I'm very possibly considering getting an Axe Fx in the near future. The Axe II is currently way way out of my price range so I'm considering trying to pick up a second hand Ultra. Just wanted to get some feedback from you guys on here first to see if it's still gonna be a useful piece of kit or am I just going to be always wanting the II?
Axe Fx Ultra
- Thread starter jeid
- Start date
xFkx
gain induction
yeah, it's gonna be usefull.
But at the same time i'm seriously craving for the II
The GAS never stops
oh, and don't forget about the kemper, they are cheaper then the axe II !
But at the same time i'm seriously craving for the II
The GAS never stops
oh, and don't forget about the kemper, they are cheaper then the axe II !
xFkx
gain induction
I don't own a kemper, but had a go at it at my friends place.. played through lasse's profiles and the experience was great. I'm guessing that there is a high probability of equally good rock/pop profiles to download.
But yeah, that's a wild guess, hopefully someone else will chime in.
ecz
Member
There are way more great profiles for all kinds of music on the Kemper website (for free) than you could ever play I love my Kemper so much.
I love my Kemper so much.
cfh11
Member
out of the 200 or so free profiles that come with the kemper firmware and free packs from people like Lasse, Ola etc i would be very surprised if you didnt find several tones you like. everything is tweakable (gain, eq) and you can swap out amp models, cabs, effects etc. for a different flavor if a profile is 90% there and needs that extra customization. i love it more every day i use it - cant recommend it enough.
Mike Moriarty
Member
- Oct 24, 2009
- 82
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The Kemper has many tone shaping options for every profile. You can adjust, tube sag, pick definition, tube bias, clarity, just to name a few. There are many different EQ's, cabs and pedals to chose from. There is plenty of room to maneuver every rig you download. There is pretty much any amp you can think of available for download on the rig exchange. Can't imagine someone not being able to find/create a tone they like with it.
Megin
Member
Soul Forlorn
Member
I'd go for the Kemper over the Ultra.
I recently picked up a Kemper and I'm really impressed. I also have an Axe II, and I prefer the Kemper. Easier and quicker to find a good tone, more intuitive to tweak, and IMO has a slight "edge" over the Axe in terms of raw amp/cab tone. Just sounds a bit more "real" to me.
It really just depends on your needs, though. If you're someone who's heavily into effects and/or needs tons of routing options and extremely deep editing, the Axe might be a better choice, though I'm not all that familiar with the Ultra and how it compares to the II.
Another thing to consider is that the Ultra is at the end of its development. You're not going to get firmware upgrades, new amps, etc.
I recently picked up a Kemper and I'm really impressed. I also have an Axe II, and I prefer the Kemper. Easier and quicker to find a good tone, more intuitive to tweak, and IMO has a slight "edge" over the Axe in terms of raw amp/cab tone. Just sounds a bit more "real" to me.
It really just depends on your needs, though. If you're someone who's heavily into effects and/or needs tons of routing options and extremely deep editing, the Axe might be a better choice, though I'm not all that familiar with the Ultra and how it compares to the II.
Another thing to consider is that the Ultra is at the end of its development. You're not going to get firmware upgrades, new amps, etc.
Ha, I think I'd have a long way to travel to get to my nearest stockist. I think I'm about as close to London as I am to you in Stockholm
Matt-Steele
Member
I'm loving my Axe FX II. Couldn't see me needing/wanting anything more. And I never thought I would ever say that.
HOFX
Member
- Apr 12, 2012
- 469
- 0
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Matt-Steele
Member
i have both kemper and axe FXII.
basically, on both units you are going to need time to get the sound what you want.
on the kemper it might be a long struggle of search through tons of profiles until you find what suits best for you.. and on the axe fxii its similar with the cabs/irs as the cab section in the axe fx really makes the difference.
i needed about 3months to get and find my sound with the kemper.. since then i now just use a handful of profile and its done.. no tweaking, just playing.
to be honest, the first couple of days was pretty hard with the kemper and i thought to return it to the shop. back then the stock profiles didnt sound very great and there were not much profiles packs either, today its a different story, you have lasses profiles, olas and the free amp factory profiles are a great starting point where you fast can get awesome tones out of it.
Of course the kemper has lots of parameters you can tweak, but as there is no software for computer to control it yet, so you all have to do it on the kemper itself.
on my axe fx ii i also needed about 2-3 months to got my sound going, on the first day i had instant access with rebuilding the sound of my splawn quickrod amp in the Axe FX, the sound was quite spot on.. in like 3minutes of work, but then the "tweaking process" starts and that really can take up all your time, instead of using the time and play guitar.
There are also great Stock presets and freeware presets like the "fremen-package" which gives you a good starting point.
Both sounds and play pretty well, its just a matter of philosphy.
with the axe fx you also can get unnatural sounds, like super-bright and clean stuff, or acoustic simulations, the kemper can sound more real and raw, but in my opionion, real and raw is not always what you want, for me at least.
I really like building my own sounds from scratch up, so of course that fits better with axe FX, but the kemper has also so much nice tones, that i cant let it go and use it on a daily basis.
If you play live and want to use this unit for live or rehearsal too, i suggest the axe fx if you are going to switch alot through profiles and different sounds, if you just use one sound you can ignore this one.
The Scenes Function on AXE FXII is really awesome and you can set it up that you really have ZERO lag or soundrop during the switch from one scene to another, and the change reacts quite instant with no noticebel lag.
Kemper does have the performance mode, to switch from one profile to another works fine, but not as swift as on the axe fx II.
