Posts by Nemo13

  • Kemper is so much better than Fractal

    I went shopping for things typical, not looking for the absolute cheapest item that may be passable. Not really comparing sound, just average price. I excluded used. If you go used, you must also go used with digital gear like this, like say a nice Digitech GSP1101 which isn't too bad for what it is. I think a lot of younger guys would go that route if they would actually keep updating, it sucks when they stop.


    For Fractal vs Kemper, to me that is like Engl vs Diezel. Can't get anywhere on that one. But I do not like the floor idea because I don't like to worry about being careful with my feet. I want to stop the hell out of it with all the knobs and such high up and easy to reach not crawl on the floor. I hope Kemper never goes this route. One of the things that is kinda never mentioned is size. Look how shallow the Kemper is compared to an Axe FX. To me, that is a big deal. The biggest pain in the arse for rack gear is weight. Deep racks are extra weight and awkward. I have my Kemper in a nice 12" deep head case with room in the back for a few secret weapons. Perfect. The Axe is like 14" deep! Why?! Get rid of that old rack server computer format!


    Most cheap tube amps are from China. Now, if they ever get punished (which they should) for currency devaluation and tariffs on imports, costs are going up, so no cheap solution new. Used is always the biggest market.


    Are Kemper and Fractal the new Fender and Marshall? Maybe. we'll see when everyone gets pissed off with their current gear. :)

  • Kemper is so much better than Fractal

    Quote from sesmar

    Haha ... to add my personal experience to your post: I was about to buy a Strymon Timeline when the latest delay-rich Kemper update was released. Kemper saved me another $500 :)

    Yeah, I had the Timeline and Mobius, which were cool, but really pointless when you have a full featured Kemper. I have a few non replaceables I like, but all of my FX rack gear is gone, why bother? All the $$$$ I spent over the years, ugh! Now instead of buying more pedals and racks, I have xtra $$ to save for Kemper 2 whenever that comes out, haha...

  • Kemper is so much better than Fractal

    I'm so tired of people saying the Kemper is expensive. Its not. Let's go shopping an compare. I just went to Musicians Friend, lets see how it compares Kemper vs amp combo + a few pedals, no other stuff, cheaper than more higer end:


    Blackstar Venue Series HT Stage HT-60 $999
    MXR carbon Copy $149
    MXR M-134 Chorus $169
    MXR M77 Distortion $ 99
    MXR M-117R Flanger $169
    MXR M-107 Phase $119
    ---------------------------------
    Total $ 1704
    Kemper Powered 2450
    Diff $746


    Not terrible, just a few pedals away, or a little more higher end there:


    ENGL Screamer $1475
    Maxon AD 999 delay $ 279
    Red witch chorus $ 229
    Malekko Distortion $ 255
    TC Elctronic Flanger $ 129
    ____________________________________
    Total $ 2367
    Kemper Powered 2450
    Diff $ 83


    Now really, stuff can add up fast, and then you got to wire all that with wire kits, and then due to its switching limitation get something that can do what you want, etc... Kemper is all that in one box a pedal and a cable. Freakin finance it junior! :) And no, I'm not looking at used gear. Just new gear from the manufacturers to the customers.

  • Kemper is so much better than Fractal

    Quote from GianKalab


    The AX8 to me is more suitable for gigging...

    The thing about the AX8 to me is the whole works is on the floor. I hate to have even my good pedals on the floor. I mean, some places live you have strange kicking feet, beer / drink spill, floor dust, etc, etc.. I hate anything to be on the floor except a nice solid (and easily / financially replaceable) floor pedal.

  • Kemper is so much better than Fractal

    Quote from Klappy

    Just constructive criticism from Don, who has the job of making the forum the best it can be. I skipped reading your post when I saw a large unformatted block of text. I suspect others did too.

    You skipped my most important post?! It's ok... But next time... :P


    Ok, let's talk tube amps. China made cheapo amps suck and they are everywhere. There, I said it. And I am tired of the excuse "Well, we have strict high quality standards over at our China sweatshop and we can assure everyone of the highest standards... blah.. blah..." And yet, the several times I have bought China made amps, the tolex is sticky (WTH?) and rolling off from the back, screws loose, and switches sometimes work, etc... Garbage! But cheap and that is what sells big, cheap garbage amps. The high end amps are the only ones worth it and they are average $2000 and up.

