NDSP Quad Cortex

[Mikael Dez]

PRS is now in DADFAE - time to revisit learning Opeth’s Ghost Reveries

 

[JiveTurkey]

Yeah you better zip it, JT.

Two for one special given the topics at hand

 

[Sedaxel]

Tonight, my buddy was showing me his QC with an acoustic guitar which has 2 pickups (piezo and SBT). He built a preset which controls both signals, being able to pan and blend them to taste, in any moment, with the expression pedal. It sounded gigantic. Extremely well. And he still has XLR inputs available for singer´s mic... so in the duo acoustic gigs he makes with his singer, he´s not going to carry a mixer anymore. He can control everything with the QC, equalize and even send IEM mixes for both if he wanted.

He also happens to have a Framus 4x12" cabinet that he pairs with his Mesa Triaxis. He bought IRs from that same cabinet (Choptones), to use them with his own captures of the Triaxis. Man... that sounds incredible. Really. We were there playing a listening to differences and it´s just jaw dropping.

This thing is really monstruous.

 

[mbenigni]

Two for one special given the topics at hand

I may be uncool, but I can still pull off a solid "edgy".

It's a '90s thing.

 

[Mikael Dez]

Tonight, my buddy was showing me his QC with an acoustic guitar which has 2 pickups (piezo and SBT). He built a preset which controls both signals, being able to pan and blend them to taste, in any moment, with the expression pedal. It sounded gigantic. Extremely well. And he still has XLR inputs available for singer´s mic... so in the duo acoustic gigs he makes with his singer, he´s not going to carry a mixer anymore. He can control everything with the QC, equalize and even send IEM mixes for both if he wanted.

He also happens to have a Framus 4x12" cabinet that he pairs with his Mesa Triaxis. He bought IRs from that same cabinet (Choptones), to use them with his own captures of the Triaxis. Man... that sounds incredible. Really. We were there playing a listening to differences and it´s just jaw dropping.

This thing is really monstruous.

Curious if you can ask him what he’s using for his acoustic amp (on the QC), or is he just running it into EQ/Acoustic IR? I got an acoustic electric for the first time ever a couple months ago and I’ve liked using acoustic IRs with it, waiting on Petrucci to drop for QC so I can try its acoustic amp as well.

 

[AFKAEjay(retired)]

Tonight, my buddy was showing me his QC with an acoustic guitar which has 2 pickups (piezo and SBT). He built a preset which controls both signals, being able to pan and blend them to taste, in any moment, with the expression pedal. It sounded gigantic. Extremely well. And he still has XLR inputs available for singer´s mic... so in the duo acoustic gigs he makes with his singer, he´s not going to carry a mixer anymore. He can control everything with the QC, equalize and even send IEM mixes for both if he wanted.

I also run vocals thru the QC when I play duo with my GF. (When we run our own sound, or we don’t trust the tech)
Xlr to foh, 1/4 to our monitor..done. Stored in a preset..so you always start with something “close”.
I think i could even add a 3rd mic/instrument.

Small midi pedal next to the QC to A/B between 2 guitar sounds, so I can keep the looper always in front on the QC.
Looper is also nice when you don’t have a tech, quick loop…and walk into the venue to check foh sound.

 

[Sedaxel]

Curious if you can ask him what he’s using for his acoustic amp, or is he just running it into EQ/Acoustic IR? I got an acoustic electric for the first time ever a couple months ago and I’ve liked using acoustic IRs with it, waiting on Petrucci to drop for QC so I can try its acoustic amp as well.

No, he is plugging an acoustic guitar in that preset. He´s not using amps nor IRs. It´s just the signal from the UST and SBT pickups, blended and panned. Then he has some EQs and compressors... and killed some feedbacks with a couple P-EQs. That´s all. He´s not using it to get an acu sim with the electric guitar.

 

[Sedaxel]

I also run vocals thru the QC when I play duo with my GF. (When we run our own sound, or we don’t trust the tech)
Xlr to foh, 1/4 to our monitor..done. Stored in a preset..so you always start with something “close”.
I think i could even add a 3rd mic/instrument.

Small midi pedal next to the QC to A/B between 2 guitar sounds, so I can keep the looper always in front on the QC.
Looper is also nice when you don’t have a tech, quick loop…and walk into the venue to check foh sound.

And... all of that being pretty easy to do. Intuitive, quick and tweakable on the fly. For me, that´s maybe the top value of this device. IMO, the best of any unit out there, in that regard.

 

[AFKAEjay(retired)]

And... all of that being pretty easy to do. Intuitive, quick and tweakable on the fly. For me, that´s maybe the top value of this device. IMO, the best of any unit out there, in that regard.

I actually added the vocal path during a soundcheck where we had an issue with a mixer,probably took 60 sec, and we kept using it ever since.

Maybe the TMP rivals the QC in this department? Never used one…it’s hear say that that interface is also very nice

While I really appreciate the UI, buying reason for me was the combination of size/number of switches/IOs/Scenes/captures.
(I’m ok with Boss/Kemper interfaces also, so maybe im an outlier when it comes to appriciating UIs , but QC has obvious advantages)

 

[AFKAEjay(retired)]

No, he is plugging an acoustic guitar in that preset. He´s not using amps nor IRs. It´s just the signal from the UST and SBT pickups, blended and panned. Then he has some EQs and compressors... and killed some feedbacks with a couple P-EQs. That´s all. He´s not using it to get an acu sim with the electric guitar.

