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HeftyMetalGuitar
New member
Which processor reacts to pick and fingers most like a tube amp?
PBGas
Well-known member
There are a crapload of threads on this. I don't think anyone can tell the difference in a mix. If you have the opportunity to try either, go for it.
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TrueTone500
Banned
New member
I thought the Kemper had a better real amp feel, and the UI is easier to navigate. Put a TC2290 in the Kemper stereo effects loop, and prepare to be amazed!
thiswaythatway
Well-known member
japetus
Well-known member
HeftyMetalGuitar":xz4d9zmx said:
I was impressed by both, but I don't need 99% of what they offer. If you really just need one or two tones, use a tube amp and be done. If I owned a studio, or was a guy who REALLY needed that many tones....I would look at an Axe FX setup.
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PatF
Active member
Quick funny story. My good buddy has to be the most hardcore pedal, modeler, gadget hater out there. Straight into the Marshall period. He was disgusted with me when I told him about the Kemper and how much I spent on it. We plugged in his Tele through my 5" monitors. He said it might be the best tone I've ever got and really liked how it feels like an amp. I've built a few tube amps that he loves and he's built me some crazy sounding old Marshall heads.
I would love to have an AxeFX too.
I would love to have an AxeFX too.
Elric
Active member
I went AFX a few years back had been playing traditional amps for 20+ years. It is awesome... Feel, dynamics, flexibility, all I've ever wanted in a rig pretty much. I have both FRFR and PowerAmp->Guitar Cab setups and it is stunning in both. The FRFR delivers miced cab tone and the Cab delivers in your face amp in the room sounds. I think I have only bought picks, strings, and a mic since I bought it.
I have no doubts the Kemper is similar. I chose the AFX over it primarily because I like all the flexibility in the routing and FX, etc. But they are both the pinnacle of tech. You will likely love either. Listen to clips, look at features, demo them if you can at all (both can be had with money back guarantees in the US I think).
It's a great time to be a guitar player. I have no use for traditional amps anymore.
I have no doubts the Kemper is similar. I chose the AFX over it primarily because I like all the flexibility in the routing and FX, etc. But they are both the pinnacle of tech. You will likely love either. Listen to clips, look at features, demo them if you can at all (both can be had with money back guarantees in the US I think).
It's a great time to be a guitar player. I have no use for traditional amps anymore.
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GtarLover
Well-known member
Both units are great. Bottom line is it's personal preference and usage needs.
If you don't need the ALL the effects the Axe has to offer, maybe a Kemper will be a good choice.
If you need the flexibility and variety of effects, amps, cabs tweakability, then maybe it's the Axe.
Both units have had firmware upgrades recently that have sent them even further toward the killer tones we all crave from our modelers.
Again, it's really personal choice and what kind of tweakability you need.
The Axe has more options and more tweakable depth, no question. Yet the Kemper has ease of use and the ability to now simply plug in your amp, profile it, and have had it in the box, no cab necessary for profiling anymore. Both use IR's and various other user cabs, and amp possibilities.
Also, the Axe has a dedicated foot controller, Kemper has one coming soon too.
Really crazy abilities in these units. Awesome tech and great pieces of kit.
Full disclosure: I have both and play the Axe live at the moment.
If you don't need the ALL the effects the Axe has to offer, maybe a Kemper will be a good choice.
If you need the flexibility and variety of effects, amps, cabs tweakability, then maybe it's the Axe.
Both units have had firmware upgrades recently that have sent them even further toward the killer tones we all crave from our modelers.
Again, it's really personal choice and what kind of tweakability you need.
The Axe has more options and more tweakable depth, no question. Yet the Kemper has ease of use and the ability to now simply plug in your amp, profile it, and have had it in the box, no cab necessary for profiling anymore. Both use IR's and various other user cabs, and amp possibilities.
Also, the Axe has a dedicated foot controller, Kemper has one coming soon too.
Really crazy abilities in these units. Awesome tech and great pieces of kit.
