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@kmW It really truly is not better at all though. The Helix line is amazing. And I wouldn't say they are close in price at all. Heck, you can get the Helix LT _and_ buy a new guitar and still be cheaper off than a Quad Cortex which wouldn't have gained you anything whatsoever. Also keep in mind the HX stompbox isn't exactly in the same range as the other devices used. It would be a more presentative comparison to have thrown a Helix LT in there.
Definitely if you're 100% fine with the form factor and don't need a bunch of i/o routing options then it is hard to beat in that price range. Unfortunately for me, I bought the full size helix floor unit and for how close in price they are, the quad cortex just does it better.
@PainterDan then you probably couldn't get a good marshall tone out of a marshall... clip-share.net/video/tlF4yZN0S14/video.html seriously under every single video comparing helix to anything people are complaining about how bad it sounds if they can see which device is which, but under every single blind test noone's even able to pick out which device is which, or pick out which is the real amp. tells you something doesn't it.
All this shows is that the technology is here now. Most in the audience will not be able to tell the difference between any of these vs the real amps. Great time to be alive and playing guitar…..
@PHeMoX They don't run the full track through it but the prerecorded DI-signal of the guitar, which makes things comparable and should be done by more reviewers imo. The backing track is added on top of that and it would be better without it but bonedo is more for musicians than for guitar and amp snobs i guess.
Actually, 99% of that is due to how this 'test' is done though. This wasn't live play into all these devices. This is just a demo track they ran through it, like a speaker. Don't get me wrong, it'll never be exactly the same in how it should respond when playing through a real amp, however modelling tech has gotten good enough to a point of it barely making a real difference. But I still think the test is kind of dumb when all you do is run a recorded track through it. I see this a lot on large music gear websites online and it is literally the most worthless way of showing how something sounds. It's never going to be representative.
I'm a Kemper owner and to me all sound really fantastic! I can understand people mentioning the pros and cons of having one or another (form factor, price, size, inputs/outputs) etc, go with what best suits your needs (and wallet)... really great to be a guitarist these days!
The Kemper has much more definition and clarity (IMHO). Makes one "fall into the track". To your point, if the playing is exciting/moving any of these would get the point across.
@Faran Diwand it's not trust me I have a axe effects 3 and a stomp and once adjusted you cant tell them apart everybody that thinks the axe 3 is the best it is with the options it has but not with sound I have both you can adjust them to sound identical
To my ears I like the Kemper the best, it has a really satisfying natural tone without getting too muddy. The Fractal is a close second with it's more hifi approach, but the range of effects and processing power is worth the consideration to buy it over the Kemper. The HX Stomp is fantastic option for the price and can even be an interim while you save up for the other units. The QC has a whole lot of potential but it's not quite there yet with the current firmware.
Agreed although I would say that the difference could easily be narrowed if you spent the time to. That and the axe has a suite of accurately modelled effects that go with the amps which the kemper falls shorter on. With the kemper it's like you have a hyper accurate snapshot and as you move away from the default position the less and less it sounds like the amp. Where as the Axe sounds reasonably consistently accurate across all of its settings. Thats the main reason I went axefx instead of Kemper even though I have long been an Access advocate. Either way if price isn't an issue and you want accuracy out of the box with no faff go Kemper, if you want accuracy and want to dial in your sound go Axe, if you are on a smaller budget go HX. I cant see any legitimate reason to go QC yet unless you are into the interface. It seems a bit lacking compared to everything else especially when you factor in cost. Also... what gigging musician wants to deal with a capacitive touch screen on their device? That sounds like a literal nightmare.
This was extremely well done. Fantastic playing and such a great way to test and compare these units. HX Stomp is impressive for holding up, but I was most impressed by the QC followed by the AXE FX III. The Kemper has this plastic thing to the attack of the note and I remember feeling that way when I had one as well. Once again, thank you for this and well done!
Keep in mind the IR used plays a huge role in the sound (just like a speaker does for a real amp). I have an HX stomp and using Celestion IR’s vastly improves the sound over the stock cabs imo. For this reason, the hx stomp is an incredible value.
Absolutely. People underestimate how big of an impact everything after the actual amp has on the overall sound. (Speaker, cabinet materials/construction/dimensions, mic, mic placement)
They all sound great. The Axe-FX III is outstanding, specially on the high frequencies. I would take any small box for easy portability, and the Axe-FX III, without any doubt, for studio and serious gigs.
Honestly, after hearing this and many other examples through my studio monitors and hedphones, I am certain there is no need to spend a dime more than Line6 HX. Maybe the playing feel is better elsewhere, but those who strive for that should use real amps. To my trained ears, AXE FX sounded most artificially polished, while Line6 sounded most like a good mixed guitar, except maybe on VOX 30 where quad was a bit more chewy. But the difference is neglidgable, and change of speaker IR would make more difference than upgrade in processing. Not worth it. I own Strymon Iridium, BTW.
Every one of them sounded great and with some tweaks to the EQ could have been made to sound exactly like each other. Goes to show that you can focus on the price and specific features that you think are important and know you'll get great sound no matter which unit you select. Like another said, this is a great time to be a guitarist!
To me AxeFxIII and Kemper are both the best sounding. In a different way. Kemper more organic, more realistic of all BUT AxeFxIII sounds sometimes better than a real amp. Then HX stomp is very impressive for its price, and last QC. It’s flat,
Man i know there are big differences in terms of functions/features, but in terms of pure tone they are all really close and more the point they all sound great... Man that HX Stomp really holds its own for raw tone againt the big boys...
I have owned all but Quad Cortex, Helix Stomp is quite amazing for the price and holds up against others very well. Surely with good IRs and eq it can match others. Quad Cortex sounded best on this video to me.
Hx has organic tone and feel. It feels like real amp and analog effects, specifically with IR. Its user friendly, small to carry, many possibilities to connect with other devices, And serious tone. Its amazing that it covers all kinds of music. I play jazz with it and people like it. I use it for Live and recordings. Dont have to suffer from devices. Away from the price, I’m satisfied with my choice.
Amazing test, i liked better the Axe in all samples, conversely the Line 6 less, but for the price is a no brainer, it sounded great anyway. QC and Kemper were second and third depending on the clip . I wonder if the impulse selection was the same as it is a great part of the final outcome of the modelling. Thanks for this great work.
