I do updates immediately. No bugs found in this latest version but I never let that keep me from updating because I know the Kemper team corrects them within days. However, if it was Thursday, and I had a gig this Saturday then I would wait till after the weekend to update - just my own personal rule (unless I needed that update to fix something beforehand).
Agreed. Kemper are brilliant with firmware, because unlike some tech companies, you can roll back simply if needed.
It doesn't matter if you like the sound, but take an M. Britt profile from his Rig Pack with the kind of gain you like. His sounds often sound dull and mid heavy in recording for me, but are know to work really well live. At soundcheck run that rig to see if it balances well at FoH and then compare with what you are using.
It may well be that you profiles that don't work at volume. I use quite different sounds live compared to on an album. The Fletcher-Munson effect changes everything.
I think phase widener is also mono compatible, but you will need stereo monitoring for the double tracker.
Hi!
Is it possible to simply deactivating some switches on the Kemper Stage?
I noticed during a gig this weekend that a couple times me or someone in the front row audience managed to hit the Performance up and down switches accidentally, leading to me switching performance altogether.
As I only use one performance per show it would actually be more safe and handy for me to have those deactivated altogether during show.
Something like this was asked about 3 years ago. On smaller stages it was sometimes the case that techs would brush past the Kemper and change settings accidentally on my rack. I also didn't want someone to be able to put a USB stick in when it is left on stage for hours after soundcheck.
I was hoping for a lockable safe mode with a key combination, so the controls were not active. It wasn't a popular idea though. The best thing is to for me was put a rack case back on until the show. Your problem sounds more difficult to deal with though, unless you move further back on the stage.
Maybe I got used to it, but I still think Kemper got it right first time with Green Scream. It certainly does what I am looking for anyway.
I will never fully defend our Government but the shipping companies have a part to play because there are processes in place - if you lived in the UK you would know there are adverts all over the place asking companies to ensure they we ready for the changes - even on motorway gantries.
I'm not in shipping so I don't truly know (I suspect few people on here do) BUT it is their core business - trade hasn't stopped, the processes have changed.
But I agree, not kempers fault.
Speaking as someone who constantly ships to Europe, you can fill out all the paperwork, get an eori number and chase every commodity code, but there are big problems. It costs me a huge amount of additional time (apparently this was going to reduce red tape), many extra shipping costs and the customer then pays vat and a handling charge in their own country.
Fair enough that 51% decided they didn't like the EU, but the childish, pathetic attempt to make a deal following Brexit is completely anti-business and will cost companies and customers more. Not to mention making enemies out of people we used to work with when their products either arrive 3 months late, or get sent back to the UK.
I have no idea who gained anything, but if I lived in Germany, I wouldn't feel like going out of my way to fix issues created by the UK government.
Really sorry to hear about your experience Jon and you were unlucky with the Kemper breakdown.
The disaster that is Brexit is to blame here mostly. We were told it would cut red tape, but the opposite is true. I regularly ship things to Europe and around 1 in 10 packages get returned for no reason at all and have to paid for again.
Our government stuck two fingers up to Europe and they obviously don't like it. If you think this is tough, just imagine the extra costs and paperwork once we start touring again.
I started off using a Mesa 4x12 with merged profiles in fear of the radical change to profiling. Within a year it had morphed into direct to PA and in ears.
Not only has my sound improved, but my back might last a few years longer.
The development costs for a small device in series are immensely high and at least parts of the built-in chip design are no longer future-proof/manufacturer-supported in the medium term. I therefore assume that a mini version will only become part of a successor product ("Kemper II").
But guessing is not knowing, and only Kemper can know that.
You have a good point here. A lot of the parts for the Stage were the same as other Kemper units. If it were small, you would need to lose the screen or manufacture a new part at extra cost.
Not ever touching my Kemper once out for shows and patches changing remotely, I simply wanted a small version with all the same connections. Others clearly have different needs though.
Maybe if a next generation of Kemper ever comes, that could be the time to consider this. Looking into the past, it seems hard to imagine though.
I carry my Kemper rack as hand luggage on a plane and then a guitar in the hold, but that leaves no clothes allowance. Even if it was just a 1u with no screen I'd be up for it.
A Kemper with fewer inputs and outputs would be of no use to me though. And here is the problem; everyone's needs and idea of a Kemper mini probably vary a lot.
Still struggling to get a tone i like straight to foh.
Do you guys take more beefy/full sounding profiles or just takes the profiles that cuts?
Cause getting a tone that cut is ok but getting a bodied tone that is great that also cut is not that easy
For live shows you will need a less cutting darker tone with more mids. The highs and lows will always be emphasised at volume and you are in danger of turning a great studio sound into a thin rasp. Check out the Fletcher-Munson effect.
You often find people complaining that Britt profiles are dull sounding, but then they translate really well live. Of course you can find many others that work too for different styles, but this principal applies generally.
One of the best things is constituency of sound and a lack of spill on a live stage. Of course, quick changeovers and festivals is where it really pays to use Kemper.
It is hard not to be influenced from reading posts in the past highlighting a wah tone on Kemper profiles. All I can say is that it never happened to me when profiling.
Comparing the Kemper with the real amp from separate room has either fully worked, or been a complete mess. I tried a Marshall Jubilee and that amp was just nowhere near on both occasions it came into the studio.
I seem to recall CK saying that the profiling process was as close as it could get within reason.
There is an inherent risk in using this live that is more of concern than drop outs, which I doubt many would notice. That is if the PA is not wired correctly, or the engineer fails to fully pan the outputs. Anything other than full left/right will sound horrible.
I think this is one reason Kemper released all sorts of other widener options first. Most. like phase widener and the eq widener, are not a phase problem if they collapse to mono.
I had to get my head around this software too. The Focusrite interfaces are great, but I never really understood why we needed this application instead of some straightforward drivers.
Surely input 1 on the interface should just be input 1 in whatever DAW you are using and so on. I eventually came across a preset for my Saffire Pro 40 that enabled that through this software.
This. I have been to tiny events and to large million dollar events, and an unperfect sound is what they have in common. Add to that, where you sit in the audience. But I would lean towards the smaller the venue then the better the sound.
In the days you could tour Europe (pre-pandemic/Brexit), it was always a lottery with venues. You are at the mercy of the acoustics in a venue, badly maintained PAs with phase issues and occasionally grumpy local crew.
The best sound is generally in mid-sized theatres, or open air festivals from my experience.
That's what I do.
BUT:
It doesn't matter if live or studio.
Drop outs or a changing from left to right and back are a NO GO.
Hopefully the issue can be fixed, but live sound is anything but perfect usually. It might be an accepted trade off when you can make such a big sound.
I thought I'd seen everything. Free updates to improve the Kemper beyond what I was buying at the time and now there are complaints.
The only issue I ever had in 7 years was when I chose to try a Beta and it was a minor inconvenience. Also, unlike other companies, you are allowed to reinstall earlier systems if you wish.
It has been requested before and I'd love to see this feature. Maybe it is more difficult to implement than imagined?
