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  • I tested Native and it just made me glad to have my Kemper. I used Ownhammer IRs and even with them, it sounded pretty POD-like to me. I'm sure with better tweaking I could get better tones, but honestly having all these great signature amp profiles that are pretty much plug n play on the kemper, I wouldn't want to switch to the helix

  • I tested Native and it just made me glad to have my Kemper. I used Ownhammer IRs and even with them, it sounded pretty POD-like to me. I'm sure with better tweaking I could get better tones, but honestly having all these great signature amp profiles that are pretty much plug n play on the kemper, I wouldn't want to switch to the helix

    I am comparing A/B, direct profiles vs helix, same cab sim, and most amps sound very similar to kemper imho if dialed to be so (which involves some work, of course)


    There are differences though, most certainly.

  • I've got an amazing Plexi profile and with an ownhammer Marshall IR I've got Native very close to the Kemper profile. It's really just a matter of taste in the minor differences in the tone.

  • It's all a matter of taste of course, but for me it was the opposite. I found some amp sims to be very good, but let down by impulses at times (but yes I agree there are some good impulses there too).

    The Dumble model is better than any profile I tried. Two or three more are good and the rest are a bit poor.

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    Great playing. And yes some models better than others.


    I tried profiling the tones I like the best but from vst helix this time, as opposed to the hardware helix which i also profiled, but similarly not happy with the results. It could be because of how I dial in the helix amps. I've seen some profiling Helix and saying the results were super close; I will try their profiles to see if any different to mine.


    So for some tones now I may use Helix vst, which is, well, portable, then others with kemper, depending on the tone I am after. But for Marshalls I still prefer S gear to Helix I think.

  • i made DI and studio versions but overall i always recommend the DI ones ...
    i made a comparison also

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    i did my very best ^^

  • I am not sure I can tell from the comparison how close it got, but I will check the profiles soon to see if closer than mine. What settings did you generally use with the amps? Settings that sounded best to you? Thanks for your work, cheers

  • I am not sure I can tell from the comparison how close it got, but I will check the profiles soon to see if closer than mine. What settings did you generally use with the amps? Settings that sounded best to you? Thanks for your work, cheers

    Ok @Bommel. I think yours are actually quite similar to mine. Your profiles, some of them, dip at around 120 or so, which I know Helix doesn't do, exaggerate certain frequencies from the helix (more so the case on marshall type tones i think). And where you have power amp working hard on helix tones, kemper takes the "fuzz" away so to say, in my own profiling. I don't hear the "fuzz" in yours, maybe you dialed the tones differently and had none anyway.


    I think these are quite usable sounds and your work is commendable, but I really don't feel kemper can replace Helix for the tones Helix does best (well, especially the "power amp" fuzz-fest ones) At least not for me. Some one else may feel differences are meaningless. I prefer profiles of real amps at the end of the day (not that Helix isn't great on its own; it's pretty neat -- yet I prefer Headrush actually).

    Edited 2 times, last by Dimi84 ().

  • Ok @Bommel. I think yours are actually quite similar to mine. Your profiles, some of them, dip at around 120 or so, which I know Helix doesn't do, exaggerate certain frequencies from the helix (more so the case on marshall type tones i think). And where you have power amp working hard on helix tones, kemper takes the "fuzz" away so to say, in my own profiling. I don't hear the "fuzz" in yours, maybe you dialed the tones differently and had none anyway.
    I think these are quite usable sounds and your work is commendable, but I really don't feel kemper can replace Helix for the tones Helix does best (well, especially the "power amp" fuzz-fest ones) At least not for me. Some one else may feel differences are meaningless. I prefer profiles of real amps at the end of the day (not that Helix isn't great on its own; it's pretty neat -- yet I prefer Headrush actually).

    yeah on some amp models i had to turn either the preamp gain or the mastervolume down so that it worked well ...
    i have to say playing with my 8 string i still like the kemper most, the fuzzier sound on the axe fx 2 and helix are amazing and cleansounds are best on the kemper too ...


    i use my pedalboard with the kemper and that works well for me ... but i hope for other users that they can solve that fuzz problem ... i'm am stuck with firmware 3.3 anyway :D :D

  • i have to say playing with my 8 string i still like the kemper most, the fuzzier sound on the axe fx 2 and helix are amazing and cleansounds are best on the kemper too ...

    I don't play more than 6 string on guitar so.. :D I do play 6 string bass though :) Of course I like kemper too, just referring to profiling helix. Profile of a helix amp vs the real amp plus best possible micing + cab = I prefer the later. #


    Not that there's anything wrong with profiling sims. If a tone is good it's good.

  • I still have my POD HD 500 and I compared it with the Helix and to my surprise, the differences were not as I would have expected in the amp modeling department. Heck, I got very similar results of the same amps in both, and after looking around on youtube, there's a great demonstration of how close they are in quality


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  • And on that note:


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    For all the mockery those here (and elsewhere) give the POD, most of the modeling improvements have been in nuances. Don't get me wrong, nuances are incredibly important, but even the old POD is a lot better than you'd think when comparing to modern modelers costing thousands of dollars.

  • but even the old POD is a lot better than you'd think when comparing to modern modelers costing thousands of dollars.

    Use the pod tone in video, along with the other devices, all with same IR and results will be much more similar than people think :) I think part of the surprise of people when tests are done is that we have had a lot of propaganda about certain things.... through the years... and lack of proper testing, really. There's a lot of "testing" to give off impression A or B but not much done objectively and with the right methodology. Few people do proper tests.


    Pod does some things great. So no wonder Helix isn't that far off (even from the pod in the andertons video). With some other tones I think the difference is bigger.