Interesting Kemper/Matchless Comparison.

How do you guys like the onboard effects, particularly the dirt/OD?boost? Do you use the Kemper cab? Footpedal? I'm researching....
I use the on-board effects kind of like a playground. It’s a convenient way to fiddle with settings and experiment with how things play together. This just playing at home though.
 
I use the Toaster head, Kabinet, and internal effects along with the floorboard/controller.
Very happy with the rig. I use it at home, practice and gigs.
Actually going to gig it this weekend, where I'll have the main outputs going to FOH and the Kabinet just for backline support.
Love it!

I am 100% kemper by the way: but make my own profiles. The drives I use only for the occasional boost, with drive set low, but never as the ionly dirt in the sound
I think we're all tube amp aficionados at heart, but the sounds I've been hearing paired with the convenience factors the Kemper offers plus zero latency are making this system too hard to ignore. I want to play a cranked Plexi, Trainwreck, Vibrolux or whatever else I want at midnight. What other real choice is there?
 
I think we're all tube amp aficionados at heart, but the sounds I've been hearing paired with the convenience factors the Kemper offers plus zero latency are making this system too hard to ignore. I want to play a cranked Plexi, Trainwreck, Vibrolux or whatever else I want at midnight. What other real choice is there?
In no particular order
Helix
Quad Cortex
Fractal
Headrush Prime
Tonex
BluGuitar Amp1

All of these have some great tones and features. I'm going to stick with Kemper.
 
I’ve played the Helix, that’s a really nice system. My only gripe is sitting on the floor dialing in my tones, my neck starts to kill after about an hour. And the soft touch switches allow instant unintended changes guaranteed to elicit profane contemplation. I think I’d like the Kemper head/laptop combination.
 
What other real choice is there?
I think the answer depends on the perspective of the individual player.

If you've spent years and years curating your own set of great amps and effects to get specific tones that define your tone, those real amps and pedals into something like a Suhr, Mesa or UA OX load box using headphones or studio monitors are a perfectly viable if not preferable solution.

I think that the tube amp >> load box solution sounds better/juicier/more dynamic and that the nonlinearities of analog from one moment to the next are more interesting to the ear.

It can be completely silent to the outside world, or limited to whatever volume you choose to run your monitors.

However, if your thing is to simply play around with tones captured from a plethora of amps, whether for grins and giggles or to do covers, cool - these devices are great for that. They have the benefit of light weight for gigging as well.

Also, if you don't hear a significant difference, that's yet another reason to go modeler.

For an analog sound that's inexpensive and doesn't involve tube amps with their weight, etc., the analog Quilter solid state amps are inexpensive and sound quite good; although they're transistor amps, they still have the nonlinearities of analog gear.
 
I think the answer depends on the perspective of the individual player.

If you've spent years and years curating your own set of great amps and effects to get specific tones that define your tone, those real amps and pedals into something like a Suhr, Mesa or UA OX load box using headphones or studio monitors are a perfectly viable if not preferable solution.

I think that the tube amp >> load box solution sounds better/juicier/more dynamic and that the nonlinearities of analog from one moment to the next are more interesting to the ear.

It can be completely silent to the outside world, or limited to whatever volume you choose to run your monitors.

However, if your thing is to simply play around with tones captured from a plethora of amps, whether for grins and giggles or to do covers, cool - these devices are great for that. They have the benefit of light weight for gigging as well.

Also, if you don't hear a significant difference, that's yet another reason to go modeler.

For an analog sound that's inexpensive and doesn't involve tube amps with their weight, etc., the analog Quilter solid state amps are inexpensive and sound quite good; although they're transistor amps, they still have the nonlinearities of analog gear.
I would love to plug into my old Digikey Eleven rack unit and listen in. I bet it sounds great.
 
I think the answer depends on the perspective of the individual player.

If you've spent years and years curating your own set of great amps and effects to get specific tones that define your tone, those real amps and pedals into something like a Suhr, Mesa or UA OX load box using headphones or studio monitors are a perfectly viable if not preferable solution.

I think that the tube amp >> load box solution sounds better/juicier/more dynamic and that the nonlinearities of analog from one moment to the next are more interesting to the ear.

It can be completely silent to the outside world, or limited to whatever volume you choose to run your monitors.

However, if your thing is to simply play around with tones captured from a plethora of amps, whether for grins and giggles or to do covers, cool - these devices are great for that. They have the benefit of light weight for gigging as well.

Also, if you don't hear a significant difference, that's yet another reason to go modeler.

For an analog sound that's inexpensive and doesn't involve tube amps with their weight, etc., the analog Quilter solid state amps are inexpensive and sound quite good; although they're transistor amps, they still have the nonlinearities of analog gear.
I agree with the notion that amp+reactive load(+IR) sounds great, better than any option in the digital world I tried so far. Better sounds and juicier than a model or even the profiles I made with the same setting on that amp with loadbox and same IR.

However, and this is fun, the amp is way more compressed than the profile of that amp in my kemper. Less touch sensitive from clean to mean and that is a big thing, since my picking dynamics are a significant part of my playing style and sound.

Sum of it all: love both. Sound of amp and loadbox is killer. Live: not worth the hassle to lug the amp with me (even though it is a toaster amp). Great times and first world dilemmas
 
I’ve played the Helix, that’s a really nice system. My only gripe is sitting on the floor dialing in my tones, my neck starts to kill after about an hour. And the soft touch switches allow instant unintended changes guaranteed to elicit profane contemplation. I think I’d like the Kemper head/laptop combination.
I do like the head sitting beside me with nice buttons to turn.
 
Gotcha. It seems the Kemper shines brightest depending on who profiles what amp.
Probably true for all modelers/profilers. For example when Bryan Adams recently switched to Fractal for his current tour with Joan Jett, Fractal sent out one of their guys to help dial in the amp settings and in all likelihood generate a custom IR.
 
For my genre of classic rock played live (vrs recording), the Kemper sounded good enough to warrant not dragging a heavy amp and cabinet around. Plus, the dirtier the tones, the less difference I hear between the 2. Now, add in ALL the effects available in the Kemper, and I just have this to say:

Anybody want to buy a nice tube amp?
 
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