Which One Would I Buy? Kemper Stage vs Helix
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 26 ส.ค. 2019
- www.rhettshull.com
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Do you have a Line on :BASS Cab: IRS for a Helix?? Im looking for a great B15 or 1970s era ampeg 810..Thank you
Any thoughts about Positive Grid products?
i thhiink you meant S.O.O.L. Sool... :0
13:37 Is this still the case today? Is it time for an update on Helix vs. Kemper?
what a great video. thanks, man.
Thanks dude!
bro you are just awsome 😍😍😍
Two legends appear
Imagine having mateus watch ur videos
Mateus, I would love to hear your thoughts on this subject!
I’ve owned my Helix LT for almost 2 years. Absolutely love it, and has simplified my life as a musician. No more heavy amps, I show up at my gigs with a guitar and the Helix. Direct to front of house, my setup time is 10 mins at the most. Snapshots are amazing. Helix all the way!!!
Same
Actually it doesn't matter which one should I buy because I have no money 😂😂🤣🤣
Start a GoFundmMe page....You're welcome!....
@@dr150 Yeah, forget these cancer patients with hospital bills or the family who lost their valuables in a home burglary, this guy needs a multi-effects board!
@@dustin2006 Who are you to decide where people want to give their money to? If he gets his board with gofundme let him be happy.
Man this comment really cheered me up, thank you 😂😂
Daniel Ordoñez Did you get your Trump money yet? 😆
Quality piece again, Rhett. Impressed that you genuinely did 'pick one' too. It would be easy to sit on the fence for a comparison such as this.I'm not ready to move from amps and pedalboard, but if I did- based on your synopsis- I'd go for the Kemper!
You literally released this video on the exact day when I was first wondering which one of these to get. Kudos!
This is SO HELPFUL. These are very expensive units and I'm grateful as helllllllllllllllllll for this straight forward comparison.
I’ve been using the Helix for more than 2 years now and was curious about the Kemper Stage when it was released. Thank you for making this awesome comparison video. Your video helped me confirm that for my tone tweaking needs, I’m good!
I've seen this video at least 5 or 6 times in the past 2 years and each time, it's been informative 👍🏻
Thanks Rhett ✊🏻
Sick opening jam, my dude!! 🤘
Absolutely love your videos, not only are they so informative and interactive but your playing is insane! Keep it up man
Really great review and advice. Thanks Rhett. I'm loving your channel more and more these days!
Hey Rhett,
Love the opening jam you did. Excellent sound🤘🎸
hell yeah.
Rhett, I love all the various jams you do. You play such incredibly tasty licks.
Holy cow @ that opening. Sounds so good!
Thanks! I had not considered the line 6 and now it seems like a better option for me. I’m really impressed by the preparation and organization of the information you provided! Really well done. Thank you!!
Have owned the HELIX floor for 3 years now..love it! So much to learn, and you have helped me in the process, thank you.
You surprised me when you said you'd choose the Helix. I actually made the switch from Helix to Kemper Stage. Amp tone is the most important thing for me, which I think Kemper does way better out of the box. When it comes to effects, I try to keep it simple with delay and reverb. And I have never had any luck with digital overdrives, so I would just gain it up or switch to a dirtier amp. I love the effect options and routing flexibility of the Helix, but I almost never needed it. Kemper does what I need and the amp profiles sound amazing. Great video Rhett!
This is the comment i am looking for!
I totally agree with you men. The most important thing about all this Amp modeling is trying to get the Best Natural Tube Amp sound in a Digital world and for me The Kemper has that and also the Quad Cortes. Although the Helix and Boss GT 1000 does a great job also but when you compare for a Real Tube Amp feel, Kemper and Quad Cortes Win
The Helix I feel like is misunderstood. It has the curse of too much flexibility in a lot of ways. It absolutely can fool anyone in a blind shoot out when compared to any other profiler/modeler/recorded real amp rig, however it needs to be dialed in well and with all of the controls available, there is a lot of room for people to mess up their tone. You need to dive in to learn what everything does and how a recording engineer would set up a signal chain.
A profiler like the Kemper makes it easy for people who don't want to learn what "sag," "bias," etc. mean to be able to just download a quick profile someone else made and run with it. You can certainly download Helix presets, but I've found that these usually need to be dialed in to taste and to adapt to your specific gear.
Same…I’ve owned the Helix Floor, Helix LT, and HX Stomp + pedals.
The Kemper is absolutely fantastic. You don’t need the flexibility, because it just sounds great.
