It was with much fervour that the Kemper Profiler Player was announced yesterday. Finally, a Kemper that doesn’t require a hefty bank loan to purchase and can fit on your pedalboard. If that wasn’t enough to have you salivating, Thomann has already reduced it by £50 from the RRP. Considering the pedigree of Kemper Profilers, it’s unsurprisingly proving immediately popular with players who have been crying out for a more portable version of Kemper’s pro-grade products.
The Kemper Profiler Player has all the amp sounds of its much larger and more expensive siblings but has shrunk down into a handy pedalboard-sized format. It’s fully compatible with any existing profiles and features four FX blocks, two pre, and two post amplifier. There are a huge 444 FX presets to play with, and of course, you can load your own IRs too.
As it’s designed to be used in conjunction with an existing pedalboard and presumably as a limitation of the size, it has fewer effects onboard than a full-size Kemper Profiler. This is to be expected in a unit that’s both half the size and much cheaper than the larger unit. In many ways, it reminds us of the HX Stomp, offering a slimmed-down selection that will pair nicely with a pedalboard, and it’s at a similar price point too.
Three footswitches allow you to change profiles on the fly and you can add an additional footswitch. All of the knobs push in for a secondary function, so there’s plenty of flexibility on offer. There’s no screen as you’ll be using a smartphone or tablet to dial in your tones, and the dedicated Kemper RigManager app is compatible with Android, iOS, Windows, MacOS, and Kindle Fire.
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