Posts by Redoubt9000

My unit is out for delivery so I may be jumping the gun with this concern.
I was under the impression that I can utilize both the front input and spdif I/0 to track both dry and wet signals via spdif, which is awesome, but it seems as though I may have overlooked something vital.

How do I monitor playback while doing this? Or am I stuck doing a tap dance routine with spdif sync settings, when I switch between wanting to track or mix or demo the song. I'm operating with a Saffire Pro 24.

When messing with Mix Control this morning, it appeared I could not monitor through my mono outputs 1 & 2 (speaker monitors) while utilizing spdif as the sync source instead of internal.

Really, don't consider listing prices (-_-) but aside from that I wouldn't concern myself a great deal on exchange rates. But, considering you can just have someone purchaseand treat it as carry-on? You intend to get a case too or have them pack around a product box : /
It's rare that I ever pay full 'street price' for anything. 'If that's the quote youre 'getting then just inform the vendor you're moving on!

My SM7B mic I got for less than 275 new, my guitars I usually talk down the price by at least 25% (and they still profit), the Kemper that's incoming came at a great price too and it matched close to what I was hearing from other merchants as well. The 2100 USD price is what I've seen posted for a while now for a couple of years. I was getting quotes closer to what the Kemper debuted at. I'd take every opportunity to either correspond with someone 1-on-1 either in person or on the phone and work their price down. 1781.83 is over what I was being offered for an unpowered unit, here stateside.

dropped another email today, got a response - he's alive! lol
Sweetwater training is serious business it seems : / Among other things that kept him at bay.

Got a powerhead on the way ooo yea..

Second to the buffering settings, should lower rates introduce stutter and artifacts - my guess would be the cpu. OP mentioned nothing concerning RAM getting maxed out on anything. Sorry, but a pc DAW doesn't necessarily demand much power. Assuming his interface isn't robust in its onboard DSP, his cpu is the most likely bottleneck. I just don't believe more RAM or even an ssd is going to resolve his issue.

I'll have to give it a shot , although I don't have my phone available atm.
I did however get an email that read in a pretty generic way a few days ago, so he may be out of the office for this week.

It's a bit of a bummer - I was looking to put an order for a unit on monday but I've yet to hear back from my sales engineer @ Sweetwater all week

Maybe he's sick or using his vacation time I may have to go elsewhere, but I figured maybe they earned some amount in commission, although I kinda doubt that.

wow didn't really realize just how large the mission pedal was in comparison to the KR : /

Quote from Raoul23

I haven't heard of many kempers failing. The only issue is there was a batch of faulty LED's but kemper will replace these under warranty. I'd have no issue buying a used kemper. So I say go for it

I am curious abou tthe LED issue, was this limited to a specific run of the kemper line? For example only the white-faced units, or have some of the other toasters experienced this issue as well?

Mebbe someone at the kemper booth will pay Marshall a very quick and indiscreet visit... (*Queue Mission Impossible theme)

Quote from sambrox

Yeah, fair enough, I guess I was sticking my oar in a bit prematurely, haha!
I totally agree with you, actually, and also share your experiences with CPUs and audio versus video.

Cheers,
Sam

Reading back on my post, it almost sounds like I'm trying to start a pissing contest, doh!

Hope no offense was given. Maybe the OP may consider a windows platform... hehehe... We could make this into a PC build thread then lol

A 6505 with USB out seems a bit odd though xD

It seems like mini is the new in thing this time around?

I'm excited by the idea of a mesh kit from Alesis though!

http://www.sweetwater.com/insync/show/winter-namm-2015/

I'm just making it clear that I can't in good conscience recommend he upgrades his RAM, or any of his hardware without knowing what he intends to use. He could decide in turn to run any of the resource intensive libraries available, and he may just as well use a more lean library based on his needs. I'm new to the community so perhaps you're more acquainted with what gear he may use

I'm cerintaly in the same boat as you, as I often hit my ceiling on RAM, despite this I've no reason to bother spending the money on more RAM, simply because in the case of samplers, there are workarounds. He's on a different platform too so I don't know what the market is concerning parts.

If we're just throwing suggestions, I'd be more inclined to suggest he just get a new system. Especially given that in the OP, I wasn't privy to the minutia of his plan other than the fact that he wants to use orchestral software in the future. I find he's gonna need more than just additional RAM if he's getting his feet wet with libraries that pack a punch!

If I remember correctly, about two cpus ago, I had a similar spec as he did and it proved to be inadequate while tracking in most cases. My last cpu was a quadcore but had a higher core frequency and proved to do just fine. I upgraded to an 8-core for other tasks such as render times and video, but seen no great improvement when it came to the DAW, apart from just being able to run more samplers with ease.

Didn't read through alot of the later suggestions, but defintely up your buffer beyond 128 for now to see check for improvement. You can also consider freezing your tracks for now, even if there are no fx running on them currently. Rather I mean you can render out what you have, and track in a new project with the backing track.

Your interface as per buffer settings will have an impact on your CPU. But then you have to start considering latency in the trade-off.

