The GSP 1101 was (and is, somehow) very good for the price. I still keep it though the Kemper has made me forget about the good old bloke.
Had a 2101 back in the '90s. CJ.
It had some killer "shred" sounds. Didn't even audition the cleans, which is hilarious 'cause I can't shred.
IIRC, it used a 12AX7 tube in conjunction with "modelling" to achieve its tonez. Superb unit overall 'though; I miss its "coolness". The FX were excellent, as one might expect from Digitech.
I had a AA, used ownhammer IRs. Not bad but still lacked dynamics. The main problem was the lack of amp models. There were I think like 20-30 models and most sounded bad. The marshall and plexi and mark 5 and twin reverb were good. The rest sucked. With the kemper I can get any amp there is. IRs aren't enough to do that.
The GSP 1101 was (and is, somehow) very good for the price. I still keep it though the Kemper has made me forget about the good old bloke.
I got a question for you on the gsp, do the amp models include power amp modeling or are they preamp only, or is the poweramp only in the cab? I just see allot of people using them with a tube poweramp and not a linear poweramp. They say that the gsp "warms up" or sounds better in a tube amp. I know allot of modelers can benefit form a tube amp but say I can use DI amp models from the kemper into a tube poweramp its just too much coloration.
studio profiles include the miked cab, and direct profiles must go thru an amp and a cab, or an active cab that is not flat. The direct profile would sound otherwise like a preamp going direct, that is, YUK!! ! Solid state amps either A/B or D are better because the Kemper profile combines preamp and power amp and a tube amp may colour the sound too much when driven hard. Still, some tube colour may sound good but the tubes would alter the original sound. A transparent amp and cab is the way to go to make the PA or headphones sound close to what you hear on your stage cab.
studio profiles include the miked cab, and direct profiles must go thru an amp and a cab, or an active cab that is not flat. The direct profile would sound otherwise like a preamp going direct, that is, YUK!! ! Solid state amps either A/B or D are better because the Kemper profile combines preamp and power amp and a tube amp may colour the sound too much when driven hard.
okay I get that, but back tot he gsp 1101 does it have full amp modeling?
Sure but in a Pod like embrionic way. the later 2101 was a better product. Both were meant to be used into a recorder or PA thru Xlr or line outs.
I can get some really good tones out of the HD500x... After a good bit of tweaking. I can get a great tone out of the Kemper by double clicking a stock rig, in Rig Manager. If I do need to tweak, it is very minor, unless I'm trying to match the exact tone of a song on an album.
Sure but in a Pod like embrionic way. the later 2101 was a better product. Both were meant to be used into a recorder or PA thru Xlr or line outs.
I thought the 2101 was before the gap 1101, I'm only curious cause I'd like a beater modeler for those gigs I don't want to take my Kemper
I thought the 2101 was before the gap 1101, I'm only curious cause I'd like a beater modeler for those gigs I don't want to take my Kemper
Perhaps you are right. I never tried the 2101, and it's been a while. I can't remember. As a standby the 1101 sounds good. Good effects and a pretty decent emulation plus one single rack space, so it is not a bad option for the price, but you should try it. For rock it is good overall. It's all subjective. Second hand Pods of the second generation may be another option.
I thought the 2101 was before the gap 1101, I'm only curious cause I'd like a beater modeler for those gigs I don't want to take my Kemper
Yes, the Digitech GSP2101 was much earlier then the GSP1101.
The GSP2101 came out in 1993. The predecessor to the GSP2101 was the GSP21 (which I once owned, lol).
The GSP1101 was launched in 2007. I still have mine, which has been gathering dust ever since I got my Kemper.
The GSP1101 was greatly improved by the unofficial (non-Digitech approved) introduction of firmware C63, which allowed the loading of 3rd-party IRs. I believe the C63 was developed by former Digitech engineer, in his spare time, and in an unofficial capacity.
With all that said, I still prefer my original Vox Valvetronix "Blue Series" AD120VTH head, to the Digitech GSP1101. It is a shame that every subsequent generation of the Valvetronix series has been a significant step back from their original "Blue" series. It is like Vox decided to completely buck the trend and break the paradigm in which digital technology improves and advances over time. 
Cheers,
John
Yeah, from memory the 2101 wasn't realistic IMHO. It just had great shredding, mix-cutting tones... and looked really cool in my rack. Memory is hazy as that was 22 years ago. The POD 1.0, which I sold it for, had a much-greater variety of tones, and sounded warmer, although it didn't have the cut and bite of the 2101. Plenty of cream 'though by comparison.
