REAL amp vs FAKE amp | Kemper VS TUBE AMP! 

Tube, solid state, digital. . .like Allan Holdsworth said, "Who cares as long as you get the sound you want."

Hiya, cool video! Just one thing we want to point to. For crunchy, gritty tones around the tube amp's break up point it is really recommended to do some refining with the guitar after the automatic profiling process. With refining you can tweak the profile additionally towards some frequency range ... cheers!

Me listening through my 5€ headphones: *ahhhh yes*

For all of those searching for songs, there is a list submited by Jon Sebastian SONGS PLAYED: 1:51 John Mayer - Belief 2:15 The Police - Message in a Bottle 2:28 Ed Sheeran - I See Fire 3:04 Eric Clapton - Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out (blues standard) 3:47 Chic - Le Freak 4:11 Ozzy Osbourne - Mama, I'm Coming Home 4:29 Red Hot Chili Peppers - Under the Bridge 4:57 Johnny Cash - Hurt (Nine Inch Nails cover) EDIT: Hurt is by NIN, covered by Cash, sorry for the mistake

Close enough for me hahaha - great video!

Only way I can truly tell the difference is the slight reverb on the tone king giving the sound a bit more body!

I was so focused on watching what he was actually playing I didn't even notice the amps being swapped in or out haha

I’ve been playing guitar and watching local bands up close since the late 60s, so I have a pretty good idea what a real guitar amp should sound like, and I’m not at all impressed by some of digital-sounding modelers out there. But this past weekend I watched another guitarist playing a Les Paul through a Kemper into the PA and I was absolutely blown away. It sang, it soared, it was a beautiful sweet sound with sustain and balls. The minute I got home I started pricing the thing out. (No, it won’t happen soon) I’m thoroughly impressed.

I will admit I mostly come to his comparison videos just to listen to the jam

C'mon people... stop saying "the Kemper sounds digital and has no warmth" I'm sure you couldn't tell the difference in a blindfold challenge. Both amps are great... and it's not magic, of course the Kemper is not a tube amp, but that doesn't mean it can't be as good or better than the complete gear

I only use fake amps! Fits my playing much better :)

Super interesting video man! I did a whole bunch of Kemper profiles for my uni major project and found the exact same thing "some loss in the high frequencies". Using a transparent EQ I boosted some high mids and they then matched pretty well and tested it on both casual listeners and musicians. People couldn't tell the difference at that point.

I'll take the Kemper. Several amps in one.

If I close my eyes, there are several cuts I'm not even able to distinguish. The Kemper does what it says it does.

Sounds very close, although there's a slightly more round and open 3D sound with the amp.

They’re remarkably close. Even indistinguishable at some points. The Kemper would be great for a flyable rig but to me a real tube amp is something that’s nice to have for the sake of having it.

Does #RTFM stand for Read The Fucking Manual?

I bought a Kemper, and have never looked back. EVERY amp I want, and not even the cork-sniffers can tell the difference. I have tested it with SO many friends, and half the time they guess right, half the time they guess wrong, and that proves the point for me. Oh, and the delay trails work like they should, unlike the Helix or Axe FX. Thanks for the great demo Paul.

I've been using my Kemper for a few years now and it actually takes pedals very well to boost semi dirty amp patches. Also, if you use the Kemper live, it sounds and feels much better running it into a powered tube power amp and guitar cab. The tube power amp is what moves the air the way a full tube guitar amp does.

I can't wait for kemper to have an 80% off sale, so I can actually afford one...

you should do more how to play lessons on like, every song ever

I have a Kemper and lots of nice tube amps. This video helped me verbalise the difference. The Kemper is like watching something in 4k, and the tone king is like watching it in real life. 99.999% of the time you'll never notice the difference. I gig my Kemper exclusively, and quite often record it. The only place a tube amp wins is when you're sitting in a room with it IMO

I think the Singularity just occurred. ;)

"I am going to make an A/B comparison to... C if you can tell the difference" HA! 😂

The TK has a little more mud in it's tone, but the rest is nearly identical, i'd say that the kemper is a really amazing amp, as it can 99% simulate basicly every amp ever made.

The Tone King does sound a bit more FULL, but I think that the Kemper does a pretty good job.

