NDSP Quad Cortex

Mongillo19 said:
I saw Avatar way back when as an opener to Avenged Sevenfold. They put on a good show!
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I saw their name at a festival show and confused them with Avantasia, so I had no interest in seeing their set. Then I saw a roadie bring a gas can out onstage and I got curious if the next band was gonna light stuff on fire or not, they came out and I pretty much turned insta-fan because they were entertaining as hell and sounded GREAT. And the gas tank doubles as the singer’s water bottle. :rofl

They’re the influence behind a lot of my whammy bar riffs, because songs like these-







Lots of variation in their albums, each one is different while still sounding like them.

 
DrewJD82 said:
I saw their name at a festival show and confused them with Avantasia, so I had no interest in seeing their set. Then I saw a roadie bring a gas can out onstage and I got curious if the next band was gonna light stuff on fire or not, they came out and I pretty much turned insta-fan because they were entertaining as hell and sounded GREAT. And the gas tank doubles as the singer’s water bottle.
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Yeah the show was wild! I think it was around 2013/2014 when I say them and it was during their mad circus era (maybe they've never left it) 🤣 but it had a great atmosphere!

You're right tho that their albums sound different but never lose that core sound.
 
DrewJD82 said:
I saw their name at a festival show and confused them with Avantasia, so I had no interest in seeing their set. Then I saw a roadie bring a gas can out onstage and I got curious if the next band was gonna light stuff on fire or not, they came out and I pretty much turned insta-fan because they were entertaining as hell and sounded GREAT. And the gas tank doubles as the singer’s water bottle. :rofl

They’re the influence behind a lot of my whammy bar riffs, because songs like these-







Lots of variation in their albums, each one is different while still sounding like them.

Click to expand...

Re: "insta-fan", I'm loving everything I've heard so far.
 
QC spotted!!! Jim Root being interviewed on Tone Talk…

Always love listening to him. He’s a total gear nerd. He’s using it somewhat reluctantly but recognizes the size/efficiency of digital. But he loves his tube amps.

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Jarick said:
Didn't want to hijack the other threads, so figured I'd start a new one.

I'm planning to pick up a Quad Cortex tomorrow. I got a surprisingly nice year end bonus and much of it will go towards paying off some debt but thought I'd treat myself to something as well.

Why bother with the QC if you have the Axe FX 3 and lots of other stuff?

I love the Axe FX 3 overall, but often it just feels like a chore to use it. The menus, the editor, it's not a fun experience. Sonically it does just about anything I'd want but there's often some fussing around required.

The Kemper and GT-1000 aren't it and I've been just too lazy to sell them. I don't like Kemper profiles, it's a rabbit hole and lacks flexibility. Liquid profiling helps a lot but swapping cabs tends to sound weird and we all know the cab is the most important part of the tone. The GT-1000 just plain doesn't sound or feel very good to me, and I don't like the effects.

The Helix stuff...I hate to say but I'm kind of over it. I have the Stomp and an HX Effects and I just don't like the amp modeling at all anymore. The effects are not bad, but it's been close to a decade of using it.

I'm also very intrigued by the Fender TMP as it looks like a really cool device but every sound demo I've heard has been underwhelming. There's all kinds of bugs and issues that need sorting out as well.

So why the Quad Cortex?

I've been hearing tons of great clips of the Quad Cortex lately and it seems like the development has mostly caught up to where it needs to be. I have several of their plugins and they tend to sound great, so if they can integrate those that would be a huge plus too. Being able to capture the Friedman IR-X will be really interesting as well, if it does a better job of Kemper then I can easily keep the IRX hooked up to the Axe FX 3.

The size and interface is very appealing as a standalone unit that doesn't require a computer editor or footswitch. I'm redoing my office space and being able to quickly move the QC to different desks or areas is a big plus. I could also just put it on a stand on the desk which is nice.

In terms of reservations...I'm not sure about the effects. I'm not a massive effects user but I always really enjoy using stereo delays and reverbs. The QC has some options here but we will see how they work in practice. I also haven't seen too much for EVH style pitch detune either so will have to see the chorus effects. I'm also a bit concerned if the high end will be a little too aggressive...the QC always seems very present sounding which isn't always my favorite.
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Wow, did they finally make an app to control it from a computer?
 
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Whizzinby said:
Turnstile is awesome. You can bob your head but it’s also generally uplifting music.

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The intro to this sounds like me (and realistically everyone) who jumps on a new synth and hits one of the preset modes.... I "am" music.

While we're going down the road of criminally underrated "modern" punk bands... Wilhelm Scream is highly rated by me. Bought a bunch of their sheethappens books so I can feel bad about my playing every now and then... the bass line here absolutely shreds, love this album

 
GTR37 said:
Oh wow , did not see that coming
So I guess it’s safe to say you prefer the Helix amps and fx
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For now :pickle haha

I found myself preferring having some of the physical controls of the Helix. And also scribble strips are quite nice to have. Less guessing/remembering.
 
LCW said:
For now :pickle haha

I found myself preferring having some of the physical controls of the Helix. And also scribble strips are quite nice to have. Less guessing/remembering.
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Why did the live screen not deliver that scribble thing?
 
LCW said:
For now :pickle haha

I found myself preferring having some of the physical controls of the Helix. And also scribble strips are quite nice to have. Less guessing/remembering.
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Which physical controls? This is one area where I’d say QC wins hands down.

Scribble strips are nice. Can’t argue with that.
 
Was doing a test on the official backing track of a Caligula's Horse song today, one with all the guitars removed, and my guitars totally disappeared into the mix.

I guess this is where re-amping and maybe having some basic mixing skills come into it.
 
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