Here is my two cents:
If you are using an AxeFX or Kemper, why the hell would you want to imitate someone else's tones perfectly? Why do people think modelers absolutely have to reproduce 100% the amps they simulate?
I'm sorry, but with most of the sims in the AxeFx and Kemper, most, if not all of us would fail a double blind listening test to pick out the real amp versus the sim. If you don't believe me, then chances are you've never played these units.
The pre amp sims are 99.9999% there. Plug an AxeFX JCM800 preamp sim into the power section of a real JCM and you cannot tell the difference. Hell, take a neutral solid state power amp and run the entire JCM sim into a Marshall cab and you'll still be unable to tell the difference.
Cabs are another story. Its my personal opinion that I can achieve the same baseline tone with the IRs, but I challenge anyone to try and mimic 100% a specific miked tone if you have no mic placement images to reference. You can't do it. Its not possible
It all boils down to how much everyone wants to hang on to their old technology. I understand why someone who spent $3k on a Marshall head would be pissed to find out that for half the price they could have had a modeler replicating the exact same sound their head makes and as an added bonus contains the equivalent of $650,000 worth of gear in the form of FX, Pedal sims and Cabinets, not to mention the absolute ease of routing all of that.
There should never be AxeFx vs. Real amp threads and videos because the AxeFx is an entire technological generation ahead of Tube amplifier technology. At the click of a button, you have trillions more tonal options (some adjustments are not even physically possible to achieve in the real world), the ability to save over 300 unique tones (with x/y and 8 scenes per patch) and it all sits in a two space rack.
$2,500 for a Fractal unit is the biggest fucking steal of a deal that I have ever heard of. I went to my local music store and found a Mesa Mark V combo thinking, "damn, I love the Mesa MarkV sim in the AxeFx, I'd love to have one of these things", I checked the price tag. $3,450???
You've got to be kidding me.
Alas, I understand the love of tube amps. They are AWESOME. I understand why people aren't keen on modelers. I also understand why people don't like the idea of a modeler doing just as good as a tube amp. The fact is that modelers have made it. They are on par sonically with everything they reproduce. In my opinion they surpass all previous guitar technologies now. If you want to keep your $3,000 tube heads and your $10,000 racks then go right ahead. Just don't waste everyone's time commenting on modelers just because the tones you've heard on YouTube (of all places to judge tone, lmfao) are not to your liking.
If you know someone with a modern modeling unit, bring your rig to them and A/B it for yourself. You will see what I mean. It's funny how Axe and Kemper users can love both worlds equally when tube purists get butthurt on the internet about their tube amps. It's like all of a sudden their bread and butter is being challenged so all their standards for sound quality go way down to the point that they are willing to write off the technology based on a compressed to shit YouTube track from some kid in his basement.
It's a money thing. I know it is. A "did I just waste a shit ton of money on a brand and idealism?" thing.