Kemper Profiler MK 2

[LP59]

So.. without reading 90 pages, is it any good and are you all going to buy it?

Nobody knows. You'll have to wait until this summer when the firmware is ready before it will be possible to say.

 

[LP59]

You don't seem to get that morphing involves an expression pedal. It is not typically a timed ramp or an instantaneous switch.

Sure I do. That's what I mean by gradual morphing. I have many presets on both a Kemper and an AxeFX that morph in interesting ways in response to an expression pedal. All I'm saying is that I humbly disagree with OneEng1 when he says morphing is unique to Kemper.

 

[Sascha Franck]

All I'm saying is that I humbly disagree with OneEng1 when he says morphing is unique to Kemper.

As a genuine feature, it defenitely is. You can mimic some morphing on other units, but it's a royal PITA.

 

[Lysander]

Apparently MIDI is scary for some here.

You can also "morph" by manually tweaking knobs on the device, which i guess is less of a hassle of plugging (and programming) and external MIDI controller to your modeller

Seriously though, no idea why this a contentious issue. Kemper's morphing is cool, and AFAIK Fractal is the only platform which fully supports the same functionality (via controllers/modifiers).

Man, i really want Flux on all Helix devices...

 

[LP59]

Seriously though, no idea why this a contentious issue. Kemper's morphing is cool, and AFAIK Fractal is the only platform which fully supports the same functionality (via controllers/modifiers).

Me neither. I do morphing on both Kemper and Fractal all the time. They are both cool. I wouldn't say one is easier than the other, but you can get deeper with Fractal.

 

[laxu]

No, it's not. With morphing, you can gradually change from status A to status B. Impossible with snapshots.
No idea about how things are in FAS land, but on the Helix, gradual morphing of parameters requires a shitton of assignments that you have to do over and over again.

That's pretty standard expression pedal functionality.

• Hotone. Set up to 4 target parameters for two sets of expression configurations from the Exp menu, and their min/max values. You can control the expression pedal position via MIDI if you don't want to use a treadle.
• Fractal. You could use modifiers and pick whatever source you want for the value change. Could tie them to e.g the Manual or Scene Controller controls so there's one knob that does all the changes.
• Helix. You use either the "hold a knob and turn" quick assignment, or go to the controller assign menu. Set min/max. Set the source to e.g expression pedal and moving the pedal will adjust all the controls.

The only thing different that Kemper afaik does is that you can assign the morph to an onboard footswitch and set the transition times for it.

 

[LP59]

The only thing different that Kemper afaik does is that you can assign the morph to an onboard footswitch and set the transition times for it.

...which you can do with Fractal too. The advantage to Fractal is you can have different times for different parameters.

I'm really sorry I brought this up!

 

[DrewJD82]

For the non-Fractal owners/experienced-

Every knob with orange nipples can be right-clicked to attach a modifier to-

Delay block example -

This is where you set how the modifier modifies-

And how many different ways to activate/modify a modifer-

The Pitch Follower has been my most recent new favorite as I don't even need to be near the pedalboard to switch/morph the effects on, once I hit around the E5 mark the pitch, trem, delay and reverb kick on. Since the AxeFX/FM9 can run two amps, its just a couple clicks to reverse the parameter range so one amp is turning down while the other is turning up.

 

[Sascha Franck]

That's pretty standard expression pedal functionality.

The way Kemper does it is not - simply because you don't have to deal with any individual parameters. Which, depending on how many parameters you want to "morph" can become an immense PITA, let alone you have to set their boundaries manually, too. With the Kemper it's as easy as it gets. Setup status A and B, tell the thing to morph between the two, done.
Really, I have been there with the Helix, I tried to create some wild patches and got mad from having to deal with endless parameters.
Kemper has that nailed incredibly well.

 

[Sascha Franck]

Every knob with orange nipples needs to be be right-clicked to attach a modifier to-

FT important part FY.

Seriously, the options available in FAS (and partially HX) land are great - but I completely fail to see how one would even compare this to the Kemper's morphing feature.

 

[laxu]

The way Kemper does it is not - simply because you don't have to deal with any individual parameters. Which, depending on how many parameters you want to "morph" can become an immense PITA, let alone you have to set their boundaries manually, too. With the Kemper it's as easy as it gets. Setup status A and B, tell the thing to morph between the two, done.
Really, I have been there with the Helix, I tried to create some wild patches and got mad from having to deal with endless parameters.
Kemper has that nailed incredibly well.

I don't see how it's any different though? You still have to choose the parameters you want to morph and how.

