NDSP Quad Cortex

[Orvillain]

Drew, you've gone over to the dark side?
Say it isn't so.

(Will await your reports with interest.)

We shall see!! I need to put this thing through its paces. Not going to lie, version 3.0.1 does seem a bit tighter and more capable than what they launched with.

I already own Helix and Axe FX III, so ... other than really liking and respecting Eric, Ben, and Cliff (would happily down a ton of beer with any of them!) I don't have an allegiances! I'll use whatever sounds good and gets me where I want to be.

So this is just adding the QC to the collection as it were.

 

[2dor]

We shall see!! I need to put this thing through its paces. Not going to lie, version 3.0.1 does seem a bit tighter and more capable than what they launched with.

I already own Helix and Axe FX III, so ... other than really liking and respecting Eric, Ben, and Cliff (would happily down a ton of beer with any of them!) I don't have an allegiances! I'll use whatever sounds good and gets me where I want to be.

So this is just adding the QC to the collection as it were.

Yeah man - branding / marketing shenanigans aside, they're all good tools for playing music, each with their own set of strengths & caveats.

 

[Orvillain]

Spent my lunch break A/B'ing the EVH5150IIIS Blue on Quad Cortex with the equivalent amp model on the Axe FX III; same impulse response.

I mean... both were bloody great to be honest. QC definitely sounded on the same level as the Axe III; just a different flavour. QC had a bit more of a raw 'in your face' thing going on, specifically in the 1kHz-3kHz frequency range; that shouty frequency range that really gets your attention. Axe III was a bit more subdued by default, but you can get the same effect by using the input and output EQ to push those frequencies a bit.

I'm pretty much expecting the same when I compare Helix to these two as well. There isn't really a quality difference with this shit anymore.

 

[southpawdd]

There isn't really a quality difference with this shit anymore.

Agree on this - the specific guitar being used, in/out interface and levels, speaker IR (or real cab), and playback system seem to matter the most now. I do think some of the devices have 'flavoring' in their input or routing. For example, the Helix has a little something going on with the hardware/DSP path that sounds just a bit different than using Native and my interface.

I can hardly tell the difference between some of the ToneX captures, NDSP plug-ins, and my FM9 depending on what IR is used and how loud I'm playing in the room.