With the pedalboard user in mind, Kemper has downsized for its compact new Profiler Player
It’s fair to say that the arrival of the Kemper Profiler amplifier in 2011 was a disruptive event in the digital amp modelling niche market. Up until that point, we’d been happy to take the software and hardware we’d been given by manufacturers and use it with varying degrees of success.
Christoph Kemper’s radical approach was to use his proprietary software to extract the DNA of any amplifier’s sound and save it as a unique model (the Profile) that could then be tweaked with EQ, effects and so on.
From the start, the Kemper polarised opinions –there were players who got it and others who didn’t –but over time the all-important software has been vastly developed and improved. Consequently, Kemper has kept up with the competition and continues to be relevant, with new concepts such as Liquid Profiles and seriously powerful new products including the Profiler Stage floorboard and Kabinet. We’ve also seen Kemper’s Rig Manager software extended to mobile devices running Android and iOS.
Now there’s another hardware addition that’s going to be of particular interest to pedalboard users, the Profiler Player. As the name suggests, this is a compact Kemper that focuses on playing your favourite selections from the many thousands of Kemper Rigs out there, within the limitations of its four effect slots. The rugged, stage-ready construction has a similar look to the Profiler Stage but with a graphite-painted steel case and green/ grey overlays. The folded construction is complex yet perfectly executed, with a neat perforated panel on the underside for ventilation purposes.
On the top panel are rotary controls with integrated push-button switches for FX, Master Volume, Gain, Bass, Middle and Treble, and Rig Volume level. Illuminated button switches select and edit various features including the Player’s Bluetooth and Wi-Fi functions, with three assignable heavy duty footswitches.
You’ll find the essential connectivity on the unit’s rear panel, including a single instrument input jack, a stereo pair of output jacks, an expression pedal jack and a headphones socket, together with a single balanced XLR. There are two USB sockets: aType Athat’s used for firmware updates and backups, with a Type B for USB recording, MIDI and connection to a desktop Rig Manager. Finally, on the far right of the rear panel is a socket for the external DC power supply and a slot for a Kensington lock. The Profiler Player looks the part and behind the attractive outer shell it’s reassuringly tough, ready fo
