Axe-Fx III vs Kemper Profiling Amp

Both the units sound very well to my ears.
There is a great difference in the top end, where the III is very very bright compared the the Kemper...but I don't know how does it sounds the original amp, hence I can't say what is nearer to the original.
 
Personally, I think the two boxes are now way different and can't really be compared. Firstly, the Kemper doesn't really model an amp, it copies it's response with certain settings, while the axe fx models each component in an amp. This means that changing (say) the treble control on the axe fx emulates changing it on the amp. The Kemper, just changes the treble, likely not in a similar fashion to the amp it's emulating.
Also, as the Kemper is older tech than the axe fx iii, it's just not a fair comparison. I agree that the Kemper would be a good solution for the artist that has a limited array of amps, and that wants to lighten the load by copying each of them, to tour etc.

Having said that, in one paragraph, how the HELL does one learn to play like you?? Just listening to your playing makes me feel like a better guitarist ... Until I pick the bloody thing up.

Thanks for all you're doing for fractal. I'm digging it.
Pauly

camilovelandiamusic said:
Here we go!! You be the judge ;)



Ill hold my side notes til tomorrow!
Click to expand...
 
pauly said:
Personally, I think the two boxes are now way different and can't really be compared. Firstly, the Kemper doesn't really model an amp, it copies it's response with certain settings, while the axe fx models each component in an amp. This means that changing (say) the treble control on the axe fx emulates changing it on the amp. The Kemper, just changes the treble, likely not in a similar fashion to the amp it's emulating.
Also, as the Kemper is older tech than the axe fx iii, it's just not a fair comparison. I agree that the Kemper would be a good solution for the artist that has a limited array of amps, and that wants to lighten the load by copying each of them, to tour etc.

Having said that, in one paragraph, how the HELL does one learn to play like you?? Just listening to your playing makes me feel like a better guitarist ... Until I pick the bloody thing up.

Thanks for all you're doing for fractal. I'm digging it.
Pauly
Click to expand...
Yes, Mr. Velandia happily appears to be what we aging hipsters used to call a cat with amazing chops..a real Motherfu**er.
 
Need someone to use the amp match template and see how that works, i dont have any real amps at the moment, besides my lab L5.
 
....there is a collection of all of the FAS amp models profiled for Kemper floating around......:confused:
 
I'm a Fractal user through and through but I thought the Kemper sounded great too. Michael Britt programmed those presets and they sound like they'd sit really well in a live mix or recording quite well
 
I had a KPA for a while and with the right profile it sounded really good, effects were a bit lacking though...

Thing with comparisons though is the kpa is essentially a dialed in setting, while the Axe defaults are just that, defaults. You can tweak the Axe model to sound every bit as good as the kpa model, but it can take a little work.

The big difference is the kpa is basically an emulation of the hardware amp at given settings, where the axe is a model of the amp circuit so you have more control over the tone stack etc and it responds in a realistic way. One the kpa you don’t really have the same ability to go from clean to mean as you’d instead want to use a profile with the amp settings changed. Just different ways of doing things basically

I will also say the good profiles were excellent, but 95% were poor. I’d fill up a thumb drive with like 2000 profiles and picking out good ones was tricky. They had a killer jcm800 though .. forget the name.

At the end of the day though the axe effects were just so much better and so much more flexible with routing. The kpa effects were okay, but not great. It would require lots of external hardware to give you what the axe can do in the box, and for me that was the the tipping point, one unit vs a kpa and a bunch of strymon or h9’s etc and the pita of midi program changes etc, vs the axe and all the power of scenes, etc.

Again, kpa is a great sounding unit, but overall a little tougher to use as an only piece of hardware. Also a bit pricey as they are still what, $1899 while you can get an Ax8 for $1100 new, and that has foot control etc, and still more effects etc

I did enjoy running my kpa in the loop of my II but no way I could justify that type of rig long term. Essentially you pay your money and make your choice, with either unit delivering great tones
 
Thanks guys! The best profiles I found on the Kemper were done by Michael Britt. The amp tweaking in the Kemper is very limited, so I had to impair the Fractal for it to be fair. Michael Britt profiled his high gain amps (marshalls and friedman in this demo) with a 2x12 with CL80 and a Gold. I matched that cab on the Fractal for it to be a fair game. However, in my opinion, the best sounding high gain sound doesn't come with a 2x12, so it's an impairment on the real sound of the high gain on the Axe III, but I had to do it so that it would be "fair". Also, for some reason, the Vox AC30 is profiles with a 1x12. I did that as well on the AC30 on the Fractal.

My conclusion is that those are the best sounding Kemper profiles for those amps, but on the Fractal, the amps can be tweaked so much more. I prefer the Axe III very much. I like how the Kemper sounds, and feels. Better than Helix and all those others.... but still the Fractal takes the cake, in my opinion, in every aspect.
 
I think it’s “best” to set each unit to sound subjectively “best”, fair or not, because that’s life lol

Take the best sound each unit can produce, again subjectively speaking, and pick the one you like better

For example, I’d certainly change cabs on the Axe to what I liked better, because that is how I’d actually use it. I get the thinking behind trying to equalize things, but that always ends up limiting one or the other.

If your comparing a 4 and 8 cylinder car you wouldn’t disable 4 of them on the v8 just to make it more fair or equal. One car has more power and it’s going to show up in certain test measures. Maybe it’s heavier though and the power doesn’t actually give it an edge, but it’s most realistic, if you know what I mean
 
If one is better than the other, indeed hard to judge (maybe you are more skilled with one unit than the other or access to better IR´s) but fact , for my ears , the axe fx3 has my preference. (the JTM45 has the biggest difference)
 
pauly said:
Personally, I think the two boxes are now way different and can't really be compared. Firstly, the Kemper doesn't really model an amp, it copies it's response with certain settings, while the axe fx models each component in an amp. This means that changing (say) the treble control on the axe fx emulates changing it on the amp. The Kemper, just changes the treble, likely not in a similar fashion to the amp it's emulating.
Also, as the Kemper is older tech than the axe fx iii, it's just not a fair comparison. I agree that the Kemper would be a good solution for the artist that has a limited array of amps, and that wants to lighten the load by copying each of them, to tour etc.

Having said that, in one paragraph, how the HELL does one learn to play like you?? Just listening to your playing makes me feel like a better guitarist ... Until I pick the bloody thing up.

Thanks for all you're doing for fractal. I'm digging it.
Pauly
Click to expand...
+III IMO
 
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