Quad Cortex PCOM (Plugin COMpatibility) slated by Q2 2024

[DrewJD82]

Tonight was much better for me! Hopefully you can get back to it as well!

It happens to me every couple weeks, some days I just hear treble so much more than anything else and it completely throws me off considerably. I had to ruin a few mixes before I realized what was happening and it was me, not the gear/mix.

 

[ejecta]

 

[2112]

Editor seems pretty good so far. Pinned devices and local backups are excellent additions, but the whole "hybrid mode" thing for the foot switches seems so unnecessarily complicated for a unit with so much emphasis placed on UI. Just like every other unit out there, I much prefer having a dedicated software editor for building patches and managing the device.

 

[laxu]

Editor seems pretty good so far. Pinned devices and local backups are excellent additions, but the whole "hybrid mode" thing for the foot switches seems so unnecessarily complicated for a unit with so much emphasis placed on UI. Just like every other unit out there, I much prefer having a dedicated software editor for building patches and managing the device.

I really dig the tones you got there, but that 2203 seems to have way more gain than the real deal and the Klon model seems to be still kinda crap where it also has tons of gain when it shouldn't. This is always that "sounds good, but it's not really accurate" deal.

I'd be interested to see how the drives and fx compare to Fractal or Line6 in their current state. The QC was hit and miss for me at launch.

 

[Mongillo19]

I'd be interested to see how the drives and fx compare to Fractal or Line6 in their current state. The QC was hit and miss for me at launch.

The drives on the QC always seem to turn the amp into a chug fest.

HX has the best drives imo. I think fractal has the best delays and reverbs whereas the QCs are kinda embarrassing imo. They need to get to work on those.

 

[Aleksi]

I really dig the tones you got there, but that 2203 seems to have way more gain than the real deal and the Klon model seems to be still kinda crap where it also has tons of gain when it shouldn't. This is always that "sounds good, but it's not really accurate" deal.

I'd be interested to see how the drives and fx compare to Fractal or Line6 in their current state. The QC was hit and miss for me at launch.

I did some A/B testing between the QC and FM3 before I sold the QC. Comparing the same drives, the QC usually had noticeably more low end and gain, especially the Klon. The newer amp models compared more favourably to the FM3. The Fractal and HX drives sound super close to each other and can often be matched very closely with relatively small adjustments.

 

[laxu]

I did some A/B testing between the QC and FM3 before I sold the QC. Comparing the same drives, the QC usually had noticeably more low end and gain, especially the Klon. The newer amp models compared more favourably to the FM3. The Fractal and HX drives sound super close to each other and can often be matched very closely with relatively small adjustments.

Matches my experience when at QC release I had the FM3 and Helix Floor as well. I'm interested if anything in that regard has changed in the past few years.

 

[Lysander]

I did some A/B testing between the QC and FM3 before I sold the QC. Comparing the same drives, the QC usually had noticeably more low end and gain, especially the Klon.

Everything in the QC has very exaggerated low end, in my experience. Doesn't mean it sounds bad, but there's a reason the unit seems to appeal mostly to modern metal players.

 

[TubeStack]

I have pretty simple effects needs. Keeping that in mind, so far with the QC, I'd say:

- Phase 90 is way better than HX and almost as good as FAS
- Uni-Vibe is not as good as HX or FAS (FAS is best, by far)
- chorus and flanger sound good to me, same/equal to HX/FAS?; not too fussy about these

- SD1 is great, love it, Marshall Blues Breaker also seems good, although I've never owned that actual pedal
- the captures I've made of my own drives turned out FANTASTIC and have been a big plus of owning the QC; they're unique pedals and not modelled anywhere (MXR CBMOD, Keely Fuzz Head)
> all my drive use is boosting an amp's crunch channel, not the main drive tone

- delays are useable but not super inspiring or wow-inducing; I'm happy with the Analog Delay though, and can get similar results to HX's Transistor Tape, which is my favourite out of all HX/FAS delays
- I do wish the delays had an overall level boost available, instead of needing another block for a volume boost

- reverb sounds fine to me, though I barely use it, just very light at home for size/warmth and on cleans live

- octave down or up is great, equal to HX and much better than FAS (could never get an octave down I liked with FAS, had to use the Ring Mod?)

All ^^^ IMO, of course.