I’ve owned a Fractal AX8 and an FM3. Fractal comes closer to competing with the Kemper than Helix, but that’s my opinion which is subjective.
The FM3 was like the Kemper, everything just sounded great right out of the box. I hardly had to tweak amp settings. Same thing I’m now experiencing with Kemper. Just set it and play!
also, the helix is easy to use with a clicktrack... i program my patch changeovers / fx with the midi out in a daw
Thank you so much Rhett for your great length of elaboration on the comparison between Kemper and Helix.
Great video. This is one of the best and most logical comparisons I’ve seen on these units. Very helpful. Thank you!
You should do an updated version of this! That would be awesome because of the liquid profiles, the updates and new products now also!
Thanks for the comparison review! The only thing I’d disagree with is that being a traditional effects/amp guy for decades, I found the Helix very easy to relate to. The user interface, signal flow I found very intuitive. And liberating - so cool to be able to essentially perform previously studio only functions live.
Great job Rhett. Looking forward to seeing your HX stomp board setup.
THANK YOU for having, and actually expressing, an opinion. Very helpful Rhett. Great video.
I own a Helix and wouldn't trade it for anything. The fact that I'm able to do a full wet dry wet rig for $1k is just awesome. I have sooooo much flexibility and control over my tone, so I can really get pinpoint accuracy with whatever I need.
Man you're a great player. Well done.
The song you play at the beginning of this video is AWESOME! Love your videos bro. You're a monster player and I appreciate your advice and info on all things guitar. Keep up the good work Mr. Rhett Shull.
Great, honest comparison. Love your atmospheric tones. I've had both, I'm a Fractal guy at heart but both of these units are fantastic. The Kemper can be instant gratification when you find the right profiles for your tones. Helix can get there too!
Great video, Rhett. I agree with your opinions except that my personal preference is to have a separate expression pedal that is not mounted on the main unit. Mechanical devices have components that fail at a higher rate than electronic ones and I don’t want my profiler shipped off to a repair shop because the onboard mechanical pedal had a failure when I can simply plug in a replacement external expression pedal and be good to go.
I have an HX stomp with a mini crybaby and mini dunlop volume for my fly rig, and its everything I could possibly "need" for any gig (and more).
Do you use the mini volume as an expression pedal for the HX?
@@DJParkesie959II Yes
Great video! Love your playing and honesty. I’ve owned Line 6 gear since they first started in the late 90’s, and it all still works. Got the Helix a few months ago and totally love it. Never used a Kemper, but I’m not a huge metal player so I don’t see a reason to even consider it. Helix effects by far are superb and don’t regret my purchase.
Thanks for putting this video together. I found it a very informative and unbiased review of the two products. Cheers
I gotta say, that intro is absolutely killer dude. Incredible.
The kemper has 'snapshots' in a way too - with the morph function on the rig buttons.
Great review, Rhett. LOVE your Helix presets and also the Stomp
You are such a talented person. It is really nice to see someone with all of your skills. Your a great guitar player. You are great in front of the camera. Your editing is great. Also a good sound engineer. With that much talent only good things can happen. 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
Whichever one you prefer and is easier to use live. Soundwise, the audience won't know the difference. Coming from the traditional amp/pedalboard, I found the Helix really easy and sounding great..
I started with a Kemper toaster, and due to starting to do some gigs and playing with people, I switched to Helix. both of these were used with a QSC K8 pa speaker. Now I have the Helix floor, and a power cab. I do not like this setup at all... I believe it's the powercab that has broken the spell, but now a days I just play my real amps...
IF the Kemper floor was around when I started my digital journey, I likely would have been perfectly happy. but I've always found that amping these units up has been very difficult to be satisfied with. I think that studio monitors are probably the best solution for home use, and real guitar cabs with no cab sim are best for performing, if you can get away with it. But overall, I just really love amps... almost more than guitars sometimes ; )
Hey Rhett, thanks for all you do! I've been watching you for a few months now. Got introduced to you via your collaboration with Beato, and now you've got another grateful subscriber! I've been looking for a multi-effects for a few months now, and this video convinced me. Today, I went and traded my 78 Fender Pro Reverb in for the Helix. I've seen (I think) all of your videos featuring the Helix floor, and brother, if it's good enough for you I'm sure I'll be gassed when I get it. I've got a couple of days before it arrives from backorder. Can't thank you enough for your honest and road-tested information, as well as your video documentation and personal insights. Good luck and fortune for you and your wife always, and bless you for your good work. You're one of the Tubers I can REALLY trust when you "review" something. I'll be looking forward to purchasing your Helix presets when I get my unit and recover a little from the sticker shock! (Ramen and Peanut Butter for a couple of weeks!) -- Thanks again! -Tim
Crystal clear explanations, as always ! Well done !
thanks for a useful video! Definitely a Helix for me. I am tired of my huge pedal board and complex assortment of effects, so I might sell it all for the smaller footprint, lighter weight, and flexibility of a Helix. But I'm keeping my Eventide H9 and Blackbird pre-amp! They are both just too amazing to part with.