I think; if it was aimed to get the best tone out of each box; the difference would be less between these units. Hx stomp has so much potential with a good IR and tweaking.
First let me say that they all sounded great. But having played thru all of these amps, with the exception of the Freidman, in the studio, I have to give an edge in realism to the Kemper. Great comparison. Thanks from Vegas.
They all sound good, one amp model( or profile) might sound a bit better in one of the units but it’s all very close. If price is a concern the Hx stomp is a no brainer, if money isn’t a concern the Axe Fx for the sheer power and flexibility is a good choice also (the other two are algo great on their own). Everyone of them wins!
I'm proud owner of an HX stomp since this last pandemic year. I've been all tubes and analog type of player, but decided to open up and I compared and read as much I could before buying. If you know your sound, you'll have no problems dialing it in. IR's are 70% of how it will open up. Mostly interested in getting AXE FX 3 now, due to all the routing capabilities.
All great units,but to my ears, Kemper is still the more natural (as a real amp behaves). Cortex is the youngest,but i thing with the next update....cortex will be far better than others. Well done,id like to hear the same but without bass and drum. Anyway ,one of best comparison videos for sure. Cheers
@Hired Goonage hi,man- i said that just because on a video i already noticed than its head to head to kemper. I owned fractal ax8,and line 6 hx,and they are booth great units,but to my ears kemper sounded more realistic if compared with the real amps- Honestly,i didnt expect,but in a matter of tone capturing,cortex is already better then fractal or line 6. That doesnt mean than fractal or line 6 are bad units. Depends what you play and what you expect from them. To me,the most important part is a substitution of a real amp,with some preamp option able to give me the closest sound possibile. I m usin ethos overdrive for that now...and im pretty satisfied.cheers
This is such a great comparison! I have been watching videos and reading reviews trying to decide which one to get, and now it has become even more difficult haha. To me all of them sound amazing! 🤷♂️
Everyone of them shines in its own way. The Axe sounds most natural to me, the Kemper sounds very nice and smooth, the DSP sits well in the mix but sounds a little thin and fizzy for me. The winner for me is the HX Stomp, because of the incredible pricing and the simple interface, sounding better than the DSP and on the same level as the Kemper and barely noticeable weaker than the AXE.
I have the HX STOMP and here I notice it sounds more boxy with harsher distortion. For live shows I add a midi controller for better/faster switching but I'm considering upgrading to the Fractal FM9 (once they're available! sound same as AXEIII) for two clear benefits: the quality of the effects, especially the reverb, and because you always get trails when switching between scenes. Yes I know you do with Snapshots but they're somewhat limited. With the FM9 I'd have enough switches so no midi controller. Also on the STOMP wah pedals have a significant lag that is close to unusable for me. Also it doesn't quite get the creamy smooth lead sound my old Mesa Mk3 used to get but I tried an FM3 and Fractal is much closer. The Kemper sounds quite good in this video, but somewhat "thin" - maybe with some more tweaking it'd be more similar. I'd like to think these guys did a Fourier analysis to match frequency loudness but I suspect they didn't so really - this isn't a true apple vs apple test, but still informative.
As a Helix owner and having never for a moment been unhappy with my tones. I think it's time I get a quad cortex. I'm absolutely blown away. There's something about the high end harmonic content that it just gets right. The kemper as usual seems to be missing all of it outright, the helix way overcompensates in the high end harshness by trying to capture some of that top end sparkle of a real amp, and the axe fx is somewhere in the middle of those two. The quad cortex just nails it. Impressive.
As a QC and HX Stomp owner, these tools are all super capable. This video was really well done. My main takeaway - which I understand is 100% subjective, and influenced by my personal preference, the device settings in the video, the device I’m listening on, and a multitude of other factors - is that the Kemper seemed to always sound more open when following the QC. Like more natural breathing if that makes sense. Then things boxed up a bit and seem like more of a Kung fu grip on the sound when transitioning to Stomp. Just, overall liked the noise from the Kemper in this comparison.
Hard to pick a winner but the line 6 to me sounded by far the worst. I’ve had several line 6 units including a helix and they always seem to have that digital grind that you just cannot get rid of in that unit. I have not owned a quad cortex but I I do have a kemper rack and a fm3. You can just about get any sound you’re after out of these two units and I love to tweak but I can never tweak out that digital grind in any product by Line 6.
That's interesting. I own none of them and thought the Kemper sounded the worse, QC the best with Axe and Stomp in a toss up. We could both use the same equipment and end up with a completely different opinion on what sounded best. It matters not, my playing will always be outdone by the quality and flexibility of these products.
Honestly these would all work for me. I'm gonna go with the QC because I really love Neural DSP plugins and eventually those can be played through QC as well and I love their design in general. But yeah... My tube amps are gone now. 100% happy with tones modelers provide in 2021 and even prefer them to mic'ed tube amps in a lot of cases.
They all sound great, and in a live situation any would work well. The Fractal unit shows why it's the target the others are trying to hit. Overall best sound with the highest price tag to boot!
Hey ! Nice work... Yessss... very huge and nice work. Honestly, all of those equipment are great sounds and it's very very very difficult to say : this one is the best. It's only question of tastes and colours. Great work chaps !!! It is a pleasure to listen to this video (and the other's of course) All my best. Phil from Dunkirk
What an awesome video, thanks for putting it together. I own a Helix and I love it. They all sound reasonably close, but for some reason the Kemper really stands out to me.
Kemper & Axe III took the cake, the QC sounded a bit stiff. Axe III was the most consistent through out the models. If I chose an overall winner its the Fractal. Kemper was my favorite overall but on a few the Axe sounded better.
I have the HX Stomp and think it's an amazing device for the price and size, but if I'm honest the sound doesn't hold up to the others. To my ears the QC is the clear winner. There's just more resolution to the sound. I'm not wild about the Axe FX as everything sounded too crunchy.
