# AX8 or Kemper?



## Jacksonluvr636 (Oct 4, 2016)

Just wanted some opinions and suggestions.

I signed up for the waiting list today and have really been wanting the AX8. Before I spend the money I wanted to see more about the Kemper. I hear the tones are better/more accurate but it seems like it is pretty limited and you are at the mercy of the person who profiles the amp.

I am not huge on effects, I don't use them much so the Kemper would work in that department too but with the new AXE updates and the portability of the AX8 I am leaning towards Fractal.


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## jerm (Oct 4, 2016)

If you don't need all the FX that the AXE FX offers and just need the typical delay, reverb, noise gate, flanger, phaser, tremolo........get the Kemper. Hands down. The tones are ridiculous.

You are right, a bad profile = bad tone. 

But there are good profiles of virtually every single amp out there....


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## takotakumi (Oct 4, 2016)

jerm said:


> If you don't need all the FX that the AXE FX offers and just need the typical delay, reverb, noise gate, flanger, phaser, tremolo........get the Kemper. Hands down. The tones are ridiculous.
> 
> You are right, a bad profile = bad tone.
> 
> But there are good profiles of virtually every single amp out there....



+1 
I was in the same boat last year and opted for the kemper.
Like Jerm said, if you're like us in the sense that are more of the "plug and play" type who dont fiddle much with knobs and use very few effects, the kemper might be for you. 

To my ears, the Kemper still stands #1 on the Digital Amps roster. The tones sound closer to the real thing. Don't get me wrong, Fractal sounds amazing, but I just prefer the kemper a slight bit more (tonewise).


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## Jujex (Oct 5, 2016)

From what I gather you should go for the Kemper.

AX8 would be good used with an amp as your FX unit but Kemper is basically an amp itself. It's pretty user freindly as well, I should know, I have it.


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## laxu (Oct 5, 2016)

I've only briefly compared the Kemper and Axe-Fx 2 but to my ears the Axe sounds a bit better. Not that the Kemper sounds bad or anything, I just preferred the Axe.


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## mnemonic (Oct 5, 2016)

I went axe fx II myself as when I listened to clips and demos online, I more often than not liked the axe fx clips, but the kemper ones were more hit-or-miss in my opinion. This was a couple years ago though and both units have undergone upgrades and improvements to firmware since then. 

Also, I've been using modelers for many years and I have never had any luck using other people's patches. The way I see it, that is kind of how the kemper works, you're just using other people's patches. 

If I owned a studio or had a ton of my own amps I wanted to profile it would have been a much harder choice for me, and I may have went kemper, but that's not the situation I was in, I wanted the modeler I bought to be the entirety of my amplification / effects.


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## Andromalia (Oct 5, 2016)

I bought my axe II after having had an axe 1, because Fractal had shown to be reliable. I *think* the Kemper wasn't released yet when i bought it. I played a Kemper only once or twice and it seems like a solid unit too.

I second Mnemonic about other people's patches. The axe II is pretty susceptible to guitar changes and even the patch I make are often only usable with one guitar (All my guitars have different pickups except the few with EMG 81s. 
Keep in mind that if the axe rquired a lot of tweaking, this isn't really the case any longer. Deep parameters are more or less not needed anymore, the only one I used recently was to put EL34s in the Engl Savage. I then slapped the old German V30 impulse and here we go.


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## wakjob (Oct 5, 2016)

Whoa... Kemper makes a floor model now too?

ik.

Not really an apples to apples comparison though is it?


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## DarthV (Oct 5, 2016)

Yep, if you want a floorboard style device, it's either the Helix or AX8. Wonder how long it will take Kemper to make one as well. I'd instantly trade my space radio for a floor model even if it didn't have the ability to profile!


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## Shask (Oct 5, 2016)

To me, it comes down to workflow. 

Do you want to download hundreds of sounds, sort through them for a few good gems, with little to no creation on your part? Go Kemper.

Do you want to be able to build your own sound by learning how to tweak tons of parameters, and basically sculpt anything you want? Go Axe-FX.

Personally, I chose the Axe-FX. I love tweaking every little piece of my tone. I am not much of an effects users honestly, but you cant beat having 12+ EQs available at any time. You can pretty much dial in anything tonally. I just find dialing in dynamics harder.

If you know synths/VSTs, to me the Kemper is like using a sampler, and the Axe-FX is like using a synthesizer. You are either creating something from the raw building blocks, or just using a snapshot of something created with little control over it.