Full disclosure: I have both and play the Axe live at the moment.
squank
Active member
I've owned them both and gigged them both. I much prefer the amp tones of the Kemper, esp high gain. The Axe-FX does a lot of things great, but the high gain tones don't have as much variety.
Even the Axe tone matching isn't as good as the Kemper profiling, imo.
Even the Axe tone matching isn't as good as the Kemper profiling, imo.
the rossness
Well-known member
squank":1vn12i34 said:
I just demo'd a Kemper and thought that all the high gain tones sounded pretty much the same. It did an ok HiWatt sound, but I wasn't very impressed with it. I haven't tried an Axe FX so I dunno how it compares.
ejecta
Active member
For me the Kemper had the best feel but neither really have the same feel as a real tube amp.
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HeftyMetalGuitar
New member
Between the two which would you say has the most difference in amp models or do they still all sound alike? My experience is limited on both and never had them side by side but something about the AxeFx appeals more than the Kemper. The Axe seemed to have less color in some amp models and the Kemper seemed to color everything the same but that could just be my recollection.
Elric
Active member
I know this topic quickly gets out of hand but this actually made me LOL. So, opinions vary.squank":1dkav7tu said:
HeftyMetalGuitar":1dkav7tu said:
The AFX has huge variations between models as per the real amps, I don't know how recent most people's experience is; but its pretty mind blowing these days. The AFX behaves like the amp typically. For example, people will often cite tricks on the physical amps like the treble on the MK2C+ affecting gain in a certain way or the treble control and the presence control on the Bogner Uberschall interacting and you can go use that to dial in the model on the axe and it behaves the same way. Sometimes people will say, "Hay try this setting or that thing with amp model Y" and someone will say "Yep, I owned/own one and that is what I always do with it, it behaves the same way IRL". It is common to look at owners manuals for the real amp or user's groups for tips and then just treat the amp like the model.
The Kemper will have nearly infinite variation because you can shoot profiles of any arbitrary amp. In terms of dialing it won't behave like the original amp because a profile is not a model. But it is a lot less tweaking and there are apparently many excellent ones.
IMHO, you should think about work flow/use paradigm, FX, and routing needs to decide if the AFX warrants the higher cost for you.
The modeling is there on both... you're going to end up with enough variety to get analysis paralysis with either unit... in fact this is a shared downside for both units. Say I'm in the mood for hot rod Marshall sounds do I go with a boosted 800, a Cornford, the Atomica, a Splawn Maybe? One of the Friedmans? I've picked an amp to mess with... now what kind of cab? A Marshall with Greenbacks? A Hiwatt with Fanes? An SLO with Sheffields? Maybe add a second cab with V30s? With Kemper it's like okay which of my 2000+ profiles should I play today? And so on.
The Axe's work paradigm and features are better for me, but I think it has a longer ramp time for the user than the K because of that. Kemper has a lot of stuff that will be just right right out of the box.
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TrueTone500
Banned
New member
I sold my Bogner Metropolis head and cabinet yesterday. They buyer had just gotten in from a recording session in Atlanta, which was equipped with both the Ax and Kemper modelers. He obviously preferred his Matchaless DC30 combo over the modelers, but was surprised by how good they sound. I don't think one is really better than the other... If it were me, I'd want to own both.
thiswaythatway
Well-known member
I haven't heard any Axe-Fx clip of a Marshall that's close to this.....IMHO.
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Reflux
New member
I was saving up for a while...was going to buy a Kemper rack at a stupid low price. Unfortunately, the party involved never responded.
I was seriously impressed with the abilities of the Kemper. Brody Uttley (Rivers of Nihil) and I profiled my 5153 50w with an Orange 212 and got this as the result...
https://soundcloud.com/thelivingdoorway ... kglass-b7k
Sounds beefy as hell.
Since I never heard back about the kemper, and am not currently in a band, I opted for saving some money and bought an Axe Fx Ultra from a studio that was closing and liquidating gear - looked practically brand new! Still had plastic on it...no rack hashing, booklet still in wrapping, power cable still zip tied, all in original box which wasn't beaten up.
Not regretting the purchase. Currently have the Axe Fx running through the power section of an Orange Dark Terror, and then through a 212. Have it set up to run one signal to the cab, and the other to the PA.
