OS 5.1 Experiences Thread :)

    We certainly cannot complain. A do-it-all device cannot live up to separate hi-tec devices. I see delays and reverbs as an extra, and the Kemper guys keep on updating them. Reverb next, we hope. But we want a digital amp that sounds convincing first of all. They give us that for sure. And the delays are very good, with a pretty cool wow-factor. I miss more the greater Spdif capacity of other devices.

    Never too old for rock'n'roll

    Like 1
    Quote from rolandeventide

    They are great and I like to use them for live performance. But If I compare the soundquality with my Lexicon PCM 91 or my Eventide H8000 I can hear a serious difference. That's no complaint. The Kemper upgrade is free and the Lexicon and Eventide are serious money but it is a big difference. The pitchshifters in the Eventide are worldclass and In the KPA they are okay. But I don' t take my rackunits to a gig so I am very happy with the update for live use!


    When I developed the pitch shifters for the Profiler, I had the Eventide PitchFactor on my desk as a comparison.


    In general pitch shifter algorithms do not have a signature sound, their sound character is similar among different brands.
    But what is cruicial for a pitch shifter is the ability to track single notes and especially chords well, which is challenging.


    The Eventide was tracking surprisingly bad, nearly unusable when tracking chords.
    It has been confirmed by many users back in the time when we released the pitch shifters, that ours is top notch.
    Does the H8000 feature better algorithms than the PitchFactor?


    The goal for the Profiler Delays was to present an unparalleled feature set simultaneously available.
    The Dual Crystal Delay produce the lushest crystal pads. Check our presets. I have never heard anything similar in the past.
    I feel the Profilers new delays can keep up easily with every single device out there, especially with Eventide.
    We have made no compromise for the fact that the Profiler is not a specialized effects device.


    You seem to be the only H8000 owner on this thread (I don't own one either). Please show us where it is "better". Clips please!

    Maybe this is better suited for a separate feature idea post, but wanted to toss this out there as it is tangentially related...


    While maybe the KPA is not targeted as an effect unit for it's primary purpose, it is always great to be able to make maximum use of a device with such wonderful power. Especially in smaller home studios. Along those lines I was wondering something....


    What about a "Studio Effect Profile" as a new profile type that is designed strictly for playback/mixing purposes. Where all the resources (CPU, memory, etc) are fully dedicated to a single effect. No stomps or stack section, etc. Only an effect. So that, for example, uber quality reverb processing & algorithms could be presented, for use with vocals or snare, etc.


    At some point software plug-ins and outboard gear start to become taxing on DAW resources or studio real estate. As long as the KPA is already taking up space it would be wonderful to be able to utilize it beyond primarily guitar tracking.. And it would be yet another great marketing feature for Kemper.


    I'm not at all saying the effects aren't good, and clearly expanding, but at some point I am guessing the extra processing power and memory of the stomp & stack sections could maybe be utilized toward making a single, complex effect that much more incredible sounding.


    Just a thought....


    Sonic

    I am really happy with the new delays. For example in live use they can spice up a chorus (the organ preset if used sparse is great for that imho), or in one song where a psychedelic piece follows after a breakdown i can get these fantastic spacey sounds with only the Kemper. I have an old eventide eclipse, one of my favorite pieces of gear (they had, just like Kemper, a great updating feature during years). I don't know the H8000 but the Kemper definately beats the eclipse to my ears. The delays of the Kemper are more usable in a subtle manner, and indeed tracking of chords is much better and the formant possibilities are great on the Kemper. The editing of the presets and the control with the floorboard and the morph option are even more reasons I leave my beloved eclipse at home.
    Same goes for my whammy DT, stays at home... :)
    I have never seen a company upgrading their product in such an extent in quality for free, hats off for Kemper :thumbup:

    I suppose all the suppositions that vintage gear was better than the Kemper will remain suppositions until we hear some clips.


    And even then, I'm pretty sure it's nostalgia talking and not really an objective assessment of the Kemper's FX.


    I, for one, know that the pitch shifter is miles ahead of anything else in the market. Tracks chords so well too!

    @nightlight


    Almost everything in music ("classic rock" or "vintage tubeamps & guitars") is nostalgia.Why do classical musicians still concentrate mostly on mozart & beethoven and nobody cares for new artists who also make great classical music today;


    "Nostalgia" is not the problem


    .It is more the "feel" you remember when you were 19 years old and you played for the first time in life some more expensive 19"-delay in the late 80s/early 90s.This "experience" is what defines today how the fx for guitar should sound.Even the kids today hear the old albums and want "this delay" from a Lexicon or a TC or the pitch from an eventide (just take a look on all the "ballerina"-covers on youtube).Does the Kemper deliver this quality now with the new delays;For me personally this is completely out of question.From what I have heard from the H9..the new delays of 5.0 are at least as good.


    Anyway..


    Now with the profiler we have to understand that the whole thing (and most of all the fx) is not "one-dimensional" as we have learned all through these last two-three decades when we had our tube-amp and all was about its fx-loop..and then the question how the whole thing sounded through 12"-speakers in the rehearsal room or on stage was the biggest of all questions.For me this whole matter ended up selling all my 19"-fx by the mid-90s.I just played the "naked" tube amp,my 4x12 & 4x10 cabs and learned to "love it".This was the case for some 20 years till today.


    Once again the Kemper shows its revolutionary potential.At least for me personally:


    First I stopped to think about my tube amps and cabinets and all the "noise" they make on small stages.
    Next I stopped to worry about how the whole thing would sound through different FOHs.
    Then I stopped to worry about using a digital tool with all its software.
    At last I also stopped to worry about how I will sound in any studio without my tubeamp-rigs.
    Finally I am using fx again as part of my rig on jams,rehearsals and live on stage..after two decades...great fun..


