Kemper vs. AX8 vs. Helix vs. BIAS Head - BLIND TEST!

Reading my post to you above again I must admit that this is plain stupid..so take my sincere excuse for this.I did not want to say that the way it sounded..

Ofcourse you can play metal also with a matchless..

I just wanted to say that I have a different opinion when comparing for example some of TAFs matchless to the "original"..it does sound 100% like the original.And not only this.It "feels" also like the original.Many guys came to me after the gigs in the last months asking me what has "just fu&%$ed them so badly" while they cant see any tube amp on stage but only this "digital toy"..

Same with some of Topjimis plexis..they just sound like the "original".

And one other simple question:If it is true that there are just "some models" in the Kemper and the rest is whatever algorythm..how does it come we have so many "bad profiles" in the RE and from professional profilers;Should the KPA not "recognize" immediately the Marshall,Fender,Vox,Mesa,(what else;) and "add" automatically the "rest" to create a supa dupa profile of these amps;

Just thinking..

I have all but the Bias head. I loaded all three and will only say that everything on the Internet is not always as it seems. They are not as far apart as people would believe them to be.

Sound wise the difference might not be very apparent initially I give you that but it won't take you long to realize that other than Kemper the modelers don't behave like the real world counter part.

Don't take my word for it, try it out yourself. Take a Fender twin reverb for instance, Load a line 6 or Fractal twin using Helix or AXE II. . That's a very famous amp and you'd think , it would be easy to get it right. Do some rhythm parts and vary how hard you hit the strings. They each will for sure react differently to the dynamic fooling you into thinking that this is for sure how a tube amp would react, but anyone who has played a twin will instantly know that it's no longer sounding and certainly and surely not feeling like a twin reverb , there's either too much Sag or not enough of it and the dynamic is simply not like a real world amp. That basically applies to all the other amps they model, it's the unnatural unrealistic feel.

That might not be important to many or they don't realize that their playing and inspiration are hindered by playing these unnatural devices and after enough time is wasted they go back to tube amps to regain what they've been missing all along or they remain in this uninspired state waiting for firmware update to improve the modeling reworking their presets that change with every firmware hoping to get closer to the natural response that's already there in KPA from the first day it was released. Life is too short to play unnatural uninspiring tones.

Again, I have the three (not the Bias head) and I respectfully disagree with your assessment. The Helix and AX8 may take some initial effort to get the understanding (similar to the art of profiling) but once you know what variable does what they are accurate and relatively easy to get results. I wouldn't spend to much time bickering over good, better and best as that becomes a waste of time that could be spent playing guitar.

Quote from sinmix

Can only say that "dupa" in polish language means ass Stay Metal!

Oh really;

Talking about "ass" I could tell you the joke about the "arsehole" who thought he can fool everyone to buy his shit saying he is not an arsehole but a nice songbird..untill someone asked him to sing..

Anyway..if you tried to insult me in a nice way I can only tell you that you are even very right.I AM an "ass"..I had to become one because at some point in time I realized that many "honest guys" out there just hypocrits and greedy "dupas"trying to make some $ with selling "honest controversies" about artists,musicians or even music intruments.Of course I dont mean you or other guys like eytschpi42 or whomever..I know you all are just honest guys and you dont care about money or attention for your profiles or videos on youtube.. greetings

@Nikos
@sinmix

please be nice.

Here is the thing people miss with the kemper sound.
Plus this is why the Kemper IS different to all its competitors

First of all when chappers did the blind kemper test, (amp verse Kemper)
He said i like that sound, now why does this go over every ones head
instead of saying F me that is accurate i cant tell the difference
he actually said I LIKE THAT SOUND.

Meaning not its ability to fool him, the Kemper's OWN SOUND

Now i can tell the kemper sound over a real amp and i say I LIKE IT.
Who is to say its not got its OWN sound, AND IS IT BETTER?
SUBJECTIVELY YES IT HAS BEEN REPORTED BY SOME.

I cant say that about the others, forget the kemper trying to replicate 100%
ask your selves if you were not going for a copy, what do you think of its sound.

Say Don wanted a Fender Twin, he has never heard the real Fender Twin
He listen to the Kempers version first, i think you will find (like chappers)
That Don although has not heard the comparison would still say its
a great sound, to me more people should pay attention to that other than is it 100% a copy

if the sound can replicate the FEEL of tubes /valve amps etc, then the kempers own sound is good
enough for me...and can it ? Fing YEP

None of them get close to the Kemper's OWN SOUND.
Modeling well maybe another story...

Ash

Quote from ashtweth

Now i can tell the kemper sound over a real amp and i say I LIKE IT.
Who is to say its not got its OWN sound, AND IS IT BETTER?
SUBJECTIVELY YES IT HAS BEEN REPORTED BY SOME.

I cant say that about the others, forget the kemper trying to replicate 100%
ask your selves if you were not going for a copy, what do you think of its sound.

Say Don wanted a Fender Twin, he has never heard the real Fender Twin.

Display More

Well spoken

Furthermore: no two 7ender Twins will sound truely the same. Neither any other tube amp will. As long as a digi-amp can reproduce the basic spirit of the amp its fine and to me its then a legal member of this amp family. Depending on my guitar and a particular song I might prefer the one over the other. If needed the Kemper can be tweaked more than the original but maybe less than the Axe or a Helix. Who cares. If it sounds good it IS good.

Quote from ashtweth

First of all when chappers did the blind kemper test, (amp verse Kemper)
He said i like that sound, now why does this go over every ones head

Youtube is not a valid reference. Most are demoing to sell product or bias one side versus the other.

