Back in May, Kemper teased the imminent arrival of its new Liquid Profiling technology, which adds modeled EQ and gain controls to corresponding amp profiles. Now, Liquid Profiles have been officially launched.
The initial news was warmly received by Kemper loyalists, with Liquid Profiles vowing to overcome a common critique of Kemper profiles – the authenticity of the profile’s tone when controls get altered.
Enthusiastically marketed as delivering the best of both modeling and profiling technology, Kemper’s Liquid Profiling marks a significant update to the brand’s core tonal capabilities, going way beyond the default parameters that have so far dictated profile tweakability.
Instead, with Liquid Profiles, a model of an amp channel’s specific tone controls will work in tandem with a profile of that chosen amp, meaning any changes to the EQ – hoiking up the treble, for example – will see the profile adapt accordingly to how the real amp would.
The application of Liquid Profiles is certainly enticing. Before, those playing through profiles of their own amps would be at the mercy of Kemper’s standard EQ controls. With Liquid Profiles, the exact response of that guitar amp will be accessible – at least in theory.
It’s important to note that the update sees profiling and modeling technologies working together: the profile provides the core sound, while the channel strip model supplies the gain, EQ and other parameter controls.
As Chris Kemper noted upon the initial release while demoing Liquid Profiles, “This is a profile, not a modeling amp. We didn’t want to model the distortion or the cabinet – just what you have in your hands. It’s the gain control, it’s bass, middle, treble, presence, the Bright channel. It’s so small and it’s not difficult to be authentic with these small things.”
The benefits for players are significant. Those who swear by the Kemper will no longer need multiple profiles of the same amp with different settings to get by, and instead have been promised the authentic tone tweaking experience of the real deal.
Players can profile their own gear – it looks to be just as straightforward as before, though with some extra focus on the chosen amp’s controls in varying positions – but there are also a host of Kemper-created ones available.
Further still, amp profiles and channel EQs and tone stacks can be mixed and matched for even more tonal experimentation – that means the “tone stacks of a classic Class A” amp can be used in tandem with a Plexi Head profile.
Liquid Profiling’s beta version is available to download for free now, though Kemper has accompanied the release with the caveat that players should avoid taking it on tour with them for the time being.
For more information, head over to Kemper.
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