Bring on the paid updates Kemper!!!!!

  • I don't understand this. The model you refer to is the head/rack? Yet you want the player updated and you want Kemper to take your money. I suppose you bought the player and now you want it to be a head/rack? They would have taken your money for one of those...

    Many of us are in the Kemper ecosystem because they are UNIQUE in offering continued free updates. .It seems to me you bought the wrong product and your solution is to request that Kemper ruin the business model for the many satisfied customers. Maybe just buy the big brother?

    If you have too much money and just need someone to take it, I can send you Venmo info. ;)

  • It all depends on the pricing IMO.

    If you can get a used Kemper Stage for $1K, it starts being hard to justify paying much more than the $700 for the Player to give it the same capabilities and still have a small form factor IMO.

    $50.00? Sure. $200? Forget it. Kemper is a huge value IMO compared to other offerings; however, given the price of used Kempers, and the renowned durability of the KPA, I think it puts a ceiling on the total cost of ownership of a Kemper Player with equivalent efx capabilities to its bigger brothers.

  • Many of us are in the Kemper ecosystem because they are UNIQUE in offering continued free updates. .It seems to me you bought the wrong product and your solution is to request that Kemper ruin the business model for the many satisfied customers. Maybe just buy the big brother?

    I am not an insider, but i doubt very much that they are selling lot of heads/racks nowadays. Proof is the two (?) waves of prices decrease.

    I have a Toaster which is still like, but i also like my ToneX.
    I would have like a compact unit to take on the go, the Stage is still too big and i cannot justify the spending.
    The player could have been a treat, but i cannot get with the limitation to two FX (among a limited list) post amp, absence of screen, performances, loop, all of which are on the similarly priced Hx Stomp.
    My guess is we will see upgrades to make the player more interesting by closing part of the gap with the other units software wise, and those upgrades will probably be free.

  • I am not an insider, but i doubt very much that they are selling lot of heads/racks nowadays. Proof is the two (?) waves of prices decrease.

    I have a Toaster which is still like, but i also like my ToneX.
    I would have like a compact unit to take on the go, the Stage is still too big and i cannot justify the spending.
    The player could have been a treat, but i cannot get with the limitation to two FX (among a limited list) post amp, absence of screen, performances, loop, all of which are on the similarly priced Hx Stomp.
    My guess is we will see upgrades to make the player more interesting by closing part of the gap with the other units software wise, and those upgrades will probably be free.

    They are still selling. Checking the sales rank on Thomann, Stage is still before Fender Tone Master. Combined with all the bag/case bundles and racks and toasters and their bundles, I think there's still a bunch being sold.

    Thomann Verkaufsrang Fender Tone Master Pro
    Gitarren-Preamps bei Europas größtem Musikhaus - Schneller Versand, 30 Tage Money-Back und 3 Jahre Thomann Garantie
    www.thomann.de
  • I don't understand this. The model you refer to is the head/rack? Yet you want the player updated and you want Kemper to take your money. I suppose you bought the player and now you want it to be a head/rack? They would have taken your money for one of those...

    Many of us are in the Kemper ecosystem because they are UNIQUE in offering continued free updates. .It seems to me you bought the wrong product and your solution is to request that Kemper ruin the business model for the many satisfied customers. Maybe just buy the big brother?

    If you have too much money and just need someone to take it, I can send you Venmo info. ;)

    Ya, I saw that but didn’t know how to change it to the player.

  • It all depends on the pricing IMO.

    If you can get a used Kemper Stage for $1K, it starts being hard to justify paying much more than the $700 for the Player to give it the same capabilities and still have a small form factor IMO.

    $50.00? Sure. $200? Forget it. Kemper is a huge value IMO compared to other offerings; however, given the price of used Kempers, and the renowned durability of the KPA, I think it puts a ceiling on the total cost of ownership of a Kemper Player with equivalent efx capabilities to its bigger brothers.

    Kemper can't based on the used market (as car manufacturers do, everybody knows that used cars are (far) cheaper but poeple like new stuffs too).

    On the other side, i totally join you, from a customer view, we have many possibilities and the used market is one of them....

    But the calculation Kemper has to do is ; what is the good price point for the Player and how can they prevent it from killing higher products ?

    Player is already expensive Vs Tonex/HX stomp but purposes thing that the others don't.

    IMO, 200€ would be a "logical" price for upgrades (i separate upgrades (for Player) from updates(free)) to prevent from higher products cannibalization, Head/Rack/Stage are double price if you want a midi controler it's between 50 and 400€ (that Kemper doesn't sell), + a upgrade at 200€ --> 950/1350€, the gap is reduced from the higher products.

    On the other hand, as a Kemper Stage owner, i've bought a Player, not to have the cheapest Kemper product but to have a backup, a device i can travel with easily and a small thing i can train with at home that doesn't take place....

    I am frustrated today cause the idea was to let my Stage at the rehearsal room too and work on my rigs at home on the player to make some tests and push what i've done in the Stage afterwards.... For the moment, i can't due to the limitations (i can even not work on every amp parameters :cursing:).... I'm closed to think that i have two different platforms/devices and i have to rethink all my rigs following the possibilities for now...

    And i would really be disappointed to pay 200€ to upgrade my Player....

