NDSP Quad Cortex

[Mongillo19]

Hey @Jarick, have you used the effects loop(s)? If so, have you found there's a significant volume boost with them? It seems to be a big jump in output, so I've been lowering the send around 2-3 db, though some are saying it needs a 4.5 reduction.

I had a rough time with the effects loop of the QC and some pedals. What are you using?

 

[TubeStack]

I had a rough time with the effects loop of the QC and some pedals. What are you using?

I have the Stomp in one loop and my amp in the other (4cm with Mesa).

 

[TubeStack]

Also, it's kind of murky as to what's instrument vs line level on the outputs?

 

[Jarick]

Some thoughts after another month or so with the QC.

I really love this unit. It's an amazing form factor for my usage and it's basic in a really good way. There's no option paralysis because it's not overloaded with parameters and models. The touchscreen is fantastic and really just makes it easy to add new effects or adjust on the fly. Probably the closest ease of adjusting next to physical pedals. Within two taps you have whatever block pulled up and ready to adjust. And I really like having the physical knob switches to dial in settings.

The amps and effects sound great to me. Amps sound good out of the gate without excessive high or low end in general. Effects are good to great, maybe there could be some more options like reverbs and delays, but the meat and potatoes are there. Cab block is awesome and it hangs with my favorite IR's easily. There's a good variety of cabs they again sound good out of the gate without a lot of fuss or tweaking.

I haven't run out of DSP on it but I don't use that much stuff. You can easily run multiple amps and cabs with all kinds of effects with no issues. The routing is a little funky bit for basic use it's fine.

Quick comparisons to other units I have:

Fractal Axe FX 3 - the Fractal has all the bells and whistles but the QC is simpler and easier to get a great tone for me. I've been using Fractal gear since about 2017 and I've had to learn a lot of tricks like the high and low cuts and which IR's to use, etc. The QC really doesn't require any fuss to get a very good tone where the Fractal sometimes can be too bright or bassy. Amps are roughly on par, sometimes I prefer Fractal, sometimes I prefer QC. I also prefer the cab block on the QC over the Fractal, it's more consistently good sounding with less fuss. There's fewer options which I honestly prefer, although for sure I wouldn't mind a little bit more variety in the models. But I don't miss having the advanced parameters. Fractal has a little richer sounding effects but the meat and potatoes stuff is there on the QC and it sounds very good to me. Bottom line I have more fun and generally prefer playing the QC day to day.

Helix - I think the QC is a step above the Helix in most regards. Again I've had Helix gear dating back to 2017 or so and know it inside and out. The QC amps and cabs definitely sound better to my ears. Helix can tend to sound grainy or spitty in the upper mids and lack some of the fullness in the lows. I think it's a fidelity thing too, the QC (like the Fractal) seems a bit more high fidelity. Also the cabs in the QC I think sound a lot better out of the gate and the mics mix better too. Helix has more variety in the effects and I will definitely give them the edge for some things like the delays and newer reverbs, but QC again meat and potatoes works great. Helix also had a great UI for the time but QC is just plain quicker and easier to use. I also prefer the smaller form factor but people who gig might prefer the bigger Helix unit with scribble strips. Lastly the Helix can't hang in terms of CPU if you're doing multiple amps and reverbs and what not.

Boss GT-1000 - no contest, QC is superior in every way except maybe the form factor which is personal preference. UI is a million times better on the QC, screen is so much better, you don't have the stupid fixed blocks, you aren't handcuffed on basic parameter options, the amps sound better, the cabs are so much better, the effects sound better and have more variety, you get the picture. God love the GT-1000 but I just don't like it (why is it still at my house?).

Kemper Profiler - this is a hard comparison because I never feel like I dive into the Kemper as much as I should, and I haven't used captures much on the QC. I will say when I profiled my Friedman IR-X with the Kemper, it sounded a lot closer than when I captured with the QC. That is mostly because the QC for some reason drops the gain and volume running into the unit and that messes with the tone too. Obviously the Kemper doesn't do modeling so it's dependent on the profiles, and you can't possibly get any more hit or miss than the dart board which is Kemper profiles. But in general the QC sounds higher fidelity to me where the Kemper is murkier, maybe considered richer and more analog sounding? Honestly the delay and reverb effects of the Kemper can be sweeter, but the QC wins in basically every other effect category. It's also a lot easier to use and again I prefer the form factor.