This video was partly why I finally decided to pull the trigger. That was about 4 months ago. Since then, I've used my real amps like twice just for fun? (I have an extensive collection of tube amps, so that's a big deal!) I hardly even use any of my pedals because you just don't need them and all they do is add a tiny bit of noise. Having invested close to $5k in my pedalboard and amps helped me learn what I like... but now my kemper does it all and for a fraction of the price.

I like how you did many styles of guitar playing with the strat and then with the tele, great video

If you close your eyes here , you can tell the difference 04:11 when the kemper kicks in it's slightly less bright and hair muted

Even though the Kemper is like $2000, I feel like it would be worth it since you'd have all your amps for gigging.

Awesome video, almost impossible to difference them in a blindfold test. There's only one big issue I would like to say: Never use the Kemper directly to the PA on small gigs if that's what you play. You'll be depending 100% on sound tech. I went to a small pub a few weeks ago and the guitarist was doing that. The PA was not great and the sound was terrible, really awful. Probably he didn't have enough time to eq everything when sound checking. Kemper is awesome, but I would use it only with a cab that I'm familiar to. Being lazy to carry a cab an sending it straight to the PA could get really bad, just like I unfortunately witnessed.

Finally, FINALLY someone who does these comparisons way they should be done. Short phrases, many alterations. Thank you sir.

Kemper sounds legit AF in a blind test I'm sure that your mind will explode ....anyway 3:00 song name?

Thanks so much for playing pop stuff! All the other comparisons and stuff on RU-vid are super heavy djent stuff 😂

I've literally not turned my Kemper rack off in over 5 years. I love it so much I grabbed a stage as well. I sold all my tube amps, except my Soldano for nostalgic reasons....

You can tell the difference on the grit early on in the video but the clean cleans (lol) are spot on

someone named van halen said: "The sound is in your hands" haha but the amp sound is second to none.

I just love your work Paul. An uncoloured analysis and great technique throughout. Thank You - extremely thought provoking.

In the two years I have had the Kemper my Mesa Boogie hasn't been uncovered. The slight difference in sound is more than compensated by the instant flexibility of amps and expression pedal programmability of the Kemper. I deeply love not getting on my knees to set up effects pedals for one song. My only complaint is the distortion pedal modeling. I still have my two favorite distortion pedals in front of it. Beyond that, my whole pedal collection is as neglected as my Boogie.

Wat leuk dat je een haar gitaar hebt ik vind ze erg goed klinken

bass sounds clearer on the tone king. i like it better on the tone king

People that claim the tube amp is warmer are just using confirmation bias and forgetting how each amp was recorded differently. Kemper is the real deal. I guarantee not a single naysayer would be able to tell what was what in a blind test.

Super playing, song choices and vibe. Had to subscribe. I switched off all my tube amps a year ago and got a Kemper and went through the time consuming process of sampling my amps and cabs set up in a bunch of different ways I like. Sampling is quick. Tweaking the sound on the samples EVER so slightly to get the bright high’s back in line with what the tube amp gives took 15 - 30 mins per sample. Now, here’s why I only use the Kemper live now: Stereo output via balanced out cables directly to PA and a boatload of authentic pedals allowing just about every OD, Distortion, Reverb, Flange, Whah, Chorus, Phaser, Equalizer and more are all on board the Kemper. The stereo sound of and range coming out of TWO speakers in stereo with only two cables needed for setup made this an instant buy for me. I guarantee you will obsess, and enjoy it. Sorry all, you’ll have to buy the EXPENSIVE remote control pedal for live performance. The great thing about this? You can program a pedal option for every song in your set list(s) and they are all at the ready in seconds (how often do you follow a set list perfectly as planned?). The only bad news: Save lots of money and sell some tube amps (after you profile them). The Kemper is pricy and the “Remote Control” seems even more so based on the fact it just sends commands to grab pre-programmed rigs from the Kemper mother ship. The floor control has a good looper interface too, if that’s in your arsenal.

I love the warmth of a tube amp! Something that any digital guitar modelling device can’t give you!

Has anyone got a track list of all the riffs he plays at all?

i scrolled to the point I couldn't see the video, and to my ears it's practically indistinguishable. and through a live mix it would be the same. and on recording it would be the same. To me anyway

Tone match is phenomenal. Well done. Feels like there is a tad of reverb on the Tone King that the Kemper doesn't have here though. Adding that would probably make them indistinguishable. I own a Kemper and play it a lot both live and at home. It's the only digital alternative I've found that I really like for clean and edge of breakup Fender/Marshall.

