The Kemper thread

drwiddly

hotpickups said:

Also I'd never understand half of the gizmos on it. The facia of knobs and lights alone frightens me lol

I've heard this many times from amp/pedalboard users in relation to modellers in general and the Kemper in particular. If you use an amp and a largish pedalboard, then the Kemper is not very different. The main amp controls are at the bottom and the pedal sections are at the top. All perfectly logical and very similar to what you're used to.

The Axe FX on the other hand .......

hotpickups

WJonathanthomas83 said:

There's one Kemper Profiler but 4 variations:

• Powered head (affectionately known as the toaster)
• Unpowered head
• Powered rack
• Unpowered rack

You can get a white face or green face coloured head. (So I guess, there's another two variations there too).

What would be needed if you got an unpowered kemper

zepp76

Hi all!
As a noob when it comes to profilers (is that the right term?) what other equipment do you need to get up and running? Do you need speakers and a computer to use something like the Kemper? Or can you use a cab and do all the tweaking straight from the unit itself? I've avoided these fandangled contraptions due to thinking they are too complicated to use!

Jonathanthomas83

hotpickups said:

WJonathanthomas83 said:

There's one Kemper Profiler but 4 variations:

• Powered head (affectionately known as the toaster)
• Unpowered head
• Powered rack
• Unpowered rack

You can get a white face or green face coloured head. (So I guess, there's another two variations there too).

What would be needed if you got an unpowered kemper

It's the cheapest way to get into Kemper.

You'd need an audio interface on your computer with computer speakers - if you want to record OR, simply some XLRs and some powered studio monitors. OR, even simpler...some headphones/earphones.

Some get a power amp and guitar cab. Some go FRFR to take advantage of the cab simulation in the Kemper. You'd need an FRFR speaker for this, like the Yamaha DXR10.

Same applies to the powered Kemper, but you'd not need a power amp to power an unamplified cab/FRFR speaker.

Jonathanthomas83

zepp76 said:

Hi all!
As a noob when it comes to profilers (is that the right term?) what other equipment do you need to get up and running? Do you need speakers and a computer to use something like the Kemper? Or can you use a cab and do all the tweaking straight from the unit itself? I've avoided these fandangled contraptions due to thinking they are too complicated to use!

Hi mate, it's not complicated at all...biggest issue is what I alluded to yesterday...finding the right profiles, but there's loads of people on hand to help. See the post above with reference to the equipment needed...if you need a hand with the terminology, let us know. Or PM me any time! :-)

hotpickups

Jonathanthomas83 said:

hotpickups said:

WJonathanthomas83 said:

There's one Kemper Profiler but 4 variations:

• Powered head (affectionately known as the toaster)
• Unpowered head
• Powered rack
• Unpowered rack

You can get a white face or green face coloured head. (So I guess, there's another two variations there too).

What would be needed if you got an unpowered kemper

It's the cheapest way to get into Kemper.

You'd need an audio interface on your computer with computer speakers - if you want to record OR, simply some XLRs and some powered studio monitors. OR, even simpler...some headphones/earphones.

Some get a power amp and guitar cab. Some go FRFR to take advantage of the cab simulation in the Kemper. You'd need an FRFR speaker for this, like the Yamaha DXR10.

Same applies to the powered Kemper, but you'd not need a power amp to power an unamplified cab/FRFR speaker.

Blimey I'm already lost with some of those terms mentioned above I.e. FRFR lol

Jonathanthomas83

hotpickups said:

Jonathanthomas83 said:

hotpickups said:

WJonathanthomas83 said:

There's one Kemper Profiler but 4 variations:

• Powered head (affectionately known as the toaster)
• Unpowered head
• Powered rack
• Unpowered rack

You can get a white face or green face coloured head. (So I guess, there's another two variations there too).

What would be needed if you got an unpowered kemper

It's the cheapest way to get into Kemper.

You'd need an audio interface on your computer with computer speakers - if you want to record OR, simply some XLRs and some powered studio monitors. OR, even simpler...some headphones/earphones.

Some get a power amp and guitar cab. Some go FRFR to take advantage of the cab simulation in the Kemper. You'd need an FRFR speaker for this, like the Yamaha DXR10.

Same applies to the powered Kemper, but you'd not need a power amp to power an unamplified cab/FRFR speaker.

Blimey I'm already lost with some of those terms mentioned above I.e. FRFR lol

Understood, it's all a bit much isn't it. I need to write a blog post for this kind of stuff, I think that could be useful.

FRFR is Full Range Frequency Response - it's a type of speaker that delivers a nice flat response (obvs) and can cover a wide frequency...I'm not totally versed in this stuff myself, but it's different to a guitar cab in a lot of ways.

Using FRFR allows you to take advantage of the different cabinet emulations that the Kemper offers. You could be using a Mesa with a 4x12 recto cab one minute and a nice Greenback loaded stack the next with your Marshall profile. Having a neutral FRFR speaker allows you to get the most out of these profiles. It's really cool!

