Anyone switched from Kemper to Axe-Fx III?

I have a Kemper (girl on the side šŸ¤£ )just for kicks, and I agree 100% with Matthew Shoquist's posts. If I took the time, I'd end up saying nearly the same things.

I'll add that the Kemper is a nice unit, and gets the job done for a lot of people. It has a distinctly different approach that some outstanding guitarists (like the co-guitarist in my former band) actually prefer. Still...while I sometimes visit the Kemper for a little extracurricular fun, I'm married to the Fractal units.
 
Hey SloeGin

I came from the Kemper after 3 or 4 years and I mostly play Marshalls for rock/hard rock kind of music.

The Kemper was my main recording and gigging amp. I trialed a host of profiles and mainly stuck with DeadLight and ChopTones profiles for gigging and recording (always Marshalls).

The Kemper sounds great, it's a very good product but, and this may mirror other people's comments, I grew tired of a few things:

First was fighting Rig Manager (which rarely worked) to manage my profiles. The program is truelly dreadful and feels like it was developed for Windows 95. Every "progression" made it less stable to the point it would corrupt the profiles stores on the Kemper. Performance mode, where if you gig or write will be where you spend 90% of your time, crashes consistently and is known to not work.

The Axe Editor on the other hand is so smooth and modern looking. It's easy to use too, and the sheer amount of options is amazing. It's as complex as you want it to be too. It has not crashed once since using it, and I use the Axe as my soundcard too.

I moved away from modelling back to tube amps, when I went back to modelling it was the constant profile corruption and Rig Manager that stopped me going back to the Kemper.

Secondly, whilst it sounded great, you do a LOT of scrolling through profiles and your investment does not stop at the unit, you can easily spend hundreds on profiles as I did.

The third reason was I always found myself between gain stages. I love amp sounds and don't like much beyond an overdrive pushing the front of the amp. With the profiles you can't remove the pedal from the profile so you are stuck with that sound.

The Axe was like my old modellers in that I set the amp up for a crunch sound, then I can change gain and compensate with the EQ and save patches 1-8 at various gain stages. Much better for me and easier finding a sound that fits.

It's not all sweetness for the Axe. The Kemper is more logically laid out on the device and extremely easy to comprehend. It's so easy on the fly to add, remove or alter any parameter. The Axe is not even close to that level of user friendliness and is heavily reliant on the Axe Edit program. As I use it only in my home studio, it's not an issue for me but I would never use the Axe FX live unless I was very comfortable with the front end interface.

Disclaimer: I have not really had a need to learn the front end.

When it comes to recorded sounds I will say this:

In the few months that led me to the Axe, I was working on a track I wrote with the Kemper and I grew bored of the Mid Hump and the boomyness of the profiles; they take a LOT of Eq to get right and it's a battle.

As I only ever used the JCM800, JCM800ZW and the AFD100 profiles when recording, I decided to buy a JCM800, a JVM410H, a Silver Jubilee and a Two Notes Reload with Wall of Sound for IRs. When I switched to tube amps I recorded that track again with the JCM800 and my Silver Jubilee and much preferred the sounds of the Two Notes with a real amp over the Kemper; and only a Low cut was ever required for mixing. The recordings where more dynamic and much better quality than the Kemper to a degree that I sold the Kemper a few days later.

The problem I had with the new set up was the sheer amount of cabling, the need to house the amps, and worse was needing loads of effects just for small sections. Like you I don't use effects often so it was frustrating to buy an MXR Phaser for a short passage on a song.

So instead of going back to the Kemper I decided to give the Axe a try. I recorded the song again with the Axe using the JCM800 and another amp (name escapes me). All I can say is it blew away every other method of recording I have used. It sits in the mix, right next to high end samples such as Superior Drummer, without sounding remotely inferior. The song I wrote (which I need to finish) just sounded huge, I mean really huge.

I also found I like using the Axe FX Effects, I thought I just didn't like effects in general but I think I just didn't like the Kemper effects. The Axe quality if just far superior.

The Axe costs a LOT in the UK and is quite an investment. If you compare that to the amps and effects I needed to record though plus the equipment to deal with routing, it was in fact an absolute bargain. After 6 weeks I purchased the FC6 and the Expression pedal so I am all in Axe now and only own the Silver Jubilee just in case.

