Anybody tried a Kemper

Deijavoo

I fancied a Kemper for a while but just for home. 

I have a wee 1x12 regular 8ohm cab which I'd be quite happy using but I guess I need a power amp for that. It just starts getting awkward for me there which is probably why I'll probably just save some cash and get a used V30 or Dark Terror or something. 

Never played one yet though. 

guitarfishbay

I've not tried the Dark Terror but the Tiny Terror didn't sound its best at home volume IMO.  It really opened up at a volume that was too loud for home, but the total power output was not enough for the dynamic range I needed for the band I was in at the time, quite frustrating really.  The DT may be better at home volume due to relying more on preamp saturation though.

Deijavoo

Flat response speakers seem to be bigger than I need and more expensive than I need too. 

guitarfishbay

Deijavoo said:

Flat response speakers seem to be bigger than I need and more expensive than I need too. 

For home you don't need a PA speaker, you'd be fine with some studio monitors.  I find the KRK Rockits quite a good choice for cheap, they make guitar tones sound pretty nice if you're just jamming (and I'd personally recommend them over the similarly priced Yamaha HS line for the same purpose).  

I've had the 5 and 6 inch KRK G2 Rockits, I'd probably say get the 6s and you'd be fine (or the 8s if you fancy a bit more low end).  They're cheap on eBay and loud enough for home guitar playing.

Deijavoo

I have some m audio monitors but everything through them sounds a bit meh. 

Hemce why I got the 1x12 cab, I just figured amps at home always sound sweet. 

paulmapp8306

Fiftyshadesofjay said:

Yep, Kemper has great effects, not as many or as versatile, but great quality for sure.

Ease of use is definitely a bit more personal, but I don't agree with it being fiddly to switch FX on and off, it has labelled buttons on the front of the unit!

The point is though - in a live situation you dont want to be pressing from t panel buttons.  You need a way of switching them from a floorboard.  Aldo you need the versatility to route how you like - order of FX, series/parallel - which in the Kemper is lacking.  

Personally I though thte raw amp tones from the AFX were better than the Kemper - BUT I havent tried to profile any myself, nor download many from the net.  Most were factory profiles   -- AND I always use power amp/cab unless Im actually recording (even with Adam A5X monitors), and IMO the kemper is still weak at that as Ive stated

guitarfishbay

Yeah I still play my Axe through my cab at home, even at low volume I prefer it.

Fiftyshadesofjay

paulmapp8306 said:

Fiftyshadesofjay said:

paulmapp8306 said:

Fiftyshadesofjay said:

Yep, Kemper has great effects, not as many or as versatile, but great quality for sure.

Ease of use is definitely a bit more personal, but I don't agree with it being fiddly to switch FX on and off, it has labelled buttons on the front of the unit!

The point is though - in a live situation you dont want to be pressing from t panel buttons.  You need a way of switching them from a floorboard.  

Yeah, I totally get that in a live situation, but it stands true for the Axe Fx too, you need a floorboard to do any of that also, hence why I wouldn't say that's an advantage over the Kemper.

ToneControl

Fiftyshadesofjay said:

paulmapp8306 said:

Fiftyshadesofjay said:

The point is though - in a live situation you dont want to be pressing from t panel buttons.  You need a way of switching them from a floorboard.  Aldo you need the versatility to route how you like - order of FX, series/parallel - which in the Kemper is lacking.  

Personally I though thte raw amp tones from the AFX were better than the Kemper - BUT I havent tried to profile any myself, nor download many from the net.  Most were factory profiles   -- AND I always use power amp/cab unless Im actually recording (even with Adam A5X monitors), and IMO the kemper is still weak at that as Ive stated

paulmapp8306 said:

Fiftyshadesofjay said:

Yep, Kemper has great effects, not as many or as versatile, but great quality for sure.

Ease of use is definitely a bit more personal, but I don't agree with it being fiddly to switch FX on and off, it has labelled buttons on the front of the unit!

The point is though - in a live situation you dont want to be pressing from t panel buttons.  You need a way of switching them from a floorboard.  

Yeah, I totally get that in a live situation, but it stands true for the Axe Fx too, you need a floorboard to do any of that also, hence why I wouldn't say that's an advantage over the Kemper. but teh AF2 has a floorboard

guitarfishbay

Fiftyshadesofjay said:

paulmapp8306 said:

Fiftyshadesofjay said:

The point is though - in a live situation you dont want to be pressing from t panel buttons.  You need a way of switching them from a floorboard.  Aldo you need the versatility to route how you like - order of FX, series/parallel - which in the Kemper is lacking.  

