Kemper Profiler MK 2

[BenIfin]

If theres "an art" to doing captures then imo the technology or unit is flawed / semi flawed. If the goal of the thing is to take a great capture then why should you have to do hacks and weird things to make it work. Anyone should be able to use the walkthru guide and make "the best capture possible".

But that isnt the case for Kemper v1, a bunch of people had their bags of tricks like doing captures of captures or having to do weird things post capture "to make it good". ToneX v1 also had this kind of bizarre mojo where if you tried to do high gain captures it just wouldnt do it, but you could use some techniques like making the amp less bright or nudging the gain back a hair or two and the capture wouldnt meet in the middle and come out a bit better, but it was a balancing act.

NAM and ToneX v2 for the most part just work. You can question the 1:1 accuracy for sure but the hitrate of bad captures is like 1/100 for me or something, which is nothing what ToneX v1 used to be.

Anyway I have no idea what theyre doing for Kemper v2. I just assumed more data points means more detailed EQ matching. I doubt the underlying distortion models have changes but maybe the matching filters are just more detailed in some manner. It still just sounds like a "better" version of the old tech (which is fundamentally different to wavenet approaches).

Totally agree. We're not painting the Last Supper here or sculpting the statue of David.

"Art" is the wrong word ... there is only skill and the real world experience of knowing how to dial in and set up a cab mic to get a good and satisfying tone ... its all skill, experience and good ears.

I know some people here don't like his Profiles, but I gigged the KPA for a few years with only the MBritt MK1 profiles ... why ? ... because by sheer coincidence - and thats all it was - the way he dialled in his amps and tones was and still is, music to my ears.

I'm waiting on his 2.0 Liq Prof packs before I even open my Player box.

But that's just my preferences.

 

[BenIfin]

View attachment 60263

Boy, I really wish I hadn't broken my back carrying all these Kempers!!

Just looking at this pic makes my neck vertebrae start to seize up

 

[NightWalker]

So.....

This was posted in the Kemper forums on the 2.0 thread and then the thread was closed.

Now, I have heard plenty of videos where I felt the 2.0 was clearly better. I am more pointing out the behavior on the Kemper forums.

the videos still here https://forum.kemper-amps.com/forum...lic-beta-discussion/?postID=716141#post716141

IMPORTANT:

We value first-hand experiences in this thread. Please avoid posting second-hand information, rumors, or opinions based solely on what you've heard on YouTube or other platforms.

Sharing videos is absolutely fine. Discussing technical aspects (such as setup details, configurations, etc.) is also welcome. However, please do not make assumptions or draw conclusions unless you have personally used Profile 2.0 rigs on an Profiler MK2/Player yourself.

Thank you for helping keep the discussion accurate and experience-based.

 

[BenIfin]

the videos still here https://forum.kemper-amps.com/forum...lic-beta-discussion/?postID=716141#post716141

IMPORTANT:

We value first-hand experiences in this thread. Please avoid posting second-hand information, rumors, or opinions based solely on what you've heard on YouTube or other platforms.

Sharing videos is absolutely fine. Discussing technical aspects (such as setup details, configurations, etc.) is also welcome. However, please do not make assumptions or draw conclusions unless you have personally used Profile 2.0 rigs on an Profiler MK2/Player yourself.

Thank you for helping keep the discussion accurate and experience-based.

..... took me a sec or two to realize this was a piss-take of the Kemper Forum.

 

[OneEng]

So let me understand Kempers ground rules here.

They only allow the opinions of people who have purchased both mk1 and Mk2 to be seen?

That seems like a great way to avoid legitimate criticism IMO. Anyone who spent money on BOTH are very likely to justify their purchase IMO.

The lack of open discussion rubs me the wrong way. YMMV.

I think that it is only reasonable to expect some mk1 profiles to sound better than some V2 profiles. I doubt a new profile of the Morgan AC20 would convince me that my mk1 version is crap.

Still my beef isn't with the results one way or the other, it's with the serious lack of openness and the overbearing censorship being displayed.

The saddest thing is that the product is damn good IMO. Always has been. People can accept a company working to better the product and support their customers. It's seeming more and more like Kemper isn't interested in doing this and are just trying desperately to control the narrative instead of engaging with their customers and critics.

FWIW, I agreed with the 97% on the video that the V1 profile was better. Furthermore, after tweaking, I thought both were easily gigging level sound quality.

This is also just one amp and one profile. I likely wouldn't have given it a second thought, rather on spending time to post about it had Kemper not locked the thread and likely banned the poster over it.

Stupid.

 

[Deadpan]

So let me understand Kempers ground rules here.

They only allow the opinions of people who have purchased both mk1 and Mk2 to be seen?

That seems like a great way to avoid legitimate criticism IMO. Anyone who spent money on BOTH are very likely to justify their purchase IMO.

The lack of open discussion rubs me the wrong way. YMMV.

I think that it is only reasonable to expect some mk1 profiles to sound better than some V2 profiles. I doubt a new profile of the Morgan AC20 would convince me that my mk1 version is crap.

Still my beef isn't with the results one way or the other, it's with the serious lack of openness and the overbearing censorship being displayed.

The saddest thing is that the product is damn good IMO. Always has been. People can accept a company working to better the product and support their customers. It's seeming more and more like Kemper isn't interested in doing this and are just trying desperately to control the narrative instead of engaging with their customers and critics.

FWIW, I agreed with the 97% on the video that the V1 profile was better. Furthermore, after tweaking, I thought both were easily gigging level sound quality.

This is also just one amp and one profile. I likely wouldn't have given it a second thought, rather on spending time to post about it had Kemper not locked the thread and likely banned the poster over it.

Stupid.

In that one thread. If someone wants to talk openly they can start another thread.

It's about keeping things tidy.

