Kemper Player - Kemper gives away Morphing for FREE

[Lysander]

They're fiddly to dial in and are often times nowhere near as intuitive as the Fractal ones.

Oh, i think Fractal effects sound better, but i wouldn't call them "intuitive" to dial at all

 

[Frodebro]

Oh, i think Fractal effects sound better, but i wouldn't call them "intuitive" to dial at all

The more gear experience you have, particularly rack gear, the easier it is to quickly understand what is going on in the AxeFX. I had no problem getting up and running with mine. But for someone coming from traditional stomp boxes, I can see where it would glaze some eyes over.

 

[quadgear]

Fwiw, Kemper as a company is VERY German, and even though I have a German passport that is at times really bugging me.
I mean I stopped endorsement because the cpany approach bugged me.
But sadly the do things no one else does.or at least not yet.

Do tell!

What I've noticed is very thoughtful, somewhat thorough designs with a very rigid mindset that is sometimes dismissive of input from customers and very literal/inflexible. They tend to shutdown discussion rather than embracing the conflict.

For example, the lock feature is not under consideration for the Player because there is no on-device UI for it (but there are many other supported features/parameters for the Player that do not have a hardware UI).

Not sure this represents a national stereotype or not!

 

[Ed DeGenaro]

Do tell!

What I've noticed is very thoughtful, somewhat thorough designs with a very rigid mindset that is sometimes dismissive of input from customers and very literal/inflexible. They tend to shutdown discussion rather than embracing the conflict.

For example, the lock feature is not under consideration for the Player because there is no on-device UI for it (but there are many other features/parameters for the Player).

Not sure this represents a national stereotype or not!

As a German I can tell you it does.
Even I can still get like that and I spent more than half my life actually the majority of my adult life outside of Germany.

 

[[Nathan]]

Question for the Kemper fans. Is the Kemper Kabinet setup actually some magical combo / better than other modellers + FR solutions… or is it just another pairing / nothing really that special.

I pretty much skipped all things Kemper but I can probably get my hands on a setup to noodle around with if it’s really worth trying out first hand.

 

[Lysander]

Question for the Kemper fans. Is the Kemper Kabinet setup actually some magical combo / better than other modellers + FR solutions… or is it just another pairing / nothing really that special.

From all accounts, it's... ok. The Kabinet is Kemper's take on speaker modelling, similar to what Line 6's been doing since 2018 with the Powercab line.

 

[AFKAEjay(retired)]

Question for the Kemper fans. Is the Kemper Kabinet setup actually some magical combo / better than other modellers + FR solutions… or is it just another pairing / nothing really that special.

I pretty much skipped all things Kemper but I can probably get my hands on a setup to noodle around with if it’s really worth trying out first hand.

What is fundamentally different is that it aims to emulate guitar speakers…and not, like "FRFR", reproduce the IR sound faithfully…which contains a miced guitar speakers.

I had a kone for a while, never gigged it playing electric, at home it delivered imo. (Next to a real cab)
I did gig it playing acoustic, the “fullrange” mode works for that. A weee bit midrangy compared to studio monitors…but that’s actually a benifit in a live context imo.

 

[JCW308]

This thread is way off topic. Mods. please close. Thanks!

 

[OneEng]

^ Just to add to this - all tech and feature arguments and debates aside - this "group of users" eclipses by several degrees, the groups of users that use Fractal or Helix or QC's in the studio or live / on tour - and for better or worse - and regardless of mine or anyone's else's opinions - that aint changing any time soon.

"If it aint broke ...... "

My experience as well. I see way more Kempers on tour than any other digital amp (or all others for that matter).

They're fiddly to dial in and are often times nowhere near as intuitive as the Fractal ones.

Seriously? I have never felt that dialing in an efx on Fractal was "intuitive"! Capable, flexible, yes, "Intuitive"? Not so much.

Isn’t that the opposite of risk? I thought digital units were meant to be more reliable for the road

My Kemper has been more dependable than my tube amps, but my tube amp rigs were more complex having not just the tube amp and cab to worry about, but also my pedal board and connecting cables. The tube amp RIG was more fragile than my Kemper RIG. Additionally, my tube amp was way more finicky about reproducing the SAME tone night after night while Kemper is rock solid in this regard.

Yet most guys that buy for that reason never been on a tour.

And much more importantly...
Gear breaks...

That is a reality folks don't like, and what's worse is this manufacturers perpetuated myth of "bullet proof"

You name your bullet proof item and you show gear that has broken down on me.

My fave example for this Marshall fwiw, what did the boutiques builder tell us, idealized Marshall or the ones I really find hilarious...it's like a reliable Marshall.

Out of the metric boat load of 70s Marshalls (I'm using those because I had more of those then all boutique amps combine in like a 2:1 ratio) 1...one..uno .... Ever crapped the bed. And that wasn't even on a gig and at that time was a 30 year old amp.

Now as for the boutique guys, and Digi boxes...they all spent more times in the shop or being send back to the manufacturer for repairs.

And that's not even counting shit like ribbon connectors jiggled loose, because "bullet proof" means one should be able to move gear more the as than across the living room cause the wife objects.

My VHT tubes blew on a Thursday before a gigging weekend. Steve Freytte called me personally and helped me bias the new tubes. Pretty good service when the owner of the company calls you for customer support :).

Yeah I believe it. I had a tsl100 which has a laundry list of issues in general, and somehow it lived through 10 years of abuse in and out of the car twice a week plus more.

I guess having a backup in any scenario is the way to go.

Always a good idea to have a backup. I was hoping that the KPP would do that for me, but alas, at its price point (after upgrades needed for it to ACTUALLY be a backup to my Kemper Rack), a used Stage is a better deal.

First off, I love my Kemper. I've used it for recording for years and recently switched to a stage for gigging. I think one of the reasons people say it's 'not as good' is the interface. it's black and white in a color display world and the physical interface is not the easiest. The stage is page after page to get anything done, But I think it sounds fantastic, and the fx are top notch, I don't care what anyone says. The delays and verbs are excellent and very flexible. Little things, like ducking, add so much. And, after a brief period of 'wtf!, I know my way around rig manager enough to make creating and editing performances and rigs very quick. In fact, I own a Fender TMP, and Rig Manager is far superior to Fender's computer based editor. The best thing Kemper could do is create a new, modern stage, with color display, touch screen, maybe scenes? Same OS, just up to date features.

Completely agree. If all they did was improve the GUI (no architectural changes), they would instantly improve the "perception" of how new the device appears.

Perhaps this is EVENTUALLY be what Kemper 2 is.

I would not buy a future Kemper product unless it were at least as accurate as NAM.

Accuracy? Strange that this is so important to people. I don't get it.

It's funny that accuracy is the hill so many chose to die on.

Agree!

I'd say my preference is more towards writing and recording music.

That makes sense. The Axe III Fx is a much better platform for that IMO.

 

[LP59]

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 wouldn't call it a disaster. The upgrade system makes it possible for someone who doesn't want all the features to get a Player for only $699. It does seem like the upgrades aren't selling as well as Kemper hoped though.