Personally I though thte raw amp tones from the AFX were better than the Kemper - BUT I havent tried to profile any myself, nor download many from the net.  Most were factory profiles   -- AND I always use power amp/cab unless Im actually recording (even with Adam A5X monitors), and IMO the kemper is still weak at that as Ive stated

paulmapp8306 said:

Fiftyshadesofjay said:

Yep, Kemper has great effects, not as many or as versatile, but great quality for sure.

Ease of use is definitely a bit more personal, but I don't agree with it being fiddly to switch FX on and off, it has labelled buttons on the front of the unit!

The point is though - in a live situation you dont want to be pressing from t panel buttons.  You need a way of switching them from a floorboard.  

Yeah, I totally get that in a live situation, but it stands true for the Axe Fx too, you need a floorboard to do any of that also, hence why I wouldn't say that's an advantage over the Kemper.

But can you control the Kemper in as advanced a way as the Axe FX?  On the Axe you can assign multiple parameters to a single expression pedal, and edit how parameters respond to the sweep etc.  It is pretty cool... for example when I reduce my volume pedal it fades in my delay and switches off my boost - according to the response curve that suits my playing.  That is quite a basic action on the Axe, some of the stuff @Clarky and Octatonic have programmed in to their patches is really cool.

Drew_TNBD

Well the Kemper supports NRPN's which gives you the ability to go almost as in-depth than the Axe FX can. But the trouble is... it requires a lot of fucking around and a huge setup requirement. But feasibly you could do a lot of the stuff Clarky is doing with his Axe with the Kemper too.

But after trying it, I decided it was all a bit too complicated and massive overkill for my needs.

ToneControl

paulmapp8306 said:

Fiftyshadesofjay said:

Yep, Kemper has great effects, not as many or as versatile, but great quality for sure.

Ease of use is definitely a bit more personal, but I don't agree with it being fiddly to switch FX on and off, it has labelled buttons on the front of the unit!

The point is though - in a live situation you dont want to be pressing from t panel buttons.  You need a way of switching them from a floorboard.  Aldo you need the versatility to route how you like - order of FX, series/parallel - which in the Kemper is lacking.  

Personally I though thte raw amp tones from the AFX were better than the Kemper - BUT I havent tried to profile any myself, nor download many from the net.  Most were factory profiles   -- AND I always use power amp/cab unless Im actually recording (even with Adam A5X monitors), and IMO the kemper is still weak at that as Ive stated

yes, FX routing is an issue on the KPA

the factory settings on the KPA are very weak, as they are on the AF2. However, the user forums for the AF2 contains loads of amazing patches, whereas very few KPA community ones are usable.

I had to buy commercial rigs for my KPA. I assume I could create some good ones myself, but not all the ones I want 

Drew_TNBD

ToneControl said:

paulmapp8306 said:

Fiftyshadesofjay said:

Yep, Kemper has great effects, not as many or as versatile, but great quality for sure.

Ease of use is definitely a bit more personal, but I don't agree with it being fiddly to switch FX on and off, it has labelled buttons on the front of the unit!

The point is though - in a live situation you dont want to be pressing from t panel buttons.  You need a way of switching them from a floorboard.  Aldo you need the versatility to route how you like - order of FX, series/parallel - which in the Kemper is lacking.  

Personally I though thte raw amp tones from the AFX were better than the Kemper - BUT I havent tried to profile any myself, nor download many from the net.  Most were factory profiles   -- AND I always use power amp/cab unless Im actually recording (even with Adam A5X monitors), and IMO the kemper is still weak at that as Ive stated

yes, FX routing is an issue on the KPA

the factory settings on the KPA are very weak, as they are on the AF2. However, the user forums for the AF2 contains loads of amazing patches, whereas very few KPA community ones are usable.

I had to buy commercial rigs for my KPA. I assume I could create some good ones myself, but not all the ones I want 

Again I disagree. I tried a bunch of the amp factory ones, and they're crap to be honest. The microphone positioning just isn't my taste I suppose. The ratio of the community patches is actually very very high imho, especially for high-gain metal tones. There is a user called r.u.sirius who has done some amazing ones.

It's much easier to find good Kemper rigs than it is to find good Axe FX presets in their respective user communities.

ToneControl

ah metal on KPA - could be true for metal presets

 

I bought the KPA to get subtler tones than most AF2 patches, since it seems a lot of AF2 users are high-gain

A lot of amp factory ones I bought were excellent

Drew_TNBD

Just different strokes innit!

Deijavoo

Drew_fx said:

Just different strokes innit!

"Drew in diplomatic scandal!"