Posts by dahla

So… I’ve been a little stubborn about updating my trusty Mk1 Rack from OS 13 to OS 14. My reasoning was pretty simple: it’s a Mk1, all the profiles I actually use are Mk1 profiles, and everything has been working perfectly. With gigs and everything else going on, I didn’t really see a reason to mess with a stable setup.

Well, then I bought a Player. 😂

The band has a little downtime right now, so nothing is particularly critical and I actually had the time to sit down and do the update properly.

So the Mk1 Rack is now on OS 14 as well. And… everything works perfectly. Of course it does. 😄

Quote from sesmar

What kind of issues are you experiencing with OS 14 on the mk1?

Me? None. I haven’t tried 14. 😄 There aren’t any features there for the mk1, so it doesn’t make sense to update. And the Kemper is super stable and just works as expected with 13. So gig-reliability beats updating imo, especially since my profiles I use are mk1 anyways.

I’m staying on 13. I use it professionally, meaning the performances are all done and calibrated. I don’t switch out sounds or profiles «just because»… And having a mk1 there isn’t a big incentive for me risk upgrading either I think, as I don’t profile amps. So the 2.0 doesn’t give me anything either way. So I’ll just leave it be. 🤷‍♂️

Quote from Ruefus

Maximize profit? They’ve given away thousands of dollars worth of software and updates.

Not to mention supporting a single version of hardware for what? 14 years?

If that isn’t sustainability, I’m not sure what is.

Hey, I didn’t say it was black and white. In fact, the longevity — the fact that I can still use the same unit I bought back in 2013 — is actually what I love most about Kemper. I’m in this for the long haul 😄

I didn’t mean this as anything more than just a perspective in the discussion, really. It wasn’t meant as a jab at Kemper or as some kind of demand from my side. Just my own humble little opinion.

Quote from taylorphototexas

To the people that are saying it makes sense to have a hardware upgrade: collect all your money together and buy the Kemper company and make it happen !

Yeah, yeah. I’m not going to tell Kemper what to do. I was just sharing my opinion, especially from a sustainability perspective and the idea of keeping the environmental footprint as small as possible. But I can see how that might clash with a more hyper-capitalist perspective where the goal is simply to maximize profit…

Quote from BayouTexan

It's not going to matter too much anyway in a couple of years. With A.I. taking over the music industry being able to play any instrument and sing with zero mistakes and basically for free, and the latest generation adoring and worshiping it, then we will all be outdated dinosaurs very soon. And A.I. won't be worried about a Mk3 version coming out. That outdated gear is no longer needed.

Performing music is now a lost cause. I don't understand why logical people can't see it.

When you can get A.I. to do everything for you, and in almost every case way better, then why even try.

Ah, no. Music is way more than «zero mistakes». And playing with others show you that. And it’s even true in a live setting, between band and audience. It’s about connecting and sharing a moment between humans.

Quote from AppleTreeChen

I think this is impossible. It doesn't make commercial sense. Who will carry it out? Who will vouch for installation issues? Who will provide after-sales service if something goes wrong?

Nah, I actually think it makes sense commercially too. First of all, you bring all your users along with you, so you don’t have to deal with multiple generations of the same product. Secondly, it’s more sustainable: reusing large parts of the product means less of a throwaway culture, because at some point the first-generation device just ends up as landfill anyway. So from an environmental perspective, it’s better as well. It’s much easier to recycle a board/card than an entire device.

To put it another way: what I’m willing to pay Kemper for, and what I think is truly brilliant, is the software. I care less about the hardware itself. So if there are ways to make the hardware keep up with the software, I’m always positive about that. But that’s just my opinion.

Quote from Tony G

I feel you. I'm treating my mk1 as obsolete and I'm not doing any more updates. I'm worried the updates will make things worse considering this thing is working perfect as it sits. If it ain't broke don't fix it. The major downfall is that I believe the price of these old units will be worth nothing from now on. So keeping it is the best financial idea.