Bottom line I'm really pleased with the QC and there's a ton going for it even though they haven't figured out the plugin thing yet.

 

[Mongillo19]

Do you notice ear fatigue at all with high gain tones on the QC? I feel like I'd also reach the wall quicker with it. Could have just been a coincidence with other variables at play but curious on your thoughts

 

[Los-D]

Some thoughts after another month or so with the QC.

I really love this unit. It's an amazing form factor for my usage and it's basic in a really good way. There's no option paralysis because it's not overloaded with parameters and models. The touchscreen is fantastic and really just makes it easy to add new effects or adjust on the fly. Probably the closest ease of adjusting next to physical pedals. Within two taps you have whatever block pulled up and ready to adjust. And I really like having the physical knob switches to dial in settings.

The amps and effects sound great to me. Amps sound good out of the gate without excessive high or low end in general. Effects are good to great, maybe there could be some more options like reverbs and delays, but the meat and potatoes are there. Cab block is awesome and it hangs with my favorite IR's easily. There's a good variety of cabs they again sound good out of the gate without a lot of fuss or tweaking.

I haven't run out of DSP on it but I don't use that much stuff. You can easily run multiple amps and cabs with all kinds of effects with no issues. The routing is a little funky bit for basic use it's fine.

Quick comparisons to other units I have:

Fractal Axe FX 3 - the Fractal has all the bells and whistles but the QC is simpler and easier to get a great tone for me. I've been using Fractal gear since about 2017 and I've had to learn a lot of tricks like the high and low cuts and which IR's to use, etc. The QC really doesn't require any fuss to get a very good tone where the Fractal sometimes can be too bright or bassy. Amps are roughly on par, sometimes I prefer Fractal, sometimes I prefer QC. I also prefer the cab block on the QC over the Fractal, it's more consistently good sounding with less fuss. There's fewer options which I honestly prefer, although for sure I wouldn't mind a little bit more variety in the models. But I don't miss having the advanced parameters. Fractal has a little richer sounding effects but the meat and potatoes stuff is there on the QC and it sounds very good to me. Bottom line I have more fun and generally prefer playing the QC day to day.

Helix - I think the QC is a step above the Helix in most regards. Again I've had Helix gear dating back to 2017 or so and know it inside and out. The QC amps and cabs definitely sound better to my ears. Helix can tend to sound grainy or spitty in the upper mids and lack some of the fullness in the lows. I think it's a fidelity thing too, the QC (like the Fractal) seems a bit more high fidelity. Also the cabs in the QC I think sound a lot better out of the gate and the mics mix better too. Helix has more variety in the effects and I will definitely give them the edge for some things like the delays and newer reverbs, but QC again meat and potatoes works great. Helix also had a great UI for the time but QC is just plain quicker and easier to use. I also prefer the smaller form factor but people who gig might prefer the bigger Helix unit with scribble strips. Lastly the Helix can't hang in terms of CPU if you're doing multiple amps and reverbs and what not.

Boss GT-1000 - no contest, QC is superior in every way except maybe the form factor which is personal preference. UI is a million times better on the QC, screen is so much better, you don't have the stupid fixed blocks, you aren't handcuffed on basic parameter options, the amps sound better, the cabs are so much better, the effects sound better and have more variety, you get the picture. God love the GT-1000 but I just don't like it (why is it still at my house?).

Kemper Profiler - this is a hard comparison because I never feel like I dive into the Kemper as much as I should, and I haven't used captures much on the QC. I will say when I profiled my Friedman IR-X with the Kemper, it sounded a lot closer than when I captured with the QC. That is mostly because the QC for some reason drops the gain and volume running into the unit and that messes with the tone too. Obviously the Kemper doesn't do modeling so it's dependent on the profiles, and you can't possibly get any more hit or miss than the dart board which is Kemper profiles. But in general the QC sounds higher fidelity to me where the Kemper is murkier, maybe considered richer and more analog sounding? Honestly the delay and reverb effects of the Kemper can be sweeter, but the QC wins in basically every other effect category. It's also a lot easier to use and again I prefer the form factor.

Bottom line I'm really pleased with the QC and there's a ton going for it even though they haven't figured out the plugin thing yet.

Great write-up. How does it compare to the IR-X feel and sound-wise?

