Fractal or Kemper, that's my question

T

Telecruiser

New member
Ok, here goes -

I am trying to decide which way to go; either the Fractal FM3 or the Kemper Compact Profiler.

Here is what I will be doing.

I am a solo performer and I want to up my game with more unique sounds as well as eliminate hauling an amp or any other gear I don’t have to. It gets old.

PA – Two JBL PRX ONE’s

I want something I can run three or more guitars into the PA using a Morley ABC selector switch. I want to be able to tailor unique sounds and effects for each guitar (Taylor 814, Fender Tele and Gretsch baritone) and maybe add a couple others as well as using amp models. The object is to develop unique and full sounding patches to compliment my vocals and the show in general. Both Kemper and Fractal have stellar reputations. I know there are other units out there but for my sanity, narrow it down to these two.

I am hoping there are some of you have had experience with these and have something to say about them and what I am trying to accomplish.

Thanks in advance.
 
I had the AFX3 a few years ago. And have a Kemper now though I'm likely returning it. So that said:

It might depend on what specifically you want to accomplish. The Kemper chain is somewhat limited while the AFX lets you run in various combinations of parallel/series/to different outputs.

In particular, the AFX might also be able to handle vocals? I'm not sure if it's like the Quad Cortex that can deal with multiple separate chains at once.

Both will get great sounds. The Kemper to me has a distinct midrange at least from profiles I've taken. The AFX I remember sounding very polished. Both can leave you paralyzed if you obsess over details that no one else cares about haha.
 
As someone who gigged over 500+ gigs with the kemper and years later now has an axe 3, axe 3 by a mile. The kemper always has a feel and sounds of its own. The axe does not have this at all, and behaves like the real Amps. I realize kemper can do this now with “liquid profiles” or whatever, but it’s still incredibly limited compared to what the axe does in that regard. It’s a preference thing really; I prefer modeling and component based modeling vs profiling a sound/snapshot of a rig. I personally like having the control of the real amp and having the EQ etc behave like the real thing. It’s also much much more versatile with speaker impedance curves and being able to set different ones to match your cab IR of choice. These are the biggest reasons for me personally why I like the axe better, and personally I just think it sounds much better and most of the models are 99 percent the real thing, if not higher.
 
When I had a Kemper every one of the literally 25 different companies profiles were dark and a compressed mess. Tones of tweaking to make it useable, resulting in a compressed tone -live sound.
Keep in All modelers can sound amazing through a DAW recorded with a great backing track. Very deceptive.
Live and rehearsal tones is what matters to me. Fractal has a lot of tweakable parameters. many say too many, however if you can find free pre sets to use as a platform then adjust from there it's not so bad.
Use the editor too, way easier!!
 
Agree with everything @VESmedic said.

To add to that, Fractal’s effects are some of the best I’ve ever used, ever. I’ve never found a single delay, at any price, that beats the Fractal Delay block. If you can think of an effect, not only is it probably there in the Fractal stuff, but there’s probably a whole creation lab devoted specifically to that effect. Want a Phaser? You can choose from a list of like 20 popular phasers plus some FAS in-house algorithms, or you can twist around the 15 or so knobs in the Phaser block to build your own entirely new one.

Despite all the complexity though, Fractal lays out their stuff in such a modular, stepped way that you never have to see any of the advanced under the hood stuff unless you go looking for it.

Here’s another vote for Fractal. Can’t recommend it enough.
 
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From "THE GUY IN THE AUDIENCE" perspective, Fractal by a mile. While I will always be a tube amp whore, I have heard Fractals in touring band setups that sounded pretty decent. I have never heard a band on stage with a Kemper that the guitar sounded good. IMO.
 
I am a fan of Fractal, and ToneX. I think ToneX is a better deal and technology these days for the capture thing than Kemper.

Kinda comes down to if you want to tweak everything to what you want, like people have mentioned, or search for captures to find the perfect ones you love. I think the ToneX and Fractal (FM3 in my case) can get equally good base tones that also have good feel. Fractal wins for also having all the effects and routing capabilities.
 
Shask said:
I think NAM has the same issue as Linux. It might be technically better than Microsoft, but without the central standardization, it will always be too fragmented to make a huge impact. I think that is where ToneX has the advantage. The tech is similar, but IK has the standardization.
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That's unfortunatelly the case, tho NAM is seeing some standardization already in terms of devices such as Dimehead.

Edit: Just to add that I'd wait for either Android or iOS or iPadOS support for NAM.
 
ToneX needs a device that can make the captures itself imho, even if the process takes a long time. I went with the QC simply because I didn't have to also buy an interface and a newer computer to run it with.
 
If you don’t want to capture specific amps, fractal smokes everything out there. Has the largest collections of gear of all kinds, the largest amount of controls (that you don’t need to get into if you want to keep things simple), the best io options, and the most active support. There’s a reason they are used by bands like Metallica, and why many bands that used quad cortex switched back to fractal. They also sound as good as anything digital has gotten so far
 
cardinal said:
ToneX needs a device that can make the captures itself imho, even if the process takes a long time. I went with the QC simply because I didn't have to also buy an interface and a newer computer to run it with.
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ToneX is a software product first. The pedals are just players for what is set up in software, so I dont see them going that direction. It is really about the ToneX + Amplitube integration.
 
Thank you everyone for you're more than intelligent responses. It looks like Fractal is in front. Seeing as my needs and the demands of the unit are not as much as what most of you are doing the Fractal may be my choice. Keep the comments coming!
 
Telecruiser said:
Thank you everyone for you're more than intelligent responses. It looks like Fractal is in front. Seeing as my needs and the demands of the unit are not as much as what most of you are doing the Fractal may be my choice. Keep the comments coming!
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Fractal is going to be the one that will allow you to dial in anything you want, within the box, without requiring anything else.
 
Kemper you have amps you want to capture to take with you or ready made captures that fit what you need that you can download.

Fractal if you want to create your own based on all the amps and effects it has.

I’d go with the Fractal in your case.
 
The one reason I even looked at the Kemper is for the amp profiles. I absolutely love the sound of a Super Reverb and was hoping to get an accurate rendition of one with their profiles. I was going to buy one until I thought of the weight and the space they would take up and how a floor box could give me what I want and more.
 
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