Kemper KPA vs. Axe-FX II (Yes, another one...please read!)

  • I don't know how you guys have so much time to argue! I am sitting here with my Tone King rig getting the most incredible stray cat strut tone ever and loving every minute ;) I do wish I could type and play at the same time. Hmmm. Maybe if I practice just a bit longer .....

  • <br />
    I can't tell that these cables are &quot;uncommon&quot; by any means. If you connect a USB printer, a USB scanner, a USB audio interface, a USB MIDI keyboard, many other manageable USB audio gear (Korg Kronos, TC Helicon VoiceLive Rack, Roland SPD-SX, ... on my side) you'll need these USB A -&gt; USB B cables. And they should be cheap and easy to get. :)


    That's why I said, "Other than printers or audio gear."

    Edited once, last by mbrown3 ().


  • What am I missing?


    Nothing. This is becoming like the shipping issue on the Fractal forum. I simply mentioned that I don't have any of these old school USB cables lying around, and that I'd have to find out. Apparently folks took issue that I called it "old school" so I clarified that I meant that audio gear and printers are the only things that use them. That's all. Not sure why this is an issue.

  • mbrown3, profiling your own amp gear should get you excellent authentic A-B comparison results. :)
    Looking forward to some clips, will you share any profiles?
    Since you've probably read many of the vs threads over the years, like your headline indicates, there isn't any new information that changes anything that's already been written in thousands of posts. It's all repeated over and over and will not result in any new information.
    It is a bit surprising though that you've barely not heard any clean sounds from either unit, only heavily processed cleans, despite the enormous amount of videos and sound clips available over the years + music albums made.
    The bottom line still remains. The kemper will have the authentic sound and feel/response from YOUR real amp rig and that is a big difference. Modelers like the Axe fx have company programmed versions of how they think amps should be. Both technologies can sound great and allow for plenty of tweaking, but authenticity matters to a lot of players. One of the reasons the topic is frequent is the marketing claims from Fractal, saying each firmware has more real amp modeling. It has been marketed like that every fw for years, it was 120% real years ago.


    As I wrote on the first page in this thread.


    It's easy for everybody to truly test the Fractal marketing claims that every new Axe fx 2 firmware have amp modeling that sounds better than the previous fw by doing a blind test random comparison with all of them. Record a reamped track through each firmware using the same IR and let you and all your friends rank them. Each person listens alone so nobody can influnce judgement. And only random audio, no looking at wave curves. Perform this blind test 10-20 times. Nobody will get a 1-18 result, far from it. And it will be different each time. Playing guitar directly through each firmware takes a bit longer to do, but the results will also show the same thing. To make it even more interesting include sound reamps from Axe fx standard and Ultra fw.


    If the marketing is true, the test result would show a very clear preference of Axe fx 2 pointing from 1-18.
    With my studio friends the results are completely random all over the place since tone is 100% subjective. Also, very important, fractal doesn't provide a real amp rig for the users to directly compare with in the first place. This type of fw marketing is endless going and is very effective since it creates a buzz in the users brain reward signal system. Companies do this everyday in marketing for various products.


    If Fractal really had confidence in their marketing claims that each firmware update is an improvement in amp modeling sound, wouldn't this blindtest be the ultimate marketing tool for them, to show how each firmware is so much better as it's marketed to be? Many kemper users do this since day 1 and make sure the tones captured from their real amp rig are the same after each fw update.

  • Wow... Hatefest in the house.


    I had an axe fx ultra. Was nice.
    Bought the Kemper and the ultra was sold in 1 week. Haven't played through Axe 2, but with the Kemper, I have no desire to look elsewhere.


    It's personal preference, folks!

    I am a Profile Whore... Sometimes a Recovering Profile Whore...
    but mostly a Complete and Utter Profile Whore... I want them all... aCk!!! 8|:love:

  • @mbrown3 its your negative wording that gets really tiring. Read your postings again and you will find that there's an underlying negativity in the way you express yourself. The way you present yourself is the way people perceive you and react to you.


    I just read through my postings again...sorry but I don't see any negativity. I think people see what they expect to see. To my point, there seem to only be a couple of people that respond as if I'm negative. Most folks don't seem to have an issue with me (nor I with them).

    Edited once, last by mbrown3 ().

  • mbrown3, profiling your own amp gear should get you excellent authentic A-B comparison results. :)
    Looking forward to some clips, will you share any profiles?


    Definitely, once I figure out how to do it.


    Since you've probably read many of the vs threads over the years, like your headline indicates, there isn't any new information that changes anything that's already been written in thousands of posts. It's all repeated over and over and will not result in any new information.


    I'm not sure what the point of firmware updates is, then. They don't introduce any new features/improvements? I would hope that three year old threads would NOT have accurate information any more (because that means the product really hasn't been refined over time).


    It is a bit surprising though that you've barely not heard any clean sounds from either unit, only heavily processed cleans, despite the enormous amount of videos and sound clips available over the years + music albums made.


