Posts by OneEng1

To the OP,

Sorry it didn't work out for you. Just remember to rock on!

On the subject of LED's, they are analog devices per the definition of an analog device. If you put more current through them, they get brighter. They are not an ON/OFF switch despite the general usage of them (which is USUALLY on/off). They are also not linearly brighter at a linearly higher current.

For those that are interested, LED's are used in nearly every foot controller. The LED shines through a piece of plastic. The plastic is darker as it moves through the gap between the LED and the receiver. As you rock your foot back on the pedal, more or less light reaches the receiver. Some circuitry is used to amplify the resultant output and either your volume goes up, or your wah changes center frequency (or fill in the blank).

Really, one of the greatest strengths I have found with the Kemper is the ease of getting a good tone ..... or many different great tones.

Using my strat with Fralin PU's, I can get many rigs that sound great (but different) in every position.

This is really overlooked by many when considering the value of the KPA.

Welcome to the forum!

BTW, I was thinking that I really had little use for the morphing feature, but I have discovered one that I think most of you may relate to.

I practice at home with a combination of headphones, IEM's and monitor speakers (DSR112). When I play live, I play directly into the PA.

This creates a condrum for me. The sound I get at home isn't the sound I get through the PA.

It sure would be nice to have some sweeps setup with morphing so I could sit out front of the PA in the context of the entire band and use morphing to get my tone for various songs dialed in using a live environment. Once I got it sounding great in the mix, all that would be needed would be to jot down where everything ended up and then create a rig with those settings.

Ok, so I guess I will be updating the firmware as soon as 4.0 comes out

I am an engineer myself (ie the sig ), and it seems to me that hooking the morphing feature throughout the entire Kemper system is likely a fair amount of tear up .... thus the delay in delivery.

On the flip side, adding new delays and reverbs should be a much more isolated task ... ie, it doesn't run through the entire code base, but is instead limited to a specific section which is already designed for expansion.

This may not be true for the delay's though. There must have been some reason that the delay was originally limited to a hard coded single slot on the device.

The verbs should be straight forward.

I would think that the entire upgrade (morphing, new delays and new verbs) should be possible before Christmas.

I'll take that as my Christmas present from CK!

As far as the timing goes, remember, this is a complex product. Ripping into the code base for something like Morphing requires tons of validation. And lets face it, no one here would want the new version if it locked up during a gig now would we?

Definition as well as the Clarity parameter. Yep. I frequently head directly to this section when I am evaluating a new profile.

Don't downplay the eq though. The eq is one of the most powerful tools in the product. In fact, I generally use a slot for the studio PEQ in addition to small tweaks with the amp section eq.

The only thing I don't LIKE (or even love) is the price of the foot controller.

As far as things I would like to see improved (even though I find the current product perfectly acceptable as a gig rig) is more delay options (which is coming) and perhaps a few new verbs (as already mentioned .... and also coming soon).

There really isn't much I have found NOT to like about the Kemper. I have been playing guitar through every imaginable rig since I was 7 years old and the Kemper is absolutely the best piece of guitar equipment I have ever owned.

Now back to playing my Kemper since I have given my fingers a long enough break now

Quote from tomoinn

If they get close I won't care, because the H9 will still be better. Why pick an inferior option if you have the choice? The profiler is a great piece of kit, but there are effects that it won't ever do (the EHX organ pedals, for example), so outboard gear is never going to be completely eliminated for all setups - we buy this stuff because we want the particular sound it gives, and while the profiler is brilliant at replicating amps, it's not trying to replicate a particular effect pedal. There's nothing in the effects section remotely like the Strymon Deco I'm using, nor the EHX sitar pedal, nor most of the patches in the H9.

No objection to new internal features of course, I love the profiler and making it do more stuff is awesome, but there are so many things that aren't implemented right now (the MIDI requests thread gives a good flavour of them) which would be really simple. Certainly simpler than implementing an H9 quality reverb, which I still suspect is outside the processing power of the profiler.

Also for the love of god, why doesn't the mic input have phantom power? Seriously, you expect we're profiling our amps with SM57s? Grumble grumble

Well, I certainly see where you are coming from. If it isn't better .... why use it?

First, I have to say that I was actually NOT expecting the Kemper to meet or exceed the sound quality of my VHT amp. I was pleasantly surprised that it did though!

