Currently, in my possession I have an AX8 and a Kemper (audio included)

D20

Power User
(Sorry if this is too long)

First, off I not here to bash Kemper, but i just thought i would state my observations since i have both at the moment. My buddy let me borrow his Kemper so i could test it out. I'll admit i have always been curious, but never pulled the trigger. Since they released the Stage I was thinking of getting one and having both the AX8 and a Stage. I have been spending about 3-4 hrs a day A/B'ing both units. I like a lot of hi gain stuff, so that was where my main focus was, but i dabbled in the cleans as i also play a lot of praise and worship music at my church. For the Kemper I scoured the internet (mainly their forum/some youtube videos) for the best free Hi gain profiles i could find. I also spent a lot of time on Rig Exchange there to find the best i could as well.

Here are my observations:

For switching with profiles/presets with no gaps I have to give it to the Kemper. I know scene controllers can be used with the AX8 to aid with this, but right out of the box I was impressed how this switches between profiles/presets.

As far as the effects go I can honestly say the AX8 clearly has better sounding effects. I also like the way AX8 names the effects. It was easier for me to pick on based on the naming scheme.

Ok hi gain stuff...AX8 is clearly the winner here as well (tracks attached). To my ears...and maybe I just didn't spend enough time eq'ing...the Kemper has a weird stiffness to the tone i can't dial out. Also, 90% of the profiles i used have a very present buzzy/fizzy quality to them. To my ears there is also this low end or low mid issue with the profiles as well that most profiles seemed to have. Again, i spend a lot of my playing in this territory, so I tried to really spend a lot of time going back and forth between the AX8 and the Kemper. I also didn't dive into using IRs with the Kemper, so I'm not quite sure how it reacts with those.

Cleans=Both units do cleans well to my ears, but I honestly liked the AX8 better in this department as well.

Another observation i have is that i enjoy the AX8's ability to have full control over the amp. To me if you profile an amp with everything noon (gain, bass, mid, treble) and then adjust it later on the Kemper...I would guess that is not a true representation of how it would sound. I would think you would have to profile it again after making the change on the actual amp. On the AX8 i can just turn the knobs until i like what i hear.

I also enjoy when i turn my AX8 on...in 3 seconds i can start playing where as the Kemper takes like 2 minutes to boot up.

All this to say I'm thankful (on Thanksgiving Day) that i was able to do this observation with both units!!! I'm also very thankful that i have an AX8 that i use in the studio and live! I'm also thankful that i can now save my money and maybe one day upgrade to an Axe 3 if i so choose, but for now the AX8 is my go to!!!

Below are 5 tracks I recorded with either the Kemper or the AX8. Can you guess which is which!!??

Shot:

Redo:

Chug:

Super:

Tank:
 

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Redo, chug, and super are the Kemper. I can hear what they mean about the Kemper only having a handful of base gain structures, of which it picks the closest and tone matches from there. The gain structure you're using is so similar in all the clips, it clearly picks the same gain structure with only minor EQ match adjustment to each.

With shot and tank, not only is the fidelity in an altogether different decade, you can actually hear the nuances of each amp models distortion characteristic as distinct from each other, along with each amps separate output EQ and dynamic feel from their individually modeled power sections. Listening on a phone speaker...
 
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Awesome!!! Thanks for playing guys!!!! I'm gonna let it sit a little while longer to see if anyone else wants to have a guess before revealing the answers. :)

Some heavy duty tones no matter what. What amp you using in the AX8?


I'll tell you in the AX8 I used the Thordendal Modern i think is what its called. LOVE that model!!!!
 
I guess no one else wants to guess haha.

Results are in.

Shot - Kemper
Redo - AX8
Chug - Kemper
Super - AX8
Tank - AX8


Thanks to everyone who guessed! :)
 
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