Quad Cortex (A Love Story) Round 2

[DrewJD82]

Granted, I spend most of my time in mid-to-high gain, but I find crunch rock/low-to-mid gain tones a breeze on Fractal. In fact, I only ever use one preset for that stuff - a factory one that runs several Plexi variants in parallel with several AC30 variants. Very responsive to my volume knob, and it never gets thin - only chimier.

Yeah, I always intend on experimenting with edge of breakup tones, but then I load up a Bassman or Plexi and everything I want is right there.

 

[JiveTurkey]

Never Dial In Low-Gain ToneTM

 

[mikah912]

Never Dial In Low-Gain ToneTM

Gotta have something to play as you build up to a chugging 00000 deathcore breakdown....

 

[JiveTurkey]

Gotta have something to play as you build up to a chugging 00000 deathcore breakdown....

There's a buildup?

 

[metropolis_4]

Interesting, I had the opposite experience where the Fractal amps seem more natural and “what the amps actually sound like” while the QC amps seem processed and idealized.

The QC models to me tended to be more “polished” with too much gain and over-hyped low end.

I had a really hard time dialing in a clean Plexi tone and the AC30 was pure garbage. Like a caricature made by someone who has heard of an AC30 but has no idea what they’re actually supposed to sound like.

 

[la szum]

Yeah, I always intend on experimenting with edge of breakup tones, but then I load up a Bassman or Plexi and everything I want is right there.

Technically speaking, in today's world, those are both EOB style amps.

 

[la szum]

The QC models to me tended to be more “polished” with too much gain and over-hyped low end.

Pretty sure Cliff posted about this on the Fractal Forum---i.e., how certain freqs are artificially hyped in the QC.

He had like graphs and shit.

 

[jellodog]

Technically speaking, in today's world, those are both EOB stgyle amps.

 

[mikah912]

View attachment 10578

Edge of breakup?

 

[northern_fox]

Interesting, I had the opposite experience where the Fractal amps seem more natural and “what the amps actually sound like” while the QC amps seem processed and idealized.

The QC models to me tended to be more “polished” with too much gain and over-hyped low end.

I had a really hard time dialing in a clean Plexi tone and the AC30 was pure garbage. Like a caricature made by someone who has heard of an AC30 but has no idea what they’re actually supposed to sound like.

I'm referring to captures mainly - I don't know much about the QC models or what they're made up of. A good capture will sound just about exactly like your amp if done right

 

[jellodog]

Edge of breakup?

Um... it's just Ed that confused by being name-checked. I know what's happening here

 

[Mongillo19]

I'm referring to captures mainly - I don't know much about the QC models or what they're made up of. A good capture will sound just about exactly like your amp if done right

Yeah if you aren't using the captures on the QC and soley the models ( and don't plan on using captures) I'd have a hard time recommending the device. The modeling on the QC is fine but I think their are better options out there

I swear I have proper grammar. I blame it on autocorrect

 

[northern_fox]

I bring that up in the FAS forums and people act like I'm crazy

People on vendor specific forums aren't usually the most objective lens for that stuff, and once you spend a lot of time with a specific device your ear also tends to adapt to it a bit IMO

 

[la szum]

So if the QC's effects and modeling are not up to par with competitors, and captures
are were it shines, then why the fuck not just Tone X and save $1500, more or less, and
then have a product that does captures better.

I just don't get the appeal at the price point it is at. You can better modeling, and better
captures, and better effects with other brands. And it is pretty much widely agreed at
this point that that is the case.

 

[northern_fox]

Main upside I see is the compact form factor and UI, and ability to combine captures. Sometimes what suites your use case the best isn't the same thing as what's technically better in other respects, and the listener isn't gonna know what's what anyway

 

[metropolis_4]

I'm referring to captures mainly - I don't know much about the QC models or what they're made up of. A good capture will sound just about exactly like your amp if done right

Yeah, I agree with that. Captures sound great

 

[la szum]

Haha! It was rhetorical? Meant to incite thought and consideration, and not to convince or sway.

 

[metropolis_4]

So if the QC's effects and modeling are not up to par with competitors, and captures
are were it shines, then why the fuck not just Tone X and save $1500, more or less, and
then have a product that does captures better.

I just don't get the appeal at the price point it is at. You can better modeling, and better
captures, and better effects with other brands. And it is pretty much widely agreed at
this point that that is the case.

For me at that point it became “why not Kemper?”

For my use Captures and Profiles sound and respond equally good but the Kemper has better effects and way better footswitching/controllability for my uses.

Plus Kemper has a much larger library of really great 3rd party content you don’t have to dig to find

 

[fretworn]

So if the QC's effects and modeling are not up to par with competitors, and captures
are were it shines, then why the fuck not just Tone X and save $1500, more or less, and
then have a product that does captures better.

I just don't get the appeal at the price point it is at. You can better modeling, and better
captures, and better effects with other brands. And it is pretty much widely agreed at
this point that that is the case.

Why do guys think they want to bring home strippers?

 

[mikah912]

So if the QC's effects and modeling are not up to par with competitors, and captures
are were it shines, then why the fuck not just Tone X and save $1500, more or less, and
then have a product that does captures better.

I just don't get the appeal at the price point it is at. You can better modeling, and better
captures, and better effects with other brands. And it is pretty much widely agreed at
this point that that is the case.

Well, there's also the touchscreen, form factor and processing power on tap. Those are big selling points and a large part of why people cared about this before they heard a single note come from it. They're still pretty significant difference-makers. They don't have to have the best models or even the best captures.