Kemper plus Axe-Fx for Effects

To be honest. I like the combo of the KPA and the Boss GT 001 mini processor more esp. pre amp.
KPA and Axe fx each work best on their own.

The Axe (Ultra) combined with KPA just dissapointed me.A Strymon Mobius gave better results, but in many ways the endresult didnt differ that much from the KPA, The Boss gt 001 I found most complimentary.

There is a thread somewhere here about a new fx only floorboard that Fractal Audio is due to release that could be interesting for you, I reckon its gonna be a lot cheaper than the Axe fx itself,

Quote from ClassicMetal

Does anyone use the KPA for the profiles plus the Axe-Fx for its effects?

I'm still researching in preparation for buying, but my impressions are that the Kemper has better amp sounds, the Axe (which I own) has better effects, but also that you can use external pedals and effects with the KPA.

Although one of my main goals at my age is to keep my rig very lightweight, a rack mount Kemper with my Axe-Fx for effects in a rack might be the most awesome rig imaginable, so I was wondering if anyone's tried this?

Have you heard the FX in the Kemper?
The Kemper FX are incredible...the Kemper is an all in one unit!

If you made a pedal board with all the Kemper FX on it, the pedalboard would be 2m X 2m in size...you'd need a pickup truck to transport it.
I'll bet you Kemper owners and Axe-FX owners don't use 80% of the FX in each box....they want want want, talk talk talk, but never use use use.

Quote from Guitartone

Have you heard the FX in the Kemper?
The Kemper FX are incredible...the Kemper is an all in one unit!

If you made a pedal board with all the Kemper FX on it, the pedalboard would be 2m X 2m in size...you'd need a pickup truck to transport it.
I'll bet you Kemper owners and Axe-FX owners don't use 80% of the FX in each box....they want want want, talk talk talk, but never use use use.

Thats is true, the compressor, chorus, crybaby wah preset, rotary and the pitcheffects are all superb. Relatively weak are the phaser and flange (this all subjective ofcourse). Also I miss a truely convincing mutron emulation,

Quote from ClassicMetal

Does anyone use the KPA for the profiles plus the Axe-Fx for its effects?

I'm still researching in preparation for buying, but my impressions are that the Kemper has better amp sounds, the Axe (which I own) has better effects, but also that you can use external pedals and effects with the KPA.

Although one of my main goals at my age is to keep my rig very lightweight, a rack mount Kemper with my Axe-Fx for effects in a rack might be the most awesome rig imaginable, so I was wondering if anyone's tried this?

I'm not really into effects that much, I use a simple wah, delay and reverb most of the time and I have an overdrive and booster programmed along with a Univibe effect. I owned an Axe II before getting the KPA, to me raw amp tones in the KPA are indeed better, while I believe those who say that the effects are better in the Axe II, to someone like me who only needs the most basic effects the effects in the KPA are more than adequate, and to be honest I can't tell the difference. Since you already own the Axe II it would probably be worth your time to try and use the two together, but for someone like me who doesn't own it any more I wouldn't think that it would be worth the price for just effects. Just my two cents....

Hey CM, please refer to the wiKPA, there's a chapter about having the two units work well together

Hi,

I´m using the KPA (with a few "real" stomp boxes in front) with a G-Major 2.. I use a lot of delays, which are more flexible with the G-Major. I don't like the delay-modulation of the KPA-Delay and I am way more flexible with different delay-presets. The reverb of the KPA would be great - I don´t need any of the other of effects.

My experience:
- I Tried to put the G-Major in the Stereo-FX-Loop. Works fine, but the overall-Delay of my signal is close to 10ms... thats because of the 6 (!) A/D and D/A conversions... 10ms are too much for me. I notice that very clearly in my inears (even some more delay when a digital mixing console is used).

Guitar - A/D KPA-input - D/A fx-send - A/D g-major input - D/A G-major output - A/D KPA fx-return - D/A KPA Output.

Now I run the G-Major just behind the KPA, connected with SPDIF.

Guitar - A/D KPA-Input - SPDIF-Output to G-MAjor - D/A G-Major output to FOH..

The overall latency is now a little below 4ms... thats fine for me.

martin

Quote from snakefuture

The Axe (Ultra) combined with KPA just dissapointed me.A Strymon Mobius gave better results, but in many ways the endresult didnt differ that much from the KPA, The Boss gt 001 I found most complimentary.

There is a thread somewhere here about a new fx only floorboard that Fractal Audio is due to release that could be interesting for you, I reckon its gonna be a lot cheaper than the Axe fx itself,

You didn't get much better results with the Mobius? I have to try. I'm a huge Strymon fan, own most of their pedals, but I have had the Kemper barely for days so I couldn't yet try them together.
However, my first impression (without proper a/b comparison) makes me think that Strymon wins hands down. Nothing wrong with Kemper effects, they're very nice and professional, but much more standard than Strymon's, and that's ok, it's not the KPA focus, right? On the other hand I could probably like the KPA delay better than the digital delay on the Timeline, it sounds more pristine.

Hi ClassicMetal. I am taking the 15 day test run of an Axe Fx and FMC101 to use with my Kemper. Had it for about 6 days now. Overkill? yes but I think they are a great compliment together. I am running from the Kemper's 1/4 inch outs on the back into the FX loop returns on the Axe right now and put an FX block where I want the amp to be (and turn off the amp on the Axe and play with the cabs on the KPA and Axe). The effects and routing in the Axe are amazing but it is the Axe Edit software running on my Mac that I really appreciate and can't wait till the RE comes to the Mac (and made me realized that full editor software for the KPA would be great). I got the Axe right at the FW 14 to 15 update and it seems that for those who have spent a lot of time creating custom rigs may have to spend a lot of time recreating part of those rigs where the amps have changed. Some mistakes aside, this is not an issue for the KPA or for someone who is really using the Axe for the effects and won't have lots of rigs to update when v16 rolls around. Customer support and the community on both are great. If you have the money, the KPA has a 30 day return policy and the only way you will really know is if you try it out for yourself. I enjoy my Kemper and suspect I'll be keeping the Axe as well.

This is now officially the rich man's thread. I'm so poor, I feel that I can contribute nothing to it but snide remarks.

Quote from ClassicMetal

If it makes you feel any better, I bought the Axe a couple of years ago and did NOT plan to buy more amps or something like the KPA, which is similar in cost to the Axe--but the sounds and ease of use of the KPA is very appealing, as I've had some frustration getting good sounds from the Axe.

I'm 60, and ironically now I can afford good equipment, whereas when I was gigging in my thirties, let alone in my teens and twenties, I was scrounging to make ends meet.

The main thing is the playing. It's possible to get at least an adequate tone out of almost anything--especially these days, there's so much great sounding gear cheap now--and as they say, your sound is in your fingers.

I hear you! I remember being so excited when I bought my first guitar, a "Gibtone" and a dinky 20-watt amp, then upgraded with a Zoom 505II. And I was in tonal heaven, irrespective of what anybody could or would have told me. I am aware that it wasn't the end-all of tone, but somehow, remarkably, it just was. I suppose the main thing was that it was my tone.

I'm glad I have a Kemper now, something cutting edge. But I don't know, something about the innocence of those younger days 15 years ago appeals to me. At any rate, it would have probably been easier to break even on my music expenses with a simple rig like that, hah!