Helix or Kemper

  • Thread starter Thread starter Fiesta Red
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Fiesta Red

Fiesta Red

Well-known member
Anyone here having a successful time using either one of these.? I would be running either one of these into a set of Yamaha monitor speakers and a MacBook Pro. Not playing out, just around the house. I have an Amplitude 5 right now that really isn't cutting it. The Apollo Solo with Friedman and Suhr plug-ins yields much better tones, but not a large selection of other amps.

I read one thread here where someone was getting some great Boogie tones from their Kemper. I wouldn't be needing something that heavy, more rock than metal. Some blues and Hendrix stuff too.

What are you guys using?
 
Monkey Man said:
For "authentic" tube sounds, feel, playability and good approximation of guitar-volume-knob behaviour with tube amps, you can't go past Kemper IMHO.

Helix isn't bad at all, just not as organic-sounding; more-sterile.
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…EXACTLY what he said👍
 
Kemper or Axe FX. Helix is just okay, not any better than Amplitube, honestly. The only "issue" with Kemper is that is easy to get lost in chasing down profiles.
 
I have owned both the Kemper and the Fractal AXE 3. Both are awesome tools. Like others have said if you want the purest of amp tone then the Kemper is the way to go. If you want to model and create your own amp sounds then the Axe is the way to go. Six to one half dozen to another in the end. Both are great.

I currently have a Kemper Stage and AXE 3 in the classified section and these are the lowest price on the web. I have a Kemper Rack and Remote that I am keeping and it is that good that I just sold my real Friedman BE 100 Deluxe as I found some Kemper Profiles that were spot on.
 
IMHO Helix took a HUGE step forward with the 3.0 firmware update. Models just sound/feel better. Will also add that Helix/Line 6 customer support is top notch. So for those who sold Helix prior to that firmware update... they're not wrong about Helix but I'd say those takes could be outdated.

I haven't really tried a Kemper so can't really speak on it from a toanz standpoint. Everything I've heard says Kemper tones are amazing as well.

What I will say is, from a feature-set standpoint, the Helix is also a damned good interface for recording guitar. I do not believe Kemper has that capability.
 
i had a kemper and 2 hx stomps. the hx stomp was my favorite vs the kemper but it takes some weird tweaking to get really good tone. but to me it was easier once you get it going.

But the Kemper sounds great but I found myself buying too many profiles.
 
ClintN667 said:
i had a kemper and 2 hx stomps. the hx stomp was my favorite vs the kemper but it takes some weird tweaking to get really good tone. but to me it was easier once you get it going.

But the Kemper sounds great but I found myself buying too many profiles.
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How much is a profile? Do they come in a bundle of 5 or 10?
 
i thought the quad cortex is the new greatest thing
 
it had a lot of hype but neural still hasnt delivered everything they claimed, and it doesnt do anything better than other modelers on the market other than a super nice UI. it needs time to develop probably.
 
Spaceboy said:
it had a lot of hype but neural still hasnt delivered everything they claimed, and it doesnt do anything better than other modelers on the market other than a super nice UI. it needs time to develop probably.
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Their Soldano plug in sounds really nice. I'd change a couple of things about it, like different speakers and some of the reverb and delay features. But as a stand alone for $99 I quite like it. And one doesn't need their UI to access it.
 
Spaceboy said:
it had a lot of hype but neural still hasnt delivered everything they claimed, and it doesnt do anything better than other modelers on the market other than a super nice UI. it needs time to develop probably.
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I love the Quad Cortex. It basically does what I liked about the Kemper and what I liked about the Line 6. I'm not a guy who uses 50 million blocks with some w/d/w routing, midi switching out the wazoo etc etc.

I just want to slap an amp and cab block down with maybe a boost and a delay/reverb for leads and be done with it. The QC does this really well. It also feels and sounds closest to an amp in the room than the other modelers I've tried. Like I can dial in a tone damn close to what I would have on my amp and it translates- which didnt happen with the HX Stomp. If I dialed the exact settings on my Mark IV on the Line 6's Mark IV they sounded nothing nowhere near each other. Guys like Jason Saddites or Jer can get great results with the Helix stuff. I personally dont like messing with a million settings and options(the last thing I want to think about is stuff like sag, Bias x etc etc)

It really just depends on what you need but I think we are at the point with digital that there isnt much improvements sound wise that can be made. They all sound great these days even the el cheapo ones. Not like 5+ years ago when you play a digital device and it has a 5150 setting that doesnt sound anything remotely like a 5150.
 
Fiesta Red said:
Their Soldano plug in sounds really nice. I'd change a couple of things about it, like different speakers and some of the reverb and delay features. But as a stand alone for $99 I quite like it. And one doesn't need their UI to access it.
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I have a number of their plugins including the Soldano, and they're great for plugins. They've said it themselves though, the latest batch of plugins are "better" than the equivalent models in the QC. So, if the Soldano plugin does what you need, there's no guarantee you'll be even more impressed with the hardware. If they even get aroudn to loading plugins into the QC though, that will be cool and offer something that the other top modelers can't do.
 
Kemper is still the best gear purchase ever! L6 has a better interface, but IMHO, it doesn’t get close to my Kemper as far as tone is concerned. And yes, L6 has great support if that’s a concern. I have a Variax and support has always been easily available if I have a question.
 
rm5153 said:
I have owned both the Kemper and the Fractal AXE 3. Both are awesome tools. Like others have said if you want the purest of amp tone then the Kemper is the way to go. If you want to model and create your own amp sounds then the Axe is the way to go. Six to one half dozen to another in the end. Both are great.

I currently have a Kemper Stage and AXE 3 in the classified section and these are the lowest price on the web. I have a Kemper Rack and Remote that I am keeping and it is that good that I just sold my real Friedman BE 100 Deluxe as I found some Kemper Profiles that were spot on.
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What's the name of the profile pack?
 
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