Kemper Player - Kemper gives away Morphing for FREE

[JCW308]

Those of us who paid to upgrade our Kemper Players are not happy this week with the news that Kemper is now giving away morphing for free, after we paid to have this feature. In my case, I paid twice, since I have two Player units. What are your thoughts on this? I think the whole "level" thing is a disaster. Honestly if the Tonex had better reverbs (like Kemper's ionosphere) I would be DONE with Kemper.

 

[BenIfin]

Those of us who paid to upgrade our Kemper Players are not happy this week with the news that Kemper is now giving away morphing for free, after we paid to have this feature. In my case, I paid twice, since I have two Player units. What are your thoughts on this? I think the whole "level" thing is a disaster. Honestly if the Tonex had better reverbs (like Kemper's ionosphere) I would be DONE with Kemper.

I get that prices change subject to demand etc.... but yep. Gotta agree.

It would *probably* be *ok* (?) if the Level Packs weren't so freakin' expensive.

Sadly I think Kemper is doing this to jack-up [probably] poorer than expected sales and if that is the case, I think they will "feature-creep-down" other stuff to keep the units moving.

The Player and L1, L2 and L3 pricing structure never made sense as a new Player with all 3 Level's is just too close to the full floor unit

If it were me, I'd be pretty annoyed too

 

[Orvillain]

Honestly if the Tonex had better reverbs (like Kemper's ionosphere) I would be DONE with Kemper.

A pedal can solve that.

 

[Orvillain]

Also, yes. I already had a pretty dim view of Kemper, just based on the quality of their tech. But now this shitty business practice?? Nah. Not a fan of that.

 

[[Nathan]]

The levels were bound to drop in price at some point. Was a terrible idea from the start.
Wonder how many people bought the levels vs non buyers. Could be possible if they just charged $50 extra for the unit and gave all the functionality it might have yielded the same $$$ to them at the end of the day without the kerfuffle, annoyed customers and bad PR.

 

[GTR37]

The levels were bound to drop in price at some point. Was a terrible idea from the start.
Wonder how many people bought the levels vs non buyers. Could be possible if they just charged $50 extra for the unit and gave all the functionality it might have yielded the same $$$ to them at the end of the day without the kerfuffle, annoyed customers and bad PR.

Agreed or $150 even honestly at 799 full loaded it would have still be a contender
I don’t know how they did not think this would not annoy people
Now it looks like they have dropped the price on the levels , and someone said they have added new stuff to the original LVL 1 , that’s even more of a PITA if true

 

[JCW308]

The levels were bound to drop in price at some point. Was a terrible idea from the start.
Wonder how many people bought the levels vs non buyers. Could be possible if they just charged $50 extra for the unit and gave all the functionality it might have yielded the same $$$ to them at the end of the day without the kerfuffle, annoyed customers and bad PR.

That's what they should have done from the start. Just make the unit a little more expensive and include all features. No level nonsense.

And giving away for FREE features that we already paid for....just not good at all.

 

[Jarick]

Line 6 tried it once with the Pod XT about 20 years ago...probably a good reason we haven't seen them do it again.

 

[Byrdman]

And giving away for FREE features that we already paid for....just not good at all.

Yeah, I have no dog in this hunt, but that's just bad business to hit their most loyal customers with this shit. They should at least offer a credit for what you guys paid for tone packs or anything else they charge for, IMO...

 

[GTR37]

Yeah, I have no dog in this hunt, but that's just bad business to hit their most loyal customers with this shit. They should at least offer a credit for what you guys paid for tone packs or anything else they charge for, IMO...

Sadly though that seems pretty much a common business model the product/ sales world these days
Loyal customers get ignored and potential new ones get the perks
Same with cable plans at least up here in Canada
New customers get the deals for the first year at great pricing but then …

 

[AFKAEjay(retired)]

I’m 100% ok with “lvls” cause I believe in the end it’s an overall costreduction for all users, compared to offering different hardware with different capabilities to service different requirements of users.

Taking functionality out of LVL II without replacing it with something shiny is obviously raising eyebrows.
Offcourse they will have to enrich their lowest lvl to remain competitive over time, so it will never be set in stone…but they need to figure out how to do it without alienating early adaptors.
If I’m correct they lowered the price of lvl II with 50,- bucks…not sure that was in sync with this update.

