Thanks so much Ben for doing this video. It's because of your Kemper video back when you were going through Eddie's profiles that I plan on getting one for myself. Please do an A/B between the two comparing Eddie's sounds and profiles. I can't help it...I'm still binging very heavy EVH. RIP Eddie
I have never tried the kemper and though it has a few benefits like the formant filter which sounds cool. I think overall as a more versatile unit I would definitely go for the axe fx iii
Kemper is great at getting the given configuration of an amp, but at soon as you modify this setting using Kemper's buttons, you're adding the modification as Kemper sees it, not as the original amp sees it (the eq and gain levelling of each amp is different and the Kemper can't capture this). The further you go from the original setting the less you gonna sound like a real amp. Kemper is great at taking a picture (a given configuration), not at making a movie (messing with the configuration).
Exactly what I was thinking watching this. Most profiles are made accounting for their specific level of gain. If you wanted a lower gain equivalent you'd just make/get another profile, not turn down a knob.
It still sounds good when you tweak settings. The issue is that it doesn't behave the same as the real amp would. For example something like a Silver Jubilee that has reactive EQ. I prefer this since it reduces tweaking time.
I hear what everyone is saying but honestly just tweak a few settings on your Kemper and you can get any killer tone you want. I've had mine for 4 years and I haven't looked back at analog since. But hey, to each their own...rock on brothers and sisters! Find your tone and create! :) Peace
@@rockstarr9000 Sm 50 OD is my go to I just add a little more gain and I'm good with that. I haven't had any issues with roll off or loss of tone when backing off volume and there's always your low, mid, and high knobs you can adjust to eq that particular profile. Endless possibilities for tone IMO
My biggest issue with the Kemper is its complete lack of dynamic range. Basically it sounds like someone took the original amp, put attenuated everything above 10k and put a hard limiter compression on the audio. Again this works for recordings that were going to be compressed in mastering anyways, but it's just lacking the dynamics that a real amp would have. All in all though, gigging with one in a mix at loud volumes for a cover band that likes to get tone as authentic as possible, this thing works great. But for me, every time I revisit the Kemper in anyway I quickly remind myself of this. I really wish that he would make a Kemper 2 now that processing power has essentially tripled that could do more dynamics. Chris Kemper did this with the Access by releasing a second one, so i'm really confused why the Kemper cant get the same treatment. Even Line 6 has addressed this issue with a recent updated of the Helix, and that was a complete and total game changer for people like me that are sensitive to this.
@@lorenmorgan1931 I play mine through my headset DT 990 Pro and it sounds very dynamic to me BUT I recently saw Rabea's review of it comparing it to other profilers and I could hear what you're talking about. Even with this "issue" I can still tweak mine to tones I really like but I have a few favorite go to presets that I always use because the other preset profiles don't work for me at all. These new profilers also seem much more user friendly and I agree the processing power is only getting better with each passing day. Hopefully Kemper will bring out a new edition to solve your issues but for me I really am totally content with what I get out of my Kemper. Peace brother and I hope you find the tone you're looking for.
@Cire Rednulk exactly. Regardless, why would anyone expect something like this to sound identical to a tube amp. People set themselves up for disappointment and cry it sucks. I see so many bands use these live it’s clear people like them and trust them enough to gig with.
I've had my KPA for a little over 2 years now. It's still to this day the best piece of gear I have ever bought. Absolutely no regrets. No looking back. The only thing I wish I would have done was profile my Egnater Armageddon before I sold it. Once you learn the Kemper it pays for itself 10x over in my opinion.
@@Fossiil-Records Yeah, giving you full control over almost every parameter you can think of, any amp and effect. While at the same time tracking a clean DI signal without the need of a box so that you could reamp later? Don't be a snob man. It's ok to love analog and Tube. I still do! But you're being rather ignorant about it.
@@karterestill You can do all that with a laptop. For the price of that thing you could buy yourself some real gear that won't be obsolete in a year. And just maybe you won't sound like everybody else. its a great way the throw a few grand in the garbage thats for sure.
indeed he misses some insights on what to do or better what not to do. Anyways if fractal is more his thing ...whatever makes you feel good.is the way to go:-). I own both and kemper is by far , for me, the go to.
I’ve had every iteration of the Kemper and currently have the Stage and powered Kabinet. They’re great for live. This pandemic has seen me pick up an HX Stomp and an FM3. I totally get why the Fractal stuff appeals more to people used to certain amps and their controls. My FM3 is my favourite to play through at home and it makes home recording so simple with the inbuilt interface. In the studio, I’ll use whichever solution works, whether it’s plugins, the Stomp, the Kemper, the FM3 or my amps. They all have their strengths and there are great tones in all of them, once you learn their idiosyncrasies. Whichever workflow fits you best. On the whole, I feel that Kemper is analogous to an amp and stomp boxes, whereas the Fractal is more like a Bradshaw rack system. Both in tone and complexity/flexibility.
I find that if you turn down the "Definition" instead of the Gain, it doesn't change the profile characteristics. A lot of profiles have the Definition up to 10. Between 5-7 is the sweet spot.
I know it's not exactly the same, but it kinda reminds me of how the metal zone (even the waza) sounds to my ear after switching to the Revv G3. Going back just exposes how much my ear has changed over the years.
It is funny how when you have a lot of gear, it comes in-and-out of use and our lives in such interesting (or even seemingly innocuous) ways. The feeling that comes back can be one of reverence or indifference, but either way, nostalgia provides a lot. Thanks, Uncy Bang!
For high gain profiles you really can't go wrong with Josh Middleton's (Architects, Sylosis) Heavy Tones Bundle 3. They come pre-EQ'ed and sound amazing. Love the vids btw!
The eq bit is spot on. I like oodles of gain and it took me longer than it should have to start removing highs and lows. I thought I was destined to own every fizzy amp ever made. Now I use a frown curve on pretty much all heavy tones and I'm much happier with all my heads.
I kind had the same experience with gain and treble. Essentially rolled both down to the point where I'm like ok this is definitely not going to be enough of either. Nowhere close. Turns out my intentionally turning them way too far down was probably closer to where I wanted it than where I was before.
There's a free "Rust in peace" sound somewhere in the Rig Manager that sounds really similar to the actual album. :) Would be nice if you could get your hands on a Kemper Cabinet to see what you think about it.
I've been curious about your thoughts on the Kemper these days... still love mine to death. It really is just about finding the right rigs for your personal tastes. I agree, Sinmix is amazing and I've bought all of Gregors stuff... Deadlight/Tonehammer are also the shit. I've owned both the Fractal and Kemper for years and can't choose a clear winner, but being a metal guy I lean towards the Kemper somewhat 😁👍🏻
Not sure if you use these parameters or not, but I love what the "character" and "amp volume" controls can do. Character is killer for making it behave and feel more real, and "amp volume" enables you to simulate the amp being cranked up a bit.
I used to use a Line 6 POD HD Pro and upgraded to the Kemper Rack in last year. Best buy I ever made. I love the studio eq effect. Helps with cutting thru the mix and cleaning up the low and high end.
