As with most other questions that relate to tone shaping, there's just no right answer. For me, it comes down to purpose and features. Here are a few things I've used and how they fit, which I hope will paint you a picture and make you think.
I have had an F-1X for several years. I love the basic tone it provides and I could use it very happily if I never had to change settings, or at least not at in-between-songs-on-stage speed. What it has sounds very alive, but still, it doesn't have all the tones in it. I don't really use this any more.
The F-1X was replaced by the Fender TBP-1 in my setup. It has virtually the same basic feature set, but adds some nice gigging features via the footswitch. Tonally, it isn't the Alembic. The 2-10-2 flat setting on the Alembic sounds so much sweeter than the same thing on the Fender. That said, something around 3-10-5 is pretty close to the Alembic's flat tone and is fine for live work when you factor in the benefits of the mid control, room EQ and drive circuit. I would seriously look at the new SWR Marcus Miller as an improvement over the TBP-1, but it may not be as much of an upgrade as I might hope for in the SWR-is-Fender world.
I have done the bar band thing for about 20 years. With a widely varied repertoire, and sometimes in a three piece band, it's nice to be able to dial in a tone that matches the tune a little better. Someone working in a single genre or playing their own tunes may do better with a single great bass tone, but it doesn't work as well when you're really stretching the varietal limits. For example, get a great tone for a Black Sabbath or AC/DC tune and then see what it sounds like when you play Moondance without tweaking any knobs. Get dialed in for Moondance and then try a Rush or Who tune. In that world, I believe the Line 6 XT or X3 products are the superior choice. With a neutral power amp and speaker setup, I can get something that works with a couple toe taps. It's never quite as good as the amp it's trying to emulate, but again, it's close enough to satisfy my needs for a live rig. I use four different settings on an XT these days and we sound better for the variety of tone.
Based on the above, you have to figure out what you need to do. A great tone that is just you, a little bit of versatility for live work, or dial-a-tone flexibility to approximate a wide variety of artists?
-bob
