A lot of people will disagree with my hardware modeler ranking

[paisleywookiee]

Which modeler has the best Tractor in the Room toanz?

 

[Los-D]

Which modeler has the best Tractor in the Room toanz?

The Kemper?

Home : Maschinenfabrik KEMPER GmbH & Co. KG

www.kemper-stadtlohn.de

 

[OneEng]

You guys are seriously twisted! .

 

[Whizzinby]

Here's some more fuel for the fire:

Not today satan.

 

[Baba]

IMO, after an update, or anytime for that matter, if you can’t just grab the BMT knobs of the amp model and find your tone, then you’re doing it wrong…or got the wrong amp….or both. View attachment 27471

1. There are A LOT more parameters in a Fractal unit than just BMT, that will affect your tone.
2. If it was only BMT that was affected by an update, is the unit even worth updating in the first place?

I'm being facetious, but I think we would all agree, just BMT is NOT the difference with a Fractal, (or any modeler) update.

 

[Rock Chalk]

1. There are A LOT more parameters in a Fractal unit than just BMT, that will affect your tone.
2. If it was only BMT that was affected by an update, is the unit even worth updating in the first place?

I'm being facetious, but I think we would all agree, just BMT is NOT the difference with a Fractal, (or any modeler) update.

I'm well aware how many parameters there are in the Fractal, as I use many of them.......my statement was more geared towards the complaining about having to tweak after an update. I stand by what I said.....most of these updates are not earth-shattering, and can be delt with using the BMT knobs.

 

[Sascha Franck]

I think there’s a lot of users that don’t want to bother with a whole lot of parameters on an amp…at least one! (Me)
I’d rather select an amp that’s close to what I want…spend 30 seconds on the tonestack…and continue being a rockgod from there.

Exactly the same here.

Well ok, I don't mind some initial tweaking. For instance, it took me quite a while to tweak the Amplifirebox Bman model to suit my pedal platform needs, utilizing whole lot of the pre/post-amp EQ options and custominzig some IRs - but once that was done, I pretty much never touched it again but only used the exposed gain and tonestack WYSIWYG style. Worked fine on my main board for around 4 years by now.

 

[nightlight]

QC stinks for live use. The buttons are simply too close together. Ergonomics alone keep it FAR out of the top 5 for live gigging (the efx are mediocre at best as well).

This is a simple fix. Connect a midi floorboard and rack mount it.

 

[nightlight]

You only see Axe and Kemper really at the high end of touring. QC would fall apart and that is before you decide the FX suck . Helix sounds too line 6 and the rest are irrelevant. Special mention goes to the Headflush for sounding universally shit in all live scenarios ( think PV bandit miked up in the gents back through Beringer’s finest $500 pa) or worse still their own FR FU speakers.

Think Megadeth uses or used the QC live. And Jim Root of Slipknot recently said he used the QC live for a couple of shows.

Takes time for adoption of digital gear. The firmware is improving, I quite like the Archetype Gojira tones on my QC, though my own tones leave much to be desired.

 

[nightlight]

I’m guessing that this sort of disconnect is why GuitarJon didn’t just post the ranking in written form, which takes it out of context.

I think he did it for clicks.

That said, I don’t think it’s a bad video, or Jon shouldn’t make comparisons. It’s a free country.

His tones are always excellent as well.

Speaking of which, does anyone remember that Monsters of High Gain amp series that was done by Premier Guitar some years ago? I heard Ola Englund, Misha Mansoor and some other guys make some superb amps sound like shite. Was it because Premier Guitar did the recordings? Weird.

 

[Baba]

.....most of these updates are not earth-shattering

Well, THAT, we can agree on

 

[OneEng]

This is a simple fix. Connect a midi floorboard and rack mount it.

Of course .... but why not just buy a device that you don't have to buy more stuff, add more cables, add more setup and tear down complexity, etc?

I am not saying that it can't be overcome, but in a review of what is the "best" device for a situation, (and in my case and others like me, live gigging and properties of the device that are important for live gigging), ergonomics should be a factor in the evaluation.

QC owners will rant and rave about Kemper users making excuses for why the Kemper captures take longer, require more work, and are sometimes still not as accurate as the QC are frequently the SAME people that make excuses for the QC's horrible ergonomics or the QC's less capable FX or the QC's lower reliability.

In both cases, people are just fooling themselves. The QC does capture faster and more accurately than the Kemper. If THAT is what is important to you (and it is for a segment of users), THEN the QC is a better device for the job. The Kemper is more ergonomic and robust than the QC for live performances. If THIS is what is important to you, THEN the Kemper is a better device for the job.

These are the details that reviewers should be calling out in their reviews. I swear, some of these stupid reviews appear to throw a dart blind folded to make their determinations. These reviews are just garbage click bait.