If you're not able to get stellar tones with ANY of these devices, the problem is not the modeler. The real battle anymore is not so much in the amp modeling arena but in the speaker modeling. I'm going to assume that this video was done with different IRs/speaker modeling explaining the tiny tonal differences (ok maybe a few tones a little are a brighter in general etc.....use the eq knobs....isn't that what you'd do on a real amp?) Honestly, people shouldn't be buying multiple modelers....they should be buying 1-2 actual guitar speaker cabs. That's right, stop doing the FRFR thing, plug into a power amp into real guitar cab....EVERYTHING's there at that point - feel, tone....right on the money. You can have Yr. 2040+ guitar modeling today if you're willing to make this tradeoff. Lastly, excellent demo and tones. Thank you for this great video Guitar Bonedo! Next time would request blind test :p
Great video! It's between the AxeFX and the QC for me, but I think the QC just edges it with a bit more vibe / attitude. I've been thinking about getting one of the new AxeFX floor units, but now I don't know ^^
They all sounded good with their own unique subtle differences in tone and feel. There are some subtle differences that if you own one or all four you might notice. But all are useable.
Well I own a kemper stage bought it about a year and a half ago. I was worried about the QC never really liked the line6 my dad has a helix and I sold lots of pods back in the day. This video confirmed I made the right decision. I was worried about the QC but still think the kemper is way better. I wish I had a few of the QC features but am happy. If I played modern metal more than occasionally I would would lean axeFX or Line6 but for a broader edge of breakup tone and for dynamics the Kemper is King!
My preference in tone was Quad Cortex sounds crisp and clear on every example. Axe fx was almost as good. Then Helix and Kemper tied for this almost. I would lean toward helix a bit though.
I sold my Kemper for the Rev D20. The speaker is a Friedman ASC10. It was highly recommended and wow does it deliver. I hear the FM9 is stupendous. But honestly, everything here sounds great. Digital sound is really affordable considering how many amps and effects you can get from one unit.
Came for the comparison, stayed for the playing. To my ears, the Quad sounds like the sound I hear in my head. I own a Stomp and love the tones I get, but man, did that sound great…
The QC sounds slightly better to my ears with it’s fuller sounding output and how it reacts to guitarist’s input and how it sits in the overall mix, the axe fx3 doesn’t sound bad but is a disappointment given it’s pedigree, the Kemper is like a brother from another mother to the QC with a slightly different voicing of the same effect, but the real champ is the HX Stomp !!! That little thing actually held it’s own so darn well it’s not funny, seriously impressed by it…. And for less than half the price of the others……what I am really thinking right now is, how much is enough…..do crowds at a gig really make out the tiniest difference in tone, in the studio you can manipulate the sound to sound almost exact to your reference point….over all exciting times for us musicians with so many choices….
Great Video! 😊👍 There are very faint differences between these modelers…. The sounds are so close in many cases between each once dialed in. Great Tones from all, thanks for including settings.
Very Interesting. To me the line 6 still pretty digital sounding compared to others, though not Terrible. Some amps were more pleasing on the QC, Some Kemper, some Axe FX though all were very good. Ive been a kemper owner forever and love it. Waiting for QC because its hard to justify a stage just to not have to bring the lunchbox.
Awesome shootout.. As others have said, they are all great. Overall I thought the Kemper was the best followed by the AXE FX then the HX Stomp and lastly the QC. I am watching this as a bassplayer looking into the QC. The QC seems to be lacking in the low mids and everything I hear in this demo and others is it has this presence sheen in the high end that is either good or bad. I thought it worked on the 5150 though. The HX Stomp being a nice gigbag friendly size may do me... Though I would like to try some REDDI and JULE Monique captures on the QC.
I own an AXE lll and FM3, Kemper toaster and Stage, UA OX Box and most recently a QC with the lastest update 1.4. Having "hands on" experience with all of these units, in my opinion they all deliver good sound. Where I feel the QC has the edge on all of them is in the dynamic picking hand feel. If playing heavy overdriven sounds it's not as apparent. When playing more subtle blues, jazz, chord melody style guitar its VERY apparent. All of the units other that the QC seem to have some kind limiting/compression going on that negates a realistic dynamic feel IMHO (some brands more than others). PS: nicely done demo vid.
Thank you good sir! I have been scouring the internet for peoples opinions of the QC with the newest update. All of the cons people seem to mention in these videos from right when the QC was released always seemed to me like issues that would get worked out with time (namely lack of effects). I was 12 when the kempers hit the scene so I dont know if this is true, but I heard from early adopters that the kempers were kind of Eh right when they first dropped too, and now I can name multiple big name acts who tour only with Kempers. Im leaning towards the QC at the moment.
I’ve ordered a QC and will have my singer going through my full Helix. TBT, the Helix really does a great job once dialed and is super user friendly. Sadly, it needs to be super user friendly because the factory presets are garbage. If you spend significant time dialing in a Helix and Parametric EQ it pretty hard, it becomes flawless. I just don’t understand why Line 6 allows it’s gear to go out the door sounding like that. I’m hoping I don’t have to dial in my QC as intensely.
Great video. All sounded great for high gain sound but for clean and low/mid gain, all struggle to sound not fake. I have Kemper Stage, Line 6 HX Stomp, AXE AX8 and can confirm.
The ranking in terms of sound quality for my ears, strangely: 1) Cortex 2) Helix 3) Ax fx 3 4) Kemper. I find the Kemper horrible, much too high mid/treble and the like, a little unpleasant shine with the Fractal. So according to my ears, once again, it's not a question of price, and the good news is that the Ax fx 3 which costs 3 times more than the helix is not better for all that!
Owned the Fractal FX3 and Kemper and now I got the HX stomp. Fractal just destroys on FXs, no contest here. They all sound great thou. Also a Fractal alone can do the same as 2 or 3 Kempers. For a Studio the Fractal is also a no contest. To my use the best is the HX stomp. Sounds great, good for play in the room, good to gig and simple recordings.
Really nice comparison!! They all sound really good and considering the price of the helix stomp is almost a third of the price of the rest... Not bad. The Axe Fx was outstanding. Kemper close 2nd, HXStomp solid third and QC.... Hm... I honestly was expecting more of a product hyped that much. Cheers!
This is a TRUE COMPARISON. Straight to the sound, which is the most important for the 99% of people, who can't profile amps. Please, could you tell how you use the Pure Cabinet parameter in the Kemper?? Have it activated, level?. Thank you bro, great video! Keep on rocking.
what an awesome video. Both AXE FX III and HX Stomp sound great to me. DSP has less detail while Kemper has that plastic feel that make it less authentic. I will take this video as a buying guide. Thank you!