 

[paisleywookiee]

Also, yes. I already had a pretty dim view of Kemper, just based on the quality of their tech. But now this shitty business practice?? Nah. Not a fan of that.

Yeah, regardless of the sound quality, they can fuck off with this shit. Paid add-ons, AND you've got to pay twice if you've got two units? JFC

 

[ian_dissonance]

I’m 100% ok with “lvls” cause I believe in the end it’s an overall costreduction for all users, compared to offering different hardware with different capabilities to service different requirements of users.

Taking functionality out of LVL II without replacing it with something shiny is obviously raising eyebrows.
Offcourse they will have to enrich their lowest lvl to remain competitive over time, so it will never be set in stone…but they need to figure out how to do it without alienating early adaptors.
If I’m correct they lowered the price of lvl II with 50,- bucks…not sure that was in sync with this update.

Seems like they’re probably out of room to go anywhere if they’re pulling stuff “down” to entice people instead adding new features from the bottom.

 

[Tanax]

I’m 100% ok with “lvls” cause I believe in the end it’s an overall costreduction for all users, compared to offering different hardware with different capabilities to service different requirements of users.

Taking functionality out of LVL II without replacing it with something shiny is obviously raising eyebrows.
Offcourse they will have to enrich their lowest lvl to remain competitive over time, so it will never be set in stone…but they need to figure out how to do it without alienating early adaptors.
If I’m correct they lowered the price of lvl II with 50,- bucks…not sure that was in sync with this update.

Yes. I'm also perfectly fine with levels. Other companies will require you to upgrade the entire unit for a FAR more expensive price, let's say to support dual amp blocks. With Kemper's approach, you would just pay for a software unlock. It's also way faster than having to wait for shipping of a new unit, possibly also selling off the old unit. Seems just.. wasteful.

That said, I'm also completely understanding that giving stuff away for free now that people previously had to pay for.. that's gonna leave a sour taste in anybody's mouth. Lowering the prices is OK and completely understandable, but moving stuff to the "free" tier is not good..

 

[Lysander]

To this day i don't understand how anyone at Kemper Amps figured tiered updates was a great idea.

 

[laxu]

To this day i don't understand how anyone at Kemper Amps figured tiered updates was a great idea.

Probably the same person who thought not putting a display on the Kemper Player was a good idea. If Hotone can offer a full color touchscreen for several hundred euros less, cost or space on the form factor are not the problems.

The level system is also stupid when it's just gatekeeping features that have existed on the larger units for years.

I feel like when designing the Kemper Player, they were way too concerned about not cannibalizing the sales of the larger, more expensive Stage and Toaster/Rack.

 

[Lysander]

I feel like when designing the Kemper Player, they were way too concerned about not cannibalizing the sales of the larger, more expensive Stage and Toaster/Rack.

Ultimately, this is it.

Kemper effectively created a pedal-sized version of the Profiler box they first released 13 years ago, and can't seem to price it accordingly.

 

[laxu]

Ultimately, this is it.

Kemper effectively created a pedal-sized version of the Profiler box they first released 13 years ago, and can't seem to price it accordingly.

To be fair to Kemper, they have updated a lot of stuff over the years on the platform so it's not like it's the same thing they originally released.

Kemper could have positioned the Player as a "Honey we shrunk the Kemper!" product by making it operate like the bigger boxes, just with a smaller screen, less knobs under the screen and without some of the buttons. Then you'd just buy the Player if portability matters, Stage for full footswitching (or the Kemper Remote for the Player), or Profiler/Rack if you want the powered amp head or rackable experience.

 

[JCW308]

Well this is interesting. I just got BANNED on the Kemper Forum for voicing my displeasure with what they just did. So needless to say, I will be returning both of my Kemper setups.

 

[AFKAEjay(retired)]

Probably the same person who thought not putting a display on the Kemper Player was a good idea. If Hotone can offer a full color touchscreen for several hundred euros less, cost or space on the form factor are not the problems.

I’m not confident it was cost that drove that designchoice.
I for one would not want to trade physical knobs and/or bigger size..for a screen.
I like the concept of “as many knobs on the unit as possible”…and use an iPad/phone when you need to edit details.