Kemper Profiling Amp Thread

[VESmedic]

2 friends of mine already have 2, they said its dead on accurate. This is coming from professional engineers that have recorded some of the biggest bands in metal in the last 10 years. just do a search on youtube, theres GREAT videos of it. Theres one of a soldano SLO, a couple of rectifiers etc. They are quite unbelievable. What is really impressive is that you can then EQ the sound you profiled, thus being able to create tones that the original amp wouldn't even be capable of. What is really amazing is the low gain amps that I have heard profiled on youtube. They have the response and (supposively) the feel of the real amp, and sounds identical. You literally can not hear any differance. This will open up a whole new world to amp modeling for sure. Being able to share profiled amps online and download them on to the kemper etc....This should be incredible.

 

[cardinal]

Lol. The Kemper v AFXII debate migrated here from TGP.

If you just need cab sims, Two Notes has some new stuff coming that should do the job. Not sure how good their stuff is, but it looks cool. They have some current products on the market too, but they cost about as much as the AFXII.

You also could just buy a used Standard or the GSP1101 (with a firmware change; it can do user IRs, too).

 

[demoniaco]

I dont think the kemper will beat the axe ii at all... people seem to ignore that the kemper is a profiling amp... you need ...well ... amps to make profiles from. Plus you dont have all the things the axe has integrated and available like.. lets say... effects! Im not bashing the product... actually i like it a lot.. the idea is awesome and i would buy one if i had... welll... money! To buy the amps i wanna profile and the kemper itself.... so... doesnt make much sense to me...

There is also the new firmware version of the axe ii... ver 5 which is simply brutal... adding simply realistic dynamics! I was pairing it with a pv classic 50 50 but i can now buy a ss power amp with confidence because of the incredible tone im getting... its simply absurd.

I truly believe that both are incredible products but the axe ii is still the more cost effective and by far the best option... being able to pair it with anything... pa, amplifiers, preamps, interfaces... etc... with the ability of being rackable and with a good 2 space case can be the ultimate portable weapon.

 

[signalgrey]

you could use the Kemper to profile the Axe-Fx 2 and create a singularity that would destroy us all.

 

[Deadnightshade]

I dont think the kemper will beat the axe ii at all... people seem to ignore that the kemper is a profiling amp... you need ...well ... amps to make profiles from. Plus you dont have all the things the axe has integrated and available like.. lets say... effects!

The Kemper comes with already loaded amp profiles,plus there is a community sharing amp profiles.

Also,it does have effects.Maybe not at the multitude of axe-fx 2 , but it does.

you could use the Kemper to profile the Axe-Fx 2 and create a singularity that would destroy us all.

I read somewhere that you can do it!

 

[Quitty]

The Kemper comes with already loaded amp profiles,plus there is a community sharing amp profiles.

Also,it does have effects.Maybe not at the multitude of axe-fx 2 , but it does.



I read somewhere that you can do it!

Oh, yeah. My Infi professor did it.
He also derived e^x once, and the e^x hasn't been the same since.

On topic, though, the major issue i'd have with the Kemper is that there's no tweakability - you sample a certain setting and just roll with it - which sounds like a horrible idea seeing as a major part of the 'magic' of an amp is it's reaction to settings.

Consider you'd need two separate profiles to have an OD and clean channel - and there are no points in between (IE, low gain on the OD channel is another profile).

 

[HighGain510]

I guess it's all a moot point since you can't actually BUY a Kemper! 90% of the guys hyping it up are in Europe, I've seen less than a dozen actually show up in the states so until they get their production ramped up (even Fractal has more units worldwide with the Axe-Fx II right now, waiting list and all, than Kemper has in the past year or two) so it's really hard to say if it is going to be able to top the Axe-Fx. I've heard good clips from both the Axe-II and the Kemper, but I'm going with the Axe-Fx II based on a few things:

a) It's available now, not really as much of a "vaporware" deal for folks in the US

b) Cliff has a proven track record for firmware updates (already up to v5.0 since he debuted the Axe-II last MAY, that's awesome IMO!)

c) Reliability of a new product is always a potential issue, the Axe-Fx has a pretty clean record overall but not many people have spent a lot of time with a Kemper to see how they will fare in the long run.

