Rank your personal favorite brand of modeler.

[Sedaxel]

The pokemon effect. Gamification. Gotta catch'em all! I know I am like that.

There´s also the "play at home" and "sound like my favourite albums" factors.

Maybe I´ve got an AC30 but can´t put it to its paces at home... a good modeler will allow me to get close to that (at practise volume). Of course, it´s never going to be the same as using a real amp, but that Boss thing of making it harder is something I don´t like. They sound good, sure. But I prefer to know that the sounds I´m getting are closer to the real amps. Others will not care about that, and I perfectly get it.

But yeah, I´m with you in that We´re always wanting more. It´s another way of having fun...

 

[laxu]

That's the way it always is with these comparisons. There are some people who one more than one modeler, have mastered them and can compare them side by side, but all of them on the list? I don't think so. Most people watch some youtube videos when they're shopping and buy the one that seems to be their liking (or is recommended by a friend), and are only experts with the one they own. Even if you had the money to buy a bunch of modelers for a side by side comparison, who has the time to master all of them?

I owned the Helix Floor, Quad Cortex and FM3 at the same time once. It's not rocket science to compare them for workflow and sound, there's no need to master every feature on them and all of them have similarities in how they operate.

But the reason this thread isn't useful is that making some "what's the best" ranking is just way too vague. The results just shows a clear "what I own atm" scale so it's no wonder that Line6 and Fractal are up top, with the more budget range modelers not really represented since most people here are into the higher priced units. The cheaper stuff elicit not much more than a "These things keep getting better every year, huh?" response.

For a more relevant ranking you'd have to break things into multiple categories representing the capabilities of these units. Out of those three units I owned I can find reasons to rank any of them as the top dog when specific criteria is applied, even if I ended up keeping the FM3 back then as it fit my criteria of "compact, great sounding, full featured". I'll recommend a Helix Floor any day for anyone who doesn't mind the form factor, and wish I could recommend the QC because it has a lot to like too.

 

[ChordInversion]

For me:

1) Fractal
2) BOSS
3) Tonex (captures instead of models, but still)
4) Walrus ACS-1
5) Atomic Ampli-Firebox.

 

[dk_ace]

I couldn’t pick between L6 and Fractal. Different approaches, and I appreciate a lot of things about both of them. The FM9 will probably be my main squeeze for the foreseeable future, but I still love the HX line and L6 as a whole with the direction they’ve taken ever since the Helix.

D

 

[PorcinePicker]

Fractal FM9
Kemper powered toaster (occasionally)
...
...
...
Line6 (just 'cause the devs are cool; not using it anymore)

 

[KingsXJJ]

For me:

1) Fractal
2) BOSS
3) Tonex (captures instead of models, but still)
4) Walrus ACS-1
5) Atomic Ampli-Firebox.

Yep!

I own the same minus the Walrus and plus the Two Note Opus.
If I’ve kept it, it’s cool to me. There may be something I’ve forgotten to add LOL.

 

[KingsXJJ]

But the reason this thread isn't useful is that making some "what's the best" ranking is just way too vague.

Actually, it is “What’s your personal favorite.” Adding an “and why” might have been a better choice by me in hindsight.

 

[KingsXJJ]

Just got an additional Atomic Ampli-Firebox MKII delivered today. While not my overall personal favorite, it is in that small form factor. While, I know some folks have concerns about the company, I don’t as I think it is a polished product. In my mind, it’s a steal at $199 right now.

 

[Desertdweller]

For pure digital, the Fractal stuff is next level above everything else.

Something has to be said though for Mesa Boogie. The Mark amps since the V have basically been modelers, as are the MW Dual Rectifiers and especially the Road King. The RK has 4 channels, 12 total modes, and a ton of tube options. It's absolutely an analog modeler, and even their catalogs back in the late 2000s pitched it as much.

The Mark V and VII have 3 modes per channel across 3 channels, and the VII is even MIDI-capable. How is that not an analog modeler? Simply awesome gear from a great company.

 

[Cactusprick]

I've had good old HX Stomp and FM3 side by side last night, switching between amp models with all the effects/reverb turned off. Sorry, Helix is great but Fractal sounds so much better to my ears. Touch sensitivity is just out of this world. When you dig in the strings the notes really sizzle and you can instantly go clean by playing lightly. cliche but really 3d sounding overall. OTOH, with a right IR you can improve Helix quite a bit though.

What really frustrated me when I had Kemper(s) is that while I so loved their rawness in amps all the model kind of sounded alike with just different gain structures and most of all they all sounded too compressed no matter what I did. I have found a few go-to profiles I really enjoyed but auditioning through thousands of profiles were no fun, and I had to have a kind of "mental note" to memorize how each sounded.

This is even before touching FX side, which Fractal is just top of the line. Majority of "artist" flavored patches sound very authentic and require minimal touch. Not wanting to sound like a Fractal fanboy (I am really open minded to everything LOL), you owe it to yourself to try Fractal Audio if you haven't.

 

[Los-D]

Fractal
Line 6
Neural DSP
Atomic

 

[GTR37]

Fractal AX3 ( if I could afford it )
FM9
NDSP QC
Kemper stage
Helix LT

 

[JiveTurkey]

 

[LCW]

Candy
Candy Corn
Candy Canes
Syrup

 

[norminal]

Candy
Candy Corn
Candy Canes
Syrup

 

[fuyume]

Many, many people here own more than one of these, or have flipped between them many times. You’re making assumptions.

I'm really not. The vast majority of musicians are not techno fanboys obsessed with buying each new modeler/profiler. Even most of the people that do buy them have only ever owned one. Your "many, many" represents only a very small fraction of the market.

Confirmation bias is a real thing. It's not a big stretch of the imagination to realize that the people who are committed to spending tens of thousands of dollars on digital gear over and over again are people with relatively large incomes, relatively high tolerance for digital technologies, and therefore likely to get on guitar gear forums and talk about them.

It's pretty obvious that tech industry and other professional career hobbyists make up a sizeable proportion of people on expensive guitar gear forums. The number of actually gigging musicians who can afford to change up their gear this way is pretty small, by comparison.

 

[dronerstone]

Town Eggs