Kemper Profiler MK 2

[LP59]

It really is too bad that they didn’t thoroughly update the signal routing capabilities, That kinda keeps them permanently behind just about everyone else at that level in the market. Even dual paths would have been a huge improvement.

As you can see from the past 14 years, because of the way their audio processing is designed, they can only make small changes. And, because the Mk2 doesn't add any cpu power, they were limited in the kinds of effect blocks they could add. Dual amps or even dual paths seems to be infeasible in the Kemper.

 

[Orvillain]

I’m not excusing aliasing being more prevalent in Kemper. I’m accepting the premise of that assertion. Period.
I’m asking you to have some perspective.

I have perspective. Partly it is based on owning 6 Kempers over the years, partly it is based on DSP experience, music tech experience, live experience, and audio engineering experience.

In spite of the aliasing being ‘however bad’ you can prove it to be the reality is: it isn’t bad enough to hamper Kempers efforts to create and sell their profiling equipment with great success. Kemper profiling has been very well received since 2011.

Perhaps it could've been better received if the signal quality were better? Neither of us can answer that question.

My take on your diatribe about Kemper and aliasing is you have narrowed your perspective solely to aliasing and seem to suggest everything else that Kemper can build a product on has little to no importance because aliasing has infected their product. Just because you say you haven’t done that doesn’t mean you haven’t. Your words prove it. Including your post I’m quoting from.

That i an incorrect take. Just because I haven't said a thing, doesn't mean I haven't said a thing. Okay genius.

You suggest success of sales, recordings using Kempers and industry accolades are an excuse, that I cite them to prop up an insincere question.

Bullshit. The question is sincere.

The question - why do I jump in to diminish the Kemper instead of wondering why people don't care more about aliasing - is a thoroughly insincere question. It shows that you have not been tracking my history with Kemper, my posts on Kemper going back years, or my various pro's and cons lists of the Kemper. It shows that you're just latching onto whatever the latest thing is that I've said, and are trying to use it as a weapon instead of being willing to actually have a sincere discussion about the topic. You just want to go on the attack. Which is rather ironic.

Here’s another. Why do you feel compelled to claim people just can’t hear it therefore their appreciation of Kemper is not a valid reason to support their choice? Maybe they don’t hear enough of it to be concerned?!?

I literally said: It means most people either can’t hear it, don’t care, or don’t know what it is.

So genuinely.... maybe try reading what I write instead of jumping at the bit to post your absolute twaddle.

Sure you’ll say you don’t mind their choice but then you’ll go on citing aliasing like a priest sloshing holy water on them as if they are possessed by the devil.

This is projection.

The reality of it is Kemper didn’t set out to build a perfect, aliasing free product.

How do you know what they set out to build? Are you on the development team? Were you on the beta team? Coz I was, and I'm pretty sure based on 18 years of actually making music products, I have more insight than you'd imagine.

Certainly in their efforts they would have tried to get it as perfect as reasonably possible but the goal was to introduce a viable product that would be a hit with musicians. Not a laboratory instrument that can defeat any aliasing in the process of mimicking a guitar amp.

You're acting like the aliasing is the only thing I've got an issue with, and it isn't. You're also acting like the aliasing is only so-so and isn't a real issue when it comes to audio quality. Which is wrong. The Kemper aliases in the audible range. The previous video we all posted a few times shows this. Did you even watch it? Do you even know what it is that we're actually talking about it? It doesn't seem like it. It seems like you are the priest splashing holy water to try and defeat a perceived demon. Very silly.

You could quite easily have engaged in good faith and with sincerity, and we could've had a reasonable exchange of views.

They built the Kemper Profiling Amp and it sounds good enough to be a viable product. They then went on to prove that over the last 14 years.

Sure. I've literally NEVER ARGUED OTHERWISE. GO BACK AND CHECK IF YOU DON'T BELIEVE ME.

That success shows that any aliasing in Kemper is of a low enough level that your peers at large in the music industry disagree with your level of alarm. And they probably would take offense at your describing them as inadequate judges of good replication of a guitar amp sound.