Gotta say man, I love your channel. No bullshit, by a musican for musicians. One of the few channels where I genuinely trust what you say. Keep it up.
Thanks Brian!
This. I simply do not see any value in gear reviews by players that get the equipment in, do a review and never touch it again. Getting an opinion from a player that has used the gear on tour for an extended period is gold.
Great analysis Rhett. I have just recently started using the Helix lt for bass. A great unit.... Like you mentioned per signal path.... So programmable. I use one xlr to feed front of house, the other xlr to feed our x32 for in-ears, and a jack out to feed any on stage backline (obviously without cab sim etc)
. Works amazing for me!!! Keep up the good work 👍
What an intro! Love the tone. Informative vid. Thank you for doing it.
Hey Rhett, great video! I have both the Helix and Kemper Stage. My Helix has been my workhorse and love it for ease of use, routing and flexibility. I don't use it for amp and cab simulation very much as I'm using Synergy preamp modules and tube power amp for my tone however, the Kemper amps sound and feel really great. I was considering running both units together and connecting the Kemper into the FX Loop of the Helix and using it for just the amp tones while keeping the Helix for effects, snapshots etc. Have you thought about trying this? I tried it one night at practice for like 5 minutes but was getting a ton of feedback when turning up the volume on my power amp. It's probably just a setting that I haven't spent the time to figure out yet but I'd love to hear your thoughts on this type of setup?
Keep em coming! I will buy Your old, stock tubeamps for the lowest market price available!
Great review that folks can actually use! I would agree fully. After 2 years living with the Helix, it's been a fantastic rig. The only issue was stage volume when playing in a traditional band which can be solved with the MIssion IO powered cab. Then I bought a used 20th Anniversary Bogner Shiva (KT88) - now everything has changed including my stage set up and wow, I get all kinds of compliments on my sound now and how balanced my tone is at just about any volume level. I actually have folks that are not guitar players come up to me and say how the sound of my guitar gave them chills. That's pretty dang cool...
Love all the videos you do on these profilers!
DAMN DUDE, i was leaning so hard for the kemper when i started watching this. but im selling my JVM410C and Pedals and going digital. Looks like you may have made line 6 a sale... Great Video
I really love my HX Stomp for integration with my pedalboard of analog effects. the Stomp's something that's far easier to take to a quick rehearsal or integrate into an existing rig. I feel like the Helix takes a bit of learning, regarding how the parameters work in each effect; you can't just put everything at noon and it sounds great. However, once you spend a little time with it, the stuff Helix can do is just wild.
I'm getting an HX Stomp...they look and sound badass. I'm tired of wrestling with tech. I don't wanna be a youtube tweaker star...I just wanna play guitar!
hi sir.. hx stomp with external real pedal is better sounding than the internal hx stomp?
@@BagusWibisono I prefer it. Just because I like different pedals than are available in the stomp. There’s a number of youtubers who have videos on how they’ve integrated their stomp in with a full pedalboard and how all that sounds. Heck, I even have a couple videos on my channel about that.
I love a good analog delay, and there’s an “analog” delay simulation in the stomp, but I like my real one.
Situations like that are why I preferred to add the stomp to a pedalboard.
Someone tell me cause the stomp with external pedal will be fizzy or plastic sounding, better with internal pedal. But, it just someone preference. Another people olso said like you. I plan to buy Hx stomp with BB preamp external pedal (booster for my high gain amp simulator on hx stomp). How about you dude?
How do get Around the 60cycle hum ? As soon as I start adding amps its unbearable. The gates destroy any responsiveness.
great content. thoughtful, concise, leading to a logical conclusion. both units are pro level and FOH loves them. I don't mind playing these rigs live because they sound great. I then enjoy my tube amps at home and in the studio.
Fantastic video, as always. Would love to see Kemper come out with something comparable to the HX Stomp.
Dude. That opening Jam is one of my favourite ones you did so far! Any plans on releasing stuff like that by yourself?
