Hi when using QC live to FOH should I have a cab block in that route or not using a cab block.
Then I guess I need a route without a cab block to my power amp on stage at the return input.
Is this the right way to go?
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Yes you need a cab block for your FOH signal.
If you need a signal without cab for your stage amp, you can for example split the signal to a different output before the cab block.
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I posted this in another thread. In my presets, in row 3, I set Output 3 to go to my power amp.
Signal splits out to row 4, goes through a cab block, then out to Outputs 1 & 2. (I run everything in mono, so going out to both 1 & 2 is actually unnecessary.)
I hope this helps.
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Thanks for the info!
you can also use an FX Send block and Output to send to your amp without having to use a Splitter/extra Lane. Just put it before the cabinet block in your preset
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My concern was really that if I send to FOH then I already have a cab that’s part of FOH. Then why would I need a cab block in my chain?
D
The FOH speakers are full range speakers, they don’t change the sound.
A guitar cabinet is completely different, it alters the sound a lot.
If you would go to FOH without a cab in the preset, you would sound quite awful in most cases.
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To elaborate a bit…
That’s because a guitar cab and a PA speaker are two very different things, designed and built to achieve very different things.
A guitar cab is, in essence, the last filtering/colouring link in your guitar amplification chain. And the one that plays the biggest part in shaping your tone. It isn’t “flat” (neither dynamics- nor frequencies-wise), very much the opposite actually. A guitar speaker is anything BBUT linear in response, and will often alter dynamics, either compressing or distorting (or both, as distortion IS in effect compression) the incoming signal, ie your guitar playing.
OTOH a PA speaker is designed to amplify, and amplify only. Ideally (and the more expensive and newly-designed it is, the closer to that idea it’ll be), it takes whatever comes in and just makes it louder without altering it whatsoever. And a modern PA (note that I’ve operated PA systems worth several hundreds of thousands of dollars for the last decade or so) is designed to deliver exactly that, at 130dBA (so way beyond what is desirable, or even legally doable, at least here in Europe) and over thousands of square meters. If it distorts or compresses, it’s either massively undersized, or badly setup. It’s actually common practice to setup a power limit to a PA so it isn’t able to go anywhere near clipping (as it can damage speakers, and they’re costly enough that you don’t want to risk that).
Soooo…regarding your question, a cab block in the QC is, in effect, an important building block in creating your guitar tone (just as it is in the physical realm). Ever tried to plug your guitar or a distortion pedal into a home stereo ? Not very pleasant. If you omit the cab block, it’ll sound like that.
What you want to achieve with the QC is to deliver to the PA a tone that’s as close as possible to a “fully baked” guitar tone, ie the sound of a guitar amp recorded through a mic (or several mics), even maybe processed as one would in the studio. So, cab block, including microphone sims.
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Yes, cab block for the FOH, otherwise your sound will be too raw.
And without cab block for your amp return to the stage, that’s exactly how I do it.