Things I WISH I knew before buying a Kemper Profiler
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- čas přidán 11. 06. 2024
- So Just FYI - I absolutely LOVE my Kemper now 😍 but there were definitely somethings to learn first...! I hope some of these tips are helpful for anyone else on the fence about buying a Kemper.
00:00 - 01:17 Intro
01:17 - 03:03 Price and Model
03:03 - 06:48 Monitors and FRFR
06:48 - 08:03 Recording
08:03 - 10:04 Profiles
10:04 - 11:00 Summary
11:00 - 11:53 Outro
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#kemperamp #kemperprofiler #guitaramplifier - Hudba
Summary:
Use an FRFR not a gtr cab
Select profiles you really love
Don’t buy the powered version
Buy the toaster version
Now go and live your 11 1/2 minutes of life you gained.
Hahaha
@@CantAffordToRecord actually I bought the powered toaster and although maybe a little wasteful to have powered as I do have an external amplifier, I don't regret the extra money as it really is a very good amplifier when you plug direct into a speaker. Acts as my reference tone (albeit Mono).
What is an FRFR?
@@earledaniels4539 Full range flat response
I'm opposite! I hated the FRFR, I'm using a MESA OS, guitar cab, with a powered rack Kemper along with my own profiled EVH Stealth (No cab), and LOVE the sound!! It sounds like my EVH!!
to me the real power of the kemper is the flexibility of outputs. it was the first unit that could send the full signal including cab sim and all through the XLR out to front of house but also send the signal without the cab sim to a power amp/speaker cabinet. so you can have some air moving on stage but your sound guy gets a consistent signal every night. no knocking over mics or poor mic placement anymore. its also great if you use in ears beacuse here too the sound will always be the same and you will feel right at home no matter where you play. in terms of what I wished to know sooner I'd say. Make your own profiles with your guitar. that really gave the extra 10% on the sound.
Great point - I love the fact I don't have to be mic'd up anymore, and that I can be packed up in 5 minutes!
Agree 100% on the profiles, I wasted so much time trying to get profiles to the way I wanted but if you don't like it right away just delete it and move on.
I bought a used Kemper Powered Toaster and Remote. It had mostly just the factory profiles. I was running it through various guitar cabs. I thought "This has potential". I bought a paid profile of an amp I played many years ago and really liked (Jim Kelley FACS) and then I knew this might work for me. My next move was to Yamaha DXR10 powered monitors. I bought one and loved it right out of the box. Bought another just to have a bigger sound stage. Really digging it by this time. I sampled profiles from many of the top Kemper profilers (Top Jimi, Tone Junkie, M Britt) and the M Britt profiles just really sounded best to me. I bought the M Britt Crank and Go Pack (I'm a higher gain classic rock guy) and the clouds parted and the sun shone and the angels sang. Over the next six months I sold off most of my tube amps. Four years later I couldn't be happier with my rig. As another commenter stated it's all about finding the right profiles for your sound. The Kemper is a bit of a learning curve and it's not for everyone but it's a truly amazing device.
Thanks so much for sharing your experiences!!
I bought one earlier this year (non-powered rack) JUST for recording. I have it mounted to my studio desk going into a Behringer UMC1820 interface. I used the 5 input method (you can record the FX tracks separately right out of the Kemper (options in the end if you really liked the effects in the profile). No regrets. Finishing up a compilation record with a bunch of people and almost all of the guitar tracks (all recorded out of my home studio) came from the Kemper.
So cool - The Kemper just crushes when it comes to recording!!
this is my plan
Very Helpful! Thanks
I know it's a year old video but thought I'd shape my Kemper thoughts. Before Kemper, I had a very simple rig - I didn't even have an amp, I had a decent pre-amp pedal with some effects pre and post, and then all that going into an interface with some cab IR's/simulated power section.
I was then lucky enough to save enough to get a kemper.
My tones are better, I have all the effects I'll ever need, and limitless possibility. But, it really hasn't been that productive for my actual guitar playing. Often I will sit down to play, and I'll spend so long dialing in a new tone, that an hour passes and it's bedtime before I've even really started playing. Before, I had my preamp tone (1 clean and 1 dirty channel), that I was basically stuck with (but liked), and all I had to think about was my playing. I think having so much option can be very annoying for someone who is a bit of perfectionist with this stuff, like myself, as I can't help but keep tweaking and tweaking..