Ahh the memories of tones past, how much better they sounded in our memory than when we try em again. But just some knob tweeken and soul seekin your happy ears will be Freakn 🤘🏽. Did you try turning it off and back on? Edits to come
You're right on the whole gain knob thing. When ever I would reduce in the eq or gain, it made the profile sound completely different, and usually worse.
@@BenEller Yeah, that's pretty crazy. I always just figured I didn't gel with it, or user error on my end. Definitely reassuring to see someone else had that same problem with it.
That‘s actually the Kemper working as intended. It is much closer to a sampler - for the lack of a better word / concept - than a modeller. You want more gain and more treble? Set your amp up accordingly and profile it that way. I shot 24 profiles in total of my JCM 800 (8 base sound x 2 cabs, direct w/o cab), i.e. one profile per gain level and „bright / neitral / dark“ timbre. EQing or trying to tweak profile is a surefire way to Plastctown.
@@70mcnevin Yeah, that's basically where I was a few years ago. Don't get me wrong, the Kemper sounded fantastic. But the only amp I had to profile at the time was a 6505, so I was mostly left to use others' profiles, and ultimately didn't get the most out of it. All in all, it really showed me just how far digital gear has come, so I'm glad for that experience. But I think I will go with a Fractal FM3(maybe an Ax8) or a Helix this time around.
I've found using my own custom IRs made a huge difference in my tone and in some cases more better. There were even some packaged rigs that I changed out the cab and instantly changed the sound from good to amazing.
Also, I still love my Kemper because it works for me. the software updates have made some major improvements and keeps me excited to experiment with several settings. My primary project right now is a Thrash band, so I mostly use a Sinmix profile based on the Razor SINAMP with a Friedman 2x12 v30 IR.
I think the tone shaping options in the Kemper beats most tube amp. The definition control is very powerful, and you can even adjust your pick attack, power amp sag, tube shape etc. It’s true that the knobs doesn’t work exactly like the profiled amp, but I never felt adjusting them make them sound any less realistic. Out of all the profiles I got, perhaps I like only 10% of them, but I can really tweak those to sound absolutely amazing.
@@70mcnevin Funny this coming from someone that doesn't even have one. I captured some rare amps with mine and it nailed it. The quality of amps is actually outstanding and on par with my FM3;. It has so many pluses compared to any other floor modeler out there. How many amps do you really need 200? How many delay/verbs and amps can Kemper use in 1 preset compared to QC? Im having hell a good time being a beta tester..lol All other floor units will be judged by the QC, like it or not. It is a new product and Im so glad they built this for guitarist. It gets even better from here on out.
I have 10 nice guitars, and the one that I go to is my gretsch black falcon. For some reason those filtertron pups just work perfectly with the kemper tones when recording. My Lp supreme is second for double tracking. And I always use an east river drive but turn the gain down on the profile. Totally happy with kemper for recording.
It’s all in the definition setting! I’ve had the kemper stage awhile now! Beats the crap out of carrying a tube amp and pedal board! My load in and out takes two trips now; not 5!
I can imagine that TriRec and 5153 tons layering well together. Good stuff Ben! An interesting thing about that gain reduction thing is that given how the Kemper captures dynamic range, I think reducing gain on the Kemper itself ends up being way more akin to reducing your guitar volume. Obviously you aren't messing with the gain control during profiling, so the Kemper only knows how to model that behavior by how the amp responds with different voltage levels being fed into it. Rolling back your volume on more saturated high gain amps does tend to produce these sorts of shittier results.
The key is to lower the highs and the low bass range. Like they do on the real world OR what you can eat of an amp in the room when you don’t stick your ear directly to the speaker ;)
You are right, decreasing anything on a Kemper is bad news, slightly adding works better. I found that using an EQ block is best for decreasing, but forget about the gain. I have the Kemper power head and one thing I found out is that the power amp in that head sucks. Put the Kemper through a real tube power section and it comes to life, its all about the power section in both the Kemper and Helix.
@@danc3746 I used it in a band setting last night. Had to compete with a Mesa triple rec. I got to open that sucker up to about 75% with a 2x12 with V30's. Using choptones friedman Jake e Lee di profiles. Pretty chunky
That defeats the purpose of why I got the kemper in the first place. I just want to carry a light head and connect it direct to the PA. Once you add a tube power amp, now you have to add a 4x12 speakers along. But yes, the included power amp for the rack is crap.
When you get around to making it, a comparison of turning down the gain on each unit would be interesting! You've shown us how that works on the Kemper, but is it better/worse/the same on an Axe FX?
I enjoyed mine for a bit, but was constantly tweaking with it. Let it be paid profiles I bought, one's I made, freebies.. it was a lot of tweaking. Bought a Helix and now it's a lot of playing and not a lot tweaking. It was a fun year with mine tho.
Tones are mostly pretty sweet, but I’m surprised you’re not using your Revv mkIII Generator 120 with the built in Two Notes hardware. My G20 with the stock 4x12 preset is perfect for recording.
The JCM 800 pack from Andy (TAF) is my fav since years. Try these profiles also with other cabs. A sound universe and best live tones. Never reduce gain of a profile, better look for another profile with less gain. Years ago Gregorzc from Sinmix told me, never touch the eq for my profiles😁😁😁using the kpa since 2014 I must say that the sounds and the updates are top of the list. Atm I can also recommend to try thu overloud. Also cool recording sounds.
For low gain tones i found when the gain is low to boost it with an overdrive like a precision drive with the drive at 10 oclock. Great crunchy yet clear low gain tones 👍
I always think of it like this; Axe FX is best suited for those who do a wide range of studio work with very specifically tweaked tones, or if you're automating a ton of patch changes for live use. It's made to be able to create any tone you could possibly think of with extreme levels of tweakability. Kemper is best suited for those who have one or two tones that they stick with for live use, but want more consistency and easier transportation than regular tube amps, or if you want a specific tone from a specific amp that you don't want to risk damaging on the road. I mostly consider the Kemper a touring tool, since it can go FOH or power a cab with the powered versions, it's made to consistently reproduce very specific tones from specific amps, which is a huge deal for touring where changes in electricity or even just time can change how a tube amp sounds. Hence why I keep my Axe FX in the studio, and plan to get a Kemper for live use.
I think you should check out Lasse Lammert’s Lee Jackson GP-1000 profile. He’s got the download for it in his video description. Good Alexi Laiho and Marshally shred tone
I have the powered lunchbox. Absolutely love the tones through a Mesa cab. It's a bit different if you're using it in the studio for recording and running direct. Thought I'd add, love it for live shows. Setup in a minute or two. That EVH stealth sounds like a Gary Holt tone. Dug it.
