Now this YOU GUYS HAVE TO READ.....

    Quote from Spid

    A digital device needs resources (DSP) to produce and/or reproduce an analog signal. The more accurate we want to be, the more resources we need. That's the reason why a Pod HD does sound better than a Pod 1 or 2, because they include a more powerful DSP. That's also the reason why the Axe-FX II sounds better than the first model because they include a dual DSP, one for the Amp modeling and another one for the rest (cab, stomps, etc..).

    I think dsp is only an indicator of what a unit MIGHT be able to to, but not, what it actually can do. Axe-fx and Kemper. As far as I know, the Kemper hasn't got a dsp that is as strong as the axe-fx IIs (and that thing even has two of it). Of course the Kemper can not compete when it comes to fx-quantity or routing possibilitys. But soundwise they are in the same league (with people arguing about which ones better).
    So I think it depends on what the programmers do with the dsp, not only how much it has. In case of the Kemper, it has less than others, but sounds incredibly accurate.


    I think sometimes a manufacturer developes a unit that is so unique and powerful, that it will be used, just the way it is, many many years later. POD 2.0 is such a thing, which is still used in studios, many people have one at home. TC Electronics 2290, which hasn't changed a bit since the 80s, because it was just great. (Although unfortunately it is not continued, because they couldn't get the original parts anymore...)
    The Axe-fx as well, up to a point. Since there will be a new version every now and then, it's not exactly the same. But there are many people who are satisfied with the axe 1 and probably still will be in years.
    The Access Virus synthesizer, is another example.


    And therefore chances are good, that the Kemper will be one of those units you buy NOW and will still use it with pleasure in 10 years. I certainly hope so.
    I was pleased with my POD x3, then I bought the hd 500 and thought "yes its better, but is it THAT much better?" No! Do I want to refresh my hardware every 18 months, like you stated? Hell, NO! I couldn't afford it and even if I could it wouldn't want to.


    And with all the money saved from upgrading every 18 month and buying 1 kemper instead, you might add a delicious tube amp to your collection from time to time, which will increase your kempers value. :thumbup:

    Well, you misunderstood what I wrote. I haven't say you will need to buy (or even there will be) a new Kemper every 18 months. I'm saying that technologies increase and double the power every 18 months. That's Moore's Law.


    As you said yourself, the Axe might allow to have more effects, routing, etc... it's mainly related to the DSP power (so related to Moore's Law).
    With more power you can get more stuff and/or some more complex stuff (which ends with more accurate). Hardware is one thing and talented software programmers is another one... of course. So it's not about to compare one device to another one... But to compare one device from a manufacture from a next device from the same manufacture.


    Your example about the Line 6 products is great. And sorry if it will hurt some, but I do think the first Pod just doesn't sound good at all to me and to my ears, even if it has been used for several years in studios... just like has been used also some old stuff such Art, Digitech and Zoom. It doesn't mean it was replacing a real amp. If it's used for some chorus, flanger, delay... it's all good, even some 80's devices were already good for that. But when it comes to distortion, tube, that's another story.


    Then, has said, it all comes down to one question: How close do you want it and you can hear it?


    If you can't hear any differences, you will probably use the device for a long time... but you aren't satisfied, you will try the next thing that might sound better to you. I personally haven't been completely convinced by the Axe 1. It's great for effects though, but it was still missing something.


    But I'm a very picky guy and that's why I haven't buy the Kemper Amp yet and I will prefer to test it in real situation in my studio to know if it's really as good as it seems to be in video. But regardless how picky I could be, one day or the other, a digital device will be so close than no human beings on earth could tell the difference between the original and the copy, even for tube amps.


    And at this point, regardless how technologies will still continue to increase, it will bring nothing more for the users. What would be the point... running 100's of Stomps and dozen of Amps in the same time... that would be just useless, so the technology will come to maturity and will "well enough" to remove any need for a new hardware... only software updates will be sufficient. It's already starting to be the case with product like the Axe, KPA, etc...


    I don't know if the Kemper Amp is already this "Perfect" device thought, but if it is not, we're pretty close and just few years away to discover it.


    Phil


    PS: And regarding the Virus Synth, that's another story. It doesn't try to reproduce a current and existing analog synth, so it doesn't matter how accurate it could be, there's no reference point. The TR-808 was nothing like a real drums and drummer... and it's what it was supposed to reproduce thought. That's what was used at the time because it was limited by the technology and it became its own sound category by now, just like the Rhodes or CP80 weren't very close to the Piano sound, the Mellotron wasn't close to the strings and flutes sounds, etc...

    Well, more CPU power is only needed for running more CPU-hungry algorithms.


    Axe II has got more CPU than Axe I because Fractal needed to write more complex algorithms for improving the sound quality. Unless Kemper discover a more CPU-demanding algorithm that noticeably improves profiling or playback performance, there's no need for more processing power. With the exception of using more FX (or more complex FX algorithms) at the same time.


    What matters is the "power/weight ratio": a motorbike will start moving (accelerating) much faster than a car even with less power and torque, because it weights much less. At a certain stage, increasing power in a bike engine for making it faster is no use, if you don't increase the overall weight as well: the tyres would just skid.


    Summing up, the Axe doesn't sound better than the KPA because it has got more powerful CPU: both machines have been designed optimizing the processor power according with the code they were destined to run. Axe II exists only because they realized that the only way to improve sound quality was to write more complex algorithms one CPU was not enough for.
    :|

    Quote from viabcroce

    Well, more CPU power is only needed for running more CPU-hungry algorithms.


    Axe II has got more CPU than Axe I because Fractal needed to write more complex algorithms for improving the sound quality. Unless Kemper discover a more CPU-demanding algorithm that noticeably improves profiling or playback performance, there's no need for more processing power.


    Again, it's nothing to do with comparing the Axe and the Kemper (it's a non-sense comparison just like Apples and Oranges).


    As said, it all comes down to the only one question: How close and accurate do you want it and can hear it?
    (not between the Axe and the Kemper, but between a real Amp and the Kemper)


    From some demo I heard, there was still some distinction from the original amp and the Kemper (of course, don't get me wrong, it's very tiny... and actually it looks to be the tiniest one I heard so far... but it might still be there. To really confirm it, I'm waiting to test it in real situation). Chasing the very last percentage of accuracy is always requesting a lot of efforts (from very complex algorithms and then DSP power). That's for this unique reason we might see in a future an Axe III, an Eleven Rack II, a Pod HD II, a Torpedo II, and even a KPA II, etc... several years from now.


    However, even if there's still a place for improvements right now, it will pretty soon reach maturity because technologies are catching up with human beings; By 2020, a regular consumer computer will got more processing power than the human brain...

    That's funny and scary at the same time.......In a very twisted way it's actually validating the Kemper even more.
    Funny thing is I don't ever remember Leo Fender getting his panties in a wad when Boogie and Marshall both started out copying Fender amps and later on beefing them up in the very beginning....