Do you notice ear fatigue at all with high gain tones on the QC? I feel like I'd also reach the wall quicker with it. Could have just been a coincidence with other variables at play but curious on your thoughts

Interested in this as well since I noticed more ear fatigue with the QC than Fractal, Helix or S-Gear. I do suffer from tinnitus so maybe that factors in for me. YMMV

 

[Jarick]

Do you notice ear fatigue at all with high gain tones on the QC? I feel like I'd also reach the wall quicker with it. Could have just been a coincidence with other variables at play but curious on your thoughts

Great write-up. How does it compare to the IR-X feel and sound-wise?


Interested in this as well since I noticed more ear fatigue with the QC than Fractal, Helix or S-Gear. I do suffer from tinnitus so maybe that factors in for me. YMMV

No, actually seemed to be the other way around. I also have pretty bad tinnitus although my hearing is still fairly sharp all things considered. High pitched noises don't bother me but loud ones do, which is why I can never play a loud tube amp again.

I noticed something really odd though after I posted this morning. I was playing through a Plexi and it sounded super low gain and dark. Fractal had way more gain and was way brighter. I went on YouTube and watched a couple videos and those had a lot more gain. So I went into the input settings and tried raising the input level, and everything kind of woke up. But then it seemed to have a little jump in gain, and when I backed down to where it was, it sounded a lot brighter and more gain even when it was set the same as before.

I also noticed last night when playing there was a weird noise, like a squealing or something. I figured it was the cheap wireless units and I put them on the charger. Grabbed a cable and plugged in and noticed it was super dark sounding. That actually got me looking at cables this morning as I noticed a huge jump in both tone and gain going from the wireless unit to cable.

So I'm not sure what happened there, if the input settings somehow got weird. And I wonder when that started happening?

Anyways I just rebooted and it seems fine again. Plexi sounds like a Plexi.

 

[Jarick]

Sound and feel compared to the IR-X...hmm...that's a great question. I need to A/B them more I think. I'll put the IR-X in the loop and play around with that. I know the IR-X compared to Fractal seems to sound a little smoother with less fuss. When I was doing an A/B before trying to capture it, it seemed like the QC model was close enough not to bother with the additional pedal. But I'll have to try again with fresh ears.

 

[TubeStack]

I will say when I profiled my Friedman IR-X with the Kemper, it sounded a lot closer than when I captured with the QC. That is mostly because the QC for some reason drops the gain and volume running into the unit and that messes with the tone too.

Great comparisons and write-up, much appreciated.

I would just add that I don’t know if the above statement ^^^ can be stated as always being the case.

In my own experience, it might have happened on the first few captures I made of my Electra Dyne, but it definitely wasn’t the case on the most recent batch I made. The gain and tone of those captures is exactly matched to my amp, I’d say.

Your comment about the Kemper possibly sounding “more analog” has me very curious, as that was my perception when I had the Stage. While it lacked the detail of the FM3 I was coming from at the time, the thickness of the sound and how it filled the room just had a quality that seemed more like a real amp, and “more analog” was the phrase that came to mind, too.

How that would compare to the QC I have now, I’m not sure, but it does leave that little wondering question, for me.

And also, I’ll be honest, I am loving the QC still, but am not entirely confident in its future and how much NDSP will maintain/support it, so I still have wandering eyes, a bit.

 

[Jarick]

For what it’s worth I don’t like the Kemper sounding generally dark or murky. sometimes it’s nice but when I tried to use for recording it got buried in the mix.

 

[Aleksi]

Do you notice ear fatigue at all with high gain tones on the QC? I feel like I'd also reach the wall quicker with it. Could have just been a coincidence with other variables at play but curious on your thoughts

This is a really good question. I was going mental all last year when my left ear would always have a noticeable ringing when playing high gain with the QC, even at very low volumes. Switched to FM3 due to reasons, and something I've noticed recently is that the ringing is gone. I still have tinnitus obviously, that's never going away but it's not acting up like with the QC. Could be coincidence, of course, but it was causing a bit of anxiety and making me play less.

 

[Jarick]

This is a really good question. I was going mental all last year when my left ear would always have a noticeable ringing when playing high gain with the QC, even at very low volumes. Switched to FM3 due to reasons, and something I've noticed recently is that the ringing is gone. I still have tinnitus obviously, that's never going away but it's not acting up like with the QC. Could be coincidence, of course, but it was causing a bit of anxiety and making me play less.

