Posts by piotrmaj

Virus has 3 - 4 times more buttons than KPA, many of them have multiple functions and some menu diving is still necessary. In order for synth to be fun and easy to program KPA UI would have to become a monster. Synths are complex and programming synth patches using 4 soft buttons... no, thank you. I'd rather prefer KPA to remain simple and maybe just emit expressive MIDI via MIDI OUT / USB. This way everyone could connnect their own favorite synth.

Quote from skoczy

Virus2 synth 24 years ago and it still is awesome (although some people moan due to lack of updates)

People are moaning not because there are no updates but because they lost advertised functionality on macOS. It used to be possible to use Virus like VST in your DAW (I think it is called total integration) - this is no longer the case since 2 years (we're left with... non-total integration). You have to route audio via audio interfaces instead of just USB. Virus' UI is non-resizable and is absolutely unusable on modern, high resolution displays (fonts are just too small). Probably very few people are buying new Viruses anymore, despite it being a great synth (I have one and it is really a beast)... There are other companies which make modern versions of virtual analog synths, like Modal Electronics, with way better computer integration and features. This is for me an example that if a product is not evolving it becomes obsolete - yes, you'll still find it in studios for many years to come but the user base will not grow because competition offers much better solutions, more aligned with modern times.

But this is different story, for another forum...

Quote from skoczy

Kemper brought to the market innovative product that lasts. If anybody wants the new shiny stuff, there is always ver. 3 of main competitor, which is the best of the best. Just look all these reviews on YouTube, these guys telling that it is so mych better than ver. 2 XL MKII (which was best of the best back then). It has big screen LCD screen and powerful processors. It is shiny, colorful and people want it. Until version 4. Then they will find ver. 3 legacy and will be selling it to get ver. 4 - I always wondered if not better to wait for ver. 5 though.

I think, Skoczy, you're still missing the point of the discussion. We don't want KPA2 because we are bored with KPA1, or because we don't like the tone, but many of us would welcome some improvements because they would improve our workflow. I assure you that I'm using KPA in 100% different way than you (and you're not even using it anymore - you admit it quite often). If KPA2 had features requested in this thread many of us could either get rid of some additional equipment or could achieve things which aren't possible with current hardware because of DSP/CPU/memory constraints. Whether you use any of advanced features or not - the fact is many features present in competition's products are darn useful, maybe not for you - and you don't have to use them. This doesn't immediately mean that everyone who would like to have them in KPA2 has uncontrolled GAS or should switch to different product. I explained it a few posts earlier - what we are doing here is we are participating in product evolution process and even Kemper as a company still wants to improve this product - that's why this section of forum exists in the first place. I suggest we stay on topic and refrain from judging one another how we should use KPA or any other gear.

Quote from Awesome_Elvis

This way everything can be tweaked after and individually

Isn't it what modelers do already? In AXE FX III or Helix you can tweak everything to death, at every stage. They even created models which don't exist in real life (FAS models) - you can call them virtual designs, and you can tweak them as well.

What would be benefit of very clunky (switching cables) and time consuming process over just grabbing AXE or Helix for such surgical operations? The whole beauty of Kemper and Quad is that they offer end to end solution with minimal user involvement. I'm not trying to turn this idea down - just want to understand what would be the benefit? Would the idea be to create "virtual" amps, which don't exist in real life by picking and choosing individual gain stages from different profiling sessions? Or would the idea be to increase amount of knobs in AMP/CAB section?

Quote from Ruefus

No it wouldn’t. You basically need two complete Profilers to support two amps.

Why would that be the case? There are plenty of examples of devices which do support this (AXE, Helix, Quad, Nord keyboards with their layers, etc.) because they have more DSP power. More DSP gives more possibilities, that was the case in electronics since it started and KPA is not an exception. And I'm not saying Kemper should do it (I personally don't needs this feature - my sound is very simple), but it would certainly be possible to implement second, parallel "layer" with additional DSP and faster main CPU, no question about it.

Quote from JEverly

The reason these types of threads make me scratch my head is that they are always complaint threads. People complain that Kemper doesn't do things or doesn't do them the same way that another unit does them. If the unit doesn't do what you want it to do and another unit does, you probably chose the wrong unit for your needs.

