Kemper VS Axefx2 shootout through poweramp and mic'd up cabinet. TWO NEW TESTS!

  • IMO, the AxeFX part of the second sample of this post doesn't sound as good as the Kemper one. In that sample, Kemper sounds like an amp while the AxeFX sounds like a modeler. I don't hear it as rich as the Kemper part.


    This is why I bought a Kemper and not an Axe, but it's a matter of taste and I understand that the opposite opinion is as valid as my own.


    By the way, thank you very much for the shootout! :thumbup:

  • Thank you for the comment. I know who is Scott Peterson, but that demo doesn't sound real to me no matter what equipment I use to listen to it... and I have some good equipment.


    Its not the gear listen to the playing \/

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    I see the guy is using the new "preamp' modelling now! ...every firmware its some new custom IR mix or advanced parameter tweak and his tone still sounds like shit


    As a person who has a lot of experience with both units (for the fractal gear both the ultra and the II right down to very early Ultra FW) I think there is no reason you couldn't get a great tone out of the kemper or the axe


    For me the killer was the endless retweaking of presets after every FW update (and that includes trying to recreate my patches in the II!)
    Both great units regardless

  • Thank you for the comment. I know who is Scott Peterson, but that demo doesn't sound real to me no matter what equipment I use to listen to it... and I have some good equipment.


    Hmm....maybe I communicated my thoughts in an insensitive way....sorry....
    My thoughts on the sound wasn't an indictment of your sound system....or ability to play the tones back.....Just that we often get a crappy capture of what someone is playing. Your position clearly is the same as the computer programming edict "Garbage In/Garbage Out." Sounds less real to you regardless of your equipment....Gotcha.....


    I love the side by side comparisons....I'm certain each camp can get someone to tweak tones to be nearly identical in quality. I prefer a Kemper for both my tweaking needs and my ears..... Sorry if my comment offended. Didn't mean to ;).


  • Yeah :). That does sound like shit. LOL........Not sure what the point of the clip was, but I wouldn't be buying or impressed with that as my example.

  • Here's my argument why i think that Kemper >Axefx2: (from a metal players perspective)


    I think that kemper sound just as good as a real mic'd up guitar rig and so do some of the world most renowned metal producers:
    The following songs were recorded using kemper on all guitars tracks:


    Andy Sneap:
    Amon amarth: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpAcxbtXUgQ
    ACCEPT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbUXHTWZ9vk


    Colin Richardson:
    Trivium: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIvSXocE6YY
    Carcass: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KKYJD09qCk


    Jason Suecof:
    Death Angel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GS2x1nqJgkY (you can even see the kemper in the music video :D )
    The Black Dahlia Murder: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4kCyXLwhN0


    Lasse lammert:
    Alestorm: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f55CqLc6IR0

    (I can give you evidence that they are really using kemper on all those tracks if someone doesn't believe me.)


    I have never heard of a famous metal producer using Axefx2.on a recording. Well maybe for djent...
    Axefx2:
    Deftones:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvyHNyWfQRQ
    Periphery: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pskj9sbffg

    Listening to those music videos i don't think that these professional axefx2 recordings sound like a "real" mic'd up amp. They sound very processed/scooped which off course some people like. Not my cup off tea.


    On fractal audios "artist" page they have a lot big names on there but all the big names such as metallica, petrucci, megadeth but they ALL use real real amps on recording. They don't use axefx2's cabsimulator on recordings.
    "Marco Sfogli" who is also on fractals "artist" page didn't use axefx2's cabsimulator for recording guitars for dream theater singer James Labrie's soloproject, he used Two Notes Audio Engineering Torpedo Live: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HglHt_IWO2o


    For me the end result is the most important. It doesn't matter to me if the Axefx2 has a lot more functions/FX's/routing possibilities etc.when the amp/cabsimulation isn't great so the end result won't sound great.
    I've honestly never heard a axefx2 recording that sounded stunning. Please send me a clip if you have honestly.


    With the kemper I can have WORLDCLASS mixready guitar sound if i buy the right profile from the right metal producer.It's a dream come true for amature players with zero mixing skills like myself.
    Here's a clip of my expensive profile done by a professional metalproducer in action: https://soundcloud.com/tolszowy/riffsandbeards2
    I dare anyone to find any axefx2 cabsim recording amature or professional with guitar sound as good as in this clip!


    After testing the axefx2 and kemper side by side for three days i'm more convinced then ever: Cabsimulation is a LOT better. Sounds more like a real amp thru poweramp and cabinet. Volume knob dynamics are better. And it's a lot cheaper. I think it's a no brainer. 8)


    Rant off and good night! :D

  • I own both units and use them both. Fractal has made significant improvement but IMHO, I'm inclined to agree with Vai, and Petrucci who both use the AXFx for the effects section, not tone matching. High gain amps definitely sound much better and more natural on the Kemper, especially when listening to note trails and decays. It is also quite challenging to get the noise level under control with high-gain stomp boxes with the Fractal, but not with the Kemper. So for me, it's apples and oranges..