Kemper Profiler MK 2

[SillyOctpuss]

If I was playing Summer of 69 all night long; they'd work great. Oh wait; I am

 

[BenIfin]

On one hand I understand your position, but on another you seem to be putting a lot of blind faith in several places. You're trusting that either Michael Britt will dial an amp exactly how you like it, or that you are going to immediately like what he does before you know what it is. Not unfeasible by any stretch but it's also quite a low ceiling for something that is PERFECT for you, in my opinion. Either way, its casting a wide net and very luck driven.

There's also the assumption that the profiling with V2 will somehow align with what you are looking for - was there something wrong with what you heard on previous models that was holding you back, that you think V2 will fix? Is it clear that the "improvements" are consistent in a reliable way, or do they vary model to model? Without a reference amp or like for like profiles, how can you even tell? what if they are both different to the real thing in different ways? How can you reach any kind of conclusion there?

Given your other threads and posts on topics like aliasing, I'm somewhat perplexed how the hair splitting can be so critical there and yet it doesn't seem to be a factor with using a Kemper, or the fact that you're quite happy to just use someone else's captures and call it a day. IMO those micro differences and small details matter to you, or they really don't. You clearly care about the fidelity and quality of the tone to some extent to be experimenting with these different platforms and asking the questions, but I can't really make sense of your position on it.


Honestly, this is very peculiar to me, I'm not totally sure what they've done to you to warrant that kind of feeling. I've been a customer of Kemper, Fractal, NDSP, Line 6 and a ton of others and that feeling of hatred doesn't add up at all here. But maybe there's something else that I don't know that is a factor.

I totally get your points. So here goes.

I know I let myself jump headfirst into the whole NAM / Tonex rabbit hole and I was really interested in understanding why they were both so good for too long .. my OCD got the better of me. I was all about 1:1 and why.

But for me, the more I dug the hole, the less I played. For some inexplicable reason I kept chasing something I gave up over 10 years ago and I basically started to realize I didnt want to keep digging that hole

The more I realized that not having "my own real amp tone sound" for so long, the less I cared about "ideal" or "best" anything.

And regardless of platform, given I don't make my own copies, it was/is/always going to be a matter of "trusting" other peoples Amp tweaking and copying skills

The aliasing stuff was a total learning curve for me - which thanks to this place, I now genuinely understand. And I do value fidelity, but again, as someone who has no amps and no amps I want to borrow or profile, how a copy sounds and feels to me trumps [sorry] everything.

Re: the MBritt stuff - there's no blind faith - I know the sounds he dials in - he has a very consistent tone across all the Amps he captures, so to me, he has a proven track record and I have zero doubt his upcoming V2 will be very good - the net, faith and luck factor is extremely small for me.

And yep - I will have no actual personal knowledge if his V2 stuff is "better" than his V1 stuff .... but I know how good his V1 stuff was/is .... and unless KPA have totally fucked up V2 to be worse than V1 - which I don't think anyone is actually seriously suggesting - I trust his V2 stuff in 2026 will be - for me - as good as V2 stuff will be able to be.

But again - I'm happily gigging with my current rig and haven't touched my Player since buying it - hence why my test-bar will be that it will have to sound and feel better - to me- than my current rig - anything less - "same" or "worse" and its sell and get as much of my AUD $700 back as I can.

And fundamentally, I want to try and hear and feel V2 for myself and not rely on other peoples ears - hence why I bought one - plus it was dirt cheap and mint and easy to resell for what I got it for.

Re: the NDSP stuff - truthfully - I cannot sensibly or rationally justify my dislike for the company - I've never even touched one of their units .... but it is what it is .... maybe its because I never liked Doug's attitude at TOP ? I don't know. But I don't care because there are so many subjectively equally great units out there.

To be totally open, my not so small gut is telling me I'm probably going to stick with what I have - but I am keen to give V2 a go ... with profiles from a profile maker whose tones are "in my wheelhouse" as he would say.

 

[riffy]

If I was playing Summer of 69 all night long; they'd work great. Oh wait; I am

What a cool power hitting bong!

 

[riffy]

@Benlfin,

What rig are you running now? Genuinely curious.

 

[Karl Houseknecht]

I preferred his early gain tones like the Fried A-Hole and Dirty Laverne

I bought those and they sounded nothing like the amps I had sitting next to me at the time. I honestly wonder if Britt's profiles are part of the "every profile sounds the same" issue. I know they're not the only contributor, but...ugh.

If I was playing Summer of 69 all night long

I literally just gave a hard pass the other week to playing in a band that had that song on their setlist. I swore that I will go to my grave having never played that song again after playing it hundreds of times back in the 80's.

 

[MirrorProfiles]

I love the approach (use the same cab for consistency) but maybe the Lead 80 speaker isn't my favorite. Also, I preferred his early gain tones like the Fried A-Hole and Dirty Laverne, even though they were dark sounding and woofy, they could be tweaked to sound decent. His later ones all had more annoying midrange like they either had a tube screamer stuck on or some kind of harsh frequency boost.

