Why All the Hate? My 2 Cents on the Kemper Player

In this video, I’ll share my thoughts on the Kemper Player and the paid upgrade option.
Get the Kemper Player here: tinyurl.com/4u... (Affiliate link: I’ll earn a small commission if you make a purchase through this link. It won’t cost you anything extra, but it helps me create more videos! 😊)
You'll hear 2 songs play in the background, those are from my debut album, you can check it out on Spotify ► spoti.fi/2YlW3Lk or be a champ and get my CD here, cheers! ► bit.ly/3eAD3id
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// GEAR
This is the gear I use. I do get a lil´ commission if you buy anything at Thomann after using my link, cheers! ► tinyurl.com/3s...
// COURSES
Learn everything about the basics of music theory from scratch ► t.ly/orOyv
// MUSIC
You can find my music on Spotify ► spoti.fi/2YlW3Lk
Be a champ and get my CD here, cheers! ► bit.ly/3eAD3id
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Business inquiries only - business [at] deedammers [dot] com
©Dee Dammers 2024
#KemperAmp #KemperPlayer # KemperProfiler

[@cloudyyangdotcom]

Hey Dee, I totally agree! Kemper Stage user sind >5 years and now just ordered the Player and I will upgrade to Level III. Very good concept as Standalone or within a pedalboard. Thanks for your video! Best Axel

[@DeeDammersOfficial]

Sounds like a great add-on for you stage, congrats!

[@AndreySmirnoff]

Rock on, bro 👊

[@DeeDammersOfficial]

Bro

[@rsebjara]

Just came here to thank you for your amazing presentation few weeks ago in Santiago, Chile. I really loved it man.

[@DeeDammersOfficial]

Thank you so much!

[@SonarHD]

Completely agree with you! I’ve been saying the same since people started complaining about the Player’s upgrade options, but of course they want the full capabilities (minus profiling) of the other Kempers at a much cheaper price. People these days feel so entitled. They want everything for free 🤦‍♂️. Like you, I have tried other modelers and plugins, but I keep coming back to the Kemper. Nothing beats it in terms of sound and feel, IMO.

[@kemperampsofficial]

Thank you! 🖖🏼

[@Dudldom]

Suspicious

[@DeeDammersOfficial]

@@Dudldom Suspicious how?

[@DeeDammersOfficial]

Thank you for the comment Kemper! Much appreciated :)

[@scottbain5460]

Mr. Dee Dammers. I am a huge fan of your playing. I think you are simply amazing. Your sound is simply amazing. I love listening to your collaborations with other musicians. You hit a home run everytime. Thank you and please keep them coming. God Bless You Bro.

[@DeeDammersOfficial]

Thank you so much for your comment! Gotta stop blushing now.

[@Cptkaese]

I totally agree! I compare the decision of Kemper with Digico ages ago. They also ASK for Money to upgrade their sd consoles to the core2 Version. The Player Sounds in my Opinion better than the compatitors. But that is just my opinion and the chance to upgrade to a device with full function like the stage was the reason to buy the player. I will never have time for take a deep dive into profiling and create them. So i don't need that option. I'm totally happy with Player and If i need that upgrade i'm totally fine with the upgrade prices. Even if i could get a used head for the price of the player inlcuding upgrade to lvl3

[@DeeDammersOfficial]

I totally agree! Nowadays, it's more about asking, 'Which parameters do I value most?' Size, profiling capabilities, touchscreen... it's all there. You just have to figure out what you actually need. Great to hear you're happy with the Player!

[@meteoroz]

What's the protector plates you have on the Player?

[@jobposthuma4068]

100% agree, love the unit, ever since the upgrade the kpp gets the most use, QC getting a little dusty. Unfortunately a group of people cant get their head around between the difference between paid upgrades that allow people to step in at different price points…and updates remaining free like they have been for over a decade.

[@DeeDammersOfficial]

Exactly! The entitlement of 'it has to be free' plus the lack of understanding that 'it's an option-you don't have to buy it' is what I really can't wrap my head around.

