Bluetooth and Wifi Connectivity Options for Kemper Profiler Player
For a newbie of the street, the documentation for using Wifi and Bluetooth with the Kemper Profiler Player pedal is scattered and difficult to make sense of. This post is an explainer for understanding the implementation and using these features with minimal confusion.
The documentation for this functionality can be found in the document KEMPER PROFILER Player Main Manual.pdf on page 18 and also on pages 28-29. [Find a list of downloads here. Look for 'Main Manual for PROFILER Player'. The information in this post is dated as of June 23 2024.
The Bluetooth feature allows your device like an iPhone to pair with the Kemper Profiler Player (aka the Player) for the purpose of streaming audio from the device to the Player. For example, if you connect from your iPhone then you could open Spotify or Apple Music and stream a song to the Kemper Player. The audio is mixed with guitar signal so you can play along or listen along. The audio stream volume level can then be controlled both through the Rig Volume and the Master Volume controls. And the audio that was streamed is now part of the line out signal. It appears to be stereo though this is not documented AFAIK.
The Wifi feature allows the Rig Manager mobile app to connect to the Kemper Player and read the configuration and status of the Player. It also allows changing the bank or patch that is currently active and to make edits to that patch which can be saved. On iOS, Rig Manager only sees the configuration stored on the Player device. It does not allow you to preview or install factory or community rigs – but that can be still done from the MacOS Rig Manager via USB.
The Rig Manager mobile apps will use the stored connectivity settings on the Player to determine which network your mobile device should use so that the Rig Manager is able to connect to the mobile device. The Player hardware includes a special Wifi service so that you can connect directly to Wifi hosted by the Player. This is called Wifi Access Point mode. This feature is intended to allow connectivity in physical locations where there is no existing Wifi.
An alternative is to connect to your local network. I expected this to be the default out of the box behavior but it defaults to Access Point Mode instead. Considering the ubiquitous nature of WiFI, this default behavior can be a source of frustration.
Even though the Rig Manager for MacOS desktop app can be used to configure the WiFi setup, this desktop program does not actually use the WiFi setup. The WiFi setup works exclusively with the mobile app. For this reason you have to configure Wifi on USB first and only after that is done will the mobile apps properly connect to the Player device. This feature is kind of weird , in that one should be able to get started using Wifi without a USB interface.
To use your local network you have to type in the credentials to Rig Manager in USB mode. Click the gear labeled 'System and then scroll down in the panel at the bottom half of the application to click the button labeled ‘Setup Wi-Fi’. On my Macbook, the button was not visible without scrolling, which means it is hard to discover unless you know it is there, hidden. Click that button and you can add your credentials. Once you have done that the credentials will be saved in the Player and only when this is done will the connectivity button on the Player work as expected with local wifi such as your home WIfi access point. If this is not done, then the Rig Manager mobile app will be stuck attempting to find the ‘Profiler’.
The next step is to use the connectivity button to determine which configuration should be used by the Player. An overview for using the connectivity button is found here: KEMPER PROFILER Player Main Manual.pdf page 18 and also page 28-29.
From this page you can find out how to
Enable bluetooth standalone so that you can connect and stream to it from a mobile phone to the Player.
Switch between Wifi Access Point mode and Home Network Mode.
Enable Wifi.
The Rig Manager mobile app will read the connectivity configuration from the Player device. On the mobile device the WiFI must be pointed to the correct network. If the configuration indicates to use Access Point Mode, then the mobile phone WiFi must also be set to use the access point. If the configuration indicates to use local mode, then the local Wifi must be available. If you do not set up local wifi in USB mode then the connectivity button behavior will be confusing and unexpected.
A nice feature is that the Player will store the configuration and use it after a restart. But the extra step to store the configuration in the Player from the USB version of Rig Manager is counter-intuitive. Hopefully this explainer will make it easier to understand the end to end process.
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