I have seen a number of youtube videos about the Tone X. They all seem to suggest that it sounds as good or better than the Kemper, is a whole lot less expensive AND the really big bonus - it lets you use real pedals on a pedalboard.
I'm sorry but that is just totally faulty logic, akin to comparing apples to jet engines.
Before going any further I need to be totally clear. I am not writing this a Kemper fan boy trying to protect the reputation of "my" tribe/religion by attacking others. I happen to think that the Fractal AxeFX range are fantastic devices, same for Line6 Helix, Quad Cortex will probably also be a great unit once they roll out more updates. All of the existing devices are capable of providing excellent results if used well.
As for Tone X; it sits in a totally different market segment, which I would see as complementary to Kemper, suited to a different type of user, but from what I have heard so far it definitely sounds good. I might even get one at some point as a safety net just incase my Kemper ever fails on me mid gig.
So why is the logic faulty?
Sound quality.
Yes it sounds great, as does the Kemper and the others.
Does the Kemper always sound perfect straight off the bat? No.
Does refining and some manual tweaking usually solve this? In my experience yes.
So the big "game changer" from Tone X's magic AI is that it does the refining and tweaking for us. However, according to one of the videos raving about how good it is, to get the best possible results it can take over 5 hours per profile. I'm pretty sure I could get a result that I was happy with manually in a fraction of that time.
Maybe all we need to satisfy the AI fraternity is for Kemper to introduce some form of automatic refining. I am pretty sure the current hardware could do that if required.
Cost.
Tone X is cheap as chips.
If I was UA or Strymon, or anyone else selling single amp in a box pedals to go on a pedal board, I would be very worried. Tone X is definitely a game changer in that market.
However, it only provides 3 switchable rigs and these can only include an amp/cabinet, compressor, noise gate, EQ and Reverb. If that is all you need then once again it is a killer proposition. However, if you need/ want additional overdrives, fuzz, modulation, rotary simulator, harmoniser, delay etc and the ability to have multiple "performances" for different songs in a set list then you need a pedal board too.
I used to have a pedalboard. I actually still have it in a container but have plugged it in less than 5 times since I got the Kemper 5 years ago. I hate pedal boards for several reasons including, cost, weight, size, lack of flexibility, problems with cables, noise, hum, power, need for power and audio cables at the front of stage etc etc which can appear at any time and can be a nightmare to track down and solve.
But even if I assume that I did like a pedal board in principle what about the cost?
I looked out photos of my old pedal board to save me looking for it in the depths of the container. I then tried to price each item on it although I substituted the cheaper Decimator G String pedal for my actual rack mounted Pro Rack G for a fairer comparison. I arrived at a total cost of £3,937 PLUS cables and connectors. There are nearly 50 Witchcraft 226 jacks on it a several meters of Vann Dame cable. The cost of cables and connectors would add >£300 plus all the time involved soldering everything and assembling the system. I haven't included the cost of expression pedals as these would be required with the Kemper too so excluding them simply cancels out.
Therefore, to build a rig round the Tone X and my pedal board would cost c. £4,600. PLUS a power amp and cabinet(s) or a powered monitor. I have excluded these as I am assuming I would use the same amplification for Tone X or Kemper so again it cancels out.
This set up weighed about 10 times as much as my Kemper (maybe more) and takes up way more room in the car and on stage AND is less flexible. That doesn't sound appealing to me. "but look, with pedals I can bend down and twiddle the knobs and give myself back ache. Clearly that's way better than an all in one solution like Kemper, Helix or Fractal"
A Kemper Non Powered Head and Remote would cost £1,935.51 including VAT a Stage would cost just £1,445.99 inc VAT. Either would be significantly more portable and more flexible than my old pedalboard setup at a fraction of the cost.
If we are comparing just an amp modelling solution then of course the Tone X is a brilliant deal particularly when you get a full version of Amplitude thrown in for free. But if you want a total rig for gigging I'm still struggling to see how it is a better option than any of the current systems.
Where I think IK Multimedia have played an absolute blinder is, they have focused on a specific market segment and have targeted it with a high quality well thought out solution to meet specific needs. I am sure they will sell bucket loads of them. Will I be selling my Kemper? Not a chance.
The interesting thing to keep an eye on is whether IK see Tone X as it stands as a finished product or merely the foot in the door to be followed with bigger brothers and sisters that are an all in one replacement for the current major players. Only time will tell.
TLDNR:
I think Tone X looks really interesting for a certain situation.
I think the Kemper and others look amazing for different situations.
But neither is a direct replacement for the other.