Axe-FX II or Kemper?

[crankyrayhanky]

Save your money. Line6 Pro HD X.

Also Yamaha just bought line6 and I am sure they are going to come out with something better than Fractal,Kemper and upgraded Line 6 at a better price point

That is leap of faith, especially when neither company has ever thrilled me

 

[jlbaxe]

Save your money. Line6 Pro HD X.

Also Yamaha just bought line6 and I am sure they are going to come out with something better than Fractal,Kemper and upgraded Line 6 at a better price point

That is leap of faith, especially when neither company has ever thrilled me

Olaf has posted some great tones from the HD series A/B ing them with the Afx2

 

[SkyhighRocks]

One thing about the Uno4Kemper/FCB....you can't engage the new beat scanner feature in firmware 2.3 because of the way the eprom works. You may want to wait for a new chip to come out.

 

[polaris20]

Save your money. Line6 Pro HD X.

Also Yamaha just bought line6 and I am sure they are going to come out with something better than Fractal,Kemper and upgraded Line 6 at a better price point

That is leap of faith, especially when neither company has ever thrilled me

Olaf has posted some great tones from the HD series A/B ing them with the Afx2

Olaf? Or Ola Englund? The latter has done comparisons, but most of his good POD HD comparisons were using Redwirez IR's, which make the POD HD actually usable. The stock cabs suck, and Line 6 still refuses to allow third party IR's.

I ditched the POD HD500, because honestly an iPad with BIAS sounds better. Ironically using a Line 6 Sonicport.

 

[amiller]

One more comment. When I was looking at the Axe vs. Kemper I was looking at only ONE thing...which one sounds best recorded. I listened to a bunch of clips from both and IMHO found that the Kemper edged out the Axe...simple as that.

 

[TrueTone500]

Now you have to decide which one to get...the head or the rack?

 

[Bob Savage]

Now you have to decide which one to get...the head or the rack?

Pretty sure I'm going to get the PowerRack.

 

[lester]

Dewd...

 

[animal]

Now you have to decide which one to get...the head or the rack?

Pretty sure I'm going to get the PowerRack.

make sure you check out the pre amp profiles as they might be to your liking if you are using it with a 4X12
I've only used mine direct for recording and FRFR

 

[dethyr]

I seems like no matter what music related forum I go to I see a Kemper/Axefx debate but this one is the first mature and good natured discussion I have seen. On ss.org, these types of convos get way out of hand and end up with people calling each other out all day.

Nice to see the vibe around here is for mature adults not spoiled brats.

 

[guitarmike]

What I don't like about the Kemper, is that you're always playing 'profiles' of someone else's rig. The Axe is geared around constructing rigs from scratch, which I like. I had great success profiling my Marshall and Cornford rigs with the Kemper, but for some reason it would not capture the sound of my AC30?

I agree there is an art to profiling amps, some profile easy, some require something I don't have. While you can not start 100% from scratch you can deep dive into the Kemper and mix and match cabs and heads to come up with some unique sounds. I use the Kemper live with a Magnum 44 or Mosvalve power amp into a 1x12 or 2x12. I learned how to tweak the eq for each and it sounds so good I do not miss playing through a tube rig. Either unit requires a few hours of learning time before you will be tweaking and improving the stock tones. That is no different than a new amp, you will spend some time dialing a new amp before you are satisfied with it.

 

[guitarmike]

Kemper...........

Yep, I'm 99% certain now that it's what I'm getting.

So the next question is, should I just get the powered version? I'm going with the rack and am now thinking going with their power section, which is probably very neutral, would be a good idea to take the power amp coloration out of the equation when/if I decide to use it for live purposes.

The powered version is not a stereo power amp. I preferred the non powered unit and play with different power amps.

When I played it through the return of the BE-100 it had a certain something playing through ss amps seem to lack. That said, I doubt I'd buy a tube power amp because of the weight. The magnum 44 sounds very good through any cab I run it through including 4x12's. I would not gig that way though, the Magnum 44 gets hot after an hour of pushing a 4x12 at gig levels. It is fine for a 2x12.

