Kemper Profiler MK 2

[Boudoir Guitar]

Watching 70's rock gods in the 80s is so painful. How could we let that happen?

Its better than watching them in the 20's...

...or watching many 80's rock gods in the 80's...

 

[Boudoir Guitar]

But same outdated screen?

The screen is terrible...but honestly, its the least offensive "but the same..." in a box this size and price.

 

[2dor]

Kemper mk2 can load the longest impulse response?
~

You can load 2 IRs in series on the Dimehead, the 2nd slot can be upto 60 seconds in length.

Just saaaaayin, you know.

I think their claim is it can load the longest IRs out of any profiler; the Dimehead's just a profile player (can't do onboard training - yet anyway).

 

[Mongillo19]

I don't think we can say much until the "new" profiling is launched.

If nothing truly changed this is a blah "update". If it truly matches that of NAM and Tone X, it's a big step forward, especially with their liquid profiling

 

[timbuck3]

Not limiting for development, but can be limiting for usage. If you have 500 profiles on your device but using a screen that's lower resolution than an Apple Watch it's not going to be a great experience. Even a slightly bigger monochrome screen with higher resolution would have been an improvement. Not the end of the world but it's a missed opportunity when you're releasing new hardware IMO.

The screen was likely easier to just leave it as is less development time less development, money less parts. It was probably last on the list of updates.

 

[GTR37]

I don't think we can say much until the "new" profiling is launched.

If nothing truly changed this is a blah "update". If it truly matches that of NAM and Tone X, it's a big step forward, especially with their liquid profiling

If it can beat the Nano
Honestly the player becomes a lot more interesting to me at it price point
I actually dig the layout and the app

 

[Mongillo19]

If it can beat the Nano
Honestly the player becomes a lot more interesting to me at it price point
I actually dig the layout and the app

I'd like to think it will match the new competition. They have to know these claims will be put through the gauntlet so if it was just hype, it would be a terrible look and easily found out

 

[texhex]

New Profiler algo won't be available until "Summer". May box up and sell my Rack now and wait for a used Mk. 2 to hit the market place this "Winter".

 

[Dom Mcsweeney]

I think their claim is it can load the longest IRs out of any profiler; the Dimehead's just a profile player (can't do onboard training - yet anyway).

To many people, that marketing speak just means 'device', yet to others who scour the details, it's an easy low hanging fruit to criticise - because it's clearly nothing to brag about.

 

[Dom Mcsweeney]

I honestly don't think CAB IR technology can really get better just by saying we now support loading longer IRs.
Most IRs are kept to a certain length, unless you've gone out of your way yourself and made one that is really long - which is dumb because you should have noticed at that point that there isn't anything really relevant to keep after about 100-200ms.

ps.

* If their new IR slot can load reverb IRs at 100,000 samples (approx. 2 seconds @ 48khz), then it's nice for room reverbs etc.
But, you'd want two IR slots in series or else that's not that much use if you can't load a cab IR in the other.

 

[Jarick]

That can all be dealt with by using the editor isn’t it?
I would also prefer a touchscreen ala QC when I look at it isolated, but maybe not at additional cost or having to let go of physical knobs.

To an extent yes, although the Player doesn't have a screen at all.

On my second go round with the Profiler, I actually liked the iPad interface quite a bit. It was very responsive and easy to use. I got a USB powered WiFi ethernet adapter and hooked up to my network it worked really well. But hooking up the Profiler to my Mac was a disaster. The device which was already slow became near unusable and would hang/freeze frequently.

The knobs are neat but honestly I'd rather have a bigger screen taking up some of that real estate. Having the mix knobs for each effect made sense when there were only a few effects but now it's going to be less useful. I think if they had a hardware version of the Fractal's perform knobs that may make more sense?

Right. But the processor upgrade on the Axe Fx III was significant (and had a corresponding screen upgrade because leveraging that new processor on the old green screen would have been a nightmare). This seems like "oh, man, we finally ran out of that chip that went EOL years ago. What's the cheapest drop-in replacement we can use that requires the least change to everything?"

I have had my moments of Kemper fanboy-ism and I do still love the dedication to direct-hardware-access-to-menu-locations like its 1998. And a Kemper is still a GREAT tool that can sound killer with solid functionality.