Theres something charming about having a single amp
Totally hear you on this - I've found though since the introduction of Liquid Profiles, I can treat the Kemper like a 'real' amp, turn up the gain for my drive, turn it down for more clean. I literally just use two profiles now, one for a Fender sound and one for a Marshall. I have thousands of profiles sitting there, never to see the light of day again....but my productivity is so much better. Maybe I should do an update video!
I have started out the electric guitar at age 12 and my father gave me a small tube amplifier which he Constructed himself with two EL84 power tubes and two ecc83 preamp tubes and all it had was volume pot bass and treble and I could choose between the phono input or the separate microphone input that little thing was really a present from heaven and it thought me from the word Go how to deal with overdrive and feedback it was only 20 Watts RMS. BUT I tell you that thing was so loud that the neighbors five houses down were complaining about the noise subsequently I figured the only way it was sounded good was at maximum volume but then I had an Idea of which I was convinced that it wouldn’t break the amplifier but still gave me a way to control the power so I put A light dimmer between the power cord and the amp and the result was Marvelous when I fed it 110 volt instead of 220 the volume was half but the overdrive was even better there was a breaking point where it sounded optimum but a little less power and then it started clipping
Thank you for the information. Very helpful. Cheers.
You are so welcome, thanks for watching!
Great video Robby! 🤩 very insightful 😎 👏 🎸
Thanks my guy 😎
Thanks for making this vid!!! Extremely helpful head's up. PS you scared the beejesus out of me when I saw Sin City! You are a mad lad, bruv!
Hahaha! Thanks for watching my friend!
Thanks for sharing your experience! I just bought a Stage for the 2nd time. The first one I got completely overwhelmed with options and went back to my simple amp. The second round, I just use a few profiles and don't think about the hundreds of others. I like what you said about only keeping 14 profiles on your Kemper. For me, Less is More (and why keep all those profiles you probably won't use--brilliant). Also, I like what you said about the running through a FRFR. There are so many opinions about using a guitar cab versus FRFR, so nice to hear your thoughts on it. It almost makes sense to run a FRFR if that what people will hear in the audience.
Congrats on getting another stage! I think the whole FRFR thing just takes some getting use to and time for your ears to adjust and if you're not digging it, you can play with the global 'pure cab' button and add more of the in the room sound back in.
Thanks for watching and taking the time to write!
@@CantAffordToRecord Great tip on the "Pure Cab" button, I didn't know that was there. Like I said lots of options on these things, haha.
Totally excellent advice :)) I recently started using a Kemper (stage in my case) and initially thought I’d use through an amp or cab and mainly use in lieu of a large pedal board. Initially totally underwhelmed but plugged into a spare set of studio monitors and realized I wasn’t really getting “the Kemper”, so bought a powered FRFR stereo cab - never looked back - amazing :))
Woohoo! So pleased you found your perfect set up :) Awesome work, Nigel!
great video! thanks for posting :)
Absolutely! Thanks so much for watching :)
I've choosen an unpowered toaster which I drive thru Yamaha DBR 10s and I'm pretty happy with that... of course I totally agree with your conclusions ❤
That's awesome to hear! Glad you've found your Kemper workflow!
same vibes here with the Kemper, I bought a rack version a couple of months ago, so much same experience that you’ve had, I’ll keep it 😊
Hang in there my friend, I love my rack now ❤️
Wow, thank you so much man. Great video
You're so welcome!!
I also live in Canada and I just did the same and got a FRFR Line 6 powercab, sounds great on Kemper.
Congrats! The Powercab seems like it's set up nicely with the guitarist in mind. Awesome!
Good insight! I’m also a Canadian musician/producer and started a CZcams channel about 1 year ago. Your videos are awesome and it’s good to meet you 😁
Well done. Thank you!
Your so welcome :-)
I have powered toaster. I highly highly recommend kemper Kones I took out the speakers of old 2x12 and replaced with 2 Kones and the sound is magical awesome. Far better than monitors or FRFR.
@@jesterminute9472 kemper make their device in 3 forms. Either the floor pedal, rack mount or the desktop (or top of speaker cab). If you look the desktop version you'll see it resembles the shape of older bread toasters.
I had a Powered Kemper and Remote....sold them both and got a Kemper Stage. Works better for me and the tones are amazing.
So pleased to hear the stage works for you!
I got a kemper stage and it has been a nightmare lol , started using a laptop with neural outboard effects 👍
@@kennethmeeker6369 nightmare eh? What are you doing wrong :)
I love the first tone you used! Can you share what it is and how you processed it. Beautiful reverb there!
