Should I buy a second Profiler? Opinions on "stereo" Kempers?

  • I'm currently a Stage owner, thinking about picking up a Toaster for use at home (possibly at church) to experiment with dual amp sounds. It seems like it'd be super cool to run a '63 AC30 on one side and a 60's Twin on the other side and blend them together. For reference I run my KPA out into an FM3 for effects, so presumably I just feed left from one Kemper and right from the other into the FM3 and do the mixing in the FM3.

    Any thoughts from the folks who have tried a dual Kemper set up? Pros, cons? I'd certainly be a customer of a dual KPA v2 if it were on the horizon. Wondering if the Kemper is going this direction. Any hints? Should I wait and see?

    Thanks All!

  • Since you already have 2 devices (Profiler & FM3), try dual amp setup with what you have and see if you like it. Personally, I absolutely love it but I'm sure it depends on what you like. For example, I like a brighter cleanish amp (just at the edge of breakup) combined with a warmer, slightly darker amp with some crunch. Adds loads of "depth" to the sound and is fun to play with finger dynamics and guitar volume knob.

    As I said above, just try it. :)

  • Since you already have 2 devices (Profiler & FM3), try dual amp setup with what you have and see if you like it. Personally, I absolutely love it but I'm sure it depends on what you like. For example, I like a brighter cleanish amp (just at the edge of breakup) combined with a warmer, slightly darker amp with some crunch. Adds loads of "depth" to the sound and is fun to play with finger dynamics and guitar volume knob.

    As I said above, just try it. :)

    Ha, that is true! Actually I used to own the FX3 and played around with dual amps. It was cool, but in comparison to the Kemper, it could never keep up in terms of tone and feel/dynamics. Hence and forevermore the FM3 is strictly relegated to effects only. I'm really just curious specifically about the dual Kemper concept, but thanks for your reply!

  • If getting what you want makes u happy and does not affect your "happy wife means happy life" home life, then just do it if you can afford it. You only live once, or so they say. ;)

    If you use FRFR the benefit of a merged profile is that the cabinet is totally separated in the profile.

    For my edification only... ;) Kemper/Axe-FX III/ Quad Cortex user

  • I personally don't get the stereo or Dual amps thing. Live its seems overly complex and brings in loads of other issues, although...and I think this is the key...depends on the type of music. For me in a straight ahead rock band it would just get lost in the mix. I believe simple is best.

    For Stereo I assume you are going direct into FOH as you wouldn't want one side of the audience to hear predominantly one amp and not the other?

    Anyway as mentioned, at least try the concept with the FM3 even if its not your end point to a least test the concept would be my suggestion:)

  • Yes, there are good reasons for a second kemper, e.g. one at home and one for gigs. But last year all bookings are canceled and now I am waiting...
    Dual amp thing? Like V8Guitar said for live gigs I want it simple. For home usage maybe its a good thing. I wonder I you can get the same sound if you use profiles witch are already blended with two amps. Maybe not, because you can use different cab simulations with two kempers.


    Which has absolutely convinced me in terms of sound is the usage of the kemper with the kemper cabinet/kone (mid) and additional in my home studio with monitors (stereo). That sounds fantastic to me. Too bad I haven't been able to use the kemper kone live yet.

    Just some thougts...

  • IMO, two Kempers are not needed at home. You have the DAW and/or reamp options to make all the stereo sound you want. You can also use doubler plugins or a doubler pedal hooked in stereo in between the kemper outs and interface ins. But as soon as you travel to one side or edge of the stereo field then you loose that "spatial" dimension.

    I tried an experiment at home using 2 tube amps in stereo with a loop. When I walked away to outside the cab spread, my ears lost that "stereo" sound and feel. I wanted to try stereo for live use but now see how it won't work with the audience the way I would like. So definitely not worth the hassle.

    Larry Mar @ Lonegun Studios. Neither one famous yet.

  • Tempted by a second Kabinet as ive recently been playing my Kemper through my Yamaha studio monitors, the reverbs and delays sound absolute killer in stereo.

    Know what you mean about live though, can sometimes get lost out front.

    'You can lead a horse to water, but a pencil must be lead' - Stan Laurel

  • yep, I do play at home through studio monitors most of the time and enjoy having reverb and delay in stereo but wouldn’t want to use it that way live and wouldn’t want to have to separate amps running either but maybe I’m just too old skool ?

