USB MIDI

1st Official Post

    Very happy about the USB MIDI addition in the latest beta!


    Having said that, it seems to be transmitting SysEx only instead of CC/PC messages. Anyone else experiencing that? I'm using a Profiler Stage, btw.


    According to the main manual, the Profiler should be sending MIDI CCs and Program Change messages when the expression pedal or switches are operated.

    Perhaps I have misunderstood this functionality but I was hoping this would work in either browser or performance mode so that it could be used to record automation in the DAW, etc.


    Maybe someone from Kemper might be able to clarify it.

    you can only send the following control changes if you have external expression pedals configured accordingly:

    CC#1,CC#4,CC#7 and CC#11. In order to transmit these the "pedals to MIDI" function must be active and you have to configure at least one MIDI device (A or B) to be connected to the MIDI output.

    This works in browse and perform mode.

    In order to send program changes you need to assign the desired program change numbers to the slot in a performance.

    This only works in perform mode.

    All of these functions will work with USB MIDI and with standard MIDI.

    Many thanks for that, Kemper Support #1


    I think that selecting the "MIDI Out" option under the Performance Mode: MIDI setting was the only thing missing. That seems to work as expected now.


    Unless I completely missed it, I must admit that this did not seem to be clear in the documentation though.

    Quote from susbemol

    Many thanks for that, Kemper Support #1


    I think that selecting the "MIDI Out" option under the Performance Mode: MIDI setting was the only thing missing. That seems to work as expected now.


    Unless I completely missed it, I must admit that this did not seem to be clear in the documentation though.

    you can find a detailed explanation on pages 380 and 381 in the reference manual.

    Thanks again, I do appreciate the replies.


    That section of the manual talks about transmitting MIDI messages in Performance mode, I get that.


    What did not seem clear to me is that those settings also seem to affect Browser mode's ability to transmit CCs.


    Perhaps there is a clear guide on this somewhere but I have not been able to find it.

    Hi, have a Boss EV-1-WL and would love to use it as a midi expression pedal via USB and 5 pin and send two CC messages simultaneously from the EV to the Kemper. Can't seem to make the USB connection respond on the Kemper. Any tips?

    I have a kemper stage and am running 10.2.2.49572


    I have the EV-1 connected by USB to the USB A port on the Kemper from the USB B port on EV and sending and receiving on Channel 10 and trying to send MIDI CC 7 to the Kemper.

    kpahuitsing: is this really intended to work? Does the USB-A port also send and receive usb midi messages?


    In the manual it says: "Since OS 10.2 the USB connection used for Rig Manager and USB audio can be used for MIDI transmission, too. USB MIDI mirrors the functionality of the MIDI IN and MIDI OUT sockets." I thought the usb connection "used for rig manager and usb audio" was the USB-B port on the Kemper (so the one on the back of my Kemper Rack).

    I'm asking since in my case, I can use my Line6 FBV Shortboard V2 to control my Kemper rack using my PC (by using a DAW to send MIDI USB commands from my FBV shortboard to my Kemper ), but I can't use my FBV shortboard directly connected to my USB-A connection from my Kemper Rack (the one in the front).


    The USB-A port does power up my FBV Shortboard, but it does not seem to receive the USB midi commands to my FBV Shortboard. So I thought the USB-A port on the Kemper (Rack) did not work for USB midi (and only the USB-B in the back could be used for this).

    If it does work: can I use this in combination with my FBV shortboard? I think my FBV shortboard is USB class compliant, since it immediately works as USB controller on f.e. an iPhone or Ipad. So if the USB-A on the Kemper (Rack) works for USB midi, would it also work with my FBV Shortboard? I don't have any USB-B to USB-B cable (and connecting two USB-B cables using a usb-A to usb-A adapter does not seem to work, this does not power up my FBV Shortboard, so I haven't been able to test this.


    Another question: in case the Rack USB-A port in the front cannot be used for my FBV Shortboard, would the USB-A port on the new Kemper Player work? It seems in the manual for the Kemper Player, both USB ports can be used for USB midi? So the new Kemper Profiler Player would work in combination with a Line 6 FBV Shortboard v2?

    • New

    The new OS 11 beta finally detects all of my old line6 FBV controllers (both the FBV shortboard MKII and the FBV Express MKII) ! So these will all be getting a second life as Kemper controllers.

    Some button (and wah) are already working, so now I just need to figure out the correct MIDI commands for the other buttons. But this is looking very promising ^^

    If these work (and since they can be programmed fairly easily), the FBV express - which is still sold after 15 years - will be a very cheap 119€ option as a Kemper foot controller.

    • New

    For anyone who is interested: both FBV shortboard II and FBV express II are correctly working, but only sending MIDI commands, so its difficult to find a setup where the LEDs stay synchronised.

    I'm probably going to to use the Express to control one patch and 4 pedal settings (with all pedals of at start in the patch, all stays synchronised, so you get 4 pedal controls + volume + wah).

    I've tried to setup the shortboard MKii for performance mode (bank up/bank down, rig selection and pedal control are all working), but here it's impossible to keep the LEDs synchronised (if I use the top button row for stomp/delay/reverb and the bottom row to switch rigs, the stomps that are activated in the previous rig stay lit).

    So still trying to figure out how to best use the larger board. But at least it's nice to have some control using these old pedals.

    But the 119€ FBV Express certainly gives a very simple, nice solution for pedal control in a single patch, and using it that way with all pedals off in the rig at the start, the LEDs stay synchronised. I only have a Kemper rack (and stage), no Kemper Player, but I would image the combination of the Kemper Player + the FBV Express could make a great portable solution (and you even get two expression pedals for volume & wah - only one at the time, but you can switch between them and use them both).

    • New
    Quote from rafgys

    For anyone who is interested: both FBV shortboard II and FBV express II are correctly working, but only sending MIDI commands, so its difficult to find a setup where the LEDs stay synchronised.

    So, does this mean we can use the front USB port on the rack to send MIDI via usb??
    I'm trying to make it work with an arduino controller i made, but so far i had no luck.

    • New

    Yes, exactly!

    You can now just plugin the USB midi controller on the front USB port, (using an USB-a to USB-b "printer" cable)- no need to use an arduino and try to get it working using the RJ45 "network" connector.


    I think this functionality was already working with other (more recent?) USB midi controllers in the new OS 10 version (I suppose this was added for the Kemper Player, since this pedal does not have a "normal" 5-pin midi connection).

    But for the FBV MKII boards, this didn't work in OS 10. I was in touch with Kemper support to ask why this didn't work for the FBV shortboard and express controllers in the OS 10, and they asked me to install a program to get the midi usb init information for both of these boards (which I sent to them). They said these init sequences were the problem why my FBV boards did not work in OS10.

    I didn't hear from them afterwards (they also made me no promises about adding it), but apparently they did add these 2 boards to the OS 11 beta version. So as usual, great customer support!

    • New

    I'm trying to use the arduino to send MIDI CCs via USB, it's a DIY controller i made that i was using via MIDI cable, i'll have to do some research and see if i'm capable of making it work just via usb, that way i can use only one cable for the controller instead of USB + MIDI cables.

    Thanks for the info!