Kemper Profiler MK 2

[Jarick]

My ex-boss just kept going on because the software we developed was his main hobby. He is close to retiring now, so I guess he'll shut down the company soon. According to my ex-jobmates, he knows most of that software and is not willing to transfer knowledge.

I guess Kemper developers wouldn't have a hard time finding another job if curtains went down.

That could make a lot of sense as well. I'm sure if Christoph wanted to get off the ride he could sell to another company, but if he still wants to keep pushing on the software side he's in a good spot.

 

[quadgear]

Same thoughts here. The Player was such a potential star and they butchered it every way possible.

>> No display, I've gigged the Player enough to know this is a big issue. You get lost and turned around so easily if you use more than (1) rig. And trying to use the FX knobs is a joke - you have no clue which FX blocks they are actually controlling.

>> LED Tuner with no note names because no display - if you are in standard tuning, maybe you'll be okay. But I stopped trying to use the tuner on the Player and just used my ears and other strings.

Retrovision helps out with both of these. It would have been better to have the display built in, but this add-on bridges the gap quite a bit.

Retrokits - Small, Smart Music Tools

Shop smart, powerful MIDI gear designed to boost your music production workflow.

retrokits.com

>> Wi-Fi and Bluetooth at the same time crashes the unit. So if you want to control the unit via Wi-Fi (since you cannot plug a tablet directly into it via USB) and want to stream some Bluetooth songs to play to, forget it. Kemper acknowledges the problem but doesn't have a fix. They still market it though so that's cool.

It would be so much better to use Bluetooth for the Rig Manager app and avoid Wifi which is harder to connect sporadically, limits your devices network access, and interferes with other wireless devices. Kemper has said this is not possible which is a common statement they make.

 

[Dimiguitar]

And one thing I forgot: profiling 2.0 works without the user manually refining at all.

That's important, because this step confused people for years. The manual doesn't explain too much about what gets best results, neither forum guys (other than users, surprise surprise) or CK offered any more valuable insight, even though questions were endlessly raised.

(You can correct me if wrong about the last part. But I doubt it).

This led to people doing all sorts of tricks via refining, trying to get better results. I probably tried everything other than farting into the kemper. I really wanted to get closer to my amps and hence went into this expedition of different refining signals.

Now that's no more. Profiles should come out as good as they can be (with whatever limitations may exist). This probably means better consistency -- I would hope -- in profile accuracy, and obviously more convenience.

 

[guitarsandcoffee]

Retrovision helps out with both of these. It would have been better to have the display built in, but this add-on bridges the gap quite a bit.

Retrokits - Small, Smart Music Tools

Shop smart, powerful MIDI gear designed to boost your music production workflow.

retrokits.com

While I appreciate the solution, the kit is $100 I see. I cannot justify spending another $100 on a simply display for the Player. They already got me to spend on the level 2 and 3 upgrades - and then of course gave some of those features away for free to level 1 after several of us paid.

Had I realized how much extra I would be spending on the Player, I would've passed and either got a Stage or moved platforms.

 

[LP59]

While I appreciate the solution, the kit is $100 I see. I cannot justify spending another $100 on a simply display for the Player. They already got me to spend on the level 2 and 3 upgrades - and then of course gave some of those features away for free to level 1 after several of us paid.

Had I realized how much extra I would be spending on the Player, I would've passed and either got a Stage or moved platforms.

Don't forget to add an $80 MIDI Captain for extra buttons because the 3 buttons on the Player are limited in what they can do because they have no hold function.

 

[Jarick]

Another dumb Kemper thing - I have a preset that sounds great with a dual pitch detune that has 5-10ms delay on each side. But rig manager won’t let you set up a delay that short, it starts at 50ms. And there’s no ability to manually enter times. You can dial the time down to a few ms on the full size unit, but of course the Player doesn’t have a screen or those controls. So you literally can’t set up the effect on the Player.

Over on the forum people are asking for a fix but completely ignored of course. Or told it can’t happen just like the lock function.

The whole fucking thing is just a half assed money grab. Just a shit company.

 

[BD8AUZ]

They have repeatedly refused to enable FX locking for players, and it's hard to understand why they're so fixated on this. This is a fundamental feature for head/stage.

 

[Dimiguitar]

But rig manager won’t let you set up a delay that short, it starts at 50ms. And there’s no ability to manually enter times. You can dial the time down to a few ms on the full size unit, but of course the Player doesn’t have a screen or those controls. So you literally can’t set up the effect on the Player.

Just wait for level 4 upgrade and stop complaining.

 

[Cactusprick]

Just wait for level 4 upgrade and stop complaining.

