Kemper Profiler MK 2

[DrewJD82]

I just saw a Kemper in the wild for the first time in a long time a couple weeks ago. Dude had some killer fucking profiles on it. Cover band doing a lot of 80's tunes. When I saw the Tyler sitting on a stand I knew I was going to hear some good tones and the dude certainly delivered. Alas, that's been the only one on a local-band level for quite a while. I wanted to ask him what profiles he was running out of curiosity but that was the night I was introduced to Joey Belladonna and Derek Roddy and it was a bit cooler to shoot the shit with them than it was talkin' profiles.

The Helix, FM3, QC, AX8 and whatever Headrush model has the touchscreen on it are what I see fairly regularly for modelers over there. Fairly evenly spread out, if you count the HXFX than Line 6 might have a bit more users than the others. Still see more amps than modelers, though.

 

[LP59]

I don't know the situation in the US, but on Thomann, the Player is still in #10 sales rank. That's pretty high. Not sure what that translates to in units sold. And that's just one store of course. Worth mentioning though is that both of NDSP units are ahead, as well as Line6 Helix LT and Fender Tonemaster Pro. Funnily enough, Kemper Stage is in sales rank #7, so it's bought more often than the Player.

I think it's the trajectory that's the issue. Kemper used to top those lists, especially in europe. But now they trail Line6, NDSP, and Fender. In other words, they went from leader to trailing all their competitors.

The Player is a compelling product, but it must be tough for them to move Stages (it's far down on Sweetwater's list) and heads these days.

 

[Antipodes]

To whom am I ringing?

Old and outdated.

 

[BenIfin]

Well ..... I hadn't planned to .. but given the price and the fact that there's no substitute for trying out stuff yourself with your own hands and ears .... I just picked up a mint used Kemper Player for AUD $710 / US $450.

So when the "new" system drops I'm going to give it a good blast / comparative tryout.

As with when they introduced Liquid Profiling, I'm expecting / quite certain that they will get the same 3 or 4 high profile makers to produce a pack each with 10 or so MK2 ground up new profiles that will be available for free on the KPA site to get the MK2 ball rolling.

Let the wait begin :)

 

[2dor]

Is it still summer yet?

 

[Orvillain]

Well ..... I hadn't planned to .. but given the price and the fact that there's no substitute for trying out stuff yourself with your own hands and ears .... I just picked up a mint used Kemper Player for AUD $710 / US $450.

So when the "new" system drops I'm going to give it a good blast / comparative tryout.

As with when they introduced Liquid Profiling, I'm expecting / quite certain that they will get the same 3 or 4 high profile makers to produce a pack each with 10 or so MK2 ground up new profiles that will be available for free on the KPA site to get the MK2 ball rolling.

Let the wait begin :)

Why?

 

[JiveTurkey]

Wh y

 

[laxu]

Tell me why
Ain't nothing but a Kemper!
Tell me why
Ain't nothin' but a mistake
Tell me why
Orvillain never wanna hear you say
I want it that way

 

[BenIfin]

Why?

Yeah - I get it. It was a fantastic price so I wont lose any money on it either way, and the only way I'll know what the MK2 new profiled Amps sound and feel like it for me to try them out for myself.

I have huge respect for many posters here and their advice and knowledge - yourself included - but ultimately, if I want to know what an apple tastes like, I have to take the bite - someone else's description just isn't the same.

Also - and I think I'm pretty much alone on this, I just have this nagging-suspicion-feeling that CK / KPA might actually (?) release something pretty special in terms of sound and feel ..... but maybe I just need to increase my does of meds :)

But regardless, I'll be grabbing a "Stompium" the day they are released !

 

[BenIfin]

Wh y

OK .... now this IS fucking gold ! :)

 

[Jarick]

Well ..... I hadn't planned to .. but given the price and the fact that there's no substitute for trying out stuff yourself with your own hands and ears .... I just picked up a mint used Kemper Player for AUD $710 / US $450.

So when the "new" system drops I'm going to give it a good blast / comparative tryout.

As with when they introduced Liquid Profiling, I'm expecting / quite certain that they will get the same 3 or 4 high profile makers to produce a pack each with 10 or so MK2 ground up new profiles that will be available for free on the KPA site to get the MK2 ball rolling.

Let the wait begin :)

That’s a great deal on the Player. I’m not sure who all will be creating Mk2 profiles out of the gate.

Matt Fig just got a Friedman Jose and I think released a profile pack. May be worth checking out!

 

[LP59]

Also - and I think I'm pretty much alone on this, I just have this nagging-suspicion-feeling that CK / KPA might actually (?) release something pretty special in terms of sound and feel ..... but maybe I just need to increase my does of meds :)

You're not alone. I'm keeping an open mind. Regardless, there are still things Kemper does better than anybody else.

 

[BenIfin]

That’s a great deal on the Player. I’m not sure who all will be creating Mk2 profiles out of the gate.

Matt Fig just got a Friedman Jose and I think released a profile pack. May be worth checking out!

Yeah - the deal on the Player was just way to good to pass up on

In Aug 2023 when Liquid Profiling was released, KPA released 3 free packs from Guidorist, RigBusters and MBritt containing about ~25 or so new LP's ..... I have no inside info but I'll be stunned if they don't do something similar for the MK2 Profiling

 

[Dimiguitar]

I have huge respect for many posters here and their advice and knowledge - yourself included - but ultimately, if I want to know what an apple tastes like, I have to take the bite - someone else's description just isn't the same.

I don't think there's a substitute for that, especially if "feel" comes to play, considering these tests can't atm be emulated online with the audience as participants.