I used to be a digital guy. My issues were I really need analog/tube response and it must play well with gain pedals like a real tube amp. This stuff is critical if you are into doing Jeff Beck/Larry Carlton type stuff. Even the latest greatest digital stuff can't quite do it. BUT the sansamp stuff does it good enough that I don't find myself wanting to plug into a real amp to the point I now only have 1 little tube combo amp. When I had the digital stuff I just couldn't let go of my tube amps because it always hit the sweet spot. The latest stuff isn't always the greatest. The "old stuff" isn't always invalid either. I think its important to get in right head space on this stuff. Just because your favorite artist is using this or that doesn't mean its the best option but often its simply just a matter of someone paying them enough to endorse their product. I am a big advocate of modular rigs - where you don't have to throw out everything and start over with a new do it all expensive piece of gear every few years. The modular rig means you get to know your stuff intimately and you hang onto the stuff you really like and can easily swap out the stuff you aren't totally set on. The sansamp stuff is perfect for this because it basically just acts as your preamp (and sometimes poweramp/speakers if you choose) which means it to can be easily and somewhat painlessly replaced when you want to move onto something "better".
Man, it must have been quite the experience receiving years of updates (rather significant ones too) in one go. Haha, now I wish I hadn’t performed every update as they were released because after one another they were all like… mmkay, sure, maybe a little better than before 😂 The unit sure has come a long way and it was really nice to be reminded of that! Nice video, thanks! // Wince
I have the Kemper rack, a Koch ATR-4502 poweramp and a fantastic 2 x 12 inch cabinet with Creambacks. I think the sound is fantastic. I have several tube amps and great cabinets, but to be honest they are covered in dust here. But it's true what you say Ben, reducing a profile won't do any good. Then you have to start tweaking your profile again.
What your doing is one of my favorite things to do once a year.. Every time I've ever found a tone I really liked ive wrote down and took pictures of all knob settings on amps pedals and guitars and once a year I alway find myself going way back to what I really liked in my late teen years and its awesome to get all time machine with your past self
Key with Kemper is figuring out the Cabinet (IR) and EQ. Also - what is your signal chain into your DAW? Best tone I have seen is a Friedman BE100 through an OxBox
Ben, key point.. recorded signal and heard signal are night/day. Best set up is a kab with ir’s and monitor off. You are best off dialing in a good ear tone thru the kab, and use preamps to hit the front of your daw--you can adjust so much faster than axe.. I can’t emphasizes enough what playing with the CORRECT settings on a powered amp thru the KEMPER KONE/KABINET can do as you roll thru 14 Celestion ir’s
A guitar tone could sound good by itself, but if your not going for djent and want a non djent/modern one than you might want to check it with other instruments like bass. I find that synth bass can mix well with modern-ish djent tones I made. The Kemper is still good I think along with a lot of newer plugins and stuff that sound not so digital to my ears unlike many older plugins I have heard. It's pretty amazing what you can get for the prices now, you just have to know where to look.
Great demo Ben, I have an Axe III and a Kemper and use both regularly. The Axe is more tweakable, but for some reason the Kemper sits better in a mix. It seems to capture all the crap things about an amp, crap things that make it punch through a mix a bit better. They did an update a few years ago that fixed the low end problem with a lot of profiles.
Nephew Ben, As I am sure you are aware the Fractal just had a whole new major upgrade called Cygnus. I don't know much about the Kemper, but is wouldn't surprise me if the AXE FX stood head and shoulders above the Kemper as it is newer, and it has that Cygnus upgrade which just arrived in May. Hope your unit is OK. I love mine, but it just sits on my desk, and I am sure yours takes a beating as you are at gigs all the time. Rock on!
Add an overdrive, distortion or fuzz in the front. It makes it feel and sound better. And I mean even into the high gain profiles. Same with the helix. At the end of the day I still love my amps and a great pedal.
I just love my Kemper. Tried to jive w/ the Axe stuff...def cool for sure but I spent more time building presets than I do with the Kemper. Want a Fender Twin...audition profiles until you find one you like instead of making the Twin model work w/ EQ & IRs.
Amp modelers.. good enuf for live applications.. saves you the back ache and maintence hassle of a real amp and cab. For the studio its a real amp and cab of your choice all the way...
Great video UNK. That Archon sounded awesome and I was just listening to my phone no headphones. And whatever that thick metal tone was after it. Time to get some NEW GEAR for me.
I use a Kemper live through a Marshall 4x12 and have been complemented MANY times on my tone and people saying it sounds incredible at gigs. I bought a profile pack a while back (can’t remember which one), and slightly modified a profile called “Gojira”. And I’ve used it for a ton of gigs and it just sounds so aggressive yet really…smooth and clean. I didn’t need to tweak it much at all, but I found a sweet spot and have just not bothered to touch it since. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it!
This video takes me back to a store us older guitar folk remember well. Yep, you’d have to go to an actual place to hear these shredderific tones. Oh Guitar Center, Temple of Shred, we miss you so 🙌🏼
My kids are home schooled, but they don't have a stepdad. Mainly because I'm still dad. Hope that stays the same, and I hope they're cool with that. Oh, and your Kemper sounds awesome!
Profilers are fine… if that’s your thing. Too many menus and options for me though. Too confusing. I like plug and play stuff. I’ll stick to my Orange OR15 half stack and mini pedalboard. 😬👍
I get lost and it is confusing and maddening. some of this modeling amps and multi effects peddles are an Education to learn to use it. even then i need hand written notes to remember what is what. give me my stomp boxes and my high gain tube amp any day.
I bought my but split with the Axe effect but bought the Kemper because it had its own power amp you have to be careful with what profiles you buy but you say your turn down the gain well you have to adjust the tone on your amp you have to adjust to it if you don't it will sound bad on a real amp your Chanel is awesome and your lesson is amazing cheers
Interesting that the first example you played sounded exactly like my old cheap Eagle strat copy going straight into my old Carlsbro practice amp. Interesting choice of sound, Unka Ben. 😉
I can’t really see any reason for someone to use a kemper outside of wanting to have their exact home rig profiled for the road, or someone that wants a crap ton of options live. For recording I don’t see the point. If you can spend a fraction of the amount and use plug ins to get the same sound, why would you spend the money on a kemper? And if you want to play live with profiling why not use the quad cortex and also profile your pedals? I’d also be interested to see if anyone famous or semi famous plays live with plug ins, an audio interface and a laptop or iPad?
Kemper is established and used by a shit-ton of pros. It's allowed them to go on the road with their rig sounds, without bringing the rig. Way cheaper than all the old gear. It can be used by bedroom numptys but plugins are awesome for this. Quadcortex way too expensive for home use when plugins sound as good. TH-U and STL tones allow profiling via software. Don't think you'll come across too many artists playing plugins in a live situation.
Killer content as always, Uncle Ben. My favorite profiles lately have been the Fortin Meshuggah pack from Replicant Audio. They sound good with everything! I was wondering what frequencies are you chopping off in our hi and lo pass EQ?
That’s what drove me insane about the Kemper…You can’t change anything without the whole profile going to hell…..I sold it and bought an AxeFXIII…..I did really like some of the Top Jimi profiles though…just wondering what your thoughts are on AxeFXIII/Kemper versus amp into a load box into IR loader??….or real amp into load box,into AxeFXIII??
