NMD: NDSP Quad Cortex

[Whizzinby]

As a long time QC owner, I'd say this is the only thing where it is really a little bit short vs the same tiered competition. The FX are good enough for someone like me who does not go crazy with them but unlike the competition, like L6, Fractal, much of it is significantly short of great and just a little bit of the non-distortion stuff is really inspiring the way it is on the FAS units, etc.

Get some really luscious FX, and the QC is pretty much undeniable vs everyone else. The plugin thing is largely dumb and is a waste of NDSP's resources. IMHO. It is mostly going to add a bunch of 5150 models.

From a public relations standpoint though, they made their bed and will have to lie in it on that topic... I understand why it is a must for them and they need to do it SOONer rather than later.

As far as people being irrational with criticism, it's due to history. That is the place all triggering comes from, I think. The history/context of the topic causes the person to become 'emotional' immediately and rational discourse immediately leaves the dialogue. It's like that with anything.

Certain stuff I cannot talk about to members of my family, f.ex, because they are so hurt/traumatized about the topic they are incapable of seeing any other side or if you try to play devil's advocate for the sake of discussion they feel betrayed, etc. The QC stuff is not at that level but it is similar... a lot of folks cannot stand the manufacturer and/or cannot forget unfulfilled promises from the manufacturer or they're p*ssed about getting banned from TGP, etc, so some emotion may be coloring some of the discussion and essentially trumping (so to speak) logic.

Nailed it.

Trauma… Laughs in stop motion animation series creation.

The pain is almost gone, just in time for plugins.

 

[TubeStack]

Got the Metro 20 board set up with the Suhr Micro Midi for channel switching when used in 4cm. Moved the expression pedal closer and put the HX + Suhr on the end.

Really happy with how it's all fitting nicely!

 

[Sascha Franck]

Got the Metro 20 board set up with the Suhr Micro Midi for channel switching when used in 4cm. Moved the expression pedal closer and put the HX + Suhr on the end.

Are you like a ballerina?

 

[TubeStack]

Are you like a ballerina?

Yes, extremely graceful and svelte, actually.

But really, so far the spacing has been fine. The QC top row threw me off, at first, but I got used to it and now don’t hit it by accident.

I don’t do a ton of switching mid-song, and 90% of the night is spent on the bottom four switches of the QC (boost+ delay, fuzz, od, delay).

Not using the HX switches at all, it’s being controlled via midi.

 

[TubeStack]

Well, it was a fun ride, but...

Sold the Quad Cortex last night. I have a little bit of "should I have done that?" feeling, but overall I've moved on.

Interestingly, what (unintentionally) led to this was getting the HX One to supplement the QC's effects. I had the idea of pairing the One with the Stomp in 4cm and just fell in love with that duo + a Keeley Fuzz Head. Super cool little board that meets all my 4cm needs nicely, while also having the Stomp amp models available. And I can't deny it, L6 gear just has the biggest comfort and fun factor for me, out of all the big digital options. Maybe I was "branded" with my first HXFX experience, but I seem to keep coming back to them after every exploration with another company.

I really did enjoy the QC and had no serious issues with it, other than the effects being uneven in quality and quantity. Loved the Phase 90, liked the drives, hated the Uni-Vibe, was bored/uninspired by the delays. But HX/L6 just completely Stomps it in terms of amount of effects and general effect quality (sorry couldn't resist ). No comparison in the effects department whatosever.

QC captures are amazing and I was very impressed, but once I had fun exploring that, it made more sense just to use my real amp. Also enjoyed the amp models, especially the Friedman. I will say, I just couldn't shake the "when is this thing going to have a problem" feeling, as well as a general lack of comfort/trust with NDSP.

Also, I spent a day playing the Stomp amp models, particularly the MK IV, Rockerverb, 2203, and Friedman, and was getting great sounds out of it. I'm going to revisit the L6 amp model world in depth and see just how good I can get it with my setup. For me, the Stomp is a much more appropriate level of invesment/involvement with a modeler/profiler, considering I always come back to mainly using my tube amp, anyway. The Stomp is a perfect size to have on my board and do double-duty for effects and occasional amp model usage (for now, haha... ).

 

[mbenigni]

I had the idea of pairing the One with the Stomp in 4cm and just fell in love with that duo + a Keeley Fuzz Head. Super cool little board that meets all my 4cm needs nicely, while also having the Stomp amp models available.

Just out of curiosity, what would lead you to use the Stomp + HX One together, rather than just wiring/programming the Stomp itself to run in 4cm? Were you frequently running out of DSP and/or blocks to allocate on the Stomp?

 

[Los-D]

So /thread?

 

[TubeStack]

Just out of curiosity, what would lead you to use the Stomp + HX One together, rather than just wiring/programming the Stomp itself to run in 4cm? Were you frequently running out of DSP and/or blocks to allocate on the Stomp?

Good question. No, I never run out of DSP/blocks, as my needs are pretty simple.

For me, it feels and sounds better to keep the Stomp in the loop and have pedals in front of the amp. I've tried the Stomp in 4cm pretty extensively, and maybe it's user error, but there's always a shift in tone/loss of highs + a slightly disconnected feeling. Same with the HXFX. Also, having the HX One gives me one more switch.

