I hate to be the negative Nancy but...to do it all again I would of gone axefx xl+, I found the ax8 limiting and the kemper even more limiting. I like the fact with the Kemper I can dictate what amps I want then a preselected here it is platform, but in the end how many versions of a Marshall can you have?
Amp sim to amp profile really no difference and they respond the same. Fractal is better at drives and all effects, I’m still using outbound hardware cause of imperfections.
I thought the kemper would be better at profiling the true amp as a di profile, but I was wrong, in the end the kemper has the same disconnect from a real cab as the axe, but the axe includes a speaker resonance option in the amp block to compensate, so I don’t have to use a spot for it.
The kemper is based on their tone, the axe you can dial in your tone, and damn near as you would on the front of the amp. Throughout frfr and being simple amp tone I love the kemper but to invest again it doesn’t do anything better than axe and doesent do half of it either
Now let’s talk about running dual amps, cabs, wet dry rig and all in one box, it’s why Larry Lalond uses a kemper for Primus gigs, and seems you need room as your sets get more complicated
Also Fractal is constantly improving not just amp modeling but effects etc, I’ve only been a kemper user for 6 months but I feel listening to public response and wanting or thinking there’s room for improvement is limited. The Kemper and axefx run the same components but axe is upgraded every couple months, I have more room in my machine based on how many profiles so huge room to grow but no growth, we get spdif upgrades or some different volume layout. I came to Kemper cause I saw room for growth in the machine but the company seems to think they nailed it, haha
It’s also like an apple vs android, android apps are free with purchase of the device, the kemper is pay to play by other users, so like a digital Randall rm100