I can get some really good tones out of the HD500x... After a good bit of tweaking.
Yeah, my "good bit of tweaking" took nearly 3 years, but I got there eventually. Many compromises had to be made in order to eliminate the scratchiness, meaning that when all was said and done I only had a very-narrow range of tonal adjustability to work with. The latency, which I debated extensively on the L6 site, got to me in the end, hence my move to Kemper.
I haven't used the 1101 for years. The Axe Fx blew it all away and later the Kemper. And yet, dynamics and feel aside, the Pod, Vox Tonelab and Digitech or Boss gear were then a better alternative than recording an amp at home. I remember ART and Rocktron gear in the early days of solid state emulation (with or without some preamp tube to warm up things), and how it did the job too. Perhaps in a few years' time the Kemper is a dinosaur too, but the potential improvement in amp emulation seems way smaller now.
Agreed, CJ.
This gets back to what I was trying to get across to Nightlight when he chose to try recording amps at home instead of using his Kemper. All modellers, including the dinosaur ones, provided colours and textures without all the gremlins that find their way into home-recorded amps.
Forgetting fancy-assed treated premises with schmicko preamps and mic's, in "normal" music rooms, we have noise, both electrical and acoustic, room modes (resonances), harsh, non-diffuse reflections, unwanted feedback, the journey of determining the ideal mic distance and angle, and probably less-than stellar preamps.
The net effect is generally one of the resulting tracks' sounding boxy, boomy or harsh, or all three, and being tricky-to-mix.
I've still got a Line 6 AxSys 212, which was the first ever modelling amp AFAIK. Once I get my Kemper dialed in I'll try to make time to do a comparison. The first vs the latest and greatest.
I like Andertons and Chappers a lot. In fact, I lived close to the shop for some time 
They have a great attitude and are both great players (I know Captain Andertons is not as highly regarded, but his vibrato is very unique; and it's not like we all have to shred). Also these videos are not meant to be too "scientific-like" anyway, which is fine - the focus is sometimes a bit more on the "fun" side of things.
A few comments though...
1) Pod can sound way better than seen here. I guarantee that! So can the amplifire. Aaaaand so can kemper.
2) A more comparative test could also consider how the units do with similar cab emulation, just to see how the amp sims themselves fare against each other. It's still a bit difficult to come up with an "objective" test in this case though as kemper can have so many profiles of the same amps. You also need to make sure if you need direct profiles for this or not, depending on how accurate the "cab off" kemper function is.
Thinking of how to do such tests myself, I have sometimes loaded a KPA profile that was highly regarded. And then I preferred the tone of another modeler in the comparison. But I didn't feel this was fair so didn't proceed posting anywhere -- I ended up re-doing the test but using a few kemper profiles of the same amp, and a few fared much better against the other units. Kemper came out on top in that scenario by quite a margin, of course to my own taste.
2) Chappers made a comment about KPA sounding better through guitar cab than FRFR. I think that may be due to his experience using a powered kemper at home through cab a lot and also during the famous test with amp vs kpa (through cab) that left a big impression on him. He previously thought kemper did not "feel" as good as amplifire. I may be totally wrong, but it seems to me inductively likely that this was due to playing the ampifire through not only a real cab, but also the power section of one of his amps vs the first, early impression he had of kemper through monitors (I think they were monitors, not even FRFR; but not sure).
In other words: I don't think kemper has anything "unique" about it that makes it sound better through a cab but comparatively deficient when run through FRFR or monitors. To me KPA sounds "like it does" (depending on profile) through both cab and FRFR or monitors considering the differences that exist due to the monitoring medium, which is the causal factor for the differences in tone, feel, ect, ect. But it's the same, really, even with my laney + loadbox.
If I'd note something about guitar cab, it's that the built in power amp of kemper, even though great for what it does, may not give you the exact "fee" of a tube power stage... but couple kemper with something like a Fryette Power Station and you get that "feel" back as well if you think it's missing when running through guitar cab.
Cheerios
They (Rabea) also state that the reason they use victory amps live is because they push more air through the cabs
Fryette Power Station, my big friend + kemper = all the air you like 
I have done the paradigmen change from a linear 800 watt power amp with a mesa boogie 2x12 celestion v30 to frfr. The first time was a little difficult but at this time i wont play another setup. Cab sim on and welcome to a wonderful world where you have all possibilities. You swap the cabs in seconds and you can choose cab and mics to your likes. I really dig that.