I *think* that's the 'Fort Worth II' profile from Tone Junkie TV with copious amounts of verrrrrrb. It's from their FREE pack! I also mention it in this video 👇🏻
czcams.com/video/0uDyMmPr0y0/video.html
It took me about three years loving/hating the Kemper, I have a bunch of amps, racks etc.
What worked for me was advice from channels like yours, the one thing that nailed it for me was, find a profile nearest to what you like, if you have to tweak for 20 mins, find another.
Again for me, the Michael Britt stuff is spot on, very little messing and sounds great straight into the interface.
I think it's because there are a stupid amount of excellent permutations that makes this such a love/hate machine.
Very well said - You either click with a profile or you don't! Thanks for taking the time to stop by :-)
I think the powered Kemper works well for people who are used to a guitar cab in the room. I use an unpowered toaster at home through studio monitors and a stage through a laney LFR 112 for back line and XLR to FOH. I love the Kemper, but it can be a journey 🙂
Well said, Lee! Thanks for stopping by ☺️
@@CantAffordToRecord the cot to foh sounds so bad. Sounds far from the way it sounds through the marshall 4x12. So then I turn off the power amp that came with the rack, and use my own mesa power amp, which sounds better, but still crappy compared to a real tube head. What must be done to the xlr output to foh to make it sound good? I already toggled every nob in the output and input, cab, amp, eq, etc.
@@AngSingha I've never had a problem with how it sounds at FOH so far! 🤷🏻♂...maybe its the venues PA?
You can take this a step further, although it’s going to cost you more! I also have a powered Kemper (Toaster) and I’ve never looked back. The stereo effects produced by the Kemper are remarkable, so you will have to get a new powered speaker. When playing live you have to convince the sound guy to manage a stereo signal with two inputs. I STILL use the powered amp option and tilt a 1x12 or 2x12 directly at my head. You can manage the volume controls of your balanced out and the powered amp separately, and DON’T have to rely on a sound guy paying attention to your frantic signals asking him to turn up/down your monitor volume. It is BOMB. Oh, one more huge expense. The rather expensive remote control floor pedal provides the ability to navigate through all of your performances and rigs very rapidly, and provides a well lit duplicate of the on-board tuner and you can keep the amp in a safe place and don’t have to unhand hour guitar ever. ALSO, the floor remote give you access to the Morph feature, which allows you to have two sets of settings/effects/volume for each rig. When I solo, I sometimes just step on the same rig I’m on and morph mode is engaged. Generally I add 20% additional volume and fade it up in 1/2 second and back down when I’m finished. To fit your bill, even better than the lunchbox, the unpowered full Kemper floor model has the same features as all of the others, and you wouldn’t be missing out on anything. I think you made a good choice with the powered option. THERE will come a day when you need that amplification…. A gig with not enough room on the sound board, or… something. When practicing at home I still use my same setup, but have my two powered speakers nicely position for stereo, and about 1/5 of the volume coming out of a central powered speaker. it makes for an awesome 3 dimensional sound! Either way, there are many levels to peel back on the Kemper and after 4 years I feel like I’m about…50% of the way there! Have fun!
Wow, thanks for such a detailed comment! I have the remote as well and love the morph feature ❤️
@@CantAffordToRecord I’m so glad you liked it! Being a Kemper owner is a JOURNEY. I have a long list of helpful shortcuts and tidbits to make it more simple, quicker and useful. You probably know many/most of them, but sharing knowledge never does any harm. Please let me know if you’re interested my list. Some of the recent rig downloads on the Kemper site, ESPECIALLY the 1-3 versions of pro profiles from EVH to Mark Knopfler. I swear you can find a basic profile for every clean and every grit and every saturated sound you like, and tweak them to your personal preference. EPIC unbelievable quality. The quality of rigs coming directly from Kemper have come leaps and bounds from the early ones.
Just a tip: if you do want to use a guitar cab then find some Direct or Merged profiles. It’ll sound a lot better
I use merged Mesa Boogie and Hughes and Kentner profiles with a Marshal cab with my powered Rack and its beyond brutal !
