The Kemper Play is here, thoughts?

[ASATKat]

I hoped they would put out a basic profile player with no need for the profiler part of the amp. I always thought there was no need for the profiling since I could buy custom profiles on line that I could never get on my own.

A little steep price wise.

What are your thoughts?

 

[unixfish]

The price seems pretty good! Oh, wait, one would need a powered cab to go with this. Add, oh, $400+, yeah. Expensive solution.

It seems like a great unit if you already have the infrastructure for a "pedal amp".

 

[lefty73]

I assume you're talking about the Kemper Profiler Player. For a quick second I thought Kemper had come out with a new device.

Far too much $$$, and far too late.

Kemper had their chance and chose to to sit idle while Fractal and Line 6 were making huge improvements across their respective boards.

Long live the King (of amp profiling); the King is dead.

 

[runstendt]

I was about to pull the trigger on the Tonex pedal but got a decent deal on the new Kemper so I preordered one. It should come in sometime in March. I'm looking to simplify my pedalboard with a more all-in-one type solution and the Kemper fits the bill. I know that other pedals do the same or a similar thing, but I was never quite happy with the sounds that I was hearing on demos. I'll post here once it comes in.

 

[codamedia]

Far too much $$$, and far too late.

Kemper had their chance and chose to to sit idle while Fractal and Line 6 were making huge improvements across their respective boards.

Long live the King (of amp profiling); the King is dead.

I can't agree with that.... the Kemper is a quality piece of hardware that has a stockpile of tried, proven, fabulous amp profiles available to all. Some are free for the taking, some you need to invest a "few" dollars here or there.

The fact that technology has advanced in many area's means nothing! Is the JCM 800 better than the Plexi? Is the Silverface better than the Blackface? Is a Boogie MK V better than a MK IIC+.... HARD NO ON ALL EXAMPLES.... they are all capable of wonderful tones

In 2024 a Kemper is still used on more pro stages than any other modeler or profiler. There is a reason for that... it still SOUNDS GREAT and that will not change as technology advances further. Profiling & modeling came of age over the past 15 years... it's not going to go bad just because a new model comes out!

(just to be clear, this comes from a Helix user, not a Kemper user)

 

[lefty73]

I can't agree with that.... the Kemper is a quality piece of hardware that has a stockpile of tried, proven, fabulous amp profiles available to all. Some are free for the taking, some you need to invest a "few" dollars here or there.

The fact that technology has advanced in many area's means nothing! Is the JCM 800 better than the Plexi? Is the Silverface better than the Blackface? Is a Boogie MK V better than a MK IIC+.... HARD NO ON ALL EXAMPLES.... they are all capable of wonderful tones

In 2024 a Kemper is still used on more pro stages than any other modeler or profiler. There is a reason for that... it still SOUNDS GREAT and that will not change as technology advances further. Profiling & modeling came of age over the past 15 years... it's not going to go bad just because a new model comes out!

(just to be clear, this comes from a Helix user, not a Kemper user)

Totally agree that Kemper still sounds great. The one friend of mine that had one loved it. Until he tried a Helix Floor, then the Profiler was never seen again.

The Kemper trend you see must be for bands outside my interests. All I see when I take in a show here at a club here in the Northeast are the telltale bluish lights from the screen of a Helix Rack or Fractal AxeFX. I could be blinded by the YouTube guitar channels I subscribe to as well, as nearly all those use Helix or Fractal.

When I say that the King is dead, a few things among many others I see when I look at Kemper are its social media presence and its website.

I understand social media isn't everything. However, Kemper's official YouTube channel doesn't come up (for me) when I search in the YouTube search for "kemper" until after nearly a dozen videos are suggested, most of which are a thumbnail from months ago of Glen Fricker (SpectreSoundStudios) yelling at me to throw out my Kemper Profiler. There's a video of a religious service at someplace called Kemper Heights that has 11 views that is suggested to me before Kemper's official YouTube page.

I understand you can't judge a company by its website. Although, I definitely take note of some things that seem odd to me, like namedropping an unrelated instrument as proof of its ability to innovate (the ACCESS VIRUS reference), and making claims that are easily refuted ("algorithms rarely seen in a guitar processor"). It seems to me... desperate. Screenshot below is from this URL.

Not to mention what jump out to me as really limited capabilities with regards to effects - four total? That's it? What if I want to use non-global or non-amp EQ, or want to use a "finishing touch" compressor at the end of my signal chain in addition to chorus, reverb, delay, and overdrive?

I realize now I've gone waaaaaaaaaaaay beyond OP's post, and apologize for hijacking it.

Bottom line for me: count me out for any device Kemper comes up with.

 

[bluzkat]

I guess if you don’t get it, you don’t get it. My Kemper and I will be celebrating our twelve year anniversary next month (after fifty years of tube amps, mostly Fender).

I would also love to have an Access Virus.