Quad Cortex - Neural DSP

#3,421
Also forgot: I am pretty good at creating and modifying sounds on the stomp, how is the learning curve on the QC? It looks really simple and intuitive. And how are the octave effects? I know that the C4 is able to do way more than the QC, but will it be able to get a good octave sound at least?
 
#3,422
PotsdamBass8 said:
I’m thinking about the QC and trying to decide if it’s a good idea or not, so naturally I’m going to ask a bunch of people who already love it so I can get some confirmation bias 😂

I currently have a Stomp, C4, and tech 21 VTDI. I use IEMs and usually either use no amp or a combo amp for monitoring on stage. The VTDI was my way of getting a good FOH/IEM sound without having to waste blocks in the stomp and for amps and sends to have a signal go to my onstage amp without the amp blocks. I’m happy with my setup, but always like exploring options.

Here are the things I would like in the QC:
The extra switches and extra room for multiple blocks. I’m in a cover band, and like being able to hit a switch to get a more dubby sound for hip hop and R&B, get a nice slap sound, a slightly gritty sound, a more distorted sound, a fuzz sound, etc. I’m at my limit with the stomp even with an extra 2 button foot switch. I also like to be able to add an eq block with a distortion or something else, and this takes up space really quickly with the stomp.
I really like how the QC has a DI and I would be able to do everything in the box in terms of having an amp block for the FOH and not for the on stage combo.
The library of captures sounds awesome. The overdrive and distortion blocks on the stomp are good, but I feel limited with them. There are guitar ones that sound good if you have the space to add other blocks, but again you run out of space really quickly. I used to have a great distortion sound I used with an original band but it took about 5 blocks just for that one sound.


Things I’m not sure about with the QC:
The amps list looks pretty short. Are there more coming down the pike? I assume amp captures don’t have anything you can tweak, you’d just have to add eq to change anything on it, right? So you’re kind of stuck hoping you find a capture you really like.

How is the durability/reliability?

How does the sound compare? I haven’t used a ton of modelers, but I know the difference between a Zoom B3N and the Stomp was pretty drastic IMO. Does the QC go much further than the stomp? There are definitely times when I’ve played tube amps (V4B, SVT2, DB751) that just sounded amazing in a way I haven’t heard from the stomp. I don’t know how much of that is the modeling and how much is just the variables surrounding playing in a different room and with different cabs.

Anything else I should think about?

I appreciate any and all advice!
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You won't be ditching your C4 any time soon. I have a C4 on my board as well and it's not going anywhere any time soon. The H9 is the closest thing that can do what it does but the C4 can still do it better due to its editing and parameter capabilities. For as good as the stomp is with its capabilities, the QC has it beat far and away as far as user interface and having a user friendly interface and exp overall IMO.

Most captures are good to great to usable. Remember too, there are quite a number of amps captured as well in the cloud. But the included amps are pretty darn good IMO. You may not need to go much further than them. But if you do/did, the cloud has a lot to pick from too. There may be more coming from Neural but I'm not sure. And as far as the captures from the cloud go, you will still have some limited control over bass, mid, treble, gain and output. Those can be adjust off of the captured sound. If that makes sense...

I think the QC does goes further than the stomp for the reasons I've already mentioned and I do think it sounds better sonically too. That's highly subjective though. But the stomp has much more to offer in the way of effects. I could get away with what's offered in the QC. But I prefer most my dirt from other sources. QC stuff is good, better than the stomps for the most part, but I am really picky about my dirt. Durability and reliability is very good. I don't tour or play out much. But I do take it out to jam weekly and have had my unit for like over 2 years now and it's been good. No real scratches or dents. Solid.

PotsdamBass8 said:
Also forgot: I am pretty good at creating and modifying sounds on the stomp, how is the learning curve on the QC? It looks really simple and intuitive. And how are the octave effects? I know that the C4 is able to do way more than the QC, but will it be able to get a good octave sound at least?
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I can say this, the QC does have pitch and octave effects. But IMO, they are passable. Not what I would say "great". And the better one is in the Gojira plugin so you'd have to buy it/get it free when you make an account with the Neural Cloud. If you still can. However, that could change once the Rabea plugin X drops. It looks to have a pretty decent synth engine/effect in it. Time will tell there.