Keep up your amazing work!
Rhett when are you going to offer up a recording of your music. I love, love, love the arrangement at the beginning of this video and it would be awesome to get a recording of some of your own work.
This is a solid video!! Great job on explaining the differences clearly in a non-biased way!
I'm touched so deeply by the openning song just at the first 2 seconds!!!
When you pair a Helix and a Variax Guitar the couple go to the stratosphere!!!! Is unbelievable!!! The way it sounds, flexibility , and is absolutely noiseless , great for recording and live sessions.
Great video! I have both but I choose the kemper. For me is way closer to the real thing and I hate the tweaking. I just like to start making music as quickly as possible without having to spend ages fiddling with knobs. I am also very pedantic when it comes to wah pedals so prefer some a bit more custom than just a one size fits all. The kemper for me is the closest thing to a real amp out there!
You put a lot of work in your videos. Thank you.
Great video man. Super helpful. Great job explaining the differences between the 2. Have used the lunchbox Kemper for several years and was just a little lack luster for me. Especially the onboard fx. Leaning towards a Helix all in one set up. Cheers!
Which of the two would I get? Hm... Quad Cortex :D Seriously though, I asked myself the same question when I decided to go full digital. I was leaning towards the Kemper even though the Kemper Stage wasn’t even announced yet, so it would have been Toaster + Remote. More stuff to carry, more expensive. But I knew the sounds would be there.
Then Helix came on the scene and while a lot of people judged that its amp sounds were just a tad beneath Kemper, I scoured TH-cam for comparisons and found: if you know what you’re doing, you’re going to get great sounds out of both of them. I went with the Helix LT because of the super flexible routing options and integrated pedal and who would have thought: I use the routing options much more than I ever thought I would! So for me it was the right call.
The Tilly burst is a best. Like the best parts of a gretsch met novo and a prs super eagle. And that popped out. Damn
*beast
Thank you for this clear and enlightening
video. I completely agree with your review of the units (I'm a Helix owner). Great job!!!
Just picked up a helix a few weeks ago. I debated picking up the kemper stage but ultimately it came down to price and the integrated expression pedal. I find the workflow incredibly easy considering all the things that you can do with your signal flow. I’ve also downloaded a few killer presets that have helped give me ideas on how to create my own presets and make them sound amazing. I’ve also downloaded a few impulse responses that have really made this thing sound killer! I’ve never owned or played a kemper, but all in all I have no regrets.
Rhett, have you ever profiled the Helix into the Kemper to see how well it does a Helix? I'm a Helix user...
Great vid, as always. One quibble: I used to think an attached expression pedal was a plus, until I realized that - as the most moving part - it was doomed to fail long before the rest of the board. And also ridiculously hard to repair/replace (as opposed to standard footswitches). Yeah, it’s an extra cable/pedal, but much easier to swap out. Also, you can choose a “wah/short throw” controller or a linear “volume” pedal based on your needs.
Good point!
Yea definitely a good point! Just look at how many Helix LT’s had failed expressions.
BTW I’ve owned pretty much every modern modeler including all the Helix Variants minus the rack, Fractal AX8 & FM3, Headrush, and Boss Multis. I’m not partial to a brand. I get whatever gets the job done easiest.
I recently bought a Kemper Stage and they must’ve really improved the efx section since this video? I’m thoroughly impressed with the effects, especially the delays and reverbs. The drives are as good as the fractal stuff.
Also, they now have the phone app, that’s an easy win for me!
Really great review, and I'm glad you kept it to features and your experiences. I'm in the Helix camp - for 2 years - so I am already biased. But I think you were right to break them down by "what type of player are you." Both are perfectly capable of making great tones... it just depends on your approach and what you are looking for.
Bravo!! This video production and playing is 🔥
Tried both using lots of different profiles and presets made for both. I prefer the Kemper above and beyond the Helix because the amp sounds on the Kemper just feel and sound a lot better.
MrDavemiley I wasn't feeling any of the high gain amps on the helix. Do you use high gain profiles on the kemper?
@@matthewf9500 I go from Dwight Yoakum to black Sabbath , SRV, ZZ Top, Sultans of swing. All sounded better with the Kemper . I thought The Helix had nice FX, just not real enough amp sounds
Matthew F I do. I have to add a pedal for better feel and sound too. They’re great for gigging guitarists but for home nope. Not getting rid of the amp that took a lifetime to find.