I’m rarely/never looking for the same voicing across all my sounds - preferably I can really hone in for any given context. Having one consistent voicing probably means everything should work reasonably

I totally get your points. So here goes.

I know I let myself jump headfirst into the whole NAM / Tonex rabbit hole and I was really interested in understanding why they were both so good for too long .. my OCD got the better of me. I was all about 1:1 and why.

But for me, the more I dug the hole, the less I played. For some inexplicable reason I kept chasing something I gave up over 10 years ago and I basically started to realize I didnt want to keep digging that hole

The more I realized that not having "my own real amp tone sound" for so long, the less I cared about "ideal" or "best" anything.

And regardless of platform, given I don't make my own copies, it was/is/always going to be a matter of "trusting" other peoples Amp tweaking and copying skills

The aliasing stuff was a total learning curve for me - which thanks to this place, I now genuinely understand. And I do value fidelity, but again, as someone who has no amps and no amps I want to borrow or profile, how a copy sounds and feels to me trumps [sorry] everything.

Re: the MBritt stuff - there's no blind faith - I know the sounds he dials in - he has a very consistent tone across all the Amps he captures, so to me, he has a proven track record and I have zero doubt his upcoming V2 will be very good - the net, faith and luck factor is extremely small for me.

And yep - I will have no actual personal knowledge if his V2 stuff is "better" than his V1 stuff .... but I know how good his V1 stuff was/is .... and unless KPA have totally fucked up V2 to be worse than V1 - which I don't think anyone is actually seriously suggesting - I trust his V2 stuff in 2026 will be - for me - as good as V2 stuff will be able to be.

But again - I'm happily gigging with my current rig and haven't touched my Player since buying it - hence why my test-bar will be that it will have to sound and feel better - to me- than my current rig - anything less - "same" or "worse" and its sell and get as much of my AUD $700 back as I can.

And fundamentally, I want to try and hear and feel V2 for myself and not rely on other peoples ears - hence why I bought one - plus it was dirt cheap and mint and easy to resell for what I got it for.

Re: the NDSP stuff - truthfully - I cannot sensibly or rationally justify my dislike for the company - I've never even touched one of their units .... but it is what it is .... maybe its because I never liked Doug's attitude at TOP ? I don't know. But I don't care because there are so many subjectively equally great units out there.

To be totally open, my not so small gut is telling me I'm probably going to stick with what I have - but I am keen to give V2 a go ... with profiles from a profile maker whose tones are "in my wheelhouse" as he would say.

That’s fair. For all that doesn’t quite add up to me always, I respect your honesty about it all. and I won’t knock anyone who is just trying to learn and progress.

I think good tone is in abundance these days, the gear really won’t be the thing holding anyway back (was it ever?).

 

[JiveTurkey]

To be clear; I actually "love" (Farley implied) playing Summer of 69 as I can be clinically dead and still perform it to a satisfactory level


Watched the ToneWars vid. Kemper had some woof each time it came up. The QC was much more of a blanket off, comparatively. The Kemper sounded like it might be "richer" sounding overall if the ([perceived) volumes were matched up?

I'm too dumb for blind tests and these kinds of videos tell me nothing really. I also think a Mk amp profile done by someone other than myself has zero chance of tripping my trigger. There is just too much sculpting going on with that GEQ and the various modes and tone stack. Not to mention the guitar speaker in use, etc. etc.

 

[JiveTurkey]

I bought those and they sounded nothing like the amps I had sitting next to me at the time. I honestly wonder if Britt's profiles are part of the "every profile sounds the same" issue. I know they're not the only contributor, but...ugh.


I literally just gave a hard pass the other week to playing in a band that had that song on their setlist. I swore that I will go to my grave having never played that song again after playing it hundreds of times back in the 80's.

We don't do Mustang Sally or Brown Eyed Girl?

 

[Karl Houseknecht]

We don't do Mustang Sally or Brown Eyed Girl?

Those are also a hard pass, but mostly because my mom was a huge Neil Diamond fan and "Sweet Caroline" is my jam.

 

[JiveTurkey]

Those are also a hard pass, but mostly because my mom was a huge Neil Diamond fan and "Sweet Caroline" is my jam.

That one gets played every time

 

[OneEng]

why’s that?

Would you be better off judging whether V2 is any good by making your own models?

Very hard to seperate preferences from an actual improvement if you are relying on someone else’s captures.

See below:

I haven't had any real tube amps for over 10 years - so nothing to profile.

Back in 2013 when I bought my Kemper rack, I was gigging out about 2 times a week on average. I was hauling around a massive PA (remember those Earthquake folded horns?) and a VHT UL with a slant top 4x12 over a fat bottom 2x12 cab. Hauling all this (and everything else in the PA) up and down so many stairs so many times got my knees to saying "are you kidding me?".