That’s great!! I hear merged profiles are for sure the way to go with real guitar cabs 🤘🏻
Alot of the pro profiles come with both studio and "merged" formats of the same "RIG". My experience is to use the merged format with guitar cabs as it has a defined (clean) separation between the amp profile and the cab/mic profile. In the output menu, you can set the amp output on the Kemper to always have the and the XLR will remain . This is great for running your powered output to a guitar cab on stage and XLR stereo to FOH OR your DAW interface, or your FRFR. Obviously, they will sound different if you are using IR's that are different to your guitar cab, but it works for me in certain situations.
Yes, great suggestion! Best of both worlds :-)
The Kemper is ideal for creating IR’s of whatever you do in the studio & can have those tones for live.
And studio using multiple amps without the fuss of mic’n up different ones and do layers ect. I can appreciate good real amps but no denying having them takes up space and going through them for recording can be rewarding but a lot of extra work. I don’t find myself too partial to the technology today has to offer in that area. Now drums and bass? A little different. But the Kemper for re amping is also ideal I am finding. I always do a DI track with bass and guitar whether I think it needs it or not to have on hand and have been playing around just feeling like there’s a smorgasbord of tonal possibilities lol
Very helpful vid. Question, why would you have preferred the ‘toaster’ version over the rack?
Glad you found it helpful :-) Unit wise, just slightly more portable and takes up less space I think - literally no other reason!
great video! I got the toaster version used a few years ago, and have been using it at church (my main gig) where I use an amp cab for my monitor and then go directly into the board with my output. What you said about what happens when you turn off the cabinet part of the equation because you're outputting through an amp cabinet (for my monitor anyway) makes so much sense and I'm sure explains why the sound of the profiles through that is frequently disappointing. That said, I've found some ones that work well and sound good even that way, and have gotten better at playing the Kemper more like an amp, i.e, using guitar volume and how hard I pick. I have to say that the experience of playing still doesn't feel like an amp, but it sounds like one. And I suppose the sound I'm outputting to the board (which I can't hear) probably does have the cabinet part of the profile, so it sounds good "out there." (And in fact when I've heard it played through the house when we've recorded stuff, it really sounds good.)
So pleased you love playing your Kemper, me too! I would say 'most' of the profiles have a cab on them so if you are playing through an actual cab (not an FRFR) then you'll want to turn it off...that said, if you found some that still sound good...awesome! It's likely what is being sent to FOH sounds great because they are using FRFR and it's keeping the cab on the profile for the master send.
Thanks for watching and leaving a comment :-)
Hello Robbie, I also enjoyed your info. I own an Unpowered Rack housed in a Gator Rack case. Yes, I agree with you, a Flight Case is needed IF one is touring, BUT way too heap to lug in and out of a car/van. That is why for local gigs I went with ghee lightrer weight Gator plastic molded rack chase. BEWARE of the Rack Bags out there , though, I had started with one, and I noticed that it was NOT ventilation enough for the Kemper. Other Kemper owners on various Kemper websites said the same,so I sold the Rack Bag and went with a lighter weight Rack Case. I am very blessed and fortunate to have two Kemper KABINETS, also. I am in the process of setting that all up, but I am under no deadline to do so.
I also agree, to keep only what’s needed loaded into the Kemper. I read that by having only what you need on the Kemper, improves load and start up time also.
K leaning up my 😢Rig Manager and the Kemper definitely helps a clean, quicker startup time.
Finally , a Kemper USB Stick Backup is also Handy , in case something goes wrong at the gig etc.
A question on Recording, you state that you use the SPIDIF, have you made a video for that or do you have one?
That is my next joiurney after completing my rack 😅, stereo KABINET setup. Thank you and I look forward to your next Kemper video. 😊
Thanks for the heads up RE rack bags...I'll look into that some more! Great advice with the USB stick too, agree totally!
Not sure how much there is to say about the spdif recording but maybe folks would find a routing guide helpful. I have a few more Kemper video ideas so keep a look out. Thanks so much for watching!
So the savings in not buying all those great amps ,yes….but now your investment to run this is $3,000? Is that in the ballpark?
The Kemper has a definite learning curve... but stick with it. You will get there. I purchased a bunch of 3rd Party packs and my favorites were unquestionably the ChopTones - FWIW.
Great to know! Thanks for sharing your expertise! :-)
Useful info. I’m seriously looking into buying a Kemper now. Curious if I need the powered or non-powered head. I play mostly at home at lower volumes, so I’m assuming having the non powered version with some good studio monitor speakers would be ideal for that setting? However, in the event I ever wanted to jam or play in a band context I’m assuming I would need the powered head to use with a speaker cabinet. Thanks !
