If you didnt get on the waiting list for the FC its probably just as well. In my experience its NEVER a good idea to buy the first release of a brand new product (remember LED fiasco with lunch box). Let the bleeding edgers help Kemper road test it in the real world, THEN buy it. ; )
That is sometimes the case, but the so-called LED-Fiasko has been handled very well and could have happened at any time.
Other times the excitement is bigger than the "let's see how this all plays out" attitude.
That is sometimes the case, but the so-called LED-Fiasko has been handled very well and could have happened at any time.
Other times the excitement is bigger than the "let's see how this all plays out" attitude.
+1. 'Fiasco' certainly is an exaggerated term for the 'problem' 
+1. 'Fiasco' certainly is an exaggerated term for the 'problem'
Call it what you will, in my experience its best to wait. YMMV
The 30 seconds stereo can be doubled (=60 sec.), if "half speed" is selected before recording starts.
So this begs the question: is there a 120 second half speed mono mode? 
The price is a bit steep. Essentially you are buying buttons to tell the Kemper, yes, no, on and off. Functionality is already in the Kemper. This is just a glorified switch box with a small display screen, which are a dime a dozen. Granted it works just for the Kemper (proprietary). Thats where the "We can charge what we want" comes in.
Don't get me wrong, I love the Kemper. It is about the best piece of guitar equipment I have ever bought and would not get rid of it for the world unless I lost the wrong fingers where I couldn't play any more.
I have to agree with some about the looper. I cant help but to think it is a bit underhanded. Since it is already in the Kemper, it just needs a couple simple commands from a $2 switch and an led to show state.
I am no engineer but as far as enabling the looper with no pedal at all directly on the Kemper seems a simple deal with software. Hell, there are a hundred LEDs on the Kemper to show state.
They could make a simple switch pedal or use an existing button on the Kemper just for the looper instead of forcing people to buy the KPR for the functionality it already possesses.
The poster that pointed out the secretive stance Kemper had on reporting how the looper would be implemented had a valid point.
It seams that "they" did not want to let on that your Kemper has had this functionality from the day you bought it. They wait until the release statement for the KPR to let us know.
I believe it would have been a bit messy on here for some during the buildup of the Pedalboard threads if we knew the facts.
The reason I am going on about this is because they dont seam to have given owners an option to at least use it directly on the Kemper. You cant tell me it would not be easy to implement.
I believe they needed an extra functionality to push this price range. That being the "existing" looper. What else does it offer really? Change banks and remote viewing. Where is the money?
I insist on quality in just about everything I buy. Yes Germany is known for its great engineering. So you can hope to expect the Kemper products follow that and if they do then you can expect to pay a bit more but....I get that. But how much?
Where are all of the electronics sourced from? Electronic components today are cheap. A heavy duty encasement is easy to do. It is the internals that really matter. I have no idea of the internals quality in my Kemper. I am guessing they are good. I get no unwanted noise. It has a beautiful sound quality, etc.
The only way I will realize the true quality of something in this price range is longevity. We will see.
As far as the build quality of the Kemper from the outside view, I would give it a 7.5 out of 10. I like it and it is good but the knobs feel very cheap to me. They have a very easy lateral movement. (The stem flexes very easy). I never liked that and it has turned me away from buying other electronic devices in the past.
If I looked at the Kemper in person and felt those knobs I would not have bought it. Now if I heard it AND felt the knobs.........well yes I would have bought it anyway.
But if there were competition that does just what the Kemper does, I would have looked deeper into the quality of the build and used that as my deciding factor.
Another thing I notice every time I sit down and play my Kemper is the gap between the face plate and the aluminum "hood". It is eye level and I can look right through it. Simple thing I know but a little odd for something in this price range.
I think when someone opens up the first pedalboard they may be a bit underwhelmed and wonder where the money went.
With all of this said, once again, I love my KPA and I really appreciate what this company has done. It is a beautiful thing indeed. But I will still call it as I see it.
----QUESTIONS-----
How many of you would buy this if it didnt have the looper?