 

[eggpl@nt]

I really dig the tones you got there, but that 2203 seems to have way more gain than the real deal and the Klon model seems to be still kinda crap where it also has tons of gain when it shouldn't. This is always that "sounds good, but it's not really accurate" deal.

I'd be interested to see how the drives and fx compare to Fractal or Line6 in their current state. The QC was hit and miss for me at launch.

This comment made me think... NDSP probably would have been the perfect company to release a modeler that wasn't trying to model specific gear to the nth degree of accuracy. Whether or not the market would have accepted that is up for debate, maybe, but many of their plugins operate within that same concept--the source material is obfuscated just enough that "accuracy" matters a lot less than sounding and feeling good.

Like, an approach where all the models are custom NDSP amps, then Captures fill in the "I need this specific amp" gaps, could have been really interesting.

 

[Mongillo19]

This comment made me think... NDSP probably would have been the perfect company to release a modeler that wasn't trying to model specific gear to the nth degree of accuracy. Whether or not the market would have accepted that is up for debate, maybe, but many of their plugins operate within that same concept--the source material is obfuscated just enough that "accuracy" matters a lot less than sounding and feeling good.

Like, an approach where all the models are custom NDSP amps, then Captures fill in the "I need this specific amp" gaps, could have been really interesting.

You could even go one further and they could have released a plugin player and made a haul

 

[laxu]

This comment made me think... NDSP probably would have been the perfect company to release a modeler that wasn't trying to model specific gear to the nth degree of accuracy. Whether or not the market would have accepted that is up for debate, maybe, but many of their plugins operate within that same concept--the source material is obfuscated just enough that "accuracy" matters a lot less than sounding and feeling good.

Like, an approach where all the models are custom NDSP amps, then Captures fill in the "I need this specific amp" gaps, could have been really interesting.

Absolutely. References to real world gear will always draw those comparisons, nit picking etc.

A story I like to tell is that back in the late 1990s/early 2000s, I owned a Yamaha DG80 combo. Line6's approach at the time with the Flextone 2 etc was the familiar "models this and that classic amp". So people were doing the usual "it doesn't sound like a real tube amp" complaints.

Yamaha on the other hand never mentions a single real amp anywhere. You can hear there are definitely inspirations of Soldano SLO, Marshall Superlead, Fender Blackface, Vox AC30 etc in all the amp models, but their names are completely generic Lead 1/2, Drive 1/2, Crunch 1/2 and Clean 1/2. Nobody who tried the Yamaha DG ever complained that it didn't sound good or it didn't sound like whatever tube amp. They could just appreciate it on its own terms.

Similarly I'm never wondering if my BluGuitar Amp 1 ME sounds exactly like a Marshall Superlead or JCM800 or SLO, I just know that it does a really good sound in the style of those amps. It's also why I'm not at all worried about what the upcoming Amp X can do in terms of amps, I know it's going to sound real good even if it doesn't have more than a handful of amps to choose from.

 

[Aleksi]

I have pretty simple effects needs. Keeping that in mind, so far with the QC, I'd say:

- Phase 90 is way better than HX and almost as good as FAS
- Uni-Vibe is not as good as HX or FAS (FAS is best, by far)
- chorus and flanger sound good to me, same/equal to HX/FAS?; not too fussy about these

- SD1 is great, love it, Marshall Blues Breaker also seems good, although I've never owned that actual pedal
- the captures I've made of my own drives turned out FANTASTIC and have been a big plus of owning the QC; they're unique pedals and not modelled anywhere (MXR CBMOD, Keely Fuzz Head)
> all my drive use is boosting an amp's crunch channel, not the main drive tone

- delays are useable but not super inspiring or wow-inducing; I'm happy with the Analog Delay though, and can get similar results to HX's Transistor Tape, which is my favourite out of all HX/FAS delays
- I do wish the delays had an overall level boost available, instead of needing another block for a volume boost

- reverb sounds fine to me, though I barely use it, just very light at home for size/warmth and on cleans live

- octave down or up is great, equal to HX and much better than FAS (could never get an octave down I liked with FAS, had to use the Ring Mod?)

All ^^^ IMO, of course.

Modulations are pretty good on the QC. But I think Fractal modulations are on another level. There are very few delay types, but if your need are very simple, they get the job done. But what the hell is up with the mix parameter? Pitch effects are terrible compared to FAS or HX. Reverbs are a bit shit, they all sound like the variations on the same bathroom. There's small bathroom, large bathroom, long bathroom and cavernous bathroom.

