I’m noticing that the tone changes for my QC depending on what output I chose.
I’m listening on headphones, Beyerdynamic 990s.
I’m trying to figure out a general raspy, scratchy, bright harsh tone, over pretty much all presets (ongoing battle with NDSP and getting it inspected next week by the distributor).
But I have noticed that on the grid, moving from ‘multi-out’, to Output 1 or 2 or 3, changes the tone I’m hearing in my headphones. Output 3 seems to be the nicest perhaps? Output 3+4 sounds different again.
Also, I have noticed that if I mute Output 3+4 in the output, the tone in the Headphones is more pleasing and less bright…
I tested last night and found that all outputs sound the same through headphones. (They didn’t at first, but the input level was higher on HP level for 3/4)
Have you checked your levels for the different outs in the Headphone setting screen?
Sorry but I’m a bit confused, on my unit you can’t dial in different HP levels for each output… and each output doesnt have its own input for HPs… You can only control HP level overall, and output levels for each output, as far as I can see…?
They are all at 0 dB, output 3/4 is quite a bit louder and clearer for me… And they all sound very slightly different…
It sounds to me like when its on ‘multi-out’, I’m getting like the raw DI tone coming through as well, I think thats why I’m finding it hard to get decent tones… Dunno… I just cannot get this thing to sound good at all…
For me I hear a tone change depending on the routing.
A simple block of a amp capture on row 1 => send to Output 3
A simple block of a amp catpure on row 1 => send to row3 => send to Output 3
Tonality is not the same, pretty close, but I feel more vibe with the solution one, maybe it’s due to the latency when using row3
Press the Headphone icon when you’re in the swipe-down I/O settings menu. It will display whichever outputs you have enabled in a scene. I have enabled them all in the attached picture so you can see what it would look like. Your screen will only show the Headphone levels for the Output Blocks used in your preset lanes
hey, this is great, they were different levels, thanks for explaining, adjusting the output at various times made them stay at that level I suppose… Thanks!
ah, good! I figured there has to be an issue somewhere, most users find their QC to sound awesome.
There may still be a few hidden settings giving you trouble- but I feel sure we can track them down given time.
Yeah I mean this thread was a side-one to my main problems I’m afraid, I honestly cannot get anything to sound good, I have tried absolutely everything, tried multiple guitars, all single coil though, cables, amps, captures (trying my own), input gains, impedances, everything. It sounds very wrong and harsh on every amp and capture, it cant possibly be right, way harsher and bright than videos of the factory presets… I just dont get it, sent it off for inspection now so we’ll see Thanks for trying to help!
That being the case, I’m glad they agreed to look at it- there must be something wrong with it if you can’t get usable tone from it. I hope they figure it out
What you are describing sounds a lot like you arent adding a speaker cab block sfter your amp block in the chain? - can’t remember if the QC has a general “disable cab sim” opition or per output (haven’t had mine long) like fratcal products do.
Have you tried performing a factory reset incase some weired settings are en/disabled?
Hi, I have a slightly different issue. quad cortex sounds great through headphones output with headphones or in ear monitors, but signal output has different eq sound and less pleasing tone when connected to line outputs!
Shouldn’t tone be the same whether you are connected to headphones output or line outputs?
I love all my presets and guitar tone that I hear from the headphone outputs (irrespective of headphones/device used), while the tone that I get from the lines out 1/2 and 3/4 are not as good.
In general, I would say that the headphones output has more bass frequencies than the lines output (by listening with same device) and the line outputs have more room/ambience reverb than the headphones output.
Want to understand from where this strange EQ difference comes from.
Many thanks
Steve
What device are you monitoring thru where you can compare both outputs?
There will be different specifications on the output jacks themselves, which could account for variations. The HP jack is stereo, all others are mono- that in itself could affect what you’re hearing if it’s collapsing the signal to mono vs stereo. Also, the HP output has controls to adjust what levels you are hearing thru that path.
You should be able to get a fairly flat, same-response feed from all inputs. I have a feeling something in your signal path or the way it’s being monitored is the culprit.
I’ve been using active speakers, headphones and in ear monitors to make A/B comparisons, and the difference of sound tone between outputs is significant.
In detail:
I have a Mic on Input 2 going to Output 1/2 (that is fine, no issues); then
I have my guitar on Input 1 going to Output 3/4.
I am using a TRS cable to connect to Output 3 (or 4) and to connect to the Headphone Output.
In principle, irrespective of the volume levels (which I have set at similar levels), the guitar sound should be the same (flat response as you said) when listening with an active speaker or headphones or in ear monitors on one or the other outputs, which is not the case.
I have found this difference after noticing that the sound of my guitar I was hearing with IEMs out of the AUX output of our mixer (Soundcraft Ui24r) was different than the one I could hear when connecting IEMs directly to QC’s Headphone output.
I thought the problem was the mixer “colouring” the tone; and spent 2 months trying to fix that until today, when I finally found out and concluded that the difference of sounds is at the source, i.e. the QC headphones output sound very different than the 3/4 output sound.
A reset definitely couldn’t hurt (as long as you’ve got a backup to restore).
What about the Headphone Output settings in the swipe-down I/O menu, you’ve experimented there too? Are you using Global EQ at all?
just for the sake of making sure I’m not misunderstanding you-
you have compared each Output’s tone with the exact same device, to discount the effect of preamp/speaker/headphone/IEM?
For example, you have somehow used the speakers to check Output 1-4 vs the Headphone Output? And you’ve tried all this with NO blocks on the grid?
Hi, yes. I’ve initially noted the difference comparing the flat signal coming in my IEMs directly through the QC headphones output with the IEMs sound coming from the Mixer AUX.
When testing, I have made direct A/B comparison between the direct QC headphones output and the direct QC 1/2 XLR and 3/4 TRS line outputs using the same IEMs, other headphones and 3 types of active speakers (just adjusting the device volume; no other parameter changed).
The result is absolutely clear and constant, that there is a different tone quality from the HP and line outputs.
I did a factory reset of the QC, and the difference persisted.
I have read on this chat with similar topic that a large number of users are experiencing this audible difference in sound between the HP output and lines outputs.
I am working with 50+ presets (and their scenes) and understood now that the tone from the QC Headphones output (although pleasant) is absolutely not reliable.
From now on, when working on presents and guitar sounds, I’ll plug in my IEMs directly in the line 3/4 output of the QC, since that is from where the actual tone is coming out of device and then connecting to Mixer/PA/FRFR speakers and I am hearing back from Mixer’s AUX, just the same (with very limited colouring from the mixer).