The HX One is covering SD1 boost, octave down, uni-vibe, and phase, all in front, while the Stomp handles delays, clean boost, some modulation, noise gate, and amp channel-switching via midi. That plus the Fuzz Head, Mosky dual switch, and Suhr Micro midi and I'm all good!

 

[mbenigni]

Good question. No, I never run out of DSP/blocks, as my needs are pretty simple.

For me, it feels and sounds better to keep the Stomp in the loop and have pedals in front of the amp. I've tried the Stomp in 4cm pretty extensively, and maybe it's user error, but there's always a shift in tone/loss of highs + a slightly disconnected feeling. Same with the HXFX. Also, having the HX One gives me one more switch.

The HX One is covering SD1 boost, octave down, uni-vibe, and phase, all in front, while the Stomp handles delays, clean boost, some modulation, noise gate, and amp channel-switching via midi. That plus the Fuzz Head, Mosky dual switch, and Suhr Micro midi and I'm all good!

Interesting. The last time I was running HX Stomp + amp head, I wound up doing the same: ditching 4cm in favor of keeping the Stomp in the FX loop only, with wah and a couple of dirt pedals in front. I don't remember tone suck, specifically; it was more of a practical decision in terms of simplifying cables and preset templates.

 

[JiveTurkey]

Interesting. The last time I was running HX Stomp + amp head, I wound up doing the same: ditching 4cm in favor of keeping the Stomp in the FX loop only, with wah and a couple of dirt pedals in front. I don't remember tone suck, specifically; it was more of a practical decision in terms of simplifying cables and preset templates.

For me; I always feel like 4cm should be the best way to go. But it never is? Analog pedals up front, always.

 

[Jarick]

What amp are you running again? More like a single channel with pedals or channel switcher?

 

[TubeStack]

What amp are you running again? More like a single channel with pedals or channel switcher?

Mesa Electra Dyne. Three channels, but I mostly live in blue crunch, with occasional green clean.

 

[laxu]

Well, it was a fun ride, but...

Sold the Quad Cortex last night. I have a little bit of "should I have done that?" feeling, but overall I've moved on.

Interestingly, what (unintentionally) led to this was getting the HX One to supplement the QC's effects. I had the idea of pairing the One with the Stomp in 4cm and just fell in love with that duo + a Keeley Fuzz Head. Super cool little board that meets all my 4cm needs nicely, while also having the Stomp amp models available. And I can't deny it, L6 gear just has the biggest comfort and fun factor for me, out of all the big digital options. Maybe I was "branded" with my first HXFX experience, but I seem to keep coming back to them after every exploration with another company.

I really did enjoy the QC and had no serious issues with it, other than the effects being uneven in quality and quantity. Loved the Phase 90, liked the drives, hated the Uni-Vibe, was bored/uninspired by the delays. But HX/L6 just completely Stomps it in terms of amount of effects and general effect quality (sorry couldn't resist ). No comparison in the effects department whatosever.

QC captures are amazing and I was very impressed, but once I had fun exploring that, it made more sense just to use my real amp. Also enjoyed the amp models, especially the Friedman. I will say, I just couldn't shake the "when is this thing going to have a problem" feeling, as well as a general lack of comfort/trust with NDSP.

Also, I spent a day playing the Stomp amp models, particularly the MK IV, Rockerverb, 2203, and Friedman, and was getting great sounds out of it. I'm going to revisit the L6 amp model world in depth and see just how good I can get it with my setup. For me, the Stomp is a much more appropriate level of invesment/involvement with a modeler/profiler, considering I always come back to mainly using my tube amp, anyway. The Stomp is a perfect size to have on my board and do double-duty for effects and occasional amp model usage (for now, haha... ).

At least you gave it a fair shot.

Your reasons sound pretty similar to mine, I was surprised that the fx quality was a dealbreaker for me when I'm normally not particularly picky about it.

The main reason I don't use Line6 Helix is that Line6 doesn't make the right form factor for me. I don't like working with the HX Stomp's user interface compared to the full Helix, all of which are large boxes.

 

[Sedaxel]

Good question. No, I never run out of DSP/blocks, as my needs are pretty simple.

For me, it feels and sounds better to keep the Stomp in the loop and have pedals in front of the amp. I've tried the Stomp in 4cm pretty extensively, and maybe it's user error, but there's always a shift in tone/loss of highs + a slightly disconnected feeling. Same with the HXFX. Also, having the HX One gives me one more switch.

The HX One is covering SD1 boost, octave down, uni-vibe, and phase, all in front, while the Stomp handles delays, clean boost, some modulation, noise gate, and amp channel-switching via midi. That plus the Fuzz Head, Mosky dual switch, and Suhr Micro midi and I'm all good!

God... I just had the same feeling with my Helix LT going 4cm to my amp (Boogie Studio22+). I was losing something (highs, or attack, or "I just really don´t f*****g know what). Once I realised that this wasn´t happening with a Zoom G1XFour, I just sold the Helix... which otherwise was (and still is) the most complete floor unit I´ve ever had. It could do it all for me.

