On the fence and cant decide QC or QC mini - fell over the fence and going mini

[Whizzinby]

My wife says there are worse things I could be getting into

Like the next door neighbor…

 

[Chocol8]

The big kicker is going to be if there's a chance you need more switching than the Mini offers, because pretty much any time you start thinking of adding external switching then you lose out on a lot of the benefits.

Why do you say that? I am thinking external switching, especially in a physically different location is a big benefit.

Generally speaking, I disagree with this. Adding footswitches (unless you're particular about LED state representation) is a trivial effort. The main benefits that come from the touchscreen and UI/UX are much harder (if not impossible) to replicate, and you maintain or even augment those by adding external footswitches.

The touchscreen is near useless when on the floor. Put the device higher up and the external foot switching on the floor and suddenly you have combination that makes a shit ton more sense to me. That's why I think I mini plus foot switch is a much better solution than the OG.

 

[Chocol8]

Like the next door neighbor…

 

[Jarick]

Why do you say that? I am thinking external switching, especially in a physically different location is a big benefit.



The touchscreen is near useless when on the floor. Put the device higher up and the external foot switching on the floor and suddenly you have combination that makes a shit ton more sense to me. That's why I think I mini plus foot switch is a much better solution than the OG.

If NDSP released a standalone footswitch then we're talking. Especially if they could make a wireless version. That's really the best of both worlds. But MIDI ones, that's a lot of pain in the ass programming IMO.

 

[Chocol8]

MIDI ones, that's a lot of pain in the ass programming IMO.

Even the non-MIDI switches need programming, although there may be less anal pain involved.

 

[dbfretz]

The Airstep controller for the Nano is incredible, but I don’t think the Quad would work with that as it’s Bluetooth right?

 

[Dez]

The Airstep controller for the Nano is incredible, but I don’t think the Quad would work with that as it’s Bluetooth right?

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/WIDIJack--cme-widi-jack-professional-wireless-bluetooth-midi-adapter

 

[Los-D]

Like the next door neighbor…

Yer not wrong tho

 

[mbenigni]

Why do you say that? I am thinking external switching, especially in a physically different location is a big benefit.



The touchscreen is near useless when on the floor. Put the device higher up and the external foot switching on the floor and suddenly you have combination that makes a shit ton more sense to me. That's why I think I mini plus foot switch is a much better solution than the OG.

Agree. Even my OGs live on desks and speaker cabs 99% of the time. The hybrid footswitches/encoders are just encoders I can also use to test footswitch configuration.

 

[AlbertA]

Why do you say that? I am thinking external switching, especially in a physically different location is a big benefit.

Yeah I think that this form factor is "the new rack" and I'm starting to come around and like it - Analogous to a Nintendo Switch (hey you want a console? But you also want to take it with you? Well here ya go)

 

[Chocol8]

Yeah I think that this form factor is "the new rack" and I'm starting to come around and like it - Analogous to a Nintendo Switch (hey you want a console? But you also want to take it with you? Well here ya go)

Yep, I think it is actually much better than a rack unit, even if you use racks.

 

[mbenigni]

If NDSP released a standalone footswitch then we're talking. Especially if they could make a wireless version. That's really the best of both worlds. But MIDI ones, that's a lot of pain in the ass programming IMO.

The QC is probably the easiest device I’ve ever programmed MIDI for. One CC to map each MIDI switch to a corresponding on-unit switch, then just use the QC’s features and modes as you would.

Having said that, a dedicated, branded controller with bidirectional communication for LEDs, tuner, etc. would be a logical next product to follow up and pair with the Mini (and perhaps even the Nano).

 

[Jarick]

Even the non-MIDI switches need programming, although there may be less anal pain involved.

Could be a turn off for some lol

 

[timbuck3]

You learn to love those kids lol - the whole family gets a lot of character development.

I disagree you don’t learn to love anybody like that sure, it’s just a show with characters but it’s kind of like that character rose in the night agent. Oh my God so annoying and so ridiculous. I’m glad they wrote her out but the new girl the Mexican girl in the new series is better but nothing right home about.

 

[laxu]

The touchscreen is near useless when on the floor. Put the device higher up and the external foot switching on the floor and suddenly you have combination that makes a shit ton more sense to me. That's why I think I mini plus foot switch is a much better solution than the OG.

Agreed. For me, bending over to edit anything more than a pedal with knobs for everything is a no go, so desk or stand compatible modelers are a must. Thanks hietal hernia!

Which then means having a lot of footswitches is not very useful. But adding footswitches to any modeler is easy. Either proprietary controllers or MIDI works pretty well with most units out there. Much harder to add more knobs for example.

 

[MirrorProfiles]

Yeah I think that this form factor is "the new rack" and I'm starting to come around and like it - Analogous to a Nintendo Switch (hey you want a console? But you also want to take it with you? Well here ya go)

Such a good analogy because I think the trade off with these approaches is cable management suffers.

I feel similarly with the Mac Mini M4 - on its own it’s beautifully designed, it’s small, portable. But then when you actually need to use it, all of a sudden you have several hubs, several hard drives, each with their own power supplies and quirks. The AxeFX form factor works best for me because with that amount of I/O, I wouldn’t want it anywhere other than a rack.

For a QC Mini, for basic tasks I’d happily have it anywhere. But if I was using it permanently rigged up and taking advantage of all the I/O the cables would bother me quite a bit. I’d end up having it hidden away on a shelf and permanently controlled with QC Edit (at which point I may as well just use their plugins….)

 

[laxu]

I feel similarly with the Mac Mini M4 - on its own it’s beautifully designed, it’s small, portable. But then when you actually need to use it, all of a sudden you have several hubs, several hard drives, each with their own power supplies and quirks. The AxeFX form factor works best for me because with that amount of I/O, I wouldn’t want it anywhere other than a rack.

Yeah both products work well when they are parked in place, but get worse if you need to move them around. A Macbook Pro starts to make more sense for portability and similarly, the other Fractal products are nicer to move around if you don't need the robustness and "everything in one place" aspect of racks.

Wouldn't be surprised if some people use the QC Mini (or two!) in a rack drawer like some have pedals.