I was seriously impressed with the abilities of the Kemper. Brody Uttley (Rivers of Nihil) and I profiled my 5153 50w with an Orange 212 and got this as the result...
https://soundcloud.com/thelivingdoorway ... kglass-b7k
Sounds beefy as hell.
Since I never heard back about the kemper, and am not currently in a band, I opted for saving some money and bought an Axe Fx Ultra from a studio that was closing and liquidating gear - looked practically brand new! Still had plastic on it...no rack hashing, booklet still in wrapping, power cable still zip tied, all in original box which wasn't beaten up.
Not regretting the purchase. Currently have the Axe Fx running through the power section of an Orange Dark Terror, and then through a 212. Have it set up to run one signal to the cab, and the other to the PA.
ejecta
Active member
danyeo":2pt91ali said:
Just wait until Fractal releases firmware v19.
Sorry..... old habits die hard.
LP Freak
Well-known member
The answer to your question is..... neither. And that's coming from a Kemper owner.
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dinocaz
New member
Well, never having owned a Kemper, my experience with the Axe Fx II has been very decent; if not better. Having paid for it once, i think i have avoided a lot of other fx purchases. With the Quantum Firmware things have really come to a point where both studio tweakers and plug and go touring users have a fantastic fun tool. I would love to own a kemper to compare. It seems user friendly. I would imagine some of the experience of playing is better reproduced by the Axe Fx II Quantum Firmware, if you are comparing it to tube amps with particular feels that differ drastically from a POD. Some playing and writing styles won't be effected by this maybe. I like to write in a very unique style and that feel factor is indispensable. Now, how does Kemper profile feel in terms of authenticity? Maybe it can equal an Axe Fx? That's my big curiosity. From a technical perspective, I can't see how a Kemper profile could encapsulate something made up of so many micro-effects, like an old Mesa Boogie power amp I once had, that compressed in a very warm, expressive way. The Quantum Firmware seems to be an advance that mimics this as well as nuances in the sound that go along with each particular architectural component in the sound. My aim is to see if Kemper will work for me as well, because I try out new music technologies for a living basically.
But can someone explain how Kemper achieves what the Axe Fx does in terms of replication of the feel and experience of the amp? Or is it more down to a "vanilla" thing, which is not a wrong way to go, but just not very specific for the profiles?
The downside of an Axe Fx II is that dialing in a preset HSS a lot of options. One thing that would help me buy a Kemper (or not, if Axe Fx does it first) would be a way to incorporate a guitar and its pickups into the model. Given the same set of strings, one could use a profile that would, at least statically in terms of the tone response curve, mimick a different guitar every 5 minutes. With my particular pickups, the presets in the Axe Fx community don't always work.
Here's my suggestion, Kemper and Fractal use a particular single coil and humbucking standard, and have a technology that can alter the character so that a Kemper or Fractal profile on 10 gauge strings with humbuckers can be matched to my specific pickups so the Profile sounds predictable & similar for my guitar and pickups.
But can someone explain how Kemper achieves what the Axe Fx does in terms of replication of the feel and experience of the amp? Or is it more down to a "vanilla" thing, which is not a wrong way to go, but just not very specific for the profiles?
The downside of an Axe Fx II is that dialing in a preset HSS a lot of options. One thing that would help me buy a Kemper (or not, if Axe Fx does it first) would be a way to incorporate a guitar and its pickups into the model. Given the same set of strings, one could use a profile that would, at least statically in terms of the tone response curve, mimick a different guitar every 5 minutes. With my particular pickups, the presets in the Axe Fx community don't always work.
Here's my suggestion, Kemper and Fractal use a particular single coil and humbucking standard, and have a technology that can alter the character so that a Kemper or Fractal profile on 10 gauge strings with humbuckers can be matched to my specific pickups so the Profile sounds predictable & similar for my guitar and pickups.
shred-o-holic
Active member
Loved my Axe 2 but for whatever reason the Kemper just feels more plug and play for me.....it stayed the Axe 2....sold.....but both are badass..