Kemper Profiling

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Kemper Profiling

Kemper Profiling is the capture technology used by the KEMPER PROFILER family of guitar and bass processors.

Introduced by Kemper as an alternative to conventional predefined amplifier modeling, PROFILING allows a user to measure a real amplifier or amplifier-based signal chain and create a digital PROFILE representing its sound and dynamic behavior.

Kemper's profiling technology has evolved considerably since its introduction.

The current ecosystem includes:

  • Traditional PROFILING
  • Direct and cabinet-inclusive PROFILEs
  • Merged PROFILEs
  • Liquid Profiling
  • PROFILING 2.0
  • Rig Manager
  • Rig Exchange
  • PROFILER hardware

PROFILEs and Rigs

In Kemper terminology, a PROFILE represents the captured amplifier or signal-chain behavior.

A Rig is the larger playable configuration containing the PROFILE together with other PROFILER settings.

A Rig can include:

  • Amplifier PROFILE
  • Cabinet
  • Effects
  • Input and output configuration
  • Rig-specific settings
  • Performance-related parameters

The distinction is useful when discussing shared content.

Two Rigs can use the same underlying PROFILE while containing different effects or other settings.

Basic profiling process

A conventional Kemper profiling session compares a real reference amplifier with the PROFILER's own test signals.

A simplified signal path is:

PROFILER test signal → reference amplifier → return path → PROFILER

For a miked amplifier:

PROFILER → amplifier → cabinet → microphone → PROFILER Return Input

The PROFILER sends measurement signals through the reference equipment and analyzes the returned response.

After the initial PROFILE is created, the user can compare the reference amplifier and PROFILE directly.

Reference amplifier

Kemper uses the term Reference Amplifier for the physical amplifier or rig being profiled.

The objective is to reproduce the behavior and sound of that specific setup.

The Reference Amplifier can be configured using the settings chosen by the user before profiling begins.

These settings are therefore part of the captured operating point.

Studio PROFILE

A Studio PROFILE is created using the complete miked amplifier chain.

A typical path is:

PROFILER → amplifier → speaker cabinet → microphone → microphone preamp/return → PROFILER

The resulting PROFILE contains the combined response of the amplifier, cabinet, microphone, and associated return path.

This is similar in concept to other capture systems that create a complete amp/cab/microphone model.

The microphone and its placement are therefore part of the resulting sound.

Direct Amp PROFILE

A Direct Amp PROFILE captures an amplifier without the acoustic cabinet and microphone response.

The amplifier's speaker output is measured using equipment designed to obtain an appropriate signal while maintaining a proper speaker load.

The resulting PROFILE can then be combined with:

  • A Kemper Cabinet
  • A cabinet derived from another PROFILE
  • An impulse response converted for use with the PROFILER
  • A physical guitar cabinet

Direct Amp PROFILEs provide greater flexibility when the user wants to change the cabinet independently.

Never connect an amplifier speaker output directly to an ordinary line or instrument input.

Appropriate load and signal-level equipment must be used.

See Cabinets and IRs.

Merged PROFILE

A Merged PROFILE is created by combining information from:

  • A Studio PROFILE
  • A corresponding Direct Amp PROFILE

of the same amplifier configuration.

The PROFILER uses these measurements to separate the amplifier portion from the cabinet portion more accurately.

This allows the amplifier and cabinet components to be used independently.

Merged PROFILEs are particularly useful when the same amplifier sound must work both:

  • Direct to a full-range system with cabinet simulation
  • Through a physical guitar cabinet with the virtual cabinet disabled

Cabinet separation

Kemper PROFILEs can provide separate Amp and Cabinet sections.

With ordinary Studio PROFILEs, the division between amplifier and cabinet is estimated by the PROFILER.

A Merged PROFILE provides additional measurement information intended to improve that separation.

This distinction matters when exchanging cabinets or using a physical guitar cabinet.

See Capture Types and Cabinets and IRs.

Refining

Traditional Kemper PROFILING includes a Refine process.

After the initial PROFILE is created, the player can send guitar material through the reference setup while the PROFILER further analyzes differences between the reference amplifier and the PROFILE.

Refining can improve the result for some rigs.

It should be treated as part of the profiling workflow rather than as a substitute for correct routing and levels.

The current PROFILER software may automate or alter aspects of the process depending on the profiling mode and software generation.

Consult the current Kemper documentation for the exact procedure.

A/B comparison

Kemper places particular emphasis on direct comparison between the Reference Amplifier and the resulting PROFILE.

During profiling, the user can switch between:

  • Reference Amp
  • PROFILER

This allows the creator to evaluate the result before saving it.

Listen for differences in:

  • Gain
  • Frequency balance
  • Pick attack
  • Dynamics
  • Compression
  • Low-frequency response
  • High-frequency response
  • Sustain

Level matching remains important when making subjective comparisons.