Quote from ashtweth

I cant say that about the others, forget the kemper trying to replicate 100%
ask your selves if you were not going for a copy, what do you think of its sound.

How it sounds - This is all that matters. If any of the devices does this for you then that's the end of the story. It becomes subjective after that. When there are stark differences between the products it is not subjective.

We are to the point of it being subjective/preferential.

Quote from Dean_R

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Quote from bshaw92

How it sounds - This is all that matters. If any of the devices does this for you then that's the end of the story. It becomes subjective after that. When there are stark differences between the products it is not subjective.We are to the point of it being subjective/preferential.

There are stark differences between these clips and anything from any other modeler so IMHO, it's not just subjective really.

How it sounds has always been my bottom line before making the decision as I had to chose one over the other as I didn't think I need the two . First, like most, I compared clips then I compared devices. A device that's capable of great and realistic tone counts and the playing the devices counts also. In my case it might have been subjective that it won in both, sound and feel, but I tried to find anything that compares to the above clips by Kemper and I couldn't, but no else could point to something that can show that the other devices are capable of such realistic tones.

So subjectively speaking on behalf of the whole modeling community, no one feels personally comfortable to point to clips that they think compare to these because everyone in reality agrees that these are simply the best and are untouchable by any other digital device.

So far this isn't just personal, guitar players thankfully aren't deaf and they know better than to throw or point to something that they know isn't up to par!

I have tons of paid profiles and several from top jimi. They sound nothing like his clips and are super thin in a mix. Granted my Kemper has been repaired and TBH, I still do not think its 100%. In the end I am prob going to sell my Kemper. It's too much of a headache.

Quote from schreckmusic

I have tons of paid profiles and several from top jimi. They sound nothing like his clips and are super thin in a mix. Granted my Kemper has been repaired and TBH, I still do not think its 100%. In the end I am prob going to sell my Kemper. It's too much of a headache.

I vaguely remember you profiling your amp and posting, I thought you got good results with that. For the Top Jimi profiles, I lower the Reverb and slightly EQ for my guitar pickups and I'm there. Same goes for Guido's profiles. I couldn't get any of the other devices to sound anywhere near what I get now.

I'm sure others will get better or worse sounds but that has to do with things other than the device itself but the above clips aren't the only stunningly realistic clips Using KPA, they are everywhere!!. I'm sure customer support will help you if you have any issues with your Kemper.

Quote from schreckmusic

In the end I am prob going to sell my Kemper. It's too much of a headache.

That's terribly sad to hear, AntMan!

I reckon if you could shoot off some clips to the support team... hang on... this is precisely what Gianfranco and I wanted a baseline-DI guitar sound file and comparison thread for going back well over a year now.

In your case, you'd nominate Profiles that you feel exhibit those problems and that you feel would have the best chances of being owned by other forum members, and post the clips of the baseline-DI-reamp results. Those who've got the same Profiles would reamp the baseline file and post the results in the thread, and we'd all theoretically have a fantastic starting point and basis for comparative analysis and diagnosis of the issue. Problem (hopefully) solved!

Whaddaya reckon, mate? At least you'd be able to rule out (or not) faulty Kemper performance. If you're up to it, grab Gianfranco's file from the first post of the thread and give it a shot. I for one am keen to see wassup with your unit if indeed there is a problem; I remember the stress you've been through trying to pull the tones you desire. Here ya go mate:

A dry guitar track for our tests

EDIT: There's nothing to be lost and everything to be gained (get it? Uugghh..) by at least trying this IMHO, Anthony.

Dean, those profiles you mentioned above sound like crap through my setup. Not usable.

Quote from deadpan

those profiles you mentioned above sound like crap

This can't be....everything on the internet is true

Now that's funny, I don't care who you are.

Quote from bshaw92

This can't be....everything on the internet is true
Now that's funny, I don't care who you are.

I have the profiles and they sound excellent. They don't sound like crap in the video and certainly don't sound like crap to many users who buy them.

@deadpan if you own the profiles and can't get them to sound good talk to someone and I'm sure you'll figure out a way to make them sound good. Maybe the sound is not your style of playing.

The point of what I'm saying, is based on Clips produced using all these digital devices, still, no one can point me or even themselves to anything produced by the other devices that's close or even in the same ball park of the Kemper CLips. Sure Guido is also and excellent player and so is Jimi, but I know there's gotta be great players also using the AXE FX II and Helix! So how come non of the pros using the other devices are able to produce similar quality clips?? The answer is those other devices aren't capable of the same realistic sounds in the KPA!! Simple as that!
So if your Kemper or AXE FXII or Helix don't sound like what others are getting in regards to sound clips, don't blame the device. Take some responsibility. All these devices are capable, but some are more capable than others.

Quote from sinmix

....It's really fucking easy to cheat you guys profiling ampsims with good IR or just copy paste cab from one profile to another and sell it as a new amp pack. It's still about this 3-5% of differencees and even some people dont hear this - Fuck This! not my problem i always trying to do this 99% becouse 100% is impossible.

Stay Metal!

Guido, Top Jimi, Mbrit, aren't cheating anyone, we have good ears. You can't sheet me buddy , I looked at your prices and I almost had a heart attack and your profiles were never my cup of tea (except for the free Razor that also might be an amp sims now that you mention it but I still like it for fun). I know how to shoot an accurate IR much quicker than you think, but it got old after getting the Kemper.