I have my Quad Cortex set up so that my guitar runs in stereo through Outputs 1/2, and my vocal mic also runs in stereo through Outputs 3/4.
I usually play in Stomp Mode and switch between 3–4 patches during a gig.
I’ll probably run into situations where there aren’t enough mixer channels available, so I may need to run either the guitar or vocals in mono, or possibly both in mono.
My question is: if I arrive at a gig and need to change this quickly, what’s the best way to do it?
Do I need to go into every patch (for example 2A, 2B, 2C, etc.) and manually change the outputs to mono in each one, or is there a faster/smarter way to handle this live?
First, decide if you only want to change the output to mono, or if you want all the device to output mono.
Here are some thoughts:
Set up each patch to have both a stereo (e.g. headphones) and mono output (an unused output). Then you can connect to the applicable output. Probably the best choice if you only want to change output.
Get a stereo to mono summing adapter or cable. Then you don’t have to do anything in the QC, just use summing device.
If you want devices to output mono, you could either use scenes or a second set of mono presets.
Unless you’re using ping pong delay and it some sort of stereo widening effect you should be fine to just plug into the left outputs (1 of 1/2 and 3 of 3/4). Generally would suggest this rather than summing to mono for no reason. Unless the effects are the ones I mentioned, you’ll probably have more tonal shift from the signal phasing out in strange ways, rather than using the left output. Most (if not all gear) gear defaults to left being the preferred mono output
Thanks, that actually lines up with what I was hoping to hear.
But I’ve read that the Quad Cortex doesn’t automatically sum stereo to mono, and that it’s not enough to just plug, for example, Out 1/2 into a mono channel (or use 1 of 1/2 and 3 of 3/4). Some people say you actually need to change the output routing inside each patch from 1/2 to 1, and from 3/4 to 3.
In my setup I don’t use any ping-pong delays. On vocals I only have a stereo reverb. On guitar I have stereoreverb, stereodelay, and some modulation effects in stereo like chorus, but nothing extreme.
So my question is: do you think it would work in practice to just send, for example, Out 1 and Out 3 to FOH as mono channels, even if inside my patches the final output block is still set to Out 1/2 and Out 3/4?
Best thing would be to try it and make sure it sounds good. I would almost always advise someone to do this with a setup like yours rather than summing everything to mono. It’ll sound better not phasing out or having a comb filtering effect from summing it to mono.
Most of the people assuming they need to sum the stereo effects to mono don’t really deal with audio professionally, and they think they’re somehow losing out on their sound when in fact they’re making it sound strange.
Xush created and posted a capture called “Invisable” which is essentially a blank mono capture. If you place it just before the outputs you want to convert to mono, in any preset you want to “mono-ize”, you can then control them, in all presets, from the global IR/capture bypass page. Two things to keep in mind: global bypass is done per lane so make sure you don’t have any IRs or captures you don’t want to change in the same lane as the Invisable block. Also, as others have stated, not all stereo effects sound good when converted to mono. Some modulation effects (depending on your settings) and the doubler block in particular, just sound bad in mono. Phase cancelation can be a real problem. Just test drive your presets and all of it’s effects and scenes before committing. That said, I’ve been using Xush’s Invisable block when I need to go mono and it’s worked very well for me.
I have different setlists for each combination of outputs for each band. Takes a wee bit of time, but it means if I’m playing a club with my amps in stereo, then I get to the next gig and it’s FOH (and a mono amp with IEM’s) I have an identical setlist setup. I have another for recording and one just in case my Fishman Guitar synth has issues and I have to switch to Midi Guitar 3 which requires an extra clean output to an audio interface.
Setting up a stereo setup then copying it to another setlist and making it mono should be straight forward and give you piece of mind.
Or buy a bigger desk (which needs a bigger car…and a sound engineer…and groupies…and a bigger rider…and a private jet).