Snapshot behavior

Traditional PROFILEs originate from a particular configuration of the Reference Amplifier.

The physical amplifier may have been profiled with specific:

  • Gain
  • Bass
  • Middle
  • Treble
  • Presence
  • Master volume
  • Channel
  • Switch settings

The PROFILER provides controls that allow the resulting PROFILE to be modified substantially.

However, the original profiling system did not reproduce the complete physical behavior of every original amplifier control across its entire range.

This limitation led to the development of Liquid Profiling.

Liquid Profiling

Liquid Profiling extends Kemper's profiling system by combining the captured PROFILE with modeled behavior of the original amplifier's controls.

Kemper provides Amp Models representing the gain and tone-stack behavior of specific amplifier designs.

When the appropriate Amp Model is associated with a PROFILE, controls such as:

  • Gain
  • Bass
  • Middle
  • Treble

can behave more like the corresponding controls of the original amplifier.

The objective is to move beyond treating the PROFILE solely as a fixed operating-point snapshot.

Creating a Liquid Profile

For an authentic Liquid Profile workflow, the creator selects the appropriate Kemper Amp Model and records information about the actual control settings used on the Reference Amplifier.

The PROFILER can then relate the captured operating point to the modeled control behavior.

For best correspondence, the Amp Model should match the circuit behavior of the amplifier being profiled.

The original amplifier settings are therefore valuable information rather than merely descriptive metadata.

Retrofitting Liquid Profiling

Existing PROFILEs can also be associated with a Liquid Profiling Amp Model.

This allows older PROFILEs to benefit from modeled tone-stack and gain behavior without physically profiling the amplifier again.

The result is most meaningful when the original amplifier settings and circuit type are known.

Applying an unrelated Amp Model is also possible as a creative tool, but should not be confused with reconstructing the authentic controls of the original amplifier.

Generic Amp Model

Kemper also provides a generic amplifier-control behavior.

When no specific Liquid Profiling Amp Model is selected, the PROFILE can continue to use the more traditional generic PROFILER controls.

This maintains compatibility with the enormous library of PROFILEs created before Liquid Profiling existed.

PROFILING 2.0

PROFILING 2.0 is Kemper's current-generation profiling technology.

Introduced for the PROFILER MK 2 generation and current PROFILER OS, it increases the resolution of the profiling process and extends the measurement of speaker and cabinet resonance.

Kemper describes PROFILING 2.0 as using more than 100,000 frequency points in its high-resolution profiling process.

It also integrates Liquid Profiling into the current profiling workflow.

PROFILING 2.0 and MK 2

PROFILER MK 2 hardware can reproduce PROFILING 2.0 content at its full high-resolution capability.

The current MK 2 family includes updated versions of:

  • PROFILER Head
  • PROFILER Rack
  • PROFILER Stage
  • PROFILER Remote

The MK 2 platform also provides increased processing resources for effects and other functions.

PROFILING 2.0 and MK 1

PROFILING 2.0 content does not make older PROFILER hardware obsolete.

With PROFILER OS 14, MK 1 PROFILER hardware can load and play PROFILING 2.0 Rigs at standard resolution.

The same Rig can therefore remain compatible across PROFILER generations while newer hardware uses the higher-resolution representation.

This distinction is important when discussing compatibility:

PROFILING 2.0 Rig on MK 2 → high-resolution playback

PROFILING 2.0 Rig on MK 1 with compatible OS → standard-resolution playback

The content does not require a completely separate library for each hardware generation.

PROFILER Player

The PROFILER Player is Kemper's compact playback-oriented hardware platform.

It can load PROFILEs and Rigs from the Kemper ecosystem.

Its capabilities differ from the larger PROFILER units and can also depend on the installed feature level and software version.

The Player should therefore not automatically be assumed to provide every profiling or editing function available on a Head, Rack, or Stage.

For example, some operations related to creating or retrofitting Liquid Profiles may require other PROFILER models.

Effects

The PROFILER is also a complete effects processor.

A Rig can contain processing before and after the amplifier section.

Available effect categories include processing such as:

  • Drives
  • Distortion
  • Fuzz
  • Compression
  • EQ
  • Modulation
  • Pitch effects
  • Delay
  • Reverb

These effects are separate from the PROFILE itself.

When evaluating a PROFILE, distinguish between the captured amplifier behavior and additional effects contained in the Rig.

Cabinet section

The PROFILER provides a separate Cabinet section.

Cabinets can be exchanged between compatible Rigs.

A user can therefore combine an amplifier PROFILE with a different cabinet.

Cabinet processing can also be disabled when using an appropriate physical guitar cabinet.

