Every Kemper Profiler loads MultiTracks Kemper Profiles and MultiTracks Impulse Responses. Profiles are the native format, so this is the platform where our catalog goes deepest. There is one catch: the Player runs any profile, but it only plays the number of effects its feature level allows.

A MultiTracks Kemper Profile already contains the amp and the cabinet. You do not need a separate IR to make it sound complete. IRs are for players who want to swap the speaker, run acoustic guitar, or match a cab they already use elsewhere.

All current Kemper units run the same operating system and the same profiles. What changes is how you connect, how many effects a Rig can hold, and where the controls live.

Profiler Head, PowerHead, Rack, PowerRack, and Stage: MK 1 or MK 2. Kemper builds its full-size units in two hardware generations. They look alike and run the same operating system, but MK 2 hardware plays Profiling 2.0 profiles at full resolution and adds Fixed FX (extra standard effects on top of the eight effect slots). MK 1 hardware plays every profile, including 2.0, at standard resolution. Check the label on the back panel or the System menu if you are not sure which you own. Both generations offer front-panel editing with the big display, Rig Manager over USB, eight effect slots per Rig (four before the amp, four after), and USB-stick import.

Profiler Stage. The same engine in a floorboard with footswitches and an expression-pedal section. Everything in this guide for the Head applies to the Stage, including the MK 1 / MK 2 difference above.

Profiler Player. The compact pedalboard version, built on MK 2 hardware from day one, so it plays Profiling 2.0 at full resolution at every level. It has no big display: Rig Manager is the editor, connecting over USB or the Player's built-in Wi-Fi, on a computer, iOS, or Android. The Player's effects and Rig storage depend on which paid level you own; see the next section before you buy a large Rig pack.

Older units on old firmware. Profiles have been forward-compatible since the first unit, but Profiling 2.0 and Liquid Profiles need a current OS. Profiling 2.0 requires OS 14 or later on every unit. Head, Rack, PowerHead, and PowerRack units on an OS older than 7.3 have to update in two steps; Rig Manager walks you through it.

Every Player plays every MultiTracks Rig. What changes by level is how many of the Rig's effects come along. A Rig built on a full-size Profiler uses up to eight effect slots and any effect type; a Level I Player keeps the amp, cabinet, and up to four effects of the basic types, and drops the rest.

Upgrades are sold by Kemper (Player Upgrades). You buy a code, Rig Manager asks for it when the Player is connected, and it installs in one step. Level II and III can be bought together as a bundle.

If you play through a Player at church every week and use the delays and reverbs in our Rigs, Level II is the minimum, and Level III gives you exact parity with the demo plus room to keep whole packs on the unit. If you mostly run your own effects pedals around the Player, Level I is enough, because the amp and cab in every MultiTracks Rig load complete.

Install Rig Manager and update the operating system before you load anything. Rig Manager and the Profiler OS are released as matched pairs; a mismatch is the most common reason an import is greyed out or a Rig refuses to open.

If you prefer to load without a computer on a Head, Rack, or Stage, copy the unzipped files to a USB stick, plug it into the front USB port, and use the Import function in the System menu. The Player has no USB-stick import; use Rig Manager.

Everything Kemper publishes lives on one page: Kemper Downloads. Filter by product and category to find Rig Manager, the current operating system, and the manuals.

Also useful: the Kemper user forum, where Kemper support staff answer directly, and Rig Manager's built-in Rig Exchange, which holds tens of thousands of free user profiles if you want to compare ours against the field.

Update Rig Manager first, then let it update the unit. After a major OS update, open one of your existing Rigs and confirm it still sounds right before loading new content.

A Profile is a capture of a real amp at one setting. The Profiler sends test signals through the amp, measures what comes back, and builds a snapshot of that amp, at that gain, through that speaker and microphone. Every MultiTracks Profile is captured in our studio from the actual amp and cab used on the records.

A Profile lives inside a Rig. The Rig is the whole signal chain: input settings, stomps, the amp Profile, the cabinet, effects, and output levels. When you load a MultiTracks .kipr file you are loading a Rig, with the Profile at its heart and our chosen effects around it.

There are three profile types, and the readme tells you which each Rig is:

Liquid Profiles add one more layer. A standard Profile freezes the gain and tone stack at the captured setting; turning Gain or Bass on the Kemper moves a generic version of those controls. A Liquid Profile tells the Kemper which real amp was captured, so the Gain and EQ knobs behave like that amp's actual circuit across their full range. One Liquid Profile covers what used to take a clean, a crunch, and a lead capture. When a MultiTracks pack is labeled Liquid, you get that behavior on a current OS; on an older OS the same Rig still loads as a standard Profile.

A typical MultiTracks Kemper pack contains several Rigs built from the same amp at different gain settings, each as a Studio or Merged Profile with the cabinet included, effects dialed for the song or style, Rig Volume leveled so the pack sits together, and a readme with the amp, cab, mic, profile type, and suggested Clean Sens and Distortion Sens values. Where we include IRs, they arrive as .wav files you can load as Cabinet presets for any Rig on your unit.

