change the feel and overall tone of the profile significantly. After that the tube size and sag will have an effect but I often feel if I'm needing to tweak those (other than to fine tune) then I've chosen the wrong profile for what I need.

As an aside from the SPDIF Sample Rate Wars, does no-one else feel that:

"added: UI to MIDI allows to transmit all sound relevant parameters of the Profiler user interface via MIDI to for example establish a MIDI daisy chain of multiple Profilers"

Allows changes on the Kemper unit front end (knob turning) to be related back to another device via MIDI i.e. an editor?

Just feels like an initial step in that direction, since I know a few people on here have more than one Kemper but it can't be that big a feature request to daisy chain units.

Just started using a Wampler Velvet Fuzz which is proving to be really versatile. Also got a Fuzz Factory but that tends to not to get much use.

I perceived an increase in latency with the upgrade to 5.4.1 over SPDIF not had a chance to take measurements, rollback and retest to prove this though.

Had a response from Burkhard suggesting the same, hadn't realised it would have that effect and also that it would change between FW versions. Also weirdly in the past I'd been able to stop it from doing that (on this FW version) by rebooting the device which doesn't make sense. Will check the output monitor out link though.

Just recently been able to upgrade to 5.2.0.12879 (the release not beta this time) and had the same issue at rehearsal again. I've raised a support request. Remote is attached and one expression pedal is set to volume pedal but moving the volume pedal makes no difference. What was different this time was that when I went to make the video turning the Master Volume knob heavily seemed to fix the issue and I suddenly had sound. Here's the video for those interested

Master Volume Unresponsive Video

Sorry to clarify these are almost two issues I'm reporting that seemed linked, and I will hopefully get some time to roll back to 5.2 to see if I can replicate the issue and open a support ticket. To answer someone else's question I rolled back to 5.1.1 which was the last non-beta release.

Issues:

• Turn on Kemper, no sound out of cab. Turning master volume knob up opens the master volume level display but numbers stay at 0.0 and still no sound out of cab regardless of how much it is turned.
• After restarting the Kemper (because there is no sound) turning the master volume knob does result in sound coming out and the numbers increasing but it takes a large turn and a delay of about a a second before the display updates and sound comes out. After that I can get sound out but the reaction of the knob isn't as smooth as normal. Was particularly noticeable after rolling back and seeing how it reacted then which is much more responsive.

My wonder is more about whether the firmware issue is introducing a problem in data from the master volume knob either not being received or not being acted on correctly. I always turn my volume down to zero to avoid loud pops when turning off/on so if no update from the knob is getting through then it would remain on 0.

Quote from Burkhard

I think, this is another situation. If Master Volume rests at 0.0 there should be no sound. Nobody else has reported Master Volume at 0.0 in context of the "lack of sound issue". What happens if you crank up Master Volume? If nothing happens at the beginning crank up more.
How is your cabinet connected? If connected to internal power amp, check the level of Monitor Output Volume in the Output Section. If your cabinet is fed by another output, check the output volume of that output.

if I cranked the master volume nothing happened. The display stays at 0 and no sound comes out. On two occasions a reboot with no other changes resolved the issue. I rolled back the firmware and had no issues for the rest of today and including at the gig thankfully. The beta had been stable for me up til then but I'd only been recording via spdif and not using a cab. The other thing I'd noticed was the master volume knob when the power amp was engaged was not very responsive. A noticeable latency when turning and the display updating. Not having this issue after a rollback. Will see if I have some down time to update again and run further tests.

Quote from nightlight

I'm curious to find out whether this is a Remote problem, or on the Kemper end of things. I haven't experienced this volume drop, so I'm wondering what's causing it.

Same here. Didn't have time to do further investigation today due to the gig and work but I do also use a remote with an expression pedal set up as a volume pedal.

I'm having the same lack of sound issue. On a power rack running 5.2 Beta. Only happens for me when I'm plugged into a cab, no sound out of the cab and turning up the Master Volume doesn't do anything (display just keeps showing 0.0). A reboot normally brings it back but not reliably so. Downgrading now to hopefully fix it before tonight's gig.

Turns out he's in the artist gallery so guess the rig would have looked like this. If it's reliable/good enough for one of the most watched music events of the year then I guess it's good enough for me

I'm using a Wampler Tumnus and haven't had this issue. Although I am using it in the loop and assigning it to a Stomp slot using Distortion Loop. Could be worth a try that way instead as you can then assign it to come on with patches or switch it manually from a controller.

Not exactly 'spotted' as it will have been off stage but on Jude Gold's 'No Guitar is Safe' podcast (great podcast btw) this week he interviews Tim Stewart about his performance with Lady Gaga at the Superbowl and mentions that he was using a Kemper.

No Guitar is Safe - Tim Stewart (Soundcloud)

I was playing in a band doing a load of ZZ Top covers from that period (Tres Hombres/Tejas) last year and went for the TopJimi 1968 Marshall Super Lead 100W Profiles pack. Think Billy was using a '69 Super Lead back then so made sense to start there and they sounded really good.

Other than that the Marshall Superlead ’70 pack from Amp Factory would also potentially be a good one. I've found the TAF Marshall profiles to be great live and recorded. I use the JCM800 TAF pack for all my dirty rhythm sounds in my main band and they sound great.

I'd also recommend the new firmware for the new delays, and agree that that mbritt 65 ACE30 pack is a great place to start (there's even a couple of U2 patches in there but the new firmware is required. You can hear a sample at MBritt Profiles).

If you're using the old firmware or want to check out some other alternatives then search for Maurizio70 on the rig exchange for his U2 patches.

Regarding the performance side then if you have the Kemper Remote or have set up another controller in a similar way then either have a performance per song and use each rig for a different part of the song. Or have one rig per song and use the FX buttons to turn on and off the FX when you need to (or a combination of both which I tend to do).

I've been using this http://www.thomann.de/gb/thon_3he_compact_rack.htm

It's not as heavy duty as a proper rack case but fine for most gigs, just don't throw it around in a tour van or do a world tour with it ;). Great thing is it's half depth so makes it compact and light. My power rack fits perfectly.