 

[fiftyshadesofslay]

Of course .... but why not just buy a device that you don't have to buy more stuff, add more cables, add more setup and tear down complexity, etc?

I am not saying that it can't be overcome, but in a review of what is the "best" device for a situation, (and in my case and others like me, live gigging and properties of the device that are important for live gigging), ergonomics should be a factor in the evaluation.

QC owners will rant and rave about Kemper users making excuses for why the Kemper captures take longer, require more work, and are sometimes still not as accurate as the QC are frequently the SAME people that make excuses for the QC's horrible ergonomics or the QC's less capable FX or the QC's lower reliability.

In both cases, people are just fooling themselves. The QC does capture faster and more accurately than the Kemper. If THAT is what is important to you (and it is for a segment of users), THEN the QC is a better device for the job. The Kemper is more ergonomic and robust than the QC for live performances. If THIS is what is important to you, THEN the Kemper is a better device for the job.

These are the details that reviewers should be calling out in their reviews. I swear, some of these stupid reviews appear to throw a dart blind folded to make their determinations. These reviews are just garbage click bait.

Theres always loads of details that you can only know by using the devices extensively and you never hear about them.

Take tap tempo for example, Kemper has a beat scanner that can automatically sync by detecting what you’re playing and adjusting automatically.

QC has a dumb screen that pops up for AGES and prevents you from changing scenes while it’s there.

You never hear about things like that but it’s actually quite important when using one of these devices live. Just one example.

 

[norminal]

 

[nightlight]

Of course .... but why not just buy a device that you don't have to buy more stuff, add more cables, add more setup and tear down complexity, etc?

I am not saying that it can't be overcome, but in a review of what is the "best" device for a situation, (and in my case and others like me, live gigging and properties of the device that are important for live gigging), ergonomics should be a factor in the evaluation.

QC owners will rant and rave about Kemper users making excuses for why the Kemper captures take longer, require more work, and are sometimes still not as accurate as the QC are frequently the SAME people that make excuses for the QC's horrible ergonomics or the QC's less capable FX or the QC's lower reliability.

In both cases, people are just fooling themselves. The QC does capture faster and more accurately than the Kemper. If THAT is what is important to you (and it is for a segment of users), THEN the QC is a better device for the job. The Kemper is more ergonomic and robust than the QC for live performances. If THIS is what is important to you, THEN the Kemper is a better device for the job.

These are the details that reviewers should be calling out in their reviews. I swear, some of these stupid reviews appear to throw a dart blind folded to make their determinations. These reviews are just garbage click bait.

I’m one of the older Kemper users, bought mine in 2013, sold it in 2016, then bought and unpowered one, sold that, bought a powered one, sold that and then bought a powered one, which I finally let go off in 2022.

I really wanted to like the Kemper. Heck, I still do. But the march of progress is incessant and as time went by, I started to see limitations of the device, such as preset FX paths slots, the inability of the device to have a true automatic double tracker, and a floorboard controller that I wish I never bought after my Gordius Little Big Giant mopped the floor with it.

I let go of my Kemper when I got an Axe FXIII. For all practical purposes, I am a tube amp guy, even though I suck at recording them and I can’t take them to gigs and they cost
too much money to maintain. Honestly though, they are so much fun and the best part is the immediacy of the experience: touch a string and feel the sound instantaneously - no lag, just a very tactile interaction between fingers and sound.

The Axe paired much better with the amps because of the routing options, so the Kemper had to go.

There was also one other thing I didn’t like about the Kemper: the inability to craft one’s own tones. If you didn’t have access to fabulous amps and a good studio, you were just stuck with whatever was on the rig exchange. And don’t make me laugh about commercial sellers, that was one hell of a rabbit hole with diminishing returns.

Towards the end of my journey, and I may well be wrong about this, I started to hear what I think is a signature character to all the Kemper high gain profiles. It can be achieved on almost any gainy profile by turning the definition to 10, and that’s when you get the most best heavy tones and also hear the effect the most. Something in the mids.

That said, I really enjoyed my time with the Kemper. I just had different needs

I recently bought a Quad Cortex, just about a month and a half ago, and fwiw, it does not feel like a fragile unit that will fall apart. It is also extremely easy to edit using software or the interface, and I like how easy it is to get a good tone going.

For me, form factor was the sole criteria I bought this, with the knowledge that this was one of top tier modellers on the market.

I also think timing of my purchase played a role in how I perceive the unit. Within a couple of weeks of my purchase, plugin compatibility was rolled out and I am getting what I think are great tones.

They’re not half bad, really, and I think at a gig, no one could tell if I was using this, an Axe FXIII or a Kemper for that matter. And I think that’s great, always important to have options and choice.

Theres always loads of details that you can only know by using the devices extensively and you never hear about them.