Axe III - The most consistent, Kemper - Sounds the most alive/real, HX Stomp - hung with all competitors, QC - Kinda flat, I think Neural Captures wouldve sounded better than the modeled amps
Very, very good comparison. The more the gain goes up, the less you can hear subtle differences. Over all the clips the Neural and Line6 products sounded the best to me in this clip (Kemper the worst).
Helix sounds weakest tonally to my ears. It isn't in the same league at all with the others. Have to admit I'm pleasantly surprised how good the QC sounds. It pops the most and cuts cleaner through the mix regardless of tracks you used. Kemper sounds the warmest, seems to add some pleasant harmonic distortion. I don't own any, yet, so this is a good demo. Gotta say I'm leaning to a battle between QC & Kemper. Time to continue the research. The Kemper sounds so warm and most like an actual amp.
For me they can all sound great there nothing to choose between them , some are brighter than others but nothing a bit of eq couldn’t correct. Maybe the difference is in the fx or how many different ones you can use at once therefore the Neural DSP would come out on top. But if you just want a good sound in the real world they can all deliver.
After listening six times in a row I’m leaning more and more towards the Line 6…at least for the distorted tones. The others are almost too polished, the kemper sounds overly compressed and the QC is so darn HiFi that it almost sounds like a full mix by itself. My ears might say otherwise tomorrow though..
The kemper did High Gain better than all of them but I was surpised by the HX. It really held its own in there. I think overall the Axe FX and QC were the best though.
Quad Cortex wins for me as the sound feels high fidelity, there's something about the high frequencies that makes the QC feel more real and organic. But my pocket will only allow the HX stomp...for live that's what it's gonna be for me
For me Helix. Not because it sounds the best. The deal breaker for me was Helix Native. You can play and dial your tone at home while leaving your rig at home.
Interesting. In this video Line6 and Fractal sounded similar, both good but "processed" as in a recording. Kemper the most real and Quad Cortex real but with some "oomph".
My favorite things about each one: Neural - it's clean. Kemper - most realistic tube sound. HX - price. Axe - thicc n' clear. I think Kemper's my favorite overall, but shes kind of a sugar mama.
I liked Kemper and the Fractal the most (except the clean). Is it the most close to the real amp? Dunno, and at this point I don't even care because this sounds amazing
Axe FX III wins on the amp sims, then completely obliterates the others on FX and features. But, the Line6 is doing a stellar job keeping up with the much pricer units, respect.
For me personally Deluxe Reverb goes to KPA Vox AC30 goes to QC Plexi goes to Axe Fx, although Helix is really close, probably a tie JCM goes to Axe Fx BE100 goes to Helix 5150 goes to QC
All sound great, but for me it's definitely Axe FX III>Kemper & QC>>>HX Stomp. HX Stomp is obviously weaker than others. I'm not the fan of the transient from HX Stomp. The attack is slower and duller. The harmonic richness are less than others, especially the Axe FX III. However, if I need a more polite sound, I'll take HX Stomp into consideration. Kemper sounds compressed. Sometimes it's cool, but this could be a problem If the compressed feel cannot be eliminated since I don't always want this characteristic. For Fender and Vox, I like Kemper version the most. When it comes to high gain, Axe FX III is unbeatable. Punchy, rich harmonics, more vocal character, detailed dynamic, more depth....It seems that I can feel the power of airflow coming from a real cab when I listen to plexi of Axe FX III.
1. AxeFx - Plenty of definition without gutting tone - even if it's not in retail channels 2. HxStomp - Proven. Plenty of mids for tone carving, in retail channels - greatest bang for buck 3. Kemper - Cumbersome Profile tasting, but good sounds in this demo - it also crashes 4. QC - Too glassy, not much bottom end - Too expensive for "potential"
In the mix they all sound like real amps to me. They are all just tools for tone creation. The playing really shines in this video and matters more to me than the tone sometimes.
Did like the kemper 5150 sound the best on the hi gain side with te Axe-FxIII as a close second. On that note i would be inclined to see which one has the best bass amp and cab sounds before thinking about getting any of them
as the gain increased you could hear the Line 6 start to fall behind, but behind enuff to warrant the $ difference? a good EQ would make a big difference & help the line6 get there...all the others are great & are close to the real deal
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but the AXE FX is to to sold on thomann ? awkward
I own the QC, but IMO in this test the HXStomp wins, not because its the best, but because its holding up to gear that sells 2-4 time its price!!!
@kmW It really truly is not better at all though. The Helix line is amazing. And I wouldn't say they are close in price at all. Heck, you can get the Helix LT _and_ buy a new guitar and still be cheaper off than a Quad Cortex which wouldn't have gained you anything whatsoever. Also keep in mind the HX stompbox isn't exactly in the same range as the other devices used. It would be a more presentative comparison to have thrown a Helix LT in there.
@Donnie Donnie I Feel you man I got the Mooer GE 250 and it on par with The Quad n the Kemper the Stomp cant hold up with them
@D G Johnathan is a shill. Lol.
Definitely if you're 100% fine with the form factor and don't need a bunch of i/o routing options then it is hard to beat in that price range. Unfortunately for me, I bought the full size helix floor unit and for how close in price they are, the quad cortex just does it better.
@PainterDan then you probably couldn't get a good marshall tone out of a marshall...
clip-share.net/video/tlF4yZN0S14/video.html
seriously under every single video comparing helix to anything people are complaining about how bad it sounds if they can see which device is which, but under every single blind test noone's even able to pick out which device is which, or pick out which is the real amp. tells you something doesn't it.
All this shows is that the technology is here now. Most in the audience will not be able to tell the difference between any of these vs the real amps. Great time to be alive and playing guitar…..
@PHeMoX They don't run the full track through it but the prerecorded DI-signal of the guitar, which makes things comparable and should be done by more reviewers imo.
The backing track is added on top of that and it would be better without it but bonedo is more for musicians than for guitar and amp snobs i guess.
Actually, 99% of that is due to how this 'test' is done though. This wasn't live play into all these devices. This is just a demo track they ran through it, like a speaker. Don't get me wrong, it'll never be exactly the same in how it should respond when playing through a real amp, however modelling tech has gotten good enough to a point of it barely making a real difference. But I still think the test is kind of dumb when all you do is run a recorded track through it. I see this a lot on large music gear websites online and it is literally the most worthless way of showing how something sounds. It's never going to be representative.
Perfectly conveyed. The world has a tin ear anyway.
