Hey Guys, just got my QC this week. Looking for the best resources \ videos on fine tuning sound. I’ve watched several from Neural, but I’m still not getting the sound I want.
I play classic rock, using all types of guitars & pickups. I’ve tried running the QC thru the loop of a tube amp to a 412, and also to a high quality powered FRFR, all my sounds seem woofy and very bass heavy (and not in a good way). I’ve tried tweaking the ‘amp’ settings, and even added an EQ in the chain, with limited success.
I’m open to suggestions on tuning this low frequency out!
Welcome to the forum. There’s a lot going on in your post. I truly don’t mean to sound rude, but generic “Teach me how to use my gear” posts tend to not get very many responses.
Can you be more specific about:
How you’re hooking up the QC to your tube amp effects loop, and what QC settings you are using in this configuration
How you’re hooking up the QC to your FRFR system, and what QC settings you are using in this configuration
Thanks for the feedback and the link, I’ll give the document a look.
As for how things are hooked up, I’m using ‘input 1’ for my guitar and ‘output 3’ to the loop of my tube amp, from the tube amp to the 412. I also turned off the IR on the QC. Checked my input levels to make sure no clipping was going on etc.
For the FRFR, guitar in to ‘input 1’ and to to the FRFR using ‘out 1’ , I kept the IR active and checked levels.
I prefer to use my 412 over the FRFR. I do some reading and tweaking, thanks again!
Thanks for the info! I’m using one of the factory presets, not sure if that’s a capture or amp sim.
I’ll look for a good preamp model, that’s a great idea, didn’t think of that! I’m going to mess w/ that and the EQ after work today, thanks again for your input!
Absolutely correct, I typically find the amp sim profiles to be lifeless and flat. There are rare exceptions when a good combination of Cab and EQ are applied - but mostly the captures are far better.
I’m about to give up honestly. I just can’t get a good sound out of the QC. I’ll try an amp capture, but if that doesn’t do it, I’m going to send it back. Kind of bummed, I really wanted to like the QC.
Thanks again for all the suggestions, etc! Much appreciated.
Definitely try captures. What is the sound you’re looking for - Gainy, clean, crunchy? Maybe I can suggest a decent capture to try. Also what speakers are you using - monitors, guitar cab, headphones? Makes a huge difference?
Personally I find the Kemper with a Kabinet/Kone far more dynamic for in the room playing, BUT
Through monitors and recording I find the QC a little better.
the trick with both is to get the EQ right as there are so many variables between setups – and even ears.
I play mostly classic rock, so crunchy \ cleans. Any suggestions are welcome. I have a QSC 12" FRFR I can use, or power amp from a few amps to a Friedman 412 cab (also have different cabs, but the 412 is my go to).
Firstly, you can’t use a 4x12 with QC if it has regular speakers (non-FRFR such as V30’s) unless the capture is made direct (without a speaker - some captures include the speaker cab and others don’t, so with speakers and 4x12 you get really muffled and lose a lot of frequencies). So for experimentation stick with QSC.
Secondly, try the SWS Dirty Shirley capture (by sweetwater) - https://neuraldsp.com/cloud/p/9497fbac-fc7a-431f-8f6b-279bc389a2ae - it may be a little high gain, but its very good. It does include the speaker “imprint” so don’t use with a regular cabinet. Its a very simple capture and the preset afaik doesn’t have any other blocks (no reverb, EQ etc).
It helps enormously to begin by finding an amp, cab and mic combination that get you in the sonic ballpark you are looking for. Changing the mic selection in the cab block can make a big difference.
Then start simply with a ‘Low-High Cut’ EQ block placed after the amp/cab. Set the ‘HPF Freq’ = 100Hz as a starting point and then try turning it up, along with working the ‘HPF Slope’ control until you have eliminated a satisfactory amount of flub and woof. Alternatively, you can do this with any of the other available EQ blocks using slightly different controls until you find a workable low-end tone for your preset.
Next, I would experiment with different EQ blocks before and after the cab or even positioned before and after blocks like overdrive/distortion to further refine your tone.
After establishing where the bulk of the frequencies you are trying to eliminate reside. You can start refining the EQ further by, for example, sweeping with a parametric EQ to find the most egregious woofy, boomy, or flubby parts of your tone, and cutting them. The same sorts of EQ strategies are also useful for cutting the high end of the range with a LPF.
You just need to get past the initial learning curve. Depending on your particular combination of equipment and tonal preferences you will likely find proper EQ and experimenting with different monitors to be absolutely unavoidable. Have confidence that if you can make it past the sometimes-frustrating early efforts at dialing in your tone, you should be able to find something at least workable with almost any combination of equipment. Great sounds are in there and you already own a wide enough range of monitor choices that have worked well for other players to craft them. Good luck! If the QC is not for you that is perfectly legit but I hope you don’t give up too early.
I do not like having my QC run through my loop at all on my Rockerverb. So I use a SD power amp into an Orange cab…1x12 or 4x12 depending where I am.
I always have cab blocked out on the QC or don’t even include one.
I’ve tweaked the noise reduction through the input vs using a filter pedal and use the eq on the SD power amp to adjust as needed.
I have yet to find a tone I couldn’t replicate via this method.
I don’t know if any of this info can help you, but that’s how I use it.
If I go into a PA or DAW, I insert the Orange cab block and adjust the mic positions to creat the tone I want. Found this more helpful than using an EQ block.
Thanks guys, I found a few amp ‘captures’ that don’t have any speakers in the capture. Going to mess with those shortly. Thanks again for the advise, I appreciate it!!!
You can download a few sample DI captures from Amalgamaudio, they are excellent. If your QC does not sound good with those, I would be really surprised. I also play lots of classic rock and their captures fit perfectly.
John Nathan Cordy has a nice series of videos he does on YouTube and is one of the few folks offering regular info on the QC. Highly recommend his content to get up and running. Also, his videos on the Helix stuff have great tips in them for MFX and modelers as well for getting great sounds. Have fun and welcome to the community!
