First post, so let me start by introducing myself.
I’m in my mid-60’s and have been making music since I was a kid. Fully half of our extended family back then worked in music (classical; mostly teaching AFAIK). I started getting serious about music in `99 as the youngest offspring turned eighteen and was himself learning to play. I’m not a great technician, but I can be creative and love improvising.
I have recorded, with two long-time collaborators, a lot of improvised material. I think that our music is jazz in terms of the creative process, but we emphasize collaboration in crafting a tune rather than playing soli over fixed changes. We each borrow liberally from our own musical backgrounds. If you’re curious: https://lcwmusic.bandcamp.com/ .
I’ve been playing nothing but direct rigs for over a decade. Sold all of my tube gear years ago; no regrets. I think I may now be at a similar inflection point regarding rack gear; it’ll be kinda nice to finally leave behind the 80’s-style technology.
In early October of last year, I had never heard of the Quad Cortex. Then the Sweetwater catalog arrived. I usually don’t pay attention to new products that can replace something I’m already using. But the QC intrigued me: Could I actually get everything I need from a pedal the size of a hardcover book? It sure would be nice, I thought, to ditch the bulk and weight of the rack gear. After a few days of thought and checking out early demos, I placed my preorder with Sweetwater. That was, IIRC, right around Halloween.
During my first hour with the QC, I created my usual first patch: a Fender Twin with stomps (comp, dirt, 3x modulation, echo, reverb and a wildcard - in this case an envelope filter). I’ve been playing that patch ever since. Until today, I hadn’t listened to more than a few factory patches; that’ll change soon, as I’ve been inspired by Rabea Massaad’s QC demo. I’m really looking forward to figuring out what else I can do with the QC, even though my one stomp-style patch gets me 95% of all the sounds I normally use.
The sound: I like it. `Nuf said. I certainly won’t attempt comparisons.
The thing I like most about QC: It is (aside from the power adapter, cables and expression pedals) entirely self-contained. (And it certainly doesn’t bother me that I get to pair the QC with my own choice of expression pedals…)
The thing that impresses me the most: That I never need to have a computer in order to do anything with the QC. Not backups, not upgrades, not creating a patch library, not compensating for a tiny onboard screen, not for accessing “deep” parameters. Nothing. The fact that the QC transfers all data over-the-air is freaking brilliant. Bonus points for not using Bluetooth for the (optional) social aspect of patch exchange.
The thing that surprised me the most: That I’d actually need to adjust the power-button touch sensitivity. The factory setting was fine until we got a kitten who discovered that the QC acts a lot like the “cat toy” app on my phone.
Funniest “oops” moment: Grumbling about the touchiness of adjusting some parameters via the touch screen. … pause, 2, 3, 4 … Oh yeah, the knobs!
Kudos to the entire QC team for launching an amazing new product. I wish you much success.