Reasure me...

  • Hey Guys,


    I'm just about ready to buy the KPA, but I've read more then a few threads about people having a lot of issues (bugs) granted most of them seem to be written a few months back, they've made me a little nervous.


    I've owned the AX FX 2 for about six month, and although its a good unit I've never been quite satisfied. When I read comments about the KPA like "less tweaking" and "more organic sounding" these are words I really like to hear. This would be for strictly studio use. From everthing I've read and heard I think the KPA would be a better fit. So can you reasure ma a little, that it won't be getting into a unit that is a ways away from running smoothly.


    Thanks

  • Hey!


    No brainer. The Axe is not even on the same page.


    Cheers

    Use your ears, not your mathematical sense.

  • Im an AxeFXII owner as well. I just got my new Kemper a few days ago. I haven't gave a review yet because I'm playing so much. :) I will say this though, AxeFXII is a great unit but the there is no denying if you want a amp like feel with real amp sounds then you want the Kemper. Hands down the best tones you could ever want. Axe has lots of great effects and lots of tweaking can be done which is great for those that like that but if you want to just plug in, jam or record then you may want to get the Kemper. I dont regret it for a bit! I could instantly tell the sounds I was getting out of the Kemper are indeed more 'real' and organic sounding. Huge sounds! I haven't even checked out any profiles from the Kemper exchange yet! I'm still playing with the 200 built in sounds, I have a feeling I will be in for another treat when I start getting into some other amp profiles!

  • I havent used my real Marshall JMP since I bought the Kemper. For one thing it actually sounds better to me at lower volume levels than my rig and of course I get tons of awesome tones. Its really stunning how good this thing sounds. Mind blowing for me.


    I also happen to think that the reaction and response is nearly dead on to a real tube amp. It makes me smile every time. :thumbup:

  • Hey Guys,


    Thanks for all the great replies. So, is $1850 pretty much a firm price everywhere? is anybody budging on this? Any preferences on where to buy?


    I think I will jump on it, I like the FX possibilities on the AX FX but I'm an old school amp guy and need to work fast with good raw sounds, and hoping the the FX for the KPA will grow.


    Just want thank you guys for what so far seems to be fair and professional comments on the forum, haven't read any extreme fan boy stuff yet, which is really nice.

  • another fanboy here, just sayin': couple of days ago at a gig i plugged into a colleague's old orange amp with decent 4x12'' (1974 OR-120, i think) and was surely impressed by it's "real feel", awesome cutting midrange & right in your face sound... AND: zero latency is even cooler than i remembered it to be... then i helped him to load his stuff back into his car and i was reassured that the kemper is my go-to & to-go solution ;) if you're coming from the axe, you won't be disappointed. i sold mine immediately when i got my kemper. for what it is, there is nothing better. this means amp sound's, some strymon timeline, flint & octaver/whammy would be warmly welcome on the fx-side of this little green wonder...


    summary: do it & enjoy :thumbup:

  • Would you say the latency is worse than the ax fx? it didn't really bother me, but I wouldn't want it to be much worse.

  • i owned an AxeFX std for a bit over 3 years before getting the kemper:


    - with the recent firmware releases, latency issues have been adressed


    - i've had my AxeFX std freeze on me and occasionally behave weird more often than with the kemper (v1.10)


    - tweaking tones is a no brainer with the KPA, whereas with the axefx std it was quite tedious.


    - i've struggled for a long time to get the axefx 'flat' midrange to sound more like a real amp. the kemper sounds like a real amp.




    now as for the downside of the KPA (if you're a metal player):


    higain patches are the trickiest to get right. if you tighten them up using advanced amp parameters, you'll get a cocked wah sound. remember the pick attack on the old boss COSM? most of the 'higain' profiles on the rigexchange are hopelessly overgained and sound mushy/fizzy as well. this is likely to get you dissapointed at first if you're used to the axe where you can turn any amp into a tight metal monster by adjusting the damping and transformer hipass frequency.
    good news is that if you start with a good profile of an amp dialed in and mic'ed properly, it'll sound just as good as the real thing.
    still, i really hope that an advanced parameter to get rid of this cocked wah sound when tweaking higain patches comes with the newer firmwares. something to control 'grain' of the distortion while tweaking would be a godsend.

  • still, i really hope that an advanced parameter to get rid of this cocked wah sound when tweaking higain patches comes with the newer firmwares. something to control 'grain' of the distortion while tweaking would be a godsend

    Why not submit a feature request?
    I like your idea!

  • Thanks Kojak,


    I don't use much metal type sounds, so it shouldn't be a problem. The only real technical problem I had with AX FX was AX edit, can't count how many times I had to reload, and it never saved my midi settings.
    Even though the AX FX has better sounds then %99 percent of the modelers out there, I never felt completely happy with the sound after tweaking too long for my life. It always sounded spiky in the 2k to 4k range, and the distortions all had a very similar quality. Having played many of these amps through the years, I know if you had 15 of them lined up in a room to play, you would notice a very distinct difference when you moved from one to the next.

  • Sounds very much like your overgained problem can be fixed with the Input sense, use it! I actually spent over an hour messing with that simple button, tuning it to my guitars. I used a variety of profiles including clean and very high gain.. Once that was done I feel the EXACT same response and gain structure as real amps.


    I should say this, the Volume matters! All amps sound better with tons of volume imo.

  • Thanks Kojak,


    I don't use much metal type sounds, so it shouldn't be a problem. The only real technical problem I had with AX FX was AX edit, can't count how many times I had to reload, and it never saved my midi settings.
    Even though the AX FX has better sounds then %99 percent of the modelers out there, I never felt completely happy with the sound after tweaking too long for my life. It always sounded spiky in the 2k to 4k range, and the distortions all had a very similar quality. Having played many of these amps through the years, I know if you had 15 of them lined up in a room to play, you would notice a very distinct difference when you moved from one to the next.



    You won't have an Axe Edit problem because there is no software editor for the Kemper right now. :D


    I'm sure one is coming soon but the good news is for most of us coming from the Axe FX world the front controls on this thing work really well. I use mine live all the time and I am making changes as I play with no problems at all. I've said it many times here but I also am using fewer effects than I have ever used with any other gear. I'm so happy with the raw amp tone I don't need to add much of anything to it.


    It really boils down to what every guitar player is looking for and how much time they are willing to put into it. I have friends that love their Axe FX and enjoy the depth it has in effects and amp tweaking. For me I just wanted a good tone and ease of use.