OK so to the guys that have both. Kemper or Axe II

[Rogue]

You know I think some of those highs and what I was calling "plinky sound" may have been partially due to the speaker since it weren't there with the Weber. And also when I went to other profiles of plexi's it wasn't there as well. We should have probably played more with mic placement on the Celestion.

Even so, the Kemper profile had more highs than the miced speaker.

 

[ejecta]

You know I think some of those highs and what I was calling "plinky sound" may have been partially due to the speaker since it weren't there with the Weber. And also when I went to other profiles of plexi's it wasn't there as well. We should have probably played more with mic placement on the Celestion.

Even so, the Kemper profile had more highs than the miced speaker.

Yeah it seemed that way and it also was missing something from the mid highs as well. I think the lack of that could have made it seem like there were more highs. With the Weber there didn't seem to be as much of a increase in highs. That's the one IMHO we got the closest with. Don't know.... like you said it's splitting hairs and more than likely user error since there are some other people's profiles of plexi's that sound better than the one's we got and were not like that.

 

[Rogue]

.....more than likely user.....

That's what the AxeFX police used to say.

 

[ejecta]

.....more than likely user.....

That's what the AxeFX police used to say.

 

[BYTOR]

.....more than likely user.....

That's what the AxeFX police used to say.

Yeah but for some reason the people around here really really want to love the KPA, so they will cut it plenty of slack

The posts I have made in this thread are the most honest true to life comparison of the two units. I own both, I'm not trying to validate any purchase, I don't give a rats ass about either company, I would sell both the Axe & KPA and buy something I thought was better without any hesitation or attachment whatsoever. It's fucking gear!

Also,who gives a fuck about what a CEO says or doesn't say about other products!! It's all about whether or not I really dig their gear.
Cliff could go on a massive killing spree tomorrow & the German Kemper dude could declare his love for Hitler & his hatred for the USA, and I would still buy and use their products as long as I get out of them what I'm looking for more than some other product.

I just don't get the people who say " I don't like what that CEO dude said" lol

 

[rupe]

Got both units. They both can sound great. The Axe II is more fun overall to me because you can get more squishy saturated sustaining '80s tones out of it. The KPA is more stiff sounding and is great for AC/DC type stuff & lower gain tones.

Regarding the Kemper, wouldn't that be completely dependent on the amp modeled, and how well it was modeled? You get out of it what you put into it? Or does it alter the modeled amps in some way so that they always come out less "squishy and saturated"?

The KPA internally has 2 distorted amp templates & 1 clean amp template.

Whatever amp you "profile" at a particular distorted setting the KPA EQ matches that amp setting & attaches that EQ match to one of the internal distorted templates it has. It does the same thing when you profile an amp at a clean setting.

Therefore when you change the tone knobs in a profile it reacts nothing like the actual amp that was profiled. This doesn't mean you can't get great sounds from the KPA, you certainly can, but the tone knob adjustments are based on the generic amp templates.

I really like my KPA & get some great sounds from it but it is definitely less chewey & squishy sounding than my Axe II. Leads also feel better on the Axe & has more harmonic saturated goodness to it.

The KPA because of its automated amp/mic/cab in one profile process,can get people a quicker organic tone. The Axe II is not an automated process but it's easy to get great sounds.

With the Axe II you have to choose an amp then match it to whatever cab you think fits & also a mic type if you want. This process can be a little less plug & play than the KPA, but gives you far more control over whatever sound you want. The Axe also includes all the actual tone stacks for the amps so the tone knobs & master volume adjustments are true to life.

I own & use both so I have real world unbiased everyday experience on both units. They bring very different things to the table, so owning both is not ridiculous or overkill.

Thanks

 

[stratotone]

.....more than likely user.....

That's what the AxeFX police used to say.

Yeah but for some reason the people around here really really want to love the KPA, so they will cut it plenty of slack

The posts I have made in this thread are the most honest true to life comparison of the two units. I own both, I'm not trying to validate any purchase, I don't give a rats ass about either company, I would sell both the Axe & KPA and buy something I thought was better without any hesitation or attachment whatsoever. It's fucking gear!

Also,who gives a fuck about what a CEO says or doesn't say about other products!! It's all about whether or not I really dig their gear.
Cliff could go on a massive killing spree tomorrow & the German Kemper dude could declare his love for Hitler & his hatred for the USA, and I would still buy and use their products as long as I get out of them what I'm looking for more than some other product.

I just don't get the people who say " I don't like what that CEO dude said" lol

Kemper isn't going to duplicate everything 100%, but it gets enough that I'm happy with the dozens of amps and dozens of cabs I've profiled. I've had ONE thing that wouldn't profile correctly at all, it was an acoustic patch on a Johnson J-station of all things. It's off by a mile. All of the amps I've done have been IMHO within 95-99%. I don't think the guys had user error, even if you feed a 'bad' signal into the kemper tone-wise it should reproduce it. All I can think of user-error wise is that I've had times where I've left a noise gate on, which can affect profiling. And if you had gain staging way off, that might cause an issue. Otherwise it's pretty cut and dry.

If I can help it I don't support companies I disagree with on a consistent basis. I don't think it's that hard to understand, personally.

 

[Pauly]

.....more than likely user.....

That's what the AxeFX police used to say.

Yeah but for some reason the people around here really really want to love the KPA, so they will cut it plenty of slack

The posts I have made in this thread are the most honest true to life comparison of the two units. I own both, I'm not trying to validate any purchase, I don't give a rats ass about either company, I would sell both the Axe & KPA and buy something I thought was better without any hesitation or attachment whatsoever. It's fucking gear!

Also,who gives a fuck about what a CEO says or doesn't say about other products!! It's all about whether or not I really dig their gear.
Cliff could go on a massive killing spree tomorrow & the German Kemper dude could declare his love for Hitler & his hatred for the USA, and I would still buy and use their products as long as I get out of them what I'm looking for more than some other product.

I just don't get the people who say " I don't like what that CEO dude said" lol

I think people dont like buying gear from a doucher.

 

[Larrikin666]

I had a Kemper, Axe-FX Ultra, and Axe-FX II all together for about a year. Now, I have two Kempers and an Axe-FX Ultra. In terms of amp sims and ease of use, the Kemper is all I need. The only reason I still have my Ultra is because the effects are superb.