Recording - October 2021 - 50

REVIEW
KEMPER
PROFILER Head
All your favorite amps in one place
REVIEW BY ALEX HAWLEY
K
EMPER guitar amps have been at the forefront of digital modeling
technology for a decade. In that time, its ecosystem has grown to
include different formats, all built around its renowned PROFILING
technology: Head, Rack, Stage, Floorboard, and most recently, the
KEMPER Kabinet. The KEMPER hardware itself remains virtually
unchanged since its initial release in 2011-it's a shining example of a
product that has kept up with software updates and customer support in a
way that hasn't phased out its older hardware models into irrelevancy. Not
only that, but ten years on, it stands as a time-tested staple for guitarists
who want authentic tones with the convenience of a digital sandbox.
Overview
KEMPER PROFILER is a digital guitar
amplifier and effects processor. It's best
known for its ability to, well, profile any
amp in your collection (or your neighbor's
collection) in minutes. I'll cover this process
in more detail later on. If you don't
have a pristine collection of amps to profile,
KEMPER comes pre-loaded with hundreds
of amps, plus hundreds more if you
download the free Rig Manager software.
There's an active community for sharing
and swapping Rig Profiles as well.
KEMPER releases software updates
at a steady pace. OS v8 (currently on
v8.5 at the time of writing) introduced
a brand new Overdrive System (8.0),
Fuzz Drive System (8.2) and more.
The Overdrive and Fuzz Drive systems
brought an array of brand new effects,
including Fuzz Face, TS808, Boss OD-1,
Timmy Overdrive, and much more.
50 RECORDING October 2021
For this review, KEMPER sent me the
PROFILER Head. Both the Head and
Rack models feature a Powered version,
which includes a 600 watt (8 ohms)
Class D integrated power amp for use
with a real speaker cabinet. My review
model is not powered, so all testing was
done recording straight into Pro Tools.
The front panel is laid out very intuitively.
The top row of buttons pertains to
the overall signal chain, complete with
dedicated knobs for controlling effects
(rate, intensity, feedback, etc.). This top
row allows you to enable/bypass up to
four effects feeding the amp profile, followed
by four additional effects post amplifier
in the signal chain. The last four
effects include one wildcard slot, followed
by a dedicated Mod, Delay, and
Reverb slot. The bottom half of the front
panel operates as the amplifier/navigation
section, with dedicated knobs for
items such as gain, and a 3-band EQ
(as you would find on most real amps).
In terms of I/O, the front panel hosts
" jacks: guitar (or bass) input,
and headphones out. The back panel
has the rest of the I/O fixings, including
main output (L/R XLR or 1
itor output, 1/4
input (XLR or 1/4
two 1/4
/4
" ), 1/4
" mon "
direct out/send, return
" ), an additional 1
/4
/4
"
input, S/PDIF in/out, 5-pin MIDI in/out/
thru, two 1
" switch/pedal jacks, a network
jack, USB for computer connectivity,
and an IEC power input.
Creating Profiles
The process of profiling an amp is easy
and only takes a few minutes. One thing to
note is that each profile takes your entire
signal chain into account, which may be a
strength or a weakness, depending on your
gear. The guitar, amp, microphones (and
placement), preamps, converters, and cables-the
profile will be a sum of all these
parts. The first step is getting a great tone
out of your amp-crank it up! It's not a bad
idea to create several profiles from one
amp utilizing different channels or gain settings.
Then, mic it up however you would
for a recording session. Once all that is in
place, plug your guitar into the KEMPER
and run the direct output straight into your
real amp. To get the signal back into the
Kemper, take a line out from your interface
(mono feed of the miked amp, even if it's
two different mics blended), and run that to
the input return on the back panel.
Recording - October 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - October 2021
