Review of the Kemper Profiling Amp!

[slash-ed]

My first exclusive write-up for Rockshop is now online! Thanks to Matt and NZRS, I was lucky enough to get my hands on the first Kemper Profiling Amp to land in NZ. You can check out the review here: http://www.rockshop.co.nz/community/blo ... er-review/



Edit: That unit is sold, so the post is down, but it's all resurrectionated over here: http://sixstringsamurai.co.nz/2013/01/1 ... rackmount/

[bender]

Cool! Good read Ed. Is it very easy to turn off the speaker component and run it into an external cab?

[slash-ed]

Yup, pretty easy - the "tone stack" has 4 main buttons, one of which is the cab button. You can run it into an external cab, but it's definitely designed and optimized for FRFR/PA speakers though... Especially since it profiles your entire signal chain from amp to speaker cab to mic, but then somehow "decides" which part is the speaker component and which part is the amp component. I was a little suspicious about this part - I just don't really see how it could truly be possible.

I asked about this at the Kemper forum and got a bit of a Line 6 early-adopters type of response from some of the guys. "I don't know it just works!" "Don't ask questions, if you want go read the patent!" and similar hilarity.

[jeremyb]

FAP FAP FAP FAP FAP

[twistedthoughts]

So for a gig, is there a footswitch or something to easily switch between captured amps? And if so, how many can I have at my disposal?

[vintage52]

Well written and informative.

Good work.

You should ask about making your signature at the bottom a hyperlink to your site.

[slash-ed]

Thanks! Good idea - I'll ask the RS website guy.

So for a gig, is there a footswitch or something to easily switch between captured amps? And if so, how many can I have at my disposal?

You can hook up and program a MIDI footswitch for gigging purposes - I didn't try it but my guess is you'd only be limited by the number of banks in the footswitch!

However, a "Performance Mode" is still in development which is supposed to make the transition to live use a bit easier. Not sure what exactly that will entail as the creator is occupied with other priorities at the moment.

[hamo]

Great review Ed. Only thing missing is the price, but I guess that's up to the RS guys...

[slash-ed]

Indeed - sorry, I neglected to mention that! Pricetag on the one I have is $3099.

[jeremyb]

Hmmm thats less than I expected

Some good vids out there too:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3W250Ew1AK8[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hr2AFJZoRuU[/youtube]

[slash-ed]

Yeah, I figured that there were a heap of well-recorded vids out there, so I didn't want to rehash the same ground. Yeah, for what it can do, certainly a not unreasonable price!

[twistedthoughts]

So for $3K all your amps are belong to me?

This is appealing to me.

[hamo]

Yeah, I figured that there were a heap of well-recorded vids out there, so I didn't want to rehash the same ground. Yeah, for what it can do, certainly a not unreasonable price!

Definitely. I was glad to see the approach you took, to talk about the feel of it. That's where I've struggled in the past with modelling technology, which is weird considering that I'm a cloth eared amateur. Modelling stuff just makes so much sense for me with my desire for diverse tones and limited budget, I'm desperate to like it!

The KPA really opens an IP can of worms though I reckon. Aside from the purists, how many people will shell out for one amp when they can get all of them for the same price in one box? If this tech really takes off, where will we get the profiles from? When there are no real amps left, I mean? Bit of hyperbole, but you get the idea. So how will Marshall, Mesa et al feel about their amps essentially being pirated?

[Danger Mouse]

So how will Marshall, Mesa et al feel about their amps essentially being pirated?

Pissed, I would imagine... but it's very hard to copywrite a sound, Harley Davidson has already tried that trick.

[druz15]

daroooooool