Axe Fx III and FM 3

  • Are you buying an FM3 or AXe3?? 25

    1. FM3 (16) 64%
    2. AXE. 3 (9) 36%

    I don’t know if you guys remember how much I love my kemper...tonally, until today, it was unrivaled. It took axe 3 four years to catch up to kemper but they finally did. The tone is actually just as if not more accurate than all the mesa and plexi I’ve tried. Kemper is nearly identical to mesa, and this is like a blind test where I think it is mesa. I think its going to be the kemper killer, the FM3


    FM3 is a $1000 lite version with built in stomp and foot control! I cant believe they were able to give an axe 3 mini but they did for 1k.


    Anyway, I want to buy the FM3 so bad now that I heard axe 3. I was trying to reaquire my kemper but everyone here and online is unrealistic still thinking a kemper is worth 1400 or more...lol, its not! Not anymore. Especially with the axe 3 out, the kemper is now “old”, still amazing and good and the best/most True Tone matching you can get on the fly, but for $500 less than what most people ask for used (I’ve seen some people even ask near full price used) you can get axe


    Anyway, I didn’t believe in fractal before. I didn’t like or want axe fix 1, 2, ax8 or anything .....this however is so amazing that I have to get the FM3 when its finally out in a few months.


    Any thoughts

  • Nope. None of the Fractal products (or Line 6) sound warm or tubey to me. I can see why the metal guys like those products for the sharp edges. I'd rather be in the Mark Knopfler camp.

    Get it if you like it. It will save you some money.

    The key to everything is patience.
    You get the chicken by hatching the egg, not by smashing it.
    -- Arnold H. Glasow


    If it doesn't produce results, don't do it.

    -- Me

  • No, not buying either choice.

    The Kemper is a much better choice for me, for authentic tone/feel, and usability without needing to hook up a computer.


    Oh, and I also dislike having to buy a new version of a product every two years....

  • Took me a while, but then I got the joke. Nice one!

    Kemper PowerRack |Kemper Stage| Rivera 4x12 V30 cab | Yamaha DXR10 pair | UA Apollo Twin Duo | Adam A7X | Cubase DAW
    Fender Telecaster 62 re-issue chambered mahogany | Kramer! (1988 or so...) | Gibson Les Paul R7 | Fender Stratocaster HBS-1 Classic Relic Custom Shop | LTD EC-1000 Evertune | 1988 Desert Yellow JEM

  • I'm always glad when someone is happy with his or her tone device. I don't care if it's a modeling, profiling device or a real tube amp! So, enjoy!!!


    About your comment on used Kemper prices: I bought mine used and paid more a less the price you mentioned. The fact that used prices are so close to the new prices might also be an indicator of the quality of the Kemper. Why should it be worth less than 2 or 3 years ago? If it still sounds great and if there is no other newer piece of kit which thanks to new technological evolutions is mucher better sounding, I really don't see why the used price should drop?


    I mean, a Mesa amp isn't going to be cheaper in a couple of years just because of time passing and a new model coming out...


    Imho, the fact that used prices remain high is because the quality is there and nothing better came out. For me, it just means that this 7 years old piece of technology isn't aging as quickly as other comparable devices ;)

  • The 'sound' of the Fractal stuff is one thing, but the 'feel' and responsiveness of them is quite another.... hence why I've gone to Kemper after using Fractal equipment for several years (and Line 6).

  • Thanks- I'll take a look at the videos just because I like to form my own opinions, but Im quite happy with my KPA and Helix atm.

    If you use FRFR the benefit of a merged profile is that the cabinet is totally separated in the profile.


    For my edification only... ;) Kemper/Axe-FX III/ Quad Cortex user

  • No idea what you're going on about. I own both, the KPA and Axe-Fx III. While I love both for different reasons, I think the KPA's cab section generally sounds superior to the vast majority of IR's in the III. In my experience, the Axe-Fx III can be tweaked to sound like my favorite profiles, but it's never been as simple as adding an Amp and Cab block to the grid, twiddling a knob or two and voila, done. In the time it usually takes me to create a fantastic sounding Axe-Fx III preset that's on par with my favorite KPA profiles, I could probably find 20 or more outstanding KPA profiles on the Rig Exchange.

  • In the time it usually takes me to create a fantastic sounding Axe-Fx III preset that's on par with my favorite KPA profiles, I could probably find 20 or more outstanding KPA profiles on the Rig Exchange.

    Considering I play mostly my own profiles, I would say my approach has been quite similar between kemper and axe fx. It's just that for kemper things are done in the "analog" world more so before profiling, and axe fx more in digital domain, working with models of amps. It's not as clear cut either, as this may involve still making IRs or further matching axe to a "real" tone too with tone matching.


    About the IR vs kemper cab issue -- IRs can vary massively in how they are made. I do not see superior quality (well, depending on what we mean by that) with kemper cabs when IRs are made the desired way. For me, it's just that kemper provides quite a "stock" way to shoot profiles, where as with IRs you'll find more differing approaches overall, and perhaps hence more chance for an sub-par result.


    IRs made the right way have probably been even harder for me to distinguish from analog equivalents compared to blind tests targeting amp only, quite a few times at least.

    The bonanza

  • I was trying to reaquire my kemper but everyone here and online is unrealistic still thinking a kemper is worth 1400 or more...lol, its not! Not anymore.

    The Kemper is worth what someone is willing to pay for it, or what the market value currently is (not what you believe it to be worth).


    Plenty are getting sold for £1400 to £1600 price range in the UK. The used market is a sellers market because they are still really expensive new, and the demand is seemingly greater than supply.

  • About the IR vs kemper cab issue -- IRs can vary massively in how they are made. I do not see superior quality (well, depending on what we mean by that) with kemper cabs when IRs are made the desired way. For me, it's just that kemper provides quite a "stock" way to shoot profiles, where as with IRs you'll find more differing approaches overall, and perhaps hence more chance for an sub-par result.


    IRs made the right way have probably been even harder for me to distinguish from analog equivalents compared to blind tests targeting amp only, quite a few times at least.

    I don't necessarily think the KPA's cabs are inherently superior to IR's, because in my experience a properly shot IR sounds identical to its mic'd counterpart.


    The challenge with IR's is, because they're often (not always, but often) offered in isolation from the rest of the rig, and the person who created them doesn't always disclose the type of tone (eg. clean, crunch, high gain, etc.) that was used when creating them, determining the type of tone that works best for a given IR is generally unclear. In my opinion, this is exactly why people often end up spending a lot of time auditioning IR's; there's simply no indication as to the type of tone that the designer used when creating them. But even if you did know and could play through the original rig that the IR is based on, there's no guarantee you'd like it. But at least you'd have some idea of the type of tone that the IR creator had in mind when they shot it.


    In my opinion, this is one area where the KPA has an advantage. With profiles, you know exactly what type of tone that the mic'd cab was designed for specifically because a profile (at least a studio profile anyway) is a snapshot of the entire rig, not just a single component of it(a la IR's).


    Unfortunately, when it comes to IR's, I often feel like I'm groping in the dark