Retiring the kemper

  • Been using the kemper since 2017 and it’s time to move on to greener pastures. It was a great unit to get into digital amps with however I’ve been using the same profiles for 4 years now because I can’t find any others I like and I’m just feeling uninspired with it. I’ve got a Fractal FM9 showing up this week. I have no doubt it will be as good if not better. I’ll be learning the FM9 for awhile and keep the kemper stage to compare but there’s no need to keep both.


    Has anyone here made the same switch?

  • Been using the kemper since 2017 and it’s time to move on to greener pastures. It was a great unit to get into digital amps with however I’ve been using the same profiles for 4 years now because I can’t find any others I like and I’m just feeling uninspired with it. I’ve got a Fractal FM9 showing up this week. I have no doubt it will be as good if not better. I’ll be learning the FM9 for awhile and keep the kemper stage to compare but there’s no need to keep both.


    Has anyone here made the same switch?

    You imply in your post that the 'problem' with the Kemper is you. It is hard to imagine that the FM9 can resolve your predicatment in the long term. What will make you happy or inspired from an existential point of view?

  • If I sound like a jerk....that's not intentional.


    I'm not sure why we needed to know of your impending departure. If you feel uninspired and think a change in digital amps will help then........best of luck.

    “Without music, life would be a mistake.” - Friedrich Nietzsche

  • I bought a second handed FM3 a month ago because I was curious about the possibilities. I also mainly use the same Kemper profiles (Michael Britts and Bert Meulendijks profiles). I must say that the FM3 is a great unit with a lot of great sounds and a lot of possibilities, but when I compare the best Kemper sounds I can get to the best FM3 sounds I can get, the Kemper wins. Maybe the comparison is not very fair because I own Kemper since 2013 and I own the FM3 for only a month, but the amp sounds in the Kemper just sound a bit more raw, more amp like to my ears. Especially in a band situation, the Kemper definitely wins.


    Of course your opinion can be different and there is only one way to find out and that is to try out the FM9 for yourself :)

  • I didn't make the switch OP was asking about but since my bandmate uses Axe FX I borrowed it once to see if I could get a decent tone out of it. The answer was: yes, I got great tone out of it and the feel was great, too. Was it easy? No. Amount of parameters in Fractal products is insane so good luck tweaking it for days. I don't think you'll notice much of a difference in sound between Kemper and Axe (at this level both units are state of the art). I'm sure if you were switching from $50 Zoom multi effect to Axe FX the difference would indeed be inspiring. :)


    You will for sure experience totally different workflow which you may like or not - worth trying out. Good luck with in your search for inspiration!

  • If I sound like a jerk....that's not intentional.


    I'm not sure why we needed to know of your impending departure. If you feel uninspired and think a change in digital amps will help then........best of luck.

    I agree. Or as others would say... I'd rather be at your birthday than your funeral. ;)

    Larry Mar @ Lonegun Studios. Neither one famous yet.

  • I'm not sure why we needed to know of your impending departure.

    As a member of the forum, he is asking if any of us have gone down this path. I sort of did. I have always been a Line 6 guy, so I purchased a Helix LT after the Kemper. And I use both. I use the Kemper more because I love making profiles as much as playing.


    I don't play out, but I think the "scribble" strips on the Helix and FM9 would be really useful.


    The FM9 and Helix let you do all sorts of interesting parallel processing things that could really help certain tones and styles.


    As a long time Line 6 user, I am much happier with the Rig Manager interface than Helix Edit. Its not even close. RM all the way. Since FM9 is similar, I wonder how well their user interface is. Have no clue, never looked at it.


    Does the FM9 do morphing? That seems like a killer playing out feature.


    Can you store 1000 presets all with different IRs like the Kemper? To me every amp gets better with a tweaked IR.


    I am still amazed by the sounds I get out of my ancient Line6 UX8. I would never get rid of the Kemper. Get an FM9 and keep the Kemper. Thank me later. I have a modeler, guitar, and speakers in every room of my house. 8)

  • i own the Axe 3 and i been a fractal user since 2012,on 2020 i bought the Kemper Stage,Axe 3 is a cool unit ,but i prefer the Kemper sound,

    Guitar: Fender Strat HSS<3 Schecter Custom Solo II

    Signal Chain: Kemper->AxeFX 3>Neural QC>Apollo Twin->M-Audio Monitors

    Computer:Mac Studio

  • If I sound like a jerk....that's not intentional.


    I'm not sure why we needed to know of your impending departure. If you feel uninspired and think a change in digital amps will help then........best of luck.

    it does sound jerky the way you put it. This is a forum aka community… a place to discuss things. Is there a better place in this forum I should have posted to have a chill convo?

  • I bought a second handed FM3 a month ago because I was curious about the possibilities. I also mainly use the same Kemper profiles (Michael Britts and Bert Meulendijks profiles). I must say that the FM3 is a great unit with a lot of great sounds and a lot of possibilities, but when I compare the best Kemper sounds I can get to the best FM3 sounds I can get, the Kemper wins. Maybe the comparison is not very fair because I own Kemper since 2013 and I own the FM3 for only a month, but the amp sounds in the Kemper just sound a bit more raw, more amp like to my ears. Especially in a band situation, the Kemper definitely wins.


    Of course your opinion can be different and there is only one way to find out and that is to try out the FM9 for yourself :)

    i look forward to comparing, although I know it will take some time Get the fractal dialed in. Kemper took me 1-2 years to enjoy but I think the education I gained in tweaking digital parameters will speed up the fractal learning curve.