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## Jacksonluvr636 (Oct 5, 2016)

DarthV said:


> Yep, if you want a floorboard style device, it's either the Helix or AX8. Wonder how long it will take Kemper to make one as well. I'd instantly trade my space radio for a floor model even if it didn't have the ability to profile!



Yep, portability is a big factor and maybe the biggest reason I started looking digital but if it was night and day difference in sound quality I could sacrifice.


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## takotakumi (Oct 5, 2016)

Jacksonluvr636 said:


> Yep, portability is a big factor and maybe the biggest reason I started looking digital but if it was night and day difference in sound quality I could sacrifice.



Forgot to mention about that. If portability is a big factor I'd honestly go with the AX8. Great tones plus you would not need a controller since it already is one haha. Kemper of Axe II you would need a controller so thats more $$ plus more space. Just be sure to check the ins/outs. IIRC, the AX8 in/outs were one of its shortcomings...


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## laxu (Oct 5, 2016)

mnemonic said:


> Also, I've been using modelers for many years and I have never had any luck using other people's patches. The way I see it, that is kind of how the kemper works, you're just using other people's patches.



But that's not really how it works though. The better comparison would be using other people's impulse responses, just like you would for cabs on the Axe-Fx. Those can also range from something that doesn't work for you to downright awesome.


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## jerm (Oct 5, 2016)

^yup,

There are so many amazing profiles out for the Kemper, it's pretty remarkable. I cannot recommend it enough. 

Ask yourself this, do you want pure amp tone/realistic feel, if so, get the Kemper. If you want loads of FX, get the AXE FX.


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## FifthCircleSquared (Oct 5, 2016)

Happy AX8 user here, so I vote for that. Killed the GAS! It's got what you need to make good tunes. 

FWIW, I also thought about the Kemper, but both the price and the thought of having to pay for decent profiles of gear I can't afford to profile myself as well as matching the right type of pickups etc to the profiles pushed me toward the Fractal. It is *not hard* to come up with good tones on the AX8, especially using Axe-Edit.


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## DarthV (Oct 5, 2016)

FifthCircleSquared said:


> Happy AX8 user here, so I vote for that. Killed the GAS! It's got what you need to make good tunes.
> 
> FWIW, I also thought about the Kemper, but both the price and the thought of having to pay for decent profiles of gear I can't afford to profile myself as well as matching the right type of pickups etc to the profiles pushed me toward the Fractal. It is *not hard* to come up with good tones on the AX8, especially using Axe-Edit.



Tons of great free profiles for the Kemper. And just like any sound gear, expect to spend time tweaking to get it to your liking. If I were to pick between the big 3 now, I'm not even sure which I'd go for. Relative ease of use for the Kemper, the great displays on the Helix or the AX8. As much as I love my Kemper, I'd probably go with one of the floorboard designs. I'd lean towards the AX8, just because of their great support history vs. Line 6.


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## KnightBrolaire (Oct 5, 2016)

The Kemper is excellent. So many good profiles for it. If you do get a Kemper, Kosten and Sinmix have some of the best free high gain profiles imo (especially Kosten's Powerball profiles, those are amazing). Lasse Lammert's profiles are also really good (plus they come standard on kempers now I believe)
I've only paid for a couple of profiles like Marco Cudan's PRS Archon profiles and Choptones' Bogner Alchemy set. Both of those are really good for paid profiles. It can be a crapshoot finding certain tones ( I still can't find a decent ENGL Invader profile) but there's so many good ones floating around anymore it's probably not a big deal for most people.
TLDR: Kemper is awesome, pretty easy to use, lots of good free content.


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## jerm (Oct 5, 2016)

^Tonehammer has awesome profiles, he did a Invader pack also, I would check that out!

Agreed, there are so many good free Kemper profiles out there. Kosten's 5150 Platinum mod is insane. Most of the big profilers have a bunch of free profiles for you to try out before you buy. 

It's funny when people say if you want the plug N play unit get the Kemper, if you want to tweak for days get the AXE FX because I'm constantly tweaking with the Kemper and always on the look out for new profiles. I always tend to go back to my favourite one though haha

Also, I've had it for a couple years now and my tones don't change regardless of the software updates.......that's a huge plus for me...


