Posts by drog

    Opinions being what they are -

    Options vs no options is all I’m proposing.

    Yes, I get that and very good options you have brought up. I was just giving reasons he might not need it.

    One thing that has not been mentioned, since he is playing mostly at home is going to a head or rack Kemper with the Remote to save on floor space and also then the front face buttons/knobs are where you can easily see and adjust them. I have owned a Stage and for this very reason I went instead to a rack unit.

    The one thing with the Player is without an effects loop (or two in the case of the Stage), you’re limited to before the input or after the output.

    Not a problem for some who know what they want, but not ideal for experimentation. I used to run my dirt pedals before the amp, but after compression, internal boosts and some modulation effects.

    I’ve since replicated them using the Kemper Drive amd leave the outboard stuff at home.

    Effects loops are overrated. The sounds we hear on most albums the majority of the effects were done after the guitar was recorded. So I am fine placing effects after the KPP.
    The one nice thing with the effects loop on the stage is that I can turn it on and any effects that are attached along with any Kemper effects all with one button press. This is a nice convenient feature.

    Still, I don’t miss an effects loop and even on my Kemper Rack I never use the effects loop anyways.

    If you want to explore effect pedals then I would go the KPP route and add on other effect pedals as needed. For example, I have the KPP and then added a guitar synth, feedbacker, talk box and Wah pedal.
    There are quite a few options out there and the KPP fits in perfectly.
    Of course you could also get the stage and all of the effects you want too but your footprint would be larger.

    It’s a good problem to have… lol

    My two cents…

    Kemper and Fractal still are the systems that others will be compared. Both of these companies stay at the top because they focus on professional players and how the amps will be used in a live environment.
    You could argue that Helix is also in that camp but they fall behind in areas such as effects and switching.

    Boss, Headrush, Zoom offer a good mid tier system at a great price and can certainly get the job done but not giving the accuracy of recreating real amps as the top units.

    Nam, Quad Cortex , ToneX all offer a great sound design but in my opinion they fall short and fail as a live use piece of gear. If you play at home or studio , then you might enjoy these products.

    For me it’s still hard to beat the Kemper or Fractal products.

    Vulnerability to liquid spills and backpedaling, stomping dancers is what scared me away from picking up a Stage. All those front panel buttons are PC mounted and protrude through slightly oversized holes that won't stop beer from dripping in. Much as I'd like to have the built-in Wifi there's just no way this unit will survive in the places we play. I wish Kemper at looked closely at how Helix is engineered.

    I have an empty floor monitor that I put in front of my mic stand and pedalboard to keep the dancers at distance.

    Like most things - once you understand the particular workflow, it becomes easier to get what you want.


    You can’t apply a Profiler mentality to a modeler and more than the reverse. Two similar - but different schools of thought.

    Matteo Mancuso is a Yamaha-endorsed artist and plays their Rev Stars. Until recently, he used a Helix (the LT, I believe). I saw him a couple weeks ago (amazeballs, btw) and he’s now using a Fractal FM3, an expression/volume pedal….and nothing else.


    He’s said he made the switch not for sound issues - but for power and portability in travel the FM3 provides.


    You can jump brands for reasons other than sounds.

    Yes I agree that other options and particular needs can be reasons to use certain products. That has a lot to do with the recent attraction some have with the newly announced Line6 Stadium.
    I have found that flexibility with the Fractal when needed too

    I had the original toaster from 2013 through 2020. I loved it but wanted to try something different so I purchased an Axe-FX III. I thought it was great but I started playing live a lot more, so I sold that and went with the Fractal FM9. It sounded great but I thought the workflow and setup of the footswitches were extremely cumbersome. I tried for a while and abandoned it about two months ago. About 6 weeks ago, I decided to pickup the original Kemper Stage. It felt so hand in glove. Sounded great and played so well. So happy to be back in the Kemper kamp (see what I did there?)! Performance mode is so much easier than setting up the switches on the FM9.


    My opinion about the Mk 2 over the one I just bought, I wouldn't mind having the Mk 2 but I don't profile amps. I never have. Some other companies and individuals have created profiles of my tube amp rig and I am pleased with it. Sure, it would be nice to have the updated processing power but since I don't profile, I don't think it matters in my case. Now that I've heard from a couple of YouTube influencers that the original versions will be able to play the new profiles, I'm happy. I get that they are a bit bottlenecked in regard to resolution but I don't know that I care. The tones I am getting are just amazing. I am done chasing the next best thing in my life and never want to go down the IR rabbit hole again. If it meets my needs, then I'm satisfied. I see value in the Mk2, just not for me at this point. I think Kemper has been very thoughtful about their updates and new tech. I get that there are a lot of modern bells and whistles on the newer gear but it just doesn't interest me.

    Interesting. I own an FM3T and find that setting up for live with scenes is quite easy once I wrapped my head around the setup of Fractal. You do need to bounce between scenes and effects if you want a bit more control of effects on and off. But I find I can do enough with scenes and a couple of foot switches for my needs.

    I found setting up scenes similar to setting up performances in the Kemper

    The routing options on the Fractal are far superior to Kemper.

    My go to is still the Kemper for live

    I use a little monitor mixer for in ears.

    POWERMIX III 3-Channel Stereo Mini Mixer | ART Pro Audio

    Kemper monitor out to channel 1, monitor mix , channel 2, output to in ears. Then live I can easily adjust my guitar mix if needed.

    This is where it would be nice if Rig Manager also worked over Bluetooth. I imagine that most people already have WIFI hogged up by their IEM/Monitor mixer. I've to fumble around and get the Player into WIFI host mode, switch my phone over to it and fix some stereo out stuff that you can't get to any other way.

    I don’t have any fumbling. My Player always turns on with Wi-Fi Access Point ready. I just choose the Player Wi-Fi as my Network on my phone/tablet wifi settings and I’m connected. Takes all of 2seconds

    Tweaking on stage - never during the gig, BUT, at sound check, I plug in and go up front and it's horrible, I gotta know what to do quick, so all my rigs are adjusted for that PA. That is indeed the kind of tweaking on stage, where it needs to be fast and efficient, because I have maybe 5 minutes before the other guys get impatient.

    Kinda odd that adjustments would not be made at the mixer. 🤷‍♂️

    The only adjustments I ever make are for my cabinet onstage and for that I go to the output menu and EQ for the monitor out. This way I never touch any Rig and they stay the same. I can even save that EQ and name it for that venue to recall later. Pretty simple

    For me what sets Kemper apart from the other companies is their approach to building the Kemper as an amplifier. So what we get is a product that is easy to use and laid out with that in mind. The Toaster is a prime example of what they wanted to accomplish, even in look. Smart and simple features on the front face that a amplifier would have.

    Other companies try to dazzle with pretty screens or offering every option under the sun but fall short in simple use as an amplifier (ex, spillover effects or seamless switching).

    Every update has been with the thought of the guitarist and amplifier interaction and usage. Never have they just given features for the sake of more. It’s been a well thought out choice of how we use amplifiers. The MORPH feature was genius.

    Kemper has a very focused approach to make the best replacement for an amplifier. It’s that simple. This they have nailed and it’s why they have been successful.

    I had issues for quite some time updating connected to Rig Manager and always had to use a USB stick.
    I finally swapped the USB cable to a better quality one and since that change my updates work with Rig Manager.

    Try a different cable