But at this price point, even used...the functionality just isn't there anymore. Four amp channels per preset in Fractal land makes the lock feature seem quaint. Gapless preset switching is great...but I'd MUCH rather have a device that just easily does everything from a single preset and who gives a toss about gaps. Also, everybody has it now. Glad the patent kept people out of the market of amp capturing for as long as it did, but clearly there is not a ton of faith in that patent given the complete lack of any real legal battles against all the other capture devices that have hit the market in recent years (and I think the patent is done now anyway? Wasn't it 2005?)

The Player form factor is pretty cool, especially for folks already in the Kemper ecosystem. And the powered versions are cool. But everything else...no offense those that own and love their Kempers because they're great...there is just NOTHING compelling about this product line to someone that isn't already a Kemper user.

That's what I see too, the upgrade is really for people who already love the Kemper.

I'm not sure anyone has made yet a killer mini modeler pedal. Kemper doesn't have a screen and the power draw is really high. Tonex screen is bad and the effects are rudimentary. NDSP doesn't have a screen and limited switching (at least now they have more than a couple effects). HX Stomp again hits a really nice middle ground but limited DSP. Boss GT1kCore powerful but dated amp modeling and limited effects. Fractal doesn't have a mini modeler yet.

If it can beat the Nano
Honestly the player becomes a lot more interesting to me at it price point
I actually dig the layout and the app

That's why I finally ordered one to see what the fuss is about. I may hate it and return it after a week or two. Seems like it will be fun for headphone practice or running into an "FRFR". I wish though I could make profiles on it as I now finally have an amp worth profiling!

 

[Jarick]

I honestly don't think CAB IR technology can really get better just by saying we now support loading longer IRs.
Most IRs are kept to a certain length, unless you've gone out of your way yourself and made one that is really long - which is dumb because you should have noticed at that point that there isn't anything really relevant to keep after about 100-200ms.

ps.

* If their new IR slot can load reverb IRs at 100,000 samples (approx. 2 seconds @ 48khz), then it's nice for room reverbs etc.
But, you'd want two IR slots in series or else that's not that much use if you can't load a cab IR in the other.

Agreed, IR's are plenty high resolution. What I'm interested in is what they are going to do in terms of dynamic adjustments. Everyone is moving towards adjustable cab blocks where you can move virtual mics around. What's up their sleeve here?

 

[sleewell]

this is kinda like tool taking 15 years to release a new album and then its basically something they could have done in 1 or 2 months

 

[laxu]

I'm not sure anyone has made yet a killer mini modeler pedal. Kemper doesn't have a screen and the power draw is really high. Tonex screen is bad and the effects are rudimentary. NDSP doesn't have a screen and limited switching (at least now they have more than a couple effects). HX Stomp again hits a really nice middle ground but limited DSP. Boss GT1kCore powerful but dated amp modeling and limited effects. Fractal doesn't have a mini modeler yet.

Hotone Ampero 2 Stomp is pretty much it, even if it's not quite as good sounding as the top dogs (Line6 and Fractal). It can do enough in a single preset, has gapless preset switching, it's amp models and captures are more than decent, and the hardware is a good design overall.

 

[Boudoir Guitar]

this is kinda like tool taking 15 years to release a new album and then its basically something they could have done in 1 or 2 months

(except the OG Kemper was really cool and inspiring when it first came out)

 

[deathbyguitar]

this is kinda like tool taking 15 years to release a new album and then its basically something they could have done in 1 or 2 months

I've been working on that kind of album for 20 years.

 

[mbenigni]

And 3 Kempers already listed in quick succession at TOP

 

[Joshual-L]

My first real digital product to replace tube amps on the road was a kemper stage.
I could never thanks enough kemper to make me buy an fm3 .

Apart from the joke, all I can say is that for the moment it’s just a lot of marketing bullshit to me without any demos.

And I saw their post on instagram and the least I can say is that the guitar tone was just absolutely meeehhh!

 

[Mongillo19]

That's why I finally ordered one to see what the fuss is about. I may hate it and return it after a week or two.

I would have waited until the new profile algo was out then. I doubt it'll be out in a week or two and you had a Kemper recently

 

[ispunk]

After reading the release notes for the 13.0 Beta, it seems the new units are pretty much just a Kemper MkII Turbo style upgrade. The OG Kempers seem to run 99% of the new features via new software. Not seeing any reason to upgrade to Mk II unless you really need a black faceplate.