A lot of people will disagree with my hardware modeler ranking

[GTR37]

DI and Cliff are too much of a gentleman to call it out but, yes, "compressed, never sounds anything like the real amp" fits NDSP to a tee. Not that their products sound bad (very far from it!) but i always found them to have this exaggerated compressed loudness and heavy bass, which can't seem to fully be dialed out.

I would say the record mix ready with low cuts and studio eq ing could be the NDSP , I remember Igor putting a Vitriol up against the Gojira amp, and he did some low cut , and eq to match it

the artifacts and Aliasing I would say that is Headrush

 

[texhex]

Best modeler... yes.

Spoiler

 

[Mongillo19]

Best modeler... yes.

Spoiler

Didn't realize you still had the Kemper! Thought Tone X might have dethroned it

 

[Frodebro]

Best modeler... yes.

Spoiler

I have both of those, but so far they have not occupied the same rack.

 

[texhex]

Didn't realize you still had the Kemper! Thought Tone X might have dethroned it

I still have Tonex... Kemper just feels and sounds better to me and the software craps all over Tonex. AXE III is so incredibly flexible, the Kemper makes great "copies" of my amps at the settings I want and the software for both products is unmatched for what I want to do.

 

[texhex]

I have both of those, but so far they have not occupied the same rack.

You should try it. Run the Kemper amp/cab with the AXE time based effects

 

[Frodebro]

You should try it. Run the Kemper amp/cab with the AXE time based effects

I’ve considered a 4CM type thing with the KPA in the Fractal loop. Bonus: It’s a power rack, and I do have a Kemper Kab. I’m just afraid that I’ll fall in love with it and wind up having to haul the whole mess to rehearsals every week….

 

[Digital Igloo]

I can’t speak for Eric, but if I was in his line of work, I would only offer full respect to my competitors.

No, I get it.

My threshold for offering full respect has always been very low and very clear. Above the line is the 99% of MI companies that strive to operate and market in good faith. We all just want to make a living designing and developing gear that people use and love. If I don't happen to like a particular product, I won't disparage it (unless of course it's one of ours... and it's long discontinued). However, I LOVE a ton of gear other companies make.

Below the line you'll find the remaining 1%, who predictably and consistently pull shady $#¡‡, sometimes customer-facing but often behind the scenes: Refusing to pay vendors, refusing to pay licensees, lying to customers, lying to dealers, bullying mom and pop dealers into dedicating XX% of wall space to their brand(s), price fixing, patent trolling, trolling others' NAMM booths, actively sniping associates for damage purposes, fostering a toxic work environment, bullying forum administrators into giving up members' information, then suing said forum members for disparaging comments, violating NDAs, pressuring new hires into violating NDAs from their previous employer, blatant IP theft, blatant trade dress infringement, code theft, never picking up their dog's poop, talking or texting in a movie theater, blasting terrible music from bluetooth speakers on hiking trails, never using their turn signal, or unironically rooting for Gordon Gecko, Patrick Bateman, or Tyler Durden.

Y'know, douchebags.

 

[TubeStack]

View attachment 27327

That’s more grandpa metal these days, I’d say,

 

[FuzzyAce]

No, I get it.

My threshold for offering full respect has always been very low and very clear. Above the line is the 99% of MI companies that strive to operate and market in good faith. We all just want to make a living designing and developing gear that people use and love. If I don't happen to like a particular product, I won't disparage it (unless of course it's one of ours... and it's long discontinued). However, I LOVE a ton of gear other companies make.

Below the line you'll find the remaining 1%, who predictably and consistently pull shady $#¡‡, sometimes customer-facing but often behind the scenes: Refusing to pay vendors, refusing to pay licensees, lying to customers, lying to dealers, bullying independent dealers, price fixing, patent trolling, actively sniping associates for damage purposes, fostering a toxic work environment, bullying forum administrators into giving up members' information, then suing said forum members for disparaging comments, violating NDAs, blatant IP theft, blatant trade dress infringement, code theft, never picking up their dog's poop, talking or texting in a movie theater, blasting terrible music from bluetooth speakers on hiking trails, never using their turn signal, or unironically rooting for Gordon Gecko, Patrick Bateman, or Tyler Durden.

Y'know, douchebags.

Just want to say Thank You for all your work with HX. Appreciate your efforts making an awesome product.
Native alone has shaped the way I record music these days, it's been an invaluable tool.

 

[laxu]

Agreed. My evidence is mostly anecdotal .... and I don't go see metal bands :).

I do know many people that tour that initially went out and bought the QC and then dumped it explicitly because of the button clearance. A few others dumped it because of the lackluster efx (as compared to other devices in its price range).

The effects were my main reason. The footswitching is very easy to fix with any MIDI controller.

Still, my greater point was that this comparison is crap without some context as to what each pedal is "best" for. For example:

Kemper, best for:

• Old tube amp players that want a more simple and understandable interface
• Excellent low to medium gain sounds
• Good EFX
• Good ergonomic pedal for gigging
• Good workflow for gigging
• Good value for the price (Not quite as good as Helix though).

Kemper, Not so good for:

• Routing flexibility
• Multiple amp sounds in a single patch
• High level of layered EFX (>8)
• Multiple input and output (more than just an efx loop)
• Graphical editor (Kemper's is weak compared to others)
• Small form factor (The Player is hardly a Kemper until they upgrade it as it is missing most of what makes the full sized Kemper good in the first place).

Well put. You see Kempers on stage or the sidelines a lot, I saw several at a festival here in Japan a few weeks ago. They are used at least as backups.