You don't need a speaker with a Kemper, you could go stereo to studio monitors or use headphones. You'd get the same effect in a smaller, more manageable package.

Wazmeister

@hotpickups - yep, you’re right there mate. Sadly, there is a whole new hidden language to learn, but you soon get the hang of it.

My personal break through came using the Genelec small monitors (8010 or 8020) at HOME only. Best home sound I’ve had 

dangriffiths

I use mine with headphones or through studio monitors...both sound great - I generally use headphones so I can play without winding up anyone at home or nearby.

Freebird

dangriffiths said:

I use mine with headphones or through studio monitors...both sound great - I generally use headphones so I can play without winding up anyone at home or nearby.

The Space effect is really good when using headphones, and sounds great with a set of Sennheiser HD600's.

Wazmeister

Freebird said:

Wazmeister said:

You know, last week I sold my beloved Rambler.

You've all heard me 'ramble' on (apologies) about the Carr for years... well, my mate is a newbie to guitar and came around the other Monday evening when Mrs Waz was out, and I set up the Kemper vs The Rambler.

I was literally gob smacked. Using a Tone Junkie Profile, and a bit of tweaking (and I have NO patience as a tweaker) you. could. not. tell. the. difference.

Bloody hell. That is a ridiculous statement to make.

Maybe a touch more warmth ? I dunno.

I miss the looks of my valve amps, the coolness of my valve amps, the kudos of my valve amps.

But sound and reliability. Sorry, that doesn't work for me personally...

What was your precise setup (including profile) that got you so close to the Rambler?

The profile was one of the Tone Junkie Scrambler ones... 

Dont recall the exact settings but it was pretty close straight ‘out of the box’ 

Freebird

Wazmeister said: 

Freebird said:

What was your precise setup (including profile) that got you so close to the Rambler?

The profile was one of the Tone Junkie Scrambler ones... 

Dont recall the exact settings but it was pretty close straight ‘out of the box’ 

Is that with a cab, FRFR, or Genelecs?

dangriffiths

Freebird said:

dangriffiths said:

I use mine with headphones or through studio monitors...both sound great - I generally use headphones so I can play without winding up anyone at home or nearby.

The Space effect is really good when using headphones, and sounds great with a set of Sennheiser HD600's.

Yes it makes it feel a lot less enclosed and headphone like - definitely worth fiddling if people haven't before. 

jimification

Wazmeister said:

The profile was one of the Tone Junkie Scrambler ones... 

Dont recall the exact settings but it was pretty close straight ‘out of the box’ 

I bought those TJ (sc)Rambler profiles on the strength of this last night - flipping awesome they are, too - ta!

rsvmark

I have a question for clever folks. So for a gig, with an amp and a pedal board, you set up, sound check and you will typically have a reasonably steady volume level. Yes you may play dynamically, use a Vol pedal, use the vol knob, poss have a boost or two, but generally your volume is pretty consistent.

if you have a bunch of presets and change profile for each song in the set, or even mid song, is it easy to get that volume consistency or do you have to tweak every profile and same into a big bunch of presets?

Wazmeister

@rsvmark - in a word mate, yes !

Each rig has its own volume (rig volume) as well as the master. Simple and intuitve live.

In fact, thinking about it, one of the Kempers strengths is its consistency between rehearsals and gigs.

Namaqua

I'm on a tour around Europe currently and we're doing 8 shows a week. We're using a Fractal for the range of sounds and reliability instead of a valve amp / pedals. I'm pretty impressed by the Fractal and it makes the show so much smoother. Never thought I'd say it (Mr purist here) but I'm starting to think this is the way forward. At the 70th show and no failures yet!

Jonathanthomas83

I think that's been the general consensus...in fact, I've seen a lot, but I'm amazed that we haven't seen even more live acts doing the same. It'll happen in the near future, I'm sure.

joeyowen

Namaqua said:

I'm on a tour around Europe currently and we're doing 8 shows a week. We're using a Fractal for the range of sounds and reliability instead of a valve amp / pedals. I'm pretty impressed by the Fractal and it makes the show so much smoother. Never thought I'd say it (Mr purist here) but I'm starting to think this is the way forward. At the 70th show and no failures yet!

What is this curse word you are on about?  newb.

(kidding)  Congrats on the tour, hope the gear holds out well

Kebabkid

A couple more questions chaps, if you will:-

Is it me or does it appear that the powered version seems to be the more popular? If using an FRFR, are you taking the power from the KPA or the speaker? When I recently heard one, the user had the powered KPA but switched off that element in favour of the powered speaker. Is it just a case of preference or any benefits here, on either side?

What's the consensus on Active or Passive FRFRs?

And what about using them with a decent, regular cab? I have a fabulous Tone Tubby 2x12 (1 x Alnico, 1 x Ceramic Hemp Speakers). Even if I use speaker simulation, if using my cab, are my speakers always going to taint the sound or heavily influence it?