First post and not a QC owner just yet but have plenty of Neural plugins. I have done extensive research between the differences in the fractal ecosystem and quad cortex but always keep coming back to the idea of purchasing a quad cortex, especially now that some plugins are now supported.
I switched from Kemper to Axe-fx 3 with FC12 a couple years back and I do really like the unit. My question for anyone that owns or owned both is, how close do they sound and feel to one another, especially in high gain territory? I like the form factor of the QC and the plugins that are available on the unit, but love the routing options and customization of the fractal. Specifically the way you can customize the layout of the FC12 and the I/O. Do you think the QC has an advantage over high gain sounds as far as the feel? Did you like playing on one unit more than the other? I dig the effects on the QC even though theres more options than you can imagine on the fractal. I do hear alot about quality control issues thats kind of concerning and I almost want to wait till theres a new hardware release years from now. Now I love the fractal but a lot of the presets sound terrible when it comes to high gain that I like. I think the one preset I actually love is the Mark Day rectifier preset but other than that, the high gain presets were a let down. Iâve had success creating my own and got my sound how I like but when I switch to the plugins like Nolly or Gojira, I get amazing high gain distortion just right out the gate with the presets. Its more high fidelity but also feels great under the fingers.
Was the QC good enough for you to justify having both or getting rid of the Fractal unit? I imagine iâm either going to be playing on one or the other instead of keeping both. I originally wanted a QC to travel lights to practice space instead of taking the whole rack and controller but now Iâm curious in downsizing all together and having one unit to completely work with.
In QC forum this question can be with a lot of fog
I considered getting a Fractal unit in the past year or so. Honestly it feels like most of its users are constantly adjusting settings. Itâs option paralysis. The QC is much more plug and play, and feels easier to dial in sounds with.
The QC is a lot easier to edit on the unit. The Fractal stuff seems more geared to using a laptop to tweak.
Iâm not gonna sway you either way, but I feel the QC is easier to dial in sounds, and the Fractal has a lot more effectsâŚbut sorta gives people option paralysis/the UI doesnât seem as easy.
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Honestly? the only way to know is to buy one new with a warranty and a return policy if you dont like it. Anyone on here can tell you anything they want but they dont have your ears. People talk about option paralysis. IMHO you have to be just as weary of court of popular opinion paralysis. Ask too many people what THEY like and you are torn between the opinions of others and your own.
Worst case scenario you buy the quad, you hate it and return it or you get it, love it and you sell the AXEFX3 to pay off the quad. I would heavily suggest buying a new unit. Maybe even waiting till you can confirm you are buying the ones they are currently producing that have the ESS codec. It can be up to 50% more power efficient which isnt a bad thing. And it will give neural time to really find its footing and see where it goes.
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I wasnât even aware of that, good call out. Iâll definitely wait for that and that also solidified my choice to buy new vs used.
I also have an Ax-Fx111 with an FC12. I have had a Quad Cortex since it was released. The Axe-Fx111 is used daily. The Quad Cortex has sat on a shelf unused for months.
Hoping to get âyour soundâ from factory presets, or from downloading other peoplesâ presets, is completely missing the point of a modeller. They are there to show you how presets can be assembled, give you a feel for the modeller, and maybe a few ideas for your own presets. I have never actually used them for anything. And there are plenty of top high gain bands using Fractal gear on tour, including Metallica and Petrucci.
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It is true the only way to know will be actually trying it. Thankfully I have a couple friends who let me try their QC first. Most retailers will charge a restocking fee for an item like this if you return it. Especially an item where itâll be obvious if you use the touchscreen, open the plastic around the box, etc.
If you buy a QC and return it theyâll probably charge you for the shipping (both ways) and restocking fee (2-300). You might be able to convince Sweetwater to not, but most likely they arenât gonna want to take the hit on selling the used item as demo gear + the shipping.
Well you CAN make assumptions. Or you can actually read the return policy. If you buy a quad cortex from them you have 90 days to return it no questions asked. If its not for you its not for you. It can be held as store credit or be put back to your original form of payment.
If there was free shipping yes you have to pay the return shipping and they will deduct the original shipping from your refund if they provided free shipping. But that shipping due to volume is a lower cost than if you or I went to fed ex. They have provided me with return labels for gear that I have to pay for that label but their label was cheaper to use than buying my own.
It amounts to no more than $100 depending on where you live IF you dont like it. If you do like it you are out nothing. And I would argue that when spending $1800 on a piece of gear having a return policy and a warranty is worth the risk of $100 for a return than buying a mystery machine that may or may not have problems and having no recourse if it fails. If you are careful with it and dont damage it in your testing there is no issue with returning gear to sweetwater. They sell so much volume they dont care. And from them Bstock and refurbished gear still comes with a warranty or they dont sell it.
Now if you are the type of person that is the type to rip it open with no care to what you are doing yeah. But just like anything you are going to return you take care of it and dont modify or put stickers on anything you dont plan to keep.
But no, you arent paying a 2-300 dollar restocking fee on a quad cortex as long as you follow their policies.
The only time there is a restocking fee is if there is a factory rebate or promotion you took advantage of and either didnt return the promotional item or you damaged the unit making it not not easily sold. In other words drive it like your Mothers car and not as if it was a rental and you are GTG.
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The Sweetwater return policy is not 90 days for new items. Itâs around 30 days.
The 90 day policy is for items that are marked as used and are defective.