Fractal also suffers from "NewHardwareItus". The company has a history of stopping support for old hardware and moving on to new hardware .... although it seems the Axe III generation is lasting longer than anything in the Axe II gen did.

While Fractal makes variants during the generation, there's usually no real need to buy them if you have an older version. I used an Axe-Fx 2 Mk 1 for 6 years, current gen has also been around for 6 years now.

My personal favorite for a cost effective, throw and go play with the guys for a night pedal is the Helix HX Stomp XL. Not as good as a Kemper IMO, but WAY less expensive (about half of a Kemper Stage) and certainly has everything you would need to gig with. All this and you get a much more flexible routing capability (and a better editor).

I can't stand the UI on the HX Stomp. The tiny screen with 3 knobs is a miserable experience to work with. It is great value for money though and even the XL is compact.

So .... not every guitar player uses their pedalboard the same way or has the same needs, therefore, there isn't a "best for everything" pedal, but rather a "best if you need ...." pedalboard.... and even then it comes down to what you MOST need. For some people, the routing and editor are the most important things. None of these people will go for a Kemper. They are more likely a Fractal fit (or possibly QC or Helix depending on other needs).

You can find good and bad in all the units on the market. Full size Helix is in that sweet spot where it sounds good, does a ton and is relatively easy to use while being cheaper than some others.

 

[dean701]

I’m afraid to ask, but just what would one classify as “dad-friendly metal?”

D

That is a fine question. As time moves on, it keeps changing. My kids think 2000s metal would be Dad metal, like Linkin Park, SOAD..

 

[TubeStack]

I can't stand the UI on the HX Stomp. The tiny screen with 3 knobs is a miserable experience to work with.

This I find interesting. I’ve always loved the Stomp UI and find it super easy and fast.

However, I started with HXFX, which is not great UI-wise, using only the scribble strips with no main screen at all (although it’s clever and efficient), and then got a Stomp, so the Stomp seemed like a step up and I got very comfortable with it.

Maybe if I had started with the full Floor, I’d have found the Stomp frustrating, but coming at it the way I did, it’s been great.

 

[EOengineer]

It's Around the Fur and White Pony-era, but I've been bugging the team to model the Marshall JMP-1 for years.

For years I’ve heard persistent rumors that the POD 2.0 was used for portions of White Pony. Has L6 ever considered modeling the POD??

 

[SeeD]

Won't claim this has never been true, but if it were true today, it'd be measurable and repeatable. Too many 3rd-party shootouts have proven this false, even after accounting for YouTube compression.

However, when we perform double-blind listening tests, 100% of us can reliably call out two particular competitors; one because of its squirrels and other artifacts, and the other because it never sounds anything like the real amp—multiple EQ (and perhaps multi-band compression?) stages seem to be baked in in order to, I dunno—approximate what they believe their customers think the amp should sound like? It doesn't sound objectively bad per sé (especially if you love gacked-out producers going ham on a djent mix), but it sucks that you can't dial it out.

Cliff knows who I'm talking about; he's alluded to something similar.

I took your listening blind test after the Helix came out, and I was right 70% of the time, about what was the real amp

 

[EOengineer]

I took your listening blind test after the Helix came out, and I was right 70% of the time, about what was the real amp

 

[SeeD]

Everytime I try a Line6 product, I think.. ehhh, I`ll keep my Axe Fx (Helix, and 2 times the Stomp)
Everytime I try a Fractal Audio product I think... sounds good, hard to use, and the endless updates that did brink my presets
Everytime I turn on my Quad Cortex I think... I did the right thing, selling the Axe Fx I had

I just love the option of captures, and the option to have 4 capture or more in a row. It`s easy to use, and looks sexy

I have owned 7 Line6 products, Pod, Pod rack, X3 live, Spider Valve, Helix, Stomp, Stomp, and I think I can say, that it will take A LOT for me to buy another one
I have owned 3 Fractal Audio products, Axe Fx Ultra, Axe Fx II & MFC-101. If Fractal get a Capture option, I will get one to try out!
I had a Axe Fx III on loan while I also had my Quad Cortex to test, but ended up not sending back the QC

So far, I like my tone better with the QC, for Guitar and for Bass

But this is just my journey the last 12 years

 

[Jarick]

I still think there’s a sweet spot between Hx Stomp and full Helix. That would be killer.

What’s funny to me is the easiest way to stop tweaking is to have a goal like a song or gig. Get in the ballpark and move on.

 

[Perrymusica]

The Helix is great! The only thing they need to add is the amp and kick feel that Kemper, Fractal and even Boss GT1000 give for example. That's why those pedals are seen more live. If Helix incorporated this it would be unbeatable. As a Line6 user and "fanatic" I must admit that all those who change from Helix to Fractal, Kemper... don't go back to HX because of that real amp feel they now have. I humbly work with Helix users to give them that real amp feel and keep them happy with their Helix, which is excellent.

 

[Jarick]

The Helix is great! The only thing they need to add is the amp and kick feel that Kemper, Fractal and even Boss GT1000 give for example. That's why those pedals are seen more live. If Helix incorporated this it would be unbeatable. As a Line6 user and "fanatic" I must admit that all those who change from Helix to Fractal, Kemper... don't go back to HX because of that real amp feel they now have. I humbly work with Helix users to give them that real amp feel and keep them happy with their Helix, which is excellent.

You'll probably get some criticism for that, but I do think one of the things Helix could improve on is the low end punch and presence. I know from a mix standpoint you don't want a lot of low end in there, but there's kind of a deep bass push that helps with the feel. John Cordy did some videos on this a while back adding in a big bump in the very low end. I think it may be related to speaker impedance curves as those have a resonant frequency peak around 100 Hz.