Kemper Profiler MK 2

[LP59]

I actually don't think it's complete garbage. The hardware update seems in fact to be as minimalistic as it gets, so they really didn't spend much efforts on a HW redesign. And given what is known about the software architecture so far, there's not too much to write home about, either.

Now, I don't see this as a completely bad thing per se (as said quite some times before in this very thread, I think the Kemper is an incredibly well laid out piece of kit that I had zero problems with when using one even if my familiarity tends to be almost zero), so that might certainly attract existing users (at least in case the new profiling is noticeably better), but it's pretty far away from a product making me think "wow, that's something tons of research, manpower and R&D went into."

For me, it always seemed to be that they're kinda pretty full of themselves (perhaps partially deservedly so, but still...), so they possibly didn't exactly realize that what they offer with Mk2 won't attract too many folks, especially new users.

But I do agree with you that they most likely won't "better curl in a ball and shut down". And in case the new profiling and cab sim stuff will in fact bring something to the table, things likely won't end up as a complete desaster, either. As said, the platform is pretty mature (IMO well within the top 3, along with L6 and FAS) and by now, their asking prices could be called at least somewhat competitive (they may have to go down somewhat, though, also depending on the impact of the vanilla HX Stadium).

Whatever, I guess we can all agree that, even if the new profiling will turn out to be a substantial improvement, this release is quite far away from being stunning or anything.

To a certain degree, Kemper's success has left little room for improvement. But the larger factor limiting their opportunities for improvement is their existing architecture. The cpu they use is what it is and will never change. The Mk2 is proof of that. Look at the fixed effects. Obviously they were constrained by cpu limitations and couldn't do as dramatic an update as they would have liked.

Whether the new profiling will be "stunning" remains to be seen, but even Kemper doesn't seem to think so. They have edited the announcement to use increasingly vague terms to describe it. First it was "most accurate". Then it was "most precise". Now it's "most powerful". Next, I expect they will say it's "most adorable".

Nobody is saying they will curl up and shut down, but if you look at the minimal effort they put into the Mk2, this simply is not looking like a company poised to release a game changing firmware update.