Before you start buying Profiles go to the Rig Packs download page on the Kemper site and download the Amp Factory Rig Pack, the ACE Rig Pack and the Profiler workshop Rig Pack.
I could use just the Profiler Workshop Rig Pack for the next ten years and be quite content.
Yep, I've got them, along with the ones Fremen sent me, ready to go for when I get back Saturday evening. Excited to check them out.
So in the spirit of fairness, I decided to try to read most of the sibling thread on FAS's website. Ironically, the thread is almost exactly the same. MBrown is being dogged from both camps for pretty much the same things, accused of being a shill for the other, accused of being a troll, insulted for being indecisive, insulted for opening the threads to begin with, and accused of making mountains out of mole-hills when his concerns could be considered legitimate for his needs.
THANK YOU for being willing to post an accurate reflection of the situation, and for your serious thoughts (esp re: delays...I very much doubt the KPA or Axe can match Strymon or TC, personally). It appears that being a truly impartial seeker of information gets people really mad for some reason. Here's what I find really odd: I posted a set of fairly positive impressions about the KPA, and people got mad and said I was a shill for Fractal. I can't imagine what they would have done if I had posted a bunch of negative impressions! I guess they take exception to the fact that not 100% of the KPA's profiles sound fantastic, and that the KPA's effects are not 100% great. Do they really expect that, though? Truly? Is that realistic for any product? Overall my impression was good. So...I don't understand all of the hostility.
In any case, thanks again. I am out of town until Saturday evening, but I did grab Fremen's profiles and will hook up to rig exchange as soon as I get back and check out some of the higher-rated profiles.
@mbrown3
I experienced the same thing as you when I got my KPA a month ago. Scrolled through the profiles and while I liked some of them (incidentally the same as you, Tills Recto profiles) I was ready to send it back. I was not very impressed at all. I fiddled around for a few days and smartly decided to get the Britt pack 1 and 2 after hearing players raving about them on TGP. Well, the Kemper is staying with me now, I can say that much
I agree on the reverb and delays not being super-great (but still totally useable) but Im ok with that, Im not a huge FX user anyway, I just want killer amp sounds in a easy-to-tweak box to use in the studio and live. With the Britt profiles (and other like TopJimis Mashalls, TAF 1987X, Soundsides JMP etc) the KPA delivers 110% for me.
Which is not to say its perfect for you. If the KPA isnt, the Axe might be. I hope you find what you seek.
Good luck!
Thank you for the serious response. Are the Britt packs paid or free? I'm willing to pay to check them out, but I'll probably try the freely available ones first. Thanks again.
@mbrown3...I really don't know what to say anymore. Your posts here in this thread show all your reservations to the device. I will not re-state what you wrote. Simply read again what you wrote to every single form member here trying to answer your questions and you simply coming back with more questions, negative remarks etc...it seems like you are not reading anything anyone writes here or you just don't want to hear it or you might just not understand it at all...
Again, I'm not sure what your point is. I know what I wrote. I have a few reservations, but overall my impression is good. That is, in fact, the same perspective that many other long-time KPA owners share. Yet I get lambasted for honest feedback. If you don't like it, feel free not to read it. There are, in fact, people here that actually want to be helpful rather than just argue. If you don't want to be one of them, that's your choice. But it's no reason to get upset at those asking or answering legitimate questions and stating legitimate opinions.
As for your listening issue...try to set it up with your studio set up (Computer, Audio interface, studio monitors)...that is one main major intended purpose of the device.
This is my plan.
Hope you'll try to Axe through headphones as well to get you the same point of comparison.
This is largely contingent on ethomas's time, but I hope to try this as well.
I am done on this thread. Tried my best. Wishing you good luck in finding what you are looking for.
Fair enough. If you can't be part of the solution, you're part of the problem.
You knew that this would happen. You eluded to it with your thread heading.
Knowing something is a possibility is not the same as "knowing something would happen." I still believe it's possible to discuss gear in a mature way. Just not for some people, apparently.
I am not starting anything here but there are users on both sides questioning you. Yet you continue with this. All of your technical answers are on this forum or the other so you are still just asking for opinions since you will own them both at one time.
Maybe more should be watching the thread over there too.