You pretty much got it spot on. In my opinion, an unpowered unit with studio monitors / small PA monitor / Kemper Kab is more than fine. If you had a beloved Marshall cab or something that you can't live without then I'd get powered :-)
@@CantAffordToRecord Thanks for the info. At this point I don’t have any cabs or any studio monitors. I have a few amps at home but mainly use a little Yamaha toaster size modeling amp because it sounds best at lower bedroom / home volumes. But I keep hearing all these great profiles from the kemper and would love have all those great tones and be able to such tones at lower volumes. I never play with anyone but that could change I guess, and wonder if would be worth having the power version so I could play with people. Thanks again
This is quite a good watch. I’m currently 11 months into my journey with a kemper rack through a 2x12 zilla cab. Just can’t get anything to sound how I want it to / think it should and am close to selling. But after watching this I think I’ll just have a break from it for a while. The 2x12 is a pain to lug around so maybe I should find a better frfr. I had the headrush 112 but didn’t like that. Maybe I’ll get the line 6 powercab. But what a frustrating learning curve it is. So many things and options to consider. It’s overwhelming compared to a simple valve amp and pedals. My rack was 2nd hand and has something like 700 profiles on it. So maybe I need to start from scratch , get rid of lots of profiles to the local library and stop having option overload. I also need to learn about ir’s as it currently sounds awful through a pa.
Stick with it Paul - Sounds like a very similar journey as mine. Definitely get rid of all them profiles and go find 10 you like and start with those. I bought the Yamaha DXR12 and really like it. I did a gig with it all the other night and watching everyone fiddle with mic'ing their amps and here's me going straight to the PA...it made me very thankful haha!
@@CantAffordToRecord thanks man. Just hope I can get the pa sound better than it currently is. Currently I have to mic it!
I have never tried kemper but did try the helix route after years with amps. All I heard about was how great IRs are with FRFR speakers. I bought the headrush 108 first. Didn't like it. Read "oh you gotta buy 3rd party IRs they are so much better" I bought some bundles. Some sounded better, still didn't like it though. Returned the headrush and got 2 studio monitors. Sounded better than the headrush but still wasn't amazed at all. This wasn't anything as good to me as using an amp in the room. So then I started doing 4CM with some amps I had and also used some power amps direct to cabs I have with the cabinet emulation/IR turned off. This is the best sound for me, I just simply like real amp in the room sound and no path of using FRFR/studio monitors does it for me. I was still temped to get a Kemper one day to be able to sell all my other stuff and have one machine for all these amps and figured I would use a powered kemper with cabs but now this video makes me doubt that path as well :( I personally would not waste your time buying that line 6 power cab as I heard a lot of poor reviews and doubt its gonna do it for you if the headrush didn't already. You might be like me and just not like the FRFR mic'd speaker sound compared to real amp in the room sound.
Try the Michael Britt 69 and 72 Marshall Plexis.
Also some of the Michael Britt Dumble profiles of Keith Urban's Dumble are amazing!
The Kemper factory AC30, the Matchless (The Chief), the Princeton (Little Prince) profiles that Christophe profiled himself in Nashville are excellent.
Awesome, I'll definitely dig into these, thanks for the heads up!
@@CantAffordToRecordMichael’s Marshall high gainers are really good if I say so myself.
You should of paired it with the kemper kabinet it sounds stella❤
Hi mate, have to agree with a lot of what you are saying, I now have a powered toaster and a stage. I have tried the toaster through several cabs finally settled on the unpowered Kemper cab. For the Stage I have used Headrush 108 FRFRs (fine on stands not too good in the floor, JC-40 to good effect but I am currently using a DV Mark setup (Power cab 60 and sometimes a Multiamp (going into the effects return) and a DV Mark 1x12 cab, as I get older I like the lighter gear ;-) I may get another Power cab for stereo at at some point. I have to agree re the profiles the variety is huge and finding ones for you can be like looking for a needle in a haystack but when you do find ones you like the sky really is the limit
A toaster and a stage?! Seems like you just need a rack to finish the collection 😉 thanks for sharing your cabinet experience, Martin 🙌🏻 the Kemper Kabs look really smart!
@@godzoo18 Can you get it to sound like Wes or George? Yes! Can it make you play like them? Never!
@@godzoo18 Hello my friend, I answered your question about the tone and made a little joke about how amazing Wes and George are. Have a wonderful day ✌🏻
Kemper cabs sound amazing but one is not loud enough for band mix.
