Kemper thoughts 3 or so months in...

  • So having owned the Kemper for about 3 months now, I thought would post a few thoughts....The amp sounds are just like the gift that keeps on giving....it's like such an amazing variety of raw tones and another thing to remember, is the great way you can tweak them further. I especially like the two hi and lo adjustments for the speaker cabs. Makes a huge difference. Such a useful adjustment to get the sound just right in a mix, simulated speaker sound,etc,etc.




    To this day, I still haven't touched the Stomp butttons! What am I missing by just using the effects section? Speaking of the effects, I don't really care for the oddball way you seem to only be able to scroll thru them, which is alphabetically I think. The other thing which is still a head scratcher, is the oddball names they give for each effect and the even odder way they are ordered! (alpahbetically by name),....for example 'AC FAST' appears to be the name given for a rotary speaker present AND 'air chorus'....and what does AC even stand for? 'Muffin' , they use for a distortion sound!, which has names 'BMBRITE' and 'BMFULL' and 'BMSOFT'...what does BM stand for? ....now all these goofy, unexplained names they've given , you are forced to scroll thru alpabetically....so it's ACFAST, BMRITE, BPTOUCH (which it says is a wah-wah preset...what does BP stand for?) IMO, the effects section display could be dramatically improved for user friendliness....maybe make each white hardbutton above the display select a grouping of effects types, each in a column under it's button, with much improved names.




    As each week passes by, the need for an onscreen editor ala the Pod's excellent interface grows greater and greater....I hope this is in the works...Even assigning my favorite rigs to the 'QUICK' button is starting to pile up. Needless to say, hundreds and hundreds of great rigs need a large, groupable, and mouse clickable visual way of accessing them and not the unwieldy scroll knob, which I believe mine is about to fall off from being overworked :D




    All in all though, I can't see this box ever becoming obsolete, it sounds too good! And the constant input of new and useable rigs and amps is just amazing.

  • Nice post. You're right, with every new profile, the Kemper is like opening a Christmas present everyday.
    As for the editor, you're right there too. I'm finally just going through each profile and assigning my own text/naming system. By the time(or should I say if?) an editor comes out, it might be obsolete for some of us. However, I find if you audition and edit some each day, it's manageable. I have 2700+ profiles on my desktop and have cut that down to around ~700 on my KPA, mostly edited.
    Also, with the new FW update you can cut and paste the text, making it somewhat more manageable.

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  • If you scroll through the stomps using the Type knob (not the browse one) they are ordered by category and named normally.... ;)

    "Music is enough for a lifetime, but a lifetime is not enough for music" Serghei Rachmaninoff


  • The amp sounds are just like the gift that keeps on giving


    The best the best analogy i've heard for the KPA and describes my feelings as well.


    My problem is i'm so greedy i can't stop taking ;(

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  • Speaking of the effects, I don't really care for the oddball way you seem to only be able to scroll thru them, which is alphabetically I think. The other thing which is still a head scratcher, is the oddball names they give for each effect and the even odder way they are ordered! (alpahbetically by name),....for example 'AC FAST' appears to be the name given for a rotary speaker present AND 'air chorus'....and what does AC even stand for? 'Muffin' , they use for a distortion sound!, which has names 'BMBRITE' and 'BMFULL' and 'BMSOFT'...what does BM stand for? ....now all these goofy, unexplained names they've given , you are forced to scroll thru alpabetically....so it's ACFAST, BMRITE, BPTOUCH (which it says is a wah-wah preset...what does BP stand for?) IMO, the effects section display could be dramatically improved for user friendliness....maybe make each white hardbutton above the display select a grouping of effects types, each in a column under it's button, with much improved names.


    from the Reference Manual, page 22:
    "There are two ways to choose a new effect: either turn the BROWSE knob to select a new local effect pre- set, or turn TYPE, to change the basic algorithm of the module."


    again: TYPE selects the basic stomp (chorus, phaser, compressor etc.)' while
    BROWSE let's you select a specific preset made for a stomp or effect. Instead of loading let's say the Green Scream in it's default setting using TYPE, you can load it in one of the previously saved states - and you can of course add your own effect presets. This way you don't have to tweak the reverb every time to your liking, you set it once, save it as an effect block and can now easily recall it.


    I thought calling a certain distortion 'Muffin' is kinda self-explanatory. ;) 'BM' adds a 'Big' to it.
    'BP' stands for band-pass, also commonly used, but maybe more in a synth context, just like LP for low-pass and HP for high-pass.


    You can always save these local presets with a different name and delete the older versions.

  • If you scroll through the stomps using the Type knob (not the browse one) they are ordered by category and named normally.... ;)

    how 'bout that!...I figured there were ways to improve the FX things I was harping on, but it's like when I'm in auditioning/writing/playing/jamming mode, I never get around to reworking/rewording,etc things with improved names and a more logical layout..I still think they can do major improvements in the user friendliness of the FX section but for me, they are a very distant thing to the amp sounds , which are SOOOO good...