  • Kemper is so much better than Fractal

    Nikos, we all make choices of life according to our needs and ways as musicians. That doesn't change the fact that you and others were possibly molded by a common denominator. Looking back at the start of your quest, why did you choose ____ or ____? There are simple needs, and then there are advanced needs. You are either a simple musician, or you are a musical wizard. Nature and grand design fit into play here obviously. I realize the desire of music, but unfortunately there is a obsession for an unobtainable tone absent from the real world inside all of our heads that drives us to gear madness. We are not divine... Damn, so as humans we can only quest for perfection. So here we are. Again. ...And again... :D


    (Enter space for the mods)


    Yes, concluding about someone would take reasonable real life assessment in person or at least by resume, unless there are pointers in discussion that give clue to common traits that make a clearer picture other than just a silhouette, or formidable insight / foresight, but I digress... The takeaway is nothing will stop the future. Tubes have been around forever and found a second life in music gear. That second life is closer than ever to ending. The fun part is we can all watch it happen, as stated, let's revisit this thread in a few years and see what happened! How exciting! :thumbup:

  • Kemper is so much better than Fractal

    Ok, so you are basically like the generic player that buys and plays gear that your heros buyed and played. This has already been addressed, but its not as important to anyone under 40. Keep in mind, back in the 50's - 70's and into the early 80's, there was not much choice in gear. That is why all played a strat or les paul, or played through a vox or fender or marshall. That's all they had for the most part. Why did so many try to get away from all the old gear? Because obviously, much was lacking. We tried everything, pedals, rack gear, pickups, different woods, on and on, a constant quest because there was ALWAYS something missing. Feedback, fragile heavy amps and cabs, tone changing with the weather, some days you sound great, some days your tube head is wanking out like a moody ex girlfriend. The frustrations of recording, making isolation cabs, isolation rooms, on and on... We gladly tried all the latest newest things to hopefully get that missing whatever or make our studio 'sound' the same live, but always were missing some kind a parameter, or lacking one more connection, or had to buy one more cable, or one more speaker, or one more pedal, or some new strings, or whatever... So finally, after all this time, we have a few items that come so damn close the diff is almost stupid to cry about considering ALLLL the problems they solve. I have some sweet high end heads, and I can play them next to the Kemper and I don't feel I am missing a thing. No, my ears are not messed up. Yes, I can tell all the nuances between various guitars and various amps in various rooms, no there isn't anything missing. You can get a lot out of what Nikos is saying here. I know many many many people who just go buy what they are shown is the thing to buy. "Oh, I need a Les Paul and a Marshall" "Oh, everyone is playing a strat and a Fender amp" "Ibanez! That is what everyone plays, so that is the best.." Its like people who go into any kind of digital media for a profession and they immediately go out and by a MAC. People are easily led. Few branch out on their own. Everyone use yourself as an example, put yourself in a room of 1000 players, would you stand out? Not by your sound, but just what you are and what you have. 90% or higher would not, You are like everyone else. Most buy because that is what everyone else buys, not because they took the time to go beyond. Even builders are mostly clones of others, so many 'custom' guitar builders building strat copies with a little twist on the peghead and have the balls to call it their own. Or a custom tube amp builder that is basically a ripoff of another design with just an xtra gain stage and suddenly it is a revelation. Most players sound the same no matter what they play through. 99% of all people going to see bands have no idea between a SLO and and a cheapo Peavey. Perfect sounds are in the studio. Live? Who could tell really between an Eventide or a foot pedal in an open outside stage? People walking all over the place messing up the sound reflections? Sometimes the nitpicking gets absolutely silly. Since 1983, I have played through pretty much everything there is, and have no love lost if tubes went away tomorrow. I can play well enough to make anything sound good. Most kids today? If they had the opportunity to try out everything? Wouldn't go for tube first. As I look through the ads of all the online sellers, they push all the cheapo China made crap tube amps and that is the reason for the big sales besides the endorsers who need the money. There has been a lot of talk on this topic now, but really, time will show the future. The big turn back to simple was because rack gear got too complex and couldn't get to the next level. How about working on the SOUND instead of giving me more features? All those effects racks with FX made for studio (everything) not really guitar. Who needs chirps and super ducks and explosions? Cool for keyboard, not so much for guitar. How many of us sat in front of their new $1000 toy, sat through and played the 300 parameters and go "Christ... what did I do?!? again?!?!" Or buy a 'tube preamp' and then imagine a designer laughing because they probably didn't even have the tubes in the chain, they jut made them glow, cause the sound sucked! How many times have players sold everything, except 1 guitar and tube combo, loved life being free... for 2 months.... Then started thumbing through the new musicians friend "Hmmmm... If I get that and that and just use 2 cables, I am still pure!" and "Ok, so if I get these other two pedals, I am just gonna have to go ahead and get a board to mount them on, and hell, I am gonna need that little power supply... can I fit this reverb rack under that somehow?! If it was just 1" taller...." Back in hell! I love the kemper. Thank you Kemper for saving my soul. haha..

