Audioholic
New member
New electronic space aged looking gizmo day!! Kemper arrived. Anxiously awaiting my 2 year olds nap time so I can play. Clips pics and reviews coming.
The Hoff
Active member
Get out the NyQuil. 
Looking forward to the clips and review!
Looking forward to the clips and review!
rrobertson
Member
Sweet..look forward to the clips!
Audioholic
New member
Oh I am here plotting an early nap try or calling Grammy to come sit. Ha. I hate waiting but soon.
DADA
Member
Bring it on Audioholic! Share the toughts, impressions and profiles.
And have fun!
And have fun!
Audioholic
New member
Ok here is some of my initial thoughts and feelings on this unit after plugging it in straight and going through some of the presets.... I have owned most of the name brand modelers, the best being Fractal audio Standard, while a generation below the current offering, that is all I can compare it to and I am sure Axe II is a step up.
The good:
This this sounds more like a mic'd up amp then ANY modeler I have ever tried. ever.. If you are used to hearing your amps with a mic on your cab, then you will know what I am talking about. This sounds like the amp and cab are in the other room while you track it. I don't hear fake, I don't hear imitation, this really can and does sound like you are micing up a real cab. I don't hear artificial stuff in the high end. Of course this has its down sides as well as I will get to later. The Kemper comes loaded with a decent amount of presets, mostly covering clean and light gain amps with a fewer high gain amps, at least that is what I got from going through presets. Some of the amps have a few variations, different mics used etc. To me if feels plenty fine to play through, I wasn't fighting with the unit or anything. The efx, much more limited then what the Axe FX has to offer, but still they sound fine and good to me. I am using most of my efx in my DAW anyway and tracking dry guitar, so this is not an issue for me at all. You can post eq and add gain to any profile, and they sound good. While I am sure it doesn't react exactly like it would changing the settings on the real amp, they sound good and do what you want to the amp. the presence has a nice top end to it, not brittle. As far as realism, this is a big step up for me. The profiles react to picking attack and gain adjustments just great. There is a depth and dimension to the sound that just sounds right to me. The high distortion sounds great to me, not artificial. I will say it one more time, real. I have yet to even scratch the surface and update the unit, load in user profiles etc. and that to me I KNOW will take this to the next level. The Axe FX always sounded slightly blanketed to me, something was missing, specially in the top, specially in the depth department. it sounded more direct where as the kemper sounds more lively to me right out of the gate. In the mix one might never really notice or even care, but since I have been going back to micing my amp, it may not always sound the best at first, BUT in the mix and with a little processing, it 9/10 sounds better then what I could get with the axe. Something about micing that moving air, and honestly, I really do hear that on the kemper, pretty impressed knowing I have only begun to find good patches..
The things to consider:
as with all modelers, it comes with plenty of presets that you will never use. Not that they are bad, just not always applicable. The downside of this unit offering what I feel is the most realistic representation of a mic'd up cab, is that sometimes it doesn't always sound great right away. Some of the profiles I feel could of used better mic placement, or used a better cab, in which I don't think there is as much post editing as you get with the Axe or others. Some of the profiles seemed small and boxy, some worked great. I would of liked to see some mic combinations in the profiles, for instance a royer mixed with a 57 etc, but that is where user profiles will excell. The Axe FX, who tries to give that polished finished sound right out of the gate. So someone who may be expecting huge stereo rigs, with monster efx and all, you may not jive with the kemper, at least right away. As of now, there is no stereo rig setups. I hope this will be adjusted in the future, being able to use one amp profile on the left and another on the right, that would seriously kick arse. I am sure it could be implemented. Going through the presets took just a little bit to get used to, not really loving the patch organization, but then again I literally just got on it, so there may be things I am missing. Its not a high gain monster,, YET. I am sure once Ola releases some of his profiles though, that will be a huge game changer. Just hearing one of his songs sounded friggen great.
So that is my initial thoughts on opening up the kemper and trying it out. Bottom line for me, out of the box I really can hear its potential, and know that it will only get better. I am very happy with my choice.. I was on the axe II wait list, but in all honesty, I can't wait months for my number to come up, and last time I paid to jump the line, this time the price tag to do so just is rediculous to me, no way I was gonna shell out that much money this go around. I can't wait to actually lay down some finished tracks with the kemper and will post clips. in the meantime, here is me just noodling around on some of the presets. PLEASE understand I am not trying to impress with my playing here, literally just recorded a few of the patches to give an idea of what some of them sounded like while looking over the box, sloppy mindless chords and wanking at times, but I hope it will give an idea of what I got right out of the box, only slight eq adjustments, used a strat and les paul here.
please leave any questions in here. I am a total noob with this box so I may not be the most helpful. I think I have found the right solution for me to get the most realistic direct tracks when I can't mic up my amps.
