Quad Cortex (A Love Story) Round 2

[fretworn]

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.

 

[northern_fox]

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

For me it was because I don't vibe with the weirdness in how Kemper direct and cab IRs interact with each other, the serial routing, and the other minor stuff. Plus they are still crazy expensive

 

[mikah912]

For me it was because I don't vibe with the weirdness in how Kemper direct and cab IRs interact with each other, the serial routing, and the other minor stuff. Plus they are still crazy expensive

The serial routing and "old" UI are big reasons why QC had the hype it did in the first place. But given the processing power of a Kemper....I don't see any other way they could pull it off.

 

[Elric]

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.

IME, the differences between ToneX and QC captures is not in the audible range for me personally. I know people have done null tests, etc, and say ToneX is "more accurate". But there's a certain point where I just don't care, I can use the QC to do a cap and A/B the device I am capturing with the cap itself in-line on the QC... if it sucks I reshoot it. I am happy with the quality of the QCs caps to the point where I don't feel the need to even bother with ToneX any further and it would take a really compelling new prduct to make me consider a switch. And wrt to accuracy, I still have my real hardware if I want that exact tone with "100% accuracy". LOL.

And the QC capture does not take hours to complete or require any extra hardware.

Once the cap is done you can place it anywhere in the signal chain and mix and match with all the FX/models/other caps/etc, all in the same box with a nice intuitive UI.

If you just don't 'get it' I guess that's fair but its pretty easy to see the appeal and where the value add is if you use the device for a while. Folks hung up on the specs or what is supposedly 'missing' will continue to not "get it", either.

The models are pretty great too and they are updating them over time also. So there's *that* as well. It's getting to the point where it can hold its own just with the models.

It's a nice unit with a lot to offer at this point, even if that does upset some people. LOL.

 

[metropolis_4]

For me it was because I don't vibe with the weirdness in how Kemper direct and cab IRs interact with each other, the serial routing, and the other minor stuff. Plus they are still crazy expensive

I didn't like direct Profiles + IRs either, but I never bothered to use them. There's a synergy with studio Profiles that feels better to me than digital models + IRs.

I was worried the serial routing would be a major problem for me, but it ended up not being a big deal. I can totally see how it could be a deal breaker for some though.

The big thing it came down to for me is which one I'm going to want at my feet during a gig in the heat of battle. I trusted the Kemper more than the QC, and Performance mode in Kemper is just so far beyond the footswitching abilities of the QC. That's still the biggest weakness of the QC. I don't even know how I would be able to use one live. I'd need to program a bunch of MIDI controllers or something

 

[SeeD]

The thing I love is, using a Capture into a capture, into a capture. This is fun, and to be able to capture anything is also a good thing.
+ it`s just easy to use, and it sounds good. I wonder what other device I could switch to... I can`t think of a device like this. But I hope we get more like it in the future, that would make it easy to switch

 

[JiveTurkey]

Wasn't there a latency problem with captures/multiple caps here? Did they address it?

 

[Gearzilla]

 

[mikah912]

Wasn't there a latency problem with captures/multiple caps here? Did they address it?

I thought that was Headrush Prime?!? I hopped off the QC Express back when it was on 1.4.x, I believe...and I didn't have an issue using multiple caps in serial or parallel causing latency issues.

 

[cragginshred]

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

True if all you use is a modeler it's easy to forget how good a real amp sounds

 

[Mongillo19]

I thought that was Headrush Prime?!? I hopped off the QC Express back when it was on 1.4.x, I believe...and I didn't have an issue using multiple caps in serial or parallel causing latency issues.

There was talk about latency issues but it appears to have been corrected

 

[DrewJD82]

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

Hahahah I know, what I was saying is I start off intending to try other ones, but get everything out of those two and never feel the need to venture further. Wiseass.

 

[TimOwens316]

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.

LOL, graphs or it didn't happen

 

[spawnofthesith]

I want fractal tones in a QC interface at an HX Stomp price point

 

[Whizzinby]

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.

It’s the only box that models, captures, and has a modern UI with wireless/cloud capabilities. The appeal is not really a Hardy Boy mystery.

The company sucks. The device is pretty cool though.

 

[northern_fox]

Wasn't there a latency problem with captures/multiple caps here? Did they address it?

I thought that was Headrush Prime?!? I hopped off the QC Express back when it was on 1.4.x, I believe...and I didn't have an issue using multiple caps in serial or parallel causing latency issues.

There was increased latency as you stacked a lot of stuff. It is actually resolved now and latency overall is same or less than fm3

That was the best part of the update imo

 

[mbenigni]

There was increased latency as you stacked a lot of stuff. It is actually resolved now and latency overall is same or less than fm3

That was the best part of the update imo

We're talking about the 2.1 upgrade here? I'm (finally) updating from 2.0.3 right now. :)

 

[northern_fox]

We're talking about the 2.1 upgrade here? I'm (finally) updating from 2.0.3 right now. :)

Yep!

 

[Mongillo19]

Yep!

2.1 is so two days ago. Cool kids play 2.1.1

 

[Whizzinby]

Yeah updating to 2.1.1 as we speak.

I haven’t really ventured much past The Midnight presets and Aborted Hotub Haiku in the last day.

Anyone got some other cool presets to try?

The Myth Drive is the undisputed champion of OD’s for high gain presets on the QC. Slap that joker in front of a 5150/5153 with the gain at 0.5 and level at 8.0 and roll. (I’ve noticed that tonally something happens with the gain just barely on versus entirely off like normal) Doesn’t sound like most Klon Klones I’ve used, but it really pairs great with any high gain model.