IMO, yes, the QC is just as intuitive and easy to use and set up if not more so than the stomp. I have and use the stomp often as well and the QC is more user friendly to me. I still don't do great with scenes but you can set up presets and switch between them with ease and speed.
 
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#3,424
On other units like the Boss Gt1000, there was a really sweet spot for setting gain. Anything outside of that range sounded terrible.

With the QC, I've not noticed that although it has so much headroom that setting the input gain higher just before it starts clipping results in everything being impossible to tame I found.

I can't remember what I ended up at, but Im sure I ended up pulling down the gain.
 
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#3,425
gregmon79 said:
We’ve touched on input gain and where to set haven’t we? I’ve seen some content on YT lately. I’m curious where you all set yours at.
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a lot of the discussions/arguments are dealing with gain settings for external interfaces so they're not totally applicable if you're talking about using the QC on its own. My approach is leaving the main I/O levels at zero and adjusting gains/voumes within the blocks if I'm tweaking tones toward either end of the gain spectrum. I've experimented a lot with the I/O settings and the results have convinced me I don't need to change the input or impedance levels for bass.
I see lots of magic formulas shared on the forums, and try them all just in case, but none have made enough (or any) difference to use as default
 
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#3,426
xush said:
a lot of the discussions/arguments are dealing with gain settings for external interfaces so they're not totally applicable if you're talking about using the QC on its own. My approach is leaving the main I/O levels at zero and adjusting gains/voumes within the blocks if I'm tweaking tones toward either end of the gain spectrum. I've experimented a lot with the I/O settings and the results have convinced me I don't need to change the input or impedance levels for bass.
I see lots of magic formulas shared on the forums, and try them all just in case, but none have made enough (or any) difference to use as default
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Seems like it applies a lot more in regard to when using it as an audio interface and in broader digital systems especially if you're using it a lot with amp and cab sims/IR's. Of course it can affect everything across the board.
 
#3,427
I've been pretty tempted by the Nano Cortex recently. I really don't use more than an amp capture, delay, and reverb on a regular basis. I'm not doing any of the complex routing I was anticipating, etc. I also do love my pedals.

The main thing that puts me off is that I've really been enjoying the convenience of the QC as an audio interface and being able to get a dry version in case I want to re-amp it later. Lack of any fx loop means I'd need another DI for the dry pre-pedal signal.

Does anyone else have both? Tbh, I think there's no real reason for me to down size, but there's still an itch there. Having the plugin support on the QC is pretty cool too.
 
#3,429
A couple more questions:

Are there any guitar overdrive/distortion pedals that work well on bass when blended with clean (with minimal tweaking)? On the Stomp, the Timmy just works great in a parallel path, much better than the bass specific distortions.

With captures, does the gain knob approximate adjusting the gain of the captured pedal? In other words if I find the gain too high or low, will adjusting the gain work the way I would expect? It seems likely but just wanted to check.

Thanks!
 
#3,430
PotsdamBass8 said:
A couple more questions:

1. Are there any guitar overdrive/distortion pedals that work well on bass when blended with clean (with minimal tweaking)? On the Stomp, the Timmy just works great in a parallel path, much better than the bass specific distortions.

2. With captures, does the gain knob approximate adjusting the gain of the captured pedal? In other words if I find the gain too high or low, will adjusting the gain work the way I would expect? It seems likely but just wanted to check.

Thanks!
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1. I guess it depends on what specific tones you're shooting for, but in general ALL the dist/OD/fuzz models and captures work pretty well with bass. If you haven't seen the device list that compiles all the Factory models and captures on the QC, here's one: Quad Cortex device list

2. Not really. A capture is a static imprint of ONE tone. The intent is to capture the exact tone you're wanting to duplicate. The post-settings/controls only work in a general sense, not like they specifically would on that particular piece of gear. You can tweak the EQ or gain level, but the controls will not respond exactly like the device being captured would have.
 
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#3,431
Yeah the Gain on a capture doesn’t necessarily behave like the Gain on the original pedal. Think of it more like having a volume in-front of the pedal to cut/boost the signal going in.

Often drive pedal controls are quite interactive and nuanced so pushing the Gain on the pedal or tweaking the EQ might have side effects it’d be impossible to anticipate.

I do wonder if you could take 2 captures and blend between them.
 
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