Quad Cortex Mini

[mbenigni]

All noise I've ever had from any USB audio device was cured by these.

iDefender+

Is your audio still plagued by hum and buzz? Using multiple plugs within your audio chain means separate earth/ground points. These multiple earth or ground points cause a ground loop problem. This creates an unwanted chain of noise, buzz and distortion. Struggle no more. iFi’s iDefender+...

www.silentpower.tech

Just need to make sure to connect the additional power on the side to it. I use the little 5W square apple usb power plugs that used to come with iPhones because I have a bunch of them sitting around.

Having one of these on hand is a must if you have a noisy USB host machine (e.g. most windows laptops.) Of course it’s not going to help eliminate noise (ground loop hum, etc.) in configurations where no USB connection is made.

Also worth noting: there are a lot of these floating around at the ~$20 price point that either do nothing in the way of attenuating noise, or fail to make a connection at all. I finally found one (old fashioned trial and error) that cleaned up my PC’s USB schmutz for about $40.

 

[Dez]

There is def something really playable about the QC. I forgot how much the 2203 kicks ass. It’s perfect. Really all all their Marshall’s are good. That Preset #1 Britt needs to be enshrined in the hall of fame. It’s kind of a litmus test. If you don’t like that preset you just aren’t going to like the QC, pack it up and send it back. 5150 is really good. The 5153’s do their thing, but I’m kind of out on them.

Just staring at the SLO plug delay on the grid…

There is nothing overly special about SLO plug effects, but they have sat so right in my ear for years that’s it’s badass to be able to add them to the grid and mix and match with other plug effects and factory amps.

I’ve always loved the Nolly plug, but those amps slap even more ass outside of the plug. Hit with different factory drives and the Cali cab they throw down. This is why plugin compat is badass, being able to easily break out the best components to create uber chains.

Otherwise really good time playing with the thing. It’s very fun to operate. Only needing to turn one encoder to tweak is really cool. Just tap parameter, turn the fixed knob. After a few minutes I was ditching Cortex Control to just use the device.

Some oddities:
When you select a new device, I wish you didn’t have to hit the checkbox again to confirm. My hand naturally just wants to select the type then tap off to the grid to edit, but without hitting the checkmark it just reverts back to the original device.

I wish when you went to change device it defaulted to those colorful icons on the left immediately with the names, for some reason it’s non-labeled greyed out icons until you tap it again? Like you’re in a level within a level.

Why the F are all the modulations at 100% mix by default? Seems like 50% should be the defaults. I need to take the time to change those. Just weird to have those set there.
____________________

The new Studio and Nordic Hall reverbs are really good. I forgot about the Flanger and Chorus engines. Those are sweet. Myth drive is still the goat.

Off to a good start, it’s a really cool device. They nailed the form factor.

I think you hit the nail on the head with this review - I pretty much feel the same about all of, including your oddities points

 

[R590]

There is def something really playable about the QC. I forgot how much the 2203 kicks ass. It’s perfect. Really all all their Marshall’s are good. That Preset #1 Britt needs to be enshrined in the hall of fame. It’s kind of a litmus test. If you don’t like that preset you just aren’t going to like the QC, pack it up and send it back. 5150 is really good. The 5153’s do their thing, but I’m kind of out on them.

Just staring at the SLO plug delay on the grid…

There is nothing overly special about SLO plug effects, but they have sat so right in my ear for years that’s it’s badass to be able to add them to the grid and mix and match with other plug effects and factory amps.

I’ve always loved the Nolly plug, but those amps slap even more ass outside of the plug. Hit with different factory drives and the Cali cab they throw down. This is why plugin compat is badass, being able to easily break out the best components to create uber chains.

Otherwise really good time playing with the thing. It’s very fun to operate. Only needing to turn one encoder to tweak is really cool. Just tap parameter, turn the fixed knob. After a few minutes I was ditching Cortex Control to just use the device.

Some oddities:
When you select a new device, I wish you didn’t have to hit the checkbox again to confirm. My hand naturally just wants to select the type then tap off to the grid to edit, but without hitting the checkmark it just reverts back to the original device.

I wish when you went to change device it defaulted to those colorful icons on the left immediately with the names, for some reason it’s non-labeled greyed out icons until you tap it again? Like you’re in a level within a level.

Why the F are all the modulations at 100% mix by default? Seems like 50% should be the defaults. I need to take the time to change those. Just weird to have those set there.
____________________

The new Studio and Nordic Hall reverbs are really good. I forgot about the Flanger and Chorus engines. Those are sweet. Myth drive is still the goat.

Off to a good start, it’s a really cool device. They nailed the form factor.

Congrats! I’ve had the regular QC since launch, so the tones are what I expected, but the mini has proven to be a blast to use on the desk. I’m also a big fan of the NDSP 2203 and of course the Fractal variants. I tend to do the typical SD-1 into the front end—it just sounds right.

Coincidentally, I have a Stadium and a 1988 JCM800 arriving today. Going to be 2203s all around!

Enjoy the mini!

 

[GTR37]

Congrats! I’ve had the regular QC since launch, so the tones are what I expected, but the mini has proven to be a blast to use on the desk. I’m also a big fan of the NDSP 2203 and of course the Fractal variants. I tend to do the typical SD-1 into the front end—it just sounds right.

Coincidentally, I have a Stadium and a 1988 JCM800 arriving today. Going to be 2203s all around!

Enjoy the mini!