Do I think it's a neat concept? Absolutely, if it works as well as they claim, it could be an awesome tool. Do I think I'd rather have one over the Axe-Fx II? Not really, plus the common complaint a lot of the guys who either have both or have at least messed with an Axe-Fx and own a Kemper have said is that the effects on the Kemper are not nearly as vast or high in quality. I'd love to hear a Kemper in the room to see what my ears told me about the accuracy of their profiling technology but the fact that the price jumped up pretty starkly before they even produced any to the US market and the complete lack of stock leaves me a bit skeptical for the time being, not to mention the price is now just a few hundred shy of the Axe-Fx II and I don't have to worry about trying to obtain samples from other people to get my "profiling collection" amount up, I'd rather go Fractal where the models are all there from the get-go and Cliff will be adding more and more as time goes on.

 

[Deadnightshade]

Oh, yeah. My Infi professor did it.
He also derived e^x once, and the e^x hasn't been the same since.

I was referring to the fact that you can profile an axe-fx patch

On topic, though, the major issue i'd have with the Kemper is that there's no tweakability - you sample a certain setting and just roll with it - which sounds like a horrible idea seeing as a major part of the 'magic' of an amp is it's reaction to settings.

Consider you'd need two separate profiles to have an OD and clean channel - and there are no points in between (IE, low gain on the OD channel is another profile).

People,RTFM on their site...It does have effects and some sort of amp modeling (EDITr effects modeling whatever ) that allows you to tweak the sound.SPECIFICALLY about the gain it mentions that the gain knob allows you to go from super clean to super saturated,even if the real amp doesn't have that gain range!

What is NEVER mentioned in videos,(cause they are too busy marketing how remarkably close is to the real thing), is how much tweaking can a profile take before it starts losing fidelity,leading to the need to acquire a different settings profile of the same amp.And let's face it,high gain sounds need careful tweaking.

The reason why this is important is that you rely on the availability of multiple profiles from the community.On the upside,you can always take your kemper for a...studio tour and take some profiles yourself

 

[petereanima]

A friend of mine was Beta Tester for the Kemper, and he also was a long time Axe Ultra user and has a nice collection of high end amps etc...he made some very nice comparisons. We had planned to make an ultimate AXE II vs. Kemper session with fucktons of soundfiles as soon as my Axe II would have arrived...unfortunately, that took so long, he sold the Kemper meanwhile. BUT, the Axe FX Ultra has been profiled by him, was fun.

Anyway - I dont really think one can compare the Axe and the Kemper. Too different. I also dont think anyone here would really benefit form the Kemper. To get the sound you want, you would need the actual equipment at first, find the perfect sound, than profile it...I mean - YES, there is a profile-sharing community. But seriously - if I have learned ONE thing in years of gearhunting is, that presets (or profiles in that case) are always shit. They might give you a good idea of what might be possible, but they are not really useable. But on other modelers you at least have full control over a tonestack - means: from what I've seen/heard, if for example a profile has too much gain, it has too much gain, no way of rolling gain back a bit or something like this. (EDIT: post above me states otherwise; I would be intrigued to hear/see that - like a high gain profile, and then rolling back the gain on the profile..)

A big advantage of the Axe FX is, that it works with IR's and that there SHITLOADS of IR's available.

Anyway, as I said earlier - I dont really think they are as comparable as many think they are.

I guess it's all a moot point since you can't actually BUY a Kemper! 90% of the guys hyping it up are in Europe, I've seen less than a dozen actually show up in the states so until they get their production ramped up (even Fractal has more units worldwide with the Axe-Fx II right now, waiting list and all, than Kemper has in the past year or two)

FWIW: Kemper is meanwhile available everywhere here (yes, in Europe), ex stock. Because NOW its actually released - up to some weeks ago, it was only in Beta. For the Axe, I was 10 months on the waiting list. So, 1:1 I'd say.