I bought my Kemper to lighten the load in and load out (along with replacing the entire PA with new and MUCH lighter equipment). I profiled my VHT, but haven't used those profiles ever in a gig. I found that I was able to locate profiles of other amps that had "the sound" that fit in the mix on various songs much better. If the profiles weren't exactly what I liked, I found I was able to tweak them within a few minutes to something that sounded really great.

I literally just gave a hard pass the other week to playing in a band that had that song on their setlist. I swore that I will go to my grave having never played that song again after playing it hundreds of times back in the 80's.

Still playing it . That intro riff is a great example of finding a great rig that gets that bite and sound that just really sets up the song.

We don't do Mustang Sally or Brown Eyed Girl?

... but do you do "Play that Funky Music"?

 

[JiveTurkey]

See below:

Back in 2013 when I bought my Kemper rack, I was gigging out about 2 times a week on average. I was hauling around a massive PA (remember those Earthquake folded horns?) and a VHT UL with a slant top 4x12 over a fat bottom 2x12 cab. Hauling all this (and everything else in the PA) up and down so many stairs so many times got my knees to saying "are you kidding me?".

I bought my Kemper to lighten the load in and load out (along with replacing the entire PA with new and MUCH lighter equipment). I profiled my VHT, but haven't used those profiles ever in a gig. I found that I was able to locate profiles of other amps that had "the sound" that fit in the mix on various songs much better. If the profiles weren't exactly what I liked, I found I was able to tweak them within a few minutes to something that sounded really great.

Still playing it . That intro riff is a great example of finding a great rig that gets that bite and sound that just really sets up the song.

... but do you do "Play that Funky Music"?

Yes

 

[paisleywookiee]

Back in 2013 when I bought my Kemper rack, I was gigging out about 2 times a week on average. I was hauling around a massive PA (remember those Earthquake folded horns?) and a VHT UL with a slant top 4x12 over a fat bottom 2x12 cab. Hauling all this (and everything else in the PA) up and down so many stairs so many times got my knees to saying "are you kidding me?".

If only someone had made a middle ground between a toaster, and a 100 watt tube head with a 4x12 AND 2x12...........

 

[crispsandwich]

Fair one.

But... I still don´t get why so much hate for NDSP (which I can more or less understand) and still thinking Kemper did any better with all their paid tier levels with the player or all the BS around the V2 hardware that is almost exactly the V1 one. Now, that´s ugly business strategy. Much uglier than NDSP one, IMO.

Except Kemper didn’t promise loads of stuff to drive preorders and then remove half the stuff from the list, like NDSP did with the Quad Cortex. Kemper might not be the ‘friendliest’ of companies, but they aren’t scummy gaslighting liars like some of the people in the Neural organisation.

 

[Sedaxel]

Except Kemper didn’t promise loads of stuff to drive preorders and then remove half the stuff from the list, like NDSP did with the Quad Cortex. Kemper might not be the ‘friendliest’ of companies, but they aren’t scummy gaslighting liars like some of the people in the Neural organisation.

Oh... selling a device as new when it´s basically 15 years old is fair play, sure.

 

[Karl Houseknecht]

Still playing it . That intro riff is a great example of finding a great rig that gets that bite and sound that just really sets up the song.

I think Bryan Adams and Keith Scott are now Fractal users and don't use their AC30's anymore.

 

[DrewJD82]

I've shit-talked Neural probably more than anyone at this point. But I'm bordering on selling my Stadium and moving back to Quad Cortex.

Hold my beer

If you’re considering buying one, you got a long way to go before ya hit my level.

 

[Jarick]

I bought those and they sounded nothing like the amps I had sitting next to me at the time. I honestly wonder if Britt's profiles are part of the "every profile sounds the same" issue. I know they're not the only contributor, but...ugh.

I think that is a big part of it, absolutely. His consistency using the same cabinet plays a part for sure, and then everyone seemed to chase the Michael Britt tone on Kemper.

I think part of it too is that Kemper when you turn the gain way down to make it clean almost takes the model out of the equation and just carries the EQ. Or if you shoot a "clean" profile it literally doesn't seem to capture gain. Other modelers you can keep the cab the same and change the amp model and you will typically hear a much more different sound as the tone stack and everything are different.

 

[OneEng]

I think Bryan Adams and Keith Scott are now Fractal users and don't use their AC30's anymore.

I'll have to look when I get home, but I don't think I use an AC30 profile to get the sound either . I think I am using a plexi, reverb, and some delay. It sounds great though. I don't think Keith Scott used delay in the original.

 

[crispsandwich]

Oh... selling a device as new when it´s basically 15 years old is fair play, sure.

If you were buying it second-hand, I would agree. If you equate what Kemper did with NDSP, then you have bigger, cognitive problems and maybe neither company should be your priority at the moment.