Former Kemper user, just bought axefx II

Love the kemper but the effects are horrible. So , I just bought an Axefx II. Primarily interested in clean fender tones but I also use dumbly and holdsworthian overdrives.

I haven't gotten my axefx yet but I have a few questions.

1) Will the built-in speaker impulses be good enough to get great cleans? What I use on the kemper is a '64 vibroverb set for no overdrive. It's profiled with a jensen 15 I believe which is a bit nasally for my tastes but it works for the most part. A 15" JBL might be a better bet...Looking forward to better digital time based effects that the kemper gives you, including 60s spring reverb.

Here's an example of what I get out of the kemper. Looking for something similar to start with.



2) What are some good patches to start with for clean, semi-clean dumble and violiny dumble-style leads?
3) What's the smallest rack that I can get for it? I don't need space for other gear.

thanks in advance!

I too was a Kemper owner and loved it but it lacked bigtime on the effects side. Due to the fact that I use mine live, I needed more robust effects for one patch instead of making 15 different patches with the same tone. For studio use the Kemper would be amazing, but live it definitely lacks on the effects options.
 
jzucker said:
Love the kemper but the effects are horrible. So , I just bought an Axefx II.
That's my opinion too - had the Kemper Rack and Axe FX2 in my rack together - lovely tones from the Kemper but had to use floor pedal effects to get what I needed whereas the Axe I can use without any extras! Guess which unit I kept .................
 
Wow I didn't know it lacked as much as you guys are saying. I've never been able to try one. The Axe sure is awesome thats for sure.
 
Don't get me wrong the Kemper is killer! As far as tone matching it dominates and only takes about 1 minute to get dead on but, the effects just aren't as robust. You get 1 delay, 1 reverb, 1 drive, 1 modulation in one patch. With the Fractal I can put 3 delays to choose from (long, short, ping pong) Compressor, overdrive and several modulating effects such as (phaser, chorus, tremolo) all in one patch
 
Don't get me wrong the Kemper is killer! As far as tone matching it dominates and only takes about 1 minute to get dead on but, the effects just aren't as robust. You get 1 delay, 1 reverb, 1 drive, 1 modulation in one patch. With the Fractal I can put 3 delays to choose from (long, short, ping pong) Compressor, overdrive and several modulating effects such as (phaser, chorus, tremolo) all in one patch
The newest release of firmware (available soon) has beefed up the Kempers effects capabilities. But sadly mine sits collecting dust next to my Axe FX 2 XL. I also love what it can do, but for some reason gravitate more to the Ax FX.
 
nice you have both to honestly compare. I'd love to try one out someday. It's hard to imagine how the amps could sound better given our latest FW's but some people sure think the kemper's amp sounds better. I think a lot of time's people opinions between the two are biased because you get the guy who tried an axe fx on fw7 and didn't hear what he wanted to and refuses to think it's gotten that much better with Quantum etc. Same goes for Kemper I'm sure. The FW's can be crucial to someones opinion of them.
 
I own both and I feel like there are pros and cons. To me the axe feels very real and has a very smooth balanced pleasing studio sound. The kemper sounds more like a raw sound. I don't see how you can lose with either one. I feel it's more of a personal sound preference. Granted I have only played the axe for a few hours. I can say the overall amps and effects have inspired me. So we will see where it goes from here...
 
The newest release of firmware (available soon) has beefed up the Kempers effects capabilities. But sadly mine sits collecting dust next to my Axe FX 2 XL. I also love what it can do, but for some reason gravitate more to the Ax FX.

Actually, the newest firmware release of kemper will include the morphing (useless feature for my use) but not the better delays. Supposedly, they'll be in a subsequent release with reverbs available sometime in 2016. The issue with kemper is that the CPU is maxed out so it's not just a matter of getting a better reverb algorithm. They have to make sure their effects don't overwhelm CPU utilization.
 
Actually, the newest firmware release of kemper will include the morphing (useless feature for my use) but not the better delays. Supposedly, they'll be in a subsequent release with reverbs available sometime in 2016. The issue with kemper is that the CPU is maxed out so it's not just a matter of getting a better reverb algorithm. They have to make sure their effects don't overwhelm CPU utilization.

The morphing feature is something that's been built into the Fractal products since the original Standard. Boss and Line 6 boards have had some form of those capabilities for years as well. I think the way that the Kemper implemented the configuration is really nice but the capability is not new at all.
 
I'm a happy AFX II XL+ owner, though I've been looking into the Kemper just to expand my sonic palette. I think the idea behind profiling is cool. Maybe it yields really authentic tones, but the thing I'm having trouble getting past is the lack of modularity. So, let's say I bought one. Owners have the presets it comes with, commercial profiles, and those on the rig exchange. If you don't own any amps to profile, I'm guessing those are your only options? There's no way to combine different amps and cabs. Obviously you can tweak profiles you have access to, but the sonic conformity to the original amp gets lost fairly quickly with the twist of a few knobs I would imagine. Even if the Kemper sounded phenomenally good, the snapshot model seems too limiting and lacks modularity, in my opinion. I don't own a Kemper, but I think I understand the concept fairly well. To each their own, though.
 
Well I must be the only one who, went both ways, I bought a kemper but was annoyed by the lack of effects and the missing footcontroller (at that time) then i returned it and bought AXE fx 2, couldnt get that to sound right and nor could i get it to work with my FC300 the way I wanted. So I returned it and went back to my vg-99 for about 6 month. and then bought the axe again with mfc101 and 2 mission expression. It sounds fantastic my guitar have never sounded better, consistently. my next move is getting N3 for my strat with s-1 switching. and after that my only wish will be a better footcontroller i would like my switches for stomp on/off to been able to change function from patch to patch...sorry for the poor English
 
Not sure why that elicits a chuckle. Is it not possible to understand the concept behind a product prior to purchasing it?

Your entire post reads as sour grapes based on incomplete knowledge of the product. If you're happy with your XL+, fine. But to me it sounds like you're trying to convince yourself that everything else sucks.
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Austin
 
Your entire post reads as sour grapes based on incomplete knowledge of the product. If you're happy with your XL+, fine. But to me it sounds like you're trying to convince yourself that everything else sucks.

You're reading more into my post than what's there. I made it fairly clear that I've been considering purchasing the Kemper. Based on everything I've read and understand, I have a few hangups. If you think my understanding is inaccurate then feel free to correct it, but accusing me of some sort of confirmation bias for simply expressing an opinion based on my understanding of the product is off-base. I'm certainly open to alternate opinions, though. I really have no idea how you came to the conclusion that I'm attempting to prove to myself that everything else sucks based on anything I wrote. If that were the case, I wouldn't have ever seriously considered shelling out money for the Kemper.
 
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The other downside to the Kemper vs. the Fractal I found was you are solely dependant on other people's amp captures. Which includes their preamp, mics, mic placement, mic choice, speaker cab, speakers and amp settings. Yes you can tweak some, and there are plenty of good tones out there but nothing is really true to post tweaking of the real amp. Fractal is way more precise and legit to the actual amp settings. It's really all personal preference though. Both exceptional products but I favor the Fractal.
 
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