I'm not sure what your point is. Yes, I'm asking for opinions. Having both to compare doesn't rule out the value of opinions. Holy crap, it's like some people don't find any value in insight of other people. It must be nice to be perfect and to have all of your own answers and never need or want to hear from anyone other than the voices in your own head.
Belittling others through a competing forum is just wrong.
Absolutely true. I hope no one does that.
Copy /paste Kemper forum users posts to the FAS forum. Belittling them.
Now this is odd when all the while claiming motives are pure throughout.
Seriously ? Then why is this necessary?
Please don't reply, I am still on super double secret probation.
Just food for thought.
Why was it necessary to post a theory about me being a marketing shill for FAS (when the FAS folks already claimed the same; that I was a marketing shill for Kemper). It's a whole bunch of nonsense that serves to distract from the legitimate questions and legitimate answers from the adults that don't need to seek/see conspiracies behind every post.
Food for thought.
Great you got your device and can now experience it.
It's just funny to me that you are so eloquent on a lot of very specific questions and concerns that seem to all speak against the KPA, giving the impression you favor the Axe always but when you get to try out the KPA, you do it in a way that doesn't give it a chance at all...(like with any amp or amp simulator), you use headphones...no studio speakers, FRFR cab or even hooked up to a power amp and running a guitar cab. it's like getting a Ferrari and running it on 4 emergency tires
going 25 mph down the Autobahn
I'm not sure what point you're trying to make. First, I have no idea to what you're referring when you say, "specific questions and concerns that seem to all speak against the KPA." Examples? How do any questions I've asked speak against the KPA vs. the Axe Fx? Wouldn't the same questions apply to both devices? Second, I'm using headphones because at the moment I have no access to FRFR or power amp. I'm not sure how else to say that. I will be playing through an FRFR next week.
I am glad you asked a lot of specific question here on the forum and a lot of us tried to explain them to you but to me it seems you already have a negative standpoint to begin with. Just strikes me as very odd.
Again, examples? I think you're reading into my comments/questions. Ironically, the folks over on the FAS forum have said I have a bias against Axe-Fx and already have my mind made up for the KPA. 
No, not directed at you in the slightest. I intentionally kept it generic.
Gotcha. I mean, it's fine if it was directed at me, I just wanted to clarify that bashing absolutely wasn't my intent. In fact, my overall impression is good. Just a couple of first impression that weren't, which is true of all gear. Once I hit Till's Recto Clean 2, though, I was like, "That's the nuts!" The thing is, if I couldn't find a single great profile out of the box, I might think it was the unit. But the fact that I found several means it's just the particular profiles with my particular guitar, ears, etc. That's a good sign.
Old school USB cable?Yes, with KPA connected to the computer. The Rig Manager will sync/download all the rigs on Rig Exchange. Then you can immediately audition all rigs with RM on the computer.
Yeah, the ones with the fat connector on one end. The only things I've ever seen those used for are printers and music gear, lol. But I'll see if I can find one of mine.
No need. I won't be looking at or posting in these threads anymore.
Best of luck to you on your mission.
Good idea.
Ah, but use the Rig Manager. Then you'll have axess to the complete exchange, and there's no need to import anything.
I'll do that. Don't they still need to be imported, though? Or do you mean with it connected to the computer? I'm not sure I have one of those old-school USB cables lying around, and one didn't come with the unit. I do own a few for various audio gear, I'm just not sure where they've gotten to as I haven't used one in quite a while. I'll try to do some digging, especially if that will allow the rig exchange to automatically load profiles.
BASHING
There are ways to offer wishes, opinions, and solutions without coming across as bashing the unit or it's effects. This applies to the FXII as well. Some solutions require the proper learning curve, some imagination, and experience with guitars. Many members here are quite willing to help. Just ask for help with a problem and don't bash a unit until there is no solution available.
I agree with everything you've said...but I hope the bashing section wasn't directed at me. I wasn't intending to bash the unit, at all. Just offering my initial impressions. I know that almost every piece of gear needs to be tweaked for it to sound its best...everyone's guitar is different, ears are different, physical spaces are different, and so forth. I wasn't trying to give a final word on the product...simply my impressions right out of the box.