Also there are other retailers that sell the QC. Itâs highly likely theyâll charge a restocking fee. Just want the person to know what the options may be. Doesnât need a ranting long essay lol. Didnât you post about selling your QC recently? Why are you still posting essays on the forum?lol
Ok the 90 days was an error when looking up the return policy. I still say buy it new and buy from sweetwater. 30 days is still plenty long enough to figure out if something is worth your while. And again, no restocking fee. As for me and what I do and why I do it you can think whatever you want about it. But I am not the topic of the post so please dont try to act like I have no right to give my opinion. I am still a neural customer and have experience with the product. And I didnt even tell him not to buy one. I just said if he was considering it what I would do. And if you want him to know his options then I would personally suggest using accurate information. If my post are TLDR then I would again suggest you do just that. I will continue to try and help people where I can, stay silent on things I know nothing about and not care what you post unless you directly contradict me with incorrect information. You just moved the goal post to âOther dealersâ when its not an issue with Sweetwater.
Which kinda shows if you are a smart shopper you probably would choose sweetwater due to the ability to not have the restocking fee. But now he knows he has the option to go to other dealers and not get those same benefits. And its still true that if he buys a used unit the cost of repair might outweigh any savings he may have got on a used unit. Either way from here on out can you please leave any personal differences you have about me being here aside? Im not causing any problems with what I posted. Except for maybe triggering those who dont like me or what I post or how long it is. Which isnt the topic and no longer up for debate or discussion.
With the obligatory âyou have to try and decide for yourselfâ out of the way, to me, for home practice, itâs a wash. I love playing through both my QC and Fractal gear. When I just want meat and potatoes sounds, the QC is perfectly fine. If I want some really spacious and ambient reverbs and ultra-tweakable delays, gotta go Fractal.
For me, the superior pitch shifting on the QC is what has sold me to use it full-time with my gigging band. Clean guitars and bass guitar just sound like trash on the Fractal gear,
Honestly, though, it sounds like you just have GAS. Itâs fine, if you can afford it, but aside from UI and wifi/cloud connectivity, you already have the best unit on the market. Youâll be sorely disappointed by the footswitches after using Fractalâs brilliant FS12. The QC is far more limited. The Looper is a lot better on the QC, but that may not be a consideration for you.
Short answer: neither are leaving my studio any time soon, and theyâll soon be joined by the Stadium.
I know, Im not a fan of the virtual capo on the fractal. I already know the QC beats it but I have not tried the new update where they supposedly made the virtual capo better recently. Iâve thought about adding a digitech drop pedal for this reason.
QCâs Transpose and Pitch Shifter are better than the Drop.
Yeah, supposedly theyâve updated it (on the Axe III and maybe FM9?), but there seems to be a lot of complaints about it still - some saying itâs actually worse.
QCâs transpose is much glitchier than the Drop pedal unfortunately. Itâs just a monophonic pitch shifter so it isnât great with chords
Weâll agree to disagree. Iâve used the Drop, Helix, Kemper, Fractal, NDSP Plugins, and the QC; the QC is far and away better than all the rest in terms of latency and artifacts. It may not technically be polyphonic, but itâs still better than every other âpolyphonicâ pitch shifter on the market. The only one itâs NOT better than is the Variax, because thatâs 6 individual monophonic pitch shifter that happen before the signal even leaves the guitar, so latency is about half.
But again, weâll have to agree to disagree, if you think the Drop is better 
The Virtual Capo on the Fractal is just bad. Yet the owner defends it and calls people names like a child if you disagree. Yek the goof will also call you out if you say anything bad about Fractal
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Oh man you should probably visit the fractal forum than lol. I cant find a single fractal owner that defends the virtual capo other than certain updates saying its gotten âbetterâ but still no ones happy with it.
Sweetwater has never charged me more than shipping one way if itâs my decision to return it. No restocking fee. Idk maybe they do for one time buyers. I know mom and pop stores charge both ways and a restocking fee and thatâs how they lost me.
Yeah, if you search my posts over there, half of them are complaining about the VC. I eventually just gave up. I still have my Fractal gear, but until thereâs a massive improvement in the VC, I canât use it with my band. Itâs just bad for bass guitar (among other things). My main megathread âIn Praise of the Virtual Capoâ was when they dropped a shadow update to the VC (didnât mention it in any notes, I had to basically pull teeth to get Cliff to admit he improved it) on the FM3, but that was because it was even worse before the update. That was a few years ago; before the Digitech Drop people made the Poly Capo for the Helix and before NDSP had the X plugins with the Transpose function. All you had was FM3, Axe III, Helix, Kemper, etc. and the Drop/Pitcfork etc. pedals. No QC. I started using a Drop with the FM3, but I hated having to have extra cables and power. I wanted an all-in-one solution.
Iâve long since moved on - first to the Helix (once I switched to bass and needed a usable pitch shifter) and now on the QC. It pains me to see so many coping by saying the VC on Fractal is good/fine. Itâs not. Yes, itâs usable ONLY if youâre playing overdriven guitar. Clean or bass guitar is still very bad. I suspect the VC is Cliffâs thorn in his side - because literally EVERYTHING about the Fractal gear is better than any other competitor EXCEPT the pitch shifting. Thatâs gotta bug the crap out of him.
I think Yek is a cool dude and has contributed to the community and company probably more than any other non-Fractal employee, but him and a few others can sure be wet blankets to ideas, questions, criticisms, etc. I always warn people that the Fractal forums are great, but just take the know-it-alls with a grain of salt and donât take anything too personally.
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