Profiling 2.0 is Kemper's second-generation capture engine, released free in OS 14. It analyzes each amp in far finer detail than original ("Classic") profiling: more than 100,000 frequency points, longer impulse responses, calibrated gain detection, and the real bass resonance of the speaker cabinet with its own controls. In practice that shows up as pick attack, volume-knob cleanup, and low-end bloom that feel closer to the amp in the room.

What you get depends on your hardware:

If you own MK 1 hardware, still buy the 2.0 version. A 2.0 profile on an MK 1 unit sits between Classic profiling and full 2.0: it does not reach the full resolution an MK 2 or Player delivers, but it is a clear step up from Classic. Compare a 2.0 profile and a Classic profile of the same amp on the same MK 1 unit, and most players hear more realism in the 2.0 version: a more natural pick attack and a fuller, more amp-like feel. And the profile itself does not change. When you move to MK 2 hardware or a Player, every 2.0 pack you already own plays at full resolution with no re-download and no re-purchase. Buying Classic profiles today means buying them again later.

When a MultiTracks pack is built with Profiling 2.0, the product description says so. For new purchases, choose a 2.0 pack whenever one exists for the amp you want.

Rig Manager is the fastest path on every unit. The USB stick is the fallback for a Head, Rack, or Stage with no computer at hand.

With Rig Manager (all units)

With a USB stick (Head, Rack, Stage)

On the Player

The Player accepts Rigs only through Rig Manager. Connect over USB or Wi-Fi, drop the Rigs onto My Profiler, and they fill the next free slots in the current bank. If the pack has more Rigs than you have free slots, load the ones you need or move to Level III for 625 slots.

A MultiTracks Rig imports with its cabinet, effects, and levels already set. You do not need to assign a cabinet afterward unless the readme says the Rig is a Direct Amp Profile.

The Kemper does not have a separate IR block. An IR becomes a Cabinet preset, and it goes into the Cabinet module of any Rig, replacing the cabinet the Profile was captured with. Rig Manager does the conversion when you drop the .wav in; the older standalone Cab Maker tool still works but is no longer necessary.

To use one MultiTracks IR across many Rigs, lock the Cabinet module (press and hold Lock on the unit, or use the lock icon in Rig Manager). Every Rig you browse will then play through that cabinet until you unlock it.

For acoustic guitar, load the acoustic IR the same way into a Rig built on one of the Kemper's acoustic or clean Profiles, then try Pure Cabinet around 8 to 10 in the Cabinet module to tame piezo harshness.

The Kemper's input stage and output routing decide more of your tone than any knob on the amp. Set these once per unit and every MultiTracks Rig will land close to the demo.

Once those are set, adjust in this order: Gain for feel, then the Rig's Definition and Clarity in the Amp module if the feel is off, then the Cabinet High Shift and Low Shift to fit the room. Leave the Profile's captured EQ alone until you have heard it in the mix.

Rig Manager will not let me drop the files anywhere. Click the destination folder first so its contents show in the right pane, then drag. Rigs go under All Rigs; IRs and cabinet presets go under All Presets. You cannot drop a Rig onto a Performance slot from your computer.

The Rig imported but some effects are missing on my Player. Your Player's feature level does not include those effect types or slots. The amp and cab are intact. Level II adds every effect type; Level III adds the extra slots.

It sounds thin and harsh. The Cabinet module is off on the output you are listening to, or Monitor Cab Off is on while you listen through the Monitor Out. Check the Output section.

It sounds muffled through my amp. You are sending a cabinet-on signal into a guitar speaker. Turn on Monitor Cab Off for the output feeding the amp, or use the amp's effects return.

It is way louder or quieter than my other Rigs. Adjust Rig Volume in the Rig menu and store. Leave Master Volume alone.

My IR did not show up after import. The file name was too long. Shorten it to under 19 characters on your computer and import again. Imported IRs appear under All Presets, not All Rigs.

Can I use a MultiTracks IR with a Studio Profile? Yes. Drop the Cabinet preset onto the Cabinet block and it replaces the captured cab. With a Merged Profile the swap is cleanest because the amp and cab were captured separately.

Does a Liquid Profile need anything special? A current operating system. On an older OS it loads as a standard Profile and still sounds right at the captured setting; only the extended knob behavior is missing.

I have an MK 1 Profiler. Are Profiling 2.0 packs worth it? Yes. They play at standard resolution on MK 1, most players hear more realism than a Classic profile of the same amp, and they unlock full resolution automatically if you upgrade to MK 2 or a Player. Update to OS 14 first.

My Player is Level I. Will the Rigs work? Yes. The amp and cabinet load complete. Effects beyond your level's four slots or basic effect types are dropped, so some Rigs will sound drier than the demo. Level II restores every effect type; Level III restores every slot.

My OS is years old. Will the Rigs load? Rigs saved on a newer OS do not load on an older one. Update through Rig Manager or a USB stick, then import.

Can I load MultiTracks NAM or ToneX captures on a Kemper? No. The Kemper plays Kemper Profiles only. Our Kemper catalog is captured natively on the Profiler.

The Kemper is where the MultiTracks guitar catalog started, so this is the deepest shelf.