Kemper vs Axe FX: Why don't I see anyone *creating* music with the Kemper? Is it exclusively intended as a device for performances?

  • This guy uses his KPA to create... Erland Krauser, I just love this video.


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    Peace...
    bluzkat

  • Well... Devin Townsend returned to Fractal as he states that “something is missing” in the tones in Kemper. Steve Vai uses Fractal. And Satriani uses Fractal. Meshuggah uses Fractal, and so on...

    Vai isn't using his signature amp anymore? Or is he just using Fractal for fx?

  • I made this music with Kemper (guitars and bass)


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  • I made this music with Kemper (guitars and bass)


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    That's a hit if I ever heard one, Sam! Wicked freakin' track you and the boys made there, sweet! :thumbup:

  • Vai has only ever used Fractal for FX. I suspect the same of Satriani. Last I heard, Meshuggah had switched to plugins...

    Most guys I’ve seen seem to use the Axe just for FX. Petrucci uses it with his Mesa Amps for example.


    However, the thread completely misses the point. They are both fantastic its of gear. As it the Helix and so e of the plugins. We are really lucky to live in a time where so many great tools for creating music are readily available. Axe and Kemper are different. It isn’t a competition over which is better. They both work but one might suit a particular players workflow better or one might sound better to one player while the opposite is true for another player. A player should use whatever suits them personally or whatever they can get their hands on. Better to be making music with whatever tools you have available at that moment than to sit dreaming about something you don’t/can’t have instead.

  • Ok, my 10 pence worth, owned two Helix units, Axe FxII and III plus a FX8 and now I have the Kemper so I think i have had enough experience to express an opinion even if its only mine ;). The Helix units sounded great and had the best user interface overall but the sounds lacked the immediacy and feel of a good valve amp to my ears. The Fractal units had amazing effects but the amps always sounded synthetic to my ears and yes I messed with IR's global EQ you name it , The Kemper, well the user interface is as arcane as the Fractal and it could do with more effects in a chain so I'll no doubt be dropping a Line 6 HX in the loop but the Amps feel a lot more realistic and react to touch in a more realistic way and the manual is a mess

  • I made this music with Kemper (guitars and bass)


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    Nice job man !!!

  • Vai has only ever used Fractal for FX. I suspect the same of Satriani. Last I heard, Meshuggah had switched to plugins...

    Seeing the Fractal on stage doesn't mean it,s on all the time on every song... You know that Vai got like 250 guitars and all pedals you can think of at his studio? My point is that Vai is the kind of rich and famous musician , who can afford to get a Fractal for just one effect or two in one or two piece of music ... Thats all!!! get the point. While the majority of us have to choose between Fractal and Kemper or tube amp... Vai is on higher ground he can can afford what he wants when he wants and use it where he wants, he is independant ... Just check his studio and you'll understand that the majority of us cannot even dream of buying so much equipment . Sure he deserve it but dont tell me that his sound is all fractal design this is pie in the sky



  • Have a look at our „Hall Of Fame“ for a nice overview of Profiler Artists that we are in contact with.

    The „Discography“ shows a selection of remarkable recordings. Most of them with Profiler only, on all guitars and bass.


    For sure we have no complete overview of all recordings made with the Profiler.


    The Profiler was - of course - made for both studio and live purposes. I have read numerous comments in the last years that the Profiler is more tailored for studio putposes or vice versa. But there is no point.


    For sure the Powered Profilers addresses live players.



    CK

  • Lots of people on this forum are happy users who record.


    If it sounds good through studio monitors (it does and I’m sure the Axe also does) then it will sound good as a recorded track, provided you know how to choose appropriate tones for the end result, not how it sounds in isolation, and you know how to mix.


    Both are simply tools that will do this job brilliantly.

  • Well... Devin Townsend returned to Fractal as he states that “something is missing” in the tones in Kemper. Steve Vai uses Fractal. And Satriani uses Fractal. Meshuggah uses Fractal, and so on...

    But he also stated that he'd merely been using profiles given to him on a usb stick and invested little effort searching for the right profile. He was using the KPA to replace his own Mesa DR in a wet/dry/wet rig and could easily have profiled it but didn't and when Fractal artist support offered help in dialling in his tones, the KPA went. A coincidence that he had begun talking about using a Kemper when Fractal spent a load of time helping him dial in his AxeFx II?

  • Looking at the basic question my answer would be :


    DON'T FEED THE TROLL !!!


    If someone tells you you're crazy are you gonna jump all around the place yelling ''I'm not crazy !!! I'm not crazy!!! I'm not crazy !!!!'' ?


    LOL

  • These records were made with kemper:
    As i lay dying - Awakening

    Bullet for my valentine - Gravity and venom(possibly others too)

    Bad wolves - disobey

    Testament - Dark roots of earth, Brotherhood of the snake


    And probably many, many more.

  • Well... Devin Townsend returned to Fractal as he states that “something is missing” in the tones in Kemper. Steve Vai uses Fractal. And Satriani uses Fractal. Meshuggah uses Fractal, and so on...

    I think the "missing bit" is endorsement $$$$


    Those guys can get their high gain sounds from almost anything. Might as well get paid for loyalty. Like when Bonamassa straps on an Epiphone.