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## mnemonic (Oct 5, 2016)

I think its important to note that yes, with an Axe FX II or AX8 you can tweak for days if you want, the options are there, but since about FW18 or so (over a year ago now I think), the unit has been very plug-and-play. I honestly can't remember the last time I touched any advanced settings, I just stick to the basic amp EQ.


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## Jacksonluvr636 (Oct 5, 2016)

Well thanks for all of the feedback.

Price and fate says I am getting the AX8.

There was a powered kemper rack for $1,500 that I figured I would buy. I get my money next week but it sold today so.......Between the floorboard, paid profiles and the other factors previously mentioned the AX8 seems to make more sense for me right now.


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## DarthV (Oct 5, 2016)

Jacksonluvr636 said:


> Well thanks for all of the feedback.
> 
> Price and fate says I am getting the AX8.
> 
> There was a powered kemper rack for $1,500 that I figured I would buy. I get my money next week but it sold today so.......Between the floorboard, paid profiles and the other factors previously mentioned the AX8 seems to make more sense for me right now.



Like we have said, you don't need to buy profiles for the KPA, but I'm 100% sure you will be completely happy with the AX8. It's awesome, enjoy! And maybe look at buying some 3rd party IRs


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## Jacksonluvr636 (Oct 5, 2016)

DarthV said:


> Like we have said, you don't need to buy profiles for the KPA, but I'm 100% sure you will be completely happy with the AX8. It's awesome, enjoy! And maybe look at buying some 3rd party IRs



I might idk I doubt it, I want to try Bulb's Zilla pack but I have dozens of IR's on my PC and some friends have plenty more including other zilla's. Maybe, we will see.


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## noUser01 (Oct 10, 2016)

I highly disagree about the quality and accuracy of the Kemper tones being better, I think the two units are on par. I've heard shootouts where the Kemper sucked, and I've heard shootouts where the Fractal sucked. Same goes for demos where they sounded amazing. When I sat down with the Kemper and the AxeFX II neither myself or the Kemper user found there to be a difference in tone quality or feel.

That being said, I think for your needs, both cover the ground you'll need. The AX8 does it for cheaper and give you more options, the Kemper does it with a power amp built in and a much easier user interface. Those are just a couple differences, there's many more, but I think price and your preferred workflow when making tones are the two most important considerations at this point.


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## will_shred (Oct 11, 2016)

Man, my local guitar center just got in a Kemper and I tried it out. It was pretty awesome, it def had that real tube amp feel. Though I still prefer my Mark V.


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## Jacksonluvr636 (Oct 13, 2016)

will_shred said:


> Man, my local guitar center just got in a Kemper and I tried it out. It was pretty awesome, it def had that real tube amp feel. Though I still prefer my Mark V.





ConnorGilks said:


> I highly disagree about the quality and accuracy of the Kemper tones being better, I think the two units are on par. I've heard shootouts where the Kemper sucked, and I've heard shootouts where the Fractal sucked. Same goes for demos where they sounded amazing. When I sat down with the Kemper and the AxeFX II neither myself or the Kemper user found there to be a difference in tone quality or feel.
> 
> That being said, I think for your needs, both cover the ground you'll need. The AX8 does it for cheaper and give you more options, the Kemper does it with a power amp built in and a much easier user interface. Those are just a couple differences, there's many more, but I think price and your preferred workflow when making tones are the two most important considerations at this point.



These ^^^ Well, I have not played a Kemper BUT I am assuming it is more about feel and also accuracy.

I did end up getting the AX8. I signed up for the wait list and in my confirmation email was a note telling me about the B-Stock AX8 that were in stock now.

I rolled the dice, saved $200 and got a near flawless AX8. There was one tiny little nick on the back that is barely noticeable. Very happy.

I do realize this thread was comparing apples to oranges now. The AX8 is SO in depth it is insane. 

I like it and hate it for the same exact reason, so much to learn 

I have not had much time with it yet, got some good sounds out of the box. I learned how to navigate and edit the stock profiles. That is barely the tip of the iceberg, like I cannot even see the iceberg yet lol.

I am confident I am going to get some amazing sounds from this but it is going to take some time. I cannot say what I think just yet but so far so good.

I get to crank it up loud with the drummer tonight into the PA. So far I have only got to play it through my amp and cab at whisper levels.


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## DarthV (Oct 13, 2016)

Sweet! Have fun with the new toy!


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## Jacksonluvr636 (Oct 13, 2016)

DarthV said:


> Sweet! Have fun with the new toy!



Thanks, will be a journey that is for sure


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