@@matthewf9500 If you want high gain metal sounding amps, check out the STL Tones packs. I agree the Helix can't compare to a Kemper
@@matthewf9500 I have a kemper and play a lot of Metal through it, have some profiles I made myself that I love and also some other ones I bought that are great! I just got the Messhugah ones and they are killer as well!
I own a Helix Rack with the foot controller and the M-Audio expression pedals so I'm arguably somewhat biased. One thing the Helix does really well is act as a home studio interface. The mic input and preamp are great. The routing abilities are excellent.
That said ... if I had unlimited money, I'll get an AxeFxIII now. It's way more tweakable than the Helix and the amp models sound better. It's about 30% more expensive here in Australia though so bang for buck, the Helix is still a good choice
I use the helix in a home studio. very versatile. The routing can do insane things
Love your playing dude. Nice work on the video
Hey Rhett! Love your vids, especially on the Helix and HX Stomp. I've been a Helix user for about 5 years now, and do about 200+ gigs a year. I mainly play Acoustic Blues, Soul, RnR, and instrumental Fingerstyle, and the Helix is amazing for all of it. Too bad there aren't many vids out there (that I've found) on Acoustic guitar sounds with the Helix. It can be done. :) Two things about the Helix I really appreciate along with everything you mentioned are A) the benefits of the scribble strips for each foot switch, and B) that each preset is like a new pedalboard. Just my 2 cents. Thanks for all you do! Later brother man.
Dear Rhett, What about Boss' GT1000 vs Helix? Do you have an opinion? Thanks a LOT!!!!
I got rid of my Helix after purchasing the GT1000. Polyphonic ability of the boss, plus seamless switching was the reason.
The simplicity of the Helix programming as top notch though.
@@icaboy nice comment
Interesting video thanks for all the info. I bought my Kemper when they came out and after fiddling with it, I have put it aside. After 3 years the USB port failed on the Kemper being used only about 10 times . I called Kemper, it was probably 3 weeks after the warranty had expired. They sit about 30 mins away from me. It would not be covered under their warranty and I would sent it via package to them. Which I never did. There is no easy support for me and I never used my Kemper again. The reliability of this gear is not for me.
If I was a Pro I would have no trust in such a behavior of the factory rep either.
So they only sold me one product in my life. Build quality is important to me.
Thanks again for your interesting comparison. Peace (also to Kemper)
Nice comparison. I didn't need a full blown Helix so I never pulled the trigger. When the HX Stomp came out it was exactly what I was looking for so I jumped on it. So far I love it as a home user. That's another Helix advantage. You can get in at several price points without sacrificing sound quality. You just get fewer features which some people may not need.
This is exactly the video I've been waiting to see. Thank you. This might be weird for a stranger on the internet to say, but...with all the new information you presented, I think you just changed my mind!
I Had the helix for a few years loved it great unit but i decided to sell it to purchase the kemper (toaster version not stage) as i was blown over with its capabilities watching videos on youtube so i took the plunge...18 months with the kemper and i wouldn't be without it now. The two units are diffent in many ways as described in this video so its not a like for like comparison but for me the kemper takes the win when all is concidered. Love your videos by the way you have a real honest and unbiased approach that genuinely helps us guys out! Great respect for that
Kemper. I had line6 and the kpa sounds more natural and dynamic, and foh is just phenomenal. Plus the kpa will serve the unit longer than line 6
Thank you for this video! I've bought a Helix last year, almost didn't touch it since then....life was complicated. Now I want to start to get into it....and to be honest...I already have a headache when I think of how complicated it is....at least that's what many people say. I really hope I will learn to use it.
This was a fantastic video - opinions aside I think you laid out the pros and cons very well and articulated them concisely. I'm not a professional musician, simply a hobbyist guitarist. I have been looking at both systems because I am primarily space constrained and need to be able to achieve a good sound at low volumes and I like to fiddle with effects and presets. I've been leaning toward the Helix for a long time because I'm familiar with Line 6 effects and agree they are top notch. This video was what tipped the balance strongly in favor of the Helix. I am planning the purchase of a Helix very soon. Thanks!
You’re the working class hero of the guitarists of the world no joke
Really admire the consistency of your playing, kudos
Great video! I wish Kemper would make a smaller pedal about the size of a Strymon Timeline that I could run at the end of my Pedalboard. They’ve definitely got the amp simulation down.
That intro solo was devastating! So good.
Thanks Rhett I gotta choose cause I'm getting one or the other for Christmas. Will be for church and gigging around town where my Amp is too much.and I've never used either before so your experience in this area is helping a lot.
