Kemper, Axe FX

[shodan5000]

Owned the Kemper for over a year and have had the Axe II since it came out. Axe hands down for me.

 

[Daybreak]

It all really comes down too - Are you a tweaker or are you not a tweaker? The negative side of the Kemper is, it's never going to sound as good with YOUR guitar because the Kemper profiles the guitar, the pickups and so on. The good stuff about it is that it has a massive library of awesome profiles if you just wanna hook it up and play.

The Axe has way (WAY!!!) more tweakability, you can practically create whatever tone you want. This you cannot do with the Kemper.

Coming from an Axe-Fx 2 guy.

 

[jemfloral]

i like my axe fx, but i've never used the kemper to A-B against it.

 

[asfeir]

By the way will they create new versions of the kemper? or is the current unit and the other powered versions the final product?

 

[FireInside]

I have an Axe Fx Ultra and I played a Kemper at last year's NAMM show and wasn't all that impressed. It sounded pretty good but definitely lacks the versatility of the Fractals. I'd miss the routing and all the great effects.

 

[Webmaestro]

As a happy Axe-Fx II owner, I'll just echo what some other's have said:

The fact that the Axe-Fx has a lot more tweakability and functionality doesn't mean you HAVE to do so. The out-of-the-box presets sound great, and with just a few tweaks as necessary to suit your rig, you can get kick ass rhythm and lead tones very quickly. If you ever want to go deeper and spend the time, the sonic possibilities are nearly endless.

Though I generally just want basic rock/metal guitar tones, I personally like having those advanced capabilities there when/if I'm in the mood. There are days when I want to experiment with sound. Having the ability to dive deep into advanced settings and mix a buttload of special FX is a pure joy.

I know the Kemper is an amazing unit too, so I'm not discounting it. But for me personally... the above-mentioned stuff was what ultimately led me to the Axe-Fx over the Kemper. I haven't regretted the decision at all.

 

[ramses]

The negative side of the Kemper is, it's never going to sound as good with YOUR guitar because the Kemper profiles the guitar, the pickups and so on.

This is not true, that's not how profiling works. The Kemper DOES NOT profiles your guitar or guitar pickups.

The Kemper itself sends white noise and other signals (not your guitar) to the amp, so that it can "hear" (through the mic) how the amp responds to it, to learn the parameters to create the profile.

Yup, I own a Kemper.

 

[Lokasenna]

By the way will they create new versions of the kemper? or is the current unit and the other powered versions the final product?

Christoph has said (I'm pretty sure) that there won't be a Kemper II in the near future, since the existing unit still has a lot of room for upgrading both software and hardware. Hell, there are buttons on the front and jacks on the back that don't even work yet.

 

[Daybreak]

This is not true, that's not how profiling works. The Kemper DOES NOT profiles your guitar or guitar pickups.

The Kemper itself sends white noise and other signals (not your guitar) to the amp, so that it can "hear" (through the mic) how the amp responds to it, to learn the parameters to create the profile.

Yup, I own a Kemper.

Then I stand corrected, and I apologize!

Perhaps I got it mixed up with the fact that it profiles the mic and cab!

 

[ramses]

Then I stand corrected, and I apologize!

Perhaps I got it mixed up with the fact that it profiles the mic and cab!

No worries. I also had the same misconception before I started seriously looking into its engineering (and before I bought mine).

How the profile turns out indeed depends on the mic and its placement. That's why it is said that the Kemper gives you the "amp in the room" sound.

 

[WrldEtrBenny]

Im an axefxII person as well.
ive never used or heard a kemper but I did think about it when I went to buy my axefxII.
you don't need to tweak it a lot to get a pretty stellar sound, its actually quite easy to get a decent sound out of it.
most of my dist patches are pretty simple, drive-amp-cab layout, maybe some reverb and delay for my leads that's it and i love having the option of all the extra feature though.

im interested to hear about how Josh Smith (noob_pwn) from Northlane uses both together.

 

[VESmedic]

Really would love to hear why the axe is more versitile or tweakable than the Kemper, since you can technically profile ANYTHING you could want with the Kemper. That is such a load of crap it's hillarious. You could have 1000 5150s in different combos if for some reason you wanted that. There is just so much crap in these threads it's ridiculous... And you can't get great tones out of the Kemper unless you have something personal to profile? So you can't find something out of the 5000 profiles on the rig exchange and the thousands of commercial profiles? How is that any different than being limited by the algorithm being produced for whatever amp sim you are using on the axe fx?? Your completely limited to cliffs algorithm for the amp he's modeling. Sure you can EQ, add cabs, mics etc, but you are still limited by those algorithms. It's modeling. The Kemper is profiling a real signal chain, set up by you, or whoever did it, not imitating it. Move the mic 4 cm to the right? Totally different sound? Profile it... I could go on and on, but lets keep the BS to a minimum please.