In regard to the cost, I did at one point get the amps back out and I packed the Axe back up as I just couldn't justify the cost. I went back to the song I wrote and again recorded with the physical amps. I was ready to return the Axe, that was until I went back and listened to the song recorded with the Axe, the Axe immediately went back into the rack and I sold the amps a few days later along with everything else.

Everyone's mileage and perception of sound is so different that it's all just opinion. It suits my purpose very well.

Any questions let me know.

Mike
 
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ShatteredVitreous said:
The Axe is not even close to that level of user friendliness and is heavily reliant on the Axe Edit program. As I use it only in my home studio, it's not an issue for me but I would never use the Axe FX live unless I was very comfortable with the front end interface.

Disclaimer: I have not really had a need to learn the front end.
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The best thing I did was take the time to familiarize myself with the front panel. It was daunting at first as I solely relied on axe edit. Now I don't even have it installed on my PC. There is a learning curve to the workflow but it becomes second nature after your stumble. The biggest things for me to get over was I kept trying to push the wheel in to edit a block or press enter to edit a block. I had to really train my brain to press the edit key...so obvious but opposite of what my thick skull wanted to do.
 
Greg Ferguson said:
I'd like to know how this would stand up with an FX3 running Cygnus; Cygnus is a wholly different beast.
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Hi Greg,

I'm the OP of the comment you replied to. I've been loving Cygnus, and my thoughts have not changed toward the Kemper since writing my post. The gap has simply gotten bigger with how good Cygnus is. Truly feel blessed and fortunate to have such a great piece of gear that the Axe FX III is!
 
yoitsmegabe said:
The best thing I did was take the time to familiarize myself with the front panel. It was daunting at first as I solely relied on axe edit. Now I don't even have it installed on my PC. There is a learning curve to the workflow but it becomes second nature after your stumble. The biggest things for me to get over was I kept trying to push the wheel in to edit a block or press enter to edit a block. I had to really train my brain to press the edit key...so obvious but opposite of what my thick skull wanted to do.
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I would second these sentiments. Editing from the front panel is absolutely doable and is my primary way to edit and build patches. I donā€™t want to be tied to a computer so I have learned how to operate the Axe-FX as a stand-alone unit. Iā€™ve gotten to the point where Iā€™m better aquatinted with the locations of parameters on the hardware than I am in Axe Edit.
 
yoitsmegabe said:
The best thing I did was take the time to familiarize myself with the front panel. It was daunting at first as I solely relied on axe edit. Now I don't even have it installed on my PC. There is a learning curve to the workflow but it becomes second nature after your stumble. The biggest things for me to get over was I kept trying to push the wheel in to edit a block or press enter to edit a block. I had to really train my brain to press the edit key...so obvious but opposite of what my thick skull wanted to do.
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The wheel confused the life out of me, using it to highlight something yet not have it select the item when you press is very odd.

I do need to take the time with the front end interface but Axe Edit is so bloody good.
 
Ive still got a kemper and my axe3. I would say kemper is excellent for clean, edge of breakup right through to dumble and wreck tones.

However, for high gain tones and plexis the axe3 nails it. I mainly use high gain hot rod type tones like the CCV & BE and I prefer these models over the kemper equivalent packs. The axe3 vintage plexis are as close to tone perfection as possible for me, put a modded 808 drive in front and im in noodle heaven.

I dont like stuff like Rectos (too much fizz for me,) but I think the kemper rectos and JP2C packs are pretty good as far as high gain goes on that platform.
 
OrganicZed said:
I would second these sentiments. Editing from the front panel is absolutely doable and is my primary way to edit and build patches. I donā€™t want to be tied to a computer so I have learned how to operate the Axe-FX as a stand-alone unit. Iā€™ve gotten to the point where Iā€™m better aquatinted with the locations of parameters on the hardware than I am in Axe Edit.
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This. Workflow preferences vary, but the one thing I'm pretty sure of is that I don't want to have to have a computer at gigs or jams, so I right from day 1 I did most editing from the front panel, so I'd be comfortable with that.

I still find using a mouse with a pick in my hand awkward. There are some things that are much easier or more visible in Axe-Edit, but the front panel is pretty gosh darn usable IMO.
 