Thank you for your video, the Kemper on some takes sounds as plasticky as I remembered it. Not too bad mind you, but I could feel the differences with my amp of choice straight away and I could never tweak it to perfection, so for recording I ended up sticking with plugins because I didn't find the Kemper worth of the hassle. And plugins can be tweaked until the very last second before going into mixing. BTW I'd like to congratulate with your playing, it is not something I do often but I acknowledge quality when I see it.

There wasn't that much difference in the highs. Sometimes the Kemper sounded brighter, sometimes the Tone King, even during the same phrase. I think that's more to do with the way you were hitting the strings, rather than the amps. I did hear a bit more dynamic range coming from the Tone King, but nothing that would be distinguishable without A/B-ing the two amps.

I have a Kemper and this is the first video I've heard where I could actually tell a difference. Not a huge one, but I actually preferred the real amp.

Saw Naplam Death use one of these. Spoke to the bassist Shane Embry about it and he said it was a godsend. Cut way down on stage and travel real estate and sounded great. Would love to get one of these some day.

There is not a huge difference between the two, but when playing open strings, the Tone King sounds more defined because the lower tones get more definition. In the Kemper they tend to mud up the sound a little. But for practicing that is absolutely a great alternative. Besides that, your amp (Tone King) is recorded throug a mike, which could also influence my perception.

Amazing. Virtually no difference, unless you're extremely picky!

Emmm.... 3:26 - why am I hearing that the reverb is in stereo, while cab is miked by 1 microphone? What kind of magic is that? That is not how it should be.

As an audio engineer doing mostly live audio, I say that don’t forget: while we’re talking about whether it’s 95% or 99% there in a direct solo A/B - on a gig in a small space there’s absolute no comparison which is better in audience pit: a too loud (virtually always) overly 200Hz boomy and/or 3kHz peaky real amp or a Kemper that sits beautifully in the mix and gives the audience the full spetrum representation of the guitar with nothing too loud or quiet. Then it’s not a few percent difference - it’s night and day.

My question would be how does the Kemper feel? When you play a good tube amp you can "feel" the notes compress and bloom under your fingers in a very tactile manner that for many of us heightens the overall experience of playing guitar. Sound wise the Kemper seems to do an almost uncanny job of capturing the sound of the Tone King although I'd have to be in the room to be certain it was nailing down all the essential frequencies and didn't sound cold and sterile. Amazing piece of tech either way.

The kemper can replicate a valve amp about 95% with some tweaking you can get much better. ppl who prefer the valve amp need to remeber if you want that "Valve sound" ull need a seperate amp for the different sounds... with the kemper you have evey amp ever made.. which makes these test a no brainer for me

Great comparison, thank you. To me the Tone Kng sounds so much warmer sounding, but I have to admit that Kemper thing is great at emulating amp tones but its still missing the mojo.

Biggest difference is in the top end. But it's so slight it can easily be made up for with eq. Impressive.

Well... I downloaded this profile and yeah... I know I'm late to the party by 5+ years but this may be my favorite profile to date and yeah, now I want a Tone King Imperial too 😕 Anyhow... beautiful work...

Fantastic playing - the main reason of awesome sound!!

Tube amp seems to have more treble than the kemper but it's pretty hard to tell the difference sometimes

I have a kemper with a lot of top quality profiles.. i mean a lot. but each time i don't have time for tweaking stettings, your Tone king preset is my good to go profile, it's clear, well balance, and working with all my guitars, seriously it's the one i use 70% of the time for my work. So i would like to thank you for this great job ! Thanks a looott !!!

For me, the tone king has slightly tighter bass response, and is also a bit brighter. Having said that in a mix or without and A-B, I'm not sure I could tell! Great Video! These are getting harder to tell the difference :)

Forget the amps, beautiful playing! Gained another new sub, your whole style and video quality is top notch, great stuff!

High frequency sparkle/life a bit lost on the Kemper, still pretty impressive

Crazy how close they are. Tone king sounds ever so slightly warmer to me so dang close. Best review I've seen of the kemper

They both sound fantastic and I think it really comes down to what you're trying to get out of each one. I've used both tube amps and the Kemper extensively in live situations and they're both great. We run in-ears and I think that gives a slight advantage to the Kemper as it's more consistent sounding night to night. Like Paul says at the end of the video, with a little tweaking you could get the Kemper even closer to the Tone King. And once you run your rig through front of house and out of a PA into a big room, I think you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who could hear a difference. And since no one's mentioned it, that is a beautiful Haar Tele. I think those are some of the best all around Teles on the market today. Too bad they're so hard to find here in the states. Thanks for a great video Paul!