 

[Aleksi]

Matches my experience when at QC release I had the FM3 and Helix Floor as well. I'm interested if anything in that regard has changed in the past few years.

This was a few weeks ago, actually. Probably hasn't changed all that much since release.

 

[GTR37]

It funny when I owned the Cortex I thought the JCM800
Jubilee were really good models the Fractals were always just kind of on the darker side and I preferred the QC Marshall by a tiny bit
Fast fwd to the latest Fractal updates of the 2203 and 2204
And Silver , now the Fractal seems to have that top end sparkle but also more body overall and is much more dynamic and is now my preference but a good margin

 

[Whizzinby]

I think the Marshall’s are really solid on the QC.

Fractal has set the bar so high with Marshall’s that it’s almost unfair to hold that against others.

Neural should model a JVM. That would round out their M offerings and would seemingly hit the sweet spot of the user base.

 

[TubeStack]

I don't love the QC 2203 model, actually found the recent HX one to be much better.

I have found a REALLY good user-created 2203 capture, though. Also like the Jub 2555 factory captures.

As a side note: nothing is really comparing to my own captures of my Electra Dyne, regardless of model/capture/amp brand.

Setting my own preference/obsession with that amp aside , I'm wondering if it's more because my capture includes the speaker impedance curve of the actual cab I'm using when playing the capture, if that makes sense?

Not sure if it's placebo, but it does seem to give that extra realism/holy sh*it factor. It reminds me of the differences in detail/accuracy/feel when I got the SIC right in the FM9, for example. Whereas when I play other users' or factory captures, or the factory models, the SIC piece of the puzzle seems missing and it feels/sounds a little flat.

(As background: I made the capture using the Slave Out on the Dyne head, with the head connected to my Recto 2x12 cab and still producing sound. And when I play the capture, I'm using the same 2x12 cab with my Matrix as a power amp.)

 

[mikah912]

I don't love the QC 2203 model, actually found the recent HX one to be much better.

I have found a REALLY good user-created 2203 capture, though. Also like the Jub 2555 factory captures.

As a side note: nothing is really comparing to my own captures of my Electra Dyne, regardless of model/capture/amp brand.

Setting my own preference/obsession with that amp aside , I'm wondering if it's more because the capture includes the speaker impedance curve of the actual cab I'm using when playing the capture, if that makes sense? Not sure if it's placebo, but it does seem to give that extra realism/holy sh*it factor. It reminds me of the differences in detail/accuracy/feel when I got the SIC right in the FM9, for example. Whereas when I play other users or factory captures, or the factory models, the SIC piece of the puzzle seems missing and it feels/sounds a little flat.

(As background: I made the capture using the Slave Out on the Dyne head, with the head connected to my Recto 2x12 cab and still producing sound. And when I play the capture, I'm using the same 2x12 cab with my Matrix as a power amp.)

Kind of a broken record on this, but I stopped messing with the QC Marshall models at all once I discovered the Cloud captures from Headfirst Amplification. Maybe that guy (Jason Tong) is a capturing savant and gets the impedance curves down better than anyone. Maybe he's just a savant at modding different Marshalls to bring out the best in them. Probably both. Either way, his rather extensive collection of captures covers pretty much everything in the Marshall gain or tone spectrum I've ever wanted. Definitely the thing I miss most about owning a QC....

 

[JiveTurkey]

Kind of a broken record on this, but I stopped messing with the QC Marshall models at all once I discovered the Cloud captures from Headfirst Amplification. Maybe that guy (Jason Tong) is a capturing savant and gets the impedance curves down better than anyone. Maybe he's just a savant at modding different Marshalls to bring out the best in them. Probably both. Either way, his rather extensive collection of captures covers pretty much everything in the Marshall gain or tone spectrum I've ever wanted. Definitely the thing I miss most about owning a QC....

I thought headfirst guy was here?

 

[mikah912]

I thought headfirst guy was here?

Would be amazing if so, but I searched and didn't see a Headfirst or Jason Tong as a member/poster, nor did I see an AMA post from him either. I'm probably just overlooking something obvious.

Either way, he's got some of the best QC captures in the game, and gives so many so freely.