I often find it's helpful to later go back and see what my first thoughts were. For example, when I first got the Road King, right out of the box the gain channels sounded super muddy and flabby. But now that I've had it dialed in for a few years, it sounds great. Sometimes I forget that right out of the box it had that issue, and it reminds me that I have to tread lightly with the lower-end controls. I noted that in my initial impressions of it. But I certainly wasn't bashing it; it's one of my favorite amps ever.
Oh I forgot to mention...
Take the headphones and hide them away in a cupboard where hopefully you'll forget where you hid them.
You cannot do a review (especially you first review on day one) of the Kemper based on the tones coming out of headphones...
It's not a review. It's first impressions. But these are one of the best sets of flat response headphones you can get. I'm aware of the difference, I just don't have access to FRFR speakers at home, and I don't have individual power amps to go through my guitar cabs. In the meantime, this is my only option. I wouldn't hold the unit's sound through headphones against it.
First of all, NEVER do a review on day one, always wait a day or two until you've spent a few hours on day one and day two playing on the unit.
It's not a review. It's "first impressions" of things, right out of the box. I do the same with all of my gear, and have for years. Thanks for the input though.
The Clean Factory Profiles that you say sound "lifeless and dead"...keep in mind, they were Profiles done in 2011 in Nashville.
They are pure Profiles, no tweaks no nothing.
Don't be fooled by "Volume"....they might sound "weak and lifeless" at low volume.
Turn them up to gig volume or even loud in the studio volume and they won't sound weak and lifeless any more.
Here's the problem: on any normal amp, when I turn the volume down, they don't sound weak and lifeless. I get what you're saying, I'm just pointing it out.
I like a Compressor upfront on almost all Clean Profiles.
Go to Stomp A and add the Compressor stomp.
Turn the "Intensity" to around 4.5 or slightly less.
Now how do the Clean Profiles sound, even at low volume?
I'm simply testing this right out of the box, intentionally, with no tweaking or adding of effects, etc. I'll get to that in due time.
Guys, this thread and the one over at the Fractal forum is a marketing campaign, plain and simple. Our pal mbrown3 (who has been a Fractal forum member since 2008) has scheduled a side by side comparison of the two units with a member of the Fractal forum.
This is idiotic. I wish the ignore function here worked.
I got to disagree with OP on a couple of things too. While the Kemper's effects may not be many, lousy they aren't, I just have to look at a few presets done by guys like Bill Ruppert, Paults and Meambobbo to underline that. Heck, even the presets I've made aren't too shabby. Perhaps things like delay and reverb are worse than on the Axe. But the pitch shifter and harmonizer on the Kemper are better and I daresay other effects too.
I'm not comparing the effects to the Axe, as I haven't played one yet. I'm also not saying they can't be tweaked to sound good. These are just my impressions of them right out of the box. I have very little use for harmonizers and pitch shifters, so I can't even speak to their quality. Reverb and (especially) delay are my meat and potatoes effects, and those were disappointing (again: right out of the box, with no tweaking).
I'll check out headphone space. I don't have FRFR speakers at home, so that will have to wait until next week.
Have fun mbrown3!
Will you share the profiles you take from your own amps here and post A-B clips or audio clips?
What microphone(s) will you use for profiling? Or profile amp direct only, without mic? sorry if I missed that info earlier.
I probably won't spend a ton of time profiling my own amps until/unless I decide which unit I'm going with permanently. But I do intend to profile at least one of them, and yes I'll try to post clips. I have a few mic options, but the SM57 is handy, so it will be with that.
Don't forget to adjust the clean sense on the kemper to your guitar also download the full kemper user manual + additional profile packs from the kemper homepage.
http://www.kemper-amps.com/pag…mplifier___Downloads.html
And search this forum for all the recommended profiles.
http://www.kemper-amps.com/for…8-Free-rigs-and-profiles/?
Thanks, will adjust clean sense, though I haven't experienced any clipping or anything like that. I've downloaded all of the additional profile packs.
Cool, congrats on receiving the unit
I've never played much around with the knobs actually - but my very limited experience kind of mirrors yours; not all profiles sound great when turned down. Thankfully, there are tons of great profiles available for free on the rig exchange.