 

[Orvillain]

Are you like a ballerina?

Calm down Shrek.

 

[TubeStack]

At least you gave it a fair shot.

Yes, I gave it a good solid four months, basically using it exclusively for both all-digtal and 4cm use.

Your reasons sound pretty similar to mine, I was surprised that the fx quality was a dealbreaker for me when I'm normally not particularly picky about it.

Yes, same here. I don't even use a lot of effects, but I guess the ones I do use, I'm picky about, especially tape delay, phase, and uni-vibe.

The main reason I don't use Line6 Helix is that Line6 doesn't make the right form factor for me. I don't like working with the HX Stomp's user interface compared to the full Helix, all of which are large boxes.

That's interesting to me. I actually like the Stomp interface and find it pretty quick. But I could see if one was used to the larger HX units, although you don't like those either? Which I totally get. I always have a pull toward the full Helix floor, even now haha, but overall it's pretty darn big.

 

[laxu]

That's interesting to me. I actually like the Stomp interface and find it pretty quick. But I could see if one was used to the larger HX units, although you don't like those either? Which I totally get. I always have a pull toward the full Helix floor, even now haha, but overall it's pretty darn big.

I do like the full Helix interface. Going from that to the Stomp is such a downgrade for the small size though. A lot more paging back and forth, the knob to move between blocks sucks compared to the joystick and so on.

The Helix Floor is probably the best price vs performance vs onboard usability vs features modeler on the market because you need literally nothing else since it has plenty of footswitches, an expression pedal, lots of I/O etc.

It's just too large to be a desk/"sitting on top of something" unit, which is what I need. Due to some health issues I can't crouch to the floor regularly to adjust things. When I had the Helix Floor I'd often just sit on the floor to tweak it. Put it on a desk and the footswitches are in the way, expression pedal becomes awkward and it takes over the whole damn desk.

I'm hoping for next gen Line6 does something closer to the QC in form factor, or a more user friendly Stomp type device.

 

[TubeStack]

Just as an add-on: I love L6's one-switch looper and am never as happy with other, more full-featured ones (QC, Fractal). I love that it's so quick and simple and I don't have to switch in/out of a looper view.

 

[Whizzinby]

Well, it was a fun ride, but...

Sold the Quad Cortex last night. I have a little bit of "should I have done that?" feeling, but overall I've moved on.

Interestingly, what (unintentionally) led to this was getting the HX One to supplement the QC's effects. I had the idea of pairing the One with the Stomp in 4cm and just fell in love with that duo + a Keeley Fuzz Head. Super cool little board that meets all my 4cm needs nicely, while also having the Stomp amp models available. And I can't deny it, L6 gear just has the biggest comfort and fun factor for me, out of all the big digital options. Maybe I was "branded" with my first HXFX experience, but I seem to keep coming back to them after every exploration with another company.

I really did enjoy the QC and had no serious issues with it, other than the effects being uneven in quality and quantity. Loved the Phase 90, liked the drives, hated the Uni-Vibe, was bored/uninspired by the delays. But HX/L6 just completely Stomps it in terms of amount of effects and general effect quality (sorry couldn't resist ). No comparison in the effects department whatosever.

QC captures are amazing and I was very impressed, but once I had fun exploring that, it made more sense just to use my real amp. Also enjoyed the amp models, especially the Friedman. I will say, I just couldn't shake the "when is this thing going to have a problem" feeling, as well as a general lack of comfort/trust with NDSP.

Also, I spent a day playing the Stomp amp models, particularly the MK IV, Rockerverb, 2203, and Friedman, and was getting great sounds out of it. I'm going to revisit the L6 amp model world in depth and see just how good I can get it with my setup. For me, the Stomp is a much more appropriate level of invesment/involvement with a modeler/profiler, considering I always come back to mainly using my tube amp, anyway. The Stomp is a perfect size to have on my board and do double-duty for effects and occasional amp model usage (for now, haha... ).

I feel like with the QC unless you are really into captures or it’s easy ability to integrate with other gear, it’s an easy device to get bored with. The effects are functional but not particularly inspiring. The models are good, but they don’t really add them all that often. I love the idea of the QC (form factor and feature set) but the glacial pace of development has really undermined its potential.

 

[laxu]

I feel like with the QC unless you are really into captures or it’s easy ability to integrate with other gear, it’s an easy device to get bored with. The effects are functional but not particularly inspiring. The models are good, but they don’t really add them all that often. I love the idea of the QC (form factor and feature set) but the glacial pace of development has really undermined its potential.

While I agree about the effects quality and slow development, "boring" is not always a bad thing. It can also mean "consistent" where the things the unit does are not changing all the time - basically what Boss does. But Boss has always been "the Boss" of having effects that are just plain good but might not blow your socks off, and that's not what I can say about the QC.

At the same time, I think many of us here are addicted to getting new features regularly. It's fun to try out new things every once in a while even if you never end up using them long term. The last Axe-Fx 3 update has been over a month ago and I'm already kinda feeling like "where's dem fw updates y'all?!"