    Thus, i think the best solution would be to purpose upgrades for free (or 50€ max (it's not an obligation ;)^^)) for higher Kemper's owner (products registration ; it's easy) and on the other hand a higher upgrade price point for only Player's owners....

    Line 6 does exactly that with Helix Native ;)

  • Thus, i think the best solution would be to purpose upgrades for free (or 50€ max (it's not an obligation ;)^^)) for higher Kemper's owner (products registration ; it's easy) and on the other hand a higher upgrade price point for only Player's owners....

    As I have a rack and player...that is a fantastic idea.Maybe extra discount if you have the Kabinet ha!

    With regards to the products, I recently demoed the Kemper player to a friend...he loved the sounds and so had a dilemma....player or Stage...or rack.

    In the end he went Stage because it is the "full beans" version.

    I think the player (which was asked for by us for many years don't forget) has the right place in the market at the right price point. I bought mine mainly as a backup that I just leave in my car after my rack had failed at a gig and I used the Blackstar amped 3 ( yuk)...it has of course not let me down since and so my player is the perfect backup in an emergency or fly rig for the occasional rehearsal.

    I don;t really miss the effects that much but I do miss morph ( which they could offer) and the buttons/display ( which is obviously a physical limitation that Ive resolved with a paint audio midi captain)..

  • I would have bought the player if it had the capabilites as the stage, just as the FM3 vs FM9!
    some people could live with 3 buttons and having no screen.

    more buttons and screen can justify a price difference between the player and the stage.

    For me 2 fx slots pre and post and no morph are the dealbreakers to get a player.

    At one point I had a powerrack and stage as backup, then realized this was too much and sold the rack/remote

    Now rocking the stage with 2 missions and i'm happy.

    I could not settle to miss features, don't understand either why ppl buy the player and start adding things and pay more in the end then a stage !

    It's been to quiet on the kemper front lately, no updates since june ... they must be cooking on something.

    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

  • In the end he went Stage because it is the "full beans" version.

    I think the player (which was asked for by us for many years don't forget) has the right place in the market at the right price point. I bought mine mainly as a backup that I just leave in my car after my rack had failed at a gig and I used the Blackstar amped 3 ( yuk)...it has of course not let me down since and so my player is the perfect backup in an emergency or fly rig for the occasional rehearsal.

    I don;t really miss the effects that much but I do miss morph ( which they could offer) and the buttons/display ( which is obviously a physical limitation that Ive resolved with a paint audio midi captain)..

    I would advice a Stage too for a first-time Kemper buyer, the Stage all-in-one unit is just fantastic !!! :love:<3

  • i've bought a Player cause i've understood that C.K said the unlock limitations were on the roadmap (even i don't know the conditions ^^:/)

    They had to homogenize software before....

    But i'm really impatient to see my rig like on my Stage.

    I agree with you, i don't catch why having a Player and growing/making pedal board as traditional rig ; more expensive and more heavier than a Stage...:rolleyes:

    I know poeple argue that Player is done to be mounted on a pedal board but it has to, due to its restrictions, you can not do otherwise.

    I've gone the multi-FXs way to get rid of all those constraints.... In my mind, a Player has to be a lighter all-in-one Kemper Stage....

  • I was thinking the same regarding an all-in-one unit ... except the display,connections,buttons
    I don't think the power inside can be a problem to make it a "full" blown stage

    Some people would still like the size and capabilities from the stage, others will like the player.
    So i don't think that they are competitors

    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

  • Having bought a player, added a midi captain and power amp......guilty!!! Ha!

    Obviously the power amp is optional, but yeah it was after buying that I missed the buttons in particular, although being able to assign them to almost anything really helps.

    I did debate a stage but I did the opposite - the player was slightly cheaper and smaller even with the midi captain ( although that became an essential afterthought tbh) much more manageable. I think it depends on the use case...the player is a great backup but if I was talking about my main rig, I'd definetly choose the stage.

  • If they included rig button morph i'd be happy !I use this to engage my lead sounds ... morph with pedal or button

    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

  • With regards to the OP, I believe the next thing will defiantly be the paid update to the Player.... although it may not be paid at all depending on how Kemper decides to move forward.


    Regarding the utility of the Player:

    1) As used as a first time buyer's "All In One" throw and go rig, it has very tough competition from lower priced HX Stomp, and the equally priced HX Stomp XL I am actually warming up to the idea of a headless unit though (no screen). I think the pedal can have a much better interface on a phone app or tablet mounted on your mic stand than it could ever attain on a little LCD 6 feet or more from your head. I know this isn't the norm today, but then again, it wasn't the norm for digital mixers 10 years ago either.

    2) As a backup for an existing Kemper user (like all of us here pretty much), the paid update may well make this a good use case. I can see getting by with 2 pre and 2 post efx in 90% of my rigs, and in the other 10%, I could likely make something close enough. This would definitely get me through the night at a gig AND be an awesome "throw and go" travel setup as well.

    3) I know there are people out there doing it, but I just find it difficult to believe that there are a large percentage of people making a custom pedalboard with an amp pedal being part of the pedalboard (ToneX comes to mind). This may be my old prejudice speaking though. Perhaps there are more of these people out there than I am aware of.