HD500 Review

[druz15]

Without listening thru an amp you're missing some of the dynamics Sooty, does your Dr Z have an effects loop? tis easy to plug it into the return if it does and change it to the mode where the hd works as a preamp, it sounds much more realistic IMHO...

Yeah I think the whole thing you were describing about the bassman not sounding full and lush or whatever is probably because you don't have 4 10inch speakers blasting at you. Get a vintage bassman and mic it up and record it, chances are through headphones it's gonna lose some of that niceness too

[Kloppsta]

Totally, I'd have one in a heartbeat, but to replicate what I have with the HD500 it would cost about the same as our car, i.e. add a foot controller etc...

tis' true!! i wish they werent as expensive as they are but i guess if you look at it like how many amps and effects you are getting in a 2U box for $3.5k.....it aint really too bad a deal! but yeah, still ball breakingly $$pricey$$

[druz15]

oh and +1 on AxeFX, want one bad

[bender]

As faras I can tell, the Kemper is a potential buy for me. I'm especially turned on by the idea of profiles of specific amps allowing collections of weird pawnshop amps and rarities, as well as that '1 in 20' good sounding JCM 800. I hear reports of a profile of a vintage AC30 cranked and profiled moments before it died. Fun!

But that's a different price bracket and form factor.

but with the kemper won't you need to find the amps you want to copy to be able to copy them???? thats what I got from the video that was posted here

The point HG was making about the AC30 is that people can share profiles.

[hamo]

As faras I can tell, the Kemper is a potential buy for me. I'm especially turned on by the idea of profiles of specific amps allowing collections of weird pawnshop amps and rarities, as well as that '1 in 20' good sounding JCM 800. I hear reports of a profile of a vintage AC30 cranked and profiled moments before it died. Fun!

But that's a different price bracket and form factor.

but with the kemper won't you need to find the amps you want to copy to be able to copy them???? thats what I got from the video that was posted here

I'd have thought you'd be able to download profiles sooner or later.

[hamo]

Totally, I'd have one in a heartbeat, but to replicate what I have with the HD500 it would cost about the same as our car, i.e. add a foot controller etc...

tis' true!! i wish they werent as expensive as they are but i guess if you look at it like how many amps and effects you are getting in a 2U box for $3.5k.....it aint really too bad a deal! but yeah, still ball breakingly $$pricey$$

Yeah, the difference between the HD and the Axe is that I will own an HD in this lifetime.

[Hot_Grits]

As faras I can tell, the Kemper is a potential buy for me. I'm especially turned on by the idea of profiles of specific amps allowing collections of weird pawnshop amps and rarities, as well as that '1 in 20' good sounding JCM 800. I hear reports of a profile of a vintage AC30 cranked and profiled moments before it died. Fun!

But that's a different price bracket and form factor.

but with the kemper won't you need to find the amps you want to copy to be able to copy them???? thats what I got from the video that was posted here

I'd have thought you'd be able to download profiles sooner or later.

Been available since product launch. Huge amounts of profiles out there already, all kinds of stuff. Plus the stock profiles that come with the box.

[willow13]

so if you can't run it in USB how do you download profiles????....sorry to lazy to research myself

[slash-ed]

You can update via USB, you just can't record via USB.

[hamo]

but with the kemper won't you need to find the amps you want to copy to be able to copy them???? thats what I got from the video that was posted here

I'd have thought you'd be able to download profiles sooner or later.

Been available since product launch. Huge amounts of profiles out there already, all kinds of stuff.

There you go then, asked and answered. This blows my mind just a little. "Oh, I need to grab some amps for my covers band. Let's just grab an AFD for the GnR songs, an AC30 for our Queen and U2 numbers, and a Hiwatt for Floyd." Then you just need to run an M13 into it and bob's ya male relative.

[slash-ed]

A few quick thoughts about the Kemper (having had one for a little while thanks to Rockshop):

Personally, I think it's best suited to being a recording/studio tool (TOOL). With the previously mentioned allure of unique, rare, and/or now-dead amps being stored in one magical box, it goes where the other modellers do not (except for the profile mode on the new Axe which I have no experience with, so I can't really talk about). It does what it does amazingly well - matching the miked tone of your amp. Which also brings us back in a way to the discussion about how a miked tone will never sound as good as an amp in the room.

Seeing as it is basically a "digital snapshot" of the amp settings at that particular time, that means you're limited (in terms of EQ options etc) to a certain tolerance around the original settings. It's logical that the further you extrapolate from the original, the less accurate the profile becomes.

From that perspective, I'd almost prefer something like the Axe which attempts to smoothly model the WHOLE business down to the tiny details, to give a full spectrum model of an amp.

Also, when I tried the Kemper through a powered speaker with a band, I felt like it struggled to be heard a little.

But to reiterate, it does what it does extremely well, and I think it definitely has a place "moving forward", but they perhaps need to fine tune the experience a bit (dorky box, USB recording etc).

2c etc.

[Polar Bear]

HAving heard the same amp, I concur. All the amp models had a very flat and dry feel to them. Getting monstered by a Pathfinder 15r doesn't help matters. I guess it would be interesting to hear it through a dedicated guitar powered speaker, like the DT series.

[RuBear]

bob's ya male relative.

Robert's your fathers brother?

[Bg]

bob's ya male relative.

Robert's your fathers brother?

nah he's your aunties husband.

[slash-ed]

Hey, sooty's famous!

Sorry, not quite... I can't even guarantee "world famous in NZ" status. Since ages ago.

http://sixstringsamurai.co.nz/2012/08/2 ... con-chips/