5 Reasons to Buy a Kemper Profiling Amp

Date:2020/2/22 21:15:46 Hits:

The Kemper Profiling Amp (KPA) takes sonic snapshots (or profiles) of any amp and speaker combination as heard through a microphone or DI — not only your own amps, but those of a growing community of users and artists as well. This makes the KPA a formidable recording tool and an easy-traveling, self-contained live performance solution. Here are some of Sweetwater’s top reasons for staking your claim in the Kemper ecosystem.

What Is Profiling?
Curious how the Kemper so faithfully captures the tone and response of your favorite amps? Designer Christoph Kemper is mum on the process, but here’s how it works: the KPA sends a series of test tones into an amp and receives them via a miked speaker cab or line input. With this, the Kemper is able to create an accurate sonic profile of the amp’s dynamics and drive characteristics. Gain, level, EQ, and advanced settings (compression, picking clarity) at the time of profiling remain fluid and, in moderate degrees, do a convincing job of approximating the amp’s interactive controls. What’s even crazier, Kemper’s CabDriver algorithm is able to remove the miked cabinet from the signal for use with a live speaker cab or other speaker impulse responses. Whatever is happening behind the scenes of the profiling process, Christoph and the Kemper amps have done a commendable job digitizing and preserving our cherished amps for a new generation to enjoy.

1) Make Music Faster
Nothing stalls creativity like trying to chase down an amp sound when you just want to record. One of the Kemper’s biggest assets is the convenience it offers in tracking guitars without getting caught in a whirlwind of cables, pedals, mics, amp, and speakers. You can download profiles and, with very little tweaking, you can come up with a great sound that’s ready to record.

This feature alone may not be unique. But what sets the KPA apart is how good it sounds re-creating these nuanced amp textures. With the right profile (and the right profile is everything), even choosy guitarists are sure to be pleased with the Kemper’s amp authenticity — touch, feel, and sound.

Another useful feature, the Kemper’s configurable analog and digital outs give you the option to capture a dry instrument signal on the way into your DAW on a separate track. This means you can re-amp directly through the Kemper if you find your tone isn’t working with other instruments (drums, vocals) down the road.

2) Archive Your Amps
It’s no secret that guitarists change amps like the changing seasons — and often live to regret it. With a well-captured profile and a healthy backup routine, your favorite amp can live on in spirit long after you part ways or replace the speaker or tubes. With the Kemper, you’re not just getting a generic AC30, but virtual snapshots of your own perfectly restored 1964 AC30/6, all in an easy-traveling form factor that poses no threat to the longevity of your old standby.

Now, to be fair, the KPA is no replacement for your tube amps, since the process of close-miking a guitar cab is inherently different from the way you experience an amp in a room. Trying to bottle that magic with the Kemper can be an exercise in futility. There’s just nothing like standing in front of a cranked speaker cab and feeling your knees rattle. No, where the Kemper really excels is in the recording and live performance environments, which, most times, employ close-miking methods anyway.

3) Gig Lighter
What makes the KPA so appealing to gigging guitar and bass players is that a PA, an instrument, and a Kemper are all you need to gig out. You can build entire sets’ worth of songs from all your favorite gear and access them with the twist of a knob. Even if your songs employ multiple tones throughout (intro: clean, chorus: crunchy, etc.), the KPA’s Performance Mode cycles up to five distinct tones per song, in order of occurrence, via the switcher knob or a simple 2-way footswitch. And with Kemper’s official remote pedal, bundled with many of Sweetwater’s Kemper heads, it’s ridiculous how much control you can have right at your feet.

4) Cop Fresh Inspiration
The Kemper isn’t only capable of profiling your own personal amps. With the Rig Exchange app, you’ve got access to thousands of free profiles captured from users’ own amps, pedals, and outboard gear. You can search for “Mesa” or “brown sound” or by amp make (“Orange”) or model (“Silver Jubilee”) if you know exactly what you’re after. And if you’re looking for artist inspiration, a quick search for “U2” or “EVH” will usually get you where you need to go.

Not only that, but there is a massive and growing market for premium third-party paid profiles. Most major amp profilers offer sampler packs to let you test the waters before taking the plunge. Tone Junkie, Selah Sounds, and The Amp Factory offer generous free packs that will give you a taste of pretty well everything within their collections. Brian Carl Music and Rhett Shull are first stops for vintage flavors. And for higher gain, Top Jimi is an absolute wizard; his Van Halen Brown Sound Pack is gobsmackingly good. Many users within the Kemper community also swear by the Michael Britt profiles for modern rock.

5) Find Your Voice
For the price of a good tube head or combo, the Kemper puts thousands of virtual amp and speaker combinations at arm’s reach. So if you, like most, have never experienced a Dumble or Trainwreck in person, or if you’re eager to explore the subtleties between Blackface and Brownface-era Fender Twins, the KPA offers a fair basis of comparison. If you’ve played Plexis all your life and have never test-driven a Friedman or a Bogner, the KPA can be a real eye-opener.

One option that makes the KPA, in some ways, even more powerful than a “real” amp is the ability to expand tones using third-party speaker IRs (impulse responses). So if you’ve ever wanted to experience a Fender Pro Junior through an Orange 4×12, the Kemper makes it possible entirely within the box.

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