I'm a Kemper owner and to me all sound really fantastic! I can understand people mentioning the pros and cons of having one or another (form factor, price, size, inputs/outputs) etc, go with what best suits your needs (and wallet)... really great to be a guitarist these days!
The Kemper has much more definition and clarity (IMHO). Makes one "fall into the track". To your point, if the playing is exciting/moving any of these would get the point across.
@Faran Diwand it's not trust me I have a axe effects 3 and a stomp and once adjusted you cant tell them apart everybody that thinks the axe 3 is the best it is with the options it has but not with sound I have both you can adjust them to sound identical
Me, too. Very difficult to tell the difference but HX Stomp is a little bit weak on the chest, i think.
@sacredgeometry But you wouldn’t though as you’d have no option but to play the sound you are left with 😎
@Flet Mok Then dont go for the axe fx. I get paralysis from not having options when I am trying to do sound design.
To my ears I like the Kemper the best, it has a really satisfying natural tone without getting too muddy. The Fractal is a close second with it's more hifi approach, but the range of effects and processing power is worth the consideration to buy it over the Kemper. The HX Stomp is fantastic option for the price and can even be an interim while you save up for the other units. The QC has a whole lot of potential but it's not quite there yet with the current firmware.
TOTALLY AGREE 100%
Agreed although I would say that the difference could easily be narrowed if you spent the time to.
That and the axe has a suite of accurately modelled effects that go with the amps which the kemper falls shorter on.
With the kemper it's like you have a hyper accurate snapshot and as you move away from the default position the less and less it sounds like the amp. Where as the Axe sounds reasonably consistently accurate across all of its settings.
Thats the main reason I went axefx instead of Kemper even though I have long been an Access advocate.
Either way if price isn't an issue and you want accuracy out of the box with no faff go Kemper, if you want accuracy and want to dial in your sound go Axe, if you are on a smaller budget go HX.
I cant see any legitimate reason to go QC yet unless you are into the interface. It seems a bit lacking compared to everything else especially when you factor in cost. Also... what gigging musician wants to deal with a capacitive touch screen on their device? That sounds like a literal nightmare.
This was extremely well done. Fantastic playing and such a great way to test and compare these units. HX Stomp is impressive for holding up, but I was most impressed by the QC followed by the AXE FX III. The Kemper has this plastic thing to the attack of the note and I remember feeling that way when I had one as well.
Once again, thank you for this and well done!
perfeito
@Kcussrebutuemos Yeah, tube amps they are not. Great for getting a great “sound alike” but not “feels like”...
Add a real pedal like an overdrive etc. in the front. They all need help with feel and sound. Just my opinion.
Keep in mind the IR used plays a huge role in the sound (just like a speaker does for a real amp). I have an HX stomp and using Celestion IR’s vastly improves the sound over the stock cabs imo. For this reason, the hx stomp is an incredible value.
Absolutely. People underestimate how big of an impact everything after the actual amp has on the overall sound. (Speaker, cabinet materials/construction/dimensions, mic, mic placement)
They all sound great. The Axe-FX III is outstanding, specially on the high frequencies. I would take any small box for easy portability, and the Axe-FX III, without any doubt, for studio and serious gigs.
Axe fx 3 all the way! So much air and sparkle
agreed while gently cuddling my FX3. Yes, I am biased.
Honestly, after hearing this and many other examples through my studio monitors and hedphones, I am certain there is no need to spend a dime more than Line6 HX. Maybe the playing feel is better elsewhere, but those who strive for that should use real amps. To my trained ears, AXE FX sounded most artificially polished, while Line6 sounded most like a good mixed guitar, except maybe on VOX 30 where quad was a bit more chewy. But the difference is neglidgable, and change of speaker IR would make more difference than upgrade in processing. Not worth it. I own Strymon Iridium, BTW.
Clearly you’ve never played an Axe FX III...
To me, the Axe was quite impressive. Kemper also is outstanding (little bit more open and organic than QC), then the HX.
Every one of them sounded great and with some tweaks to the EQ could have been made to sound exactly like each other. Goes to show that you can focus on the price and specific features that you think are important and know you'll get great sound no matter which unit you select. Like another said, this is a great time to be a guitarist!
To me AxeFxIII and Kemper are both the best sounding. In a different way. Kemper more organic, more realistic of all BUT AxeFxIII sounds sometimes better than a real amp. Then HX stomp is very impressive for its price, and last QC. It’s flat,
This is my EXACT thoughts. Literally word for word my same thoughts
QC sounds the best but HX Stomp holds up so well, this is amazing! Great video, thank you so so much!
Well done! They all sound great, considering the price HX Stomp is all you need.
Man i know there are big differences in terms of functions/features, but in terms of pure tone they are all really close and more the point they all sound great... Man that HX Stomp really holds its own for raw tone againt the big boys...
I have owned all but Quad Cortex, Helix Stomp is quite amazing for the price and holds up against others very well. Surely with good IRs and eq it can match others. Quad Cortex sounded best on this video to me.
Or maybe the marketing
Kemper still holds up fantasticly being 10 years old. Yes, I know it is a profiler not an amp modeler.
Hx has organic tone and feel. It feels like real amp and analog effects, specifically with IR. Its user friendly, small to carry, many possibilities to connect with other devices, And serious tone. Its amazing that it covers all kinds of music. I play jazz with it and people like it. I use it for Live and recordings. Dont have to suffer from devices. Away from the price, I’m satisfied with my choice.
Amazing test, i liked better the Axe in all samples, conversely the Line 6 less, but for the price is a no brainer, it sounded great anyway. QC and Kemper were second and third depending on the clip . I wonder if the impulse selection was the same as it is a great part of the final outcome of the modelling. Thanks for this great work.
I think; if it was aimed to get the best tone out of each box; the difference would be less between these units. Hx stomp has so much potential with a good IR and tweaking.
First let me say that they all sounded great. But having played thru all of these amps, with the exception of the Freidman, in the studio, I have to give an edge in realism to the Kemper.
Great comparison. Thanks from Vegas.
They all sound good, one amp model( or profile) might sound a bit better in one of the units but it’s all very close. If price is a concern the Hx stomp is a no brainer, if money isn’t a concern the Axe Fx for the sheer power and flexibility is a good choice also (the other two are algo great on their own). Everyone of them wins!
