I understand these complaints, they are well reasoned. But we generally should buy products based on what they are and whether they meet our needs, rather than what we hope might they might become sometime in the future. I’m a long-time Helix user and switched to QC initially just to try something new that appeared to have excellent hardware and firmware design. I have not been disappointed in any way. The tones are great and meet my gigging needs. The improvement over Helix, especially in the high end and fatigue factor are real. I did add an MC8, but that was expected as I just need more footswitches for my workflow.
I recognize the difficulties we are facing in the world today, supply chain, covid, war, etc. And I recognize the challenges in doing system development. So I’m not really that disappointed in NDSP’s release rate. And I think what we’ve received so far is pretty fantastic. Here’s hope for an exciting future.
Respectfully, these are not features we were “hoping for” or hoped they “might be”. These were explicitly sold as a part of the units feature set. (Porting of plugins, monthly new amps, etc). Again, supply chain, pandemic and so on are understandable, but not delivering on these items after a year plus, merits communication on a regular basis.
I have about 6 plugins and an L6 Helix. I’ve been waiting over a year for them to port the plugins into the QC so I could sell my helix and buy the QC. Its the only thing I want and I’ll buy it immediately. After waiting so long, Im looking at buying an Axe-Fx 3 in 2 weeks. Figured a year would be enough time for at least 1 or 2 plugins ported, but no. Its very disappointing.
There is so much whining in this community. Why so much complaining about the updates like everyone is an expert on how to develop a product/software. If you are so smart and know how to push updates quick why don’t you start your own company and make a better product. I bet everyone complaining here when they first got the QC were so exited and loving it and praising about how good the things is. Now because they are anxious and want to keep justifying buying an QC they just want to whine.
The QC was launched during a global pandemic. It got updates during this pandemic and the limitations to fully run a company while a semiconductor price hike and shortages.
If an update is not being released is because is not ready. How many of you are not going to keep whining if an update is rushed out and full of bugs and glitches. “Screw this thing that doesn’t work with the last update…” “… I was playing live with my band and the thing crapped out in the middle of the set”… “Oh I’m so needed of a desktop editor” but have been using without the need of one this entire time.
I agree the QC needs some improvements and more features but that will come over time just like other products out there.
If you read the posts more carefully, you will see the malcontent is with the poor communication. Everyone has been very understanding of supply chain issues and pandemic delays. There is no need for your toxic attitude and “whining” accusations. Especially when you end your post in agreement that updates are needed.
I love my QC. If you go back and look I have been a staunch fan boy. But, like many of us, I feel it’s time NDSP delivered on their commitment. If we are whiners then so be it. We just want all the things we were promised.
It is clear to me that things were promised we haven’t got yet. I do hope they don’t lose desire to develop the QC to its potential due to the negativity, even though it’s understandable. I can only imagine how hard this has been for NDSP to pull this launch off as they have, given the circumstance, so I will still believe in them.
That said, I played another successful show last night! Even the regulars are talking about how good everything is sounding. I love the tone and articulation I get with the QC. It imsp[ires me to play, and that makes for a good night
I’m in for the long haul, so bring on the updates!
I’m hopeful Neural can turn the ship around. It really could be the killer of all hardware modellers, but the slow start out of the gates with delivering on promises, lack of communication etc is going to eat Neural alive, especially once the honeymoon phase has worn off (and i think we are already out of the honeymoon phase for most users).
Extra salt in the wound from seeing constant new plugins being released with new feature sets that aren’t added to the cortex.
What kind of music do you play? What amps and settings do you use? I can get good high gain tones but cleans and edge of breakup (especially EOB) are not good. There’s a fizz in the edge of breakup type tones on every amp model I try.
Right now my QC is off my board completely. The amp models don’t cut it except for high gain and I really need to be able to assign multiple parameters to a Stomp button. So, at this point it doesn’t work as an amp modeler nor an effects platform. And to be honest, the pedal captures I’ve done all have too much gain when compared to the actual pedal. Maybe some of this is user error, but the number of hours I’ve put in to try to make it sound good has mounted too high.
I’m waiting for the next update before I decide to keep it or sell it.
@sonicfog
If I remember correctly, NDSP commented in another thread, which was discussing the quality of the effects and captures, that they are happy with how they sound and that they are not planning on updating these any time soon (if ever). So if the QC sounds generally bad to your ears, I guess it’s not for you. I would however try to play with the input level before giving up. Because if it doesn’t match a preset or capture, it might sound off.
To me the QC sounds great and even better then the other big names in the modeling world. But as we all know sound is subjective so that’s personal preference I guess.
I can’t get any type of a clean tone from the Fender Deluxe Reverb or the Vox AC amps. The Morgan is ok but kinda dark. The Fender Princeton is pretty good. The Roland stays clean.
