Kemper to Fractal?

[the rossness]

8 or so years ago, when I got my kemper, I was amazed. It was one of those “If lost or stolen, I’d gladly buy one again”.

But in 2026, I almost never play it. I have over 10k paid profiles on it and tbh, most sound line 1980’s retro-digital to my ears.

I’ve been thinking of getting a FM9 to replace the kemper. I’d be hooking it up to a real speaker cab and my Fryette PS-100.

Has anyone made the switch before? Were you happy or unhappy with your decision?

 

[Monkey Man]

I have over 10k paid profiles on it and tbh, most sound line 1980’s retro-digital to my ears.

Hey brother, you say, "most", so I assume there's a bunch there that sound legit?

I mean, I can't imagine anything Bert Merlendijk puts out as being "digital-sounding"... just OTTOMH.

Be wary of confirmation bias is all I'm suggesting.

 

[DanTravis62]

I switched the other way.

I definitely prefer the kemper

Go ahead and make the switch if you think it will work better for you but it's a lateral move - both are good just a matter of what use case

I do a ton of recording and I think the kemper is better for that - if I needed a modeler for just live something like the fm9 would probably be a bit better

But neither suck

 

[alund]

I switched the other way.

I definitely prefer the kemper

Go ahead and make the switch if you think it will work better for you but it's a lateral move - both are good just a matter of what use case

I do a ton of recording and I think the kemper is better for that - if I needed a modeler for just live something like the fm9 would probably be a bit better

But neither suck

Sometimes something new is inspiring. Not sure I’d get rid of the kemper but getting a whole new unit like fractal, even if a lateral move, will force you to work towards your end goal; “grail tone”. We might never find it but the trip is fun.

 

[SFW]

I went from an AxeFX II XL to the Kemper. Fractal makes a great product, but I found that I was spending more time adjusting presets than I was actually playing. With the Kemper, I found a few profiles that I really liked and now I just play. I also picked up a Quad Cortex. It kinda sits between the Fractal and the Kemper, as you can capture your amps or use the modeling. Though when I use the QC, I miss the FX in the Kemper.

They are all fantastic tools. Pick the one that works best with your workflow and enjoy.

 

[Omnipotent1]

Don’t forget the GillBates2000 (Kemper MK2) just came out. Can’t speak on FM9 but I went from AX8 to a Kemper. No regrets. As others mentioned it seems like a lateral move either way Axe, Helix, QC, etc… but if that drives inspiration more power to you.

If you’re not gigging consider the following-

•Try out some other cabs or vice versa try FRFR speaker if you’re bored with ur current cab.

If you have a computer & Interface:
•Maybe try some of the STL Tones, Tonality, Neural DSP plugins. I’ve had a lot of fun with those. The computer is a decent portion of the cost when it comes to these kinds of units. So if you already have one why not use it..

Hope you find what you’re searching for.

 

[cardinal]

They all can sound good. I think what you'd get most out of the switch is just something new to play with. Fractal is a different paradigm with all the deep editing available and routing options.

I tend to prefer profiles/captures so that I don't get lost just endlessly fucking with deep parameters in a fractal unit, but that's sort of a personal failing and not Fractal's fault.

The AFX will sound great.

 

[TheGreatGreen]

I’ve come to realize I don’t like profilers. Scrolling through endless vertical slices of amps you can’t really adjust like a real amp afterwards is not appealing to me at all.

I like the workflow of the Fractal stuff. You pick an amp and dial it in just like you would an actual amp, and the knobs respond like the real amp does. Feels a lot better to me. Rinse and repeat for all the parts in the chain.

Picking out IR’s used to be the worst part of the Fractal workflow because it was just list scrolling, but then Fractal came out with their DynaCab stuff a while back that now makes dialing in cabs feel more realistic too. Basically instead of scrolling through thousands of IR’s, you pick a cab and mic type, and then move the virtual mic around until it sounds right. And moving the virtual mic isn’t just applying an EQ filter over an IR. They took real cabs and mics and used a robot to make a bunch of actual IR’s per cab/mic pairing and you use the mic adjustment to basically select the IR that matches the virtual mic position. That happens under the hood though, all you see is the speaker and the mic readings for cone/edge and close/far distances. It’s intuitive and works great.

So yeah, Fractal for me any day.

 

[cardinal]

I’ve come to realize I don’t like profilers. Scrolling through endless vertical slices of amps you can’t really adjust like a real amp afterwards is not appealing to me at all.

I like the workflow of the Fractal stuff. You pick an amp and dial it in just like you would an actual amp, and the knobs respond like the real amp does. Feels a lot better to me. Rinse and repeat for all the parts in the chain.

