Helix - Kemper - Axe Fx II XL+ JCM 800 Comparison

Fiftyshadesofjay

So I have a Kemper, Axe Fx 2 XL+ and Helix here at the moment and thought I'd do a quick comparison of the Marshall JCM 800 tones. Obviously there's an infinite number of different sounds available but this time I very unscientifically dialled in a tone I liked on each unit and hit record. 

I figured this is a good way to do it as this is how the average user would approach it for the first time. 

Keeping it blind at the moment, let me know which one you prefer. Please excuse the playing, was just dicking about and it's bedtime, I'll do some better comparisons over the next few days.

Tenebrous

No idea which is which, and it's not my kinda sound to begin with, but I'd say my order of preference is 3 > 1 >= 2.

gibsongretschfan

I think its Axe, Helix, Kemper in that order.... but I'm usually terrible at these things

Fiftyshadesofjay

gibsongretschfan said:

I think its Axe, Helix, Kemper in that order.... but I'm usually terrible at these things

Which one did you prefer personally?

redrighthand

My preference: 3 (best), 2, 1. 

My guess: 1 - Helix, 2 - AxeFX, 3 - Kemper.

gibsongretschfan

Fiftyshadesofjay said:

gibsongretschfan said:

I think its Axe, Helix, Kemper in that order.... but I'm usually terrible at these things

Which one did you prefer personally?

Actually..... Im callings bullshit. They are all the same amp model but with a different IR

Maynehead

2 sounds terrible... but it’s close between 1 and 3, so close I’d say they’re both good enough, so it’s personal preference. At a push I’d probably say 1 is best.

bluenose

2 sounds the best to my ears, there are unpleasant artifacts going on in both 1 & 3.

octatonic

It isn't really possible to compare them because they all have such different EQ curves.
2 is way brighter, 1 is too dark.
I prefer 3 out of the three sounds but I also know (given I own them all) that those devices can sound quite a bit closer to one another.

John_A

My preference: 3 (best), 2, 1.  but as octatonic says, they're all EQ'd very differently

Fiftyshadesofjay

Thanks for all the comments so far guys, I know it’s hard to compare as they do sound different, this was strictly five minutes of “let’s dial in a quick tone I like”. I’ll definitely do another comparison where I try to match them a little better soon.

Actually, I’ll add the caveat that after a bit of dialling in I only actually like two of the tones, one I really struggled with.

simonk

So which is which?

simonk

I think I preferred the first and thought the second was the AFX.

Roland

2 1 3. That’s based on clarity. 1 and 3 have increasing amounts of artefacts which gum up the sound. I know that some people will prefer 1 and 3 because they are fuller and warmer. You can achieve these by changing EQ and turning up the gain, but you can’t get clarity back.

FarleyUK

So which is which...??

Fiftyshadesofjay

Okay, so 1 is Kemper, it’s from M Britt’s JCM 800 pack. 2 is Helix using a stock dual greenback cab, 57 and R121 and 3 is Axe Fx 2 using a stock RW Greenback cab.

I prefer the Axe Fx in this case, Kemper sounds good but the Axe sounds more like I’d expect an 800 to sound. Struggled with the Helix, JCM model sucks in my opinion, I will try with an IR next time.

Another interesting thing to take away is the Axe seems to have much more depth and power (for want of a better word) when you’re playing through it yourself through monitors or PA. This doesn’t come across in the recordings.

gibsongretschfan

Tbf the 2204 model in Helix has always been much hated although it's had a few tweaks recently. The Mod 2204 is a much better model

guitarfishbay

The Axe FX low end is why I like playing through it, especially for Mesa models.  I haven't tried a Kemper, but the thing I've found that can get a similar vibe is the Neural DSP Fortin Nameless plugin - though there's no hardware equivalent unless you want to run a laptop live...

gibsongretschfan

those Kemper profiles are captured through a Classic Lead 80 and the Axe and Helix are with Greenback cabs? I wouldn't put JCM800 into a cab loaded with Greenbacks in real life as I would imagine it would get very harsh and fizzy in the high end and farty in the bottom

Fiftyshadesofjay

gibsongretschfan said:

those Kemper profiles are captured through a Classic Lead 80 and the Axe and Helix are with Greenback cabs? I wouldn't put JCM800 into a cab loaded with Greenbacks in real life as I would imagine it would get very harsh and fizzy in the high end and farty in the bottom

Each to their own, I think Greenbacks are a classic speaker for JCM 800’s. Seems to work okay on the Axe Fx, I do tend to like a slightly darker fatter tone though.

I ran an original 800 through my old EVH cab a fair few times and it sounded incredible.

guitarfishbay

Greenback 4x12s are awesome with anything Marshall flavoured usually.

The EVH cab is pretty sweet.