Kemper KPA System and Rig Settings
The KPA has system settings that apply globally as well as rig settings that are saved per rig (patch). These can be accessed by pressing the "System" and "Rig" buttons, respectively.
Contents
System Settings
LED/Display Settings
Pages 1-3 of the System menu contains numerous parameters for controlling the colors and brightness of not only the main display but also various sets of buttons and LEDs.
Remote Display
Page 11 has some features similar to pages 1 dealing with the LCD display on the official Kemper remote.
Init and Factory Settings
Page 1 contains some helpful functions for first-time initialization or restoring your KPA to its factory state.
- Edit Owner - allows editing the owner name and profiler name
- Init Globals - resets global system (and output?) settings to their defaults (will not delete/change rigs)
- Startup Dialog - takes the user through the first-time dialog that appears to set the system date/time and owner name
- Factory Rigs - reloads the factory rigs onto the KPA (if you deleted them)
Interface Options
Page 3 has some interesting parameters for the user interface:
- Rig Autoload - this autoloads rigs in Browser mode while in browser view after turning the Browse Knob. If you disable autoload in browser view, you'll have to come here to re-enable it.
- Auto Favorite - this automatically sets any rig you create or edit to be a favorite. I recommend turning this off. I add my initials (MAB) onto the end of any profile I edit, which makes it quick to find via a Rig Manager search.
- Quick Function - this controls what the quick button does - I find the best option is Midi Settings, as I don't really use snapshots, and edit views for various effects/buttons are already quick to enter. Version Info is quickly found on the last page of the system settings.
- Perf. Load - determines if and which performance slot is automatically loaded when switching performances. See Kemper KPA Performing Live#MIDI.
Audio Options
Page 4 has options that affect the KPA's sound output:
- Constant Latency - checking this button sets the KPA's latency to a constant 4.9ms. Otherwise, the latency is as low as possible, given the effects enabled in the rig. For multi-track reamping based on the same DI track or using multiple profilers simultaneously, you may run into phase issues if this is unchecked. For live playing or typical recording applications, you can leave this unchecked.
- Rig X-Fade Time - setting this above 0.0 allows cross-fading the volume from one rig to the next, rather than the typical drop-out (however slight) you hear when switching rigs
- Loop Lev. Adj. - you can adjust the volume level of the effects loop send here if your external gear requires alternate gain staging. This is constant across all rigs. Using the Mono Loop vs. Distortion Loop effects give you further flexibility over the send level of the loop. Mono Loop is a constant level, while Distortion Loop factors in the digital volume level of the KPA's virtual signal chain for the placement of the loop effect.
Pedal/Footswitch/MIDI Settings
For setting up pedals, analog footswitches, or footcontrollers, see Kemper KPA External Control.
Additionally, you can assign MIDI program change numbers to up to 128 rigs in Browse Mode. And you can define MIDI channels for up to 2 external devices - this is for sending MIDI PC's to those devices when changing performance slots in Performance Mode.
Date/Time and Version
Page 15 contains the date and time (and buttons to edit), while page 17 contains version information.
Erase Non-Favorites
Page 16 is called Rig Management and has a single button to erase all profiles stored in the KPA that are not marked as favorites. I recommend not using this button since Rig Manager can more easily be used to delete the desired rigs. If you do find yourself wanting to use this, be sure to do a backup to a USB drive first.
Rig Settings
Tags
This is where you'd access the Rig Tags for the rig, allowing you to view and edit them. It's much easier to view and edit them from Rig Manager, however.
For more about tags, see Kemper KPA Creating a Profile#Tagging.
Favorite
Snapshots
Snapshots are basically a quick way to do a Store As, saving a copy of the entire rig; however, rather than being stored in the "Browse Pool", it is stored separately. While in Browse Mode, one of the soft buttons allows you to take a snapshot. From the Rig Menu, you can access the pool of all snapshots.
Panorama
This setting allows you to pan the KPA output to either side of the stereo spectrum.
Tempo
This is where you can enable/disable tempo for the current rig, manually specify the rig's tempo setting, as well as globally lock tempo. If in Performance Mode, you can also specify if the performance tempo overrides the rig tempo.
For more on tempo, see Kemper KPA Performing Live#Tempo.
Expression Pedal Settings
See Kemper KPA External Control.
Parallel Signal Path
This option was designed mostly for bass players, but can work for certain guitar tones. When selected, the input is split as it enters the KPA. One line gets processed by Stomps A and B. The other is sent to the entire rest of the signal chain. For a bass tone, this allows you to put a Compressor and EQ in A and B to get a nice, tight dry signal and blend it with the more processed, dirty wet signal. For guitar, you could do a similar clean + crunch tone, but the problem is that you cannot add delay/reverb to both signals, so the dry signal stands out a bit too strong.