Opinions on Kemper, line 6 helix ,axe fx ECT

FarleyUK

Freebird said:

FarleyUK said:

I've used a Helix, an AX8 and a Kemper - and to me, the only one to actually capture the 'feel' and response of a tube amp was the Kemper (by a country mile). They all sounded great, but neither the Fractal nor the Line 6 stuff seems to capture the same response and feel you get from an amp. To me, the Kemper is easily the front-runner out of the three.

I was thinking of trying an AXE FX-III.... but looking at the cost - and the general attitude of the business, plus the lack of foot controllers - made me think twice. From what I hear though, they still don't match the Kemper for playability.

Kemper & FX8 

Nope - the latest Reverb and Delay update has drastically improved the FX on the Kemper.

octatonic

FarleyUK said:

Freebird said:

FarleyUK said:

I've used a Helix, an AX8 and a Kemper - and to me, the only one to actually capture the 'feel' and response of a tube amp was the Kemper (by a country mile). They all sounded great, but neither the Fractal nor the Line 6 stuff seems to capture the same response and feel you get from an amp. To me, the Kemper is easily the front-runner out of the three.

I was thinking of trying an AXE FX-III.... but looking at the cost - and the general attitude of the business, plus the lack of foot controllers - made me think twice. From what I hear though, they still don't match the Kemper for playability.

Kemper & FX8 

Nope - the latest Reverb and Delay update has drastically improved the FX on the Kemper.

Agreed.
Until 5.7 I basically didn't use the effects in the Kemper.
I'd either record dry and use plugins, or go out of the Kemper into the Axe FX II or FX8 for delays and reverb.

Kemper still needs a decent editor though- Axe/FX8 Edit make things so much easier.

Freebird

FarleyUK said:

Freebird said:
 Kemper & FX8 

Nope - the latest Reverb and Delay update has drastically improved the FX on the Kemper.

The effects from both units work well together, so they can be mixed 'n matched using 4CM for creative purposes, and also for the extra processing power. A used FX8 is about the same price as a couple of decent hardware pedals nowadays, so it's worth it to have the Fractal algorithms on tap IMO.

Freebird

octatonic said:
Kemper still needs a decent editor though- Axe/FX8 Edit make things so much easier.

Coming in the summer apparently, and it looks great!

drwiddly

Freebird said:

octatonic said:
Kemper still needs a decent editor though- Axe/FX8 Edit make things so much easier.

Coming in the summer apparently, and it looks great!

There's always the ToastME third party editor, if you can't wait.

sweepy

I find Toast pretty useless tbh, I know it’s technically free but it’s a total pita. Apart from a decent editor, the filing system needs a rewrite and the fx loop should not have to take up an fx block . I really do love the sound of the Kemper but it’s as if they were deliberately obtuse when they were designing the unit 

octatonic

sweepy said:

I find Toast pretty useless tbh, I know it’s technically free but it’s a total pita. Apart from a decent editor, the filing system needs a rewrite and the fx loop should not have to take up an fx block . I really do love the sound of the Kemper but it’s as if they were deliberately obtuse when they were designing the unit 

Agree.

drwiddly

sweepy said:

I find Toast pretty useless tbh, I know it’s technically free but it’s a total pita. Apart from a decent editor, the filing system needs a rewrite and the fx loop should not have to take up an fx block . I really do love the sound of the Kemper but it’s as if they were deliberately obtuse when they were designing the unit 

Can't argue with that.

NelsonP

I have a mesa, with a marshall 4 x 12 as well as an Atomic Amplifire. The Amplifire gets much more use. Mainly because anything over 1 on the Mesa master is too much for home use and the 4 x 12 is a pain to lug around.

The Amplifire sounds and feels great. Maybe not as great as the Mesa but there's not that much in it and the Amplifire is VERY easy to carry around.

Micing the mesa would probably be best in a studio, but since i've not actually been near a studio for about 20 years or so I don't care. 

stratology

Fiftyshadesofjay said:

stratology said:

Fiftyshadesofjay said:

2-5 gigs a week during wedding season for 3 years, not one single crash.

Wow, I wish I was that lucky. Had another crash during rehearsal yesterday...

Are you using a full release firmware or beta? Failing that your Kemper could be faulty? 

Always stable releases, no betas.

That being said: the crash issues when using multiple delays and the looper (via Kemper Remote), and the sound issues with the Input Swell on delays are all issues that occur on stable releases.

Current issues seem to start with the Remote losing contact with the Profiler. There's still sound (as opposed to the previous hard crashes from the looper, where sound suddenly stopped), but both the amp and remote are completely unresponsive.

Most of the issues during the last year were software issues. Snarky responses from Kemper support, instead of providing solutions...

stratology

sweepy said:

Apart from a decent editor, the filing system needs a rewrite and the fx loop should not have to take up an fx block . I really do love the sound of the Kemper but it’s as if they were deliberately obtuse when they were designing the unit 

In terms of sound design and usability - I think the Kemper's design is actually one of its best features. Very clear layout, easy to quickly change parameters on the fly.

But when it comes to the file system and organising sounds, I agree with you. Very messy, and the Rig Manager app does not help. Getting Rig Manger to do reliably what it's supposed to do - instead of adding editor features - would be a huge step forward, IMHO.

My main complaint about the FX loop is not that it takes up an fx slot - by doing that you can use the Kemper Remote to trigger external effect pedals - but that the FX loop is only mono-send, not stereo-send. 

stratology

FarleyUK said:

Nope - the latest Reverb and Delay update has drastically improved the FX on the Kemper.

The Delays were updated a long time ago, and they're great.

Ironically, if you used the Input Swell parameter on any of your Delay sounds, the recent update that has all the new Reverbs will break all your Delay sounds, to a degree that they are unrecognisable.

KrisGee

I've sold my kemper few months back due to very limited time to use it up to its full potential. My band split up, I'm also a busy dad. If it wasn't for that I'd keep it. It's just an amazing tool for a gigging and recording guitarist. If I get into a serious band again plus find some time this will be mine again.
Now having said all that - after selling kemper I got myself a two channel Boogie combo and what can I say, I must've forgotten the charm that tubes have in them. Few minutes play thru the amp and you know it's where the sound is. It just has that something that the profiler is still only trying to recreate 
So once I get the kemper again it will still rule for home practice and recording but it will have a strong contender when gigging.