What Happened to Sonic?

Quote from flyingheelhook

This IS the internet Dimi. Better get used to it.

Who said he isn't used to it? That doesn't exclude it from criticism. I'm also part of the Facebook group and I scantly participate any longer due to much of the Kemper worshiping. If you thought people here could get defensive...

Quote from Dean_R

You're the only person that I'm aware of recently that built credibility, conducted fair comparisons and addressed issues, sonic was simply a nuisance. I don't like to see anyone banned but I understand why a company and its technical support simply are sometimes unable to resolve a customer's issue.
We all understand that the Kemper will not work for everyone. I, selfishly, would like to see Sonic back because of the outrageous humor (annoyance to many) he introduced and not because I think that his character(he acted out), will ever resolve his inability to get the Kemper working for him. He insisted his pod 2.0 with Pedals worked better, that's fine, then use the Pod and sell the Kemper.

At the same time, many of us are enjoying and getting the best results than any guitar player can dream of. Bringing that up is also relevant and shouldn't be dismissed as fanboyism. I'm currently playing through @diogofis profiles, and they work amazingly for me as they do for many others. The maker himself says they sound the same as his amps and I agree. This is just one user's profiles and with all the available profiles, I still understand that some will not be able to get the KPA to work for them, but it's only fair that they should act in good faith (as you have been) to understand the reason and if the issues can be resolved. If it's determined that there's no solution then, people can and maybe should move on to something that works for them.
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People get divorced due to irreconcilable differences leaving family and children behind, the fact that Sonic was a customer with irreconcilable demands doesn't mean that Kemper should continue that relationship

Boy, you really like to drone on about the POD 2.0 comparison, but you often leave out an important caveat and nuanced opinion. He felt the POD 2.0 when "goosed" with a boost in front captured the mids very well for the kind of 80's power distortion. I actually agree still having and occasionally using a POD 2.0 myself. For middy Marshall tones with a little tweaking it's quite good. He also mentioned that the POD didn't entirely feel like an amp and thus he was very interested in how the KPA could get close to the tones he wanted because it had the right feel and plenty more upsides than the POD 2.0, yet you conveniently overlook that because I suppose it makes Sonic easier to dismiss if you only talk about him thinking the POD is better than the KPA, which isn't really the case. He was simply frank about the advantages and disadvantages of each. Hating on the POD has become so cliché that most people piss on it without really realizing it's still a good device for certain things. Even Lee Anderton and Rob Chapman recently compared the models & profiles of the POD, Kemper, and Amplifire. POD was a lot closer than you would imagine for something so easily dismissed.

It's fine if you're getting better results, that's not the "fanboyism". It's when you become aggressive or even passive aggressive in deflecting criticism of the KPA or incredulous at the suggestion that it doesn't sound 100% like the amp. The guy whose profiles you're using saying they sound exactly like his amp is full of it. It may be really close, so close as to not matter to plenty of people, but exact? No chance. Not based on what I've heard.

Don't get me wrong, I still play and enjoy my KPA but it's also a source of frustration in plenty of ways. Not having equipment and amps to profile myself, the best I can contribute is by giving feedback to people who offer up profiles. Some guys here testing profiling techniques to curtail profiling deficiencies message me quite often with profiles to audition, including some who now sell commercially, because I'm honest about what works and what doesn't. I hear the same things they hear, whether it's a "wah-like" compression over everything, a flat/lifeless lack of dynamics, or high mid fizz over mutes, which are things I most often key on. Some of these guys have given me some truly fantastic profiles, which I think is in part because of my help and others like Dimi because we actually acknowledge what we hear. They also do it in private to avoid the cascade of defensive Kemperites and disclose their own thoughts and opinions there to keep from the kind of reception Sonic received. So, despite my own issues with the KPA I do my best to help and be constructive with those who choose to share. I don't know if Sonic did the same privately, but I assume he did since more people than you realize hear the same thing, they just don't talk about it openly to be denigrated.

Quote from Dean_R

You're contribution is really appreciated I'm sure by all, but please don't dismiss the fact that many or any Kemper users can go to the rig exchange and using Rig Manager within minutes run though a bunch of profiles using the filter search in Rig Manager to get profiles that don't exhibit any of the undesirable qualities you mentioned.Let me give you an example, fire up rig manager. Click on Rig Exchange in the left pane and make sure you're connected to the internet.. In the search field type, Laney, or twin, deluxe or whatever you like.
The resulting list of profiles can be scanned through using the up and down arrows and the space bar to load the profiles.

I believe that using this method most will be able to find amazing profiles of amps they love without buying a single commercial profile and those amps will not exhibit any of the undesirable qualities that exist in offending profiles.

There are a whole ton of free profiles I've tried from the exchange that are useable or I felt were useable for a time, but you're incorrect by assuming they don't exhibit "any of the undesirable qualities" considering these very qualities are baked in during the profiling process. Because one simply doesn't hear it doesn't mean they aren't present. I've auditioned thousands upon thousands of profiles, both commercial and from RE and only use about a handful because they all exhibit one issue or another, including commercial ones made in state of the art studios. I don't make it a point to come on here and dump on the KPA, which is still a very good device in my mind, but I can't be told that issues I hear in almost every profile, only some manage to mitigate or minimize such issues, don't exist. If you're happy with them, great; doesn't mean others are as equally satisfied.