 

[Spaceboy]

I owned the Axe FX II and my bandmate owns a Kemper. Neither of us could get them to sound right outside of recording/home use. There's far too much money involved in FRFR setups compared to traditional amp/cabs. If you go the tube power amp/cabinet route (the SS PAs do not sound the same), it's heavier than having a traditional amp head. Of course all the effects and varieties of tones you can get makes it worth it to some, but I have seen very, very few bands and guitarists out there who needs all that power and variety within one gig. I would take a Shiva over the Axe FX II any day.

But, for recording, it's a phenomenal unit.

 

[crankyrayhanky]

FRFR is the trendy route, but I go straight into my 4x12 (cab off)
Feed to house pay gets the cab
Great sound! More compliments & question on my tone then the last 20 years combined
Maybe the power amp you're using is a bad tone match?

 

[thiswaythatway]

I owned the Axe FX II and my bandmate owns a Kemper. Neither of us could get them to sound right outside of recording/home use. There's far too much money involved in FRFR setups compared to traditional amp/cabs. If you go the tube power amp/cabinet route (the SS PAs do not sound the same), it's heavier than having a traditional amp head. Of course all the effects and varieties of tones you can get makes it worth it to some, but I have seen very, very few bands and guitarists out there who needs all that power and variety within one gig. I would take a Shiva over the Axe FX II any day.

But, for recording, it's a phenomenal unit.

Did you both go back to amps?

Here's a good example of FRFR live and how, to me, it doesn't work. This kid is a really good player and he gets the Axe to sound great on direct recordings but live with the FRFR, it sounds like ass to me.

 

[TrueTone500]

What I enjoyed was running the powerhead mono output center 'dry' without cabinet simulation, and the effected signal to my mixer/monitors. As I mentioned before, a 2290 in the Kemper stereo loop defies all!

What ruins the fun for me, is that I only use one gain tone and one clean tone... Having hundreds of virtual rigs messed with my ears, so I would generally lock into a couple of rigs, and that was it. I uploaded a couple of profiles; and as good as they came out, I still preferred the sound of the actual rigs. I think the Kemper (and other systems) are great for sound engineers, and players who travel a lot doing freelance, covers, seminars, etc...

That being said... I must have another Kemper.

 

[Bob Savage]

Dewd...

I think I know what you're inferring. Is the Kemper made in China? Thought it was made in Germany.

I seems like no matter what music related forum I go to I see a Kemper/Axefx debate but this one is the first mature and good natured discussion I have seen. On ss.org, these types of convos get way out of hand and end up with people calling each other out all day.

Nice to see the vibe around here is for mature adults not spoiled brats.

These guys all know that I would reboot the Internet if it got out of hand. But yeah, this has been a good thread.

The powered version is not a stereo power amp. I preferred the non powered unit and play with different power amps.

When I played it through the return of the BE-100 it had a certain something playing through ss amps seem to lack. That said, I doubt I'd buy a tube power amp because of the weight. The magnum 44 sounds very good through any cab I run it through including 4x12's. I would not gig that way though, the Magnum 44 gets hot after an hour of pushing a 4x12 at gig levels. It is fine for a 2x12.

At first I thought that the amp not being stereo was a problem but after a bit more thought it actually makes more sense to me because if I used it for jams I'd just be going into a 4x12 or 2x12 anyway. In the case I someone ended up playing with a band, same thing, even live. I'd just go into the 4x12 and send the main outs to the mixer for the PA and monitoring. I like the idea of having the power in the same unit particularly since it's "tuned" for the Kemper and only adds 2 more pounds. This way I can just build a cabinet for the Kemper and use it just like a regular amp head.

