NDSP Quad Cortex

The part of me that likes new things is thinking sell my QC and get this on the reasoning it's more suitable to me as a desktop player.

The logical part of me is saying having this thing on my desk, instead of on the ground, under the desk, which is where my QC is, isn't much benefit as I use the desktop app anyway.

So unless I ever step out from behind the desk and join a band and decide to buy a second Quad, where I would buy the Mini and take the Cortex out with me, I don't need it right now.
 
The QC mini makes sense in my live rig in it's current form and midi implementation. When (if?) midi implementation is expanded then the full blown QC makes sense for my purposes. Will I swap? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ As soon as I swap we all know midi will be improved.
 
had a mini freak out last night haha. went to go play and it just sounded horrible, really loud fuzz, no notes coming through. i was like hmmmm maybe do the update i guess? started the update and it basically sat there at 71% to the point where i thought it had bricked and i was like i shouldnt have done the update!!! it finally got done and it was doing the same noises.



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swapped out a cable and it sounded great lololololol



crazy how a cable just went bad just sitting there in my room from one day to the next. but it was really old so whatever. i was freaking out though there for a few minutes thinking about our show on sat, was kinda funny.
 
had a mini freak out last night haha. went to go play and it just sounded horrible, really loud fuzz, no notes coming through. i was like hmmmm maybe do the update i guess? started the update and it basically sat there at 71% to the point where i thought it had bricked and i was like i shouldnt have done the update!!! it finally got done and it was doing the same noises.



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swapped out a cable and it sounded great lololololol



crazy how a cable just went bad just sitting there in my room from one day to the next. but it was really old so whatever. i was freaking out though there for a few minutes thinking about our show on sat, was kinda funny.
nervous Robert Hays GIF
 
had a mini freak out last night haha. went to go play and it just sounded horrible, really loud fuzz, no notes coming through. i was like hmmmm maybe do the update i guess? started the update and it basically sat there at 71% to the point where i thought it had bricked and i was like i shouldnt have done the update!!! it finally got done and it was doing the same noises.



.
.
.
.
.
.
.



swapped out a cable and it sounded great lololololol



crazy how a cable just went bad just sitting there in my room from one day to the next. but it was really old so whatever. i was freaking out though there for a few minutes thinking about our show on sat, was kinda funny.

I had a moment like that earlier this week. Plugged into my amp, H&K GM40, for the first time in a while, no sound. Swap cables, still nothing. Swap from the active pickup guitar to one with passives, thinking maybe I had a dead battery (hadn’t played that one in a while), nadda. Then I have the aha moment that the amp has a full power soak for direct recording without a cab. Sure enough, that was it.
 
i really love the QC in 4cm. didnt have a stomp but had an LT. seems about the same to me.

how do you set your gate?
Usually have a Precision Drive with the gate turned up and another gate in the amp. I think I’ve had so and so results because of ground loops and shit before. And modeled drives in Helix has not done it for me.

Fuck, I was gonna get an AM4 ”for simplicity” and try to keep from setting it up with my amp but I’m a sucker for the small footprint and full feature-ness of the QC Mini.
 
Usually have a Precision Drive with the gate turned up and another gate in the amp. I think I’ve had so and so results because of ground loops and shit before. And modeled drives in Helix has not done it for me.

Fuck, I was gonna get an AM4 ”for simplicity” and try to keep from setting it up with my amp but I’m a sucker for the small footprint and full feature-ness of the QC Mini.
FWIW I like the drives in the QC. The Boss drives are great, and I use the Fortin Grind pedal a lot.
 
had a mini freak out last night haha. went to go play and it just sounded horrible, really loud fuzz, no notes coming through. i was like hmmmm maybe do the update i guess? started the update and it basically sat there at 71% to the point where i thought it had bricked and i was like i shouldnt have done the update!!! it finally got done and it was doing the same noises.



.
.
.
.
.
.
.



swapped out a cable and it sounded great lololololol



crazy how a cable just went bad just sitting there in my room from one day to the next. but it was really old so whatever. i was freaking out though there for a few minutes thinking about our show on sat, was kinda funny.
Went through a similar thing last night, where I'd been swapping gear around and suddenly my rig was dead silent. I thought it was a QC malfunction, and then I convinced myself my power amp had croaked, and then I was sure it was a speaker cable...

The whole time I'd been plugged into the wrong jack on the speaker cab. :facepalm
 
I had a very sharp initial reaction to the QC Mini, especially its price tag.

With a little time to reflect, tho, I will say that it's remarkable that they - yet again - have packed so much full-featured functionality into a compact, yet usable form factor. Both QCs are engineering marvels, to be honest.

I also give them credit for pretty aggressively adding new effects. November until now has seen multiple reverbs, a synth, tons of new cabs, other assorted effects.....it's pretty badass for a company that was really slacking in the 18 months prior.

If I'm hung up on anything, it's that I still don't see the value relative to a full QC, especially the used values. It already fit into a gig bag pocket and was already desktop-friendly. It was also pedalboard friendly.

But there's a clear use case to a bunch of folks if they sold out instantly (Granted, I think the initial batches were small, but a win is a win). Good for them.
 
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