Are we getting other updates ?

  • Hi all, it's been since aug that we did not get any updates for our beloved kemper.

    Not that I need it or so, but the silence should mean that they have a new product coming up or that they don't find the need to improve further no ?

    What do you guys think ?

    Raf

    Kemper stage with 2 mission pedals (in a Thon line 6 FBV case) and a Zilla 212 (K-100/V30) , SD powerstage 700 poweramp

  • Silence regarding future updates is standard procedure. There have been times in the past where there have been significant gaps between updates: e.g. v6.0.0 (may 28th, 2019) -> v7.0.8 (sept 11th ,2019)

    It's very possible that work is being done on a new model, but we probably won't hear about it until it's released.

    There are still some features I'd like to see squeezed into the current models; hopefully we'll get a v9 beta soon. OS v8 is two years old now!

  • I nearly posted a similar post...there isn;t much I need but then I didn't need a Kabinet or updated RM and now I can;t live without them!!

    Kemper got burnt I think telling people about RM and so now I expect them to stay very quiet but....PLEASE release something, i've got withdrawal symptoms.

    My bet is on 1 of 3 things:

    1) New Product - Mini Kemper/Kemper2

    2) Major release - Updated modulation effects

    3) Other ( ha! This is of course my catch all!!).

  • I would be very surprised if the team at Kemper were just sitting twiddling their thumbs. I am sure they are working on something but we will need to wait and see what they come up with. If their past record is anything to go by then whatever they come out with next will surely be worth waiting for 😁

    no doubt....but I can't help getting excited.... speculation is a bit pointless but I keep looking every day for a major release notification!

  • Too me, the less updates means the more stable a product is. So I'm happy as is.

    If I were to release a new product, I would wait until this recession is over and people can buy more. I think that is a good business model.

    Larry Mar @ Lonegun Studios. Neither one famous yet.

  • If I were to release a new product, I would wait until this recession is over and people can buy more. I think that is a good business model.

    But does that make sense....assume recession lasts 1 year

    Oprtion 1 release now - you release product. Year 1 you sell 50% less than if there wasn't a recession, year 2 you sell 100%

    Option 2 - you sell nothing in year 1. You sell 100% in year 2 and some of the 50% that you would have had from year 1but.....you only get the revenue 12 months later and some may have gone elsewhere. So it's always going to be less...

    It made sense in my head :)

  • Last recession lasted 10 years. =O My retirement fund lost almost 20% in the last 2 years. That alone equals one new Kemper. ;(

    But I get the damned if you do and damned if you don't dilemma.

    I think I need to master the Kemper I already got before moving to the next one anyway.

    Larry Mar @ Lonegun Studios. Neither one famous yet.

    Edited once, last by BayouTexan (October 20, 2022 at 9:45 PM).

  • But does that make sense....assume recession lasts 1 year

    Oprtion 1 release now - you release product. Year 1 you sell 50% less than if there wasn't a recession, year 2 you sell 100%

    Option 2 - you sell nothing in year 1. You sell 100% in year 2 and some of the 50% that you would have had from year 1but.....you only get the revenue 12 months later and some may have gone elsewhere. So it's always going to be less...

    It made sense in my head :)

    I'd say if you've had a product in development, you release it whenever it's ready. the R&D is a big part of the cost of bringing a product to market, so if it's ready for market, you can't recoup those costs until you start selling. Musicians aren't immune to pressures from the economy, but they're also the type to throw the piece of must-have gear on a Sweetwater no interest payment plan and call it a day. When you're talking recession, obviously it can vary from product to product, but you're probably not talking in a 50% cut back in sales, even if substantial. But the break even point that even a small cut back can bring isn't recouped by waiting; if they aren't buying your new shiny product in a recession, they ain't buying your old one either.

  • As others have pointed out, they learned the hard way about letting out their plans for a release in advance. Since then, they've slowly and steadily released various updates after a decent period of silence. Each one has been worth the wait. Honestly, being with the KPA since 2013, I haven't been disappointed in a firmware update yet.; pitch effects, performance mode, delay updates, morphing, reverb updates, the editor, the kemper drive, the kemper fuzz, and may others were all home runs and prioritized active guitar players over feature junkies that enjoy pontificating over possibilities over playing. And the KPA has been, in my opinion, the best thing on the market at any point in time over its life. There's things they got right from day one; things that still no one else does (automatic volume compensations and a ducking parameter on most effect types, for example.) I've found that one characteristic of KPA updates is that they sacrifice "wouldn't it be cool if" for "this would be a very musical tool that musicians will love even if it doesn't sound splashy". For example the kemper drive vs, a dozen disconnected very similar models of almost the same overdrive circuit.

  • I'd say if you've had a product in development, you release it whenever it's ready. the R&D is a big part of the cost of bringing a product to market, so if it's ready for market, you can't recoup those costs until you start selling. Musicians aren't immune to pressures from the economy, but they're also the type to throw the piece of must-have gear on a Sweetwater no interest payment plan and call it a day. When you're talking recession, obviously it can vary from product to product, but you're probably not talking in a 50% cut back in sales, even if substantial. But the break even point that even a small cut back can bring isn't recouped by waiting; if they aren't buying your new shiny product in a recession, they ain't buying your old one either.

    Agreed.

    Plus, if you wait out year 1 or even longer, potential customers are gonna go out and buy other brands that are available.