    No I don't think so. IMO Stereo live is "amateurish". Big time guitar players playing big arenas aren't stereo. One side would get shorted on sound like listening to Van Halen one with one speaker out. It would have no positive impact on the audience. Panning FX would at the board but there is no real point in doing it in clubs. At home, I love doing it but live I want a mono mix. The stereo part would come automatically with the room and your ears.

  • No I don't think so. IMO Stereo live is "amateurish". Big time guitar players playing big arenas aren't stereo. One side would get shorted on sound like listening to Van Halen one with one speaker out. It would have no positive impact on the audience. Panning FX would at the board but there is no real point in doing it in clubs. At home, I love doing it but live I want a mono mix. The stereo part would come automatically with the room and your ears.

    Thats how I feel although I think in some types of music it gives more "space"...

  • All interesting takes so far. So the stereo issue aside, does anyone see merit in blending together two profiles? Wet Dry? That Pedal Show is all about the benefits of dual amps, so there's clearly something to it. Is it that this group just doesn't think the KPA is the right solution for a dual amp rig?

    Edited once, last by AaronJ16 (February 11, 2021 at 6:31 AM).

  • Hi, AaronJ16

    I'm currently a Stage owner, thinking about picking up a Toaster for use at home (possibly at church) to experiment with dual amp sounds. It seems like it'd be super cool to run a '63 AC30 on one side and a 60's Twin on the other side and blend them together. For reference I run my KPA out into an FM3 for effects, so presumably I just feed left from one Kemper and right from the other into the FM3 and do the mixing in the FM3.

    Any thoughts from the folks who have tried a dual Kemper set up? Pros, cons? I'd certainly be a customer of a dual KPA v2 if it were on the horizon. Wondering if the Kemper is going this direction. Any hints? Should I wait and see?

    Thanks All!

    The ideas in this video should work for you too. (Stage to Toaster via MIDI)

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    I've had my unpowered Toaster since 2015. I got my Stage last year to do outdoor shows.

    "picking up a Toaster for use at home"

    • I really like the Toaster (with Rig Manager) for building Performances that I later migrate to the Stage for gigging. I prefer that to working with the Stage for development work.
    • It's great to have a backup
    • It's nice to have a second setup if we ever get back to impromptu jams with others

    Kemper Profiling Amplifier (unpowered) [2014], Remote [2016], Stage [2020], PowerRack, Remote & Kab[2021]
    Twitter | LinkedIn | My Blog | My Kemper Notes

    Edited once, last by ST (February 11, 2021 at 5:58 AM).

  • All interesting takes so far. So the stereo issue aside, does anyone see merit in blending together two profiles? Wet Dry? That Pedal Show is all about the benefits of dual amps, so there's clearly something to it. Is it that this group just doesn't the KPA is the right solution for a dual amp rig?

    Stereo?

    If your house PA system has a sufficiently wide stereo sweet spot, everyone in the audience can hear the full stereo effect. After that - it's an artistic choice. I have a small concert venue (soft-seating for 125) that sounds amazing in stereo. Depending on the show, I run stereo, multi-mono, or dual-mono.

    Blending together two profiles?

    I haven't tried it yet, but it sounds like a lot of fun.

    Unfortunately, I haven't been able to do any live indoor shows since I got the Stage.

  • No I don't think so. IMO Stereo live is "amateurish". Big time guitar players playing big arenas aren't stereo. One side would get shorted on sound like listening to Van Halen one with one speaker out. It would have no positive impact on the audience. Panning FX would at the board but there is no real point in doing it in clubs. At home, I love doing it but live I want a mono mix. The stereo part would come automatically with the room and your ears.

    Funny thing about Eddy, he played live with 3 quadboxes side by side - set up as wet/dry/wet. Some FX were stereo between the outer two cabs.

  • If you really feel the urge in getting second kemper i would go 1 rack/head and second one is stage, this way you can control the head with the stage as remote and keep it for live usage.

    As about stereo rig, idk guys if you are the only guitarist in a band then 2 amps are almost essential. Look at the bands like Royal Blood where Mike Kerr sends his bass into 2 amps (1 pitch shifted up to imitate guitar) and it works great. Also guys like Adam Jones blending 3 amps to get that really thicc guitar sound. If you can afford/pull it off its great i think. Also doing stereo rig is cheaper than having another mouth to pay/feed in a band :). Definitely not for everyone though since you have to change the way songs are written/mixed among many other things.