metropolis_4
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Tough call, I love both. I almost just flipped a coin last time I was trying to decide between the two
Can’t decide between Kemper Stage or Fractal
- Thread starter Speedyone
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Enchilada Jones
Roadie
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The presets in my FM9 are so good you don't even have to 'dial them in' to get the sounds you describe.
Once you locate those sounds in Kemper you are also set and it isn't hard to find lots of good ones that fit your description.
I have a Stage and a Kemper Kab and the Kab makes the Kemper a slightly more convenient choice.
that said I'm selling both because I prefer a real amp or a Tonex pedal into a real amp power section. I need the limitations imposed by having fewer choices to keep me from wasting time 'exploring' options.
My advice is pick between the Stage or FM9 and don't worry about which one has the sounds you want, they both do. Worry about the rest of the user experience/interface/editor/number of stomp buttons/price/availability,etc, etc
The sounds are guaranteed with either one. The sounds in either one are, in my opinion, not remarkably better than Helix though...they are slightly improved in some cases and not any better than the latest Helix sounds/cabs in other cases.
Once you locate those sounds in Kemper you are also set and it isn't hard to find lots of good ones that fit your description.
I have a Stage and a Kemper Kab and the Kab makes the Kemper a slightly more convenient choice.
that said I'm selling both because I prefer a real amp or a Tonex pedal into a real amp power section. I need the limitations imposed by having fewer choices to keep me from wasting time 'exploring' options.
My advice is pick between the Stage or FM9 and don't worry about which one has the sounds you want, they both do. Worry about the rest of the user experience/interface/editor/number of stomp buttons/price/availability,etc, etc
The sounds are guaranteed with either one. The sounds in either one are, in my opinion, not remarkably better than Helix though...they are slightly improved in some cases and not any better than the latest Helix sounds/cabs in other cases.
Mongillo19
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That I need to go buy a Kemper and Roland GR8?
fretworn
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That I need to go buy a Kemper and Roland GR8?
But I can emulate both in a fractal …
Stone
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Hmmm…. This gives me pause.
For example, the Kemper Stage is only $100 more than the Helix. It has far less effects, but the amp tones (maybe?) are a little more realistic. So I gain a tiny bit more realism, and lose a lot of excellent effects.
Then there’s the FM3 or FM9.
FM9 is $2000 (on Reverb,) so that’s $300 more than the Helix.
It will have WAY more quality effects than the Kemper or Helix.
And the amp tones will be (maybe?) better than the Kemper or Helix.
And lastly, there is no lag whatsoever between preset changes with the Kemper, while there is on the Fractal. Helix can be setup to not have lag and turn on the spillover feature, but in order to do so, you have to basically get rid of an entire signal path— which means you can’t have a complicated dual signal path. I had the Helix, and that sucked to give up some cool presets just for effect spillover/no lag.
Damn.
It’s a hard choice!
I guess they all sound good, but it’s a matter of what I want to sacrifice.
Kemper-no lag time, Fantastic amp tone—but you will need to look through many profiles— but fx not as good as Fractal, no waitlist to buy
Fractal- incredible fx, small lag time, Amp tones are already excellent, wait-list for the FM9–unless you wanna pay $2100 instead of $1700 on the Fractal site.
Helix— incredible UI, tons of effects, no lag is POSSIBLE without dual signal paths, Amp sounds are very good but not amazing.
Hmmm….
I wish I knew how long it would take to actually GET an FM9 if I joined the waitlist.
Mongillo19
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It really isn't that far out if I recall correctly. Others have been keeping an eye on it here. The fractal forums has a thread dedicated to the wait-list
jellodog
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Wait is down to around 5 weeks right now. Certainly no more than that.
JiveTurkey
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Mongillo19
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Totally! I'd vote the FM9 as much as I loved my Kemper.
PBGas
Roadie
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Even though I have no intention of going back to modelling anytime soon, after having both units, I'll take Fractal hands down. I had nothing but issues with the Kemper units I had. Both needed repairs. Others have great luck with them but I'm not going down their part of the road anymore.
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There’s definitely stuff in there that can lend itself to carving out a perfect tone for the user, I just try to highlight that it’s not necessary because “Fractals require an engineer” is an ongoing internet myth.
Mongillo19
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Yeah if you don't enjoy the tones you get from the standard layout format, chances are changing the power supply or some deep parameter isnt going to all of a sudden make it your jam. I will say some of the parameters such as tubes, Variac, and negative feedback can influence quite a bit tho
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Or the impedance curves!
There’s absolutely usable and things in the deeper areas that can change a lot of the tonality, I’m just cautious of throwing that out there when a newcomer is kickin’ the tires because that + internet mythologies = ”Sh*t, do I need to be an engineer?”
Stone
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or Tone Geeks
Stone
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You know this is true, But deep editing or tweaking is at your own discretion for needsOr the impedance curves!
There’s absolutely usable and things in the deeper areas that can change a lot of the tonality, I’m just cautious of throwing that out there when a newcomer is kickin’ the tires because that + internet mythologies = ”Sh*t, do I need to be an engineer?”
One who goes that Fractal route might be simply Presets do it for me other may be Hmm what if ?
but anyone that uses modellers needs to have some form of understanding of tone things what does what, why and how
its not your basic old fart who plugs his Strat into a twin reverb turns a knob or two and smiles, which is perfectly fine if that's your thing
In Essence High end Modellers are really studio & engineers in a box
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Stone
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Very true as ive mentioned no platform is perfect
As for the Lag this can be mitigated using dual amps in Parallel
Leon and cooper have a few Videos for this If i recall
paisleywookiee
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Cygnus X2 sounds like an amp, by doing nothing more than dropping an amp block and cab block on there, and adjusting GBMTP. No deep dive necessary. Kempers are great, as long as you don't plan on playing high gain, Mesa in particular.
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