You can fucking spare me the faux offense and the righteous indignation, I couldn't give two fucks.

The fact that you see the mention of the success of the product as a shield from criticism is interesting. Are you the defender of the consumer? You here to defend us from our ‘lack of good judgement’? You the white knight, taking on the black knight?

Given that for my job for the last 18 years, one of the primary parts of my job was to represent the end user, then yes, actually I have a strong background in defending the consumer. In fact a large part of why I just quit my music tech job was because I was tired of the users perspective not getting through to the powers that be. Life's too short for that bullshit.

But it's neither here nor there. Because I'm not posting to "white knight" - what a thorougly stupid fucking edgelord term that is, are you fucking 12???? - the entire point of posting is to engage in a scientific, logical, analytic debate.

@MirrorProfiles appreciates it. @[Nathan] appreciates it. Pretty sure @DLC86 appreciates it. Yknow.. the technically minded guys around here are vibing with it.

But you?? You just want to try to shut people down.

You have done more than your share of declaring your criticism. We get that….yet you insist we don’t get it, that we are all deaf or in denial etc.
What is the real point you are trying to make? It isn’t that Kemper has aliasing. You wore that out a long time ago. You are after a different result. What is it?

I'll be the judge of when I've worn something out thanks. I don't bow down to priests or zealots.

 

[Frodebro]

As you can see from the past 14 years, because of the way their audio processing is designed, they can only make small changes. And, because the Mk2 doesn't add any cpu power, they were limited in the kinds of effect blocks they could add. Dual amps or even dual paths seems to be infeasible in the Kemper.

I still have my power rack and still really like the profiles I have in it, might have to throw that bad boy in a rack with the Axe FX and get freaky with it.

 

[Orvillain]

I think the truth will land somewhere between.

I don't see how it is going to be a success if this is the case.

Kemper are so long in the tooth now that they really need to shake shit up. Quad Cortex really ate into their pie. So did Line6 with Helix. Fractal have always had their own thing, but I seriously cannot imagine that the Axe FX 3, FM9, and FM3 product launches didn't hit the bottom line. This is all even before ToneX came on the scene.

You can now get really fantastic amp modelling in small portable boxes from Universal Audio for example.

My outsider perspective is, they're really struggling to generate revenue, which is why they're bleeding their fanbase dry with level upgrades and the like.

It is looking more and more like MK2 is just more of THAT, than anything revolutionary. But I sincerely hope I'm wrong. Because if Kemper MK2 could capture my amps better than in my video here:


Then I will buy one. Simple as.

I like some of the effects, I don't mind the workflow, I like the portability, I like the usability features.

I just don't think MK1 sounds as good as the competition. It always sounds congested, cock-wah'd, grainy, fizzy, distant, and boomy, all at the same time.

And as long as Kemper threads exist, I will share my opinion; gatekeepers be damned. If y'all don't like it, do the childish thing and block me or mute me. I don't give a monkeys.

 

[paisleywookiee]

To be fair, yes, mk2 is not "New flagship next gen device", and Kemper hasn't marketed it as that.

The problem is that the first profiler was released in 2011. A next gen was expected, and now that mk2 is available, nobody could realistically expect an actual next gen flagship in a few years.

“Kemper MkII! It’s slightly better! Well, maybe. Once the new firmware is out later this summer TBD! Get your computer ready! You’ll definitely need it now!”

 

[Enchilada Jones]

And as long as Kemper threads exist, I will share my opinion; gatekeepers be damned. If y'all don't like it, do the childish thing and block me or mute me. I don't give a monkeys.

But clearly you do give a damn. Your devotion to the crusade is relentless, as you proudly testify it is.
A device that your years of professional and exclusive experience have gifted you with the ability to know how bad it is/was….and yet you apparently bought it six times!

Six MkI Kempers!
No wonder you are so butt hurt by aliasing. It lives rent free in your head.

 

[Jarick]

It just seems more and more like Kemper trying to get ahead of a competitor (Line 6) than anything at this point.

