Kemper vs Mesa BLIND TEST

dcb got pwnd :lol:

I think green is Kemper. But I find it funny how the vote here is split pretty much 50/50.

Maybe Lasse made the Mesa track green (the colour of the Kemper) to fuck with us?

Whatever the result this has absolutely sealed the deal for me. I'm buying a Kemper and going to leave myself with one tube amp, probably a Laney Ironheart Studio. Reamping 2 guitars at a time with no cab & mic needed? Result!
 
You know what would be hilarious? That both were the Kemper... Something to try on other forums maybe if you're not affraid to be lynched by the so called community... :D
 
Purely looking at the waveforms alone, I'd say the purple is the Kemper, just cos it looks slightly more compressed.

0:45 on the video is the only time when I can realistically hear any difference that isn't just the placebo affect.

But in a full mix, and to anyone that isn't an audio engineer.. no one would be able to tell!
 
I thought the mesa was the green. OOPS. Ridiculous accuracy. Any comments on the feel of the kemper vs the mesa?
 
I think it's safe to say that modeling VS the real thing isn't much of a conversation anymore. Well done Lasse. Now lets all get to making music be it with an amp or a modeler. Who cares anymore?
 
JeffTD said:
Unless I'm hugely mistaken you can't reamp two guitars at once - the unit doesn't have dual amp blocks so you wouldn't get two separate processed tones out of it.
Click to expand...

Read the rest of the paragraph you quoted.

Reamp one gtr through the Ironheart studio (using the in bult cab sim output)
Reamp one gtr through the Kemper profile of the same setup.

Two at once :)
 
Trevoire520 said:
Read the rest of the paragraph you quoted.

Reamp one gtr through the Ironheart studio (using the in bult cab sim output)
Reamp one gtr through the Kemper profile of the same setup.

Two at once :)
Click to expand...

Ahhh didn't realize the Ironheart had a cabsim output, that makes way more sense!

But yeah, you need one of these.


Lasse, I'm ridiculously stoked for your profiles. My playing style and music preferences have shifted to be far less heavy as of late, but I have a feeling that these will inspire some more brutal riffing once you get a package sorted out. You'll dominate the heavy market for profiles; The Amp Factory's are sub-par for the most part when it comes to metal tones and I'm especially excited to hear some bass stuff if you end up doing that.
 
Glad to see my ears didn't fail me. Honestly, the result isn't surprising to me. It goes right along with what I've been saying the whole time. They are NOT identical. (Remember all the guys swearing up and down that ANY perceived difference was imaginary? Yeah, they're wrong.) The characteristics of the Kemper are, indeed, noticeable, and they show through on ALL profiles.

Once you use it for a while you can definitely pick up on the same general differences. The Kemper is always more "crispy" and doesn't have the same fluid, juicy responsive tone that a real amp + cab give. Is it a subtle difference that many, possibly even most, people wouldn't hear in a full mix? Sure, but I think it's pretty easily noticed by the person playing guitar. It definitely feels less fluid & more sharp/scratchy. For this reason, it doesn't feel as nice to play through, IMO. Leads/solos especially FEEL better with a real amp & cab due to the fact that a more squishy, fluid, alive tone is preferred (by most) in the case of lead playing.

So, does it matter in a mix? Probably not. Reamp to your heart's content and don't worry about it. Does it make a difference to the person playing & monitoring through the Kemper in real-time? I think so, yes.
 
Also, it's important to keep in mind that just because most of us here prefer the Kemper tone in this case, doesn't mean it would always be like that. Rectos are raw, loose, and bassy, so the extra crispness/polish of the Kemper is preferred here, but not necessarily vs a 5150, Fortin, Randall, Laney, whatever. I know a number of people here have said their rectos never win shootouts when auditioning tones for albums and some have even sold them off.
 
Yeah, the KPA has a definite "forward" sound of it's own but it's honestly so subtle that I don't think it matters. My argument about the difference being imaginary is that the difference is so subtle and inconsequential that anyone who complains about it probably isn't in a place where their opinion really matters. That's not to speak ill of anyone or point any fingers, but the people most stoked on the KPA are the people who use it in a studio-specific environment and use it for it's intended purpose; not to be an amp modeller or to replace an amp, but for instant recall of a recording chain. Saying that it doesn't have the same feel as an amp/cab is stupid to me because I don't care about the feel of the amp/cab in front of me - I care about how it comes across recorded. Stick the amp/cab in another room with a mic infront of it and it'll feel/sound the same as the Kemper albeit it with the slight upper midrange hype and pick attack boost that the KPA lends to the tone. A/B'ing the Kemper with an amp/cab infront of you for comparison is as disingenuous as it is inaccurate.
 
