I’ve had the QC for two weeks, and been using it on a couple of gigs. My live set up is one stereo path out to FOH, and one mono via the flat power section of the Blackstar Amped 1 into a regular cabinet (split in the QC before the Cab section). Pretty simple, but it gives me the rumble of a regular amp on stage and stellar sounds out to the audience and in the monitor.
I have to say I’m still happy, even impressed, with the sounds. I went all in and tested all the main modelling contenders out there. First the Fractal FM9 alongside the Kemper and Helix, and kept the Fractal, and then bought the QC and sold the Fractal after a week. To me it’s an amp tone thing; the Fm9 with it’s latest software is amazing, but to my ears the QC has the edge in pure amp tones, especially in the mid to high gain sounds. Have used Fractal stuff since 2010, alongside with a Kemper since 2014.
In addition, there’s a few commercial captures out there that I think are stellar. I bought a few bundles from Amalgam Audio (a great capture of a Smallbox) and from Amp Guru Profiles (a bit on the heavier side, but a great JCM 800 and som stellar pedal captures). I’ve used the Kemper for years, and never really liked any of the commercial profiles, so I used my own. But almost all the captures I’ve bought for the QC are good.
My only concern with the QC is the update frequency. Buying into a device like this is buying into promises of development. Both Fractal and Kemper have really delivered on this account, but the consensus in forums etc (yeah, I know, the Internet etc) is that Neural is slower here (e.g. the next update that’s coming ‘soon’). I don’t need tons of delays and reverbs etc, but I’d like to see a few more effects (an Octafuzz, for instance, a few more drives) and amps & cabs. I really hope there’s a somewhat more aggressive roadmap here.