Take tap tempo for example, Kemper has a beat scanner that can automatically sync by detecting what you’re playing and adjusting automatically.

QC has a dumb screen that pops up for AGES and prevents you from changing scenes while it’s there.

You never hear about things like that but it’s actually quite important when using one of these devices live. Just one example.

I have done some detailed studies of
the beat scanner on the Kemper, as well as it’s tap tempo function.

Hook it up to a computer and tap out a tempo. You’ll find it is extremely erratic and jumps by small fractions of a bpm in either direction from the tempo that was input.

I had posted about it on the Kemper forums, but did not receive a satisfactory answer. I used to go by nightlight on that forum too.

 

[OneEng]

I’m one of the older Kemper users, bought mine in 2013, sold it in 2016, then bought and unpowered one, sold that, bought a powered one, sold that and then bought a powered one, which I finally let go off in 2022.

I really wanted to like the Kemper. Heck, I still do. But the march of progress is incessant and as time went by, I started to see limitations of the device, such as preset FX paths slots, the inability of the device to have a true automatic double tracker, and a floorboard controller that I wish I never bought after my Gordius Little Big Giant mopped the floor with it.

I let go of my Kemper when I got an Axe FXIII. For all practical purposes, I am a tube amp guy, even though I suck at recording them and I can’t take them to gigs and they cost
too much money to maintain. Honestly though, they are so much fun and the best part is the immediacy of the experience: touch a string and feel the sound instantaneously - no lag, just a very tactile interaction between fingers and sound.

The Axe paired much better with the amps because of the routing options, so the Kemper had to go.

There was also one other thing I didn’t like about the Kemper: the inability to craft one’s own tones. If you didn’t have access to fabulous amps and a good studio, you were just stuck with whatever was on the rig exchange. And don’t make me laugh about commercial sellers, that was one hell of a rabbit hole with diminishing returns.

Towards the end of my journey, and I may well be wrong about this, I started to hear what I think is a signature character to all the Kemper high gain profiles. It can be achieved on almost any gainy profile by turning the definition to 10, and that’s when you get the most best heavy tones and also hear the effect the most. Something in the mids.

That said, I really enjoyed my time with the Kemper. I just had different needs

I recently bought a Quad Cortex, just about a month and a half ago, and fwiw, it does not feel like a fragile unit that will fall apart. It is also extremely easy to edit using software or the interface, and I like how easy it is to get a good tone going.

For me, form factor was the sole criteria I bought this, with the knowledge that this was one of top tier modellers on the market.

I also think timing of my purchase played a role in how I perceive the unit. Within a couple of weeks of my purchase, plugin compatibility was rolled out and I am getting what I think are great tones.

They’re not half bad, really, and I think at a gig, no one could tell if I was using this, an Axe FXIII or a Kemper for that matter. And I think that’s great, always important to have options and choice.




I have done some detailed studies of
the beat scanner on the Kemper, as well as it’s tap tempo function.

Hook it up to a computer and tap out a tempo. You’ll find it is extremely erratic and jumps by small fractions of a bpm in either direction from the tempo that was input.

I had posted about it on the Kemper forums, but did not receive a satisfactory answer. I used to go by nightlight on that forum too.

The Kemper is not a great device for routing, nor is it the best solution for complex efx chains. If these are things that are important to you, then I completely see how the Axe FX III was the solution you felt best fit your needs.

If a small form factor and great capture capability is your thing, then the QC is a very good solution.

Where the Kemper excels is in its simplicity (easier to get what you need done without as much difference from a traditional tube amp setup setup as other digital offerings), and live gig setup capabilities.

Again, my point in this thread is that reviewers need to do a MUCH better job of pointing out what the strengths and weaknesses are of each digital amp and then stating what each is best suited for. There is no "Best for everything" digital amp. Not sure there ever will be.

Every other industry has reviewers that have much more nuanced reviews than "Best". Guitar processor reviews should step up as well.

 

[laxu]

Which modeler has the best Tractor in the Room toanz?

Well, you see, first you need to remove the squirrels...

 

[Frodebro]

Every other industry has reviewers that have much more nuanced reviews than "Best". Guitar processor reviews should step up as well.

Every other industry isn’t cursed with having flaky, temperamental guitar players as their core customer base.

 

[OneEng]

Every other industry isn’t cursed with having flaky, temperamental guitar players as their core customer base.

Aint that the truth! Flakey bunch they are indeed!

 

[TheTrueZoltan!]

Well, you see, first you need to remove the squirrels...

To be honest, I've never been able to hear the legendary squirrels. If there's one thing that bugs me a little about the Helix modeling, it's a certain hardness in the upper mids that sometimes has a somewhat woody character when chugging. More chit chit yee than chug chug yeow, so to speak.