Yeah, I’m pretty much with you there. I suddenly lost all appetite to update to 13 as well. Like, why bother… 😅

Ah, thank you!! I bought one from the list in the manual, so it’s all good then I guess. 🤘

If I buy one the suggested PoE injectors from the manual, does this cable from Thomann work with the Remote? It’s a CAT5e S/UTP cable, but the mode A and mode B stuff is confusing…

Cordial CSE 20 NH 5e PUR

Cat5e S/UTP Cable Length: 20.0 m, With 1x RJ45 Hirose and 1x Neutrik NE8MX-B-1 plug, PUR sheathing, Conductor area: 0.15 mm² (AWG 26/16), Conductor…

www.thomannmusic.no

Quote from Morph

Has anyone taken a head and bag on easyJet as hand luggage and if you have how did it go?

I put my toaster in an original Kemper bag for a short UK tour in march. It was my carry on. No issues whatsoever, and it cleared the safety checks without any hassle. Fit nicely in the upper compartment as well. 😊

Quote from Amcolan

I can’t get a good tone with this wireless. It’s always muffled sounding. I tried the unity gain settings.

You get a muffled tone with the EW-D?

Quote from Amcolan

[…]

Well, the clean sense and distortion sense makes up the difference. So it’s the same if you let go of the ocd of «everything needs to be at 0»… I needed to do just that.

Quote from Wheresthedug

I have a Whammy DT (which has the drop included) and I find the Kemper cleaner and more accurate. The Whammy seems adds something nice that isn’t there in the original which is probably why people like it. But I don’t get the kind of dalek noises that you do.

As Ruefus says though all transpose effects get less authentic the further away from the original pitch you get.

My experience is the exact opposite. I think that the whammy DT both sound cleaner and is more accurate. And ai feel a slight lag with Kemper. With the DT less so…

I still use the Kemper transpose though, because with midi switching and wireless, the rig is much simpler with just the Kemper…

Naaah, I don’t think CK is the kind of person who thinks he has «beaten the game» and it’s time to move on. That is not how a creative mind works. It’s a creative process, not an engineering one.

That is why we haven’t seen a Kemper 2. Because the hardware has only ONE job: Be a platform for the really important stuff. The software.

And software development continues to this day. And with software, sky is the limit. Engineering and hardware might be bumps on the road, but creativity is key. One is never «finished» when it comes to creativity. IMO.

Quote from ckemper

Hi Guys,

This volume drop is done in purpose.

Whe have got complaints that the digital volume into a DAW is much too high, compared to usual volumes.

About 12 dB too high.

This is why probably we had multiple user requests years ago for a SPDIF volume control, something that I never really liked.

I had originally planned to make an attenuation of 12 dB, to match the typical RMS of a DAW and thus avoid the use of either SPDIF volume or DAW channel gain to match the perceived volume to the DAW.

What do you think?

What kind of specific problem would that induce?

Display More

I like this idea, and this gets my vote!

I think I found a way...

To keep most of my guitars in the safe zone, I´ll use the gain at +21 and AF Out at +18. +24 seems fine on a few of them, but I get the occasional clipping warning if I play hard. To get the distortion to the same level I have to boost distortion sense to +4. Then it feels and responds the same between the cable and EW-D.

So I guess it works, even though it's not unity gain. Does it matter? *shrug*.

Yeah, it’s not that it’s too hot that’s the problem. It’s the opposite. I have to lower the gain. And since the AF output is capped at +18 it sounds like I’m playing through low output single coils. All the time!

+21/+24 would be a unity gain setting for me. But that is not an option. I’m stuck at +21/+18. Meaning I can’t achieve unity gain…

Anyone here have any experience with the EW-D from Sennheiser?

How do you set up your gain? The unity gain settings in the manual doesn't seem to work for me. Even with Aldrich bridge pickup, there is clipping on lowest unity gain setting, meaning that I can't use the 27/18 setting. 24/18 is OK, but then the output suffers. On my EMG equipped guitars 21/18 is the highest I can go for "safe operation". But then it sounds wimpy...

How do you manage if you use the EW-D? Just use clean sense and distortion sense to make up the unity gain and Bob´s your uncle?

Quote from Grooguit

There's also the financial reality that a company needs a steady income of new sales to pay people to sit around all day and design updates.

People buying Kemper in 2022 isn’t buying because of 2012 merits. It’s because software makes it up to date. No need for new hardware, as long as they «sit around all day and design updates» the Kemper will be as potent as it ever was, and steady income is guaranteed.

I absolutely adore Kemper for it. Longevity. It’s refreshing!