JeffTD said:
Yeah, the KPA has a definite "forward" sound of it's own but it's honestly so subtle that I don't think it matters. My argument about the difference being imaginary is that the difference is so subtle and inconsequential that anyone who complains about it probably isn't in a place where their opinion really matters. That's not to speak ill of anyone or point any fingers, but the people most stoked on the KPA are the people who use it in a studio-specific environment and use it for it's intended purpose; not to be an amp modeller or to replace an amp, but for instant recall of a recording chain. Saying that it doesn't have the same feel as an amp/cab is stupid to me because I don't care about the feel of the amp/cab in front of me - I care about how it comes across recorded. Stick the amp/cab in another room with a mic infront of it and it'll feel/sound the same as the Kemper albeit it with the slight upper midrange hype and pick attack boost that the KPA lends to the tone. A/B'ing the Kemper with an amp/cab infront of you for comparison is as disingenuous as it is inaccurate.
Click to expand...

I agree with you, but feel is important to get the best performance. The more comfortable someone is with the sound/response of the tone they're using, the better they're going to play. It might be only 5% or less better, but it does matter.

Personally, I think I can get more than passable tones out of free IRs and IR loaders, so I can't help but think about how it feels to play when we're talking about something that costs $1975.00. As good as the Kemper is, there is a difference between something being really convenient to use and it being the best sounding/feeling option, no matter how many well known producers are using it. As a convenience thing, yeah, it's awesome... but I've already seen a bunch of less knowledgeable guys in various bands talking about wanting the Kemper on their album NOT because it does a great job at getting close to amp sounds, but because it's the newest, latest guitar THING... I don't know. I have one and use it 90% of the time I play guitar nowadays. I just don't think it's worth selling all your amps for. *shrug*
 
Josh Burgess said:
I agree with you, but feel is important to get the best performance. The more comfortable someone is with the sound/response of the tone they're using, the better they're going to play. It might be only 5% or less better, but it does matter.
Click to expand...

1. I fundamentally disagree because of the bolded text and 2. The KPA and the amp feel identical when you rule out being in the same room as the amp/cab. Guitar -> KPA -> monitors feels the same to me as guitar -> amp/cab/mic in a different room -> monitors. Unless you still track with the guitarist in the same room as the amp/cab, it's a non-issue.
 
Josh Burgess said:
I agree with you, but feel is important to get the best performance. The more comfortable someone is with the sound/response of the tone they're using, the better they're going to play. It might be only 5% or less better, but it does matter.

Personally, I think I can get more than passable tones out of free IRs and IR loaders, so I can't help but think about how it feels to play when we're talking about something that costs $1975.00. As good as the Kemper is, there is a difference between something being really convenient to use and it being the best sounding/feeling option, no matter how many well known producers are using it. As a convenience thing, yeah, it's awesome... but I've already seen a bunch of less knowledgeable guys in various bands talking about wanting the Kemper on their album NOT because it does a great job at getting close to amp sounds, but because it's the newest, latest guitar THING... I don't know. I have one and use it 90% of the time I play guitar nowadays. I just don't think it's worth selling all your amps for. *shrug*
Click to expand...


I absolutely agree with you on this! After I owned a kemper for about 6 months, I sold it, for the very same reasons you are giving here. For me once the newness wore off, I started playing my amps again and my playing came back to life. Then going back to the kemper it felt lifeless, dull and very uninspiring. Also for me it was like the axefx I had! I spent all my time messing with it and getting nothing done. Trying this head and that cab, test after test after test.

I also agree with jeff, that its a great tool in the studio "not to be an amp modeller or to replace an amp, but for instant recall of a recording chain"

I do this for fun, not for a studio or to make a living, I new for recording I would always reamp with my real amp, so I saw no reason for me to keep it. I just run my 6505 into a dummy load if I want silent or low level recording/playing and reamp later. Feels better IMO.


Edit: The comparison here is the closest I've heard.
 
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