  • Kemper is so much better than Fractal

    Guitar gear is just a product, no different than records vs CD's, tube tv sets vs digital tv sets, etc.. Take cell phones, analog vs digital. Which is better for calls? Analog by leaps. Why? Because it was a stronger and with father signal and the 'quality' was there, unlike digital phones which sounds shrill and the range is far less (Doctors, Lawyers, etc HATED digital phones and many refused to give them up, until the companies themselves cut them loose) So here we have guitar amplification. Tube amps have been around a very long time and survived solid state amps / preamps / rack gear and all of that, but to me this is a new era which I do not think it can recover. You can't just look at sound alone, but the whole product (like cell phones, who would want a digital cell phone if it was just for calling only? Most would not, but when you have the ability to send texts, internet, etc, you forgive the bad quality dropping voices and go with the features) I look at my investment of a big heavy 70lb tube head like the Herbert or ENGL or whatever, which can do some amazing things, they have midi, have some adjustments, etc, but then the Kemper and AXE, they are light, robust in features, visual in control beyond a standard amp, have internals like effects and cabs etc, connects effortlessly to recording setups, computers, etc, etc.... Look at kids today, nothing gets noticed unless it has an iphone attachment... Things are proceeding much faster in tech everywhere than it has in the past, and now with these new guitar toys that go right along with it, tube amps will drop fast. If Kemper ever comes out with a version 2, then watch out ebay, it will be a flood of affordable units like the Axe and so on. Would a tech savy kid want a boring old tube amp or a high tech modeler or profiler? I just see the near future going that route, most players today start off with what there heros play, not because they are better per say, but because that is what their heros play. A good musician can make anything sound great. As far as needing original sounds from gear, that is true, for a while, until they get to the point where the profiles are as good or better, than all you need is just the better profiles. For me, I welcome the change, I've been bored with old tech for many years and amazed it has taken till now to start making better. Anyway, it will be interesting to revisit this topic in 5 years and see what has changed. We might all be surprised.

  • Kemper is so much better than Fractal

    Things are changing faster than in the past, with AXE and now Kemper, the path to the future is there. Tube amps are heavy, twitchy, fragile, and limited. Yes, limited, My Diezel will not sound like my SLO for ex. As we know, Kemper is a box of a thousand amps that is small, light, durable, and plenty of connection options. In a few years, I could fully expect new things to surpass today and go well beyond any tube amps tiny nuances. I am a tone snob. Right now, the small differences are pretty much insignificant and do not effect anything. The future is to the new tech as always and I say welcome. Tube has had its long run but is fast becoming obsolete. Big heavy gear is no longer needed, and that is a good thing. My advise to my fellow tone snobs is start selling your gear while it is worth something and wanted. In 5 years it won't be. Doubters keep this post for posterity. ;)

  • Kemper is so much better than Fractal

    Quote from ColdFrixion

    I love the Kemper. There's nothing wrong with it as is, but by the same token there's absolutely nothing to indicate that it's making a dent in amp sales. Compare the number of amps actually sold on eBay to Kempers sold. Amp sales crush it. I mean, I'll take a Kemper over a tube amp all day long but the fact is it's not a threat to the bottom line of amp manufacturers.