@@BenEller Big Hairy is Michael Nielsen. He’s a studio guy and apparently good friends with Dave Friedman. He has imo the dream job. Making music for ads, tv and movies. Etc. so that’s why his ears are so good. I noticed my profiles on the Kemper or helix sound different every time I go to use them. Always way worse than I thought at first. But never with a great tube amp. They always sound good and the same. It’s strange. So I don’t use the digital stuff as much but as I said above I have to add a distortion, overdrive or fuzz into a profile etc to make it feel and sound better. I use the pedal to sculpt the sound.
Get you a Marshall and a Fender tube amp along with a few pedals and you can cover about 95% of every genre of music recorded since the 50's for about the same price as a Kemper....... with a lot less hassle and headaches.
I want to personally thank all of you modeling amp guys for the exceptional deals that I've been getting on great vintage Marshalls over the last few years. Couldn't have done it without you guys. I really appreciate it and keep em coming!
Good to know Uncle Ben isn't magically immune to electric interference, like the rest of us. Ps: You are ALMOST wearing a Xerath shirt. Ps2: How does the "touch response" compare to that of the fractul? I mean, dynamic playing.
Kemper gets trashed for the exact thing you mentioned...if you tweak too much from the original profile, it will sound like shit. Not a problem. Use good profiles that you like and do not tweak them. Done. If you want to tweak, buy an amp. This is why we Kemper users bought a Kemper. To have access to endless amps (profiles) that we otherwise would not. I don't want to tweak!!! I just want consistently great sounds.
I have the exact same suhr guitar ... bought it a second time because I regretted selling the first one 😂 yeah well, gotta learn your lessons in life. The reason why I follow you 😉
I chose the Helix route. It was less expensive than either the Kemper or Fractal and had the familiarity of a multi-effect boards I had grown up with. I don't regret my choice, but there's some things I would like to have available that the other platforms give. Like the ability to profile my favorite amps and have all of them at my disposal. Profiling a real Peavey 6505 is so much better than a modeled Peavey 6505 patch. Don't get me wrong, the patch is very nice and is a great tone even on it's own, but it's not like a profiled Peavey 6505. Can't wait to see the A/B shootout with both when you get it back.
i love my kemper. i use it with tons of pedals (34 to be exact...i'm not joking) in the loop and in the front. i have a wet dry wet stereo setup, two amps and 1 bose L2 tower with bass module(FRFR). Between the pedal EQs, BOSE mixer and the on board features of the Kemper, my sounds are insane. so take that! bam! i'm awesome, fuck yeah!
Hi, I know the video is a bit old, but there are still some die-hard Kemper users like me who have benefited from the new 'Liquid Profiling' update, which is a mix between Kemper profiles and the responsiveness of real amps. Given the quality of your videos, could you do a demonstration for us?
I’d like to see you revisit and compare EVH brown sound tones and newer EVH tones on both units. I’d really be interested to know what you don’t like about the AXE FX3. Also, any Mark Camerron amp presets for either units? Thanks!
If you try to tweak a profile to how you would tweak a regular amp or even how you would with other modelers you’re gonna completely walk away from how the amp that is captured supposed to sound. A plug and play profile is really determined how well it was profiled. A poorly micd cab and poorly set eq settings to profile the kemper will turn out with a poorly sounding profile. That’s why people don’t like it so much is because they can’t find profiles that were made correctly. I found to actually reduce the boomy fizzy low end when into your daw and through monitors is to actually just start from scratch with the profile by putting settings back to 12 o’clock and adjusting to where you can get rid of it but then adding an eq after the amp and cab to adjust it all to taste. Reality is through a recording set up don’t mess with the eq too extremely but in a live setting through a cab you can actually go as far as you want since you won’t really be using the cab sim maybe for front of house but from experience it still sounds sick. Takes time to really learn how to dial things in to make it sound I guess “correct”.
I love all the profile , modeling tech . However I'm slowly heading back to just a great valve head . At least at this time there seems to always be something that these units can't replicate .
Next time you want to change your gain structure you can back off the gain to tighten your amp section up. If you do this and it loses it's feel too much decrease the definition some. It will respond in the tone stack about like a real amp will of course without the same pot values. More treble back of the gain etc. I also discovered if you like where a profile sounds in terms of how it reacts and feels but you want just a little less gain or more without changing the definition or anything it is better to compensate in the distortion or clean sensitivity parameters. Especially if you really enjoy the pickups that are in the guitar.
Thanks for watching me revisit the Kemper again!!! What do you want to see in my Kemper versus Axe FX 3 breakdown video?
Thanks so much Ben for doing this video. It's because of your Kemper video back when you were going through Eddie's profiles that I plan on getting one for myself.
Please do an A/B between the two comparing Eddie's sounds and profiles. I can't help it...I'm still binging very heavy EVH. RIP Eddie
I'll give you a $100 for that Kemper. Deal?
I’d like to get your thoughts on which one better for recording…for sitting in mixes.
I have never tried the kemper and though it has a few benefits like the formant filter which sounds cool. I think overall as a more versatile unit I would definitely go for the axe fx iii
yes
Kemper is great at getting the given configuration of an amp, but at soon as you modify this setting using Kemper's buttons, you're adding the modification as Kemper sees it, not as the original amp sees it (the eq and gain levelling of each amp is different and the Kemper can't capture this). The further you go from the original setting the less you gonna sound like a real amp. Kemper is great at taking a picture (a given configuration), not at making a movie (messing with the configuration).
Well said.
good point.
Exactly what I was thinking watching this. Most profiles are made accounting for their specific level of gain. If you wanted a lower gain equivalent you'd just make/get another profile, not turn down a knob.
It still sounds good when you tweak settings. The issue is that it doesn't behave the same as the real amp would. For example something like a Silver Jubilee that has reactive EQ. I prefer this since it reduces tweaking time.
That is the best analogy I have heard regarding what a Kemper does.
I hear what everyone is saying but honestly just tweak a few settings on your Kemper and you can get any killer tone you want. I've had mine for 4 years and I haven't looked back at analog since. But hey, to each their own...rock on brothers and sisters! Find your tone and create! :) Peace
What tweaks gave you made? Would love to hear. My guess is that it is in the first three cabinet settings.
Can you share?
@@rockstarr9000 Sm 50 OD is my go to I just add a little more gain and I'm good with that. I haven't had any issues with roll off or loss of tone when backing off volume and there's always your low, mid, and high knobs you can adjust to eq that particular profile. Endless possibilities for tone IMO
My biggest issue with the Kemper is its complete lack of dynamic range. Basically it sounds like someone took the original amp, put attenuated everything above 10k and put a hard limiter compression on the audio. Again this works for recordings that were going to be compressed in mastering anyways, but it's just lacking the dynamics that a real amp would have. All in all though, gigging with one in a mix at loud volumes for a cover band that likes to get tone as authentic as possible, this thing works great. But for me, every time I revisit the Kemper in anyway I quickly remind myself of this.
