Kemper Profiler MK 2

[Mongillo19]

Right on. I’d like to snag an open box for $500 flat.

I tried to tell you there was one for sub $500 open box

 

[KingsXJJ]

Well, that’s why I asked for some evidence of it, it’s not that I don’t care about kindness, I just don’t see straight up personal attacks on other members at any frequency I’d call often. When I’ve seen it happen where I felt it was uncalled for, I’ve said something or a mod took action to stop it.

If I don’t think it’s uncalled for; IE- people continuously engaging in a forum slap fight and neither wants to walk away from it so inevitably someone starts packing the snowballs a little tighter, well, that’s why we made the Thunderdome that never really got used, but the intent was to allow them to sort out their differences on their own.

Thanks. I didn’t know about the Thunderdome. Perhaps I should have said “often enough” in that it was often enough for me to even consider raising it. But I said what I’d hoped to say. From what I’ve seen afterward it was heard. I sense a bit of shift from some and I’m grateful and I noticed. My intent was never to point anyone out by name or judge this place or how it’s managed. I’d like to have this entire episode classified as done and with a positive outcome for everyone. I hope that sits well with everybody.

 

[OneEng]

Yeah I think the NC is a really a great price point, especially with the 2.0 update. I’m considering one too, especially if I can find a used one.

It is still pretty thin in efx and the quality of those efx, but at $550 there really isn't anything else (except ToneX). Seems like everything else STARTS at $700 and works its way up over 1K. Seems mad to me for a 3 button device.

Perhaps soon you will be able to get a used Kemper Stage MK1 for that kind of money? Probably not though. They seem to still be going for $900-$1200, but a rack or head is going for $700.

Seen quite a few HX Stomp's go for ~$500 for open box items.

These things certainly aint cheap!

 

[KingsXJJ]

It is still pretty thin in efx and the quality of those efx, but at $550 there really isn't anything else (except ToneX). Seems like everything else STARTS at $700 and works its way up over 1K. Seems mad to me for a 3 button device.

Perhaps soon you will be able to get a used Kemper Stage MK1 for that kind of money? Probably not though. They seem to still be going for $900-$1200, but a rack or head is going for $700.

Seen quite a few HX Stomp's go for ~$500 for open box items.

These things certainly aint cheap!

Which 3 button device are you referring to? You lost me there LOL. Just curious, not disagreeing with anything. A Stomp maybe?

 

[hunter]

I think there are two main reasons people like to diss Kemper (and actually I was one of them until I got my Stage):
1. Kemper was the first to profile amps and actually make famous pros ditch their amps live. There is the common theme of „amp sounds better than profiler“ which is glued to the Kemper product.
2. Many people tried Kempers when they came out around 2012. But profiles and effects weren’t as good back then as they are today. There have been significant improvements in (Liquid) profiling, the internal effects and the quality of commercial profiles, but if you made up your mind over ten years ago, it’s gonna be hard to change that without the first hand experience

 

[DrewJD82]

I think there are two main reasons people like to diss Kemper (and actually I was one of them until I got my Stage):
1. Kemper was the first to profile amps and actually make famous pros ditch their amps live. There is the common theme of „amp sounds better than profiler“ which is glued to the Kemper product.
2. Many people tried Kempers when they came out around 2012. But profiles and effects weren’t as good back then as they are today. There have been significant improvements in (Liquid) profiling, the internal effects and the quality of commercial profiles, but if you made up your mind over ten years ago, it’s gonna be hard to change that without the first hand experience

While #1 definitely applies at pretty much every other, non-company specific forum, it's safe to say a good 90% of our members, if not more, are using modelers/profilers. This place kinda exists as a result of many of being sick of #1.

I've personally never played through one, but I also don't doubt it's capabilities to sound great because I've heard it do exactly that countless times since bands started using them live. I'm just not sold on the merits of selling an MK2 at that price for what it's actually offering.

 

[LP59]

I think there are two main reasons people like to diss Kemper (and actually I was one of them until I got my Stage):

iMHO it’s pretty rare to see anyone diss Kemper. At least until recently. The Player level system seems to have generated some negative reactions. And the Mk2 rollout has been a bit of a mess. But those are recent events. Before that, it was rare to see anyone diss Kemper.

 

[quadgear]

Considering there’s nothing on the unit that justifies the price to begin with, they’d definitely never sell a $1000 Player.

They are selling (a lot of) Level III Players which is about $1k.

My guess is more are via the slippery slope upgrade path.

It is a lot of money for limited I/O, no display (sheesh, there's a clear spot for a tiny one), no fx loop, etc. But it has pretty much everything else, the sounds are full blown great and the device is as powerful as the big units.