How much would you be willing to pay then?
Now the big question. Will I buy it?
Probably. Why? Because I am a dumbass and I can afford it.
Besides, I am on the list. But if I go to order it when it is time and I cant get it before too long I may just forget it and let it go though.
I only play at home so I don't "need" it.
But I want the looper dammit. I have a much more detailed one but it is a bit of a pain getting it to not mess up my sound in the chain with the Kemper.
Please dont flame me and my opinion. That is all it is.....an opinion.
And if I am wrong or incorrect with anything technical I said, I apologize ahead of time.
I normally do not answer on these long mail where an opinion is being set.
but remember that the kemper is just an embedded computer with embedded Linux on it.
all functionality is made by the software on it. Saying that the looper was there from day one is
perhaps in hardware true, but I doubt if the software was written for it.
remember it also had an Ethernet connection from day one but now it has come to use.
just my 2c
kees
Very true, Kees. We're not just paying for a bunch of components put together. The main inherent value of the Kemper and the Remote is the software and all the research and development that went into it.
And ultimately, price is determined by market demand anyway. Only time will tell if the Remote is "correctly" priced.
Display MoreI normally do not answer on these long mail where an opinion is being set.
but remember that the kemper is just an embedded computer with embedded Linux on it.
all functionality is made by the software on it. Saying that the looper was there from day one is
perhaps in hardware true, but I doubt if the software was written for it.
remember it also had an Ethernet connection from day one but now it has come to use.
just my 2c
kees
Ok but that changes nothing I said. They could have added the software at any time and why would they not open it up directly on the KPA now that they have it? If, in fact, that is the case.
In the gaming world they call that DLC. (downloadable content) A way to create revenue from something already created, for the most part. Hey I understand business. I have one. We do this to make money, I get that but how you go about it can be questionable at times.
There's already been enough said about the pricing and value - ultimately it's up to Kemper to assess their costs and decide the pricing that will net them a good return on investment. As an individual I have to be realistic about it: it's more money than I can justify at the moment, but that doesn't necessarily mean the price is unfair. The integration design is really well thought out and the price needs to reflect the hours of work that went into that.
I really love the intuitive mapping of multiple effects to the I II III IV and this is what will probably lead me to purchase a KPR at some point in the future, price be damned. Weighing in my income and my not extensive touring schedule LOL, I'll have to sell some gear before I'll feel alright about that - again, all personal, individual assessment. The only way I'd have jumped on the "early bird" wagon at this price is if Kemper just happened to design precisely what I was looking for, and that didn't quite happen (nor did I expect as much.) As I said in a previous post, I think the stomp-friendly I II III IV buttons should have been up front, as I would make more use of these mid-song. Besides which, this is where Kemper have done all of the heavy lifting in terms of integration with the KPA firmware, LED state changes, etc. It's quite easy to set up a MIDI controller to change rigs/performance slots already, but manipulation of multiple effects is a tougher nut to crack.
Here are two examples of alternate layouts I'd have preferred - "Remote Stomp" with I II III IV up front, "Remote Express" with just I II III IV in a smaller, preferably cheaper package, with up/down/toggle buttons to navigate rigs. The latter would be perfect for me, with or without the looper (but not for everyone, of course.) Eventually I could probably get used to the KPR as is, but I'm not in a hurry to spend $600 to "get used to" anything.
I am not understanding why discussing price is taboo with some. This is the thread for the release of the KPR. We have waited a while to see what it will have, what it will do, and of course we were all equally waiting to see the price. Of course price matters. Isnt it obvious? So I believe it is a legitimate topic.
They will charge what they will charge. Sales will show if they made the right decision.
Display MoreThe price is a bit steep. Essentially you are buying buttons to tell the Kemper, yes, no, on and off. Functionality is already in the Kemper. This is just a glorified switch box with a small display screen, which are a dime a dozen. Granted it works just for the Kemper (proprietary). Thats where the "We can charge what we want" comes in.
Don't get me wrong, I love the Kemper. It is about the best piece of guitar equipment I have ever bought and would not get rid of it for the world unless I lost the wrong fingers where I couldn't play any more.