Will be interested to hear your take
On the Line6 compared to NDSP and Fractal when you get some time with it

 

[R590]

Will be interested to hear your take
On the Line6 compared to NDSP and Fractal when you get some time with it

I haven’t had a helix for maybe 5 years now. I’m really curious to see where it lands with the new modeling. It’s going to be a fun weekend!

 

[Whizzinby]

Riffed out on it this morning. Sounds really good. I need to try to drop something in a project to see how it’s translating in a mix. I got four presets kind of cooking, one must know his priorities…

Random thoughts and issues…

• Them adding a micro pitch is awesome. That was a big gap.
• The POG on the QC is awesome. I’ve never entirely meshed with the FAS one, which is one of the few times you can ever say that.
• I’m going to have to figure out the scene assignment because it wasn’t readily intuitive on Cortex Control. But I haven’t RTFM.
• I’m not entirely sure why they don’t group the IR Loader with the Cab in the selection screen. Same function but two different areas in the list.
• I really wish they had the plugin devices grouped with the rest of the devices. So you could select the Plini Chorus from the Modulation block for ex. It kind of creates the disconnect in content selection when you go two different areas.
• When they add the Misha effects to this thing, ho-Lee-chit!

Friggin kids passed me some cold BS, I’m going to go take some tussin and gear up for another deep dive this afternoon. Having a lot of fun with it.

 

[GTR37]

Riffed out on it this morning. Sounds really good. I need to try to drop something in a project to see how it’s translating in a mix. I got four presets kind of cooking, one must know his priorities…

View attachment 59206


Random thoughts and issues…

• Them adding a micro pitch is awesome. That was a big gap.
• The POG on the QC is awesome. I’ve never entirely meshed with the FAS one, which is one of the few times you can ever say that.
• I’m going to have to figure out the scene assignment because it wasn’t readily intuitive on Cortex Control. But I haven’t RTFM.
• I’m not entirely sure why they don’t group the IR Loader with the Cab in the selection screen. Same function but two different areas in the list.
• I really wish they had the plugin devices grouped with the rest of the devices. So you could select the Plini Chorus from the Modulation block for ex. It kind of creates the disconnect in content selection when you go two different areas.
• When they add the Misha effects to this thing, ho-Lee-chit!

Friggin kids passed me some cold BS, I’m going to go take some tussin and gear up for another deep dive this afternoon. Having a lot of fun with it.

Check out the Friedman HBE that was probably my Fav model when I had it TS808 up front and it kills

 

[Dez]

Riffed out on it this morning. Sounds really good. I need to try to drop something in a project to see how it’s translating in a mix. I got four presets kind of cooking, one must know his priorities…

View attachment 59206


Random thoughts and issues…

• Adding a micro pitch is awesome. That was a big gap.
• The POG on the QC is awesome. I’ve never entirely meshed with the FAS one, which is one of the few times you can ever say that.
• I’m going to have to figure out the scene assignment because it wasn’t readily intuitive on Cortex Control. But I haven’t RTFM.
• I’m not entirely sure why they don’t group the IR Loader with the Cab in the selection screen. Same function but two different areas in the list.
• I really wish they had the plugin devices grouped with the rest of the devices. So you could select the Plini Chorus from the Modulation block for ex. It kind of creates the disconnect in content selection when you go two different areas.
• When they add the Misha effects to this thing, ho-Lee-chit!

Friggin kids passed me some cold BS, I’m going to go take some tussin and gear up for another deep dive this afternoon. Having a lot of fun with it.

If you hold a parameter of a device on the QC, it I’ll make that parameter scene assignable - and then you can toggle which scene you want it to do what thing in

 

[Whizzinby]

If you hold a parameter of a device on the QC, it I’ll make that parameter scene assignable - and then you can toggle which scene you want it to do what thing in

I was trying to create scenes that were flipping between drives. So like A is an 808, B the Myth drive, C the SD1 etc. So the block on/off state essentially on the scenes. I think I was just using the scene cycle button and then tapping them off, which wasn’t working. (I think that’s just a holdover from what I do in FAS-land)

 

[Whizzinby]

Check out the Friedman HBE that was probably my Fav model when I had it TS808 up front and it kills

 

[SeeD]

My new fav cab is the 412 VH Fat P50, that and the Cornfield V30

 

[deadpool_25]

I was trying to create scenes that were flipping between drives. So like A is an 808, B the Myth drive, C the SD1 etc. So the block on/off state essentially on the scenes. I think I was just using the scene cycle button and then tapping them off, which wasn’t working. (I think that’s just a holdover from what I do in FAS-land)

I think you just need to hold the on/off switch for each drive block until the little scene thingy lets you know you can assign that parameter per scene.

I want a QC/Fractal mashup where I get the QC’s ease of use and capturing and PCOM, and the fractal effects and grid and channels. With that said the effects gap is starting to narrow just a little.

 

[Whizzinby]

I think you just need to hold the on/off switch for each drive block until the little scene thingy lets you know you can assign that parameter per scene.

I want a QC/Fractal mashup where I get the QC’s ease of use and capturing and PCOM, and the fractal effects and grid and channels. With that said the effects gap is starting to narrow just a little.

I haven’t really gone too deep back into the effects, but the new stuff I’ve tried (Micro pitch, Nordic Hall, Studio) is really cool. The plugin effects also seem cool as a supplemental thing. The Plini tape delay is really nice, I need to compare that against the standard Tape.

I just spent a decent amount of time with the 2203 and Nordic Hall (no other effects) and that’s some really badass (sound of rock) tones. That model holds its own against anything in the market imo. So good.

 

[Richard_G]

I must admit that my interest in this device is steadily growing.