NDSP Quad Cortex

[LCW]

I feel very vindicated by not going all in on the QC but selling it for what I paid, and playing the waiting game. Honestly I really wanted to love it too!

I’ve said this before but to reiterate for this discussion - I feel fortunate to having been oblivious to the early QC drama because I was completely disinterested in modeling up until earlier this year. As they say “Ignorance is Bliss”! I was aware of the plug-ins mostly because I was lusting for a Granophyre (initially called the Iridium) back in 2019. Big Slipknot and Mick Thomson fan. But the QC was never on my radar when it launched.

I feel I took the plunge at the perfect time in QC’s lineage. Firmware is pretty decent currently (2.3.1 was out when I finally tried it). The computer editor was out already. And plug-in integration (while limited at first) is right around the corner.
S O O N

If anyone has followed my modeling trek - I’ve tried many actually starting with QC, then trying Helix, back to QC, FM3, back to QC, Helix, and finally back on a QC. Literally my 4th. A charm this time? Hope so! lol.

Oh and did have an FM9 in early 2023 but that was my first and last modeler stint until early 2024. It was more of a turn-off than anything.

QC is what made me change my approach of incessant tweaking simply because it sounded great out of the box and had a good onboard interface.

 

[GTR37]

As a big Metallica fan - especially old school - the Mark IIC+ model is the single most item I’m waiting to be loaded on the QC.

They have the JP2C but it’s just not the same.

And there’s a couple of factory IIC+ captures that are “OK” at best and of course with captures you can’t dial in like a real amp. You’re at the mercy of the captures settings with a bit of “fake” basic BMT controls that may or may not (more likely) react like the real thing.

And also would be geeked to get the Omega Granophyre onboard the QC as well.

oh crap I forgot about the Omega yep that would be another one that if you love the plugin you would want ported as there is no current equivalent in the QC models IMO

 

[LCW]

I seem to one of few in this thread that actually likes the QC. I’m not burdened by initial promises…cause I bought it as is a couple months back…and would do so again without thinking if disaster hit my current one.

The plugins…i don’t care about those at all. I’d rather see them put there time in more capability of the hardware…press&hold functions, virtual midicontrolable expression pedals 3/4, control parameters via CC, verbs with diffusion, verbs with diffusion, did I mention verbs with diffusion?

I share your sentiments. Loving mine! I’m somewhat neutral on the plug-in integration. Hopefully it’s cool though. It just gives a few more options to the unit which is great.

But like you say I’m eager for it to be done so the dev team can move on to some core QC work and improvements.

 

[laxu]

I seem to one of few in this thread that actually likes the QC. I’m not burdened by initial promises…cause I bought it as is a couple months back…and would do so again without thinking if disaster hit my current one.

The plugins…i don’t care about those at all. I’d rather see them put there time in more capability of the hardware…press&hold functions, virtual midicontrolable expression pedals 3/4, control parameters via CC, verbs with diffusion, verbs with diffusion, did I mention verbs with diffusion?

I can agree with that, much nicer to start with a more mature product.

I really wanted to love the QC, but I think they need to get past this plugin support hurdle to focus on the actual things that matter. Adding more amp, cab and especially fx options, or improving the sound of the existing ones. But by the time that happens, what else will be available from other companies?

 

[Whizzinby]

I really wanted to love the QC, but I think they need to get past this plugin support hurdle to focus on the actual things that matter. Adding more amp, cab and especially fx options, or improving the sound of the existing ones. But by the time that happens, what else will be available from other companies?

Pretty much this. If they were aggressively developing native content for the QC I would probably still own it. Brilliant form factor, UI, and feature set, but adding only three amps in 18 months is dreadful and it doesn’t appear they are adding any native amps in the next update either.

 

[Jarick]

I seem to one of few in this thread that actually likes the QC. I’m not burdened by initial promises…cause I bought it as is a couple months back…and would do so again without thinking if disaster hit my current one.