I really wish that he would make a Kemper 2 now that processing power has essentially tripled that could do more dynamics. Chris Kemper did this with the Access by releasing a second one, so i'm really confused why the Kemper cant get the same treatment. Even Line 6 has addressed this issue with a recent updated of the Helix, and that was a complete and total game changer for people like me that are sensitive to this.
@@lorenmorgan1931 I play mine through my headset DT 990 Pro and it sounds very dynamic to me BUT I recently saw Rabea's review of it comparing it to other profilers and I could hear what you're talking about. Even with this "issue" I can still tweak mine to tones I really like but I have a few favorite go to presets that I always use because the other preset profiles don't work for me at all. These new profilers also seem much more user friendly and I agree the processing power is only getting better with each passing day. Hopefully Kemper will bring out a new edition to solve your issues but for me I really am totally content with what I get out of my Kemper. Peace brother and I hope you find the tone you're looking for.
The kemper still holds it own even after all these years I fucking love mine and always will
@Cire Rednulk exactly. Regardless, why would anyone expect something like this to sound identical to a tube amp. People set themselves up for disappointment and cry it sucks. I see so many bands use these live it’s clear people like them and trust them enough to gig with.
I've had my KPA for a little over 2 years now. It's still to this day the best piece of gear I have ever bought. Absolutely no regrets. No looking back. The only thing I wish I would have done was profile my Egnater Armageddon before I sold it. Once you learn the Kemper it pays for itself 10x over in my opinion.
Great to hear!
@@BenEller also love me some killer Uncle Ben Content 🤘🏻 more " Things (band) does" videos!
If you ever showed up at my studio with that thing you'd be asked to leave.
@@Fossiil-Records Yeah, giving you full control over almost every parameter you can think of, any amp and effect. While at the same time tracking a clean DI signal without the need of a box so that you could reamp later? Don't be a snob man. It's ok to love analog and Tube. I still do! But you're being rather ignorant about it.
@@karterestill You can do all that with a laptop. For the price of that thing you could buy yourself some real gear that won't be obsolete in a year. And just maybe you won't sound like everybody else. its a great way the throw a few grand in the garbage thats for sure.
If you can’t get killer tones from Kemper… it’s not the kemper
100%
You hit it right there :)
Totally agree!
indeed he misses some insights on what to do or better what not to do. Anyways if fractal is more his thing ...whatever makes you feel good.is the way to go:-). I own both and kemper is by far , for me, the go to.
@@yves-zv5ey some people use both! Sounds awesome.
I’ve had every iteration of the Kemper and currently have the Stage and powered Kabinet. They’re great for live. This pandemic has seen me pick up an HX Stomp and an FM3. I totally get why the Fractal stuff appeals more to people used to certain amps and their controls. My FM3 is my favourite to play through at home and it makes home recording so simple with the inbuilt interface. In the studio, I’ll use whichever solution works, whether it’s plugins, the Stomp, the Kemper, the FM3 or my amps. They all have their strengths and there are great tones in all of them, once you learn their idiosyncrasies. Whichever workflow fits you best. On the whole, I feel that Kemper is analogous to an amp and stomp boxes, whereas the Fractal is more like a Bradshaw rack system. Both in tone and complexity/flexibility.
I find that if you turn down the "Definition" instead of the Gain, it doesn't change the profile characteristics. A lot of profiles have the Definition up to 10. Between 5-7 is the sweet spot.
The transparency of your process is fantastic. Thanks for not editing out the goofy bits. Great work as always, uncle Ben!
I know it's not exactly the same, but it kinda reminds me of how the metal zone (even the waza) sounds to my ear after switching to the Revv G3. Going back just exposes how much my ear has changed over the years.
Revv G3 = godsend of a pedal
It is funny how when you have a lot of gear, it comes in-and-out of use and our lives in such interesting (or even seemingly innocuous) ways. The feeling that comes back can be one of reverence or indifference, but either way, nostalgia provides a lot.
Thanks, Uncy Bang!
This reminds me to revisit my digitech metal master. Thought i sounded like hetfield back then
For high gain profiles you really can't go wrong with Josh Middleton's (Architects, Sylosis) Heavy Tones Bundle 3. They come pre-EQ'ed and sound amazing. Love the vids btw!
They sound like someone put a blanket over the cabinet.
Adding like 1-2 on direct mix in amplifier settings, brings so much clarity and pleasantness to any metal sounding profile. It's a powerful tweak
The eq bit is spot on. I like oodles of gain and it took me longer than it should have to start removing highs and lows. I thought I was destined to own every fizzy amp ever made. Now I use a frown curve on pretty much all heavy tones and I'm much happier with all my heads.
I kind had the same experience with gain and treble. Essentially rolled both down to the point where I'm like ok this is definitely not going to be enough of either. Nowhere close. Turns out my intentionally turning them way too far down was probably closer to where I wanted it than where I was before.
There's a free "Rust in peace" sound somewhere in the Rig Manager that sounds really similar to the actual album. :) Would be nice if you could get your hands on a Kemper Cabinet to see what you think about it.
I've been curious about your thoughts on the Kemper these days... still love mine to death. It really is just about finding the right rigs for your personal tastes. I agree, Sinmix is amazing and I've bought all of Gregors stuff... Deadlight/Tonehammer are also the shit. I've owned both the Fractal and Kemper for years and can't choose a clear winner, but being a metal guy I lean towards the Kemper somewhat 😁👍🏻
Not sure if you use these parameters or not, but I love what the "character" and "amp volume" controls can do. Character is killer for making it behave and feel more real, and "amp volume" enables you to simulate the amp being cranked up a bit.
"Don't worry, things are gonna get better. He was homeschooled." Thanks for all the laughs along with the lessons!
I used to use a Line 6 POD HD Pro and upgraded to the Kemper Rack in last year. Best buy I ever made.
I love the studio eq effect. Helps with cutting thru the mix and cleaning up the low and high end.
Ahh the memories of tones past, how much better they sounded in our memory than when we try em again. But just some knob tweeken and soul seekin your happy ears will be Freakn 🤘🏽.
Did you try turning it off and back on?
Edits to come
That distorted rhythm was pure ola chug, great tone imo
i made the switch to the Kemper earlier this year and i couldn't be happier - i run it like a preamp into my G Force into a Fryette 292 into 2 4x12's
You're right on the whole gain knob thing. When ever I would reduce in the eq or gain, it made the profile sound completely different, and usually worse.
I don’t know how this isn’t what EVERYONE TALKS ABOUT in regards to the Kemper.
@@BenEller Yeah, that's pretty crazy. I always just figured I didn't gel with it, or user error on my end. Definitely reassuring to see someone else had that same problem with it.
That‘s actually the Kemper working as intended. It is much closer to a sampler - for the lack of a better word / concept - than a modeller. You want more gain and more treble? Set your amp up accordingly and profile it that way. I shot 24 profiles in total of my JCM 800 (8 base sound x 2 cabs, direct w/o cab), i.e. one profile per gain level and „bright / neitral / dark“ timbre. EQing or trying to tweak profile is a surefire way to Plastctown.
@@Gonzo2707 Gotchya. Like I said, user error on my end.
