Soundside's Axe-II pack

  • My curiosity got the better of me, so I just had to see if the Axe-II mojo was captured well by the KPA. Yep! Sounds pretty well spot on to me. Now I have no real tonal need to get an Axe-II. $20 satisfied that. Although I do have to say, many of the real-amp profiles do sound noticeably better than the Axe profiles. Still, it's nice to have them, and big thanks to Armin for doing them. Just another batch of fun to be had!

  • I got these as well.


    I have to admit, I didn't keep them. I am dying to hear the FXII and I hope these rigs are not representative of that unit from the buzz I hear about the FXII (I think these rigs were profiled from an early OS version, not a recent one)


    I found some great SoundSide patches I have kept, but those FXII patches were the first I dumped and they don't even come close to Andy's rigs, or others like the TILL or Fremen ones, so they eventually got deleted as I combed through weeding out rigs that couldn't pass the test of my ears and my Tele.


    I'm not saying they are bad, just saying I found others more real and useful to me and so they got pulled out of rotation on my Kemper.

  • Yes, I used the AxeFx for years before I got the Kemper.
    First the Ultra (one of the first units in EU) and then the AxeFx II.


    I liked both AxeFx units a lot - much better as the L6 gear I used before - but I was still able to hear and feel a huge difference between them an my real tube amps.


    Accourding to Cliff should the AxeFx II firmware version 1.0 sound 100% identically to his modelled tube amp.


    My AxeFx was on firmware version 4.x (120% real) when I got the Kemper - I compared both units a lot - and while the effects and routing options in the AxeFx are much better then in the KPA - the basic tube tone in the KPA smoked the AxeFx.


    Then I profiled and refined the AxeFx patches - they sound very close to the AxeFx patches - and sold the AxeFx II.


    I have not heard the current firmware versions - I think currently is the AxeFx on version 10 - how real is he now?


    These profiles have the signature AxeFx sound - but I also found that I prefer profiles of real tube amps a lot - but they are great to get "my old sound back" and to hear again what I had before.

    (All trademarks are trademarks of their respective owners, which are in no way associated or affiliated with soundside.de)


    Great Profiles --> soundside.de

  • It's interesting.


    Prior to the Kemper all previous "modellers" I've owned had those "nasal" honky EQ frequencies that drove me crazy...some guys call it the "cocked wah" or "blanket over the speaker".
    You couldn't just correct the EQ, that honk was part of the signature sound of those modellers.


    Enter the Kemper, first thing that became addictive to me was the openness and clarity of the tone, no "honk", no nasal congestion.
    It spoils you, spend a few weeks with a Kemper and then go back and listen to your recordings of your previous modellers, you won't believe how bad they sound...they once sounded good, but not anymore.


    Which brings me to the Axe-FX11 Profiles.
    I haven't kept one one my Kemper, in every one of them I hear a very slight "honk", that nasal congestion is there.
    It's in the IR, that's the problem, IMO the Kemper speaker sim is just more advanced.
    When I play the Axe Profiles I hear some frequencies that I don't hear in any other Kemper Profiles.


    Let's put it this way, for every Axe-FX Profile, there's a better sounding Kemper Profile of the same amp.

  • It's in the IR, that's the problem, IMO the Kemper speaker sim is just more advanced.


    Let's put it this way, for every Axe-FX Profile, there's a better sounding Kemper Profile of the same amp.


    Exactly. And that's also why I'm not interested in cab making from IR's at all.

  • Yep the cab maker thing has me stumped, why? There are so many cab options I can not see why I would bother, but different folks different strokes I suppose.

    New talent management advice to Laura Cox -


    “Laura want to break the internet? let’s shoot another video of you covering the Nightrain solo in the blue singlet, but this time we’ll crank up the air conditioning”.

  • I also have a huge Redwirez collection on my PC from my Axe days but, like Lance correctly stated, cabs are way more advanced than IR's to me.


    And these are one of the few moments where I ask myself why they (at Kemper) gave cab making from IR's such a priority over other things/needs.

  • I've not heard the FXII personally.


    But I have a few questions to owners or listeners of both:


    Q1: Are the FXII rigs accurate to the FXII presets when hearing them in person?
    Q2: Can the Kemper accurately profile the FXII presets?
    Q3: Would the Kemper, being a digital profiling of a digital modeler, enhance any unwanted digital artifacts?


    The reason I ask is, I have the SoundSide FXII patches and they don't sound as good or as real as my fremen presets in my Ultra with it's nice IR's. So maybe the IR's that were profiled in that set are not as good as they could be?

  • I have the SoundSide FXII patches and they don't sound as good or as real as my fremen presets in my Ultra with it's nice IR's. So maybe the IR's that were profiled in that set are not as good as they could be?


    Remember that the Soundside patches were taken from an Axe II with quite an early firmware (V4, now they are on V10), like Armin stated in this thread.
    There has been some development in FAS- land for sure and we all know that Cliff is working hard to continuously improve the Axe.
    It's got nothing to do with IR.

  • The last FWs of the AxeII have improved the dynamic reaction a lot. The way how the amp blocks react is just very real, I can not say that I miss anything there. Still a problem or let's say, where you can go wrong easily is the selection of the right cab. When you load the wrong cabs you can tweak endlessly without ever getting the right sound.

  • Yes, the combination of amp & cab is the secret. It works for some sounds when another cab is used - but I prefer the real combination of both, used during the profile session in most cases.

    (All trademarks are trademarks of their respective owners, which are in no way associated or affiliated with soundside.de)


    Great Profiles --> soundside.de

  • The Axe-Pack was the last profile pack without some sound samples (thanks Chris for pointing me to this).


    Today I recorded some simple samples:


    AxePack Demo


    I used my ESP (tuned to D) and the raw AxeFX II profiles:
    AX (010) Brit 800
    AX (015) Recto Red
    AX (017) Euro Red
    AX (020) Euro Uber
    AX (022) SOLO100 Lead
    AX (024) Freidman HBR
    AX (025) PVH 6160
    AX (029) Energy Ball
    AX (031) Corncob
    AX (033) Fry D60 More
    AX (036) FAS Modern
    AX (046) Modern Eddie


    I like the KPA more for clean / mid drive but the AxeFX II creates some great heavy tones!
    (And it's fun to use my 'old' sounds from time to time).

    (All trademarks are trademarks of their respective owners, which are in no way associated or affiliated with soundside.de)


    Great Profiles --> soundside.de

  • The last FWs of the AxeII have improved the dynamic reaction a lot.


    That's interesting and good to hear. I thought it was quite good before. What I think gets non-AxeII supporters up in arms is that no one said that the dynamic reaction was bad or needed improvement in the earlier fimrwares. So if it is that much better in this firmware, how come no one complained about it in the past? :shrug