The plugins…i don’t care about those at all. I’d rather see them put there time in more capability of the hardware…press&hold functions, virtual midicontrolable expression pedals 3/4, control parameters via CC, verbs with diffusion, verbs with diffusion, did I mention verbs with diffusion?

It's interesting that the people who rip the QC for not having plugin capability don't seem all that interested in actually using that capability or even the QC itself.

I'm with you on the added functionality. I would love some more delay and reverb types because the QC is such a cool platform. I would love a Space Echo, some good Strymon style character reverbs, just more of those options.

Over the last month or so I have tinkered with a few different setups going into an amp and cab. I have an HX Effects which on paper should be killer for effects in front of a clean amp. But it's noisier than anything else I've used which is annoying. And the interface sucks, I'm constantly accidentally switching effect models instead of moving them, or having to page around to see which of the three parameters I can edit at a time.

Adding more effects to the QC would make it a killer effects only device that also has a great interface. You can actually adjust with knobs which is awesome!

Right now the reverbs remind me of the Helix when it first launched...it had the legacy effects from the M series which were okay. After a few years they added some interesting modulation reverbs, and then after a few more years they added those dynamic reverbs which are awesome.

 

[Orvillain]

I seem to one of few in this thread that actually likes the QC. I’m not burdened by initial promises…cause I bought it as is a couple months back…and would do so again without thinking if disaster hit my current one.

The plugins…i don’t care about those at all. I’d rather see them put there time in more capability of the hardware…press&hold functions, virtual midicontrolable expression pedals 3/4, control parameters via CC, verbs with diffusion, verbs with diffusion, did I mention verbs with diffusion?

Are you using it with a real amp? 4 cable method? Additional pedals? Midi switching? Want to use both scenes and stomp modes with different midi commands? Signal to noise ratio? Do you want to do all of the above but also send a separately gained signal to FOH? Those are just some of the areas where I struggled.

It wasn't a bad device. But it was pretty woeful at "fitting into a pre-existing rig" - and I'm really not sold on their electro-mechanical design. You certainly don't get Boss or Line6 shipping bad power supplies and then failing to replace them all with good ones.

Not saying you're guilty of this, but one of the reasons to never really trust what you read on forums is that a lot of people fall into two categories:

1. Their usage needs are incredibly simple.
2. They don't play live.
3. If they do play live, their rig isn't particularly complex.

 

[Orvillain]

It's interesting that the people who rip the QC for not having plugin capability don't seem all that interested in actually using that capability or even the QC itself.

See my previous post.

This was the board I built:

It looks amazing. It offers a fuck ton of functionality. But did it sound good? Not particularly. Helix Floor sounded better in place of the QC, just in pure terms of signal to noise ratio, transparency, and frequency response.

Could I play a live show with the above?? No. Not without doubling the efforts required to tap-dance, compared to again the Helix.

I really wanted it to work. Because I love the form factor. I'm not one of those guys who go jizzy about the touchscreen, but it was okay.

Unfortunately, it just.... kinda sucked.

Funnily enough, the only pedals from this setup that I own now are the wah and the MXR reverb lol.

 

[Jarick]

See my previous post.

This was the board I built:
View attachment 24411

It looks amazing. It offers a fuck ton of functionality. But did it sound good? Not particularly. Helix Floor sounded better in place of the QC, just in pure terms of signal to noise ratio, transparency, and frequency response.

Could I play a live show with the above?? No. Not without doubling the efforts required to tap-dance, compared to again the Helix.

I really wanted it to work. Because I love the form factor. I'm not one of those guys who go jizzy about the touchscreen, but it was okay.

Unfortunately, it just.... kinda sucked.

Funnily enough, the only pedals from this setup that I own now are the wah and the MXR reverb lol.

Nah I appreciate your feedback because you actually tried it and have legit concerns about functionality.

Side note, how did you like the CC Deluxe compared to those other pedals? It's a really cool idea as an affordable analog delay with tap tempo.

If Boss came out with a DM-2 that had modulation and tap tempo it would be game over for me.

 

[Orvillain]

Side note, how did you like the CC Deluxe compared to those other pedals?