I have to agree with some about the looper. I cant help but to think it is a bit underhanded. Since it is already in the Kemper, it just needs a couple simple commands from a $2 switch and an led to show state.
I am no engineer but as far as enabling the looper with no pedal at all directly on the Kemper seems a simple deal with software. Hell, there are a hundred LEDs on the Kemper to show state.
They could make a simple switch pedal or use an existing button on the Kemper just for the looper instead of forcing people to buy the KFC for the functionality it already possesses.
The poster that pointed out the secretive stance Kemper had on reporting how the looper would be implemented had a valid point.
It seams that "they" did not want to let on that your Kemper has had this functionality from the day you bought it. They wait until the release statement for the KFC to let us know.
I believe it would have been a bit messy on here for some during the buildup of the Pedalboard threads if we knew the facts.
The reason I am going on about this is because they dont seam to have given owners an option to at least use it directly on the Kemper. You cant tell me it would not be easy to implement.
I believe they needed an extra functionality to push this price range. That being the "existing" looper. What else does it offer really? Change banks and remote viewing. Where is the money?
I insist on quality in just about everything I buy. Yes Germany is known for its great engineering. So you can hope to expect the Kemper products follow that and if they do then you can expect to pay a bit more but....I get that. But how much?
Where are all of the electronics sourced from? Electronic components today are cheap. A heavy duty encasement is easy to do. It is the internals that really matter. I have no idea of the internals quality in my Kemper. I am guessing they are good. I get no unwanted noise. It has a beautiful sound quality, etc.
The only way I will realize the true quality of something in this price range is longevity. We will see.
As far as the build quality of the Kemper from the outside view, I would give it a 7.5 out of 10. I like it and it is good but the knobs feel very cheap to me. They have a very easy lateral movement. (The stem flexes very easy). I never liked that and it has turned me away from buying other electronic devices in the past.
If I looked at the Kemper in person and felt those knobs I would not have bought it. Now if I heard it AND felt the knobs.........well yes I would have bought it anyway.
But if there were competition that does just what the Kemper does, I would have looked deeper into the quality of the build and used that as my deciding factor.
Another thing I notice every time I sit down and play my Kemper is the gap between the face plate and the aluminum "hood". It is eye level and I can look right through it. Simple thing I know but a little odd for something in this price range.
I think when someone opens up the first pedalboard they may be a bit underwhelmed and wonder where the money went.
With all of this said, once again, I love my KPA and I really appreciate what this company has done. It is a beautiful thing indeed. But I will still call it as I see it.
----QUESTIONS-----
How many of you would buy this if it didnt have the looper?
How much would you be willing to pay then?
Now the big question.
Probably. Why? Because I am a dumbass and I can afford it.
Besides, I am on the list. But if I go to order it when it is time and I cant get it before too long I may just forget it and let it go though.
I only play at home so I don't "need" it.
But I want the looper dammit. I have a much more detailed one but it is a bit of a pain getting it to not mess up my sound in the chain with the Kemper.
Please dont flame me and my opinion. That is all it is.....an opinion.
And if I am wrong or incorrect with anything technical I said, I apologize ahead of time.
I must say, I also have concerns about the engineering of the foot controller based on the kemper. I can look past the engineering issues with the kemper to an extent due to the amazing sound, however, with a foot controller the engineering is what you are paying for, not the sound. I agree The kemper has plastic knobs that feel cheap for a unit of this price, some where you can see where the moulded knobs have been snapped off a larger piece of plastic. THey do not seem sturdy and there is excess play. The LED light hoods also suffer from inconsistent finishing with bits of excess plastic or imperfections on some where presumably the moulding process has not come out quite right. Some of the push switches are also looser than others. I returned one unit and got another which was a littler better. The main switch dial also feels quite weak. Like i say, I can forgive these to an extent but the foot controller will have to be flawless considering the price.
