Opinions from Axe Fx II owners that switched to Kemper Profiling Amp

  • I've owned a axe fx standard, Ultra and axe fx II and never was totally happy with the amps but loved the effects. I also hated all the tweaking on the axe mostly after every firmware upgrade. I'm thinking about getting a Kemper and wanted to know opinions from people that have switched from axe fx to Kemper. How do the amp tones compare and the effects compare to each other? I like using a harmonizer for some solos and wondered how good is the one in the Kemper? Any help would be appreciated.

  • Former Ultra and Axe II user here.
    My personal evaluation was that the Axe had to go after comparing it with the Profiler in the same room on the same system. Amp tones IMO were much better on the Profiler.
    YMMV, and I hope this doesn't become one of 'those' threads.
    My recommendation is if you're not entirely happy with the Axe you should definitely try the Profiler.
    The harmonizer n the Profiler is the best of all available BTW.

  • I currently own both the Axe FX XL with FW 18 and the Kemper with 2.74 (since I dont use their foot controller and prefer the tonality of the Studio profiles).I love them both and would be hard pressed to give up either. They both have features and sounds that I value highly.

  • I have the AxeFX Standard, AxeFX II and the KPA Rack.
    The tones are better in the KPA for sure - it takes almost no real effort to find great tones.
    I too use the intelligent harmonizer in the AxeFX and play a lot of live shows as the only guitarist - so I *need* it for some songs.
    Unfortunately, the KPA just can't cut it like the AxeFX can when it comes to the harmonizer. For a couple songs, it can be passable...but there are a couple songs that I just can't get the harmonizer to sound good on no matter what I try.
    For basic effects - the KPA is fine. Due to the weak harmonizer implementation, it just can't replace my AxeFX yet for live use.
    Some guys will swear that the KPA harmonizer is just fine, but my guess is that they've never seen how awesome the AxeFX harmonizer is.


    The only other complaints that I have are that there is no PC editor - which some people think is just perfectly fine - but I'm not one of those. When you have your gear in a shockmount rack that sits low to the floor, doing any extensive tweaking isn't feasible if you have to lay on the ground or try to lift a 100+ pound rack up onto a table. The lack of a PC editor is simply unreasonable.


    Secondly, I don't use the Kemper Remote - I use a Ground Control Pro and spending another fortune for a dedicated controller that takes forever to obtain when I have a perfectly good controller is dumb. The midi implementation is very basic compared to that of the AxeFX. If you do any advanced midi control or have a controller that can't be set to a specific PC/CC number, be ready for a slap in the face in terms of how basic the midi "flexibility" is.
    You know how on the AxeFX, you can control just about anything with any CC# if you hit the "Learn" button and hit a switch on your controller? None of that in the KPA, it has specific PC/CC#s only.
    I picked up a small Randall RF8 controller that I added to my Ground Control Pro just to handle the looper control and other various things like tap tempo and such - the AxeFX works awesome with it. The KPA can't do much of anything with it because it's not the right CC#s that the KPA needs. It can only do basic PC changes.
    The common response is to just buy the Kemper Remote - which I think is a ridiculous argument. Sure the AxeFX has the MFC101, but I've never needed it because the Ground Control Pro can do anything that the MFC101 can do pretty much. Another small annoyance is that the Kemper looper which is available when you use the Remote -- is not available from a standard midi controller because it uses NPRN midi to control it; which most third party midi controllers can't do. Thinking that that is acceptable is kind of dumb since the AxeFX looper can be accessed via standard midi control on any CC number you want.
    I used to use continuous controller pedals to roll between a high gain amp block and a clean amp block in the same preset while also bringing in a different row of effects for each or for controlling different parameters of different effects...be prepared to lose that flexibility when you go to the Kemper.


    There are a couple other small annoyances when coming from the AxeFX -- but overall, the Kemper is a monster and is definitely worth the plunge based on tone alone.
    I'm not an AxeFX or Kemper fanboy - I have both and both do different things better than the other.
    Unfortunately, it's just not realistic to carry around both. I tried using the KPA in the loop of the AxeFX and using the AxeFX for control and effects and the KPA as tone only -- works great but still lacks some flexibility and it's just too damn much gear to haul around to every weekend bar gigs.

  • When I had a chance to try out the Kemper, I didn't compare the sound and feel of the Kemper to the Axe. I compared it directly to my '80s Marshall Silver Jubilee, and my '60s Fender Deluxe Reverb. My studio profiles of my own amps sounded and felt just like my own amps do through studio monitors. At gig volume, it feels just like the Marshall, but can be turned down when necessary (unlike the Marshall).


    The effects in the Kemper are very good (I'm coming from a TC Electronic G-Force/G-System perspective - there are not as many parameters in the Kemper, but it doesn't take as many of them to provide musical results from the FX).


    It has a very capable harmonizer in it. What kind of harmonies do you use?

  • Thanks for the replies. My number one priority is amp tone when it comes to getting the Kemper. I only do simple harmony stuff like Thin Lizzy, Iron Maiden, Kansas, Boston and stuff like that usually one harmony of a 3rd or 5th. I was just wondering how good the tracking was and the sound of it. I was also wondering how the micro pitch compared to eventide for the Van Halen sound. I have a Strymon Mobius if I'm not totally happy with the mod effects in the Kemper and also a Digitech IPS33B if the harmonizer doesn't work out. Also is the Delay pretty good in the Kemper?

  • From what I've heard you can't go wrong with neither. The thing about the Kemper is that you can have any amp you want. Not that you can't with the Axe, but you better be a pro in tweaking and eqing, and I'm still not sure if dynamics would be same though. I my self wanted that PRS Archon since I've heard it, but since it's relatively new, that wouldn't be possible with the Axe. The other decision point to me it was the price, here in Europe you can buy a Kemper for 1600€, while the Axe FX II costs around 2500€. To me there's no 900€ sound difference between those two, in fact I'm quite sure I'd be getting better tones with the Kemper since it's more user friendly IMO and my skills with tweaking are abismal.

  • Since this old thread was resurrected:


    The Eventide H910 was a 1970s harmonizer. In addition to using it for actual harmony parts, it should be used as a Micropitch chorus, if you set the Pitch Shift to 1.01. It was a mono device, so, they were typically used in a stereo pair, one set to 1.01 and the other set to 0.99.


    According to a 2010 article in Electronic Musician magazine, it was used by Zappa, EVH, and Page. It was also used for vocals by Journey, Winwood, Hall and Oates, Rush ( and many others)