Even so though, with as few tracks as you have going on I'm surprised you're having an issue, especially with your given specs.
You will see a great improvement upgrading to an SSD, but unfortunately this shouldn't be causing the issue you are having with only the four odd tracks or so that you mentioned having, and when I say improvements I'm thinking general system performance. The issue is likely something else. I track and stream from 7.2kRPM drives all day long. Your HDD is negligible when considering how most samplers are loaded onto RAM, so long as you wait for them to load upon starting the project, this shouldn't be affecting the disk i/o a great deal...

RAM will only become a major factor if you find yourself running a large number of samplers that eat up resources. I've never noticed an improvement beyond avoiding crashing when loading projects too large from my RAM capacity. Even with the consideration of more samplers in the future, I would have to tell you that 8gb is enough (read: I have no idea what libraries you intend to use, or how you'll use them I often hit my ceiling of 12gb but most often because of the nature of the project!)

SSDs typically improves on just about everything you can imagine! I wouldn't want to use it for a scratch disk though, if I was limited to just the one disk. Wouldn't hurt either way. Again I think your issue lies elsewhere.

EDIT: Sorry, for some reason when you mentioned your issue, I assumed you meant 'snap, crackle, & pop' with your audio, typical of a low buffer or struggling CPU. Still given your specs, this is strange!

So far from what I can tell, I'm pretty much doing a flip-flop routine when it comes to deciding between the unpowered and powered version. So I think it best to be frugal and simply go for the unpowered version at this point. I imagine that part of the kemper's magic also lies in its cab section, and I'd much rather not lose that by hoarding around a guitar cab. A powered FRFR system would be best in my situation, especially with any later additions of synths/workstation boards!

Thanks all for the welcomes and your very helpful input! I think I'm ready to make my decision

Quote from viabcroce

As for the active\passive debate, keep in mind that the Lunchbox can be retrofitted aftermarket saving a consistent amount of money in comparison with the natively powered version

I was curious about the ambrosi project, seeing as how the poweramp takes an input from the monitor out, does this prevent the kemper from using additional outputs simultaneously? I understand on the PowerHead, the poweramp output can run without a cab sim, regardless of whatever other outputs are being used - but I wasn't sure if this was the same case as the monitor out on the unpowered kemper, as I would want to be running spdif at the same time.

EDIT: nvm, I just spotted in the quick guide how it mentions the power section is internally connected to one's monitor outs, in the case of the PowerHead.

Thanks guys for the replies! I may just be better off getting a retrofit in the future

Although after considering the costs of a retrofit and whatever other miscellaneous costs tied to it, I may be better off springing for the powerhead for just a couple hundred more, and on top of that still be covered by the kemper warranty. I'll have to ponder on this for just a little while longer...

Can't say for certain how appropriate it is to ask, especially if I were to just open a new thread. Can you fellas perhaps gimme a ball park figure (through PM of course) of what you paid for your KPA? ESPECIALLY if you nabbed a powerhead? I'm more interested in new prices rather than used, but feel free to share regardless! location/currency isn't much of a concern, but I am based in the US, so something to keep in mind.

From recent talks I may very well go for the powerhead, and later on tag on an awesome cab to pair with it. For now I'll simply be using the spdif for recording, etc. The price compared to the unpowered version is kinda steep, but I'm figuring I won't find a better price new atm. Your input is appreciated

EDIT: From the looks of it, we don't seem to have a private messaging system on this board? If not, my youtube or soundcloud would suffice.

Btw I'm searching but I've yet to come across a sticky for forum rules, anyone with a link?

Oooo I certainly do like the pricing on the DXR10, and the weight is a nice plus too

Yeah I'm thinking the unpowered route may be preferred. I don't necessarily need to power a cab atm. Not to mention, I doubt I can get a powerhead or powerrack for much less than the 2.7k$ price tag, given that it released at that street price, unlike the unpowered version.

FRFRs appear to be a different monster compared to regular PAs. Do keyboard loudspeakers/amps also qualify as an FRFR system? The Atomic CLR seem to get quite a bit of love (Any alternatives that others have come to prefer?), and it seems within my price range should I forgo getting the powered kemper.

Quote from nightlight

Welcome to the forums! I might suggest waiting a bit longer though, I believe there will be bundles of the Kemper plus the new Remote controller and you may save a few $ by doing so.

Aaaah bummer.... just how much talk has there been of additional savings for potential bundles (edit: just read pricing tba). I'm talking a pretty good deal on the profiler atm, close to the original pricing it was released at, although the powered kemper would likely be a different story and may be worth waiting on a bundled deal if I go the powered route.

Playing guitar feels more like a chore nowadays and I've narrowed it down to the fact I always catch myself tweaking the sound of simulations at every turn, than I do just sitting down and playing. I know my biggest concerns have always revolved around tone and sound for the context of my mixes, and the idea of well captured profiles by experienced engineers is teasing me a great deal lol Although I have had a pretty bad streak here lately on waiting for good deals and sales on account of jumping the gun