How is your QC set up? đŸ€”

Quad Cortex
1

Hello all!

I’m a guitarist from Valencia, Spain and I don’t have (yet) a Quad Cortex, but first I wanted to ask how people has it set up. I’m actually a Kemper Stage user and I don’t find the same video-based info about the QC explaining the basics as it has the Kemper and I also wanted to know the experience of real users so
 how do you have your QC set up? Are you using scenes? Presets? Hybrids? :thinking:

On top of this I wanted to share my actual set up with my Stage to check if someone sees it nice on the QC:

  • Switches 1 to 5 -called slots- are my gain stages - from completely clean to complete distorted metal-type sound.

  • There are 4 effect switches, all used (octaver, chorus, delay and reverb). All effects except reverb are “locked” which means their state is kept across all changes - as you would expect from an analog pedalboard. I need to be able to change slots 1-5 without loosing the effect state.

  • The second performance (in QC would mean pressing the up arrow switch which I believe it causes a glitch) is EXACTLY the same as first one but the reverb is set to be a long reverb and it is active whenever I change to that second performance.

  • Whenever I press again the slot I’m in, the feature called “morph” is enabled and it increases the amp volume serving as a booster (since I can’t use any effect switch because they are already been used).

What do you think? I understand that these types of devices are meant to be use in a song-by-song manner but I used to play really long gigs (4 hours long) with medleys that could last up to 20 minutes, so you can imagine the nightmare that could be working song-by-song.

Thank you in advance :pray::grin:

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2

Que tal, colega, aquí en Madrid. Te cuento como uso yo la QC. Yo uso bastantes sonidos distintos en directo pero solo uso tres presets. Uso una pequeña pedalera MIDI (Chocolate) para moverme entre los tres presets (y el cuarto pulsador para activar el Looper y para ponerlo en modo bolo con los nombres de las escenas en la pantalla). Yo utilizo el modo 4 cables porque habitualmente me gusta moverme con mi Marshall a los bolos, no porque suene mejor, si no porque me siento solo sin tener un ampli detrås jijijiji.

Aparte tengo un pedal de expresiĂłn que tengo Wha en dos preset y Whammy en otro preset

Todos los preset:

1. Un sonido limpio (Gain 2) A tope de volumen (a lo Hives)
2. Uno para arpegios igual con chorus y delay 1/4T
3. Crunch (Gain 3.5) a tope de volumen (a lo Frusciante)
4. Hi-Gain (Gain 7) a tope de volumen (a lo Morello)
5. Funk: Gain 2 , Bajo volumen, sin delay, un poco de chorus
6. Este lo muevo segĂșn el preset (Autowha, Octavador, Delay largo a lo U2 )
7. Distorsiones segĂșn preset (Klon, Fuzz, Rat)
8. Solo (segĂșn preset con flanger, con mĂĄs delay)

Todos Delay 1/16 mĂ­nimo y rever Plate

Con esto consigo todos los sonidos que necesito. Cada canciĂłn siempre uso un solo preset. Si tengo una cancion que tubiera que usar dos preset, me rompo la cabeza para reorganizar los preset, porque tiene bastante retardo entre preset y preset

What’s up, mate, here in Madrid. I will tell you how I use the QC. I use quite a few different sounds live but only use three presets. I use a small MIDI footswitch (Chocolate) to move between the three presets (and the fourth pad to activate the Looper and to put it in gig mode with the scene names on the screen). I use the 4-cable method because I usually like to move with my Marshall to gigs, not because it sounds better, but because I feel alone without having an amp behind me hahahaha.

Besides, I have an expression pedal that I have Wha in two presets and Whammy in another preset.

All presets:

  1. A clean sound (Gain 2) at full volume (a la Hives)
  2. One for arpeggios the same with chorus and delay 1/4T
  3. Crunch (Gain 3.5) at full volume (a la Frusciante)
  4. Hi-Gain (Gain 7) at full volume (a la Morello)
  5. Funk: Gain 2, Low volume, no delay, a bit of chorus
  6. I move this according to the preset (Autowha, Octave, Long Delay to U2)
  7. Distortions according to preset (Klon, Fuzz, Rat)
  8. Solo (according to preset with flanger, with more delay)

All Delay 1/16 minimum and rever Plate

With this I get all the sounds I need. Every song I always use only one preset. If I have a song that should use two presets, I break my head to reorganize the presets, because it has a lot of delay between preset and preset

3

Wow, currazo de respuesta, thanks!! :grin::grin:

Quite interesting to use that midi controller
 that allows to have more options. However I’m looking to avoid carrying any other device besides the QC and my wireless system :grimacing:

4

Si, aunque es muy pequeño el chocolate, sĂ­, entre el pedal de expresiĂłn y esto, al final terminas como con cualquier pedalera enorme 
 porque yo ademĂĄs tengo un pedal para el trĂ©molo y un aparato para cambiar los canales del ampli por MIDI. MaletĂłn, vamos

Yes, although the chocolate is very small, yes, between the expression pedal and this, in the end you end up like any huge pedalboard
 because I also have a tremolo pedal and a device to change amp channels via MIDI . briefcase, come on

(jajaja menuda traducciĂłn me ha hecho)

5

Jajajaja bueno! Al menos lo entenderån! Sí, al final lo que quiero yo es algo pequeño y muy portåtil, aunque lo que dices son muy buenas opciones :ok_hand:

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6

Up! I’ll appreciate anyone interested/bored enough (:joy:) to share his/her setup with the Quad Cortex. Also, is there someone who transitioned from Kemper Stage to Neural? I only found one person in Youtube who did that :smiling_face_with_tear: Any comment will be welcomed! I’m starting to consider buying one in the next few hours but I need to be a lil’ bit more sure
 :nerd_face:

7

Mine is on a pedalboard with a couple of extras:

  • Boss TU2 - separate tuner is easier and necessary given the below

  • Digitech Ricochet for quick pitch slides
  • Boss PS3 for shimmer (Cave In) mode
  • TC Ditto Looper and Digitech Obscura for quick looping and blending between songs.

I run into input 1, then have the delay and looper in FX loop 2, which is placed after all amps, but before all cabs. This also acts as an output to my onstage amp/cab.
Our other guitarist runs his own pedalboard into input 2, with an output from send 1 for onstage amp/cab.
We run a Seymour Duncan Powerstage 700 which takes both guitars and powers them into two Orange PPC412s.

On the QC, I use a preset per song, then have scenes for different sections. All my effects are on the QC bar the few listed above for special sections. Our other guitarist just runs an amp and cab (ocassionally a delay/reverb if needed).

Pros:

  • Sounds incredible
  • Ridiculously compact
  • Sounds exactly the same every time
  • Guitars always perfectly balanced

Cons:

  • Other guitarist feels very much a passenger as I can turn everything off
  • Have to have a gap of silence between songs as next preset loads (only about 300ms, but it’s noticeable, so need to factor it into the set).
4 Likes
8

Thank you for sharing it!

Love it, although my main goal is to only carry the QC :grimacing:

How noticeable is that audio drop-out when changing banks up/down in a live situation? I listened to it in several videos and I wonder if I’ll be able to work with that between songs that are like one medley song. Right now I no longer play 20 min-long medleys but I need to cover all of my main sounds in only one page, don’t know if it’s gonna be stomp or scene or both
 Any comment on this will be appreciated! :pray::grin:

9

It’s complete silence for about 300ms, so unless you cover it somehow it is noticeable.
I try to make sure that either it’s at a point where neither of us are playing, or I do it in the middle of the drummer counting in to the next song (generally on the 3rd beat), so it sounds like a deliberate stop.

It’s liveable but I would love it if at least some noise carried on. My band are very much about ‘no silence between songs’, so it’s more of an issue for us really.

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10

Not a kemper user, but i had a Helix rack and floor before my QC.
I play some rythm and lead in a metalband, and when traveling its only my QC, L6 wireless system and spare batteries and cables.

Im a “one preset to rule them all” player, so i normally dont have more than 2-5 presets for my entire setlist. Presets are based on what guitar i use live.

Normally i just use one preset, in Scene mode. This gives a seamless switch when shifting. There is a noticeable dropout when switching presets, so thats why i use scenes. Also i feel the bank up/down switches are placed badly because i like to tap with my right foot when headbanging (powerstance xD ). also a good reason for using scenes.
I almost only use the bottom row ( switch 4-8) for clean, rythm, tight rythm and lead. If i need something fancy like pitched lead, harmoniser, syntpad sounds etc i have that on the upper row. But with the switches so close together i hardly use the upper switches live.

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11

Huge Cave In fan here. I’ve got a PS-3 as well (but not on my board at the moment). High five.

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12

Damn man I wish I only need to use that few things in a live situation :smiling_face_with_tear::smiling_face_with_tear::smiling_face_with_tear:

13

I don’t know if this is something that has been asked to Neural but
 couldn’t they implement something to have the previous preset going on during those 300 ms load-time and then switch instantly to the next preset? Not that I’ve spent years programming DSP’s but I’ve tweaked some during my telecommunications degree and it seems reasonable to me to give during that time some extra CPU usage to the switching up/down. My Kemper Stage does it and the transition is really smooth (although sometimes it hangs on the previous preset :sweat_smile: but only because I’m a fast switcher haha)

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14

There’s various requests out there.