I have the Kemper & the Axe III, i like them both, the Kemper for ease of use, i deleted all the pre loaded profiles & just loaded my own,
The Axe is great but more work. i do wish the Axe had more of the amp boutique selections as the kemper,(fortin, mezzabarba, wizard, ksr, driftwood, )
i love those amps in the kemper,
 
kaliman33 said:
I have the Kemper & the Axe III, i like them both, the Kemper for ease of use, i deleted all the pre loaded profiles & just loaded my own,
The Axe is great but more work. i do wish the Axe had more of the amp boutique selections as the kemper,(fortin, mezzabarba, wizard, ksr, driftwood, )
i love those amps in the kemper,
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If those amps are your speed, may I suggest if you havenot yet, try FAS SkullCrusher amp which will easily reproduce all these varieties , albeit w a bit of tweaking..the III version is riidonculous
 
And ,to be honest, I am sorta looking forward to saying Hi to my Kemper , since I just got back to my Chicago crib after 15 months of Floridian quarantine, FWIW, and my lunchbox (and my MK 1 III) have been updateless,.,, I know the supremeness of Cygnus already, but Iam really curious if Kemper actually entered the 2020s with a proper editorā€¦.>?>?>ā€¦
 
I switched to Fm3 from the Kemper a few months ago. I've also written a review at "fm3 reviews" section. I was using Kemper for many years and countless recordings.

I am still amazed by the Fm3 and how much better it is compared to the Kemper tonewise. But except that, basically at everything. Workflow, ease of use, editor, and all the "minor" details.

The only thing I would give to the Kemper is that it's easier to dial the tones from the hardware without a computer.
 
I switched from the Kemper to the Axe FX 3, about 8 weeks ago now. I had 2 refrigerator sized racks for my recording and live rig (the second was the backup rig). I profiled my rack preamps & power amps into the kemper with the exact signal chain I have recorded with for 20+ years, and the kemper never really got it just right. It ended up sounding off in the midrange and the low end was was way too much.

I kept the kemper for 7 years and used it for just certain small parts on recordings in my studio and never much else. I just kept using my rig and am always concerned when I turned on my 2290s (it is getting harder and harder to repair) as well as some of my other gear from the 80s.

I got the Axe FX 3 as I mentioned about 8 weeks ago and I was able to get all my rack tones setup and not just in the ballpark, but so close that it really is tough to tell it was the Axe or my rack in older recordings (I just added a track in pro tools and recorded another rhythm guitar track and I muted one then the other). I could not do that with the kemper, because it stood out and you could tell the midrange just stuck out and the compression was always there in the kemper.

Don't get me wrong the Kemper was good, and sounds good, but just did not do what I needed it to do and it did not perform as advertised and bragged about.

James
 
My name is mud said:
Both are horrible sounding in headphone, donā€™t know how people do . Forget headphones.
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I have an Axe III and Kemper. Both sound amazing with my headphones (Focusrite, came in an interface bundle). I used to hate using headphones, but in the past few months I've had to adapt and TBH I often prefer the sound with headphones over my Adam A7X monitors. I'm quite introverted and don't particularly like others hearing me play, so I think there's likely a psychological aspect there too.

I love both the KPA and Axe. KPA sounds slightly better through headphones IMO.

Amp tones can be dialled in to sound stunning on both, but the feel is a bit better on the Axe.. The Axe has better effects, but I fell in love with the Kemper 'Ionosphere' reverb. To me, it's the best shimmer reverb I've ever heard. The reverbs and delays on the Kemper are outstanding IMO, their pitch-shifted delays and reverbs are the best on any device. Not sure what magic Christoph worked, but getting reverbs and delays that good on a 10 y/o device is seriously impressive. The Axe has better 'conventional' reverbs, and having the ability to use parallel paths is a godsend. The new drives and fuzz are good in the KPA, but I wish there were specific models like in the Axe. The drives on the Axe are much better, IMO. As good as the real pedals, definitely. Better really, as they can really be tweaked. I think Cliff said he would love to bring out a FAS drive pedal to put all these boutique builders out of business. I think he definitely could.