 

[Sascha Franck]

I have a preset that sounds great with a dual pitch detune that has 5-10ms delay on each side. But rig manager won’t let you set up a delay that short, it starts at 50ms.

Whut? Are you saying that their editor can't actually fully edit the unit it's made for? That's just uber-lame.

 

[Dimiguitar]

Whut? Are you saying that their editor can't actually fully edit the unit it's made for? That's just uber-lame.

For as much as they've done right, even great enough to massively shake up the market in the past, there are also "kemperisms" like this..

... Like still not changing the profiling 2.0 release date on their site. Nobody can be fussed. It is just the way to is... and you better not expect such things evolving.

(Not that the date thing is all there's to it. That's just symbolic, in a way).

But nobody is perfect. It's quite unclear what perfection would imply in this context anyway. CK has done great things, and it's unsurprising seeing the success these units have had.

That said, for me personally in 2025, I prefer to use IK multimedia stuff, even considering the UI problems. Better feel, better sound, plugin format, and no Kemper moderators.

 

[OneEng]

And one thing I forgot: profiling 2.0 works without the user manually refining at all.

That's important, because this step confused people for years. The manual doesn't explain too much about what gets best results, neither forum guys (other than users, surprise surprise) or CK offered any more valuable insight, even though questions were endlessly raised.

(You can correct me if wrong about the last part. But I doubt it).

This led to people doing all sorts of tricks via refining, trying to get better results. I probably tried everything other than farting into the kemper. I really wanted to get closer to my amps and hence went into this expedition of different refining signals.

Now that's no more. Profiles should come out as good as they can be (with whatever limitations may exist). This probably means better consistency -- I would hope -- in profile accuracy, and obviously more convenience.

I believe that "refining" is simply a Band-Aid on a faulty profiling process. I agree that this is a major upgrade for 2.0.

While I appreciate the solution, the kit is $100 I see. I cannot justify spending another $100 on a simply display for the Player. They already got me to spend on the level 2 and 3 upgrades - and then of course gave some of those features away for free to level 1 after several of us paid.

Had I realized how much extra I would be spending on the Player, I would've passed and either got a Stage or moved platforms.

I have never understood the value of the Player. I think they would have sold tons of units at $600 with full Kemper functionality in a smaller package. They focus too much on trying to protect their high end products IMO.

 

[Dimiguitar]

I believe that "refining" is simply a Band-Aid on a faulty profiling process. I agree that this is a major upgrade for 2.0.

-- A lot of speculation below --

A big part of refining may be EQ matching. If you are able to tweak an amp sim until it sounds exactly as close to the real amp as the typical non-refinded profile does, with its inherent faults, and then EQ match with the same tech Kemper uses, the amp sim will get similarly close to the real amp.

But there are often sacrifices with that approach.

Sometimes EQ match just won't bridge the gap too well. It doesn't matter what you do; the differences aren't about EQ alone. They are about other variables... The "meat" of the amp. The "sausages." There's "stuff" EQ doesn't correct for. I see this all the time in my noob tests. No clue what the right words even are, but it doesn't matter.

To get closer, you need to better match the amp sim to these underlying characteristics (the fundamentals, whatever they involve). It could be a different master volume setting, for example. And then, if needed, EQ match is the cherry on top.

So I believe this may be one weakness of profiling 1.0, assuming it works as I imagine. The automation process picks from a bunch of amp sim variables to emulate the amp (gain levels and "sausages"). Then EQ matching tops it off, especially during the refining process.

The possible weakness is this: your underlying amp sims (or big-ass amp sim with a large number of automatically set parameters) may not be close enough to the real amp for these "meat," non-EQ qualities. It may be a "kinda sorta close maybe" approximation that relies heavily on EQ matching, but isn't nuanced like many dedicated amp sims can be (e.g., Fractal, Helix, etc).

And then you're left with a capture that sounds quite close to the amp, and can even be confused with the amp, depending on the blind test... However, finer nuances may not be there, or they get homogenized.

This may be part of what people experience with high-gain Kemper profiles. I believe it is. The underlying amp sim/sims and their parameters tend to feel and sound a specific way, especially in these so-called "nuances" (a loaded term, but anyway). And they simply can't get closer to the real amp.

(Well, they could, with better EQ matching than what profiling 1.0 may do, but that aside.)

That is what CK may have worked on. First, taking a look at the underlying amp sim parameters or multiple sims. Working on things like the low end, and developing or adding parameters that "fix" some of the usual perceived flaws of profiling 1.0. He likely would know what to look for by now.

That could allow Kemper to get closer to real amps right off the bat. Add in automated refining, the processing power of computers (which may be needed for this evolution of profiling), much better EQ matching, and here we are.

30 seconds to produce a result.