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→Delay and Reverb
== Delay and Reverb ==
The KPA's Delay and Reverb blocks are special in that they can only load those types of effects. This is for good reason - the KPA's design treats them special. The wet portion of the combined Delay and Reverb blocks is accessible through the "Delay/Reverb Wet" output option that can be assigned to the Main or SPDIF outputs. Additionally, the Reverb block has a Del./Reverb Balance parameter that greatly simplifies what would otherwise require a complicated routing and mixing setup.
The Delay block outputs a wet (delay trails) and dry (unaffected by Delay) signal to the Reverb block. The Del/Reverb Balance setting chooses the proportion at which the reverb applies to each of these signals. At full left, the reverb applies only to the dry signal, not to the delay trails. At full right, the reverb only affects the delay trails, not the dry signal. At other settings, the reverb applies to both but at different amounts.
This is a powerful control - when used in combination with a 100% wet reverb, you can set it fully right so that the delay trails are washed into a reverb
=== Tone Controls ===
Both the Delay and Reverb blocks feature Frequency and Bandwidth settings that affect the frequency response of the blocks. The Bandwidth control is essentially a Q control, narrowing the range of frequencies allowed to pass through as you turn it higher and higher. At 0, it is doing nothing. At max, it is only allowing a very, very narrow range of frequencies through.
These controls function slightly differently in the Delay block vs. the Reverb block. Reverb's can be considered a filter on the wet part of the block's output after all processing. When set to 100% mix, it is the same thing as placing an EQ after the reverb. The Delay controls operate inside the delay's feedback loop. This means that as the same segment of audio repeats over and over, it is filtered more and more each iteration.
This is similar to the Reverb's Dampening control, which darkens the tone of the wet reverb as it decays based upon its Time setting. However, while Dampening can only darken the wet signal over time, the Delay's tone controls can brighten ''or'' darken the signal over time.
I find that the most natural sounding delay and reverb tend to darken the tone over time, as well as apply greater reverb to the delay trails than to the dry signal. Thus, I often use the Delay's Bandwidth and Frequency controls set to slightly darken the trails, as well as use the Reverb's Dampening. I set Del/Reverb Balance about 30% right of center. I use the Reverb's Bandwidth/Frequency for any final tonal adjustments.
However, there are numerous unique applications for the interaction of all these controls I attempt to explore below...
=== MAB Advanced Reverb Effects ===
A big complaint about the KPA is its lack of great reverb effects, particularly a spring reverb. I attempted to create some advanced reverb presets that fill this void until '''''Kemper''''' adds them. See the [[Kemper KPA MAB Advanced Reverb Presets|MAB Advanced Reverb Presets page]].
=== Delay Types ===
There are only 3 delay types, explained below.
<u>Tap Delay</u> uses the tempo on the rig (tapped or manually entered), with separate L/R delay settings defined in terms of 16ths of a beat. This offers the most flexibility between the left and right delays, offering ratios (3:5 or 5:7) that are not found in the other delay types. However, it is not capable of offering repeats as quickly as the other delay types because it is always tied to a tempo setting that cannot go fast enough to allow such.
<u>Free Delay</u> can use the rig's tempo or can be manually specified when tempo is disabled. This offers repeats as short as 1 ms! However, there is only a single Time setting. A Ratio parameter determines the ratio of left repeats to right repeats, with the only options being quarters of the other (1:4, 2:4, 3:4, 4:4, 4:3, 4:2, 4:1).
<u>Analog Delay</u> is the exact same thing as Free Delay, with the exception that if you change the Time parameter while repeats are occurring the repeats are pitch shifted as occurs on an analog delay pedal. There are no tonal differences to this type compared to the other two.
All three Delay types exhibit a tape delay simulation when using Feedback settings around 90% or higher. Anything lower is a straight digital delay.
=== Reverb Types ===
=== Tempo Considerations ===
== Pitch Shifter Options ==