Honestly no fatigue with the QC. I just dialed in a 5150 with an 808 boost on both of them, same IR, and neither are harsh or fatiguing. The QC is a little fatter and chunkier while the Fractal is a little clearer with more mid push.

I have been playing a lot more with studio monitors and a lot less with headphones, and I think that helps quite a bit. You get more of the ambient space of the room which fills in the silence, and it's just a little less pressure on the ears IMO.

Also I've been using more aggressive high cuts so it's not as bright in general. Right now I have 5.5k high cuts. I've been playing through my Boss Katana Artist which has a Greenback style speaker, so trying to get some of that more natural tone rather than very direct.

Last thing is I may experiment with running a little lower impedance than 1M on the input. Again just to fight off some of that harshness. I find even when running through the real guitar speaker I need to high cut between 6-8k. I'm thinking that in a traditional guitar rig, you run through 20+ feet of cable, often through several pedals, and that rolls off the high end, and amp impedance is often lower too. Now running a wireless unit with basically no capacitance into a 1M input, it's going to have way more high end. So maybe another good way to combat that is lower impedance up front instead of aggressive high cuts.

 

[metropolis_4]

Some thoughts after another month or so with the QC.

I really love this unit. It's an amazing form factor for my usage and it's basic in a really good way. There's no option paralysis because it's not overloaded with parameters and models. The touchscreen is fantastic and really just makes it easy to add new effects or adjust on the fly. Probably the closest ease of adjusting next to physical pedals. Within two taps you have whatever block pulled up and ready to adjust. And I really like having the physical knob switches to dial in settings.

The amps and effects sound great to me. Amps sound good out of the gate without excessive high or low end in general. Effects are good to great, maybe there could be some more options like reverbs and delays, but the meat and potatoes are there. Cab block is awesome and it hangs with my favorite IR's easily. There's a good variety of cabs they again sound good out of the gate without a lot of fuss or tweaking.

I haven't run out of DSP on it but I don't use that much stuff. You can easily run multiple amps and cabs with all kinds of effects with no issues. The routing is a little funky bit for basic use it's fine.

Quick comparisons to other units I have:

Fractal Axe FX 3 - the Fractal has all the bells and whistles but the QC is simpler and easier to get a great tone for me. I've been using Fractal gear since about 2017 and I've had to learn a lot of tricks like the high and low cuts and which IR's to use, etc. The QC really doesn't require any fuss to get a very good tone where the Fractal sometimes can be too bright or bassy. Amps are roughly on par, sometimes I prefer Fractal, sometimes I prefer QC. I also prefer the cab block on the QC over the Fractal, it's more consistently good sounding with less fuss. There's fewer options which I honestly prefer, although for sure I wouldn't mind a little bit more variety in the models. But I don't miss having the advanced parameters. Fractal has a little richer sounding effects but the meat and potatoes stuff is there on the QC and it sounds very good to me. Bottom line I have more fun and generally prefer playing the QC day to day.

Helix - I think the QC is a step above the Helix in most regards. Again I've had Helix gear dating back to 2017 or so and know it inside and out. The QC amps and cabs definitely sound better to my ears. Helix can tend to sound grainy or spitty in the upper mids and lack some of the fullness in the lows. I think it's a fidelity thing too, the QC (like the Fractal) seems a bit more high fidelity. Also the cabs in the QC I think sound a lot better out of the gate and the mics mix better too. Helix has more variety in the effects and I will definitely give them the edge for some things like the delays and newer reverbs, but QC again meat and potatoes works great. Helix also had a great UI for the time but QC is just plain quicker and easier to use. I also prefer the smaller form factor but people who gig might prefer the bigger Helix unit with scribble strips. Lastly the Helix can't hang in terms of CPU if you're doing multiple amps and reverbs and what not.

Boss GT-1000 - no contest, QC is superior in every way except maybe the form factor which is personal preference. UI is a million times better on the QC, screen is so much better, you don't have the stupid fixed blocks, you aren't handcuffed on basic parameter options, the amps sound better, the cabs are so much better, the effects sound better and have more variety, you get the picture. God love the GT-1000 but I just don't like it (why is it still at my house?).