What I really wanted was to reduce my load in and load out times, simplify my rig, reduce failure points, and take up a smaller stage footprint.

I was actually willing to live with a marginally less good sounding rig since I am a true believer that only we guitarist hear much difference between one guitar/amp and another guitar/amp. The audience is mostly deaf compared to our discriminating ears.

I would also be willing to live with marginally less good verbs than what are present in an H9..... in fact, I am doing so now. My pedal board is long gone and I carry only a small rack with my beloved Kemper in it (with a custom patch bay on the back for quick connect and disconnect in poorly lit venues).

For those of you who tour at a level where only the very best will do, I completely understand your feelings. For those of us that are doing local bars on the weekend, the Kemper is already much better than what the average band guitar player is bringing to the venue.

The Kemper verbs aren't bad as they are (for my purposes). I will be very happy to see them move up the food chain though

Quote from viabcroce

Not for much longer

Man, I hope you are right on that one

I always find myself wondering why anyone would want to lug a tube amp around IF they were aware of the Kemper. Loved my VHT .... hated the size and weight. Those 4x12 VHT cabs are way heavier than a MESA cab, and the Marshall's are even lighter than the MESA.

For those still using an H9, you can understand somewhat why. It really is a silly good efx pedal and the Kemper has yet to match it. If they even get close, I will wet myself

Internal feature for me as well.

As others have stated, I sold off amps, cabs, and external effects in favor of my beloved Kemper.

For me, ease of transport, setup, and stage foot print were the big deciding factors in replacing my VHT rig.

I would like to see a better verb selection first (but I know this is slated last right now ). The delay's would be next. I do cover a couple of U2 songs that I am looking forward to a double tap delay for. I won't likely use the morphing feature ..... but I do plan to play around with it.

I wont be needing any MIDI commands to control external gear since I have a simple 3 space case for my Kemper with a home built rear patch bay for ease of setup at my gigs. My life has never been easier with respect to gig setup and tear down.

I find that the Kemper sound plenty good for live gigging. Does an Eventide verb sound better? Yep. Will the audience hear the difference live? Probably not

Friends don't let friends gig without their Kemper

I haven't had ANY of the symptoms you describe.... ever.

Maybe you should have your unit serviced?

Although I am a full kemper owner like the rest of you, I am also involved in product development and engineering.

Cell phones used to be very big, very expensive, and only the very elite had them. I suspect that the people that sold them made a pretty penny on each one sold (the margin was huge).

Today, cell phones are owned by everyone (including children above grade school age). While the profit on each one is likely small, the overall profit is huge since the numbers sold are so high.

Imagine what would have happened to a company that stuck with the original cell phone design in an effort to continue keeping their existing customer base happy.

I don't think Kemper is in any danger of this in the near future. AFAIK, there is only 1 competitor which is currently more expensive (AxeII Fx). I haven't heard any tone comparisons between the new AX8 and the Kemper, but my gut (and history) tells me that it is likely the Kemper would do very well in such a comparison.

Of course, time passes and the competitive landscape never stays the same.

If Kemper were to release a floor unit (Oh lets just say it costs ~ $1200 as suggested). Lets say it has all the capabilities of the current Kemper (minus the powered option of course), sure, it would likely canabolize some of the original KPA sales, but it would also bring in lots more sales.

Today, we have 2 options (for the most part). A 2K kemper paired with $600 Kemper pedal board, or a $150 FCB1010 with a Uno4Kemper chip.

The former is a better gig rig for several reasons. The latter is a good poor-mans gig rig. Still, the consumer is looking at a $2150 - $2600 gig solution.

A Kemper floor unit at $1200 would be as usable as the $2600 solution and would be just as functional (from a gig perspective). I would think that a great PC editor via USB would be the best way to get around the HMI issues associated with most floor processors. It also allows the unit cost to be kept lower.

I don't know about the rest of you, but my use model doesn't allow me to tweak the kemper at gigs. All my tweaking is done outside of a gig environment. Basic controls on the floor board, with a great PC editor would be just fine for me

Love speculating.

Regardless, I would not be selling my Kemper. I am very happy with the solution I have.

Do you have the Uno4Kemper chip in your FCB1010?