[

There's far too much money involved in FRFR setups compared to traditional amp/cabs. If you go the tube power amp/cabinet route (the SS PAs do not sound the same), it's heavier than having a traditional amp head. Of course all the effects and varieties of tones you can get makes it worth it to some, but I have seen very, very few bands and guitarists out there who needs all that power and variety within one gig. I would take a Shiva over the Axe FX II any day.

But, for recording, it's a phenomenal unit.

Yep, I'm buying it for recording first and foremost but figured for another few hundred (edit... well, more than that but...) I may as well get the built-in power amp too. I'm not going to deal with the hassles of a stereo rig setup because I want easy. I'm going to build a hardwood cab for the Kemper Rack and may end up finding a couple FRFR speakers and building a matching cab. Haven't really thought that through yet though because I really want this so I can start recording again without the hassles of micing cabs.

By the way, I still have a Deliverance 60 and Deliverance 4x12 as well as a 2203 JMP.

I go straight into my 4x12 (cab off)
Feed to house pay gets the cab
Great sound! More compliments & question on my tone then the last 20 years combined
Maybe the power amp you're using is a bad tone match?

This is almost exactly what I'm thinking. For now I'd just use my D412 but could eventually build myself a cab with some FRFR speakers in it, but it would still just be a simple 2x12 or 4x12 cab, in fact my thought is a 4x12 sized cab with just two speakers up top, just so I wouldn't have to squat to make adjustments to the amp.

What I enjoyed was running the powerhead mono output center 'dry' without cabinet simulation, and the effected signal to my mixer/monitors. As I mentioned before, a 2290 in the Kemper stereo loop defies all!

What ruins the fun for me, is that I only use one gain tone and one clean tone... Having hundreds of virtual rigs messed with my ears, so I would generally lock into a couple of rigs, and that was it. I uploaded a couple of profiles; and as good as they came out, I still preferred the sound of the actual rigs. I think the Kemper (and other systems) are great for sound engineers, and players who travel a lot doing freelance, covers, seminars, etc...

That being said... I must have another Kemper.

I usually go with just a couple core tones too, although for recording I might get a little more creative if I have more rigs at my fingertips. Nonetheless, I'm fine even if I just used it for a couple really good core clean, crunch and high gain tones. At least I can record it without rattling the foundation of my house.

 

[LP Freak]

I ended up getting the powered rack. This way for live use I have the choice of running a 4x12 or my Atomic CLR or both with the main out going to the front of the house. I like the idea of not having to lug around a seperate power amp. In fact, my band uses IEM so if it were a really tight stage I could even go without a cabinet.

 

[Bob Savage]

if it were a really tight stage I could even go without a cabinet.

Yeah, that's a very cool option as well.

 

[Spaceboy]

I owned the Axe FX II and my bandmate owns a Kemper. Neither of us could get them to sound right outside of recording/home use. There's far too much money involved in FRFR setups compared to traditional amp/cabs. If you go the tube power amp/cabinet route (the SS PAs do not sound the same), it's heavier than having a traditional amp head. Of course all the effects and varieties of tones you can get makes it worth it to some, but I have seen very, very few bands and guitarists out there who needs all that power and variety within one gig. I would take a Shiva over the Axe FX II any day.

But, for recording, it's a phenomenal unit.

Did you both go back to amps?

Here's a good example of FRFR live and how, to me, it doesn't work. This kid is a really good player and he gets the Axe to sound great on direct recordings but live with the FRFR, it sounds like ass to me.

Yeah, I sold mine and went back to tube amps. I only need a handful of tones and it cost too much to keep around for recording, although my bandmate kept his since he has a studio. He's back to tube amps for the band though. It didn't work for us, but there are some people out there very content running these modelers. If I needed to run direct all the time, I would probably consider another Axe FX. I often play without being mic'd, and an Axe FX with a power amp/cab took far too much tweaking and money to sound as natural as a tube amp, and when splitting between a cab and PA, it was even more time involved in finding a tone that was EQ'd right for both applications. Just a real headache outside of recording. I will say that for home recording, the Axe FX was a pleasure, and I got some of the best tones I've ever had with very little fuss.