 

[ian_dissonance]

Sure I do. That's what I mean by gradual morphing. I have many presets on both a Kemper and an AxeFX that morph in interesting ways in response to an expression pedal. All I'm saying is that I humbly disagree with OneEng1 when he says morphing is unique to Kemper.

Morphing is a single-press action, though. I literally just switched from Helix to Boss for live stuff because the Helix can’t do this (even though the feature is on the HX One). Having to use an expression pedal isn’t the same thing. That was probably the ONLY thing I did like about the Kemper when we had one at the rehearsal room.

 

[eggpl@nt]

FT important part FY.

Seriously, the options available in FAS (and partially HX) land are great - but I completely fail to see how one would even compare this to the Kemper's morphing feature.

Self-clicking orange nipples are expected in the next Axe Edit release, I believe.

 

[Sascha Franck]

I don't see how it's any different though? You still have to choose the parameters you want to morph and how.

Sure (and kinda unfortunately). But all you do is to move the parameter to kinda "initialize" it and *bam*, there we are. It's also a lot easier to alter the target value on either side of the morphing extremes, something, that at least on the Helix, would require you to enter the min/max settings of your controller assignment page - instead of just altering the target parameter itself.

 

[Sascha Franck]

And fwiw, I have absolutely no doubt that you can do more complexed things in the FAS universe. I also know that you can achieve similar things in HX land. But Kemper has the initial setup and general ease of use nailed *much* more than anyone else.

 

[Sascha Franck]

And fwiw, it'd be fantastic if you could do it like this with, say, snapshots in HX land. Could go like this:
- Setup two snapshots as you please.
- Tell the unit to use the EXP pedal to "morph" between all parameters controlled.

Sure, would not exactly make sense on anything that is an on/off parameter, but it'd open up for a whole new world of sound shaping with continous parameters. And while it's possible manually, the setup is a most royal PITA, finetuning some parameter extremes is almost as painful.

 

[ian_dissonance]

And fwiw, it'd be fantastic if you could do it like this with, say, snapshots in HX land. Could go like this:
- Setup two snapshots as you please.
- Tell the unit to use the EXP pedal to "morph" between all parameters controlled.

Sure, would not exactly make sense on anything that is an on/off parameter, but it'd open up for a whole new world of sound shaping with continous parameters. And while it's possible manually, the setup is a most royal PITA, finetuning some parameter extremes is almost as painful.

And you give up an exp pedal unless you use even MORE parameters to like turn it on and off at certain parts of the sweep. It’s definitely a much more convoluted process.

 

[JCW308]

For the non-Fractal owners/experienced-

Every knob with orange nipples can be right-clicked to attach a modifier to-

Delay block example -
View attachment 46211

This is where you set how the modifier modifies-
View attachment 46212

And how many different ways to activate/modify a modifer-

View attachment 46213

The Pitch Follower has been my most recent new favorite as I don't even need to be near the pedalboard to switch/morph the effects on, once I hit around the E5 mark the pitch, trem, delay and reverb kick on. Since the AxeFX/FM9 can run two amps, its just a couple clicks to reverse the parameter range so one amp is turning down while the other is turning up.

Yeah but what a HUGE hassle this is, compared to Kemper's super-easy morphing.

 

[Sascha Franck]

Apparently people like to bash Kemper round these parts for pretty much everything. Which is quite strange.
I mean, I don't own a Kemper (and that likely won't change any day soon), so there's absolutely no reason for me to defend them (or my hypothetical choice of using their product), but even from just having one at home 2 times and playing through some occasionally at other's places, it's pretty obvious that some things are just great.

The reverbs and delays don't sound great? WTF? Outside of FAS land, they're the best you can possibly find on any one-size-fits-all unit.

They have that parameter lock feature, something noone else has in their portfolio - and it's downright fantastic for folks who want to keep parameters the same throughout multiple patches, especially when you play live.

The UI, as much as people like to bash yesteryear's oh-so-ancient monochrome screen, is very. very serviceable, and again, for live players who give a damn about knowing what patch they're on (I know, some geniuses don't need that...), visibility is most excellent.

Same goes for the morphing feature. It's actually *fun* to use it - and I was up and running in minutes when I had a Kemper borrowed for the second time (didn't test the first time around). With all others it's a tedious manual process requiring you to dive into menus over and over again.

And even the profiling, as much as some people may have issues with it (and yes, there *are* issues in terms of accuracy), offers most excellent accessibility, so even the most daft person around could get it going in a matter of minutes.

In a nutshell, the Kemper is a very mature product with some very experienced folks behind it who actually seem to know pretty well what's important for many people, especially the live playing crowd. I defenitely applaud them for that.

 

[[Nathan]]

I don’t dislike a kemper, I dislike a company waiting 10-15 years to sell you the same thing.