[@tonyg6158]

I own the Kemper stage and it sells for $2,359.00 Canadian. $998.00 Canadian for the Kemper player + $455.00 for both upgrades a total of $1,453.00. That's $906.00 cheaper than the Kemper stage and you can play every sound that I love. I would have bought the player instead of the Stage if that was available. Great video.

[@edwinkimmusic]

I currently have the Quad Cortex. Also, had the Fractal and Helix. I do agree with you that I think the kemper “feels” good when you use it. I’m curious about the Tonex if it’s similar to the Kemper in terms of feel. I hear reviews saying it’s more accurate.

[@uwedasler425]

Since I am using both (and am not affiliated with either): Generally yes to both statements. Dynamics in the Tonex are great, with very good captures (like Amalgam's) I would say slightly better than most Kemper profiles without tweaking. And that is a big finding I had: If a capture is not exactly what you like, or does not play well with your particular guitar, there is pretty much nothing you can do about it (input trim and gain are the only things you can really adjust), while the Kemper has a ton of useful tweaking tools in the input, rig, and amp properties that will more often than not get you there. The Tonex and NAM captures are slightly more accurate without any doubt, but I have not yet experienced a single example where this could be heard in a mix. Reviewing some KZbin videos I found a lot of questionable content completely manufactured to support whatever claim the reviewer was paid to support (I can compare some free profile created by somebody with a garbage cab and microphone for one platform and shoot it out against a professional capture for the other platform that was made by a proper engineer using $25k worth of microphones and outboard gear.) I would suggest to ignore minor differences and focus on the features you require - and I would claim without hesitation that if you require two or more of the things the Kemper has and the Tonex has not (yet), the higher price of the Kemper is more than justified. Sorry if this is too verbose, but since many "unbiased reviews" do not mention any of these points, I would like to just list a few: - No live editing (presets on the Tonex can only be edited using the knobs on the device for now - a royal pain in the ass). - On the Kemper gain and volume are almost completely independent, on the Tonex every single gain or eq change alters the volume, volume matching multiple presets on the device is a nightmare. - You might have seen a few of the few thousand videos about the Tonex input gain/trim setting... Believe me, they are all wrong - there is no input gain setting that will work for every capture - it does not exist. But since input gain is a global setting and not a preset setting, you would have to change it manually on the device when changing presets (or live with a setting that is a 'good compromise'). - There is no global output eq, if you want to adjust 50 presets to a location or different speaker, you can do them one by one. - There are no high and low cut filters for IRs. - To get the last two mentioned capabilities you would have to add a suitable stereo eq with Midi support and a Midi controller to your rig (e.g. a Source Audio EQ2 and a Morningstar controller that can change the Tonex preset and the EQ simultaneously), while the Kemper can do all that on its own. - The free effects in the Tonex are a nice free add-on, but they are not remotely at the quality level of the effects in the Kemper, plus there are no boosts, drives, fuzzes, wahs, eqs, pitch effects... and so on. That's ok if you do not need those, but keep in mind that adding any external digital effects to the Tonex signal chain will add more conversions and thus latency. None of that is meant detrimental to the Tonex - it is a great affordable tool and fairly new - but it is not the same thing. And good luck explaining huge volume jumps between presets and improper eq to an audience arguing that the device does better null tests 🙂 Or try to restore presets on a device when the last version on the computer is inconsistent with the changes on the device, while the outdated Kemper user grins and plugs-in his/her USB stick and moves on...

[@JorgeBarroso-w7n]

Great video! Where can i purchase the bag you have for your profile player?

[@DeeDammersOfficial]

Only saw this now - I found it on Amazon called "HCFGS Elektronische Tasche - Elektronik zubehör organisator - universal travel Kabel Organizer Tasche (Schwarz)"

[@Fergieguitar]

Most of the hate is coming from people who don't even own one...which is extra mad. Arne used the Kemper Player exclusively before any updates on the Avantasia festival tour this year and it was flawless. For most live situations, the upgrade isn't needed, for home use it's definitely not needed because it's easy to put a pedal you need pre or post , adding a HX FX makes it very powerful. The hate is probably coming from the update being nearly half the price of the hardware, if it was a €300 update for a €2000 unit, there would be far less hate but at €700 it's catching a different buyer and if that is at the top end of their budget, €300 extra will sting. Truth is there's so many options Kemper, Tonex, Neural, Line6, UA, all are more than good enough to gig with, choose your poison, don't stress about the next best thing and just play.

