Who's got the quad cortex?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Smash
  • Start date Start date
Read two different reviewers saying the modeled amps sound really good
but the included captures blew them away.
Then I spotted this. Gonna be a fun A/B.

list.jpg
 
You know you're getting old when this gets you more turned on than thinking about sex.

quad.png
 
One of my first concerns about the QC when it was introduced a year ago was that the foot-switches
looked too close together. Well, if you can tap dance with an HX Stomp you're good to go.

foot.jpg
 
Cliff Chase and Christophe Kemper better both start studying up on ergonomics for the 21st century
because after folks get to play with the QC I doubt they will ever again fork over $1,000+ for a Fractal
or Kemper type hardware system in their current forms.

Will review tones later since I've only been hanging on preset #001 all afternoon (a 2203 model).
 
[ Donnie B. ] said:
All.
Afternoon.

:D
Click to expand...
Throw some scraps to the hungry wolves...Well. Sounds like it is fun at least. I imagine I would stay on that preset too. I am a fairly simple guy. If I find a good sound, I don't fuck around with it too much.
 
[ Donnie B. ] said:
Cliff Chase and Christophe Kemper better both start studying up on ergonomics for the 21st century
because after folks get to play with the QC I doubt they will ever again fork over $1,000+ for a Fractal
or Kemper type hardware system in their current forms.

Will review tones later since I've only been hanging on preset #001 all afternoon (a 2203 model).
Click to expand...
I'm on my way over. See you in 5.
 
This blind shootout was posted at the Kemper forum.

Unanimous win for Kemper in both tone and feel.

Skip to 2hours 10 minutes if you just want to hear the discussion and verdict.

 
Last edited:
Monkey Man said:
This shootout was posted at the Kemper forum.
Click to expand...

This is one of MANY I think we'll see over the next 6 months. If you go back and watch enough of the XXX vs XXX videos
from throughout the years, and tally the scores, everything becomes a wash after a while.

I did a poll over on TGP a couple years ago that had options for the big three: Kemper, Axe-III, and Helix.

1. Bought XXX and still own it.
2. Bought XXX and ended up selling it.

Let the poll run for about 2 weeks and got lots of replies. Wanna guess which unit had the best retain value and which got moved the most?

I'm not going to post any clips of the QC, since there's already a ton of them that have much better production value than I can get.

I'm almost 61 with natural hearing loss coupled with the damage done via gigging SPLs. I was ready to hang with the HX Stomp out of pure
convenience. Sounds aside, the QC kills it in every other respect. Haven't played a Kemper in over a year, and my last Fractal was an AX8
close to 10 years ago so it'd be stupid for me to try and tell anyone about XXX vs XXX from a sound standpoint.

If I can close my eyes while playing, and the next thing you know 5 minutes have flown by, then it sounds good.
The fact I turned it on and was happy to explore the unit with the tones from the first stock preset says a lot.

(mostly that Neural was smart to put a really killer amp model in slot 001 as a first impression! :D)
 
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[ Donnie B. ] said:
This is one of MANY I think we'll see over the next 6 months. If you go back and watch enough of the XXX vs XXX videos
from throughout the years, and tally the scores, everything becomes a wash after a while.

I did a poll over on TGP a couple years ago that had options for the big three: Kemper, Axe-III, and Helix.

1. Bought XXX and still own it.
2. Bought XXX and ended up selling it.

Let the poll run for about 2 weeks and got lots of replies. Wanna guess which unit had the best retain value and which got moved the most?

I'm not going to post any clips of the QC, since there's already a ton of them that have much better production value than I can get.

I'm almost 61 with natural hearing loss coupled with the damage done via gigging SPLs. I was ready to hang with the HX Stomp out of pure
convenience. Sounds aside, the QC kills it in every other respect. Haven't played a Kemper in over a year, and my last Fractal was an AX8
close to 10 years ago so it'd be stupid for me to try and tell anyone about XXX vs XXX from a sound standpoint.

If I can close my eyes while playing, and the next thing you know 5 minutes have flown by, then it sounds good.
The fact I turned it on and was happy to explore the unit with the tones from the first stock preset says a lot.

(mostly that Neural was smart to put a really killer amp model in slot 001 as a first impression! :D)
Click to expand...

TGP is the unofficial forum for Helix fanboys, I already know which one had the best retain value, by TGP terms. :ROFLMAO:
For every Fractal owner over there, there’s 20 guys who think you need a degree to program it. For every Kemper owner over there, there are 30 guys with a Helix who say it’s the best modeler in existence.