*I can't recommend **_Rig Manager_** enough*
I got a Kemper last year, took awhile to really get into it. Opened for The Long Run (Eagles cover band) and Lonestar on the same day, got to chat a while with Adam Rey and Michael Britt before the show, which re-invigorated my interest.
Adam advised me to use Rig Manager, saying he was able to create a rig in ten minutes. My first couple days I figured he was exaggerating, because this was
*Taking. For. Ev. Ur*
...but now I can build a basic rig in less than that. It's far easier than twiddling buttons and knobs--more flexible as well.
Good video, thanks for the tips.
Yes, totally agree! Rig Manager is incredibly helpful and quick. I love it! Thanks for comment my friend 🙂
I have a Virus the synth version and love it but hate the lack of support for new Mac OS X computer operating systems. Unless you need to profile tube amps, to me the Fractal Axe FX III is better option.
Yes dude...nice vid...I use a none power toaster with the DXR12 and a SPFID to my Presonus Interface for recording - FYI the Morgan AC 20 is my go to tone ;-)
Ahh awesome!! Thanks for watching dude, I’ll check out that profile 😎
O man, you just spoke my words :)
Hope you in enjoyed the video :-)
Man I am loving my Kemper. It’s doing exactly what I want giving me multiple amps without having to house said amps. I’m not that partial to real amps vs their emulation or profiled counterparts. About the only thing I can tell is the dynamic response of profile against emulation vs real is the profile seems to not have the nuance of real amps and emulators seem to do a little better (Amplitube) particularly. Tried the TONEX and it didn’t work out at all Kemper is living up to the need. TONEX isn’t bad by no means but I just didn’t like it with my pedalboard at all and sounded thinner and didn’t like my reverbs and delays with it
Glad you're digging it man - I still love my Kemper too, use it everyday 🙌🏻
I think the power amp in the kemper was designed to have stage volume while giving FOH a direct line from the kemper, in my experience the kemper will always sound better thru studio monitors or FRFR. I bought a powered kemper too and never used the power amp. On that train of thought, the kemper stage would be best for live performances, the toaster for on the go studio sessions and the rack for your home studio where it wont move. I also think that the kemper is as good as the profiles you have, you can find good free profiles but you will stumble across 100 bad ones before you find one good one, so buying profiles is almost a must. One thing I liked and disliked about the kemper was that you didn’t need to tweek to much to get a great sound, so i played more and tweaked less, but if I needed to tailor a sound it was a bit difficult to eq or find that sound, at the end of the day I went to an line 6 HX stomp, not because it sounds better but because I feel I have more control over my tone, and I feel it plays better with other pedals.
I haven’t tried the Line 6 HX but hear wonderful things!
The rig exchange can be a bit hit and miss and yes, some days more often miss, ha! But I’m very grateful for folks like Tone Junkies who offer a free pack and often free profiles here and there to get folks going!
@@CantAffordToRecord tone junkies are my favorite profiles. The line 6 stuff takes some getting used to, it took me a few weeks to get a tone I was happy with, but at the end of the day I have more control over my tone.
Awesome 🤘🏻
As a Kemper user for the past 5 years, I've had really good experiences playing through a standard guitar cab (1x12 open back in particular - the sounds breath and spread better with open back IMO). I can easily gig with it this way, without even going direct to the PA (for smaller gigs at least). Different strokes for different folks I suppose ;) I've used the Marshall 1936 that you referenced as well, but don't think it sounds as good as a simple open back cab (a little too dark and bass heavy to my ears).
I have a powered Kemper toaster, which I'd recommend over the unpowered version without hesitation. I like having everything all in one, as opposed to needing a separate power amp (more things to carry around, connect and mess about with). The internal amp also sounds great IMO (as good as a real Deluxe Reverb... no... but close enough at a gig).
I've had the a similar experience to yours re: ending up with a small handful of "go-to" profiles. I have also downloaded lots of patches to experiment with, but that's part of the fun ;)
Kemper has been a fantastic platform for me (a lifelong tube snob). Even with all the competitors out there, I feel no need to switch, certainly not in the foreseeable future.
So now if you are Talking FRFR is the answer aren’t the FRFR powered? And doesn’t that render the purchase of the powered Kemper a bit of a waste ? Not sure if the FRFR are powered?