That's a really nice delay pedal man. Slightly marred by the mix pot, which is a log pot iirc, so you don't get very much control over how much delay you hear when your signal is clean. But hitting the front of a distorted amp, it works really well. It's an old school pedal really.

I actually do all that, except the different modes with midi commands, not sure what you mean by that.

I’m running a setup with captures of preamps I feed into poweramps/cabs, with a separate feed to foh/desk that contains poweramp and cabsim, additional midicontrol via wireless, 4cm when I bring my own amp….and it’s all a breeze, no other unit can do this, especially not with captures.

I don’t have noise issues that don’t ussuallly come with 4cm, and no problem with the powersupply…what’s wrong with it?…it provides clean power. I’d rather have had a build in and grounded powersupply…but if that would come with a larger sized unit…I’m good as is.

And I’m a gigging and recording fella with 3 decades at pro level under his belt :)

Take captures out of it for the moment... all of the other modellers on the market can do those things.

Helix and Fractal certainly can. It's actually flagrant bullshit to say that no other unit can do it.

Now if you want to use captures as a specific distinction point, then sure. But there's very few things out there in music gear land that can do captures full stop. So I don't see it as a useful metric really. Even with the various ToneX approaches you could take, and the NAM approaches you could take... for capture tech in a live environment it really comes down to QC or Kemper still.

RE: Power supply. It is well known that the first few batches of the QC shipped with bad power supplies, causing worse issues than ground loops at live shows. It happened to us once when we played live, and our other guitarist was powerless to do anything. Terrible loud buzzing noises that WERE NOT ground hum. Neural even asked people to mail into support to arrange exchanges. So far as I know, this never really went critical mass like it should have. A few people got replacements. Most people were left hanging dry.

RE: Midi commands. Set up a scene to send a midi program change on switch 1. Now switch to stomp box mode. Assign switch 1 to turn a compressor on or off. It will still send the program change even in stomp mode. Which is fucking stupid. So far as I know, they've still not fixed it. The end result is - I meant to turn a compressor on... but oops... just changed my amplifier channel. Oh well. "the audience doesn't care anyway" etc etc etc.

The long and short of it there is, the QC isn't suitable to be used as a "command centre" for a hybrid analog+digital rig. It fails hard compared to the competition.

RE: 4-cable-method noise. I had a lot more issues with QC in terms of noise, ground hum, and signal capacitance loss with the QC than I ever did with the Helix or Axe FX III.

 

[Orvillain]

They did some upgrades in that department, not sure to what degree. Obviously boss/l6/fractal have more mature midicommand stuff, but no unit has it all. The scenario you describe is very specific, I get why you’d want it different, but imo a bridge to far to burn down a unit for it. Seems to me it’s perfectly capable for a hybrid rig..(Im doing it)…if you are willing to work within its limitations, which appearantly, is that you don’t get to switch modes.

Changing amp channels from your scenes, and then NOT changing amp channels from your stompbox mode, isn't specific. It is just basic functionality that is expected.

 

[mbenigni]

I share your sentiments. Loving mine! I’m somewhat neutral on the plug-in integration. Hopefully it’s cool though. It just gives a few more options to the unit which is great.

But like you say I’m eager for it to be done so the dev team can move on to some core QC work and improvements.

Agree, but more options without the “plug-in” price tags would have been even better.

 

[mbenigni]

Pretty much this. If they were aggressively developing native content for the QC I would probably still own it. Brilliant form factor, UI, and feature set, but adding only three amps in 18 months is dreadful and it doesn’t appear they are adding any native amps in the next update either.

It all depends on what’s most important to any given customer. I could just as easily say, “What’s Fractal done about their UI in the last 18 months?” Nothing.

Which brings us back to the question, “By the time QC ‘catches up’, what might their competitors have released?” Not necessarily anything I’ll enjoy using any better.

 

[mbenigni]

That's a really nice delay pedal man. Slightly marred by the mix pot, which is a log pot iirc, so you don't get very much control over how much delay you hear when your signal is clean. But hitting the front of a distorted amp, it works really well. It's an old school pedal really.


