Thinking of getting a Kemper

  • Thread starter Thread starter BrentSSL
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BrentSSL

BrentSSL

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So I went to see Testament the other night they were running Kempers sounded amazing. However the tone was so good it was almost like hearing it recorded although that could be thier playing. Really getting interested in the modeling thing. I feel like the kemper and axe fx are good options the axe fx to me has a spongy sound reminiscent of my line 6 bogner. The kemper sounds almost too perfect I'm also entertaining the 11 rack for cost effectiveness any options out there?
 
Did they have power amps and cabs or straight to PA?

They do sound really great, and it will cure your amp gas for quite some time because you can try them all in one box. I used it mainly for recording though. But it did sound great through my ISP Stealth power amp and a 4x12.

I ended up selling mine after finishing a recording project. I found I was just using Marshall profiles.
I moved on to ISP's Theta pedal and Stealth, and Pro DSP unit for recording which does me fine because I only need the one hot-rodded Marshall tone.
 
Hmmmm didn't think of that happening I could see my self using one tone
 
That was my issue with it as well. Great unit, nice effects! It sounded great recorded and FOH was decent. I didn't like my on stage sound through a cab or FRFR. Also, I was looking for a couple of great sounding profiles. One of them, I just couldn't get out of it. I ended up going to an amp and Torpedo live and have exactly what I need for everything.
 
Ive been a long time Axe Fx II user, almost since the beginning on and off a few times. I recently sold my Mark II version to upgrade to the XL+ because I wanted the extra memory slots. I decided to try the Kemper in between. I had it for under a week before I sent it back. My Axe Fx was running the newest quantum firmware before I sold it btw. The Kemper just felt very stiff to me, it didnt have that nice ma "feel." Plus I didn't have any of my own amps to profile so I was relying on other peoples profiles. This,imho, is the downside to the Kemper. I even bought a few of the highly rated profiles from top jimi,amp factory etc etc and none of them sounded really good to me.
The time had come last week to finally reorder my Axe fx and the damn things were out of stock. Look at AMS for the Line 6 Helix and it was finally in stock so I figured I would give it a shot while waiting for fractal. I got it yesterday and my initial impressions are really good. So good that I've decided to keep it and not reorder an Axe FX. Tonewise, if you set up a good patch its almost on par with Axe FX(and thats coming from someone who's been with Fractal for over 4 years) but more importantly it "feels" like a good amp. Its feels much better than the Kemper did to me.
 
Just an FYI....Alex and Eric sound great thru any effing thing....they are THRASH GODS \m/
 
lessthan12":2kgxg46j said:
Ive been a long time Axe Fx II user, almost since the beginning on and off a few times. I recently sold my Mark II version to upgrade to the XL+ because I wanted the extra memory slots. I decided to try the Kemper in between. I had it for under a week before I sent it back. My Axe Fx was running the newest quantum firmware before I sold it btw. The Kemper just felt very stiff to me, it didnt have that nice ma "feel." Plus I didn't have any of my own amps to profile so I was relying on other peoples profiles. This,imho, is the downside to the Kemper. I even bought a few of the highly rated profiles from top jimi,amp factory etc etc and none of them sounded really good to me.
The time had come last week to finally reorder my Axe fx and the damn things were out of stock. Look at AMS for the Line 6 Helix and it was finally in stock so I figured I would give it a shot while waiting for fractal. I got it yesterday and my initial impressions are really good. So good that I've decided to keep it and not reorder an Axe FX. Tonewise, if you set up a good patch its almost on par with Axe FX(and thats coming from someone who's been with Fractal for over 4 years) but more importantly it "feels" like a good amp. Its feels much better than the Kemper did to me.
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Would be great to hear more of your impressions on the Helix after you've had it for a while. Also, have you tried the Fractal AX8 (the cheaper, pedal-based version of the Axe)?

I've also just had the Atomic Amplifier recommended as well. Anyone tried one of those?
 
DannyM":3i9hd8ks said:
Just an FYI....Alex and Eric sound great thru any effing thing....they are THRASH GODS \m/
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Completely agree
 
BrentSSL":32gu584p said:
I've also thought about the atomic amplifire
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I've had both. Got rid of the Amplifire, not because it wasn't good, it was, just didn't need it since I got the Kemper. The AF sounds good, but it's night and day with the Kemper compared to the AF.

I had the CLR Atomic powered speaker with the Kemper first. I thought it sounded too processed. I ditched it and got two Matrix Q-12's *powered* and love the setup.

Here's some porn to let me help you empty your pockets. I didn't even bother with user profiles. I got the ones that came with it and pro ones I bought. My favorites are the JCM 800 KK, JVM 401 and MKII C + profiles. I have di profiles as well, merged with my own Ownhammer IR's. If you like to tweak, this thing is it. The only thing I find with it, as compared with tube amps is that my ears seem to tire quickly. But I'm a retard and sit in front of the thing on a bean bag 2' in front of it. I notice too, you got to ease back on the treble and presence. All the profiles seem to have too much sizzle to them.

The only thing really that I miss about my MKV and Rectifier atop Rectifier 2x12's is how bad ass they looked sitting in my studio. I especially love how I can tailor profiles to specific guitars. For instance, I have SD Black Winters in a jackson tuned to drop B and that guitar just doesn't sound good with the profiles I use with the Jacksons with SD 59's and Dominion pickups. Simple fix. Got a specific profile for the guitar with the black winters.

11261662_1668595656750998_7765410190576118630_o.jpg
 
BrentSSL":1sk6iyop said:
I've also thought about the atomic amplifire
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i have the Axe Ultra and the Amplifire, and the Amplifire is so much easier to dial in. The amp models sound better than the Axe IMO. The Axe excels at effects, but for amp tones, the AF is hard to beat. I am interested in the Kemper myself now that the AF has proven that some modelers can replicate real amps in a live situation. That was my main problem with the Fractal, it never worked for me in a live situation no matter what I tried.
 
shane159":1f28p2ic said:
BrentSSL":1f28p2ic said:
I've also thought about the atomic amplifire
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i have the Axe Ultra and the Amplifire, and the Amplifire is so much easier to dial in. The amp models sound better than the Axe IMO. The Axe excels at effects, but for amp tones, the AF is hard to beat. I am interested in the Kemper myself now that the AF has proven that some modelers can replicate real amps in a live situation. That was my main problem with the Fractal, it never worked for me in a live situation no matter what I tried.
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Thats the thing is so far the kemper wins out on a live situation I'm not looking for a studio rig yet tho I do really want to try the 11 rack to me the axe fx stuff sounds to squishy like too synthetic
 
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