This flexibility is one of the reasons it is useful to understand whether a PROFILE is:

  • Studio
  • Direct Amp
  • Merged

Impulse responses

Third-party cabinet impulse responses can be used within the Kemper ecosystem after appropriate import/conversion through supported Kemper software.

An IR represents a cabinet/microphone response rather than an amplifier PROFILE.

See Cabinets and IRs.

Rig Manager

Rig Manager is Kemper's free software for managing PROFILER content.

It is available for desktop and supported mobile platforms.

Depending on platform and connected hardware, Rig Manager provides functions including:

  • Browsing Rigs
  • Editing Rig parameters
  • Organizing libraries
  • Managing Performances
  • Managing presets
  • Accessing Rig Exchange
  • Editing effects
  • Managing connected PROFILER hardware

Rig Manager is an important part of the Kemper ecosystem even though PROFILE playback itself occurs on PROFILER hardware.

Rig Exchange

Rig Exchange is Kemper's community library for sharing Rigs.

It contains thousands of user-created Rigs representing a wide range of amplifiers and equipment.

Kemper currently states that Rig Exchange contains more than 20,000 Rigs.

Because the library continues to change, exact counts should be treated as time-sensitive.

Useful Rig information can include:

  • Author
  • Amplifier
  • Cabinet
  • Gain
  • Tags
  • Comments
  • Other identifying information

As with any community capture library, good documentation greatly increases the long-term value of the content.

Commercial PROFILEs

In addition to free Rig Exchange content, a substantial commercial ecosystem exists around Kemper PROFILEs.

Third-party creators sell collections of PROFILEs representing:

  • Amplifiers
  • Cabinets
  • Complete rigs
  • Artist tones
  • Studio signal chains

The quality, documentation, and capture methodology of third-party PROFILEs vary by creator.

A commercial PROFILE should not automatically be assumed to be more or less accurate than a community-created PROFILE.

Evaluate the result on its own merits.

Sharing between PROFILER models

PROFILEs and Rigs are designed to move between compatible PROFILER hardware.

This distinguishes Kemper from systems in which a capture is permanently tied to the individual unit that created it.

Compatibility can nevertheless depend on:

  • PROFILER OS version
  • Hardware generation
  • Feature availability
  • Rig features

Current documentation should be consulted when using newer content on older hardware.

Kemper and NAM

Kemper Profiling and Neural Amp Modeler both reproduce the behavior of physical audio equipment, but they use different technologies and ecosystems.

A Kemper PROFILE is not a .nam file.

The systems differ in:

  • Capture process
  • Model representation
  • Playback implementation
  • Hardware architecture
  • Model distribution
  • Editing
  • Control modeling

NAM provides an open-source model and playback ecosystem.

Kemper PROFILING is a proprietary Kemper technology implemented within the PROFILER ecosystem.

Neither distinction alone determines which system will sound better for a particular capture.

Kemper and TONEX

Kemper PROFILING and TONEX both provide integrated capture and playback ecosystems.

Both can represent:

  • Amplifiers
  • Cabinets
  • Complete rigs

Their capture methods, model formats, editing systems, and hardware implementations are different.

Models are not directly interchangeable between the systems.

Profiling versus conventional modeling

Traditional algorithmic amplifier modeling generally begins with a developer creating a model intended to represent a particular amplifier design.

Kemper takes a different approach.

The user measures a specific physical rig and creates a PROFILE from it.

Liquid Profiling adds a hybrid element by combining that measured PROFILE with modeled control behavior based on the original amplifier circuit.

The modern Kemper system therefore combines:

captured amplifier behavior + modeled amplifier control behavior

This distinction is important when comparing current Kemper technology with both conventional modeling and snapshot-oriented capture systems.

Documentation

When creating PROFILEs for other users, useful information includes:

  • Amplifier manufacturer
  • Amplifier model
  • Channel
  • Amplifier settings
  • PROFILE type
  • Cabinet
  • Speaker
  • Microphone
  • Microphone position
  • Direct/load equipment
  • Liquid Amp Model
  • Profiling generation
  • Creator notes

For Liquid Profiles, preserving the original amplifier control settings is particularly useful.

Troubleshooting

If a PROFILE differs significantly from the Reference Amplifier, check:

  • Profiling signal path
  • Return level
  • Reference amplifier configuration
  • Microphone path
  • Load/direct-output configuration
  • Cabinet configuration
  • Effects
  • A/B comparison level
  • Liquid Amp Model selection
  • PROFILER OS version

For Direct Amp profiling, verify that the amplifier is connected to an appropriate load and that the signal reaching the PROFILER is suitable for its input.

For playback problems, also determine whether the issue is in the PROFILE itself or elsewhere in the Rig.

See Troubleshooting Captures.

Official resources

See also

Discuss Kemper PROFILEs, Liquid Profiling, and PROFILER workflows on NAMFORUM

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