Yep, I've already downloaded a bunch and will be importing them soon to check them out.
Btw. do you have any mics so you can try profiling your amp?
Yep. That's on the docket as well.
OK, KPA is here. Here are my initial impressions. All were played with my Anderson Atom, since that’s my main guitar, and a set of AKG K702 headphones:
Aesthetics: I like it. I like the retro old-timey radio set vibe of the lunchbox version, and the rack version...while not quite as cool...mostly maintains the vibe. That said, one nit-picky complaint: the knobs feel like cheap plastic. Much has been made of having knobs rather than buttons, and I do very much like having the easy-to-use knobs. But they are made of very cheapo feeling plastic, which for some reason I was not expecting. They look like solid metal knobs, but aren’t. I have no suspicions about durability or anything, I just think using some nice knobs would have added some class to it. Small thing, and kind of dumb for sure, but it was something that struck me right away.
Setup: No issues. Pretty easy to connect and get wired up. Startup was slow but not as slow as has been reported in the past...firmware updates must have improved that.
UI: It’s really intuitive and easy to use. I didn’t bother reading the manual initially, and most of the basic functions were pretty easy to figure out. I did read the manual to orient myself to the more advanced features, but out of the box it’s pretty easy to use.
Tone: This is a mixed bag out of the box. Some of the profiles are fantastic, dynamic, and sound and feel great. But most of them...not so much (again, without tweaking or adjusting). Interestingly, the best ones were gritty or crunch tones. Most of the ultra clean ones were flat sounding (sounded a bit lifeless and “dead”) and most of the super overdriven ones were very harsh and sounded like they have way too much gain...though to be fair I think most players think they need (and therefore use) more gain than they actually do (some of the best, most iconic tones ever seem more overdriven than the actually are). But I digress; one way or another most of the profiles seemed to have way too much gain on them (for my needs/tastes) to be useful for anything other than death metal, thrashcore, etc. The problem is, turning the gain down helps with the gain but then the adjusted profiles just didn’t sound very good. The best profiles are the in-between ones, with a little bit of gain, or some of the more dynamic clean ones. Also most profiles seem to be very sensitive to what pickup you’re on. Most are good on one pickup but not others; only a few are good on all pickups. At least, with the Atom.
Effects: Honestly, I’m pretty disappointed with the effects. The two I use the most are delay and reverb, and most of the reverbs sounded...I’m not sure the best word. Phony? Not sure, but they didn’t sound great to me. The delays, too, sounded pretty...again, I’m not sure of the best word. One dimensional? Basic? Also they seemed very limited in terms of settings. In many cases this didn’t matter too much, but on some of the profiles I just couldn’t dial in a great delay tone.
Keep in mind that this is without any tweaking, these are just my initial impressions of it right out of the box, without getting into adjusting many settings or seeing what can be done behind the scenes.
So far, the best profile, by far, is Till’s Recto Clean. Till’s Recto Modern 3 and Raw were also great. And they were the only ones (literally) that I found that sounded good on all pickups. And, since I have a Road King, I can vouch for their accuracy. In fact, the clean is called Recto Clean, but it sounds more like the Road King’s clean channel (which is actually based on the Lonestar clean, rather than the “normal” Recto clean tone)...that’s a good thing. It sounds fantastic, truly. Here are my thoughts on a few of the other good ones:
Bad Kitty Clean Drive - Just OK but too much gain. Turning down the gain makes it sound a bit lifeless. Still decent though.
Liquid Leads - pretty nice. A bit too much gain, but good character.
Saturday night - great on the neck pickup, not so good on the others.
Soul Dano Drive - great on the bridge, meh on the neck/others
TAF Big Twin - great neck, other pups not so much
Wet Queen - pretty good. A bit out there, but this one’s fun to play around with, and adjusting settings doesn’t seem to kill the tone on it.
Vab clean - pretty good clean tone.
Vab lead - decent lead tone.
Please select "Older Operating System Versions" under Category. You should be able to see what has been released prior to 3.0.0 and when. You won't be able to download, but you can see the software releases and dates.
Yep, thanks...I saw that and updated my post accordingly, though thank you to those that posted all of them...certainly not necessary (it wasn't a loaded question; I was just curious) but I appreciate the effort.
