Quad Cortex plugin support officially goes from "soon" to "eventually"

[mbenigni]

The double standard for me comes strictly from the "arrogance at launch" factor. If it floats your boat; that's what all this is about. Other than repetitive griping

On the bolded part; I agree 1000%. That all being said; it's an absolute TREAT when coupled with some curated FX

Yeah, the ToneX does sound incredible with the right capture/ profile/ IK-calls-it-a-model-which-drives-me-bananas loaded. A handful of the factory "models" had me convinced I was hearing my 4x12 when it was actually my near-fields.

And the LRS '79 Champ and Armored Sabot... OMG.

 

[JiveTurkey]

Yeah, the ToneX does sound incredible with the right capture/ profile/ IK-calls-it-a-model-which-drives-me-bananas loaded. A handful of the factory models had me convinced I was hearing my 4x12 when it was actually my near-fields.

And LRS' '79 Champ and Armored Sabot... OMG.

Look up TexHex. He has a TON of caps using a Mesa OS 412. They sound STELLAR \m/

 

[Gearzilla]

4. Use your Quad Cortex.

The parade of double standards on this one is just a little glaring. I get that the ToneX was only $400, but that's not nothing. From there we have: also stole its most fundamental selling point from Kemper (and in more specific terms, one could argue, from NDSP! But here, no one cares.) Has a genuinely f***ed up UI (whereas on NDSP we managed to ferret out a couple of details we didn't love. But here, no one cares.) Comes from big corporate entity with a long history of selling lots of discrete products a la microtransactions, as if they were trying to *gasp* make money. (Not IK, surely...)

I don't want to overstate my frustration. The ToneX pedal is cool, and it is a GREAT value. But it's actually been a distraction for me, more than anything else. I probably shouldn't have rushed to register the half dozen software products that came with (I think), because now I don't know how to put the genie back in the bottle.

Spoiler

Fractal is King

 

[mbenigni]

Look up TexHex. He has a TON of caps using a Mesa OS 412. They sound STELLAR \m/

I'm actually having trouble finding really good DI "models", that I can run effectively into power amp and 4x12. As noted, there's some great full-path stuff for running into "FR", but I've yet to find anything DI that sounds any better than my Quilter preamp, or HX, or whatever. I'm sure they're out there, but I'm having considerable difficulty with the (dis)organization - i.e. not knowing when I'm rolling from DI to full to stompboxes, etc., and with software integration.

 

[mbenigni]

Spoiler

Fractal is King

I don't doubt it.

 

[Gearzilla]

I'm actually having trouble finding really good DI "models", that I can run effectively into power amp and 4x12. As noted, there's some great full-path stuff for running into "FR", but I've yet to find anything DI that sounds any better than my Quilter preamp, or HX, or whatever. I'm sure they're out there, but I'm having considerable difficulty with the (dis)organization - i.e. not knowing when I'm rolling from DI to full to stompboxes, etc. and software integration.

I think the snapshot paradigm in general can sound good with the right Profile/Capture/Tone Model, but overall I still prefer working with component modeling.

 

[JiveTurkey]

I'm actually having trouble finding really good DI "models", that I can run effectively into power amp and 4x12. As noted, there's some great full-path stuff for running into "FR", but I've yet to find anything DI that sounds any better than my Quilter preamp, or HX, or whatever. I'm sure they're out there, but I'm having considerable difficulty with the (dis)organization - i.e. not knowing when I'm rolling from DI to full to stompboxes, etc. and software integration.

I agree with you completely. You have whackamole PTSD and the Tone-X isn't really any more comforting in that regard either

 

[mbenigni]

I think this paradigm in general can sound good with the right Profile/Capture/Tone Model, but overall I still prefer working with component modeling.

All things being equal, me too. Even on QC, where both are available at the press of a button, I'm usually running models. (I don't know whether these are component-level models per se, but they function as such.)

 

[mbenigni]

I agree with you completely. You have whackamole PTSD and the Tone-X isn't really any more comforting in that regard either

It's massively exacerbated by the fact that you try digging into any given cleverly-named preset only to find an even more incomprehensibly cleverly-named amp and/or cab. I think. I'm never entirely sure WTF I'm looking at. And I'm only looking at the first 8 characters anyway.

 

[Gearzilla]

I don't doubt it.

After all these years with digital modeling you should at least check them out once. There is the 14 day trial period.

 

[Deadpan]

I'm running a capture with the Quad Cortex of my Matchless HC30 right now. Ran some yesterday with Tonex. Hmmm.

 

[metropolis_4]

4. Use your Quad Cortex.

The parade of double standards on this one is just a little glaring. I get that the ToneX was only $400, but that's not nothing. From there we have: also stole its most fundamental selling point from Kemper (and in more specific terms, one could argue, from NDSP! But here, no one cares.) Has a genuinely f***ed up UI (whereas on NDSP we managed to ferret out a couple of details we didn't love. But here, no one cares.) Comes from big corporate entity with a long history of selling lots of discrete products a la microtransactions, as if they were trying to *gasp* make money. (Not IK, surely...)