Cheers
Frank
Yeah, from memory the 2101 wasn't realistic IMHO. It just had great shredding, mix-cutting tones... and looked really cool in my rack. Memory is hazy as that was 22 years ago. The POD 1.0, which I sold it for, had a much-greater variety of tones, and sounded warmer, although it didn't have the cut and bite of the 2101. Plenty of cream 'though by comparison.
Yeah, my "good bit of tweaking" took nearly 3 years, but I got there eventually. Many compromises had to be made in order to eliminate the scratchiness, meaning that when all was said and done I only had a very-narrow range of tonal adjustability to work with. The latency, which I debated extensively on the L6 site, got to me in the end, hence my move to Kemper.
I didn't notice the latency on the HD500, but I was strictly using it through the DT25. I didn't hook it up to the computer, for anything other than updates, other than maybe twice just to mess around with it. Maybe now that I've used the Kemper I would notice it more.
I think you would, Patrick.
You were no doubt using the L6 proprietary "Link" protocol for hookup to the amp. This would've saved the D/A and subsequent A/D conversion necessary if you'd, say, gone analogue out from the '500 to analogue in of the amp.
Also, I was using a Variax through the VDI connection. Said connection also saves some D/A and then A/D time, so I can only assume it would've been intolerable (for me) had I gone the conventional-jack route from the Variax. It felt spongy and "disconnected" as it was, something that disappeared the instant I hooked up to the Kemper. The L6 sales guys at the forum kept telling me that I shouldn't have been able to hear the latency, but I heard and felt it every time I struck a note, even through headphones, which eliminates at least 3ms due to the air-travel distance's being cut to a few centimetres.
Oh well, I'm so glad that's all behind me. Between the scratchiness, neck and backaches from years of hovering over the thing trying to tweak some cream out of it, and the latency, which greatly affected the feel of it, it amounted to a huge, nightmarish waste of time. More power to those who got along well with the unit, I reckon; I did my best and failed.
A thought that crossed my mind every few seconds or minutes whilst tweaking was that the early PODs only required a "little twiddle" of a few knobs and you had cream, the one thing I spent years trying to coax out of the thing. Didn't feel like progress to me, and I even dreamed of getting a POD 1.0 or PODxt unit if and when I chose to give up. Ridiculous, really, but it goes to show that usability and pleasant tones can be more-important than "authenticity" sometimes, in the right circumstances, and my body (and mind) were screaming, "now's the time, you idiot!". 
Thank God I remembered the Kemper, which had been in the back of my mind to check out since 2012. A couple of PooToob videos later, I was sold, and the moment I plugged it in (2 months later), I was in love. 
Display MoreI think you would, Patrick.
You were no doubt using the L6 proprietary "Link" protocol for hookup to the amp. This would've saved the D/A and subsequent A/D conversion necessary if you'd, say, gone analogue out from the '500 to analogue in of the amp.
Also, I was using a Variax through the VDI connection. Said connection also saves some D/A and then A/D time, so I can only assume it would've been intolerable (for me) had I gone the conventional-jack route from the Variax. It felt spongy and "disconnected" as it was, something that disappeared the instant I hooked up to the Kemper. The L6 sales guys at the forum kept telling me that I shouldn't have been able to hear the latency, but I heard and felt it every time I struck a note, even through headphones, which eliminates at least 3ms due to the air-travel distance's being cut to a few centimetres.
Oh well, I'm so glad that's all behind me. Between the scratchiness, neck and backaches from years of hovering over the thing trying to tweak some cream out of it, and the latency, which greatly affected the feel of it, it amounted to a huge, nightmarish waste of time. More power to those who got along well with the unit, I reckon; I did my best and failed.
A thought that crossed my mind every few seconds or minutes whilst tweaking was that the early PODs only required a "little twiddle" of a few knobs and you had cream, the one thing I spent years trying to coax out of the thing. Didn't feel like progress to me, and I even dreamed of getting a POD 1.0 or PODxt unit if and when I chose to give up. Ridiculous, really, but it goes to show that usability and pleasant tones can be more-important than "authenticity" sometimes, in the right circumstances, and my body (and mind) were screaming, "now's the time, you idiot!".
Thank God I remembered the Kemper, which had been in the back of my mind to check out since 2012. A couple of PooToob videos later, I was sold, and the moment I plugged it in (2 months later), I was in love.
I remember the neck and back aches well!