I'm sitting here with my phone speakers and wondering if you even switch the amps :D

I feel like the tone king makes the sound more rounder?

The Kemper is definitely a great product with lots of ways to use it. That being said it costs $1799 and you'll still need another amp to play it through if you are playing live. I have very many killer sounding tube amps including vintage that cost far far less. Another factor that you can't get in a video is what it's like to play through an amp live. The feeling in the air. Great tube amps seem to create a feeling of air moving (or vibrating) in the room and a good player can hook into that and use it they way a good singer uses their voice. I've never encountered much of that effect with anything solid state. But as a studio tool the Kemper seems to be a big step forward ! If I had the money to buy every cool thing that came out, there's no doubt it would be on the list. In the mean time my friend has one so I will get the chance to work with one. But I'm not parting with my tube amps. ;)

Hadn't heard of the Kemper amp before but I'm really impressed by the overall sound quality. With a little bit of tweaking you'll probably get a sound nobody would ever suspect of not coming from an actual tube amp. Dankjewel!!☺️

Regarding the MINIMAL differences, keep in mind that the tube amp is recorded with a 57 and the kemper was recorded directly. Micing does a lot to the sound.

Wow!!!!! I'm impressed with the Kemper.

I have a Kemper and I love it. I must admit though. In this demonstration the difference which is pretty clear to me is the transient information between the two. The amp has more transients and highs. But as stated in the video, one can tweak the tone... don't know about the transients. Just my two cents.

Kemper is unbelievable!Fantastic!I am using from 4 or 5 years and i did profile of all my amps!Amazing!

Best to learn to play a guitar before investing in any of this.

I'm selling one of my kidneys in order to have a kemper!

Great demonstration man. Very impressed with YOUR TONE and then with the Kemper. Your playing inspires too. Well done.

Wow that’s a huge difference

Do you play your gigs as a solo artist or with a band?

There is a slightly accentuated “bell tone” of the strat that comes out a bit more with the tube amp. But gosh, the Kemper comes darn close.

What a time for us guitarists to live in...I can't imagine something like KPA even just a decade ago.

excellent video, smooth playing. literally lost track of which amp was on.

What is the song at 2:29?? I can't remember what it is and it's annoying me

Kemper sounds brighter, tone king sounds a bit warmer, you just cant beat the tube tone, it has that organic sound, it has life to it, those who are familiar with amps will know what im talking about, both are good, the bad thing about tube amps is, you have to turn them up loud for it to sound good, gotta push those tubes, if you don't then it sounds like pop fizz.

Heard a great guitar player using a headrush through a big P.A ...absolutely phenomenal!!

Awesome! Can't wait to try this profile. Your playing is amazing.

This is good but crystal clean sounds are not really the issue. You can get nice clean sounds going direct . The issue is the complexity of the gain as you turn up.

3:06 song? It's really comfy

So close but if you ask me what I really think, I would say when the Kemper played it was like a thin blanket was placed over the speaker. Just a small subtle diminished volume was noted when the Kemper played. Amazing possibilities though in one small package.

I really didn't hear such big differences that made one better than the other. Both sounded great and warm to me.

Kemper Compress a Little bit or I'm just wrong

The real amplifier always gives you a great sound.

Excellent demo and I think you nailed the difference in your description

I’ve been using a Kemper for years in the studio. Does it sound good enough? Totally. And I’m too lazy to haul my amps up the stairs. But there is a huge difference in feel while playing - even if the audience doesn’t care - and that will keep me using tube amps for a long time.

While any good guitarist can make anything sound good, that tone king just sounds like a happy angel singing a lullaby. Far better.

I preferred the Matchless. But that was in another video. And another guitar player. Just trolling: Kemper is close but is a bit flatter sounding. You can't fake a proper amp...

The only difference I heard was that the Kemper was more 'clicky' IE when you hit your hand down on the fret it was much harsher- i mean this could be as simple as just the attack turned up or down a notch.... I'm super impressed though- I had no idea you could buy something that could do such a thing! Really really cool

No way I could tell the difference without the legend on the screen. Pretty darned impressive.