For example, @Jarick do you think you would have tried the KPP if the Stadium had been announced prior to KP Mkii news? Or would you have just saved your money?

At the very least I think it would have made the decision a little less certain

Probably not. I wanted to profile my Friedman amp in different gain levels and mix with effects and was curious to try something like the player or Nano anyway.

I don’t get much joy out of playing the Helix stuff now though i like the effects. Same with Fractal I don’t get much joy out of it though it’s better than the Helix. The Fractal is bright and a bit sterile sounding with kind of a hollow midrange and low end doesn’t sound right. But it’s the best modeler I’ve tried.

My Friedman kicks ass and showed me what a good amp can sound and feel like, but it’s kind of a two trick pony and I don’t have a channel switcher. So was somewhere between trying some low gain drives in front of the amps clean channel or getting a Helix to run 4cm with the amp and use the channel switching function, etc.

Rolled the dice on the Player after the announcement expecting more improvements but it’s a bit underwhelming from the press release. Still I find the amp tones the opposite of the bright harsh and hollow Fractal tones, not perfect either but often very pleasing and more enjoyable to play (not always though, sometimes I prefer the fractal).

Grabbing the Ox to see if a different cab engine would warm up the Fractal sound for me. I still prefer the idea of modeling over profiling I just haven’t found the right modeler. I like the fractal effects though.

Somewhere in the chase for accuracy and fidelity some of the sweetness got lost. Noticed that right away coming from AX8 to Axe 3. I mean we like tubes because they mess up the audio in a pleasing way, and driving tape recorders created pleasing distortion, using coily cables to lose high end, we even chase the tones of old digital rack gear that’s low fidelity. People spend $3k on a high gain amp and put a $75 pedal in front to suck out the low end and boost the mids. Guitar speakers are all horrible at accuracy reproducing the frequencies of the amp.

Gear is all tools and toys anyways. I’m over reading about the accuracy stuff. I’m not going to keep or return the Kemper over a null test as much as if it does something different than what I have and is fun to use.

 

[OneEng]

I don't know. In a lot of cases, I think of MK monikers as small incremental changes, often due to parts becoming obsolete and so forth.

Then you have Mesa Boogie.

With regards to Kemper; I believe people (rightfully) were expecting more after all these years.

That is how I interpret "MKII" as well; however, your point is valid. After well over a decade (closer to a decade and a half), there hasn't been a Kemper II. People were expecting a significant update, not a faster bootup.

Then I will buy one. Simple as.

I like some of the effects, I don't mind the workflow, I like the portability, I like the usability features.

I just don't think MK1 sounds as good as the competition. It always sounds congested, cock-wah'd, grainy, fizzy, distant, and boomy, all at the same time.

And as long as Kemper threads exist, I will share my opinion; gatekeepers be damned. If y'all don't like it, do the childish thing and block me or mute me. I don't give a monkeys.

I think the likelihood of Kemper's new profiling besting NAM to be pretty low based on how they have been walking back their rhetoric from "the most accurate" verbiage.

For all of that though, for many (including me) it is likely going to have a good following for live gigs and touring.

It will be interesting to see how well the Stadium fills this market need though. It hasn't been Line 6's strength in the past, but I am open to the possibility.

But clearly you do give a damn. Your devotion to the crusade is relentless, as you proudly testify it is.
A device that your years of professional and exclusive experience have gifted you with the ability to know how bad it is/was….and yet you apparently bought it six times!

Six MkI Kempers!
No wonder you are so butt hurt by aliasing. It lives rent free in your head.

I believe that when you look up "Glutton for Punishment" this is the definition given .

 

[dws2384]

I suspect that it’s only out because parts in the original are getting obsolete and will become unavailable. It strikes me like a mark 2 axe fx3 in as much as the upgrade is not one.

It’s the same DSP part number. So if MK1 are obsolete so are MK2

 

[dws2384]

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).

This nicely sums up the argument I constantly have with Kemper people (I own a Kemper too btw) every time the accuracy thing comes up there’s some cop out along the lines of “who cares, just get the sound in your head” then what is the point of the profiler?