Cygnus sounds spectacular, and I think the Axe III currently has the best amp sounds out of everything currently available. Absolutely amazing amp tones. I also think the Axe III takes pedals really well, better than the KPA. I definitely use the Axe III more than the KPA, but they're both amazing tools.
 
kplooksafterme said:
I have an Axe III and Kemper. Both sound amazing with my headphones (Focusrite, came in an interface bundle). I used to hate using headphones, but in the past few months I've had to adapt and TBH I often prefer the sound with headphones over my Adam A7X monitors. I'm quite introverted and don't particularly like others hearing me play, so I think there's likely a psychological aspect there too.

I love both the KPA and Axe. KPA sounds slightly better through headphones IMO.

Amp tones can be dialled in to sound stunning on both, but the feel is a bit better on the Axe.. The Axe has better effects, but I fell in love with the Kemper 'Ionosphere' reverb. To me, it's the best shimmer reverb I've ever heard. The reverbs and delays on the Kemper are outstanding IMO, their pitch-shifted delays and reverbs are the best on any device. Not sure what magic Christoph worked, but getting reverbs and delays that good on a 10 y/o device is seriously impressive. The Axe has better 'conventional' reverbs, and having the ability to use parallel paths is a godsend. The new drives and fuzz are good in the KPA, but I wish there were specific models like in the Axe. The drives on the Axe are much better, IMO. As good as the real pedals, definitely. Better really, as they can really be tweaked. I think Cliff said he would love to bring out a FAS drive pedal to put all these boutique builders out of business. I think he definitely could.

Cygnus sounds spectacular, and I think the Axe III currently has the best amp sounds out of everything currently available. Absolutely amazing amp tones. I also think the Axe III takes pedals really well, better than the KPA. I definitely use the Axe III more than the KPA, but they're both amazing tools.
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headphones sounding better than your a7x's thats something we dont hear often, which ones do you use with axe?
 
jin1995x said:
headphones sounding better than your a7x's thats something we dont hear often, which ones do you use with axe?
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I use some that we're bundled with my Focusrite interface a few years back. Scarlett HP60 MkII. I have some Audio Technica ATH50X cans and the Focusrite ones sound better IMO. The sound through monitors is spectacular, don't get me wrong, but at the moment I prefer the headphones. As I said, it's probably a psychological thing too as I don't like playing massively loud.
 
kplooksafterme said:
I use some that we're bundled with my Focusrite interface a few years back. Scarlett HP60 MkII. I have some Audio Technica ATH50X cans and the Focusrite ones sound better IMO. The sound through monitors is spectacular, don't get me wrong, but at the moment I prefer the headphones. As I said, it's probably a psychological thing too as I don't like playing massively loud.
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I can relate to this. I tend to play in the evenings and my neighbors are really annoying. Everything just sounds better when it's loud, so it's either playing quietly through my Yamaha HS8s, or loudly through my Beyerdynamic headphones.
 
I currently own a Kemper and am looking to make the switch to the Axe FX III (this will be my first Fractal product btw). I will say, though, that the Kemper has given me some of the best tube-like amp tones I've gotten from a digital guitar product thus far. Been a big user of ToneJunkie's profile packs. His Steel String Singer and Traynor packs have been some of my favorites, and I'll definitely miss using them. Also, the reverb algorithms in the profiler are absolutely beautiful, especially the Ionosphere verb. Probably my biggest hang-up making me hesitate about switching (if anybody can help me get close to the Kemper's reverb presets, that would be greatly appreciated).

That said, if I'm going to own a top-of-the-line modeler, I'd really like to be getting more flexibility and power out of it. Only one amp and 4 effects pre-amp/4 effects post just isn't cutting it for me. Even my Vetta amp from 2001 could run 2 models at once... Also, I feel less comfortable trying to tweak the amps and drives in the Kemper away from their base settings. To me, doing so just feels more like an extrapolation than it does an accurate representation of how the amp would respond, especially with controls like "tube shape" in the amp section and ā€œslim downā€ in the drive. I know there are plenty of resources out there, but after even reviewing them these controls just feel more abstract to me and less like anything with a real-world analogue. These just leave me feeling less confident in my tone, if that makes any sense. Plus, Iā€™d like to have all my amp tones all in one box from the start, instead of just continuing to shell out for more profiles (although credit to TJ for continuing to release free packs and run big sales).

All this to say, the Kemper is still a quality unit and Iā€™ll grab another one down the line, but for what I need, AF3 just fills that need a lot better. Iā€™m looking forward to receiving my Axe FX III and joining the Fractal family!
 
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