I'm proud owner of an HX stomp since this last pandemic year. I've been all tubes and analog type of player, but decided to open up and I compared and read as much I could before buying. If you know your sound, you'll have no problems dialing it in. IR's are 70% of how it will open up. Mostly interested in getting AXE FX 3 now, due to all the routing capabilities.
All great units,but to my ears, Kemper is still the more natural (as a real amp behaves). Cortex is the youngest,but i thing with the next update....cortex will be far better than others. Well done,id like to hear the same but without bass and drum. Anyway ,one of best comparison videos for sure. Cheers
@Hired Goonage hi,man- i said that just because on a video i already noticed than its head to head to kemper. I owned fractal ax8,and line 6 hx,and they are booth great units,but to my ears kemper sounded more realistic if compared with the real amps- Honestly,i didnt expect,but in a matter of tone capturing,cortex is already better then fractal or line 6. That doesnt mean than fractal or line 6 are bad units. Depends what you play and what you expect from them. To me,the most important part is a substitution of a real amp,with some preamp option able to give me the closest sound possibile. I m usin ethos overdrive for that now...and im pretty satisfied.cheers
agree with what you said except "cortex will be far better than others". How so?
Axe III for me. The QC is close but Fractal effects are so much superior. Kemper still holds up... For the price, the HX stomp is also interesting!
This is such a great comparison! I have been watching videos and reading reviews trying to decide which one to get, and now it has become even more difficult haha. To me all of them sound amazing! 🤷♂️
But then it's a PERFECT no brainer sinxe the Helix is by far the cheapest.
Everyone of them shines in its own way. The Axe sounds most natural to me, the Kemper sounds very nice and smooth, the DSP sits well in the mix but sounds a little thin and fizzy for me. The winner for me is the HX Stomp, because of the incredible pricing and the simple interface, sounding better than the DSP and on the same level as the Kemper and barely noticeable weaker than the AXE.
I have the HX STOMP and here I notice it sounds more boxy with harsher distortion. For live shows I add a midi controller for better/faster switching but I'm considering upgrading to the Fractal FM9 (once they're available! sound same as AXEIII) for two clear benefits: the quality of the effects, especially the reverb, and because you always get trails when switching between scenes. Yes I know you do with Snapshots but they're somewhat limited. With the FM9 I'd have enough switches so no midi controller. Also on the STOMP wah pedals have a significant lag that is close to unusable for me. Also it doesn't quite get the creamy smooth lead sound my old Mesa Mk3 used to get but I tried an FM3 and Fractal is much closer. The Kemper sounds quite good in this video, but somewhat "thin" - maybe with some more tweaking it'd be more similar. I'd like to think these guys did a Fourier analysis to match frequency loudness but I suspect they didn't so really - this isn't a true apple vs apple test, but still informative.
As a Helix owner and having never for a moment been unhappy with my tones. I think it's time I get a quad cortex. I'm absolutely blown away. There's something about the high end harmonic content that it just gets right. The kemper as usual seems to be missing all of it outright, the helix way overcompensates in the high end harshness by trying to capture some of that top end sparkle of a real amp, and the axe fx is somewhere in the middle of those two. The quad cortex just nails it. Impressive.
As a QC and HX Stomp owner, these tools are all super capable. This video was really well done. My main takeaway - which I understand is 100% subjective, and influenced by my personal preference, the device settings in the video, the device I’m listening on, and a multitude of other factors - is that the Kemper seemed to always sound more open when following the QC. Like more natural breathing if that makes sense. Then things boxed up a bit and seem like more of a Kung fu grip on the sound when transitioning to Stomp. Just, overall liked the noise from the Kemper in this comparison.
I experienced exactly the same as you described, but still buying the FM9 because I love all the effects and have no intentions of keeping any pedals.
HX Stomp FTW. Sounds about 95% as good as the others and is sooooo inexpensive. Plus it's a great multi use pedal in a real amps FX loop.
Hard to pick a winner but the line 6 to me sounded by far the worst. I’ve had several line 6 units including a helix and they always seem to have that digital grind that you just cannot get rid of in that unit. I have not owned a quad cortex but I I do have a kemper rack and a fm3. You can just about get any sound you’re after out of these two units and I love to tweak but I can never tweak out that digital grind in any product by Line 6.
That's interesting. I own none of them and thought the Kemper sounded the worse, QC the best with Axe and Stomp in a toss up. We could both use the same equipment and end up with a completely different opinion on what sounded best. It matters not, my playing will always be outdone by the quality and flexibility of these products.
Honestly these would all work for me. I'm gonna go with the QC because I really love Neural DSP plugins and eventually those can be played through QC as well and I love their design in general. But yeah... My tube amps are gone now. 100% happy with tones modelers provide in 2021 and even prefer them to mic'ed tube amps in a lot of cases.
Didn't know it'll do neural thanks
They all sound great, and in a live situation any would work well. The Fractal unit shows why it's the target the others are trying to hit. Overall best sound with the highest price tag to boot!
The fractal did sound a bit more ballsy.
Kemper is awesome. Thx for sharing the settings you used on the profiles.
Hey !
Nice work... Yessss... very huge and nice work.
Honestly, all of those equipment are great sounds and it's very very very difficult to say : this one is the best.
It's only question of tastes and colours.
Great work chaps !!!
It is a pleasure to listen to this video (and the other's of course)
All my best.
Phil from Dunkirk
What an awesome video, thanks for putting it together. I own a Helix and I love it. They all sound reasonably close, but for some reason the Kemper really stands out to me.
They all sound good, my preference landed on a different modeler in each case. Shout out to the HX Stomp for punching above it's weight class.
The Axe FXIII has the edge over the others. I had a kemper and sold it, now I have a real amp with Line6 HX effects.
Kemper & Axe III took the cake, the QC sounded a bit stiff. Axe III was the most consistent through out the models. If I chose an overall winner its the Fractal. Kemper was my favorite overall but on a few the Axe sounded better.
I have the HX Stomp and think it's an amazing device for the price and size, but if I'm honest the sound doesn't hold up to the others. To my ears the QC is the clear winner. There's just more resolution to the sound.
I'm not wild about the Axe FX as everything sounded too crunchy.
They all sound good to me! So the choice will be based on cost (HX Stomp) and portability (HX Stomp and QC).
Axe fx sounds like a vintage amp! I also liked quad cortex for modern feeling. I’d definitely buy either of them.
