Some interesting news from Kemper (Profiler Player)

[Jarick]

Add on top the fractal also doesn't have a JJ jr/JJ model. Although I imagine the HBE would be close

Yeah for sure. It's a pretty subtle difference across the midrange and response, but it's really close. The JBE mode I think may be a little further away because of the saturation, but that's an option on Fractal too.

I just found and rolled the dice on the Bert M JJ Junior liquid profile pack for $20. He has a bunch of studio profiles but six DI profiles. I tried one of those with the same IR and it's now MUCH closer to the real thing. Not quite the same clarity with string response and low end but the overall sound feel and EQ are now properly in the ballpark.

That's going to make the decision trickier...if the old Kemper profile is 90%, and if I can shoot new 2.0 profiles with the Player and get like 95%+, maybe I keep it around through the summer.

 

[Boudoir Guitar]

Alright an hour of pretty close comparisons and the Fractal is just much, much closer to the real thing. Granted I can't profile my amp directly but all the similar amps with the same IR are a fair bit different.

I'd say Fractal is 95% of the way there with subtle EQ, in terms of overall sound, gain, dynamics, and feel. The Kemper is like 85%. A good profile probably would be a lot closer, but not sure I'll end up keeping the Player long enough for the new OS.

All of these devices have their flaws when it comes to the "sit down in a room next to the tube amp and swap back and forth between the two and see if there's noticeable difference."*

At the same time, all of these devices can make a lot of great guitar amp like sounds and be a blast to play through.

*sometimes its because the device is lacking; often its because we are comparing Gala Apples to Pink Lady Apples; often its because trying to solve problems of our own creation is just an inherently unfulfilling endeavor.

 

[Jarick]

Rolled the dice on another profile pack, the MattFig Friedman Plex. Those may be the best profiles I've ever heard. There's the kerrang attack in the highs and the whoomp in the lows that I just don't hear elsewhere. Like a really well dialed in Plexi, not the Friedman BE sound. In comparison every MBritt Marshall sounds like there's a blanket on it or more like an overdrive pedal.

I saved the cab block from the MattFig and tried it with an MBritt profile...that drastically opened up the sound. Now we just need Kemper to add the "Lock" feature to the Player so I can lock down the cab block while exploring other profiles.

 

[Mongillo19]

Rolled the dice on another profile pack, the MattFig Friedman Plex. Those may be the best profiles I've ever heard. There's the kerrang attack in the highs and the whoomp in the lows that I just don't hear elsewhere. Like a really well dialed in Plexi, not the Friedman BE sound. In comparison every MBritt Marshall sounds like there's a blanket on it or more like an overdrive pedal.

I saved the cab block from the MattFig and tried it with an MBritt profile...that drastically opened up the sound. Now we just need Kemper to add the "Lock" feature to the Player so I can lock down the cab block while exploring other profiles.

Have you tried the ox stomp with it?

 

[Jarick]

Have you tried the ox stomp with it?

I did, unfortunately the Player does not have a an effects loop and the Stomp doesn't have true stereo input (it does, but it splits stereo to process left vs right). It's basically a big compromise if I want to use stereo effects from the Kemper Player.

But I kept the Ox Stomp in large part to help shoot profiles once I can do so with the Player.

On my list of things to do is to fire the JJ Junior up again and run through the Suhr RL and Ox Stomp, and mess around with different drive pedals to try and get a more convincing low gain crunchy or breakup tone. The JJ clean channel is amazing for straight clean, and the BE and JBE channels sound KILLER for modern Marshall sounds but don't really do low to mid gain Plexi or 800. I've got a bunch of different drive pedals though that might work on the clean channel (Friedman Smallbox and Wampler Plexi, on top of the ODR-1, Tumnus, and Duke of Tone).

I also still have the IR-X that again I could run through the Ox Stomp to shoot profiles.

So really want I want to do is try to capture killer tones from clean to high gain that I can fully control, and then be able to quickly use those with all the Kemper effects.

And at some point I'd love to get another great amp or two. My Orange Rocker 15 is mediocre but there's a PRS Hendrix 20 at a used shop for like $400. Even better would be Friedman Little Sister, or at least a DS Mini. Or possibly the IR-D.

 

[OneEng]

Rolled the dice on another profile pack, the MattFig Friedman Plex. Those may be the best profiles I've ever heard. There's the kerrang attack in the highs and the whoomp in the lows that I just don't hear elsewhere. Like a really well dialed in Plexi, not the Friedman BE sound. In comparison every MBritt Marshall sounds like there's a blanket on it or more like an overdrive pedal.

I saved the cab block from the MattFig and tried it with an MBritt profile...that drastically opened up the sound. Now we just need Kemper to add the "Lock" feature to the Player so I can lock down the cab block while exploring other profiles.

I was looking for a little better sound for the Goo Goo Dolls song "Slide" last night and came across a fantastic Fender twin reverb free on the rig exchange. So many great sounds out there .... so little time.

Let me know how you like the Friedman Plex. I have always liked Friedman's stuff. It's like a hot rodded Marshall .

 

[Blix]

Rolled the dice on another profile pack, the MattFig Friedman Plex. Those may be the best profiles I've ever heard. There's the kerrang attack in the highs and the whoomp in the lows that I just don't hear elsewhere. Like a really well dialed in Plexi, not the Friedman BE sound. In comparison every MBritt Marshall sounds like there's a blanket on it or more like an overdrive pedal.

I saved the cab block from the MattFig and tried it with an MBritt profile...that drastically opened up the sound. Now we just need Kemper to add the "Lock" feature to the Player so I can lock down the cab block while exploring other profiles.

Checked out the clips, sounds proper Marshall plexi in several clips, very nice. For some reason the Kemper Player appeals to me.

 

[Jarick]

I was looking for a little better sound for the Goo Goo Dolls song "Slide" last night and came across a fantastic Fender twin reverb free on the rig exchange. So many great sounds out there .... so little time.

Let me know how you like the Friedman Plex. I have always liked Friedman's stuff. It's like a hot rodded Marshall .

The Friedman Plex pack from Mattfig is amazing. No idea on the real thing it's too rich for my blood

Mattfig has a sample pack for $1 if you want to check some of his stuff out, mostly liquid profiles so you get a lot of variety. You could pick that up and steal the cab and then copy it over to other profiles too.

 

[Boudoir Guitar]

I was looking for a little better sound for the Goo Goo Dolls song "Slide" last night

Oh, let’s hope that FOH did that song justice. /s