Picking out IR’s used to be the worst part of the Fractal workflow because it was just list scrolling, but then Fractal came out with their DynaCab stuff a while back that now makes dialing in cabs feel more realistic too. Basically instead of scrolling through thousands of IR’s, you pick a cab and mic type, and then move the virtual mic around until it sounds right. And moving the virtual mic isn’t just applying an EQ filter over an IR. They took real cabs and mics and used a robot to make a bunch of actual IR’s per cab/mic pairing and you use the mic adjustment to basically select the IR that matches the virtual mic position. That happens under the hood though, all you see is the speaker and the mic readings for cone/edge and close/far distances. It’s intuitive and works great.

So yeah, Fractal for me any day.

That's a good point. I like profilers because I just want copies of my amps.

If I wanted to tinker with tones from amps I don't have, a profiler seems like madness and a modeler would be much easier.

 

[DiezelMonster]

8 or so years ago, when I got my kemper, I was amazed. It was one of those “If lost or stolen, I’d gladly buy one again”.

But in 2026, I almost never play it. I have over 10k paid profiles on it and tbh, most sound line 1980’s retro-digital to my ears.

I’ve been thinking of getting a FM9 to replace the kemper. I’d be hooking it up to a real speaker cab and my Fryette PS-100.

Has anyone made the switch before? Were you happy or unhappy with your decision?

I'm not knocking you or anything but did I read that right?

"I have over 10k paid profiles on it and tbh, most sound line 1980’s retro-digital to my ears."

Paid over $10K of real money for profiles?

again, just asking for clarification

 

[cardinal]

I'm not knocking you or anything but did I read that right?

"I have over 10k paid profiles on it and tbh, most sound line 1980’s retro-digital to my ears."

Paid over $10K of real money for profiles?

again, just asking for clarification

I think he has over 10,000 profiles that he paid for but presumably it didn't cost $1 per profile.

 

[DanTravis62]

Sometimes something new is inspiring. Not sure I’d get rid of the kemper but getting a whole new unit like fractal, even if a lateral move, will force you to work towards your end goal; “grail tone”. We might never find it but the trip is fun.

Yep that's totally true

IMO i think all the high end modelers are equally good, they just shine for different uses

 

[VonBonfire]

Paid over $10K of real money for profiles?

That's a lot of Twin Reverbs.

 

[DiezelMonster]

I think he has over 10,000 profiles that he paid for but presumably it didn't cost $1 per profile.

That makes more sense, but it's still a lot of extra dough!

 

[Shask]

That's a good point. I like profilers because I just want copies of my amps.

If I wanted to tinker with tones from amps I don't have, a profiler seems like madness and a modeler would be much easier.

I find captures to be more accurate to tone and dynamics of real amps, but limited in tweakability. Modelers have better tweakability, but tone and dynamics that are always off and not quite right.

 

[Monkey Man]

Scrolling through endless vertical slices of amps you can’t really adjust like a real amp afterwards is not appealing to me at all.

Kemper's "new" Liquid Profiling pretty-much takes care of that - a model of the EQ stack of the amp Profiled is used rather than the stock "best-for-most" EQ.

The new v2 Profiling captures the gain range more-accurately too apparently.

The Definition parameter (vintage -> modern) is a Godsend as well IMHO. My favourite tweak.

 

[BlueParfait]

8 or so years ago, when I got my kemper, I was amazed. It was one of those “If lost or stolen, I’d gladly buy one again”.

But in 2026, I almost never play it. I have over 10k paid profiles on it and tbh, most sound line 1980’s retro-digital to my ears.

I’ve been thinking of getting a FM9 to replace the kemper. I’d be hooking it up to a real speaker cab and my Fryette PS-100.

Has anyone made the switch before? Were you happy or unhappy with your decision?

I've made the switch and I was so unhappy I went Fractal to Tube Amp within 5 months

 

[buddachile]

I have a Kemper, FM3 and Tonex. They all sound great to my ears and they all feel good to play. I would be happy with any one of them sonically. I do like getting my own tones with the FM3 because the experience is more like getting my tone from my amps. If I could only have one I'd choose the FM3.

That said I'm not considering getting rid of any of my amps.

 

[cardinal]

I find captures to be more accurate to tone and dynamics of real amps, but limited in tweakability. Modelers have better tweakability, but tone and dynamics that are always off and not quite right.

Yeah, I never could get the Fractual to sound how I really wanted. The QC captures to me are much better. It wasn't perfect, the Fractal was plenty fine if you just want something that works.

 

[Shask]

Yeah, I never could get the Fractual to sound how I really wanted. The QC captures to me are much better. It wasn't perfect, the Fractal was plenty fine if you just want something that works.

Something was always off for me, but I couldn’t figure out what it was until the newer machine learning devices came out. That showed me it was all in the aggressiveness of the pick attack and immediate punchy feel.

ToneX and NAM are great. I also just bought some NDSP plugins, and they also have a better feel. It has me wondering if I should look at a QC Mini. I am pretty deep with ToneX though. I have made hundreds of captures of all my tube gear. I use it more as a plugin than the pedals.