I’m coming from using a fractal and neural plugins.
I stopped using the fractal because I always preferred the sounds of the neural plugins, so I thought the Quad Cortex would give me something similar to what I hear in the plugins. To my surprise, it doesn’t sound the same; the plugins seem fuller and the mids have more life.
I’d like to know if my perception is correct?
Another point: I still don’t know exactly what standard to use to calibrate input and output levels. On the fractal, the standard was for the output level to be as close as possible to the vertical line of the meter. On the Quad, I noticed that many factory presets have an output level at approximately -16dB, well below the vertical line. Is this the standard I should use?