[@DeeDammersOfficial]

Exactly my point! You don’t need the upgrade - the Player is awesome as it is and enough for most gigs. I certainly don’t need more than that for sure. I still think 1000€ for this device (700€ device + 300€ for the upgrade) is still in the ballpark since you get the whole Kemper package for around 1k which is a pretty good deal since the device really feels just good to play. I guess it really comes down to what you value most - if it’s not reading a manual, then the Cortex is for you, if its size the HX stomp is pretty small. I did the hierarchy for myself and I valued sound the most. Since the FM3 is a little too big for my laptop bag, the Player won that battle for “portable studio” for sure.

[@adammassacre4715]

I think people are completely missing the point of what the player actualy is and those same people are just moaning and crying because thats what they do. I own quite a few of the well known amp sim plugins and yes they are cool but i always come back to my profiler it just has a feel :)

[@bucketofnoises7810]

I'm using the toaster since 10 years. I had many other digital units, including the Quad cortex (still have that one though). Kemper is by far the best digital unit out there. One thing is still missing in my opinion, an updated (better) audio interface. The audio interface of the Quad with the "tonal soul" of the Kemper would be perfect.

[@DeeDammersOfficial]

What would you improve? :)

[@bucketofnoises7810]

I really appreciate that Kemper didn't change the hardware (Kemper II Turbo or something), so honestly, the easiest for me would be to buy an interface with a SPDIF in :)

[@thiagoalexandrino]

The through is. Everybody loves the kemper player but the people that doesn’t have one.

[@guitartoneSA]

Have you tried the seven new Tremelo and Slicer FX. I guarantee you there's no digital box on the market with FX of that quality, and free for all Kemper models.

[@DeeDammersOfficial]

Not yet! I will update today :) Can´t wait cheers!

[@buddyslowhand7647]

I never understood the hate either. It is one of the very few best sounding/feeling options. And you can get it for 700 bucks. And you can make it nearly as powerful as the bigger versions for the price of one pedal. And it's still 500 bucks less expensive than the stage.

[@DeeDammersOfficial]

Exactly!!

[@JudgeFredd]

A 300euros paying option in order to have a usable device…guess why the hate.

[@janamelodymiller]

Amen 🙏 ❤️

[@DeeDammersOfficial]

♥

[@gohyung]

I'm with you on the paid upgrade. They still need to make money lol

[@DeeDammersOfficial]

Exactly! What everybody keeps forgetting: you still have a choice NOT to upgrade 😁

[@Alex-Del-Rey]

That’s exactly what I’m saying. Nobody force you to pay these 300 bucks. And when the device came out - everybody was happy with that functional. And now for 300 bucks you can get x2 possibilities if you want. That’s just a less than a half of full 700 bucks price. Why’s everybody are talking that kemper fooled them and hide the potential of the device when it came out… And kemper did so much free upgrades all of these years.

[@DeeDammersOfficial]

Amen!

[@cloudyyangdotcom]

🙌👍

[@JayV-u2z]

Thank god for this clip from a pro! I really can’t stand this stupid shitstorm anymore. As you say… Nobody is forcing to the Upgrade. I met the Kemper CEO and know the whole background about everything abd how it happened with the 2 optional upgrades. I personaly think it is not fair that some people post clips where they destroy this product, which they hyped a few month bevor, or compare it with other products even they have not the same starting point! For example the ToneX. A great unit, but they compare this to the player🙈 Came wirh bearly no fx and even after the upcoming update was the player from the beginning liaded with many more options…. So this is not a fair compare! The main problem is….. there are the publisher of all the clips, and yes many of them praises every gear they post 🤔 But now they also go against gear „they“ don’t like. They should better think about one thing. Most of the people are not professionell musicians. Niw they watches this…. Know what I mean, right? There is a kind of responsibility against the watchers! Now start playing instead of fake or hate! Cheers 🤘🏼

[@DeeDammersOfficial]

Thanks for your comment and insight. This whole "I don't like this therefore not only the product but the whole company must be shut down" is going way too far.