Curious if you can ask him what he’s using for his acoustic amp (on the QC), or is he just running it into EQ/Acoustic IR? I got an acoustic electric for the first time ever a couple months ago and I’ve liked using acoustic IRs with it, waiting on Petrucci to drop for QC so I can try its acoustic amp as well.

I use a DI capture of a clean (fendrish) preamp as an EQ (works surprsingly well as a “give it some life” tool), compressor and time efx.
But..I don’t use a piezo signal..if that’s your only option, id look into IRs also..but not the ones designed to convert electric sounds to acoustic. I think there are IRs made based on the difference between a miced guitar and the piezo sound..aiming to compensate for the piezo input.

 

[Mikael Dez]

I use a DI capture of a clean (fendrish) preamp as an EQ (works surprsingly well as a “give it some life” tool), compressor and time efx.
But..I don’t use a piezo signal..if that’s your only option, id look into IRs also..but not the ones designed to convert electric sounds to acoustic. I think there are IRs made based on the difference between a miced guitar and the piezo sound..aiming to compensate for the piezo input.

Yeah I'm using an acoustic with a piezo or my electrics that have piezo equipped - so I'm just looking for that "give it some life" like you said - I've been using some Martin acoustic IRs that work nicely though.

 

[mbenigni]

I actually added the vocal path during a soundcheck where we had an issue with a mixer,probably took 60 sec, and we kept using it ever since.

Maybe the TMP rivals the QC in this department? Never used one…it’s hear say that that interface is also very nice

While I really appreciate the UI, buying reason for me was the combination of size/number of switches/IOs/Scenes/captures.
(I’m ok with Boss/Kemper interfaces also, so maybe im an outlier when it comes to appriciating UIs , but QC has obvious advantages)

I've had instances where a bandmate decides halfway through rehearsal that he wants to jump in on 2nd guitar etc. to try out a different arrangement. Staying on the preset I'm already using, I just tap in a new input, long-tap for merge to post-effects, maybe add a block or two that are unique to the new instrument, and voila. Takes literally seconds.

I could have done the same on my Helix Floor, but the Helix Floor would have been decidedly on the floor, and there would have been a lot of joystick finagling in place of a few simple drag and drop gestures. As for TMP, I keep hearing that the workflow is less suited to this kind of thing, in that you have to select from a few pre-defined routing templates before you begin adding content to a preset. Not sure whether that's still true, but if it is, hard pass.

 

[AFKAEjay(retired)]

Yeah I'm using an acoustic with a piezo or my electrics that have piezo equipped - so I'm just looking for that "give it some life" like you said - I've been using some Martin acoustic IRs that work nicely though.

The “preamp” I use defenitly doesn’t fix the “piezo honk” as I call it. Chances are your IRs do a better job at that.

 

[AFKAEjay(retired)]

I've had instances where a bandmate decides halfway through rehearsal that he wants to jump in on 2nd guitar etc. to try out a different arrangement. Staying on the preset I'm already using, I just tap in a new input, long-tap for merge to post-effects, maybe add a block or two that are unique to the new instrument, and voila. Takes literally seconds.

I could have done the same on my Helix Floor, but the Helix Floor would have been decidedly on the floor, and there would have been a lot of joystick finagling in place of a few simple drag and drop gestures. As for TMP, I keep hearing that the workflow is less suited to this kind of thing, in that you have to select from a few pre-defined routing templates before you begin adding content to a preset. Not sure whether that's still true, but if it is, hard pass.

I think your right…tmp you select a routing template on which you add your blocks.
I assume you can get to the same result…pita if you can’t use an existing preset as a starting point cause its on a different template..

 

[Sedaxel]

Beware the IR way of treating acoustic guitars. I was in that boat for several years and never managed to make it work live. At home, it's great. But live, I still can't understand why, it doesn't work well. Many acoustic players that use ToneDexter also faced this problem, and they have to dial down the IR signal to very low levels (maybe 20% mix) in order to make it work. At the end, my conclusion is that I'm better off with the pickup signal with some eq and compression... Easier, trusty, and good sounding.

My buddy is much more professional and with much more years on stages, and came to the same conclusion. That's why he installed that combination of UST and SBT. And he sounds stellar.

No IRs for acoustic here. I left that boat and I'm more than happy I did.

 

[Mikael Dez]

This play anywhere series they've got going is the dumbest fuckin PR - you can literally do that with any modeler device, it's not like the nano is battery powered. It grinds my GEARS lol pLaY aNyWhErE

 

[Mongillo19]

This play anywhere series they've got going is the dumbest fuckin PR - you can literally do that with any modeler device, it's not like the nano is battery powered. It grinds my GEARS lol pLaY aNyWhErE

And they really could have done it where you might actually play.....but nah let's climb mount Everest and plug in

 

[hunter]

Note that $1699 to $1799 is also just a 5% markup. I would've expected prices to go way higher, given how Trump's tariff for the EU is supposed to be 20%.

My remark is a bit late, but keep in mind that the tariff/customs is charged on the import price. not sure if it goes importer>shop>end consumer or if the shops import directly, but it might be more in the 1000$ range when tariff is applied, so 100$ might be close to 10%.

 

[Orvillain]

Note that $1699 to $1799 is also just a 5% markup. I would've expected prices to go way higher, given how Trump's tariff for the EU is supposed to be 20%.

GOOOOO BREXXXITTTT!!!

 

[Lysander]

My remark is a bit late, but keep in mind that the tariff/customs is charged on the import price. not sure if it goes importer>shop>end consumer or if the shops import directly, but it might be more in the 1000$ range when tariff is applied, so 100$ might be close to 10%.

IIUC they're quoting the final price through their importer (Sweetwater).