Posts by silvioherrmann

I really like the Kemper Player, but I’m missing one crucial feature in the looper: Auto Record.

My use case:
I often use the Player on a desk (not with footswitches), for practicing and capturing ideas quickly – especially when traveling.

The problem:
Without Auto Record, it’s very hard to start recording at the exact right moment. This breaks the creative flow and makes the looper much less useful in this context.

Suggestion:
An optional Auto Record mode (start recording when input signal exceeds an adjustable threshold) would greatly improve usability – especially for non-live situations.

Many modern loopers and devices already support this, and it would make the Player much more versatile.

Also, considering that the looper is part of a paid upgrade (LVL III), it would feel fair if such a fundamental feature was included. At the moment, it feels a bit limited for something that comes at an additional cost.

Would be great to hear if this is something that could be considered.

Quote from Kellerblues

For me the ToneX software is enough to keep me miles away from it. It's literally a nightmare, anybody complaining about RM should spend some time with it.

From a sound point of view I must admit it sounds great, but it's a lot more static then Kemper (even before Liquid). As soon as you move some control (specially the gain), it degrades pretty quickly.

Who complains about Rig Manager ??? In my opinion Rig Manager has a very good workflow. The pre-listen posibility with tweaking of profiles in Rig Exchange bevore saving them is very comfortable.
I did not see a better editor for any modeler or capture device so far. It's just.... professional

Quote from BayouTexan

You could start by asking why you need to upgrade to the Mk2 in the first place. What does the MK2 have that lacks in your Mk1 unit?

better dynamic, more accurate profiles, better feel...

Did you already try it?

you could try TONEX cs software with an audio interface an place this in the loop of your Kemper Stage. You'd experience quite some latency but you can test the sound quality of TONEX before having to buy it.

I’m currently testing the new 2.0 profiles and comparing them with older 1.0 profiles as well as V2 captures from my Quad Cortex. I'm testing with Studio Monitors and also with Poweramp and Guitar Speaker.

For me it’s not so important whether a profile sounds exactly like the original amp. What matters more is that it feels and responds like a real tube amp and that the sound is inspiring to play.

So far I’m very impressed by Profiling 2.0!
In my opinion it feels much better than Profiling 1.0 and slightly more real than a V2 Quad Cortex capture, especially when it comes to dynamics and very light playing.

However, to get to that point I had to disable Liquid Profiling and set the amp type to Kemper Generic. With this setup the profiles immediately felt more open and natural to me.

Liquid Profiling is certainly a powerful feature, but in my experience when I changed the amp settings more drastically, the 2.0 profile could lose some of its edge and the low mids sometimes became a bit muddy.

Conclusion: I really like the new 2.0 profiles. It’s impressive what the Kemper team has achieved — definitely worth the wait. I’ll happily use my Kemper again both at home and in my bands. I just realized that Liquid Profiling is probably not for me, but that’s fine since I never really needed it anyway. I prefer using several profiles instead.

Quote from jub_100

typo this is what i am trying to say at least my old ears cannot even tell the difference.

I'm not sure if anyone could tell the difference in a blind test

Quote from DonPetersen

The tone a listener hears is obviously important—very important—but focusing only on that is an oversimplification that ignores other key elements.

The tone and responsiveness the artist hears and feels has a significant impact on their performance. At a certain level of musicianship, the more an instrument—and the amp as an extension of that instrument—feels alive and responsive, the more it interacts with the player on an almost unconscious level.

That interaction can directly influence phrasing, dynamics, and overall feel. In some cases, it can even elevate a performance from “very good” to truly outstanding.

And interestingly, this can happen even when the audible tone (in terms of frequency response) is essentially the same.

I couldn't agree more !!
And congratulations, you nailed it 2.0 is a huge improvement regarding responsiveness, dynamics, and overall feel in my opinion. And this makes it more fun to play.

So it was worth the wait, thank you Kemper Team!

Quote from BayouTexan

I still stand by the fact that you won't be able to tell the differences of 1.0 to 2.0 in a mix. I challenge anyone to prove me wrong. I have 2k in cash starting to burn a hole in my pocket but probably for another guitar.

Mostly you don't play "in a mix" especially when you practice at home.
And I can tell you, the feel ant the dynamics you get with 2.0 are definitely inspiring. You don't want to put the guitar down. If you like Kemper and if you want to keep playing Kemper I recommend to upgrade to MK2 and enjoy 2.0 you won't regret it !

This is really interesting for Guitar players who want to hear themselves with real guitar speakers! I have been using tube power amp with my profiler / capture players for quite a while now. The interaction between output stage and speaker is crucial for the "feel" while playing in my opinion. Yes, I know, this way an already profiled tube power amp goes into another tube power amp which will affect the sound a little bit, but it's still better than a solid state sollution with no real interaction to the speaker.
Now the Wampler Pedalhead might make things really interesting. I'll have to test it as soon as it is available

I just updated my Quad Cortex to the newest firmware. They have a new capturing algorithm V2.
I'm overwhelmed. The dynamic and feel is much better than before. Anyone of you tried it out? If yes, what are your thoughts?