Quote from Havohej

I think its the fact that these new updates strengthen the weaknesses of the Kemper that people have been complaining about. Mainly the flexibility in live situations, which the morphing fixes, and more exotic effects for more "modern" sounds. While many people were expecting the spring reverb now I can understand why CK decided to focus on these first, as the reverb on the Kemper was never a "weakness" it works just fine for live, and in the studio most people will use their own dedicated reverbs that they probably already have.

Overall its a pretty good time to own a Kemper imho. Very little this machine can't do right now, and what it does it so far it does pretty damn good.
The fact that theyve been updating this device with new features for years and years instead of churning out new hardware blows my mind.
We can probably expect atleast a year or two of new features atleast. Which company does that for free ?

Agreed.

The verb is quite usable as is (at least for me). The delay's on the other hand are somewhat limited (no multi-tap). The U2 in me really misses this feature

Quote from drew_fx

cheers guys! It certainly seems faster. I don't remember it being that fast with my FCB1010, but I'm gonna go Remote anyways.

Well, it wasn't for some time.

I think the above trace was done on the 2.6 Beta which fixed the original switching time. I have a post around here somewhere where I posted the old firmware and the new firmware along with several runs averaged which was much more comprehensive. The end result was that it was previously around 200-400mSec and with the new firmware, it was between 80-120 mSec.

I haven't done the test since then, but I gig the unit and practice with it all the time and haven't had any reason to check since the switch is "instant" as far as I can hear.

See the attached picture.

The bottom trace is a mic listening to my foot hit the FCB1010 switch. The top trace is the output of the kemper going from a heavy distorted patch to a quieter clean patch.

The time below the traces is in seconds, so we are looking at around 100 mSec ... or 1/10th of a second. That is pretty darned quick.

This was done in performance mode.

[Blocked Image: http://www.mtomidnight.com/images/delay%20with%202.6%20beta.jpg]

Add me to the list.

Only took me 30 seconds to figure it out though. No input on the input LED had me looking in the right place right away

There is simply no getting around it..... the KPA is just incredible as is the team that designs and updates it.

I walk into gigs now with a small 3 space rack, a foot pedal with a shoulder strap, and a guitar all in one trip. I plug into the PA with XLR's, and into my foot switch and I have perfect tone on every song every night.

I was perfectly happy with the KPA the day I bought it because I waited until the performance mode was supported and a decent low cost foot switch was available to control it.

The delay was a weak spot in the product, but still, it was very usable and still sounded quite good. The verbs that are in the unit are very good, but perhaps not Eventide quality .... still, seriously?

A stand alone KPA rig sounds better than any local rig I have ever heard. There are a few touring acts that have 10x the money in their rig (along with a crew to maintain it) that sound better.

I agree with others here. Start a new thread about your disappointments with this product.

I for one couldn't possibly be happier with the product and the continued improvement over the years. These new features further enhance an already fantastic product. It is simply the best single unit guitar rig money can buy. In the very near future, it may well be the best complete guitar rig money can buy. How anyone can be unhappy with that is beyond me.

Sorry to hear of your misfortune

Just hearing of someone else having to play without their Kemper gave me the chills .... the thought is simply horrifying!

I would say this about amp failures though. You guys have to admit, real tube amps fail with a flare (fire, smoke, boom, pop...... ) that the Kemper will never equal So I guess the Kemper isn't EXACTLY like a tube amp after all.

Seriously though, I have gigged with tube amps for the last 30+ years. Between the amp and the pedal board, the failures were many over that time (even one fire). I would say that the Kemper is at least as reliable as any rig I have ever used.

While I could make it through the night with my HRD and a couple of pedals, I wouldn't be happy doing it.

WOW! First interesting thing I have heard out of NAMM ..... and wouldn't you just know it .... it is from Kemper!

I can't wait to hear the new delay's. I will brush up on my U2 in the mean time

It just keeps getting better and better. LOVE my Kemper .... and love the company that makes it.

Last week I auditioned a new guitar player. He walked through the door with a TSL head, a HK head, and a 4x12 cab with a huge pedal board complete with amp switches and the works (I am sure many of us had a rig like this at one time). He couldn't believe the quality of tone of the Kemper compared to his rig.... so he is out purchasing a new Kemper now

I really love that Kemper keeps making a great product even better.