The Interface of the Kemper is pretty intuative and very easy to use, you learn very fast how it works and you can set the parameters like Gain, EQ, etc. directly on the interface.
the Axe FXII Interface is in my opinion far less intutive, you have to go through menues to look for your paremeters. but you do have an PC/MAC Editor that you can use which is far more comfortable to use, at least for me, there is no PC/MAC Editor for the Kemper yet. but its not really needed in my opinion, only a librarian tool would be nice to have.
dear kemper and axe fx ii users, please dont take that the wrong way.. i tried to write down my personal opinions as honest as possible. both units sounds great and feels great, they are just different and each has its pro and cons.. just that the other unit can do something slighly better doesnt mean the other unit is not good enough.
cannot say anything about the axe fx ultra,as i have never played one,
basically, on both units you are going to need time to get the sound what you want.
on the kemper it might be a long struggle of search through tons of profiles until you find what suits best for you.. and on the axe fxii its similar with the cabs/irs as the cab section in the axe fx really makes the difference.
i needed about 3months to get and find my sound with the kemper.. since then i now just use a handful of profile and its done.. no tweaking, just playing.
to be honest, the first couple of days was pretty hard with the kemper and i thought to return it to the shop. back then the stock profiles didnt sound very great and there were not much profiles packs either, today its a different story, you have lasses profiles, olas and the free amp factory profiles are a great starting point where you fast can get awesome tones out of it.
Of course the kemper has lots of parameters you can tweak, but as there is no software for computer to control it yet, so you all have to do it on the kemper itself.
on my axe fx ii i also needed about 2-3 months to got my sound going, on the first day i had instant access with rebuilding the sound of my splawn quickrod amp in the Axe FX, the sound was quite spot on.. in like 3minutes of work, but then the "tweaking process" starts and that really can take up all your time, instead of using the time and play guitar.
There are also great Stock presets and freeware presets like the "fremen-package" which gives you a good starting point.
Both sounds and play pretty well, its just a matter of philosphy.
with the axe fx you also can get unnatural sounds, like super-bright and clean stuff, or acoustic simulations, the kemper can sound more real and raw, but in my opionion, real and raw is not always what you want, for me at least.
I really like building my own sounds from scratch up, so of course that fits better with axe FX, but the kemper has also so much nice tones, that i cant let it go and use it on a daily basis.
If you play live and want to use this unit for live or rehearsal too, i suggest the axe fx if you are going to switch alot through profiles and different sounds, if you just use one sound you can ignore this one.
The Scenes Function on AXE FXII is really awesome and you can set it up that you really have ZERO lag or soundrop during the switch from one scene to another, and the change reacts quite instant with no noticebel lag.
Kemper does have the performance mode, to switch from one profile to another works fine, but not as swift as on the axe fx II.
The Interface of the Kemper is pretty intuative and very easy to use, you learn very fast how it works and you can set the parameters like Gain, EQ, etc. directly on the interface.
the Axe FXII Interface is in my opinion far less intutive, you have to go through menues to look for your paremeters. but you do have an PC/MAC Editor that you can use which is far more comfortable to use, at least for me, there is no PC/MAC Editor for the Kemper yet. but its not really needed in my opinion, only a librarian tool would be nice to have.
dear kemper and axe fx ii users, please dont take that the wrong way.. i tried to write down my personal opinions as honest as possible. both units sounds great and feels great, they are just different and each has its pro and cons.. just that the other unit can do something slighly better doesnt mean the other unit is not good enough.
cannot say anything about the axe fx ultra,as i have never played one,
Soul Forlorn
Member
As far as Axe vs. Kemper goes...for every individual the experience will be different based on their needs and preferences.
I've had the Axe II a year and a half and I've probably spent more time tweaking than playing. There's always that voice in the back of your head saying, "hmmm, good but what if you tried tweaking this parameter a bit or try this IR, etc."
With the Kemper it's different for me. I'll load up a profile and if I don't like it I'll generally just move on to another. I might do a little tweaking but I don't try to make one thing sound like another. Within minutes of plugging the Kemper in on day one I found profiles I liked from Lasse, Ola, Merrow, and The Amp Factory. Perhaps I just trust others' tone-crafting abilities more than my own. It's fun sometimes, but most of the time I'm not the type of guy that enjoys building a tone from the ground up (which is generally what you do with an Axe Fx).
I've had the Axe II a year and a half and I've probably spent more time tweaking than playing. There's always that voice in the back of your head saying, "hmmm, good but what if you tried tweaking this parameter a bit or try this IR, etc."
With the Kemper it's different for me. I'll load up a profile and if I don't like it I'll generally just move on to another. I might do a little tweaking but I don't try to make one thing sound like another. Within minutes of plugging the Kemper in on day one I found profiles I liked from Lasse, Ola, Merrow, and The Amp Factory. Perhaps I just trust others' tone-crafting abilities more than my own. It's fun sometimes, but most of the time I'm not the type of guy that enjoys building a tone from the ground up (which is generally what you do with an Axe Fx).
ze kink
THE BLACK WIZARDS
I'm really GASing for an Axe Fx II as my this year's big purchase too, it's just that... it really is quite expensive, whereas you could get an Ultra (or the Kemper) for pretty cheap. I don't even have an opinion on the Kemper TBH since I haven't tried it or heard it live, but I've messed around on the Axe FX and was pretty blown away.
I love my Axe Fx 2 as well. The Kemper is a great bit of gear as well, the Axe just suits the way I like to experiment with stuff better.
Doubt you can go wrong with either - alot of support, patches and forum info online for both to help you out whatever you choose
Doubt you can go wrong with either - alot of support, patches and forum info online for both to help you out whatever you choose