If you're not able to get stellar tones with ANY of these devices, the problem is not the modeler.
The real battle anymore is not so much in the amp modeling arena but in the speaker modeling. I'm going to assume that this video was done with different IRs/speaker modeling explaining the tiny tonal differences (ok maybe a few tones a little are a brighter in general etc.....use the eq knobs....isn't that what you'd do on a real amp?)
Honestly, people shouldn't be buying multiple modelers....they should be buying 1-2 actual guitar speaker cabs. That's right, stop doing the FRFR thing, plug into a power amp into real guitar cab....EVERYTHING's there at that point - feel, tone....right on the money. You can have Yr. 2040+ guitar modeling today if you're willing to make this tradeoff.
Lastly, excellent demo and tones. Thank you for this great video Guitar Bonedo! Next time would request blind test :p
Great video! It's between the AxeFX and the QC for me, but I think the QC just edges it with a bit more vibe / attitude. I've been thinking about getting one of the new AxeFX floor units, but now I don't know ^^
Very methodical and well laid out! Thanks for your trouble.
They all sounded good with their own unique subtle differences in tone and feel. There are some subtle differences that if you own one or all four you might notice. But all are useable.
Great comparison, thank you. I liked the way the all important mids sat in the track with the Kemper on most of these.
Well I own a kemper stage bought it about a year and a half ago. I was worried about the QC never really liked the line6 my dad has a helix and I sold lots of pods back in the day. This video confirmed I made the right decision. I was worried about the QC but still think the kemper is way better. I wish I had a few of the QC features but am happy. If I played modern metal more than occasionally I would would lean axeFX or Line6 but for a broader edge of breakup tone and for dynamics the Kemper is King!
For me the guitar player here wins, excellent playing! QC is going to be great...
My preference in tone was Quad Cortex sounds crisp and clear on every example. Axe fx was almost as good. Then Helix and Kemper tied for this almost. I would lean toward helix a bit though.
I sold my Kemper for the Rev D20. The speaker is a Friedman ASC10. It was highly recommended and wow does it deliver. I hear the FM9 is stupendous. But honestly, everything here sounds great. Digital sound is really affordable considering how many amps and effects you can get from one unit.
Came for the comparison, stayed for the playing. To my ears, the Quad sounds like the sound I hear in my head. I own a Stomp and love the tones I get, but man, did that sound great…
Hx Stomp is the way to go for live use. Won't lose your mind if it gets stolen or damaged
The QC sounds slightly better to my ears with it’s fuller sounding output and how it reacts to guitarist’s input and how it sits in the overall mix, the axe fx3 doesn’t sound bad but is a disappointment given it’s pedigree, the Kemper is like a brother from another mother to the QC with a slightly different voicing of the same effect, but the real champ is the HX Stomp !!! That little thing actually held it’s own so darn well it’s not funny, seriously impressed by it…. And for less than half the price of the others……what I am really thinking right now is, how much is enough…..do crowds at a gig really make out the tiniest difference in tone, in the studio you can manipulate the sound to sound almost exact to your reference point….over all exciting times for us musicians with so many choices….
Great Video! 😊👍
There are very faint differences between these modelers…. The sounds are so close in many cases between each once dialed in.
Great Tones from all, thanks for including settings.
Very Interesting. To me the line 6 still pretty digital sounding compared to others, though not Terrible. Some amps were more pleasing on the QC, Some Kemper, some Axe FX though all were very good. Ive been a kemper owner forever and love it. Waiting for QC because its hard to justify a stage just to not have to bring the lunchbox.
Awesome shootout.. As others have said, they are all great. Overall I thought the Kemper was the best followed by the AXE FX then the HX Stomp and lastly the QC. I am watching this as a bassplayer looking into the QC. The QC seems to be lacking in the low mids and everything I hear in this demo and others is it has this presence sheen in the high end that is either good or bad. I thought it worked on the 5150 though. The HX Stomp being a nice gigbag friendly size may do me... Though I would like to try some REDDI and JULE Monique captures on the QC.
I own an AXE lll and FM3, Kemper toaster and Stage, UA OX Box and most recently a QC with the lastest update 1.4. Having "hands on" experience with all of these units, in my opinion they all deliver good sound. Where I feel the QC has the edge on all of them is in the dynamic picking hand feel. If playing heavy overdriven sounds it's not as apparent. When playing more subtle blues, jazz, chord melody style guitar its VERY apparent. All of the units other that the QC seem to have some kind limiting/compression going on that negates a realistic dynamic feel IMHO (some brands more than others). PS: nicely done demo vid.
Thank you good sir! I have been scouring the internet for peoples opinions of the QC with the newest update. All of the cons people seem to mention in these videos from right when the QC was released always seemed to me like issues that would get worked out with time (namely lack of effects).
I was 12 when the kempers hit the scene so I dont know if this is true, but I heard from early adopters that the kempers were kind of Eh right when they first dropped too, and now I can name multiple big name acts who tour only with Kempers.
Im leaning towards the QC at the moment.
I’ve ordered a QC and will have my singer going through my full Helix. TBT, the Helix really does a great job once dialed and is super user friendly. Sadly, it needs to be super user friendly because the factory presets are garbage. If you spend significant time dialing in a Helix and Parametric EQ it pretty hard, it becomes flawless. I just don’t understand why Line 6 allows it’s gear to go out the door sounding like that. I’m hoping I don’t have to dial in my QC as intensely.
Great video. All sounded great for high gain sound but for clean and low/mid gain, all struggle to sound not fake. I have Kemper Stage, Line 6 HX Stomp, AXE AX8 and can confirm.
I’m a Kemper owner and have to say that I prefer the Axe FX III in all of these. A big surprise is how close the HX Stomp is to the big players here.
The ranking in terms of sound quality for my ears, strangely: 1) Cortex 2) Helix 3) Ax fx 3 4) Kemper. I find the Kemper horrible, much too high mid/treble and the like, a little unpleasant shine with the Fractal. So according to my ears, once again, it's not a question of price, and the good news is that the Ax fx 3 which costs 3 times more than the helix is not better for all that!
Owned the Fractal FX3 and Kemper and now I got the HX stomp.
Fractal just destroys on FXs, no contest here. They all sound great thou. Also a Fractal alone can do the same as 2 or 3 Kempers. For a Studio the Fractal is also a no contest.
