Why would anyone buy a Kemper over the Axe-FX II?

Manning said:
In accordance with the laws of Internet Forums, I am of course, now obligated to shout "Death to the Heretic"!

:D
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lynchmob.gif
 
I have a buddy the had an AXE FX II and sold it to buy the Kemper. I have no idea why. I think they are ugly little machines.
 
Had it, sold it.
amp models sounded fine. Start up time drove me nuts. Fx routing didnt work for my needs. Really didn't like the forum factor. Effect type were a bit sparce. I preferred the axefx models in general. There were some cool kemper models tough.
 
I was curious about the KPA, so I did what I always do when something new comes out, based on web clips it sounded pretty decent, so I bought it and owned it for 6 months, it didn't work out for me, it didn't have some effects I needed(Pitch etc) kept hoping the new version of Firmware would get rid of some audio problems, which according to KPA weren't problems which made me think they probably will never fix it, besides for my needs the AXE II was much better, so I gave up and sold it (@ a $500.00 loss!!,) I'm sure i could have gotten a little more $, but I just wanted to get rid of it while everything worked, LED's etc, it just set in my studio unused for the most part, never even took it to a gig, except a few times for sound check to hear it thru the PA. It was very easy to use, and did have a few things I liked, but for me the AXE II is a complete system that I can get everything I need, and it sounds great! I had over 2600 profiles on the KPA at one time, and honestly I didn't really enjoy playing it, I'm not sure why, they kind of sounded a bit flat, even dough they sounded like the amps profiled, the sounds didn't seem alive.. hard to explain, just not very enjoyable to play for me. Perhaps one day if they fix the audio issues, and make a rack version I'll try one again..
 
I'm curious why the Kemper is being embraced by Nashville players. In the past few months I'm seeing more pro players using the Kemper live. It seems the consensus of the guys here who have actually owned of played the Kemper is that the Axe-FX is better in most areas. Anyone have any insight to this?
 
I think it's pretty obvious which camp I fall into, but I wouldn't thumb my nose at a Kemper... it'd be cool to run in the Axe's loop and have instant Keith Merrow tones.
 
MKeditor said:
I'm curious why the Kemper is being embraced by Nashville players. In the past few months I'm seeing more pro players using the Kemper live. It seems the consensus of the guys here who have actually owned of played the Kemper is that the Axe-FX is better in most areas. Anyone have any insight to this?
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really? Zombie thread, comes to life after two full years. I wouldn't let this KPA vs AxeFx thing bother you. Really. It's OK.
 
UnsungHeroGuitars said:
That can be a very compelling reason
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Absolutely..........not everyone can afford the significant price difference, in fact you could buy two excellently playable, good sounding and affordable guitars with the price difference, like two Washburn Parallaxe PXL10's for example, ...or perhaps a cheap old second hand car..........
 
To flip the question, why did I buy the Axe over the Kemper? Bottom line, even before looking at quality of sound and flexibility of models vs profiles, was the effects. Game over (for me) right there. Another BIG deal was the firmware upgrades and Cliff's philosophy of improving a product once it has been sold. Made it feel like a much better investment. I lurked on this forum for about a year before I bought. So thanks Cliff, all that extra work and time in the forum and bug fixes and listening to the wishes of the users ABSOLUTELY makes sales happen :)

But would I like a Kemper too? For sure. As MG-Chris said, gear is fun!
 
MKeditor said:
I'm curious why the Kemper is being embraced by Nashville players. In the past few months I'm seeing more pro players using the Kemper live. It seems the consensus of the guys here who have actually owned of played the Kemper is that the Axe-FX is better in most areas. Anyone have any insight to this?
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It's all about the right tool for the right player IMO. Everyone wants what they want, and for some it's an Axe FX, for others it's a Kemper, and believe it or not, the majority still prefer tube amps :p
 
Shoot, I was about to respond to this thread when I realized it is 2 years old!

Ah dang, I got sucked in. The power of ancient threads. It's like a moth to a flame. Don't go to the bright light...


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I think that having knobs to tweak basic settings is more intuitive. That could be a factor. The 11 Rack did that well and would love to have that on the black box.
 
A while ago I did some work for a music store and they paid me in store credit. I already had an AxeFX2 so i used the credit on the Kemper Rack. In comparison I found the Kemper's amps to be more 'organic' however it was no where near as flexible, in particular with regards to FX and Routing... I also didn't like that it was 3U. I think they're both great at what they do, i don't understand the whole flame war thing. Why should anyone care what someone else uses?

I ran in to financial trouble a short time ago so i actually had to sell both but when i'm back on my feet i will probably opt for the AxeFX XL.
 
javajunkie said:
Had it, sold it.
amp models sounded fine. Start up time drove me nuts. Fx routing didnt work for my needs. Really didn't like the forum factor. Effect type were a bit sparce. I preferred the axefx models in general. There were some cool kemper models tough.
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Similar feelings

Went over my friend’s house a few months ago and he has a powered Kemper running through a Mesa 4x12 cab, myself I am FRFR with my Axe as you can see in my signature at the bottom. Anyway I was really digging his setup and although routing is a bit limiting it was still way more powerful than some large racks I put together in the past, and sounded great!
The thing of it is, I have a little more faith in Fractal’s virtual circuit as opposed to Kemper’s snap-shot of a particular amp. They both sound great, which is the bottom line. They can both also sound bad if not tweaked properly.

John
 
It's just another tool. If you can only afford one, I would pick the AxeFx every time. I could probably afford the Kemper if I felt I needed one, but I can't see anything it will do that the Axe can't. I'm more inclined to buy a regular Amp head to use occasionally with the Port City OS I run the Axe through.
 
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