Quad Cortex into a Tube Amp – Best Sound

Quad Cortex
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I have.
same thing as my QC - > Tube amp.

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I’m at a bit of a crossroads with my setup.

My current rig is: Quad Cortex, Wah, BigSky, Timeline, and Mobius. I know the QC covers a lot of effects, but I just can’t let go of the Strymons — the board inspires me both visually and sonically. Yeah, it’s an expensive setup, but if it makes me want to pick up the guitar more often, I feel like it’s worth it.

Now I’m trying to decide between two setups:

  1. My Quad Cortex hybrid board + Tube Power Amp (Engl E840/50)
  2. My Quad Cortex hybrid bord + Traditional Tube Amp (Mesa Boogie Fillmore or something similar)

This week, I’ll be testing the Engl E840/50, hoping it inspires me more than the Seymour Duncan PowerStage, which sounded too sterile and didn’t really connect with me.

On the other hand, when I run the QC into a classic tube amp — using only the OD/DIST blocks, some utility effects, MIDI control for the Strymons, and maybe a few QC effects here and there — the whole setup feels alive. The sound is more organic, but obviously, I’m sacrificing the massive versatility the QC can offer on its own.

So now I’m torn…

If I’m already spending money on a tube power amp, wouldn’t it make more sense to just go all-in on a great tube head and accept having one perfect tone instead of ten almost perfect tones?

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I mean, you could get a Revv Generator 120 for less than price you spent on the QC + power amp. You would have tons of features……but not the flexibility of the QC.

Realistically the QC is meant to be super convenient and doesn’t market itself as being necessarily better sounding than tube heads. It’s just easier to get multiple sounds and configure entire pedalboard/amp setups with each preset.

Everyone has a different scenario for what might work best for them. The QC is a great tool, but not the only tool someone may need.

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I run mine right through my boss katana 100 artist 4 cable method because the return sounds better then the power amp in in my opinion, but I leave cab sims off and all the amps sound amazing through it!! Best way to use it.

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I will try Tube Power Amp (Engl E840/50) tomorrow, let’s see…

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so, how did it go?
the with with running QC into a tube poweramp is that for the amp block, you should be using a preamp sim / capture - at least that’s what I am doing.
years ago I was using Axe-fx II where you could simply turn off the poweramp section within the amp sim block, and go from there.

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As others have mentioned, using tube preamp captures into a tube power amp seems to provide the best results. I’m mostly using Peavey invective preamp captures from the cortex cloud into a KSR PA50 tube power amplifier and getting great results.

Also, sometimes leaving the cab sim enabled sounds best when using the KSR tube power amp. Since it has a hi fi mode that improves the input signal when connected directly to modellers.

It would be much easier if there was an option to choose the preamp only section for existing amp models in the QC i.e, to disable the power amp modelling. Similar to the way Helix, Fractal and Genome software allows this to avoid duplication when connected to an external power amp.

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So i’ve got a new amp - Blackstar St. James 6L6 - because live i need something to push air (my bandmates are completely analog, boomers.. :smiley: )
This thing sounds great with the QC - it has a line level FX Loop, i use only the power amp section of it to have full control of the tone. Through a 4x12 t75 cab it sound crazy good especially with the Kraken or EVH amp models in the QC!

I’m pretty happy with it and it is also kind of a backup.