A person may describe to us how a banana ice cream tastes like, but that's distinct from the metaphysically subjective experience of tasting the ice cream itself.

And with audio, even if we can tell more, considering we have ears, it's still likely considerably more comprehensive actually trying out the new MKII stuff ourselves imo.

Also - and I think I'm pretty much alone on this, I just have this nagging-suspicion-feeling that CK / KPA might actually (?) release something pretty special in terms of sound and feel ..... but maybe I just need to increase my does of meds :)

But regardless, I'll be grabbing a "Stompium" the day they are released !

He may. Tonex one has, as far as I know, quite limited processing power but it can still run tonex captures (even if they're slightly less accurate when loaded up).

On which end: I suspect that's what they may do. The profiling is done on computer, where there's more processing power. Then the profiles run on the MKII, since they probably don't require anything like hi res NAM levels of processing power.

But as we see with tonex that can still mean very accurate results. I think Kemper beating everybody is unlikely, but being on par with something like a tonex would be a very real upgrade for Kemper users for accuracy imo.

 

[BenIfin]

But as we see with tonex that can still mean very accurate results. I think Kemper beating everybody is unlikely, but being on par with something like a tonex would be a very real upgrade for Kemper users for accuracy imo.

That's kind of what I'm basing my "optimism" on. If Joe Schmo's like us in the forums know how good Tonex and NAM sound and feel - it would be ludicrous to think that CK / Kemper don't also know.

Given this, I think CK / Kemper will be wanting / aiming to deliver something that is in the same range as Tonex/NAM.

I also think anything less than this would be seen as a huge swing-and-miss by a lot of people - me included.

 

[Jarick]

Yeah - the deal on the Player was just way to good to pass up on

In Aug 2023 when Liquid Profiling was released, KPA released 3 free packs from Guidorist, RigBusters and MBritt containing about ~25 or so new LP's ..... I have no inside info but I'll be stunned if they don't do something similar for the MK2 Profiling

You'll definitely be able to recoup your money on that one.

I'm sure there will be new profiles from Kemper, but curious who would follow up with new releases. Probably Tone Junkie as he's constantly doing profiles, and maybe Choptones as they're constantly pushing new ones as well. Michael Britt doesn't release packs often so I think it would take a while for those. Amalgam has barely released any Kemper stuff to date.

Given there's so many classic amps out there today it may be a while before new profiles are widely available. That's the bummer with things like profiles, you need to reshoot everything, so you need all the amps and equipment and what not (unlike liquid profiles which were just tweaking existing ones).

But as I said earlier in this thread, I've found really good stuff by Matt Fig and Bert Meulendijk (probably butchered the name) sounds much higher fidelity than older profiles from Michael Britt. I'm sure it's how they miked up everything but to me it's more open and much closer to a great modeled amp with a great IR sonically.

 

[Antipodes]

OK .... now this IS fucking gold ! :)

The h part is, anyway. Good score on the KPP.

 

[BenIfin]

You'll definitely be able to recoup your money on that one.

I'm sure there will be new profiles from Kemper, but curious who would follow up with new releases. Probably Tone Junkie as he's constantly doing profiles, and maybe Choptones as they're constantly pushing new ones as well. Michael Britt doesn't release packs often so I think it would take a while for those. Amalgam has barely released any Kemper stuff to date.

Given there's so many classic amps out there today it may be a while before new profiles are widely available. That's the bummer with things like profiles, you need to reshoot everything, so you need all the amps and equipment and what not (unlike liquid profiles which were just tweaking existing ones).

But as I said earlier in this thread, I've found really good stuff by Matt Fig and Bert Meulendijk (probably butchered the name) sounds much higher fidelity than older profiles from Michael Britt. I'm sure it's how they miked up everything but to me it's more open and much closer to a great modeled amp with a great IR sonically.

My best guess is that its going to be most if not all makers doing and sometimes re-doing MK2 "new" Profile packs only from now on.

I have zero expectation that anyone will offer free re-do's of MK1 profiles ..... kind of like Tonex 'V2" .... they are going to have to be all re-done and will also run on the exisiting hardware ..... the new MK2 will also run on the Legacy / MK1 Machines albeit at a lesser quality.

 

[metropolis_4]

My take is I don’t really care about the amp tones at this point. I think the main area of opportunity in modelers is not amp quality improvement but effects quality improvement. And personally the thing I still care about the most is “how well can I control what I need during a live show?”

I already loved the amp tones I got out of Kemper, and I think it’s biggest strength is Performance mode. I love the live workflow! The area I would want to see improved in Kemper is the effects. THAT is where they desperately need better processing power. The effects always felt underpowered and dated.

But Performance mode was amazing. The Stage is still my favorite digital device I ever used for live work. It was just so easy to do everything I wanted; it felt like everything was very well thought out for live playing experience.

 

[Jarick]

My take is I don’t really care about the amp tones at this point. I think the main area of opportunity in modelers is not amp quality improvement but effects quality improvement. And personally the thing I still care about the most is “how well can I control what I need during a live show?”

I already loved the amp tones I got out of Kemper, and I think it’s biggest strength is Performance mode. I love the live workflow! The area I would want to see improved in Kemper is the effects. THAT is where they desperately need better processing power. The effects always felt underpowered and dated.

But Performance mode was amazing. The Stage is still my favorite digital device I ever used for live work. It was just so easy to do everything I wanted; it felt like everything was very well thought out for live playing experience.

That to me is really the biggest strength of Kemper. The core tones are really good (for most genres), the effects are pretty good, the workflow once you have the profiles is great. It's not the most flexible but it would work for most people I think once you adjust. Five different rigs at five different switches, and then four different effect switches.