I've had a black Kemper for a couple of days. Initially, I am very impressed, and this amp, will certainly be used for my next projects.
Today I brought it to Antfarm studios and scrutinized the unit, with producer Tue Madsen. We profiled a 5150 and a Marshall Master Volume. There is a lot of good things to be said about the unit, but here it is about, what could be improved.
We noticed that the Kemper, has some sort of master compression, it sort of keeps the sound from crashing the ceiling. But it also makes the profiled sound a little bit less dynamic, than the original. It does sound good, but it makes the Kemper profile, sound less like the real amp.
It could be massive cool, if it was possible to set the compression a bit lower. A bit less 'mastered'. In my mind, that would make the Kempers profiles impossible to distinguish from the real deal. It isn't much, but it would make a big difference.
Maybe implement it as a negative compressor value, in the amp settings menu.
It wouldn't be a problem, if the overall volume had to be lowered a bit, to compensate, for the higher peaks. The overall dynamics would feel more real.
It is actually our only 'complaint'. The Kemper is awesome, but it would be perfect, with a bit less, 'master compression'.
I would keep, the current compression level as default, and just add the possibility for negative compression, for people with big ears
Another thing.... Selling the Kemper profiling amp with a logic/pro tools plugin, that could run the profile files, would be top notch. It didn't have to be as advanced, as the Kemper. Maybe just some sort of very simple Kemper Profile player, with simple controls.
It would make the life easier for many producers, and would be a great addition to the profiler. You could profile great amps at home, and when traveling, use the plugin on a laptop, for tracking or just doing pre mixes.