Anyway, I'm waiting for the new algorithm of Kemper and I really hope it will be as good. I prefer the layout of the Kemper foot-controller, that's why I would prefer to use it live.

Quote from DonPetersen

this interaction is already part of a PROFILE if it was made with a tube power amp and a 'real' cabinet (as it not a loadbox), as recommended in the manual.

I’m sorry, I guess I wasn’t clear enough in my description.

I was only talking about personal monitoring, for amp in the room feel. Monitoring with speaker section switched OFF in the Kemper. So I’m talking about the real physical interaction between the speaker, in my case a real guitar speaker (Greenback for example) and the real power amp driving the speaker. Any power amp has a certain influence on the Sound through his interaction with the speaker.

I was talking about a more linear tube power amp, not adding power amp distortion but behaving differently in terms of dynamics than a digital amp.

Anyway, I would suggest to whoever has the possibility to try it out. It’s very interesting to hear/feel the difference.

Same can be tested with any other capture player, I had the same results. A more pleasant feel with the tube power amp.

Quote from DonPetersen

tube power amps are not recommended, since the power amp signature is already part of a PROFILE (unless you use a preamp only PROFILE from a FX send for example) - so for the large majority of PROFILEs out there you would 'double' the power amp signature.

And what would you say about tube power amps which are designed to be more linear? (for example Fryette power station)
In my experience the dynamic and also the feel is bit different using a tube power amp compared to other solutions. I guess that comes from the interaction between the tube power amp and the speaker. There is just something "more immediate" in the feel if you play.

But as everything, it is important to A-B test it to get a valuable opinion.

Sound might be slightly different, but it has a better feel in my opinion. So it might even feel better to "double" the power amp signature and lose a bit of authenticity in order to get a better "feel"

Quote from tamagotchi666

I bought a Kemper head MK2 when it came out, and then I waited through the summer for the update, and I had the opportunity to read a lot of speculation and nonsense.

Now I’m wishing for a white Christmas.

same situation here with the player

oooops.....

Summer ends in two hours today in Germany 😉

Quote from DonPetersen

a SD Hot Rails in my G&L Legacy (probably my best guitar)

That's exactly what I intend to do I want to install it in my G&L Legacy Stratocaster (also one of my best guitars, they are incredible value for money) in bridge position.
I wan't to be able to use this guitar for Rock or even Metal when I play live and we only play 2 or 3 songs in this style...
What do you think works better, the lil'59 or Hot Rails ?

Looks like we all agree here, that the pickup has a huge influence on the sound!
I don't understand why some people on YouTube are denying this…

I already swapped a lot of pickups in many guitars and I learned that finding a good match between a good guitar and the right pickup makes an excellent guitar.

One question: I never tried the mini humbuckers in single coil format. I would like to convert a SSS Strat into a HSS Strat. It would be much less invasive to use for example an Seymour Duncan SL59 instead of changing pickguard and milling a bigger hole in the guitar body…

Does anybody have some experience with these humbuckers in single coil format?

I agree with you, the distance to the strings makes a very big difference. With pickups to close to the strings I experienced an unwanted compression and less “string separation” in the sound. That kills the dynamics in my opinion and compression can be added later, even overdrive pedals do that to a certain point.

I never changed the magnets in humbuckers (might have to try that…) but I could see very big differences swapping pickups from different manufacturers. For example, I have a pair of Kloppmann Humbuckers which I use as reference. They seem to have have certain “magic”. So in my opinion, a good pickup can add up significantly to the sound, if the guitar itself is resonant. Some days ago I swapped the stock pickups from Seymour Duncan in an Ibanez PS120 with Düsenberg Grand Vintage Humbuckers which was a remarkable upgrade!

I also experienced that some pickups are a good match with some guitars, others not. So it can be tricky to find the perfect combination (and also quite a lot of work, especially if the guitars are semi acoustics)

By the way, I’m excited to check out how the new profiling algorithm for PROFILER is handling the nuances 😉

If you can live with two pedals, I mad very good experience with Digitech SDRUM in combination with Digitech Jamman Solo XT
They syncronize with a 3.5mm jack cable and you have a lot of options. You can even connect and sync many more loopers if you need other instruments.

Hello Guitar friends 😊

There are different opinions on the web about how much the pickups affect the sound of a guitar.

I’m not talking about swapping single coils with humbuckers, I’m talking about same pickup style from different manufacturers with different magnets etc.

What is your experience about this topic? Guess you all care a lot about the sound of your guitars…