I think you may struggle to downsize and retain the feature set of the QC (insert other modeller here). I run mine into a Fender FR12 and use IEMs (I also sing so need to hear myself clearly) and I would say it’s the most versatile “small” rig I’ve ever had.
You could try any combination of Tonex, HX Stomp, UA amp pedals and a small ‘fly’ board but the biggest element will always be your on stage monitoring so the only way to downsize will be go IEM and let the PA and soundman do the work.
I think he’s talking about “downsizing” from hauling valve amps to every gig, not downsizing from a QC
Exactly this 
Trying to save my back 
What I have on my board is a Blackstar Ironheart amp pedal. And a small and light 2x12. I all fits into the back of my MX5 with guitars in the front seat.
In that case I can certainly recommend the FR12, light enough to chuck in the boot with one hand, plenty of power on tap.
Shoulder bag for QC, IEMs in the pocket. Job done.
Now choices…
I feel the QC is a best bang for the buck (more switches for less money, I can add 3 amps, 3 pitches for instance as long as I don’t run out of DSP whereas the FM9 is limited to 2 amps block and 1 (!!!) pitch block) but I was not very impressed in the effect department… I found the delays and reverbs so-so… the Chorus and Wha’s I actually preferred them on my Helix LT… it seems Fractal haves the edge here, at least on the effects.
I don’t know but I can swear that I like the sound on the plugins a little bit more than on QC… it responds “better” to my playing, I can’t explain, seems more fluid and with more feel.
Did you try to adjust the input gain on QC to match the plugins. Most people report that the sound is “identical” if you play around with the input gains a bit.
No - thanks for the tip, I don’t have a QC at the moment so I cannot try it.
Maybe if I get one again, I can try and adjust to see if matches the plugin.
That’s what they say, but it’s still very poor. Again; with overdriven guitar, it’s fine, but with clean or with bass guitar, it’s a long way from good. Probably stuill usable in a full-band situation, but for personal practice, no. With the QC, I don’t even know I’m downtuned, in terms of latency or artifacts with guitar or bass, clean or overdriven. It just works.
QC pitch shifting could improve a bunch for transpose
I think modeling technology has evolved to the point where most mid-priced to high-end modelers are on par in terms of sound quality. I’d say the decision now comes down to form factor and overall features rather than sound. You need to consider what you need—like the number of foot switches, size, processing power, and so on.
For me, the QC checks most of those boxes, even if not all. I wish you could program footswitches and combine modes as easily as you can on other platforms (Fractal, Line 6, etc.). But even with those limitations—which really suck—I still prefer the QC.
Perhaps, but compared to Fractal, it’s way better, particularly for cleans and for bass guitar. Fractal still has very noticeable latency and ugly artifacts. I haven’t noticed that at all with the QC. But I guess if someone hasn’t used all the competition, it’s understandable that they may have some grievances with the QC’s pitch-shifting.
I was super interested in the Fractal version of Transpose, but just saw everyone complaining about how glitchy it was, and saw a video that showed it. Was very curious about getting an FM9 MkII Turbo, but don’t even have a care if that effect is so weird. That unit would actually take up more space on my pedalboard than what it would replace
Yeah, I’ve been one of the biggest critics of Fractal’s pitch-shifting over the years, mainly because I used it all the time as the guitarist in my band. At one point a couple years ago, Cliff “shadow fixed” it on the FM3; didn’t mention it, but it was suddenly better - he eventually did admit that it was worked on/improved for that update, but that’s the first thing I would check after every update.
That said, as I’ve said before, in a full-band context, it’s perfectly usable; probably on bass, too, but with as much solo-practice as I do, it leaves a lot to be desired unless you’re playing with overdrive. I never had this issue with my QC, and I knew the QC’s pitch-shifting would be good because I used it all the time on the plugins, so kicking it on on the QC felt normal. I know it’s technically monophonic, but it plays my whole guitar just fine and, more importantly, my bass sounds great through it and has less latency than the Fractal. I have one preset where the Transpose is down 5 semitones, simulating a 5-string, and it feel/sounds almost as natural as playing a 5-string.
Interestingly enough, while many praise the Helix’s poly capo, especially since it was designed by the people who made the Digitech Drop, I was underwhelmed. It’s better than Fractal, for sure, but not as good as QC, IMO. But I used to just use the “Simple Pitch” block and when I switched over to bass, I continued to use this block instead of the poly capo - sure, you’re generally not playing enough notes to necessitate a polyphonic pitch shifter, but it still sounded better to my ears and took up far less CPU. I thought Helix’s Simple Pitch was a better poly pitch shifter even for guitar than Fractal’s Virtual Capo. The big thing about Transpose in the QC, though, is you can go up OR down (which you can’t do with the Drop) and, most importantly, it doesn’t eat all of the DSP. We play Soundgarden’s “Black Hole Sun” and that requires a Transpose +1 and then a Pitch block dropping 25 cents. I can have both of these pitch blocks on and still have plenty of DSP left over for my main sound and effects.
In any case, in a full band, all of the available options will work just fine, but I would just warn others that for solo practice, you’re not going to get much better than the QC. Now, if you’ve tried all the others and feel the QC is sub par, then we’ll just have to agree to disagree 
I wish the Helix pitch shifting has as little latency as Transpose. Bypassing the HX Stomp on my board and just running into the QC with transpose feels so much nicer.
I do think it’s amazing to use as a basic tool. Honestly has reshaped my entire writing process because I can instantly make basic changes with the plugin. If I felt Transpose on QC was more accurate than Poly Capo I would immediately ditch the HX Stomp.
Unrelated but I cannot wait for Soldano X to be on the QC. The plugin version sounds amazing