    Well yeah, right now. I am talking in the future. Kemper has reached a real plateau in the 'amp' market. IMHO. Others will follow, prices will get cheaper for some, and most will go that way. Tube amps only survive really because there was nothing to replace them completely, the tech in rack gear and such never got us there. Now that has changed. And a huge factor too is size! An AXE FX is DEEP, what is it, 14" or something? You have to get a big awkward box to put it in. Kemper is nice and shallow like TC Electronic rack gear, you can have a neat little head or box. Soundwise for example, I plug in my Diezel Herbert and jam one day love it. Next day, I plug up my Kemper and start wondering why I have my Diezel. With all the studios recording and sampling and profiling amps, eventually it will be to a point where the originals will not bee needed at all. That is the future, how soon it will get here depends. Price wise it 'appears' to be expensive for a Kemper and foot controller, but really, when you add up a tube head, effects pedals or rack, etc, etc.. it is same or cheaper to have a Kemper (and a lot less equipment too) It is just the 'up front all at once cost' most people have as apposed to adding gear and such in pieces which seems to be more affordable that way. Anyways, like everything, the future will weed out the bad / obsolete gear and move ahead with the great gear. It reminds me of when something like the guitar rack ADA came out, what a blast and good sounds compared to so much others, and so much has changed from those days... The problem with rack was always the secret weapons. "How do I put this ____ in my rack chain?!? I NEED it!" And so we all ended up with 400 lb 14 space racks that looked like Star Wars, haha. But then, when they kept getting more and more fancy, we had gear tech overload and everyone wanted simple again. Never losing sight of simple and quick tone gratification is a must to continue to survive. I loved Eventide gear, but I always got so frustrated with the programing, or Lexicon's old stuff... I loved simple things like Rolands SDX 330, all the sounds were so good and so easy to just adjust a few things... All the stuff that sounded good but took too long to mess with I had to sell or go crazy.

  • Kemper is so much better than Fractal

    Quote from ColdFrixion

    Until Kemper finds a way to profile amps so that the controls respond like the knobs on an actual amp, there will be a need for real amps... if nothing else for profiling purposes. That said, it will be a good long while before modelers even come close to overtaking amp sales, in my opinion. Right now, modelers are a very niche market by comparison.

    I don't think so. Kemper is the new benchmark for this tech IMHO, and others will follow. It is really good now, give it a year or so and I think there will be another mass extinction. Also the size/flexibility of the gear is way beyond any tube tech, and for newer kids growing up in a super tech world, that is what they will look to. If the costs for this gear ever get down to the point where it is accessible to the masses, game over.

  • Kemper is so much better than Fractal

    Since buying and using rack gear and such since the mid 80's, I have found that more tweek = less happiness. Comparing tweek is relevant when comparing gear. All of my favorite gear of every type required very little time to dial in what is needed and get to playing / creating. If I have to keep referencing a manual, study more documents than required to fly a boeing 747, and still not completely happy with the end result, to me it is a fail. Hello ebay. For the gear that either immediately sounds good or with just a few adjustments here or there gets me to an excited level of play, I have a winner. When I used to use various rack gear with clean/distorted guitar sounds, the first thing I did was turn off all the fluff and listen to the basic sounds. That usually eliminated 90% of them. As the saying goes, you can't polish a turd. Later when preamps got better in rack gear, real tubes were required, and also usually a nice tube power amp, which then makes you step back, look at your rack and go: "I just made a heavier more awkward guitar tube head." Then modelers came out, people still saying "You need a tube power amp" which to me defeated the purpose of the effort. Since Kemper, all of that crap is gone. Even if you are not exactly 100% close to your sound, just to avoid all the other bs connections and aggravations I say close enough, let your fingers make up the difference. Like many I have been selling off gear because of the Kemper. My tube heads I fear in a few years will really lose value since this high mark the Kemper reached is only the new beginning and everything of the past will just fall away to collectors of nostalgia.

  • Floor version off Kemper profiler

    I hate gear on the floor. I don't even like my foot pedals on the floor. It's fine if you just keep it nice and safe at home or in a studio, but other than that, the only thing I like on the floor is a tough foot pedal that is easy to see and use. I know there is the Fractal FX8, and I thought bad idea. I don't want to have to crawl on the floor or put it on a table to edit or worry about spilt beer, strange feet, dust, mud, crawling around to hookup stuff, whatever... Kemper has it right, nice clean unit (and I love that like TC Electronic, the rack unit is not 13" deep like some -other- gear) nice foot pedal with just one cable... You could always look for different foot pedals, maybe some built in this or that...