I was one of the earlier adopters of the QC in 2020, but I sent it back because I didn’t think that it operated terribly well on edge of break up. It seemed to be designed by headbangers for headbangers. Ha ha
But also and importantly, the machine was clearly unable to do all of the things that DSP Neural claimed the time, so I thought revisit later,
… and now a couple of years later, I’m looking to see whether sufficient improvements have been made, and whether there is sufficient user satisfaction to tempt me into buying one again.
I’d particularly like to hear from low gain users whether the QC offers that tube-like dynamic feel under the fingers.
Breakup is fantastic man, as usual and as in past.
MP3 Telecaster on twin model (stock cabs) in qc loop for you
nocaster_noname.zip (1.5 MB)
I’m a low-gainer too, and I’ve had the QC since release. I think this is such a personal/subjective issue that it’s really hard to answer for someone else. “Feel” is just so hard to quantify.
Yesterday I DL’d some capture packs from Amalgam of some classic amps known for their clean/edge-of-breakup sounds. They feel good to me and the sound of the full-rig capture (including cabs) is better IMO than DI captures of just heads. I think that may be where some of the magic lies; the full-rig captures seem to have more ‘air’ and life to them.
Some things have improved convenience-wise on the QC since release, but if you were disappointed with its original state- I dunno… it’s not THAT different yet. Feel hasn’t really changed; I think it’s more a matter of dialing in what works for you and there are a LOT of different ways to tweak that.
If it was major features that were promised to come soon that put you off, well- we’re closer to having them (very close, even?) but as of right now we’re still waiting. And there’s really no guarantee that features will be introduced in the exact form that we’re expecting or hoping for. Many weren’t that satisfied with the implementation of Global Cabinet Bypass or EQ, and the Hybrid Mode is very rudimentary. Still lots of midi improvements yet to be made too.
As much as I love it, and it is my FAVORITE piece of gear for the past few years, I think I would have to say if you weren’t satisfied with it then, it’s not THAT different yet. The “buy it for what it is NOW” factor hasn’t changed at all.
Thanks for that. Really helpful
you can come over and try mine any time you want to see what you think of the current CorOS, etc!
Hi there Chalky. Like you, I was an early adopter. I bought the QC because I wanted Neural plugins in a road-ready package. However, even though this was the reason I bought it, I have zero buyers remorse. I loved it when I bought it and with all the improvements Neural has made since I bought it, I love it even more now. The unit just gets better and better. I am an older player…from the old school, so I use a ton of edge-of-break-up and clean tones. Granted the one I use the most is a capture of a 59 Tweed. But I also use many of the classic E.O.B.U stock amp models. This thing is the balls. Don’t be afraid to give it another go. Cheers!
Concerning the edge-of-brake-up tones. I’ve found those to be very model dependent but the models that do it well, do it REALLY well. I’m especially fond of the AC30 and Loanstar clean for that. When you dig in, they don’t get rattley, they just compress and grow a little fur. I’m sure there are other models that work well for that too.
There have been some improvements to the QC, especially with OS v2.0. It’s still a work-in-progress and progress is rather slow but maybe your bigger concerns have already been addressed. What we’re the missing features that made you return your first QC?
Shameless plug, but check out some of my QC videos…I play mainly country music so low gain stuff…I think the QC works great for this
Hi Dustyn
I have enjoyed your vids for quite a while now. Excellent content and I definitely like your playing! God bless and so happy to see you here on the forum. You are the kind of person we need here.
Low gain player
I use a real fuzz in the front end and beat buddy in the loop, sennheiser 650 in the ears as a travel rig.
Really love it. Back to real amp when I’m home at the weekend. Don’t ever feel like i regret my early adoption.
Also waiting patiently for plugins but they will come
Chalky, I picked up the QC specifically to try and dig into Clean and Lo gain Tones. Especially edge of break up. It’s been an incredible journey so far, and there’s no turning back for me.
I think the magic lies within full captures… Microphone, speaker/cab, amp, preamps, the whole works. I’ve started a YouTube channel of quad cortex demos and all but my most recent Marshall captures are focused on the edge of break up stuff.
I’m not anything special as a player, but as a recording engineer, I’ve been able to apply years of experience and my own ears to the community and I’m having a blast!
Thank you! I have been enjoying your YouTube videos for quite a while now. Please keep up the good work.
Thanks a bunch, Brian!
My pleasure brother!
I could have written that myself!
I’ve given up on using the QC for “edge of breakup”: it didn’t do it a couple of years ago when I got mine and it still doesn’t. I have been using it for messing around combining amps/cabs/effects in weird configurations but for serious music making I’ve reverted to good 'ol valve amps and selected pedals. I’ll be selling it in a month or two - putting the funds to a new (and cheap) generation multi-fx (Boss, Nux, Valeton) or perhaps an audio interface for (the free) NAMM software.
Expensive all-in one units (fractal, helix, Kemper, QC etc) are now dinosaurs. Things have moved on (eg: NAMM - which does captures - is free and offers stunningly accurate edge-of-breakup; the Boss stuff has a latency of around 1ms and uses 32 bit float processing) and so have I.
I’m curious to know which Boss product you would buy. Of the ones I’ve looked at the interface seems a little clunky or limited.
I’m trying to wrap my head around using NAMM, external pedals, an interface all at the same time. I’d give it a shot but I think it would be hard for that to best the QC for me… but I’m not bothered by the latency I guess. (And I also prefer using the amp models than captures…)
The ME-90 (hard to obtain: most shops are still getting rid of their previous ME-80’s). It’s only around £350 and does a limited amount of stuff really well. But… it’s Plexi setting sounds and feels like my Plexi amp. I cannot say that about the QC.
Gotcha. I saw a video on that one recently. Looks enticing. Thanks
I’m always puzzled by folks who take the time to log into the QC forum to let everyone know that they’re not using the QC.