I’m def not giving up on it, but the number of hours in has been enormous.
I’ve gigged with it twice. Once with no amp just straight to front of house. The sound guy complained about patch levels being all over the place. I literally spent 20 or more hours working on levels between patches. Very discouraging to get that comment.
The second gig I used it as an effects platform 4 cable method into my amp. With stomp mode being so limited, it was a tap dance session. HX Effects is much easier to use if you just use the CQ for effects.
So, I need to find an QC amp, and settings, and maybe EQ, to achieve non fuzzy edge of breakup and slightly to moderately gainy tones.
I’m playing a PRS Custom 24, mainly on the HB pickups.
The routing-possibilities are very limited. If you use one splitter for a parallell delay the whole next row is fried. I hope they have a plan to make it possible to use all inputs and mix them in the future.
I owned a QC for about a month and ended up returning it due to a bunch of usability issues I couldn’t get over. I had my unit lock up on me mid-set one night and other UI bugs eventually pushed me over the edge and prompted my return. I wasn’t floored by the tones I was getting from it, and couldn’t justify the $2,500 price tag. I have been a Kemper user since 2017 and am used to that unit, but I was willing to give the QC a shot due to the great form factor and UI improvements. Emailing support gave me generic responses to my issues and I didn’t feel like the QC was a high priority for NDSP. Reading the entirety of this thread, I feel better about my decision to return the unit. Perhaps I’ll revisit it in a few years’ time, provided NDSP picks up their socks…
It’s a shame that this thread even has to exist, I hope the higher-ups at NDSP take it seriously
Agreed!! These are same features that most QC owners are expecting sooner rather than later. I recently misplaced my power supply and had incredible difficulty sourcing one (still haven’t) because most off-the-shelf replacements are centre positive, and anything above 2500 can’t be easily reversed. And yes, the desktop Archetypes should be easily accessible in the QC. Accelerate R+D please guys!
We mainly cover anything we can get people to dance to. Everything from Patsy Cline to AC/DC. My favorite group at the moment is Blackberry Smoke I mainly use the Morgan for cleans, Solo 100 crunch normal for basic rhythms, and combinations of effects, comp, gates, etc for lead tones. We don’t really follow a set song list. We play it by mood, so I don’t worry about being as precise with the tones as long as they are close. That said , I’m pretty happy with how easy it is to set it up on the fly, as needed, and it’s more than good enough for me.
I have noticed the fizz a time or two. I’ve always been able to tweak it out to suit me though. I think that is inherent to most digital modeling imo. I think the QC is the most organic from all others I’ve tried so far. It ticks a lot of boxes for me, and I believe it will tick a few more when the updates do come. For now I’m enjoying it
If anything, I’d have thought that time would have been helpful toward the software development side. I have stopped using the QC months ago, and bought an AxeFX III. Dude, the software updates are fast and substantial for a product that is already the king of the realm…pretty obvious why.
In the end, I’m still holding on to the QC because it makes a great backup rig. Pretty expensive for that purpose, but that allows me to wait for NDSP to get the updates on track. I appreciate the things you guys are asking for–by and large they aren’t at the top of my list, but it really depends on what you use the pedal for. For me I only have two needs before I can be comfortable gigging with it again:
Hybrid mode. This is on all the competition…definitely a major reason the QC is in 3rd or 4th place by my calculations.
Move the scene copy feature. So annoying.
Beyond that, better vibe and rotary would be nice but I’ve found workarounds.
Those things aside, I agree that we got what we paid for, and based on that, I still don’t regret the decision. At the time, it was the best small, light option out there. I’ve found the amp/cab sounds I need and the pedal options, including a couple of captures of mine. Lots of processing power and an amazing screen. Creating presets is dead simple. I’m happy to not need to connect it to a computer…that is my major concern with the AxeFX…really difficult to make changes on the fly. So, re: the QC, with the above two features, it remains a better choice than the FM9, which wasn’t on the market when I bought the Quad Cortex. At the time it was up against the FM3 which just didn’t have enough switching without another piece. In the end the QC was smaller than other similar products–sounds better than the Helix and at least as good as Kemper.
An editor for Mac/PC would be great right about now. I am please generally with the overall quality but allowing me to tweak my presents on my computer while recording just makes things so much more convenient.
I mainly use the Morgan for cleans, Solo 100 crunch normal for basic rhythms, and combinations of effects, comp, gates, etc for lead tones. We don’t really follow a set song list. We play it by mood, so I don’t worry about being as precise with the tones as long as they are close. That said , I’m pretty happy with how easy it is to set it up on the fly, as needed, and it’s more than good enough for me.