I guess if it really is that easy to control the looper functionality some third party developer will soon be very pleased to chime in and offer a (cheap) solution. Maybe you guys should not sell your Behringers too soon
Display MoreThe price is a bit steep. Essentially you are buying buttons to tell the Kemper, yes, no, on and off. Functionality is already in the Kemper. This is just a glorified switch box with a small display screen, which are a dime a dozen. Granted it works just for the Kemper (proprietary). Thats where the "We can charge what we want" comes in.
Don't get me wrong, I love the Kemper. It is about the best piece of guitar equipment I have ever bought and would not get rid of it for the world unless I lost the wrong fingers where I couldn't play any more.
I have to agree with some about the looper. I cant help but to think it is a bit underhanded. Since it is already in the Kemper, it just needs a couple simple commands from a $2 switch and an led to show state.
I am no engineer but as far as enabling the looper with no pedal at all directly on the Kemper seems a simple deal with software. Hell, there are a hundred LEDs on the Kemper to show state.
They could make a simple switch pedal or use an existing button on the Kemper just for the looper instead of forcing people to buy the KPR for the functionality it already possesses.
The poster that pointed out the secretive stance Kemper had on reporting how the looper would be implemented had a valid point.
It seams that "they" did not want to let on that your Kemper has had this functionality from the day you bought it. They wait until the release statement for the KPR to let us know.
I believe it would have been a bit messy on here for some during the buildup of the Pedalboard threads if we knew the facts.
The reason I am going on about this is because they dont seam to have given owners an option to at least use it directly on the Kemper. You cant tell me it would not be easy to implement.
I believe they needed an extra functionality to push this price range. That being the "existing" looper. What else does it offer really? Change banks and remote viewing. Where is the money?
I insist on quality in just about everything I buy. Yes Germany is known for its great engineering. So you can hope to expect the Kemper products follow that and if they do then you can expect to pay a bit more but....I get that. But how much?
Where are all of the electronics sourced from? Electronic components today are cheap. A heavy duty encasement is easy to do. It is the internals that really matter. I have no idea of the internals quality in my Kemper. I am guessing they are good. I get no unwanted noise. It has a beautiful sound quality, etc.
The only way I will realize the true quality of something in this price range is longevity. We will see.
As far as the build quality of the Kemper from the outside view, I would give it a 7.5 out of 10. I like it and it is good but the knobs feel very cheap to me. They have a very easy lateral movement. (The stem flexes very easy). I never liked that and it has turned me away from buying other electronic devices in the past.
If I looked at the Kemper in person and felt those knobs I would not have bought it. Now if I heard it AND felt the knobs.........well yes I would have bought it anyway.
But if there were competition that does just what the Kemper does, I would have looked deeper into the quality of the build and used that as my deciding factor.
Another thing I notice every time I sit down and play my Kemper is the gap between the face plate and the aluminum "hood". It is eye level and I can look right through it. Simple thing I know but a little odd for something in this price range.
I think when someone opens up the first pedalboard they may be a bit underwhelmed and wonder where the money went.
With all of this said, once again, I love my KPA and I really appreciate what this company has done. It is a beautiful thing indeed. But I will still call it as I see it.
----QUESTIONS-----
How many of you would buy this if it didnt have the looper?
How much would you be willing to pay then?
Now the big question.
Probably. Why? Because I am a dumbass and I can afford it.
Besides, I am on the list. But if I go to order it when it is time and I cant get it before too long I may just forget it and let it go though.
I only play at home so I don't "need" it.
But I want the looper dammit. I have a much more detailed one but it is a bit of a pain getting it to not mess up my sound in the chain with the Kemper.
Please dont flame me and my opinion. That is all it is.....an opinion.
And if I am wrong or incorrect with anything technical I said, I apologize ahead of time.
I couldn't agree more with this post. I love my Kemper profiler. I bought one of the first ones, with the dodgy LED's. About half of my LED's have died, but I just can't stand being without it for a few weeks while it's being fixed, so I'm still using it with the broken LED's! I really need to send this in for the fix sometime.