 

[riffy]

I don't see how it is going to be a success if this is the case.

Kemper are so long in the tooth now that they really need to shake shit up. Quad Cortex really ate into their pie. So did Line6 with Helix. Fractal have always had their own thing, but I seriously cannot imagine that the Axe FX 3, FM9, and FM3 product launches didn't hit the bottom line. This is all even before ToneX came on the scene.

You can now get really fantastic amp modelling in small portable boxes from Universal Audio for example.

My outsider perspective is, they're really struggling to generate

revenue, which is why they're bleeding their fanbase dry with level upgrades and the like.

It is looking more and more like MK2 is just more of THAT, than anything revolutionary. But I sincerely hope I'm wrong. Because if Kemper MK2 could capture my amps better than in my video here:


Then I will buy one. Simple as.

I like some of the effects, I don't mind the workflow, I like the portability, I like the usability features.

I just don't think MK1 sounds as good as the competition. It always sounds congested, cock-wah'd, grainy, fizzy, distant, and boomy, all at the same time.

And as long as Kemper threads exist, I will share my opinion; gatekeepers be damned. If y'all don't like it, do the childish thing and block me or mute me. I don't give a monkeys.

I watched the whole video; I hear exactly what you hear. I listened with headphones pretty loudly so I could catch the nuance of the sounds.
Much like you, I actually liked and would most def use the open chord parts in the 2nd part of the riff.

However, in the palm muted sections, I didn't like any of them. It was way different than the amp. Even after you moved the clarity back to zero and had set the tube shape up to 10, I still didn't like it. I liked it better at 7.5 than 10, but that could just be my ears.

I wish you had tried to Profile a Mesa Quad. My experience with that was FAR worse than with your VH4. I wouldn't even be able to practice with the profile I made of that. Were it all I had to play, sure I could make do, but it would not been enjoyable.

I did however get some good profiles of my SLO and a 1987X I had at the time. They were far closer than your VH4 experience.

 

[paisleywookiee]

This nicely sums up the argument I constantly have with Kemper people (I own a Kemper too btw) every time the accuracy thing comes up there’s some cop out along the lines of “who cares, just get the sound in your head” then what is the point of the profiler?

That’s the experience I had. It positively fucking chokes on any reasonably complex amp it seems, for some reason. JP-2C was a pain in the dick, as was the Triple Crown. Yes, some profiles came out fine. But it’s not consistent. I’ve actually had far less issues with Tonex, despite the time it takes.

 

[LP59]

The application processor is about 4 times faster which has lowered the boot time from ~1 min 20 sec (as measured by my stopwatch this morning) to ~ 20 sec.

I believe that boot time improvement in the Mk2 is only true for the Toaster/Rack. AFAIK, the boot time for a Stage Mk2 is about the same 20 seconds as a Stage Mk1.

 

[Sascha Franck]

and yet you apparently bought it six times!

That has in fact made me wonder already, too.

 

[hunter]

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.

What I find strange is how you judge the Kemper being "not worth it" and something you never wanna hear again, yet you're selling Kemper profiles on your web site. Doesn't it feel strange to take money for a product you don't believe is good?

 

[DLC86]

What I find strange is how you judge the Kemper being "not worth it" and something you never wanna hear again, yet you're selling Kemper profiles on your web site. Doesn't it feel strange to take money for a product you don't believe is good?

If I were the owner of a shoe shop, should I only sell shoes of my size and only the ones I'd wear myself?

 

[[Nathan]]

If I were the owner of a shoe shop, should I only sell shoes of my size and only the ones I'd wear myself?

Pizza shop that only sells pepperoni

I don’t enjoy making tonex profiles but I occasionally do it when people ask me to upload something.

 

[DLC86]

pepperoni

I still don't get why a pizza with salame is called with a wrong translation of "peppers" though

 

[Antipodes]

That's a user issue.

Dude needs to get his fingers looked at stat!

 

[Eagle]

A good retailer only sells products they believe in.
That doesn’t mean only the best or things they use themselves but it does mean things that you think are good for the money.