As a former Kemper owner, and somebody who has successfully replaced their Kemper with Tonehub, I’m really pumped about this topic. That’s mainly because I feel like there aren’t many people who are discussing it in tons of detail in the way that I would’ve liked when I was thinking about selling my Kemper.
The STL website has an FAQ section with a question that asks, “Can Tonehub replace my Axe FX or Kemper?” The answer that STL gives is “Simply put, yes!” but the answer that I would give is, “Simply put, it depends!” Here’s why.
About the Kemper
In order to understand what I’m talking about in this post, you have to understand what the Axe FX and the Kemper are capable of, if you don’t already. Let’s start with the Kemper.
The Kemper is a piece of hardware that is mainly marketed towards studio owners with amp collections of any size. That’s because it’s a piece of technology that allows the user to make digital profiles of their amps. In other words, if you have a pedal, amp, and cab combination that you really love, the Kemper can allow you to consolidate its sound into a much smaller and lighter package. Once you’re done making your profiles, you can sell the rig and save some space.
You can also play with a Kemper live. I used to do this and I never had an issue once, so I consider it to be a very reliable piece of gear. The idea is to ditch your ridiculously heavy tube amp and cab and replace it with a much smaller and lighter package.
The third and final way you can use a Kemper is by simply sitting it in your studio and using it like an amp sim that you would download on your computer. Track guitars through it, record those tones, and have some awesome sounds without too much effort. Need to reamp? You can do that too. Although I also used it live as well, this was the main way I used my Kemper.
About the Axe FX
The Axe FX is similar to the Kemper in that it’s a hardware unit and it’s commonly used to play live, but they’re not similar in a few ways.
First, the Axe FX models different pedals, effects, amp heads, cabs, and microphones, as opposed to profiling them like the Kemper does. Also, it offers much more customization options. You can mix and match amp head and cab combinations, switch around amp components, route pretty much anything you want in parallel with something else, and essentially just tweak and tweak and tweak as much as you want.
In other words, the Axe FX is much more customizable than the Kemper is.
Can Tonehub Replace Your Kemper or Axe FX If…
You Use Your Kemper Mainly for Profiling Rigs
Simply put, no. Tonehub is not capable of profiling a rig as of now.
You Use Your Kemper or Axe FX Mainly for Playing Live
It can, but I don’t recommend it. When you bring your Kemper to a show, all you need is the Kemper itself, a speaker/active cab if the venue you’re playing in doesn’t have a good PA system, and a couple cables. When you bring any amp sim, like Tonehub, to a show, you need your computer, your audio interface, your computer charger if you’re paranoid like me, an iLok depending on what software you’re using, and a USB hub if your computer doesn’t have enough USB ports on its own.
In other words, there is way more room for error when you’re using any amp sim live, not just Tonehub, because there’s so much more to worry about. I wouldn’t feel very confident playing a show with any amp sim, especially if I didn’t have a computer that has never given me a single problem in the history of ever. Such a computer doesn’t exist, so no live amp sims for me.
You Use Your Kemper Mainly as an Amp Sim in the Studio
Here, I believe the answer is yes. Just look up a “Tonehub vs. Kemper” video on the internet and hear for yourself. The difference is barely noticeable, and when it is noticeable it’s definitely not a difference that I would pay an extra $1600 or more for.
At the end of the day, I’ve never felt like my guitar tones have suffered as a result of me selling my Kemper.
You Use Your Axe FX Mainly as an Amp Sim
It depends. Do you love tweaking the settings on the Axe FX until you set everything just right and get the tone you were searching for? Would you hate to give that up? If so, then the answer is no. If you don’t really care that much about tweaking the tiniest aspects of your tone, then sure make the switch because I really do believe that Tonehub sounds just as good as both units.
Keep in mind that STL Tonehub is much more like the Kemper than the Axe FX. In Tonehub, you can’t mix and match different amps and cabs from different presets. You can’t even turn off the cab inside of a preset and use a different IR, which makes sense because the rig was profiled with the cab and taking it out would destroy the tone anyway but it’s still worth noting.
The Kemper is a very preset-based tool, and so is STL Tonehub.
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