Kemper Profiler - this is a hard comparison because I never feel like I dive into the Kemper as much as I should, and I haven't used captures much on the QC. I will say when I profiled my Friedman IR-X with the Kemper, it sounded a lot closer than when I captured with the QC. That is mostly because the QC for some reason drops the gain and volume running into the unit and that messes with the tone too. Obviously the Kemper doesn't do modeling so it's dependent on the profiles, and you can't possibly get any more hit or miss than the dart board which is Kemper profiles. But in general the QC sounds higher fidelity to me where the Kemper is murkier, maybe considered richer and more analog sounding? Honestly the delay and reverb effects of the Kemper can be sweeter, but the QC wins in basically every other effect category. It's also a lot easier to use and again I prefer the form factor.

Bottom line I'm really pleased with the QC and there's a ton going for it even though they haven't figured out the plugin thing yet.

That’s interesting, that wasn’t my experience with it VS Fractal.

I felt like I was really struggling with the general EQ of the models in the QC. By the time I got the amps sounding how I liked I had an EQ block pre-amp and another EQ block post-amp along with a second noise gate to take all the noise I was getting on the device.

I didn’t find any amp models in the QC I thought sounded as good as the Fractal stuff, and the response of the QC amps seemed off. Like they transitioned into overdrive too quickly and not in a natural way

 

[TubeStack]

I've gotten good sounds out of the amp models, particularly the Friedman, but all the great sounds have been with captures. That's where the QC excels, in my experience.

Yes, captures aren't for everybody, but I'd put the quality/realism/wow-factor on level with Fractal amp models.

(This is with captures of my own amp, but also some of the stock ones, as well as user-created ones I've found, particularly an OR80 and 2203 .)

 

[dk_ace]

I've gotten good sounds out of the amp models, particularly the Friedman, but all the great sounds have been with captures. That's where the QC excels, in my experience.

Yes, captures aren't for everybody, but I'd put the quality/realism/wow-factor on level with Fractal amp models.

(This is with captures of my own amp, but also some of the stock ones, as well as user-created ones I've found, particularly an OR80 and 2203 .)

So, if it’s best sounds equal fractal amp models in your opinion, why use it instead of a fractal unit since the fractal is more powerful and offers a lot more effects?

Genuinely curious, I’ve been focused on helix and fractal stuff and kind of ignored Qc since I didn’t think it was as mature as the others.

D

 

[Mongillo19]

Qc since I didn’t think it was as mature as the others.

I wouldn't ignore the QC but it definitely isn't as mature as fractal or helix imo.

The main draw (imo) of the QC is touchscreen, I/Os, UI, captures, ease of use, form Factor

 

[Los-D]

I will give the QC (very rare!) props for once for their form factor (close to perfect IMO, and this coming from someone patiently waiting for an FM0 that may never come), UI (lifted from L6 but enhanced with touchscreen for me) and ease of I/O (adding an expression pedal was crazy easy and intuitive).

Coupled with really good tones out of the box on most amps + captures, I thought it was a fun device. Soundwise I preferred their amp modeling to L6’s and their captures to Kemper profiles, though preferred the effects on both of those units over QC. Preferred my Fractal FM3 overall for amps/effects and hence didn’t keep the QC, but I will say I have already invested a lot of time learning the FAS ecosystem so you would have to factor that in.

 

[TubeStack]

So, if it’s best sounds equal fractal amp models in your opinion, why use it instead of a fractal unit since the fractal is more powerful and offers a lot more effects?

Genuinely curious, I’ve been focused on helix and fractal stuff and kind of ignored Qc since I didn’t think it was as mature as the others.

D

Fractal doesn’t offer captures and doesn't have a model of my favourite amp (Mesa Electra Dyne).

It also doesn’t have a floor unit in a size/format that works for me.

(I’ve owned the FM3 and FM9T.)

 

[Whizzinby]

Always interesting how everyone hears things. I consider the Fractal darker and dryer than my time with the QC and Neural plugs. Not to the point of being a detraction mind you. I think the Frac records wayyyyy better in its natural state because it has an inherent clarity about it, and I never feel like I’m battling the 150-250 freqs.

That said, I agree Neurals amp modeling is pretty damn good, and easy as hell to dial in. They just need to crank models out at a faster pace, and put a lot of effort into their reverbs and delays.

 

[JiveTurkey]

I sent my thoughts to Drew on this instead.