I don't want to overstate my frustration. The ToneX pedal is cool, and it is a GREAT value. But it's actually been a distraction for me, more than anything else. I probably shouldn't have rushed to register the half dozen software products that came with (I think), because now I don't know how to put the genie back in the bottle.

The fact I’m even considering a ToneX is a true sign of how much I’ve wanted Kemper to make this product.

I can’t stand IK. I have some bad history with their products and they are the King of Micro-transactions.

But the ToneX seems to be exactly the device I’ve been dreaming about someone making for years: a compact pedal with MIDI access to 127 amp tones with gapless switching.

It might finally be possible for me to build the modular MIDI controlled rig I’ve been wanting

 

[JiveTurkey]

I'm running a capture with the Quad Cortex of my Matchless HC30 right now. Ran some yesterday with Tonex. Hmmm.

 

[mbenigni]

After all these years with digital modeling you should at least check them out once. There is the 14 day trial period.

It doesn't seem fair to Fractal, honestly. I'm 99% sure it would be a "buy for a week to appease my curiosity and send right back", just by virtue of form factor. The bottom line here is that I'm really satisfied with the QC. I like the form factor and I like the UI/UX in ways that I can clearly see, from a distance, none of Fractal's products are going to match. But I can also appreciate, from a distance, that Fractal offers a metric ton more content, deep editing, footswitch programming, etc.

The other bottom line is I already spend far too little time playing guitar and too much time faffing over gear minutiae (hello ToneX.) Serving yet another master wouldn't do me any good (much less +/- $1K worth of good.)

 

[JiveTurkey]

It doesn't seem fair to Fractal, honestly. I'm 99% sure it would be a "buy for a week to appease my curiosity and send right back", just by virtue of form factor. The bottom line here is that I'm really satisfied with the QC. I like the form factor and I like the UI/UX in ways that I can clearly see, from a distance, none of Fractal's products are going to match. But I can also appreciate, from a distance, that Fractal offers a metric ton more content, deep editing, footswitch programming, etc.

The other bottom line is I already spend far too little time playing guitar and too much time faffing over gear minutiae (hello ToneX.) Serving yet another master wouldn't do me any good (much less +/- $1K worth of good.)

Think of all the content we could have created*

 

[mbenigni]

I'm running a capture with the Quad Cortex of my Matchless HC30 right now. Ran some yesterday with Tonex. Hmmm.

Have you done QC captures of the Sabot or the '79 Champ?

 

[Gearzilla]

It doesn't seem fair to Fractal, honestly. I'm 99% sure it would be a "buy for a week to appease my curiosity and send right back", just by virtue of form factor. The bottom line here is that I'm really satisfied with the QC. I like the form factor and I like the UI/UX in ways that I can clearly see, from a distance, none of Fractal's products are going to match. But I can also appreciate, from a distance, that Fractal offers a metric ton more content, deep editing, footswitch programming, etc.

The other bottom line is I already spend far too little time playing guitar and too much time faffing over gear minutiae (hello ToneX.) Serving yet another master wouldn't do me any good (much less +/- $1K worth of good.)

Wondering what’s the advantage for you with the Quad Cortex vs just going the plugin route?

 

[mbenigni]

The fact I’m even considering a ToneX is a true sign of how much I’ve wanted Kemper to make this product.

I can’t stand IK. I have some bad history with their products and they are the King of Micro-transactions.

But the ToneX seems to be exactly the device I’ve been dreaming about someone making for years: a compact pedal with MIDI access to 127 amp tones with gapless switching.

It might finally be possible for me to build the modular MIDI controlled rig I’ve been wanting

Once you get past the initial growing pains (basically, getting content sensibly organized and loaded in) it will probably be perfect for you. I'm still in the middle of those growing pains, and I've already lost track of what I was trying to accomplish in the fist place.

 

[JiveTurkey]

My Tone-X growing pains went away when I had 2 good caps of the BL and found some great 3rd party stuff. That software is not for me and my advice is to get yourself situated as fast as possible and interact with it as little as possible.

 

[mbenigni]

Wondering what’s the advantage for you with the Quad Cortex vs just going the plugin route?

Short answer: I hate computers. (Ask me about my fulfilling career LOL.)

Long answer: I don't gig anymore, but I'll probably never give up on the hope that gigging will resume soon. And even if it doesn't, I like to play in different places in this room, or around the house, through different sorts of gear (monitors vs. combo amps vs. power amps + cabs) and I enjoy a hardware solution I can unplug and carry to wherever I need it. If I do happen to "deploy" at a PC, I need a footcontroller and an interface anyway, so a hardware modeler is attractive either way.

As for QC specifically, I like programming on the device more than I like connecting to an editor app and mousing around. Lots of controls, tactile feedback, etc.