I view it differently. I have a unit which does 99% of things right. I miss this 1%. I have two options:

1. Switch to other unit which will surely have different 99% done right and different 1% missing
2. Let my favorite manufacturer know about my needs and maybe, if more people recognize the same problem, they will add requested features in the future.

I chose 2. because I don't want to change my workflow. And I don't see this as a complaining or being ungrateful, unthankful and generally villain.

Profiler is not product from Food & Shelter category. Quite the contrary - it is at the very top of pyramid of needs. It is a luxury item which gives us joy and simplifies our lives but in no way it is something anybody couldn't live without. Expressing our needs about how to make it perfect in the dedicated section of the forum (created, maintained and encouraged by manufacturer) should not really be viewed as complaining or bad faith but is a way to tell C. K. how he should prioritize future features.

And to finish this off, I'll give you an example from DAW world, since you're shopping for DAW: imagine a situation when you have a DAW which ticks almost all the boxes, you like it, workflow is awesome, it is perfect for you but has one missing feature, let's say it can't render MP3s directly but you have to render WAV and then run external command from terminal to convert WAV to MP3. Would you:

1. accept the the state of things because there is a workaround which works,
2. switch to other product, despite you don't really bond with its workflow,
3. let manufacturer know that maybe it is a good idea to add such feature to your favorite DAW?

This example is taken from real Live (pun intended) and Ableton finally implemented direct MP3-rendering because people requested it badly. This was many years ago (10, maybe more) but I hope you can see analogy to MIDI-over-USB situation.

Anyway. Let the feature suggestions pour in, even if they come across as complaining to some - this is the only way we can influence future of KPA to make it perfect.

Quote from JEverly

What do you use MIDI over USB for? I don't have that need and seems like another audio interface function.

I don't switch patches manually. My shows have lights synchronized to backing tracks and everything is automated via midi from Logic.

As for your argument about KPA being just a replacement to amps - I think this alone just doesn't cut it for many in today's world. Competition caught up - you can get great tones from axe fx, helix and quad. All 3 are better suited for computer driven workflows, like mine - they require less cables/gear - essentially... just USB and you can do everything: play, record and reamp. I stick to KPA because I love the simplicity, workflow and the look - I bonded with it immediately and enjoy it everyday. I just wish it moved on a bit and be on par with other modern solutions when it comes to taking audio and midi in/out without tons of cables / interfaces.

And I do get these threads - we all have different needs, love this hardware, want it to be better and not share the fate of Virus. As much as KPA sounds and feels great its hardware is outdated and due for revision (I'm talking about Toaster). Audio via USB is a standard and useful feature nowadays. Startup time of over a minute sucks big time (during my latest gig we managed to blow up fuse and power down the whole stage) - when we got power back all devices, except my KPA, were ready to go within 10 - 15 seconds, KPA needed over a minute. UI is noticeably slow on Toaster when you compare it with... pretty much any gear produced in last 5-7 years.

KPA Stage is a step forward in a sense that its main CPU is much faster, but still misses modern means of sending audio to / from computer. Not to mention that lack of MIDI via USB (every single device which as USB port I came across do it - KPA chooses to stay behind, for reason I just don't get).

I care less about touch-screen, although it would be a good addition. I have a few synths, some with touch screen, some without - the one with touch screen is way more convenient to use. But synths have very deep structure to tweak - KPA is super simple, so touch screen wouldn't probably help much.

Quote from BayouTexan

I am wondering if it is your electronics of guitar. I had a new guitar that when you move the pickup switch from neck to bridge or vice-versa the guitar would mute unless I flick the switch around. So the switch was bad even though brand new. Can you check with another guitar? If you get the same problem with a different guitar then contact support as ST suggests.

I had similar issue with 2-years old PRS - spraying DeoxIT helped (very common issue), but I doubt this is what OP is experiencing, judging by the peculiar way in which the issue is reproducible.

I have hard time to believe that any 10 year old chip could be irreplaceable by newer ones. Latest DSP chips, like the ones in AXE FX III or Quad Cortex are orders of magnitude faster, so even if they lack some instructions implemented in this particular chip they could probably be emulated equally fast, or they have their own dedicated instruction sets for solving similar DSP tasks. Chips used by competitors are perfectly capable of emulating / profiling any amp. Great advantage of KPA's "old" CPU/DSP chips is that they don't require external cooling (which is very annoying in AXE FX), but even this point will not matter in near future, as we're entering era of really low-power, high performance chips (look what Apple's M1 CPU is capable of doing pretty much without even becoming warm).

