I’m thinking of adding a SYNERGY SYN-2 to the front end of my QC for some better edge of breakup tones. Does anyone have experience with this kind of analog front end with the QC and was it a marked improvement?
This sort of setup could work, but honestly I wouldn’t suggest it as the best option. The QC doesn’t have power amp modeling….so you’ll be kinda stuck with the preamp sound of the synergy….which isn’t actually how an amp would truly sound.
Yes there is the option of a power amp capture, but you’ll have to see if any work the way you’d want. Unless you want to make a capture of a power amp that you like. I understand wanting to use tubes for the preamp sound, but it’s a tricky one for sure.
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Right, that’s the challenge I have been trying to wrap my brain around. I could look for or make a capture of something like a Fryette LXII or SYN-5050 with a load box, but I don’t have any of that gear.
I have synergy, both the Syn-1 and the new Syn20-IR. You can use just the preamp but I would suggest always using with a poweramp to get the fullness. I don’t really use it with the QC, more for recording and to have an amp option but the modules are awsome have to say.
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Thanks for your perspective @Teatime48. Im curious as it doesn’t say in the SYN20-IR manual, is there a way to bypass the preamp like you can with the SYN-2? I wouldn’t always want to use the preamp of one (I run stereo), and if this were possible I could save a bunch of money by getting two SYN20-IRs and have two modules, being able to switch between the 4 preamp flavors (two per SYN20 with preamps daisy-chained and just bypassing the first or send, and using the power amp stage of each for L/R as a stereo power amp).
So no you can’t bypass the preamp in Syn20-IR, but you can do some routing to make it work, but you may find there’s a bit of latency. Gtr > QC input > FX Send > Syn Input > Synergy Send > QC Return > QC Amp Block / Capture > QC FX (Delay, etc) > QC Output > Synergy FX Return > Synergy Poweramp > Cab / Cab Sim. To switch between QC amp block and the synergy preamp, you can use a scene to bypass the FX block on the QC and switch on the amp block and vice versa. And Bob’s your uncle! I wouldn’t go down the route of getting a Syn1 or Syn2 just to be able to bypass the preamp because you’ll want a separate power amp and it’s just more stuff.
I’ve captured all my Synergy modules and ended up selling the modules because it sounded close enough. The sag control on the SYN1 will give some power amp vibe and I’ve found to work great straight into a cab sim.
I plan to get more modules to capture.