    Do a youtube search for clean tones and see what comes back. There are a few, but not many. So I'm not sure why that's surprising. If there are some that I'm missing, I'm glad to know about them. Keep in mind, of course, that you can't tell much from online clips anyway...I'm just curious to compare tones, etc. But none of that is going to usurp my own first-hand experience and ears. So it's not that big of a deal that there aren't a ton. It's just an observation: there are far more high gain tones (for both the KPA and Axe) than clean tones.

  • mbrown, have you already visited wikpa.org? There are a number of clips there.


    I hadn't, though I just tried to find some clean tones there...no go (unless I'm missing them, which is absolutely possible). I did LOVE the punchy blues tone from David Krasucki...awesome. John Huldt's chicken pickin playing is awesome too. That's about as close to clean tone as I can find there, though it's hard to really hear the tone (if that makes sense). It does sound good, but the playing is fantastic.

  • Definitely, once I figure out how to do it.


    I hope you find the answer in all the links provided, manual and profiling tutorial videos.
    Ask on the forum if you have any profiling questions. :)


    I'm not sure what the point of firmware updates is, then. They don't introduce any new features/improvements?


    Since you work with marketing you must have a good understanding how different marketing strategies works.
    Suggestion is a powerful tool https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias
    I'm not talking about new features, I'm talking about the claims that the modeled amp tones are improved and more real every new fw.
    Where is the source amp to compare the realness with each time? It's a strategy that can be milked forever.
    Many should try the random clip blind test of all the firmwares I posted about and do it several times. The result will not be 1-18.


    Do a youtube search for clean tones and see what comes back. There are a few, but not many. So I'm not sure why that's surprising.


    It's extremely rare and unlikely that uploaders tag or headline their videos or forum clips with clean, od or dist.
    You are missing out on the majority of clean clips if that's how you search for sounds. You have to go through them all and also see links posted on forums.
    Some links from the second post in this long thread.


    kemper profiling video tutorials, some clean clips
    http://www.wikpa.org/Profiling_Tutorials#Videos


    Scroll down this list of about 300 producers & bands using kempers live & on albums.
    Songs, videos & information. Some clean clips to be found as well.
    http://www.wikpa.org/Various_stuff


    Here is a thread that explains the differences between profiling & eq tone/amp matching.
    http://www.kemper-amps.com/for…?postID=176676#post176676
    Link to full kemper manual & other downloads on the homepage.
    http://www.kemper-amps.com/pag…mplifier___Downloads.html


  • My comment was specifically in response to the statement: "...there isn't any new information that changes anything that's already been written in thousands of posts. It's all repeated over and over and will not result in any new information." If this were true, it would mean firmware updates are pointless, for both companies. I asked *again* because I assumed updates had added new features and refined existing ones. But I understand the point you're trying to make.

  • A few of the videos from the video profiling tutorial link. Some clean sounds.
    http://www.wikpa.org/Profiling_Tutorials#Videos


    Kemper Nashville profiling session - Dave Cleveland @ Sunset Blvd Studio - 60s Princeton Amp by Tyler.

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    Kemper Nashville profiling session - Dave Cleveland's Matchless amp.

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    Italian Kemper profiling session using a Fender Super-Sonic Twin combo, 2012 at the studio Emerald Recording.

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    Kemper Amps Profiling Demonstration Live on Air with John Huldt on The Flo Guitar Enthusiasts )

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  • I hadn't, though I just tried to find some clean tones there...no go (unless I'm missing them, which is absolutely possible). I did LOVE the punchy blues tone from David Krasucki...awesome. John Huldt's chicken pickin playing is awesome too. That's about as close to clean tone as I can find there, though it's hard to really hear the tone (if that makes sense). It does sound good, but the playing is fantastic.


    In order for there to be a "tone", unfortunately someone has to be playing. :)


    Go to my Soundcloud page, you'll find pure clean tones that I recorded in 2011 before the Kemper even released, using the very first Kemper Profiles, the very first firmware and before there was such a thing as "Commercial" Profiles...all the Profiles I used were un-tweaked and in your Kemper right now.


    Listen to the "Bad Cat, "AC 30", "The Chief" soundclips.

  • Wow just read through this thread, was actually quite helpful.
    Now I want an Kemper even more - Great tone without a fuss. Thanks for all the contributions and helpful comments.
    OP go check out the tones on guitartones soundcloud page. Some of them are REALLY nice!

  • A few of the videos from the video profiling tutorial link. Some clean sounds.
    http://www.wikpa.org/Profiling_Tutorials#Videos


    LOL, I'm stupid. When I read, "Kemper Profiling Demonstration," etc, I thought they were just demonstrating how to capture a profile. I've already watched some of those, so I thought, "I don't really need to see that again." And the ones I watched had maybe 20-30 seconds of playing to compare the two tones. Helpful, but not exactly exhaustive samples. These have some great extended amounts of playing...THANK YOU.