Quote from Dean_R

@MementoMori Please read my post above and notice that I didn't leave this Caveat about him preferring the POD 2.0 with Pedals, your recollection is no different than mine in this regard

You still managed to leave out the rest of my statement and chose to only focus on the pedal point, which is you ironically lending credence to my previous post of selective criticism. I included the bit about the pedals as to spell out the entirety of his argument, which included the fact that the POD lacked a feel that the KPA possesses.

Quote from Awesome_Elvis

indirect condescending and high brow cork sniffing while not actually contributing can only get you so far no matter how polite you are.

Agreed. This also happens to go both ways, but the mob doesn't like addressing its own pretension.

Anyway, this is starting to derail. Arguments that because you are very happy and other people have said things, therefore people like Sonic, or Dimi, or SinMix, or I should be just as happy isn't really persuasive.

Quote from Dean_R

Can you please clarify whether the handful of profiles you chose also exhibit the undesirable qualities ? I know you say "all" but I'm just trying to understand.

All in some form or another, at least when it comes to gain-driven tones. These are issues most often encountered:

• Having a compressed "wah" sound
• Fizzy high mids on mutes
• Complete lack of dynamics

It doesn't mean every profile has all 3 happening at the same time, but usually one is accentuated. I notice some profilers try and cover these with darker profiles, much like how Top Jimi often backs off the presence. I don't care for darker profiles, so when I put the presence back up to 0, these qualities become very apparent to me. The "flat, dynamic-less" sound I notice happens more or less when people try and mitigate the "wah" and "fizzy" element of the profile, and while they can do a halfway decent job sometimes, they end up with a pretty lifeless profile in my eyes. Just doesn't perform or feel at all like an amp.

It's also worth noting that RE is full of all kinds of profiles. Some people may not have a great mic, or preamp, or may not really know how to properly mic a cab, or mic it to my taste. I get that, there are tons of variables. I'm just pointing out that in my experience it hasn't been as easy as just opening it up and being overwhelmed by amazing profiles.

Currently the profiles I've been enjoying the most are from @mickrich at TMS Profiles. He probably has, for my taste, the best all around quality with amp-like feel that I've tried. @sinmix has great stuff, too (though I know it's not your cup of tea). @Bommel has given away some very good freebies of Mesa Dual Rec and JP-2C profiles. Can't say I use them often, but I've kept a few. @Deadlightstudio has a couple profiles that I've liked of a Mesa Dual Rec. I had previously used stuff by Guidorist but found much of it lacking for dynamics in the profiles I previously liked and the ones with a fuller body sound suffering the fizzy and wah-like sound. Given, I've not tried everything. Really like the Dr Z profiles you recommended from Guido, though I scantly have a purpose for them outside of just noodling.

What I have said on the importance of KPA differences from real amps is that they can matter for some, others not so much. And some even prefer kemper tone.

The argument that since the audience doesn't care/cannot hear the difference is not very convincing to me on that end personally as an artist. And tests that include volume matching/super smooth, blind transitions can often make "congestion" less evident, in part due to kemper A/B not matching volumes perfectly, but also being that a higher volume on the profile can give the appearance of being less congested. Heck, I just did a pickup comparison and quite a few tell me they can tell no difference at all -- but still we go for one pickup or another.

I am fine with people who don't mind the differences. I don't try to change their view in terms of the value they place on them; but I do think that, objectively, these differences do exist much of the time. How important they are to people does not concern me much in any "coercive" manner. I have even had users ask me for DIs to run through their amps, then them saying that I do not, as they wouldn't want to notice the differences, for the fear it can affect their KPA experience negatively -- and that's fine, obviously.

Personally i can make good use of the KPA. I have considered selling, at different points, comparing to torpedo and other devices, but there are profiles from a few sellers that I like a lot and this largely why I have kept the device. These sellers are also quite aware of the character kemper tends to imprint on the amp. Being aware of this it's possible to make better profiles. Not being aware of it, and not paying attention to detail, making, say, 100 profiles of an amp and refining quickly, is not close enough for my needs/perception. It's not that these profiles I like are completely free of these effects either; but they are still great to use and give me tones I wouldn't be able to get from my (now) few amps and torpedo, even if I prefer, say, my Orange + torpedo vs the profile of that tone.

Personally I don't wanna spent too much energy on this topic any more; I think the company's position is firm on the matter, and I'm thankful for CK's feedback.

Quote from flyingheelhook

This IS the internet Dimi. Better get used to it.

I've written for a public audience before, off the internet, so I'm used to hate mail and stuff like that. Yes, there's value in having thick skin. But I think there's also value for a "push back" when it comes certain kinds of cyber-bullying. And there's a difference between medium A vs B on the net; it's not all homogeneous on the internet. I just meant that the forum here is a more civil place for KPA discussion than the facebook group and so may be preferable for some. I know for me it definitely is.

Quote from Dean_R

Kemper addressed this issue by introducing "Pure Cab". Pure Cab was designed to remove the phasing and high frequency fizz, that exists in closed mic situations. Pure cab almost remove the microphone from the sound so you end up with a sound similar to the "amp in the room:

Have you tried "Pure Cab". I have it set to local, not global, and I like it very much on many high gain profiles, it certainly takes away the fizz that naturally occurs with all closed mic situations.

If you haven't, please check it and report back. Hopefully it will make the Kemper more enjoyable for you, it certainly did the trick for me for the real high gain profiles with the undesirable hairy fizz.

Pure cab can help in certain situations. For me it's not an eliminator of the differences between amp and profile. But when the micing was less than desirable, pure cab can help me get better tones out of the profile. I usually don't bother using such profiles to begin with though. I have experimented with pure cab when trying to mitigate the small differences between kemper and amp while still in profiling phase.