Looper in FM9 is longer (120 seconds), it has built in synth (you can create drone and jam over it), flexible routing, many more effects. But it is a modeler, so you're stuck with what it models (it models a lot though, so I don't consider it as a huge disadvantage). Editing patches on Fractal devices is miserable experience, in my opinion and to get most out of it you need to connect it to computer. KPA has more straightforward workflow, at least for me. KPA is a stable platform and updates don't change sound which is not the case in Fractal world which tends to do hardware revisions quite often and from time to time releases firmware which changes sound of patches. KPA it cheaper in a long run (free, high quality updates for last 10 years!).

Overall both are great platforms and you can't go wrong with any - both sound and feel great. If you already have Stage I don't think investment in FM9 would be the best move. If you had nothing yet you could toss a coin and probably you'd be happy with either platform.

Quote from OneEng1

The Kemper is targeted at tube amp + pedal board players that have made the jump to digital.

I hope this is no longer the case. New, digital-first, generation of players is growing at rapid pace and I do really believe that this constat obsessive looking back at old tech is leading nowhere. Just like new cars are not targeted at fancy horse-carriage fans (there are still many - I even took a ride at my wedding ), modern musical equipment should offer much more than just replication of old habits.

MIDI and audio via USB would be great addition as well in 2022. I managed to convert my studio to just USB (including Access Virus) and KPA is the only unit I have which still uses DIN-5 and forces me to have additional interface. I wish it was possible to reamp via usb. I guess it would be possible to add this to KPA1 (midi part should be trivial).

I don't think you can enter sysex directly in Logic. You'd have to "record" it first on a midi track and then copy and paste. But I personally would stick to regular CC, something you can edit in Logic.

Pro tip: you can copy and paste all four Midi CC events in Events table and while new events are still selected you can edit position of all four messages at once. This makes entering NRPNs less annoying.

Pro tip #2: if you want to do a ramp (gradually change value of given parameter) it should be enought to just repeat CC#38 with new value. You can record such events as automation in Logic.

NRPN is just 4 CC send in quick succession. They have to have specific numbers:

1. First is CC#99 - aka NRPN-MSB
   Value corresponds to address page from KPA's MIDI manual
2. Second is CC#98 - aka NRPN-LSB
   Value corresponds to parameter number from KPA's MIDI manual
3. Third is CC#6 - aka Data MSB
4. Forth is CC#38 aka Data LSB

Data MSB and LSB together form a value for parameter addressed by page and parameter number.

For On/Off parameters CC#6 should be 0 and CC#38 should be respectively 0 and 1.

For parameters which have continuous values (like volume, morph) you can specify any value for CC#6 and CC#38.

You can think of value provided with CC#38 as ones place of a two digit number and value provided with CC#6 as tens place of two digit number.

For example in Logic this should turn amp on:

Remember to space out MIDI messages by more than one tick - don't sent them all at once (look at position in the screenshot) - too many MIDI messages sent too fast == KPA crash.

I have older version of Babyface Pro and was using it via XLRs - RME's preamps are crystal clear - you won't notice _any_ meaningful difference between XLRs and SPDIF. I don't recommend using coax to optical converters. Those are powered devices - you'll end up with 4 cables for data in total, two converters and two additional wall warts. Analog connection is simpler and your desk will be free of clutter - just two cables and that's it.

I'd like pitch-correction and auto-shred stomps.

Don't force it. Try something else - maybe a real amp you always wanted to have. Spending months on tweaking the tone seems like waste of time, especially when it is source of frustration and kills your creativity. Don't know how old you are but our perception of things and hearing sensitivity changes over time as well and it is quite normal. Hope you'll find your tone eventually.

MIDI.sendControlChange(99, 125, 1); 
MIDI.sendControlChange(98, 89, 1);
MIDI.sendControlChange(6, 0, 1);
MIDI.sendControlChange(38, 1, 1);

Last parameter is channel - it doesn't change.

I'm not really good at debugging via forum, but at first glance you're using INPUT_PULLUP, which I think makes your button normally HIGH and LOW when pressed. Your code appears to assume your button is normally LOW. Check your output using serial monitor or oscilloscope to make sure that correct values are sent.