Take captures out of it for the moment... all of the other modellers on the market can do those things.

Helix and Fractal certainly can. It's actually flagrant bullshit to say that no other unit can do it.

Now if you want to use captures as a specific distinction point, then sure. But there's very few things out there in music gear land that can do captures full stop. So I don't see it as a useful metric really. Even with the various ToneX approaches you could take, and the NAM approaches you could take... for capture tech in a live environment it really comes down to QC or Kemper still.

RE: Power supply. It is well known that the first few batches of the QC shipped with bad power supplies, causing worse issues than ground loops at live shows. It happened to us once when we played live, and our other guitarist was powerless to do anything. Terrible loud buzzing noises that WERE NOT ground hum. Neural even asked people to mail into support to arrange exchanges. So far as I know, this never really went critical mass like it should have. A few people got replacements. Most people were left hanging dry.

RE: Midi commands. Set up a scene to send a midi program change on switch 1. Now switch to stomp box mode. Assign switch 1 to turn a compressor on or off. It will still send the program change even in stomp mode. Which is fucking stupid. So far as I know, they've still not fixed it. The end result is - I meant to turn a compressor on... but oops... just changed my amplifier channel. Oh well. "the audience doesn't care anyway" etc etc etc.

The long and short of it there is, the QC isn't suitable to be used as a "command centre" for a hybrid analog+digital rig. It fails hard compared to the competition.

RE: 4-cable-method noise. I had a lot more issues with QC in terms of noise, ground hum, and signal capacitance loss with the QC than I ever did with the Helix or Axe FX III.

I take your point about MIDI messages not being mode-aware. It’s stupid and it needs changing. In general, I think you’re right that the QC doesn’t fare as well in a complex rig with lots of outboard gear to control and level-match. It’s more intended for folks who like the “one and done” all-in-one appeal. Which is always going to involve some compromises in favor of simplicity and portability. (Sign me up, but I acknowledge it’s not for everyone.)

As for the power supply, I don’t know that they ever shipped “bad” ones per se. Saying they never fixed it but some people got replacements to resolve seems like playing two sides. Has anyone ever determined and clearly reported that a different PSU resolved an issue they had with the original, all other variables alike? I really think the QC’s two pole DC design just makes it more susceptible to noise induction in general. Note: that’s hardly a sales pitch, just an observation.

As for things the QC can do that nothing else can… For me it’s a question of UI. While I’m recording I can reconfigure my studio with a swipe of a finger, hardly thinking twice about it. Nothing else (aside from a 100% in the box DAW/VST solution) gets me there.

 

[SeeD]

I seem to one of few in this thread that actually likes the QC. I’m not burdened by initial promises…cause I bought it as is a couple months back…and would do so again without thinking if disaster hit my current one.

The plugins…i don’t care about those at all. I’d rather see them put there time in more capability of the hardware…press&hold functions, virtual midicontrolable expression pedals 3/4, control parameters via CC, verbs with diffusion, verbs with diffusion, did I mention verbs with diffusion?

I enjoy mine as well, been doing so for 2 years now. Mine is full of stuff that was not on the unit when I got it. Captures of a lot of stuff..a LOT !

 

[Deadpan]

I can understand if the QC doesn't fit one's usage needs but the tones IMO are as good as anything.

 

[Mongillo19]

So the June update target would have to happen before Friday right? If I recall they don't like releasing updates on Friday (especially one as big as this I imagine)

 

[Whizzinby]

So the June update target would have to happen before Friday right? If I recall they don't like releasing updates on Friday (especially one as big as this I imagine)

They said Q2, but they didn’t say what year.

 

[Jynx]

They usually do updates on a Tuesday. Lot of hopium on the Discord today.

I don't bother getting hyped any more. It'll drop when it drops.

 

[Jynx]

Still buzzing from Rammstein's gig the other day so I recorded a track this morning.

Sonne.mp3

Shared with Jumpshare

jmp.sh

Unfortunately couldn't use Soundcloud due to copyright.