I especially agree with the comments on the knobs and have commented on this long ago. They feel incredible cheap and wobbly, embarrassingly so. I also probably would have walked away on feel of the knobs alone (but would still have bought it due to the tones).
The price of the Kemper remote is on the high side in my opinion, but as Inthrutheout said, I am a dumbass (although, being from Liverpool I would have said 'I am a gobshite') and I can afford it.
And to prove that, I've just ordered the remote as I was on the list. And remember, I am a gobshite.
The reason I am going on about this is because they dont seam to have given owners an option to at least use it directly on the Kemper. You cant tell me it would not be easy to implement
I think the Kemper folks were smart in doing this, because ...
But I want the looper dammit.
I agree that $600 it is too much for the remote but I am buying as I value the Kemper and their continued development.
Really, what I don't get in this whole discussion about price and such is that a shitty little tool that I can't think of as more than a toy is causing all this fuss.
I mean - what does a looper pedal cost? Basic ones with about 5 minutes of recording time you can get for less than 100 €. A pedal such as Digitech Jam Man (which has a lot more to offer than the Kemper's 30 seconds or recording time and which can store up to 99 different loops etc. etc.) is about 170 €. So if you really want to have this silly looper thing, and you already have a controller that you're happy with, buy the Digitech and save the rest for a nice evening out.
To me though the value of the Kemper remote is integration, easy to handle, easy to backup, easy to control, one cable, .... built quality, no new FW can mess up what you have programmed ... and for real professionals the possibility to run two remotes at the same time in "sync" with each other. I don't get it.
I am not understanding why discussing price is taboo with some. This is the thread for the release of the KPR. We have waited a while to see what it will have, what it will do, and of course we were all equally waiting to see the price. Of course price matters. Isnt it obvious? So I believe it is a legitimate topic.
They will charge what they will charge. Sales will show if they made the right decision.
Not sure if I'm part the "some" there, but for the record I think it's fine, and perfectly natural, to discuss price. I don't think anybody would disagree that - all things being equal - cheaper would have been better. But as you say, "They will charge what they will charge" pretty well sums it up. Just one of many things that I'd like but can't afford/ justify.
QuoteReally, what I don't get in this whole discussion about price and such is that a shitty little tool that I can't think of as more than a toy is causing all this fuss.
Well, to be fair, there are a few different discussions going on here. The looper has caught the attention of some because it would be nice to make use of whatever functionality is available in the KPA, with or without the remote. I don't think anyone believes the looper alone warrants the cost. For me the value lies in exactly what you've spelled out: "...integration, easy to handle, easy to backup, easy to control, one cable, .... built quality, no new FW can mess up what you have programmed..." etc. (And even in light of that value, I'm probably going to have to take a pass for the moment.)
So nice to see "moot" used, and not "mute" ...
Yep!
Now if we could just get people to say February rather than Feb-YOU-ary....
I guess if it really is that easy to control the looper functionality some third party developer will soon be very pleased to chime in and offer a (cheap) solution. Maybe you guys should not sell your Behringers too soon
I have thought of this too being a big possibility after someone gets the pedal and reverse engineers it. But for a formal company to do it, they would want to know they could sell at least so many. How many Kempers sold? How many are buying the KPR so how many does that leave? Then you can knock off how many just dont give a hoot about it altogether. Would the market be big enough? Maybe it is easy enough for a competent low level engineer musician to figure out. Then again maybe it needs a handshake from a piece of hardware in the looper first. Maybe the Kemper needs to "see" the pedal before even waking the looper function. I dont know. This is not my field, I tinker a bit but I just remodel houses so what do I know.
I do like the build from what I can see in the pictures. I like its size. One wire is really nice too. I dont want to take anything away from the KPR because it should be very useful especially for musicians that actually play out unlike me who keeps it at home. If I could get my dedicated looper to play better with the Kemper I wouldnt even consider the KPR because my looper does SO much more.
I think they could have offered a little more on the loopers functionality than described. More time and maybe a memory card or something.
But that would have entailed more than just "waking" the looper function up. If I am even correct to understand that this is what is happening