 

[HighGain510]

FWIW: Kemper is meanwhile available everywhere here (yes, in Europe), ex stock. Because NOW its actually released - up to some weeks ago, it was only in Beta. For the Axe, I was 10 months on the waiting list. So, 1:1 I'd say.

Haha yeah that's more of a distribution issue though. They announced the Kemper over a year ago and still don't have ANY in stock over here. At least there is a wait list for the EU guys with Fractal that some are slipping through! I hear you though, the significantly lower availability of Axe-Fx II units over there vs the Kemper unavailability here are probably similar. You'd think, if nothing else, some of the guys seeking a Fractal unit there would be smart and grab a Kemper and try to work out an international trade deal with folks in the US!

 

[petereanima]

You'd think, if nothing else, some of the guys seeking a Fractal unit there would be smart and grab a Kemper and try to work out an international trade deal with folks in the US!

I smell business...

 

[155]

my problem with it is you have to have a speaker and mic in the equation...if all that was removed I think it could be better...if your speaker and mic are shit its gonna "model" like shit...love the concept though just needs a little work before I buy it.

 

[petereanima]

my problem with it is you have to have a speaker and mic in the equation...if all that was removed I think it could be better...if your speaker and mic are shit its gonna "model" like shit...love the concept though just needs a little work before I buy it.

It can, however this is possible - dont ask me (fuckin' magic? magnets? baby-lost-smokemonster inside?), seperate the amp-sound from the cab+mic sound.

 

[Andromalia]

Point: The Kemper is 4 times as big as the axe fx. No, thanks.

 

[HighGain510]

Point: The Kemper is 4 times as big as the axe fx. No, thanks.

I heard rumors all over the place (probably not true, but who knows) that Kemper was working on a rack-mounted unit since so many people proclaimed their dislike for the form factor. My question is does the Kemper NEED to be as big as the current model, or could they squeeze all that into a 2U or 4U form factor?

 

[Sephael]

can't overlook the fact that AxeFX can do effects, the Kemper doesn't.

 

[MindDusk]

can't overlook the fact that AxeFX can do effects, the Kemper doesn't.

No one really buy the Axe FX for the effects, everyone buys it excuse of the amp/mic/cabinet simulations. Actually 99% would prefer a cheaper version without any of the effects at all...

 

[MindDusk]

Lol. The Kemper v AFXII debate migrated here from TGP.

If you just need cab sims, Two Notes has some new stuff coming that should do the job. Not sure how good their stuff is, but it looks cool. They have some current products on the market too, but they cost about as much as the AFXII.

You also could just buy a used Standard or the GSP1101 (with a firmware change; it can do user IRs, too).

I will look into the two notes stuff... I am mostly intrested in a hardware solution...

 

[xCaptainx]

No one really buy the Axe FX for the effects, everyone buys it excuse of the amp/mic/cabinet simulations. Actually 99% would prefer a cheaper version without any of the effects at all...

Well that's untrue. Petrucci and Vai spring to mind....

 

[MindDusk]

I dont think the kemper will beat the axe ii at all... people seem to ignore that the kemper is a profiling amp... you need ...well ... amps to make profiles from. Plus you dont have all the things the axe has integrated and available like.. lets say... effects! Im not bashing the product... actually i like it a lot.. the idea is awesome and i would buy one if i had... welll... money! To buy the amps i wanna profile and the kemper itself.... so... doesnt make much sense to me...

There is also the new firmware version of the axe ii... ver 5 which is simply brutal... adding simply realistic dynamics! I was pairing it with a pv classic 50 50 but i can now buy a ss power amp with confidence because of the incredible tone im getting... its simply absurd.

I truly believe that both are incredible products but the axe ii is still the more cost effective and by far the best option... being able to pair it with anything... pa, amplifiers, preamps, interfaces... etc... with the ability of being rackable and with a good 2 space case can be the ultimate portable weapon.

Personally I will rely totally on the online comunity to get new profiles..since I will not have any access to expensive amps to profile