Over the next year that place is going to be QC VS. Helix over and over again.

And unless NDSP adds a lot more tweakability to the QC, this Fractal fanboy will have no problem giving Fractal my money in the future. The QC, for me, would simply be a capture device only. I’m waiting on more users to demo the amp models because the guys that have done it so far haven’t shown me the high gain models are killing it. The cleans sound great, as do the captures, but for me, the jury is out on the high gain stuff. (I mean the 5153, Recto’s, Diezels, etc)
 
RevDrucifer said:
The cleans sound great, as do the captures, but for me, the jury is out on the high gain stuff. (I mean the 5153, Recto’s, Diezels, etc)
Click to expand...

I plan on going amp browsing today and will let you know what I think.
Fractal can still lay claim to "Arguably, the best sounding modeler in the world." But,
I predict that once you have a chance to fully test drive the QC under good conditions
you'll be bitten. The UI is crazy easy, fast, and intuitive. I only opened the manual after
using the thing for an hour to make sure I was doing a 'save' properly.

Quickly checked the Mark III Red captures (there's 4 of them) last night and #4 sounds
close enough to 'my tone' that I'm not even going to bother firing up the real deal for an AB.
 
[ Donnie B. ] said:
This is one of MANY I think we'll see over the next 6 months. If you go back and watch enough of the XXX vs XXX videos
from throughout the years, and tally the scores, everything becomes a wash after a while.

I did a poll over on TGP a couple years ago that had options for the big three: Kemper, Axe-III, and Helix.

1. Bought XXX and still own it.
2. Bought XXX and ended up selling it.

Let the poll run for about 2 weeks and got lots of replies. Wanna guess which unit had the best retain value and which got moved the most?

I'm not going to post any clips of the QC, since there's already a ton of them that have much better production value than I can get.

I'm almost 61 with natural hearing loss coupled with the damage done via gigging SPLs. I was ready to hang with the HX Stomp out of pure
convenience. Sounds aside, the QC kills it in every other respect. Haven't played a Kemper in over a year, and my last Fractal was an AX8
close to 10 years ago so it'd be stupid for me to try and tell anyone about XXX vs XXX from a sound standpoint.

If I can close my eyes while playing, and the next thing you know 5 minutes have flown by, then it sounds good.
The fact I turned it on and was happy to explore the unit with the tones from the first stock preset says a lot.

(mostly that Neural was smart to put a really killer amp model in slot 001 as a first impression! :D)
Click to expand...
You bring up a few good points. Everyone has different ears and will obviously have preferences, so its tough to say one sounds better than the other, but user interface, options and quality are other factors to consider.

To me, your age is a big factor. I completely get it... you have zero need for a big rig, multiple amps and pedals and just want something that sounds good, is easy to use and makes you enjoy playing the guitar. I'm at this point. I just want to play.

The day I find a digital unit that makes me happy is the day I sell off everything. Sadly, I've yet to find something that gets me there.
 
[ Donnie B. ] said:
I plan on going amp browsing today and will let you know what I think.
Fractal can still lay claim to "Arguably, the best sounding modeler in the world." But,
I predict that once you have a chance to fully test drive the QC under good conditions
you'll be bitten. The UI is crazy easy, fast, and intuitive. I only opened the manual after
using the thing for an hour to make sure I was doing a 'save' properly.

Quickly checked the Mark III Red captures (there's 4 of them) last night and #4 sounds
close enough to 'my tone' that I'm not even going to bother firing up the real deal for an AB.
Click to expand...

I know they’re capable of doing great shit, I just think there was some cart before the horse going on with the launch. I can’t remember if I said it here, but “the world’s most powerful floor-based modeling unit” doesn’t exactly say “We’re pretty good, but we need some work”. The majority of my issues with them are due to marketing and not delivering a complete product on the release day. Some humbleness could go a long way and I think it’d be more impressive for a company to slide in under the radar with a fucking AMAZING unit than the way they did it, which was coming out guns blazing and some rather large claims then delivering a product that’s around 80%-85% finished.

Just like the FM3, I had zero intention of getting one until it was all sorted out. I still don’t have one, but I haven’t had the need for it. Depending on how well NDSP does with getting the QC running at 100% will determine which I get first, an FM3 or a QC.
 
One other note. I may have mentioned that the Stomp sounded best with the Fostex 6301 monitors with no IRs used.
It's the same with the QC. Something about the voicing of the speakers just works perfect with guitar/amp sounds.

6301N_Series_4.jpg
 
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