Hey everyone… now that plugin support is around the corner on the QC, I think I may finally be ready to pull the trigger and pick one up
Caveat: this is for at-home use and taking to random jam sessions. Not a live rig per-se.
Currently I’m running a Revv D20 Amp with a wide array of pedals. Some go into the front, others in the FX loop. Works great, but I’m getting tired of all the pedals, twisting knobs, and my inability to quickly recall sounds that I know my rig can make.
Enter the Quad Cortex. I love this idea of having scenes with presets. I can dial in ZZ Top, A7x, etc- and have it on a foot switch. Love the idea. Some of my favorite artists also have plugins for Neural DSP … love this idea as well!
So… my hesitation is… how does the Quad Cortex work in relation to an actual tube amp though? I would love to be able to leverage the pre-amp and cab sims in the Quad Cortex. Can I just plugin to the quad cortex, and have the cortex out go straight to the Revv’s FX Return to ‘bypass’ the Revv’s pre-amp? Should I instead look for FRFR studio monitors to use with the Quad Cortex? What’s the optimal solution here?
On a side note, I also have a few Chase Bliss pedals like the Mood MkII which I’d love to be able to use in conjunction with the Quad Cortex. Can I put these in the FX Loop of the Quad Cortex and have the Quad Cortex send midi signals to the Mood to switch out settings per scene?
Welcome to the community! There are a few ways to integrate QC with your amp; running out of QC to FX return on your amp to utilize your own power amp and cabinet. In this example you would not use a cab block in your signal chain. You can run out of QC to FRFR(s) utilizing the cab block of your choice etc. You can use 4-cable method with your amp etc. You can also run out of QC to a mixer if you want to integrate other things. Check out the manual to give you ideas of what you can do
Keep in mind CoreOS 3.0.0 is being released 7/31 which will have an updated manual with the new changes etc.
my bandmate does this, it works fine except the MIDI commands per scene are limited. Most likely CorOS (2 days away!) will rectify this by adding 11 more commands per scene. I’m not positive of this, because the official description is ‘per footswitch’ but with my understanding of how midi is implemented that should include Scene assignments, since they’re tied to specific switches too.
There’s TONS of different ways to use the QC; they all sound great. It’s just a matter of finding the most efficient setup for your personal use. Chances are some of us are already doing exactly what you want to and can help tweak or troubleshoot. That’s the cool thing about this community
QC and Revv G50 user here. Love the combination of these two. So many ways to use them together.
I often play at night when the family is asleep using the two notes out of the G50. If you use this on your D20 it pairs with the QC so well!!! Even if you use the speaker out to an actual cab that’s great too.
I set it up in a pseudo 4CM where I use the two notes out and basically put the amp in the middle of the QC with row 1 before the amp and row 2 after which allows for stereo wet effects. If you’re running a real cab then you could use the effect loop (with mono wet effects… unless you had two amps and two cabs like Rabea lol)
The Revv amps capture beautifully also and soo easily. Just run the capture out to the input and then xlr from two notes out into input 2. So easy to capture your D20 and take it with you! Put the capture in front of some lush stereo delays and reverbs and play in absolute stereo heaven.
To answer your “how does QC compare to a tube amp” question:
Can you mic your Revv in another room, run it through some mic preamps, into a DAW, and then play it back through quality monitors or headphones?
If so, the QC will absolutely “capture” that sound almost identically.
If you’re looking to hook up a QC into some headphones and select the JCM 800 preset and expect a 100 watts to make your hair stand up then you’ll be disappointed.
I have captures of awesome amps I don’t deserve to play much less own and run that into FOH with in-ears. Sounds clearer in the in ears than a mic’ed amp to me, and the sound guy loves it. I miss the “thwack” of a tube amp but I can just jam on my AC30 /59 Bassman at home in my music room to scratch that itch.
The QC allows me to capture my favorite drive pedals and put them in front of some great amps and then I run my wet effects with a midi controller. I’ll get to utilize a little more of the QC’s midi capability to simplify some tap dancing once it upgrades with the new Core 3.0.0 update.
It’s a pretty incredible and reliable sounding setup.