    Thanks CK :thumbup:


    That is exactly what I was referring to, @Nikos. But rather than an objective analysis of how good something sounds, our perception is often (not always) coloured by what our experience with the device was.


    On the other hand, liking the Beatles, or Mozart or Beethoven has more to do with a qualitative assessment of how good the music is. It has less to do with how our past colours the perception of the music, but rather an objective view of what makes the music so great. We have access to the same music today and can compare it to other records.


    In the case of a guitar FX, how many people can you name who said XXX effect was the best ever? I think quite a lot, but when they go back to the device years later, they often say, "It's not how I remember it".


    That's what I meant by nostalgia colouring your perception.

    I guess the whole development during the last few decades had most of the time just a little to do with what guitar players really needed.It was all about GAS,megalomania,big show and circus.Specially when it comes how to use fx on all sizes of live stages.I guess most players back then could have used just a single Quadraverb and none in the audience would have taken notice that the delays and reverbs did not came from TCs or Lexicons.Instead of this we had all these wall-size racks full of 19"..filling dozens of trucks.


    There are so many "stories" and "anecdotes" from famous 80s guitar heroes who asked the "what happened"-question when their guitar tech just made a mistake and the whole fx-racks were"accidentally" not in the signal chain and the pure guitar-/cab-sound went through their monitors blowing them away..


    Many years of experiments,big money,bad and thin sounding "guitar heroes" who put all their faith into Bob Bradshaw and some other tech-gurus who filled the trucks of all major-rock bands and gave a lot of work to many,many roadies and road crews..


    How should this not end up with some "nostalgia" 20 years later; ;(:D


    If we like it or not.Todays fx in the Kemper are more than anyone of todays players needs.For live more than just 100%..I would discuss this issue if it is about recording but then again this is a completely different issue.

    Audiences can't make out 90% of what goes into a guitar tone. That's why guys like Lil' Wayne are the guitar heroes nowadays.


    But that 10% of the audience that does know what's going on... I think it makes sense to give them the best just so that they look forward to your performance.


    Heck, maybe even some of the "general" audience will get something out of it too.

    Quote from nightlight

    Audiences can't make out 90% of what goes into a guitar tone. That's why guys like Lil' Wayne are the guitar heroes nowadays.


    But that 10% of the audience that does know what's going on... I think it makes sense to give them the best just so that they look forward to your performance.


    Heck, maybe even some of the "general" audience will get something out of it too.

    Not diminishing Kemper in any way, but I was on concert where DEATH tribute band played and whether Bobby Koelble played Kemper, AXE-FX, miced EVH5150 I wouldn't be able to tell a difference.


    But yes - this is high gain territory, where you don't hear much of organic sound ;)

    Edited once, last by skoczy ().

    Quote from nightlight

    Audiences can't make out 90% of what goes into a guitar tone. That's why guys like Lil' Wayne are the guitar heroes nowadays.


    But that 10% of the audience that does know what's going on... I think it makes sense to give them the best just so that they look forward to your performance.


    Heck, maybe even some of the "general" audience will get something out of it too.

    It really depends..all on the venue,the acoustics,the audience.If it is some "MTV-unplugged" kind of thing playing a nice venue with "carpet on stage including barfoot singer" with some 100-200 sitting audience and mics everywhere sure you could use the most complex fx algorithms and the audience would enjoy every single loop and tap of your delay you create..


    Having played myself enough 500-1000 audience sized-venues in ex-industrial/harbor-buildings type of venues with "very difficult" acoustics (pipelines across the roof,steel,glass,huge concrete pillars everywhere etc) there is no chance you will even hear the difference between what kind of fx you are using.Most of the times I turned down even the reverb on the combos leaving it all to the sound guys.Which again left my guitar dry as possible giving all fx possible to the singer which again was not much.



    Seeing enough 80s guitar heroes(Vai/Satriani/Malmsteen etc) in 1000-5000 size venues(again mostly ex-industrial locations) it was not only me who was kind of "dissapointed" about how loud but bad sounding all their gigs were..to much fx,no "definition",most of the times the engineers needed 30-40 minutes to get it somehow right.But again I left most of these concerts "almost deaf" and not much else.


    It is without a doubt a very difficult issue.And from what I have experienced during the last months live with the KPA made me confident to use fx again as part of my rig while the sound-guys I worked during this period just sit there doing a little bit of "ghost-tweaking" of my guitar during my leads with one hand while smiling at me giving me a thumbs up with the other.


    The profiler just works fine.


    Is it because venues,FOH,monitors,engineers and last but not least we as guitar players got more experienced and just better in handling our rigs;Or is it the new modelers;


    I guess a little bit of all.But the Kemper is sure one of the main reasons as far as I can say this for my own.


    I'd venture to say it's the Kemper. Having control of the levels of everything, within one device, is probably the best solution, imo.

    This update is awesome! Loving it so much.


    Obviously, the Ballerina thing is cool. Now I actually understand how that track works!


    But I really <3 the simple but really effective 'Warm Pad' (have switched the amp section to one of my profiles). Used morph with heel at 100% | 100% and toe at all wet.


    I officially no longer need a keyboardist. :thumbup:

    Problems with calibration?


    I have to calibrate my expression pedals two times the last 3 days. After switching on/ off my morph and my pitch pedal went only from 0 to 90%.
    After calbrating new everything was ok. Yesterday it comes up again.


    Bug reported