Kemper Profiler MK 2

[Eagle]

Kemper isn’t a modeler. It’s a profiler. Its only job is to be accurate to the source by its own definition. The last sentence is anecdotal. I couldn’t hear aliasing, still didn’t like the Kemper for the music I play. Low end sounded like stuffed buttholes.

Are you an expert in stuffed butholes?
All an amp has to do is sound good and provide a good playing experience to the user. It also depends enormously on the profile and what you play it through.

 

[MirrorProfiles]

Kemper isn’t a modeler. It’s a profiler. Its only job is to be accurate to the source by its own definition. The last sentence is anecdotal. I couldn’t hear aliasing, still didn’t like the Kemper for the music I play. Low end sounded like stuffed buttholes.

This. If you have an amp sound you like, and want to capture it, you profile it.

If the profile is accurate, then you will like the sound. If it turns out different, you might like the sound, or you might not. Even if you prefer the different sound of the profile, it's not really helpful, because why capture the initial tone in the first place if you're after something different?

IMO there are 2 ways of looking at the Kemper's accuracy:

- its good enough not to matter (subjective because it depends on a LOT of factors). But its certainly the case for some
- its poor, based on objective tests against more modern platforms that have been done repeatedly.

If you don’t think the Kemper falls short on amp sounds against other options in 2025, then it just means you have a lower bar of expectation (not judging at all, it’s just objectively worse).

 

[Eagle]

This. If you have an amp sound you like, and want to capture it, you profile it.

If the profile is accurate, then you will like the sound. If it turns out different, you might like the sound, or you might not. Even if you prefer the different sound of the profile, it's not really helpful, because why capture the initial tone in the first place if you're after something different?

IMO there are 2 ways of looking at the Kemper's accuracy:

- its good enough not to matter (subjective because it depends on a LOT of factors). But its certainly the case for some
- its poor, based on objective tests against more modern platforms that have been done repeatedly.

If you don’t think the Kemper falls short on amp sounds against other options in 2025, then it just means you have a lower bar of expectation (not judging at all, it’s just objectively worse).

Or you like the way is sounds.

 

[ian_dissonance]

Are you an expert in stuffed butholes?
All an amp has to do is sound good and provide a good playing experience to the user. It also depends enormously on the profile and what you play it through.

As a matter of fact, stuffed buttholes are my specialty. And low end a guitarist in E/D isn’t even the same octave that I’m listening for. Nothing wrong with it of the Kemper works for you, make music.

 

[MirrorProfiles]

Or you like the way is sounds.

If the profile is accurate, then you will like the sound. If it turns out different, you might like the sound, or you might not. Even if you prefer the different sound of the profile, it's not really helpful, because why capture the initial tone in the first place if you're after something different?

 

[Eagle]

It can sound essentially the same and make the playing experience more forgiving.

 

[Orvillain]

I'm an amateur enthusiast when it comes to stuffed buttholes.

 

[MirrorProfiles]

It can sound essentially the same and make the playing experience more forgiving.

I literally go over this in what I said. Sometimes it will be passable, sometimes it won't. The fact you have little control over how close it is is a total nuisance compared to pretty much all other modern capture tech these days, which vary significantly less. Playing experience is again a massive variable, but on the whole I think it feels a bit stiff and not particularly enjoyable compared to some amps. Certain amps feel similar to it. Pot luck again, but compared to NAM I think the feel is pretty unrealistic.

I've worked on enough recordings that use a Kemper (including my own), and frankly I'd be pretty happy if I never heard one again. The compromise just isn't worth it IMO. It's worth remembering there are plenty of guys in this thread (like me and @Orvillain ) who were heavy Kemper users for years, and have each made hundreds of profiles. I'd suggest those who've used the platform to make models extensively probably have a better idea of where it falls short than the users who just play those made by others (which are by far in the majority).

 

[Eagle]

I'm an amateur enthusiast when it comes to stuffed buttholes.

Maybe they could introduce a “stuffed buttholes “ parameter then you could set it according to taste.

 

[DLC86]

Kemper isn’t a modeler. It’s a profiler. Its only job is to be accurate to the source by its own definition.

And that's also the reason why it became so popular in the first place, it made the promise to sound exactly like the profiled amp but that remained just a promise for the most part, cuz roughly matching the frequency response and the gain amount isn't equal to "sounding exactly like that amp".
But since our ears are more sensitive to those two things, most people believed and still believe that claim.

PS: on a sidenote, in preparation for the arrival of a valeton GP-5, yesterday I was doing a few NAM captures of some of the amps I use on my fm9 and I have to say, despite its best-in-class accuracy and being way better than kemper, there's still something different between the captures and the fractal models in terms of feel, note envelope and dynamics, especially noticeable on low end and palm mutes.
That's something I didn't notice previously and at first I thought I screwed up something during the reamp, but nope... Made 4 models and in all 4 I could hear the same difference.