@@70mcnevin Yeah, that's basically where I was a few years ago. Don't get me wrong, the Kemper sounded fantastic. But the only amp I had to profile at the time was a 6505, so I was mostly left to use others' profiles, and ultimately didn't get the most out of it.
All in all, it really showed me just how far digital gear has come, so I'm glad for that experience. But I think I will go with a Fractal FM3(maybe an Ax8) or a Helix this time around.
How about home studio tour + guitar collection video. We know that you have DOD Grunge pedal... Just Sayin' 🤣🤘
Rule #1 - take your DOD Grunge and throw it in the trash.
I second this!
Ben: does Kemper suck now?
Me while still using my zoom G2 and crap headphones: DEFINITELY YES
I've found using my own custom IRs made a huge difference in my tone and in some cases more better. There were even some packaged rigs that I changed out the cab and instantly changed the sound from good to amazing.
Also, I still love my Kemper because it works for me. the software updates have made some major improvements and keeps me excited to experiment with several settings. My primary project right now is a Thrash band, so I mostly use a Sinmix profile based on the Razor SINAMP with a Friedman 2x12 v30 IR.
I think the tone shaping options in the Kemper beats most tube amp. The definition control is very powerful, and you can even adjust your pick attack, power amp sag, tube shape etc. It’s true that the knobs doesn’t work exactly like the profiled amp, but I never felt adjusting them make them sound any less realistic. Out of all the profiles I got, perhaps I like only 10% of them, but I can really tweak those to sound absolutely amazing.
My new QC put my FM3 and Kemper on reverb. I still have the AX3 for my studio. I have used Fractal for over a decade.
@@70mcnevin Funny this coming from someone that doesn't even have one. I captured some rare amps with mine and it nailed it. The quality of amps is actually outstanding and on par with my FM3;. It has so many pluses compared to any other floor modeler out there. How many amps do you really need 200? How many delay/verbs and amps can Kemper use in 1 preset compared to QC? Im having hell a good time being a beta tester..lol All other floor units will be judged by the QC, like it or not. It is a new product and Im so glad they built this for guitarist. It gets even better from here on out.
I have 10 nice guitars, and the one that I go to is my gretsch black falcon. For some reason those filtertron pups just work perfectly with the kemper tones when recording. My Lp supreme is second for double tracking.
And I always use an east river drive but turn the gain down on the profile. Totally happy with kemper for recording.
It’s all in the definition setting! I’ve had the kemper stage awhile now! Beats the crap out of carrying a tube amp and pedal board! My load in and out takes two trips now; not 5!
7:28 the Dann Huff “time to burn” was a cool tribute. My opinion is Kemper > All
I can imagine that TriRec and 5153 tons layering well together. Good stuff Ben!
An interesting thing about that gain reduction thing is that given how the Kemper captures dynamic range, I think reducing gain on the Kemper itself ends up being way more akin to reducing your guitar volume. Obviously you aren't messing with the gain control during profiling, so the Kemper only knows how to model that behavior by how the amp responds with different voltage levels being fed into it. Rolling back your volume on more saturated high gain amps does tend to produce these sorts of shittier results.
The key is to lower the highs and the low bass range. Like they do on the real world OR what you can eat of an amp in the room when you don’t stick your ear directly to the speaker ;)
Where’s that Kemper / Axe FX III, Head to Head comparison video you promised like a year ago???
I love my kemper so much. The top jimi brown sound pack is out of this world especially when paired with the kemper kab
You are right, decreasing anything on a Kemper is bad news, slightly adding works better. I found that using an EQ block is best for decreasing, but forget about the gain. I have the Kemper power head and one thing I found out is that the power amp in that head sucks. Put the Kemper through a real tube power section and it comes to life, its all about the power section in both the Kemper and Helix.
I'm using the fryette ps2. Night and day
@@muleblues71 Wow...I just order the ps2 yesterday lol. So its that dam good huh?
@@danc3746 I used it in a band setting last night. Had to compete with a Mesa triple rec. I got to open that sucker up to about 75% with a 2x12 with V30's. Using choptones friedman Jake e Lee di profiles. Pretty chunky
That defeats the purpose of why I got the kemper in the first place. I just want to carry a light head and connect it direct to the PA. Once you add a tube power amp, now you have to add a 4x12 speakers along.
But yes, the included power amp for the rack is crap.
@@AngSingha lol, I use a 2x12 vertical cab. Kemper sits nice on it
When you get around to making it, a comparison of turning down the gain on each unit would be interesting! You've shown us how that works on the Kemper, but is it better/worse/the same on an Axe FX?
Waaaaaaaaaaaay better on Fractal. I’ll totally show that in the video.
I enjoyed mine for a bit, but was constantly tweaking with it. Let it be paid profiles I bought, one's I made, freebies.. it was a lot of tweaking. Bought a Helix and now it's a lot of playing and not a lot tweaking. It was a fun year with mine tho.
Exact opposite for me.
@@khall187 that's the beauty of today. There is something for all of us to find our niche.
Tones are mostly pretty sweet, but I’m surprised you’re not using your Revv mkIII Generator 120 with the built in Two Notes hardware. My G20 with the stock 4x12 preset is perfect for recording.
Nice! I shared a stage with Rivers of Nihil in Des Moines, playing bass with Divinion.
No you didn’t, but thanks
@@Dixie-Normus-209 I sure did. Fri, August 25th, 2013
vaudevillemews.com/index.php?p=calendar&mon=-94
@@Dixie-Normus-209 I'd share the album, but that would disrespect Ben's channel.
Glad to see a new gear video. Great on the uploads recently Ben.
The JCM 800 pack from Andy (TAF) is my fav since years. Try these profiles also with other cabs. A sound universe and best live tones. Never reduce gain of a profile, better look for another profile with less gain. Years ago Gregorzc from Sinmix told me, never touch the eq for my profiles😁😁😁using the kpa since 2014 I must say that the sounds and the updates are top of the list. Atm I can also recommend to try thu overloud. Also cool recording sounds.
For low gain tones i found when the gain is low to boost it with an overdrive like a precision drive with the drive at 10 oclock. Great crunchy yet clear low gain tones 👍
Thanks for sharing!
I always think of it like this; Axe FX is best suited for those who do a wide range of studio work with very specifically tweaked tones, or if you're automating a ton of patch changes for live use. It's made to be able to create any tone you could possibly think of with extreme levels of tweakability.
Kemper is best suited for those who have one or two tones that they stick with for live use, but want more consistency and easier transportation than regular tube amps, or if you want a specific tone from a specific amp that you don't want to risk damaging on the road. I mostly consider the Kemper a touring tool, since it can go FOH or power a cab with the powered versions, it's made to consistently reproduce very specific tones from specific amps, which is a huge deal for touring where changes in electricity or even just time can change how a tube amp sounds.
Hence why I keep my Axe FX in the studio, and plan to get a Kemper for live use.