I don’t understand why Kemper didn’t give the Stage a better user interface, that would’ve given them so much edge over Line 6 and Fractal
Cody Carrig yep, Headrush kills all of them in that regard!
@@officialWWM Headrush does have a cool touchscreen interface, but Helix is still the best unit for sure. I have all three and I'm trying to sell my Headrush. I never use it at all.
Chris Taggart depends what you want it for. I think Helix is great for recording or if your an endless tinkerer. For me, I just use it live. To be able yo dial up a great tone with a few basic effects in a few seconds makes the HR far superior for my needs. I also think is sounds better. I also have the Helix but it does my head in, lol.
So true. They’ve had 10 years to make this thing more useable. They are good on the sound side. Poor on the software side.
it sounds like an extremely nitpicky thing, however the lack of scribble strips is really what kills them kemper for me. And the interface is fine for an amp, but if you want to quickly adjust something on the stage at a gig, you're there for a while
Also if you own a Helix you can pick up Helix Native for $99. You can bring over your Helix patches unmodified and use them in your DAW with a dry signal and then make changes to your Helix parameters in the plugin.
Does that also hold if you own a Stomp?
@@driesvanoosten4417 Yes it does
Can't believe they don't give it to you for free.
but Helix is made in China and Kemper in Germany. I don't buy Chinese made products if I can help avoid it.
Renaissance Man The reason being... what exactly?
Amazing video Rhett! If I ever go to buy one of these products, I'll make sure to keep all of this in mind!
Thanks for helping me to decide between these two modelers :)
great video !
I think you may be selling the Kemper short on "tweakability". The amp profile (essentially a model as the result of profiling) has some pretty deep editing capabilities that can seriously alter the tone from the base model. In the right hands, it's no less tweakable than a modeller. The virtually endless number of freely downloadable amp profiles gets you to a good starting point and the deep tone tweaking gets you dialed in quickly. I like the Helix tóo. My bandmate uses the Helix and the tone quality is comparable. Where I see the difference is in software/firmware. Kemper is constantly adding enhancements. The new acoustic sim and additional OD stomps and delays are really good.
I run helix and I have for about 2 years now and it has been amazing!
Thank you for your video. It has been very useful for making my decision about wich gear to buy.
Thanks Rhett, very useful!!
Kemper as a great sounding amp, Helix as a great home user interface and effects pedalboard.
A "Helix as a great home user..."?? Both items are home, recording, and on stage.
Troll
What was happening to the cymbals? It was almost like back in the day when a midi device didn't have enough polyphony.
the drum mix was a great example of what to never do
@@tylrbass lol why...
Sounds like they had the hi hat being choked by the "close hi hat" sound and the cymbals were just so loud and fizzy that it couldn't be ignored lmao
Wow! Amazing sound, great quality. Good job, man! 👏🏻👍🏻
A great and balanced overview of these excellent pieces of kit. I bought the Helix to replace a few amps and pedals, to get rid of the clutter - I only play at home these days. I don't find the Helix as accessible as an amp/pedal set up BUT it took me a while to realise why ........... there are soooooo many options, almost to the point that I spent more time learning "Helix" and tweeking than playing. I thought I was going to be able to plug in, switch on and play, which you can do, but you may be disappointed with what comes out i.e. it didn't sound like the YT vids straight out of the box. It takes a little investment of time because it ain't "amps and pedals", it's a computer. I had to be less lazy and put some work in, more than I expected to. I love it now though for all the reasons Rhett gave, I just found it hard work at the beginning. Now if Line 6 started to have a profiling facility ............. nah, the complexity would scare the s**t out of me. Enjoyed the comparison .......... oh, and I still haven't got rid of my amps and pedals so I have even more clutter now.
Having owned all the modelers, I went Axe FX 3. Love the Helix interface, love the Kemper feel, but Fractal puts everything together with bleeding edge amp modeling and in my opinion the best effects. They're all fun toys though!
I live in the UK where the axe fx 3 is £1000 MORE than the Helix and £500 more than the Kemper. For a £1000 difference between the Helix and the Axe fx, it is a no brainer to get the Helix and the customisation it offers.
does the Axe feel as good/real as the Kemper?
So I hear you on the expression pedal issue. I do think those are “high wear” items so it could be a benefit to have a separate pedal for that so you can swap out. But I definitely get where you are coming from.
This is what I thought as well. The solid-state Kemper will last years longer than a mechanical pedal. I think that's why they made it external.
Wow! What a great video! Very informative, thank you for this.
Great comparison! Thank you for making this vid!!