Posts by benvigil

  • Noise Gate - per Rig not using slot

    Quote from Ingolf

    Of course not. ;)

    What Burkhard wants to outline is the fact that many users are too lazy to think out of the box and demand a gigantic pedal board concept with 16 FX readily available.

    OTOH with the Profiler it's possible to have 40 FX readily available with gables switching (5 performances with 8 FX each). There's only a little brainwork needed for which effect you want to combine with which.

    Not to speak of other performances that you can add.

    I doubt that anybody has exploited the possibilities that I outlined above to the fullest.

    I understand your point and I agree. But to operate this way requires a mindset change because it is a logical break from the reality most guitarists are used to. Kemper is fighting an uphill battle and requesting the user make changes because "it's a better way" when there is very little upside to making this change. They should just come out and say "the current hardware doesn't support more than 8 slots." Simple. Done. But they don't, and the fact that they are asking the question might be instructive.


    But since we all agree it's POSSIBLE to operate within the constraints of 4 pre and 4 post slots, let me flip the question around and ask... what are the advantages to operating within these constraints?


    Second, Burkhard asked the question and also introduced a context when he wrote "I mean which they play in real live". That is how he framed his arguments. I was just pointing out that it might be the context that's the problem because inside of that context (i.e. live performance) there are a LOT of user requests that will never, ever be answered.

  • Noise Gate - per Rig not using slot

    A few more points...

    1. Almost nobody NEEDS more than 8 slots, because there are other ways of achieving the desired result, as you wrote. But that does not mean being limited to 8 FX slots is the ideal situation.
    2. You often need to use up extra blocks for simple things like high- and low-cut because the CAB block doesn't have those things. Or a post-amp GEQ in the AMP block. Or a per-rig gate in the Rig settings.
    3. Sometimes you need 5 stomps (pre-amp) and 2 FX (post-amp). Compressor, WAH, Vibe, Fuzz... now you're stuck even though you have 2 available slots that are post-amp.
    4. A lot of guitarists think of a Rig as their pedal board. They don't switch pedal boards every time they need one or two more FX on stage. This simply requires a mindset change, but it's still a factor for many guitarists.
    5. The Rig saved in a Performance is not tied to the original Rig, but rather, is a copy. If you use an Amp Profile in multiple Performances you will need to edit numerous rigs each time you make a change. This is the natural result of spreading out your FX across multiple Rigs ("since there is no switching gap", as you say).
    6. Avoiding sound gaps is not the only reason to have larger rigs with more FX. It makes more sense from an organizational standpoint. Having copies of the same amp (#5 above) and breaking up your "virtual pedal board" into multiple boards (#4 above) doesn't make sense for a lot of guitarists. It DOES make sense for touring acts that have set lists and sound banks all neatly arranged around their stage show. But for bedroom musicians, studio cats, and studio owners, this is less than ideal.

    Regarding #2, making a few simple changes in existing blocks will free up additional blocks.


    Regarding #6, I be willing to bet you have a larger base of bedroom guitarists than touring musicians.

  • Noise Gate - per Rig not using slot

    Quote from Burkhard

    Do people really need more than 8+ concurrent active effects for a sound? I mean which they play in real live.

    Is the profiler ONLY for people that play live?


    That is the viewpoint implied by what you wrote. It's always been my view that Kemper (the company) and their approach to features and improvements is driven largely by pro live users. That set of users don't need an editor. They don't need USB recording. etc.

  • Hi-pass/low-cut & low-pass/high-cut in the CAB block

    What led me to making this request is playing with Helix Native. Putting together a few presets patterned after some videos by Jon Symons -- Mesa Boogie Mark IV Lead Channel w/Ownhammer IRs -- I was still getting this brittle "hardness" up in the high end. Rolling off the high end in the Helix IR block took care if it and dramatically improved the feel. Easy fix.


    I was never super satisfied with most Mesa Boogie profiles on the KPA... they always seemed to have this Marshall-ish gritty vibe to the distortion that Boogies don't have. Again, watching a Youtube video by nll, he delivers some great Mesa tones, and part of that recipe is an EQ block rolling off the high end like every other product does in the cab block.

  • Be careful with the amp / company names

    The part I don't understand, in terms of infringement, is that profiles are not product for product equivalents to the amp they are profiling.


    A profile includes a whole host of things, including amp settings, guitar pedals, speakers, cabinet design, mics, mic pres, console settings, talent, etc. If an amp manufacturer has a valid infringement case, then so does every manufacturer in the signal chain. Can Shure sue Kemper for infringement for reproducing the sound of an SM-57 mic'ing a guitar cabinet? AKG? Or what about Ruper Neve? Or Celestion?


    I would liken it to Sherwin Williams (paint manufacturer) suing Home Depot for taking another brand of base paint to create a custom color match for a customer.


    I imagine a manufacturer could be enough of a thorn in the side of a profiler to make them capitulate, but I bet they'd lose in an actual court case.

  • MIDI-CI and Kemper?

    Unless a bunch of the big boys jump on board (doubtful at this point) I don't see MIDI-CI getting a lot of traction. It's about 30 years too late.


    Mackie Control became the de facto standard for YEARS simply because MIDI-CI didn't exist. Once you get beyond the capabilities of the basic MIDI protocol a manufacturer is better off just using SysEx (like Kemper does now), supporting OSC (which works over ethernet, which is now ubiquitous), or using proprietary USB communication.


    It looks like MIDI-CI is just standard set of calls & responses for capability negotiation over SysEx. I suppose if it's simple enough for a manufacturer to expose that information (e.g. a standard way of getting the patch names), then I could see it happening, but probably not in the next 10 years. Heck, most can't seem to do MIDI correctly half the time now.

  • Quilter Interblock 45

    Quote from Locrain

    Same. Is he saying he recommends to use their cab sim when you're playing through a regular cabinet?

    Yes... but "CAB Mode" does NOT mean cab sim, it means you're running INTO a cab.


    The "CAB mode" setting "turns on cabinet simulation for the headphone/line out" and it activates a "few analog circuits" for the speaker outs to simulate a tube power section. Zero cabinet simulation on the speaker outs. You would use this mode with your pedalboard.


    The "FR mode" sets up the amp clean straight thru when you're ALREADY running amp/cab simulation (e,g. Kemper/AxeFX/Helix) and just need clean power to an FRFR cabinet. I suppose you could use this mode with your pedalboard if you had something like a Mooer Radar between the two.

  • Kemper Profiler and DT990 Pro

    The DT990 sounds NOTHING like the DT770!


    The 770 is very mid-rangey, whereas the 990 is very scooped and airy. The 990 is great for hip hop and non-guitar music. It sounds great for modern hip/pop.... Lorde, et al.


    But classic rock sounds pretty eviscerated when all the guitars are subdued and sitting in the back seat of the mix. I would think the 990 isn't a very good match for a modeler. I never owned a Kemper and the 990s at the same time though.