PLEASE - for Patron - teach us the run at 5:41 (at Stepdad Speed)
Tone Junkies clean profiles as incredible. GGD's All the gains pack has great heavy tones
I think you should check out Lasse Lammert’s Lee Jackson GP-1000 profile. He’s got the download for it in his video description. Good Alexi Laiho and Marshally shred tone
I have the powered lunchbox. Absolutely love the tones through a Mesa cab. It's a bit different if you're using it in the studio for recording and running direct. Thought I'd add, love it for live shows. Setup in a minute or two.
That EVH stealth sounds like a Gary Holt tone. Dug it.
I used to be a digital guy. My issues were I really need analog/tube response and it must play well with gain pedals like a real tube amp. This stuff is critical if you are into doing Jeff Beck/Larry Carlton type stuff. Even the latest greatest digital stuff can't quite do it. BUT the sansamp stuff does it good enough that I don't find myself wanting to plug into a real amp to the point I now only have 1 little tube combo amp. When I had the digital stuff I just couldn't let go of my tube amps because it always hit the sweet spot.
The latest stuff isn't always the greatest. The "old stuff" isn't always invalid either.
I think its important to get in right head space on this stuff. Just because your favorite artist is using this or that doesn't mean its the best option but often its simply just a matter of someone paying them enough to endorse their product.
I am a big advocate of modular rigs - where you don't have to throw out everything and start over with a new do it all expensive piece of gear every few years. The modular rig means you get to know your stuff intimately and you hang onto the stuff you really like and can easily swap out the stuff you aren't totally set on. The sansamp stuff is perfect for this because it basically just acts as your preamp (and sometimes poweramp/speakers if you choose) which means it to can be easily and somewhat painlessly replaced when you want to move onto something "better".
Man, it must have been quite the experience receiving years of updates (rather significant ones too) in one go. Haha, now I wish I hadn’t performed every update as they were released because after one another they were all like… mmkay, sure, maybe a little better than before 😂 The unit sure has come a long way and it was really nice to be reminded of that! Nice video, thanks! // Wince
17:13 that look you give the other guitarist when you nail a new riff or, breakdown with a full band for the first time.
We definitely need a head to head brown sound comparison.
I have the Kemper rack, a Koch ATR-4502 poweramp and a fantastic 2 x 12 inch cabinet with Creambacks. I think the sound is fantastic. I have several tube amps and great cabinets, but to be honest they are covered in dust here. But it's true what you say Ben, reducing a profile won't do any good. Then you have to start tweaking your profile again.
What your doing is one of my favorite things to do once a year..
Every time I've ever found a tone I really liked ive wrote down and took pictures of all knob settings on amps pedals and guitars and once a year I alway find myself going way back to what I really liked in my late teen years and its awesome to get all time machine with your past self
Kemper still my favorite of all units out there,i own the axe 3 and Kemper Stage,i tried the QC and Helix great units too but i prefer the Kemper
Key with Kemper is figuring out the Cabinet (IR) and EQ. Also - what is your signal chain into your DAW?
Best tone I have seen is a Friedman BE100 through an OxBox
That Ibanez sounds so good, it puts the Suhr in the shade 😎
The opening tone made me wonder if we were going to get some more Michal McDonald!
Moo
Ben, key point.. recorded signal and heard signal are night/day. Best set up is a kab with ir’s and monitor off. You are best off dialing in a good ear tone thru the kab, and use preamps to hit the front of your daw--you can adjust so much faster than axe.. I can’t emphasizes enough what playing with the CORRECT settings on a powered amp thru the KEMPER KONE/KABINET can do as you roll thru 14 Celestion ir’s
A guitar tone could sound good by itself, but if your not going for djent and want a non djent/modern one than you might want to check it with other instruments like bass. I find that synth bass can mix well with modern-ish djent tones I made. The Kemper is still good I think along with a lot of newer plugins and stuff that sound not so digital to my ears unlike many older plugins I have heard. It's pretty amazing what you can get for the prices now, you just have to know where to look.
I think you would want that boomy low end on the jcm 800 if you’re doing a piece with only one guitar, EVH style
Pair it with a kabinet and push air.. makes all the difference
Top Jimi is the "go to", when talking about Kemper profiles.
Great demo Ben, I have an Axe III and a Kemper and use both regularly. The Axe is more tweakable, but for some reason the Kemper sits better in a mix. It seems to capture all the crap things about an amp, crap things that make it punch through a mix a bit better. They did an update a few years ago that fixed the low end problem with a lot of profiles.
I remember when you first got that thing. It was unbelievable what it was able to do when it came out. Funny how things change.
wouldnt having the kemper in front of your monitor affect your judgement a bit?
Would love a video on how you make your guitar videos. A little meta, but I always love seeing the behind the scenes stuff!
Nephew Ben, As I am sure you are aware the Fractal just had a whole new major upgrade called Cygnus. I don't know much about the Kemper, but is wouldn't surprise me if the AXE FX stood head and shoulders above the Kemper as it is newer, and it has that Cygnus upgrade which just arrived in May. Hope your unit is OK. I love mine, but it just sits on my desk, and I am sure yours takes a beating as you are at gigs all the time. Rock on!
Add an overdrive, distortion or fuzz in the front. It makes it feel and sound better. And I mean even into the high gain profiles. Same with the helix. At the end of the day I still love my amps and a great pedal.
I just love my Kemper. Tried to jive w/ the Axe stuff...def cool for sure but I spent more time building presets than I do with the Kemper. Want a Fender Twin...audition profiles until you find one you like instead of making the Twin model work w/ EQ & IRs.
Amp modelers.. good enuf for live applications.. saves you the back ache and maintence hassle of a real amp and cab. For the studio its a real amp and cab of your choice all the way...
Great video UNK. That Archon sounded awesome and I was just listening to my phone no headphones. And whatever that thick metal tone was after it. Time to get some NEW GEAR for me.
Glad you enjoyed it
I use a Kemper live through a Marshall 4x12 and have been complemented MANY times on my tone and people saying it sounds incredible at gigs. I bought a profile pack a while back (can’t remember which one), and slightly modified a profile called “Gojira”. And I’ve used it for a ton of gigs and it just sounds so aggressive yet really…smooth and clean. I didn’t need to tweak it much at all, but I found a sweet spot and have just not bothered to touch it since. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it!
This video takes me back to a store us older guitar folk remember well. Yep, you’d have to go to an actual place to hear these shredderific tones. Oh Guitar Center, Temple of Shred, we miss you so 🙌🏼
My kids are home schooled, but they don't have a stepdad. Mainly because I'm still dad. Hope that stays the same, and I hope they're cool with that. Oh, and your Kemper sounds awesome!
Profilers are fine… if that’s your thing. Too many menus and options for me though. Too confusing. I like plug and play stuff. I’ll stick to my Orange OR15 half stack and mini pedalboard. 😬👍
I get lost and it is confusing and maddening. some of this modeling amps and multi effects peddles are an Education to learn to use it. even then i need hand written notes to remember what is what. give me my stomp boxes and my high gain tube amp any day.
@@1peanut - Right on, man. I hear ya. 🤘😬
Amen
I remember when You covered "Brother John" by Joe Satriani back in 2014 with this amp as part of Your setup, Just Awesome.