To my use the best is the HX stomp. Sounds great, good for play in the room, good to gig and simple recordings.
Really nice comparison!!
They all sound really good and considering the price of the helix stomp is almost a third of the price of the rest... Not bad.
The Axe Fx was outstanding. Kemper close 2nd, HXStomp solid third and QC.... Hm... I honestly was expecting more of a product hyped that much.
Cheers!
This is a TRUE COMPARISON. Straight to the sound, which is the most important for the 99% of people, who can't profile amps. Please, could you tell how you use the Pure Cabinet parameter in the Kemper?? Have it activated, level?. Thank you bro, great video! Keep on rocking.
what an awesome video. Both AXE FX III and HX Stomp sound great to me. DSP has less detail while Kemper has that plastic feel that make it less authentic. I will take this video as a buying guide. Thank you!
Axe III - The most consistent, Kemper - Sounds the most alive/real, HX Stomp - hung with all competitors, QC - Kinda flat, I think Neural Captures wouldve sounded better than the modeled amps
That is absolutely true!
Each modeler sounds fantastic.
It seems to me the Kemper has more high ends, the sound being more articulate. Then it's definitely a question of taste.
Amazing comparison! Really great work! Thanks!
Very, very good comparison. The more the gain goes up, the less you can hear subtle differences. Over all the clips the Neural and Line6 products sounded the best to me in this clip (Kemper the worst).
Oh my gosh, one of the best comparisons ever. Thanks for work!
The Stomp fell behind the others once gain was introduced, but there wasn’t a notable difference between the other three. No wrong decision here.
Helix sounds weakest tonally to my ears. It isn't in the same league at all with the others. Have to admit I'm pleasantly surprised how good the QC sounds. It pops the most and cuts cleaner through the mix regardless of tracks you used. Kemper sounds the warmest, seems to add some pleasant harmonic distortion. I don't own any, yet, so this is a good demo. Gotta say I'm leaning to a battle between QC & Kemper. Time to continue the research. The Kemper sounds so warm and most like an actual amp.
Axe has upgraded much its software, and that has helped it a lot.
The real winner here is the hx stomp sounding at least 95% as good than those monsters for $600 usd
For me they can all sound great there nothing to choose between them , some are brighter than others but nothing a bit of eq couldn’t correct. Maybe the difference is in the fx or how many different ones you can use at once therefore the Neural DSP would come out on top. But if you just want a good sound in the real world they can all deliver.
I think it was the best comparison I've seen so far. Have you used the same IR for all or each device's IR?
After listening six times in a row I’m leaning more and more towards the Line 6…at least for the distorted tones. The others are almost too polished, the kemper sounds overly compressed and the QC is so darn HiFi that it almost sounds like a full mix by itself. My ears might say otherwise tomorrow though..
Excellent. And I am happy to own the Kemper. Still awesome sounds, if you have the right ones.
Quad Cortex sounds really impressive!
The kemper did High Gain better than all of them but I was surpised by the HX. It really held its own in there. I think overall the Axe FX and QC were the best though.
Quad Cortex wins for me as the sound feels high fidelity, there's something about the high frequencies that makes the QC feel more real and organic. But my pocket will only allow the HX stomp...for live that's what it's gonna be for me
For me Helix. Not because it sounds the best. The deal breaker for me was Helix Native. You can play and dial your tone at home while leaving your rig at home.
Interesting. In this video Line6 and Fractal sounded similar, both good but "processed" as in a recording. Kemper the most real and Quad Cortex real but with some "oomph".
My favorite things about each one:
Neural - it's clean. Kemper - most realistic tube sound. HX - price. Axe - thicc n' clear.
I think Kemper's my favorite overall, but shes kind of a sugar mama.
I liked Kemper and the Fractal the most (except the clean). Is it the most close to the real amp? Dunno, and at this point I don't even care because this sounds amazing
Axe FX III wins on the amp sims, then completely obliterates the others on FX and features. But, the Line6 is doing a stellar job keeping up with the much pricer units, respect.
The Helix stomp sounds just as good as the big priced stuff it also takes up less space on a recording desk.
the kemper has a lot more room sound on it that's why more people find it more natural..
For me personally
Deluxe Reverb goes to KPA
Vox AC30 goes to QC
Plexi goes to Axe Fx, although Helix is really close, probably a tie
JCM goes to Axe Fx
BE100 goes to Helix
5150 goes to QC
Quad Cortex fits better in every mix I think... Maybe on Plexi I have my doubts, but I feel it more musical and solid
All sound great, but for me it's definitely Axe FX III>Kemper & QC>>>HX Stomp.
HX Stomp is obviously weaker than others. I'm not the fan of the transient from HX Stomp. The attack is slower and duller. The harmonic richness are less than others, especially the Axe FX III. However, if I need a more polite sound, I'll take HX Stomp into consideration.
Kemper sounds compressed. Sometimes it's cool, but this could be a problem If the compressed feel cannot be eliminated since I don't always want this characteristic.
For Fender and Vox, I like Kemper version the most.
When it comes to high gain, Axe FX III is unbeatable. Punchy, rich harmonics, more vocal character, detailed dynamic, more depth....It seems that I can feel the power of airflow coming from a real cab when I listen to plexi of Axe FX III.
1. AxeFx - Plenty of definition without gutting tone - even if it's not in retail channels
2. HxStomp - Proven. Plenty of mids for tone carving, in retail channels - greatest bang for buck
3. Kemper - Cumbersome Profile tasting, but good sounds in this demo - it also crashes
4. QC - Too glassy, not much bottom end - Too expensive for "potential"
Axe-Fx because in each clip it has that raw realistic edge which sets it apart from the others.
In the mix they all sound like real amps to me. They are all just tools for tone creation. The playing really shines in this video and matters more to me than the tone sometimes.
Did like the kemper 5150 sound the best on the hi gain side with te Axe-FxIII as a close second. On that note i would be inclined to see which one has the best bass amp and cab sounds before thinking about getting any of them
Kemper sounds thin, sterile, and showing it's age when compared A/B to the rest, but in real life in a band mix it'd be a wash I think.
as the gain increased you could hear the Line 6 start to fall behind, but behind enuff to warrant the $ difference? a good EQ would make a big difference & help the line6 get there...all the others are great & are close to the real deal