It occupies a unique place right now among very portable, full featured, "top tier" units. I was hoping Fractal, Line6, a nam player, or Neural would have a unit that worked better for me. Maybe 12-18 months.

 

[Ed DeGenaro]

And that's precisely what's not true. There's the "foldback effect", throwing these frequencies back into the well audible spectrum - and even in a pretty weird way. Such as when you bend a note up, the thrown back frequencies would go down.
Orvillain has posted this before, but here it is again:

not that I disagree but I find it hilarious that we want amp sims that ghosts and cabs that have cone cry and speakers distortion.

I mean the ring modulator pitch bend sound is part and parcel of what happens in a cranked JMP.
And in gear that lets me turn it off I won’t because then it feels just weird.
If I hadn’t spent a lifetime getting used to it I likely would never want that either.

 

[Ed DeGenaro]

Well, that’s the thing. An FM3T is far more appealing than a KPP. And for $300 less than a loaded KPP, I’d rather have a Stomp.

It’s not that I think the KPP is a turd, it’s that it’s $300 overpriced for what it is, fully loaded.

The beauty of different opinions, I’m still happy with the KPP which lvl is literally half of an fm3t in Germany.

Heck even at lvl3 it’s still 450 less.

So now I couldn’t be arsed to go back to Fractal at EU prices.

 

[Eagle]

The original power rack is very useful to me. I plug it in to a Mesa Thiele and basically enjoy using it. I don’t know if I will swap it for the mk2 but I may do down the line. Is it perfectly accurate? No but it feels more like an amp particularly on clean to break up than my Axe 3 does. . So did my old DV Mark multiamp though.

 

[Orvillain]

not that I disagree but I find it hilarious that we want amp sims that ghosts and cabs that have cone cry and speakers distortion.

I mean the ring modulator pitch bend sound is part and parcel of what happens in a cranked JMP.
And in gear that lets me turn it off I won’t because then it feels just weird.
If I hadn’t spent a lifetime getting used to it I likely would never want that either.

None of that is really relevant to the topic of aliasing though.

Noticeable or extreme aliasing - which is what the Kemper demonstrably has - is a by-product of a poor system design.

Wolf notes, cone cry, all that stuff... those are inherent products of analog rigs that could or could not be desirable to model. "Ring modulator pitch bend sound" with a cranked JMP is an aesthetic choice that you make.

Aliasing is not an aesthetic choice. It is the sonic result of a products design flaw.

 

[Ed DeGenaro]

None of that is really relevant to the topic of aliasing though.

Noticeable or extreme aliasing - which is what the Kemper demonstrably has - is a by-product of a poor system design.

Wolf notes, cone cry, all that stuff... those are inherent products of analog rigs that could or could not be desirable to model. "Ring modulator pitch bend sound" with a cranked JMP is an aesthetic choice that you make.

Aliasing is not an aesthetic choice. It is the sonic result of a products design flaw.

You’re hilarious, ghost notes in a Plexi are as much a design flaw since you can up the filtering and get rid of it.

But let’s not side track any thread around here since regurgitating the same mantra in numerous threads simultaneously makes much more sense.

 

[Orvillain]

You’re hilarious

no u

 

[Eagle]

The effect that has on feel is good to some people. That’s why old classic rack fx are still in use and con sound better even if not accurate.

 

[Karl Houseknecht]

Considering there’s nothing on the unit that justifies the price to begin with, they’d definitely never sell a $1000 Player.

A new Player with level 3 is $977. They’re selling those now, right?

 

[Dimiguitar]

2. Many people tried Kempers when they came out around 2012. But profiles and effects weren’t as good back then as they are today. There have been significant improvements in (Liquid) profiling, the internal effects and the quality of commercial profiles, but if you made up your mind over ten years ago, it’s gonna be hard to change that without the first hand experience

There was the aliasing fix and a fix for bass end. But some wanted more upgrades in the core accuracy of profiling, which remained unchanged aside from the early bass end fix.

But here we are with mkII :) At least the EQ match portion of profiling seems improved.

 

[molul]

A new Player with level 3 is $977. They’re selling those now, right?

I'm guessing that will be the price for Helix Stadium Stomp.

 

[Orvillain]

There was the aliasing fix and a fix for bass end. But some wanted more upgrades in the core accuracy of profiling, which remained unchanged aside from the early bass end fix.

But here we are with mkII :) At least the EQ match portion of profiling seems improved.

The aliasing fix wasn't good enough, unfortunately.

 

[Eagle]

The aliasing fix wasn't good enough, unfortunately.

The profiles you liked must of really had issues because it doesn’t bother me that much. I like the way it sounds and feels. I do use it a lower volume and I don’t use IRs with it so that is probably making a difference.