Idea for me would be to ‘preload’ just the presets either side of the current one in a setlist, so just those are available with instant switching.

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15

Perhaps at some point in the future the QC will be able to offer a feature similar to the Helix. Line 6 allows gapless switching of presets, but at the cost of half of the available processing power for a preset. That capability came at least five years after the Helix’s release though so I wouldn’t hold my breath. I think scenes will remain the key to gapless switching for the foreseeable future.

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16

Alright, here’s my thought process and setup.

Preface #1: I don’t have experience with other amp modelers. I was playing through 100-watt tube amp (Fryette Pittbull 100CL) for years before selling it to fund my QC.

Preface #2: I run everything in mono. I know a lot of people in this forum are picky about stereo effects, but from a live performance perspective, all that extra effort to have working ping pong delays, etc., is wasted on your audience. Worship guitarists tend to be the most picky about hooking everything up in stereo, and their congregations are the most likely to not notice or care. [I’ve been playing in worship bands at churches for over 20 years.] Recording situations are much better suited for using stereo effects.

*phew* Okay, on to the setup:

  • QC mounted on a Temple Audio Duo 34 board
  • Guitar goes straight into an EQD Hizumitas, then into the QC Input 1
  • FX Loop 1: EQD Rainbow Machine, Boss MD-500 Modulation, Boss DD-500 Digital Delay, EQD Astral Destiny
  • FX Loop 2: Empress Zoia, Boss RE-2 Space Echo (my main delay)
  • I use both of the QC’s FX loops for flexibility in sound and around the grid; having relied on 4CM with my tube amp’s effects loop for years, I love the freedom that the QC affords me.
  • Disaster Area Designs SmartClock Gen3 on the board as a tap tempo unit for both the RE-2 and DD-500.
  • Hybrid mode with Scenes on the bottom row, Stomps on the top row
  • I use Scenes for “amp channel switching”, i.e. activating clean to overdrive to crunch sounds across the four switches
  • I use Stomps for effects I don’t already have in my pedals, like the QC’s Pitch Shift (octave up or down) and Freeze blocks
  • Row 3 is typically reserved to go to Output 3 → Orange Pedal Baby 100 power amp → Orange PPC412 cab
  • Row 4 is reserved for IR block → EQ block → SSL Comp block (very light compression to glue everything together) → Output 1 → FOH
  • I have several presets with different amp sounds dialed in that I like, but I do NOT change presets in the middle of a set. I tailor the Scenes I need for that particular set and switch seamlessly between those.

I would not call myself a “power user” of the QC. But what it does for me, it does extremely well.

4 Likes
17

Thank you guys for your replies!

I see that most of you use some pedals alongside the QC. Since I want to avoid that, which will be the best option to have let’s say 3 different gain stages and 5 effects? One of the effects will be a booster for solos. Do you think it is achievable with the QC using only one page?

18

Easily.
I only use the separate effects either because they can’t be easily replicated (Boss PS3), or for convenience of having an extra footswitch, or the audio spillover between presets.

You can have 8 scenes, so 8 different ‘sounds’. Or if you use stomps instead, you can combine 8 different pedals (or groups of pedals) in any combination you want.

The other useful one is the two expression pedals you can have. These will also take a momentary footswitch too which can be used as an additional ‘stomp’ or other controller.

19

Hello.
I use the QC with Scenes like I did when I used a Fractal AX8. I am usually a minimalist, but after performances I often change things up with adding expanders and routing to keep improving my signal chain.
Guitar goes into an (EHX Attack Decay, the only pedal I cannot capture as is time based unfortunately) From there I stack several high end preamps and an overdrive that are neural captures from Source Audio, Pultec, Api and Xotic, that go into a capture I did of a Moor Radar Vox ac 30 that I keep going back to. This all goes into three different delays, a reverb, a shimmer reverb, and a freeze that goes into an Api pre. It is a brilliant and present sound that cuts through the mix onstage. I could never achieve this without the great CPU allowance on the QC. More shit than I would ever want to carry around on a board. LOL!. Hope this helps.

1 Like
20

Hey!
I’m an nyc session player-you could put a boost in stomp mode, but I just use a little TC Spark for the strat to match the humbucker levels live.
You could use an expression pedal for your (minimum) rhythm volume, & max it for solo boost, if you don’t want to burn a footswitch on the QC. If you don’t want any external pedals, you’ll have to decide what’s important in stomp mode.FYI- The little red Hotone wah is a good exp pedal for clicking the QC wah on/off without using up a footswitch too
I change presets in stomp mode scrolling up or down, which is easy. Hope that helps


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