 

[quadgear]

In that one thread. If someone wants to talk openly they can start another thread.

It's about keeping things tidy.

With that "tidy" analogy, we're talking OCD levels of neat freakism here. Have you ever seen a forum where the mods change the title case of subject lines or aggressively close simple, unanswered, non-divisive, on-topic threads (not implying the former referenced thread is an example of this).

I'm pretty middle of the road, don't buy into the notion of bad intent by Kemper, and certainly don't defend some posters behaviors/attitude, but the forum moderation is something I've decided to let go.

 

[Deadpan]

With that "tidy" analogy, we're talking OCD levels of neat freakism here. Have you ever seen a forum where the mods change the title case of subject lines or aggressively close simple, unanswered, non-divisive, on-topic threads (not implying the former referenced thread is an example of this).

I'm pretty middle of the road, don't buy into the notion of bad intent by Kemper, and certainly don't defend some posters behaviors/attitude, but the forum moderation is something I've decided to let go.

Yeah. Not trying to defend anything. Only mentioning my perception of their strategy.

Being so heavy handed has alienated some very dedicated users. Which is unfortunate.

 

[Cactusprick]

View attachment 60263

Boy, I really wish I hadn't broken my back carrying all these Kempers!!

what a lovely collection of gears. but the photo also suggests more investment need into the oil heater - looks too small for the room.

 

[BenIfin]

How *NOT* to do an A/B Test.

This was looking promising ... a "proper" A/B between real Amp and KPA V2 and QC V2. The Amp tone sounds great - not my liking but it is what it is.

Then he crosses to the Kemper V2 and the QC V2 and they both sound utterly shite - they are being hit with a some sort of aggressive compressor/limiter .. or some kind of f*cked up processing ?!?!?!?!?!

How could he possibly not hear this when playing back the video before posting it ?

A complete waste of a 9 minute video not to mention the several hours of pre-and-production.

 

[Orvillain]

Then he crosses to the Kemper V2 and the QC V2 and they both sound utterly shite - they are being hit with a some sort of aggressive compressor/limiter .. or some kind of f*cked up processing ?!?!?!?!?!

How would that happen exactly?

 

[BenIfin]

How would that happen exactly?

I have zero idea ... forget the KPA V2 ... we already know how good the QC V2 is and he made it and the KPA V2 just sound like bollocks ?

Maybe (?) he accidently had a compression/limiter pre-the-amp-block in the KPA and QC engaged ????

 

[Orvillain]

I have zero idea ... forget the KPA V2 ... we already know how good the QC V2 is and he made it and the KPA V2 just sound like bollocks ?

Maybe (?) he accidently had a compression/limiter pre-the-amp-block in the KPA and QC engaged ????

Well that isn't really possible to do when capturing the profile. Both units have pretty strict and explicit signal processing layouts that are followed when doing a capture. He might've done after the capture I suppose, but no idea.

Could just be those units sucked at capture that amp in that moment.

 

[BenIfin]

Well that isn't really possible to do when capturing the profile. Both units have pretty strict and explicit signal processing layouts that are followed when doing a capture. He might've done after the capture I suppose, but no idea.

Could just be those units sucked at capture that amp in that moment.

I was thinking that maybe when he was playing back the finished captures loaded into the MK2 and the QC that he accidently had left on a compression/limiter block ? But who knows

Definitely possible that both those units didn't like that Amp .... but we already do know that the QC V2 is really good [pains me to say given how much I hate NDSP the company] .... and it and the KPA V2 in this video both sounded equally shit.

 

[Chocol8]

How would that happen exactly?

Lets see...controversial video gets posted to forums, clicks go way up...$$$$?

Could it be intentional?

 

[[Nathan]]

Lets see...controversial video gets posted to forums, clicks go way up...$$$$?

Could it be intentional?

He’s not that smart, doubt it

 

[riffy]

what a lovely collection of gears. but the photo also suggests more investment need into the oil heater - looks too small for the room.

I think that lovely collection of tubes, heats the room very nicely.

 

[Sascha Franck]

How could he possibly not hear this when playing back the video before posting it ?

The guy has zero clue about things, as easy as that. Used a mobile phone recording from NAMM trying to tell people how great whatever unit would sound. Nuff said.

 

[[Nathan]]

I just recorded the audio from that video to look at the waveforms to try and confirm what I'm hearing.
Sounds like something is clamping down on the Kemper. If this is happening in the unit then wow, its not subtle at all. It sounds like it could be some audio/video production pipeline issue, a sidechain or something I dont know. But you can see how ducked it gets compared to the amp and QC.

Amp / QC

Amp / Kemper

 

[BenIfin]

I just recorded the audio from that video to look at the waveforms to try and confirm what I'm hearing.
Sounds like something is clamping down on the Kemper. If this is happening in the unit then wow, its not subtle at all. It sounds like it could be some audio/video production pipeline issue, a sidechain or something I dont know. But you can see how ducked it gets compared to the amp and QC.

Amp / QC
View attachment 60326

Amp / Kemper
View attachment 60327

Great clips ! :)

Whilst there aren't 000's of them out there yet, there are enough V2 audio clips on Y/T and none of them have this "ducking effect". I don't think he has done this intentionally.

I'm betting / guessing that after he did the V2 Profile he loaded it up into an existing preset or template that had some sort of compressor / limiter / ducking parameter in a block in front of the Profile - or some other f*ckup in pre or post.

However good or bad V2 is or is not ... I've not tried it yet .... but the instant I heard this, it it was like ... woah ...ok ... well this is just not right.

Whatever he did / didn't do I think it was totally accidental / unintended.

From his videos' he seems like a chill happy genuine kind of guy.

The pity is that he clearly must not even have listened back to the audio before hitting the upload button !?!?