Hi folks, after much research, I am sure that the Kemper non powered rack is the way to go for me. I was starting to mix some new tracks and had used the Eleven Rack for all electric guitars. It soon became evident that the crunch tones I designed to use in the 11Rack are not going to cut it. Hopefully the Kemper will do the trick but I have some questions prior to purchase.
1) has there been any discussion by Kemper concerning any major design changes coming down the pike? I don't want to spend 2K on a soon to be outdated model.
2) I have been and want to continue recording my guitars and basses digitally and avoid micing cabinets. I use pro tools and at the moment my audio interface is my 11 Rack. The 11 rack is connected to my IMac via USB. After reading the Kemper online manual, would it be correct to connect the Kemper to my 11 rack via SPDIF?
thx
Newbie Basic Questions
- Beano
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Hey there again, Beano.
1) I had the same fear. No matter what happens, it won't be outdated. If it's valve tones you want, you'd know there's no shelf life. No real-world valve amp of any decent quality is obsolete, is it?
2) I suppose you could do this. If your analogue ins are of any decent sort of quality, I'd go with them. That's just my preference 'cause I'm old-school; in my experience there's less to go wrong using analogue I/O.
Hang in there, bud. Oh, and I went for the non-powered rack too!
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I very much doubt there will be a KPA 2 for a long time. They are still adding and improving things in this one
Connecting the KPA to your 11r will be via SPDIF but the KPA must be the master
The KPA will blow your 11r out of the water
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I too prefer analogue. I got the powered toaster mostly because I gig and sometimes I don't need to take a cab as there are plenty out there to be plugged into. But really, the powerless unit should serve fine for 90% of the gigs you will play. And will be all you will ever need for recording. You made the right choice rest easy.
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Yup grab a power amp to bring along with your unpowered KPA and you're pretty much ready for anything. As for a Kemper 2, if it ever comes it will probably do some really cool stuff but unlikely the tones will change and that's why people love the Kemper, it's the best.
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I too prefer analogue. I got the powered toaster mostly because I gig and sometimes I don't need to take a cab as there are plenty out there to be plugged into. But really, the powerless unit should serve fine for 90% of the gigs you will play. And will be all you will ever need for recording. You made the right choice rest easy.
There you go, Beano.Danger and I are both engineers and we've learned to go analogue when available... which is almost all the time. Life's too short for clocking and clicking / popping headaches. We engineers spend far too much time troubleshooting anyway.
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Welcome you're gonna love it
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There is one exception in the truly analogue world. I hate Tascam and Fostex style 8 track recorders! They suck! Sure you can get a decent recording if they are tracking properly... If? But the machines are finicky and very difficult to monitor what is actually being written to tape. Therefore, they suck! If I want an analog tape sound I prefer to use VHS it's simpler and less tracking issues. That said, I don't because digital has come of age and while not a perfect representation of a tape sound, it's pretty darn close! As I said before, no tube amp officianado can sit blindfolded in a room full of tube amps and tell me which one is playing. That's just not possible due to the variables, starting at the source... The instrument. Introduce a Kemper into the room and see if the person can single it out? Doubt it very seriously. Maybe if they were interacting with the instrument, but still unlikely. Most of us think we can tell but we can't.
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Agreed.
I thought VHS employed diagonally-striped (by the drum head) digital code for audio, but I've just realised that I must've gained this impression through the use of my ADAT unit back in the '90s. It used SVHS tapes too, so maybe that was part of it. I'm thinking 'though that Alesis simply developed its hardware and software to stripe digital audio instead of video, right?
I used to use a National VHS recorder, which definitely was analogue audio, for mastering back in the day as its dynamic range far exceeded anything else out there in the price range. I think it was in the 88->90dB range. I can see why you adopted this approach, DangerMan!
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Well I don't employ tape very often! But I just sat in with some musicians from Switzerland that wanted to create a demo of some tunes they wrote while here in Canada. They insisted on tape for mastering? Even though we had plenty of mics, a console and interfaces. They even supplied a Tascam 8 track to do it with. The unit looked brand new! We succeeded in setting levels and doing a few good takes. As you know this can be time consuming and a delicate task. Anyhoo the Tascam started to get wobbly and unpredictable... tracking issues? I pulled the plug on the Tascam and put the remainder through the console and then digitized it. After the session I grabbed an old Sony VHS and passed the entire stereo mix through that and of course, this is why I don't subscribe to this process... converted the tape back to dig for obvious reasons. I liken it to film cameras vs digital, sure film is warmer and more natural to some but you cant get it developed anymore and its not as portable in todays world. Thats no different for music, you must bend over to some degree.
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Agreed on all fronts, bud.
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Still, any instability or clicks / pops, and I'd switch straight to analogue and not look back, Beano.
Obviously, studio work is a different kettle of fish, but I'm not sure I'd even want to risk it live, not least because of possibly "unclean" power...