 

[Eagle]

And that's also the reason why it became so popular in the first place, it made the promise to sound exactly like the profiled amp but that remained just a promise for the most part, cuz roughly matching the frequency response and the gain amount isn't equal to "sounding exactly like that amp".
But since our ears are more sensitive to those two things, most people believed and still believe that claim.

PS: on a sidenote, in preparation for the arrival of a valeton GP-5, yesterday I was doing a few NAM captures of some of the amps I use on my fm9 and I have to say, despite its best-in-class accuracy and being way better than kemper, there's still something different between the captures and the fractal models in terms of feel, note envelope and dynamics, especially noticeable on low end and palm mutes.

Axe is a lot different in feel on clean and break up than the real amps even when it sounds very similar. The Kemper is the opposite.

 

[DLC86]

Axe is a lot different in feel on clean and break up than the real amps even when it sounds very similar. The Kemper is the opposite.

Not my experience at all with axe fx III and fm9... If by "axe" you mean axe fx II or axe fx III with FW v1.00, maybe I could agree.

PS: I think some prefer kemper's feel simply because it's over-compressed and feels kinda like a loud tube amp at low volume... But as soon as you raise the volume that falls apart.

 

[Eagle]

Not my experience at all with axe fx III and fm9... If by "axe" you mean axe fx II or axe fx III with FW v1.00, maybe I could agree.

Axe 3 latest firmware Fryette power amp and f12x200 equipped cabs.

 

[KingsXJJ]

Thanks. I would *guess* then that the reason the MK1 cannot *fully* run MK 2 Profiles is due deliberately coding the new MK2 Profiles to only run at a lower rez in the MK1 ... it would appear to me that there is no physical / technical / hardware problem ... just Kempers way of [potentially] forcing current MK1 owners to buy a MK2 if they want to run the MK2 Profiles in %100 full rez.

MKII - MKI = 1.

Look, if one needs to run the new profiles, one needs a MKII. They should explain the math behind that clearly in the FAQ. It’s leading to a lot of confusion. How can you get any pudding if you don’t eat your meat?

 

[DLC86]

Axe 3 latest firmware Fryette power amp and f12x200 equipped cabs.

See my PS above.

Anyway, let's not turn what I said previously into a "this vs that" debate.
I'll just say this fwiw:
"For me", "personally", "ymmv" and all that kind of stuff... Fractal thru a class D power amp and 2x12 cab with traditional guitar speakers (and with a few tweaks on the SIC and speaker parameters) is the closest thing to the few tube amps I have directly compared modelers/profilers to. Kemper didn't even come close.

 

[Eagle]

See my PS above.

Anyway, let's not turn what I said previously into a "this vs that" debate.
I'll just say this fwiw:
"For me", "personally", "ymmv" and all that kind of stuff... Fractal thru a class D power amp and 2x12 cab with traditional guitar speakers (and with a few tweaks on the SIC and speaker parameters) is the closest thing to the few tube amps I have directly compared modelers/profilers to. Kemper didn't even come close.

I couldn’t disagree more.

 

[Dimiguitar]

PS: I think some prefer kemper's feel simply because it's over-compressed and feels kinda like a loud tube amp at low volume... But as soon as you raise the volume that falls apart.

I've made blind tests where guitarists will pick Kemper over the real amp each time for "feel".

If Kemper gets more accurate, I wonder if people will actually prefer the results of the updated profiling vs the old one.

 

[DLC86]

I've made blind tests where guitarists will pick Kemper over the real amp each time for "feel".

That's exactly what I would have expected for such a test

 

[KingsXJJ]

Axe4 in 2027/2028; to pull a completely invented timeframe out of my ass.

That timeframe stinks.

 

[[Nathan]]

The merry go round, goalpost shifting and cope is amazing. Just because the kemper isn’t accurate and is lesser than today’s profiling tech doesn’t mean
- it can’t be used for gigs
- can’t provide professional sound
- can’t be used on records
- can’t be preferable over original amps

All these things and more can be true. The device is obviously robust, can service touring musicians and studios and was a pioneering approach when it came out. But at the same time it’s just not accurate to the source and pretty much all of us would like to see it be more accurate.

To bury your head in the sand and make excuses why it doesn’t need to be accurate just misses the point of striving for better and better tech. I’m happy fractal push the envelope and it sounds like helix are doing the same. I hope kemper does as well but all signs point to more of the same, and at its core that’s pretty much the collective disappointment with the mk2 and marketing involved

Of course nothing is final it could really deliver on these promises, but we’ll wait for the verdict on that.