Yes exactly, you'll hear in my points at the end that I say if I was to buy a Kemper again knowing what I know now, I'd not buy a powered one :-)
That a toneX was coming out before buying the Kemper :)
Turn off the cab on the monitor out that's rthe same as the cab out on the powered KPA. vorks great for me, then i use that as monitoring on stage and send the main out to FOH. and it's awsome
I use a powered Friedman asm12. Sounds phenomenal
Heard great things about them! Awesome :-)
@@CantAffordToRecord you should check out STL tones for some kemper packs. I use the Northlane 'Alien' pack and haven't used much else since. It sounds great for rock/metal
@@coolcatdrummer Gonna check this for sure! 👀
No kidding that there’s no used ones in Canada, I just financed one from Long & McQuade, this video helps out quite a bit. Thanks!
Ugh, the Canadian used gear struggle is real! Glad to have helped, enjoy the Kemper!
@@CantAffordToRecord Thank you! It'll be here in a few days and I couldn't be more excited. My main question was either getting the powered rack or regular rack so your video greatly helped there. Cheers! :)
@@m.dcreativestudios8430 Awesome! I'm excited for you haha!
great insight. True and honest approach. Typical cdn eh lol
Haha! Thanks buddy guy pal 🙌🏻
One question....I am now in the process of building my own home studio, so.... So far I have my Focusrite Scarlett Solo 3rd, Mac laptop. I want to buy this Kemper Profiler Remote, but the question is, do I necessarily need to buy another Kemper product ( Rack or amp head )in order to write and record music?
You need just one Kemper product, the remote will be fine!
@@CantAffordToRecordthank you man!
Sorry , one last question. What Mac OS are you using?
You have to either purchase high-end profiles, or create profiles yourself..Most of the stock profiles are meh at best. High gain profiles that are done through a similar cab as your Marshal will sound great, the cab will "color" your sound depending on the speakers, just like any other cab (..mae sure you turn off the cab function or else you run a cab on a cab- sounds weird and ovvercompessed.If you play a bunch of different styles, go FRFR. I've owned ALL of the great amps (Diezel, Boner, VHT, Boogie, Marshall, Fender) and for direct recording, I don't even adjust eq or settins- straiht in, God-like tones. The power part of the Kemper is just so you have the ability to power a monitor or cab..There is also a sparate EQ settings for the cab so you don't need to mess with the EQ to the house. Powerhead is the way to go in case you need to power a spaeker, I also have Fractal and Line 6, also full of garbage presets...no option to run a cab.
Ive had my profiler toaster for a few years now. Its a weird relationship somedays i love it somedays im just not feeling it at all. I've learned that really good IR packs are way a real important part of the chain. Ive purchased MANY commercial packs over the years and wasnt really feeling most of them until i started buying IR packs and then those not so good profiles sounded killer. So i highly recommend to any new kemper user to get a good IR pack.
Thanks so much for sharing your experience! I definitely agree :-)
Sounds like you didn't research this big purchase before pulling the trigger. I use my Kemper head direct 99% of the time, but I also picked up a bare Kemper Kone speaker and threw it in a open back cab for those woodshedding moments. If I was using it live more, I'd probably pick up another Kemper Kone and put them in a 2X12 configuration.
I mean, I researched it to the extent I could have without having a 'hands on' trial of the unit before I bought it to figure out the set up I want/needed. Cheers 😉
Hated my kemper until I paired it with a kemper kabinet.. difference is night and day
does it have holdsworthy tone?
Ha I'm sure it does somewhere
Now you can compare with ToneX ;) I made my own comparisons and found ToneX to be much better. Still love my kemper though, but when it comes to recording and working on projects ToneX sounds better and more accurate. Of course I use advanced captures.
Hearing great things about ToneX - I need to look into it 👀
I’m super curious about this TONEX comparison. TONEX is way cheaper, even with the capture ‘ attenuator hardware.
@@JeffyG this one is nice czcams.com/video/Avhih6805YU/video.html
@@notalkguitarampplug-insrev784 Yep. Saw that and he likes Tonex.
Is ToneX too CPU intensive? Like the Neural DSP plugins for example?
did you forget to turn off Cab Sim, lol...when using the powered version...maybe that has a bit to do with it...