I bought my but split with the Axe effect but bought the Kemper because it had its own power amp you have to be careful with what profiles you buy but you say your turn down the gain well you have to adjust the tone on your amp you have to adjust to it if you don't it will sound bad on a real amp your Chanel is awesome and your lesson is amazing cheers
Interesting that the first example you played sounded exactly like my old cheap Eagle strat copy going straight into my old Carlsbro practice amp. Interesting choice of sound, Unka Ben. 😉
The dog ( Turkey, lol my cat is named Goose) is really looking cool as he grows! What a cutie! Great show Uncle Ben!!!
I can’t really see any reason for someone to use a kemper outside of wanting to have their exact home rig profiled for the road, or someone that wants a crap ton of options live. For recording I don’t see the point. If you can spend a fraction of the amount and use plug ins to get the same sound, why would you spend the money on a kemper? And if you want to play live with profiling why not use the quad cortex and also profile your pedals? I’d also be interested to see if anyone famous or semi famous plays live with plug ins, an audio interface and a laptop or iPad?
Kemper is established and used by a shit-ton of pros. It's allowed them to go on the road with their rig sounds, without bringing the rig. Way cheaper than all the old gear. It can be used by bedroom numptys but plugins are awesome for this. Quadcortex way too expensive for home use when plugins sound as good. TH-U and STL tones allow profiling via software. Don't think you'll come across too many artists playing plugins in a live situation.
Killer content as always, Uncle Ben. My favorite profiles lately have been the Fortin Meshuggah pack from Replicant Audio. They sound good with everything! I was wondering what frequencies are you chopping off in our hi and lo pass EQ?
That’s what drove me insane about the Kemper…You can’t change anything without the whole profile going to hell…..I sold it and bought an AxeFXIII…..I did really like some of the Top Jimi profiles though…just wondering what your thoughts are on AxeFXIII/Kemper versus amp into a load box into IR loader??….or real amp into load box,into AxeFXIII??
Coming soon! Just got my Axe back from repair, they were FAST
@@BenEller Prob a bad guitar cord. LOL
I have never felt that changing the profile ruined it.
Check out Big Hairy Profiles. Personally they are my favorite. Thanks for the video. Made me finally upgrade my OS and rig manager also :)
They make great stuff!
@@BenEller Big Hairy is Michael Nielsen. He’s a studio guy and apparently good friends with Dave Friedman. He has imo the dream job. Making music for ads, tv and movies. Etc. so that’s why his ears are so good. I noticed my profiles on the Kemper or helix sound different every time I go to use them. Always way worse than I thought at first. But never with a great tube amp. They always sound good and the same. It’s strange. So I don’t use the digital stuff as much but as I said above I have to add a distortion, overdrive or fuzz into a profile etc to make it feel and sound better. I use the pedal to sculpt the sound.
Get you a Marshall and a Fender tube amp along with a few pedals and you can cover about 95% of every genre of music recorded since the 50's for about the same price as a Kemper....... with a lot less hassle and headaches.
LOL...you are exactly right.
I want to personally thank all of you modeling amp guys for the exceptional deals that I've been getting on great vintage Marshalls over the last few years. Couldn't have done it without you guys. I really appreciate it and keep em coming!
Good to know Uncle Ben isn't magically immune to electric interference, like the rest of us.
Ps: You are ALMOST wearing a Xerath shirt.
Ps2: How does the "touch response" compare to that of the fractul? I mean, dynamic playing.
Kemper gets trashed for the exact thing you mentioned...if you tweak too much from the original profile, it will sound like shit. Not a problem. Use good profiles that you like and do not tweak them. Done. If you want to tweak, buy an amp. This is why we Kemper users bought a Kemper. To have access to endless amps (profiles) that we otherwise would not. I don't want to tweak!!! I just want consistently great sounds.
the sounds sound really good it might tighten up with a overdrive
I have the exact same suhr guitar ... bought it a second time because I regretted selling the first one 😂 yeah well, gotta learn your lessons in life. The reason why I follow you 😉
I chose the Helix route. It was less expensive than either the Kemper or Fractal and had the familiarity of a multi-effect boards I had grown up with. I don't regret my choice, but there's some things I would like to have available that the other platforms give. Like the ability to profile my favorite amps and have all of them at my disposal. Profiling a real Peavey 6505 is so much better than a modeled Peavey 6505 patch. Don't get me wrong, the patch is very nice and is a great tone even on it's own, but it's not like a profiled Peavey 6505. Can't wait to see the A/B shootout with both when you get it back.
i love my kemper. i use it with tons of pedals (34 to be exact...i'm not joking) in the loop and in the front. i have a wet dry wet stereo setup, two amps and 1 bose L2 tower with bass module(FRFR). Between the pedal EQs, BOSE mixer and the on board features of the Kemper, my sounds are insane. so take that! bam! i'm awesome, fuck yeah!
Hi, I know the video is a bit old, but there are still some die-hard Kemper users like me who have benefited from the new 'Liquid Profiling' update, which is a mix between Kemper profiles and the responsiveness of real amps. Given the quality of your videos, could you do a demonstration for us?
I’d like to see you revisit and compare EVH brown sound tones and newer EVH tones on both units. I’d really be interested to know what you don’t like about the AXE FX3. Also, any Mark Camerron amp presets for either units? Thanks!
Was that “Time to Burn” Giant (Dann Huff) at 7:28 ???
If you try to tweak a profile to how you would tweak a regular amp or even how you would with other modelers you’re gonna completely walk away from how the amp that is captured supposed to sound. A plug and play profile is really determined how well it was profiled. A poorly micd cab and poorly set eq settings to profile the kemper will turn out with a poorly sounding profile. That’s why people don’t like it so much is because they can’t find profiles that were made correctly. I found to actually reduce the boomy fizzy low end when into your daw and through monitors is to actually just start from scratch with the profile by putting settings back to 12 o’clock and adjusting to where you can get rid of it but then adding an eq after the amp and cab to adjust it all to taste. Reality is through a recording set up don’t mess with the eq too extremely but in a live setting through a cab you can actually go as far as you want since you won’t really be using the cab sim maybe for front of house but from experience it still sounds sick. Takes time to really learn how to dial things in to make it sound I guess “correct”.
How does this compare to software modelling ? Like guitar rig or Logic Pro
I love all the profile , modeling tech . However I'm slowly heading back to just a great valve head . At least at this time there seems to always be something that these units can't replicate .
Next time you want to change your gain structure you can back off the gain to tighten your amp section up. If you do this and it loses it's feel too much decrease the definition some. It will respond in the tone stack about like a real amp will of course without the same pot values. More treble back of the gain etc. I also discovered if you like where a profile sounds in terms of how it reacts and feels but you want just a little less gain or more without changing the definition or anything it is better to compensate in the distortion or clean sensitivity parameters. Especially if you really enjoy the pickups that are in the guitar.
A profiler (no power amp) has come up for sale near mo for 700.., is it worth buying? Could it replace my amp collection?