Click here to play link:
The good:
This this sounds more like a mic'd up amp then ANY modeler I have ever tried. ever.. If you are used to hearing your amps with a mic on your cab, then you will know what I am talking about. This sounds like the amp and cab are in the other room while you track it. I don't hear fake, I don't hear imitation, this really can and does sound like you are micing up a real cab. I don't hear artificial stuff in the high end. Of course this has its down sides as well as I will get to later. The Kemper comes loaded with a decent amount of presets, mostly covering clean and light gain amps with a fewer high gain amps, at least that is what I got from going through presets. Some of the amps have a few variations, different mics used etc. To me if feels plenty fine to play through, I wasn't fighting with the unit or anything. The efx, much more limited then what the Axe FX has to offer, but still they sound fine and good to me. I am using most of my efx in my DAW anyway and tracking dry guitar, so this is not an issue for me at all. You can post eq and add gain to any profile, and they sound good. While I am sure it doesn't react exactly like it would changing the settings on the real amp, they sound good and do what you want to the amp. the presence has a nice top end to it, not brittle. As far as realism, this is a big step up for me. The profiles react to picking attack and gain adjustments just great. There is a depth and dimension to the sound that just sounds right to me. The high distortion sounds great to me, not artificial. I will say it one more time, real. I have yet to even scratch the surface and update the unit, load in user profiles etc. and that to me I KNOW will take this to the next level. The Axe FX always sounded slightly blanketed to me, something was missing, specially in the top, specially in the depth department. it sounded more direct where as the kemper sounds more lively to me right out of the gate. In the mix one might never really notice or even care, but since I have been going back to micing my amp, it may not always sound the best at first, BUT in the mix and with a little processing, it 9/10 sounds better then what I could get with the axe. Something about micing that moving air, and honestly, I really do hear that on the kemper, pretty impressed knowing I have only begun to find good patches..
The things to consider:
as with all modelers, it comes with plenty of presets that you will never use. Not that they are bad, just not always applicable. The downside of this unit offering what I feel is the most realistic representation of a mic'd up cab, is that sometimes it doesn't always sound great right away. Some of the profiles I feel could of used better mic placement, or used a better cab, in which I don't think there is as much post editing as you get with the Axe or others. Some of the profiles seemed small and boxy, some worked great. I would of liked to see some mic combinations in the profiles, for instance a royer mixed with a 57 etc, but that is where user profiles will excell. The Axe FX, who tries to give that polished finished sound right out of the gate. So someone who may be expecting huge stereo rigs, with monster efx and all, you may not jive with the kemper, at least right away. As of now, there is no stereo rig setups. I hope this will be adjusted in the future, being able to use one amp profile on the left and another on the right, that would seriously kick arse. I am sure it could be implemented. Going through the presets took just a little bit to get used to, not really loving the patch organization, but then again I literally just got on it, so there may be things I am missing. Its not a high gain monster,, YET. I am sure once Ola releases some of his profiles though, that will be a huge game changer. Just hearing one of his songs sounded friggen great.
So that is my initial thoughts on opening up the kemper and trying it out. Bottom line for me, out of the box I really can hear its potential, and know that it will only get better. I am very happy with my choice.. I was on the axe II wait list, but in all honesty, I can't wait months for my number to come up, and last time I paid to jump the line, this time the price tag to do so just is rediculous to me, no way I was gonna shell out that much money this go around. I can't wait to actually lay down some finished tracks with the kemper and will post clips. in the meantime, here is me just noodling around on some of the presets. PLEASE understand I am not trying to impress with my playing here, literally just recorded a few of the patches to give an idea of what some of them sounded like while looking over the box, sloppy mindless chords and wanking at times, but I hope it will give an idea of what I got right out of the box, only slight eq adjustments, used a strat and les paul here.
please leave any questions in here. I am a total noob with this box so I may not be the most helpful. I think I have found the right solution for me to get the most realistic direct tracks when I can't mic up my amps.
Click here to play link:
stratotone
Active member
Congrats! I'm really digging mine. I dug out a one rack solid state power amp, and it sounds great with that and a guitar cab. I wish presets were numbered, going to figure the midi part out tonight and program either a rocktron or a ground control pro for a gig tomorrow.
Audioholic
New member
yes I wish the presets were numbered to, but I can see why they may not be, since they are based off REAL amps, so keeping the names only would be benificial, but I need to learn my way around better. I need to get on the kemper site and download some patches. Next week I will try to profile my 5153 and Englstratotone":35az85j6 said:
R
Rogue
New member
Sounds pretty good.
J
jski59
Active member
Sounds very nice!
My extra, worthless observation...I really hate the form factor.
My extra, worthless observation...I really hate the form factor.
Audioholic
New member
I like the way it looks and it's pretty easy laid out just a few gripes. But then again it's made from a synth company. You can see my access virus, same guy and you can see where the look stems from
Audioholic
New member
ok been downloading some user patches, some VERY good, some sucky. just got to wade through. Def have some great great high gainers now. like killer stuff to me
steve_k
New member
dude.......the baby monitor on top just completes the kit!
congrats on the kemper. tweak away......
steve
congrats on the kemper. tweak away......
steve
jmgman69
New member
steve_k":yfnqfwp4 said:
The Hoff
Active member
Beat me to it. Was going to comment on thatsteve_k":3ki3bjs1 said:
Audioholic
New member
oh that isn't a baby monitor, its the latest portable direct bass rig in a small enclosure. don't let its dainty look fool you, its pure metal..
gibson5413
Well-known member
Sounds great dude!
Audioholic
New member
The more I am playing with this thing, the more I am a believer. Deleting some of the crap presets but they can be very guitar dependent so what sucks with Gibby sounds pretty good with strat. Downloaded some user presets. Getting my best of patches organized. Pretty fricken awesome box. I am thinking that this will sit better in a mix then my previous modelers. I honestly may not mic up my amp for a bit (after I profile it that is)
DADA
Member
Congrats! and thanks for your words. It is getting increasingly difficult for me to wait for the 19" version. Lots of new owners have mentioned it blows the snax1 out the water. And from a price perspective the KPA is Euro 1000 cheaper then the snax2. So the KPA will be my route to follow. Only this waiting for that 19" version. Grgrgrgrgrgrgr 