Ha no, that wasn't it ;-)
@@CantAffordToRecord
You can put wheels under your flightcase that will really help you getting around with your Kemper! I have to advise you to not take a soft foedraal for the Kemp you should consider that you are putting a €10,- guitar gigbag on A 1959 Les Paul standard!? Hey you wouldn’t do that cause of price and Risk of damage! I have an 1959 Les Paul and the Insurance company will not give me any Coverage for Damage if I don’t transport it in the original Gibson guitar case which is made of some sort of polyurethane/ polyester material I heard you can drive a car over the case and it wouldn’t break but only if there’s an instrument inside! Inadvisable to try this with the original 59 Les Paul HAHAHAHA BUT I HAVE SEEN THEM DOING IT
I had mine in a semi soft/hard case and it was just fine. I probably wouldn't a 1959 Les Paul in a soft case - Hope this answers your questions!
It comes back to your first remark I Couldnt afford An 1959 les Paul standard !!
Hey you can price yourself one of the milions who will probably never own one!
In the end there wereld were only
1600 les Paul guitars produced in 1959 AND they werent all L.P . STANDARD"S
I Think that there are maybe about 950 that have Surfaced !
I got mine through sheer luck And ofcourse tapping down a bunde of Flaps 🎉
@@nielsanderson4926 I'm lost with where you've going with all of this but if you're using a Kemper I hope you're enjoying it 👍🏻
❤💚
Marshall
i thought they were for people who just wanna record directly into a daw didnt realize people played them through amps
It's still the most popular touring modeler out there I believe!
You need to see the kemper as just another amp and get on with making music. If you go down the rabbithole of testing all of the free and commercial profiles ,you get easily lost and never get past noodling anymore. I have my kemper since 10 years and although I have access to thousands of profiles, I just use a handful profiles, the majority of those being profiles I made myself of some my own amps.
Great advice, thank you!
I would rather have 2 Fender DRRI amps and a couple of boxs...even 2x Pro -juniors with 2 sm57s. Notva ludite but so much time is lost on just wiring the thing and getting decent/usable sounds that you find yourself being "Influenced" by the machine and even writing tunes based on its effects. I have a very sensitive ear and it really can sound awful if you plug it into a PA..on the other hand if you have a back-up rig available you may find yourself just sticking an sm57 infront of a combo amp or 2 in preference. Problem is if it gets temperamental because of a knock or a bad power supply you are really in trouble as after a few months you become totally reliant on it for everything you play. Don't put all your eggs in 1 basket. I know they are designing better more user friendly versions at this moment. Open air festival, arrive with equipment, plug in for soundcheck, sound man can't get a usable sound through PA and monitors, time ticks away, rip out "Box" and just use a di box for Acoustic Electric and it sounded real.
Not totally sure if I follow you...are you saying the Kemper sounds bad when you plug it into a PA? I've only ever experienced the complete opposite...and quite often, I've done my line check while others are still mic'ing their amps, ha!
I have determined that the Kemper is not for me, as I just play at home.
Turning off Cab sim. Not the best idea.. KJ
It is if you're using a real guitar cab...then again, if you prefer the sound of a cab sim through a real cab...I guess go for it! 😃
You need to get your facts right. I hated my kemper ar first but you will only get a real amp experience with profiling your own amp doing a DI profile uding the kemper DI box only. That why you hated it. And.... Other peoples profiles suck. Yes even paid profiles. Why? I dont know. Its a very strznge thing and not in my head. Paid profiles from the best have this wierd cardboad over speaker thing goin on. You cant mix the options, want a amp with your cab you must DI profile. You want it in your DAW then mic your heat out. The powered version is fine just try what o said. You must use the kemper DI
Thanks so much for all this info - I'm very happy with the sound I'm getting now which for the most part are third party profiles through my FRFR :)
My experience with headphones only:
Most of other peoples Profiles suck !(even the commercial ones)
I made my own profiles: much better, but still not the „real thing“, something seemed still missing…
Then I purchased a Neural DSP QC and started making captures of my own amps:
Better dynamics, better treble frequencies in direct comparison to the Kemper and my own profiles.
Long story short:
I ended up selling the Kemper and keeping the QC.
The Tone X makes me curious…
Sell it if you do not like it.
So, irrespective of whether you can or 'can't afford to record' ;) there is, with today's internet, zero excuse for not doing even the smallest amount of background prep before purchase! With something as well known as a Kemper, there are countless fast guides covering every aspect...especially setup. Don't try to re-invent wheels!
QSC K10 worked best for me. settings on external sub. perfect for kemper
Does it have any type of tubes in it???
Zero
I just got the kemper powered Kabinet. I think it sounds fantastic. I’m going to buy another for stereo setup.
Awesome! I hear great things!