  • These types of post make me scratch my head a bit. What does everyone think needs to be in this unit? I can tell you from being in both the Kemper and Fractal ecosystems, the Kemper had far less issues than the Fractal and it just works. They are on version 3 of the firmware for the FM9 and there are still things that don't work like they are supposed to. They are still trying to get things from the Axe III ported and working for the FM9.

    I like that my Kemper works every time I plug into it and I don't run into any software issues. For my uses I don't feel like anything is missing. I also look at the Kemper I have as a solution to replace my amp and pedalboard that is more than capable of doing that for playing live. I suppose that people that only use theirs for recording may think they need something more. I think Fractal has perpetuated this thought that all of these devices need to have constant updates in software and hardware. I think that is where the comments come from about the Kemper being outdated. It is far from outdated. It keeps up with anything on the market and is used by many touring pro musicians.

  • The culture of "The Next Big Update" is something we've become accustomed to. We expect it.

    Apple's iOS and Android is forever incrementing. Major releases annually, point releases throughout the year.

    At the same time, the lack of updates recently indicates a stable OS. We haven't seen a chronic run of "Is anyone having 'this' problem?" threads for some time now. My thinking right now is "If it ain't broken....don't fix it. I need to focus on other aspects of my playing and gear right now. Not horsing around with a new Whatever."

  • These types of post make me scratch my head a bit. What does everyone think needs to be in this unit? I can tell you from being in both the Kemper and Fractal ecosystems, the Kemper had far less issues than the Fractal and it just works. They are on version 3 of the firmware for the FM9 and there are still things that don't work like they are supposed to. They are still trying to get things from the Axe III ported and working for the FM9.

    I like that my Kemper works every time I plug into it and I don't run into any software issues. For my uses I don't feel like anything is missing. I also look at the Kemper I have as a solution to replace my amp and pedalboard that is more than capable of doing that for playing live. I suppose that people that only use theirs for recording may think they need something more. I think Fractal has perpetuated this thought that all of these devices need to have constant updates in software and hardware. I think that is where the comments come from about the Kemper being outdated. It is far from outdated. It keeps up with anything on the market and is used by many touring pro musicians.

    Interesting post - I'm not an FM9 user, and have never logged time with AxeFX, but as you experienced, Kemper just works for me, both live and in studio settings - it's a fantastic grab and go solution. I've done some session work that produced (IMO) totally realistic results that you would never have guessed came out of a digital box. And it feels more like a real amp then any other platform I've tried so far (although clearly I've missed a few!). I have no desire to road test the FM9 or QC, since I have limited personal bandwidth, and Kemper does what it's supposed to do, extremely well.

    That's not to say I don't have a wish list ;)

    - sweetened tunings !!!!!!

    - more control over min/max values for the leslie simulator

    - Better synchronization between the speaker imprints available thru monitoring, and what goes to the house (this is a very unintuitive area within Kemper - you can make monitor out sound totally different than the main outs... what's the point of that? Don't most people want to accurately monitor what the rest of the audience is hearing? Perhaps I'm missing something but this is a very confusing part of the platform... Why would I model a jensen in the monitor out, and then send a celestion 4x12 cab model to the PA?)

    Other bells/whistles like multiple amps in left/right, blah blah blah - those are less meaningful to me - who actually does those things in reality? When I played out with my deluxe reverb, it was a simple, glorious MONO setup - like every other player around me. Don't see the real need for these types of uber-features that everyone is excited about on QC and Axe products. But that's just me I guess ;)

    Best regards from a generally happy Kemper user ;)

    - Dango

  • - Better synchronization between the speaker imprints available thru monitoring, and what goes to the house (this is a very unintuitive area within Kemper - you can make monitor out sound totally different than the main outs... what's the point of that? Don't most people want to accurately monitor what the rest of the audience is hearing? Perhaps I'm missing something but this is a very confusing part of the platform... Why would I model a jensen in the monitor out, and then send a celestion 4x12 cab model to the PA?)

    There is a misconception here.

    The reality is that no matter what you do - what you hear on stage is *never, ever* what the audience hears. You can't tune the FOH sound using your monitor and get good results in the room. Even if you're getting the same signal as the main outs. Why? Because they don't sound the same.

    FOH speakers are never the same as what you monitor with. Even if its the house system. The location in the room, proximity to the speaker.......they sound similar but never exact.

    The Kone provides you with the amp-in-the-room sound.

    The Kone and imprints remove the microphone from the equation. That is a different sound - and what anyone using a traditional tube/valve amp hears on stage. It is a more immediate and (at least to me) inspiring sound. Every Cab or IR has some of its own inherent 'room' sound. You can hear it with Mod/Delay/Verb disabled. Its subtle, but also significant. You're hearing the amp and speaker - through a mic (or mics).

    This is not what the amp and speaker sound like on their own. To me, this is a key advantage over other digital amps. Others claim to accomplish the same thing....but with very mixed results. The Kone and imprints aren't perfect. But they're *really, really* good and give you the benefit of picking a multitude of speaker types on a per-rig basis if you choose.

  • Agreed.

    Plus, if you wait out year 1 or even longer, potential customers are gonna go out and buy other brands that are available.

    This reminds me of the Amp X by BluGuitar.

    Thomas is very enthusiastic and pimping it at all the guitar shows, but it's simply not ready. On paper it looks great, the prototype he has looks awesome BUT there's hardly anything in it. Will folk really wait another year or two or will they just buy something they need now ?

    I't salready been over 12 months since he originally started pimping it.

    #thebatesmotelband