First Gig with my Quad Cortex

sorbz62

Hi Peeps,

Since I returned from living in Canada 2 years ago, I joined a local rock band, initially using amps on stage, in my case one of mine - Mark IV, JVM, BE100 - it changed every gig!  For a year though we've been digital and I've used ...... here goes .... FM3, Tonex, Amplifire, Helix and now my Quad Cortex, all fantastic devices but faffy to setup and get the levels right. 

This weekend we gigged at a local pub, where I used my QC rig after spending ages setting it up and ....... it sounded fantastic.  Points to note though:

• Some presets were using the inbuilt amp sims and some using the IRX in one of the QC loops. I got brilliant but different sounds out of both. 
• The footswitches are very close together so I occasionally pressed the wrong one and went to another scene or preset.  I use an MC6 Pro also to midi control gig view and other settings and they are also close together. Overall though no real issues.
• Although I setup my presets at gig volume through a PA, some dirty sounds were swallowed by the mix. The best and clearest dirty sound was using the 2203 model with an SD1 model in front of it. Sounded fantastic.
• I occasionally got lost in my presets and scenes but luckily only have about 5 presets for this gig with different scenes, so again no real problems.
• I still had levelling issues with different presets but not too bad, something to work on for the next time.

So I think my digital voyage is over as the qc sounds, and more importantly feels, more like a real amp than the other modellers, excepting maybe the Helix, which is also fantastic.  I'm happy with my rig now, which I can also use in 4cm with an amp AND direct to FOH if need be.

allen

Always good to hear real life experiences.

Lewy

Very cool. How did you monitor yourself?

sorbz62

Lewy said:

Very cool. How did you monitor yourself?

We use IEMs and me and the other guitarist (uses an IRX and Boss GT1000 Core) both now use a floor monitor as well (mine is a QSC K10), through which we put our guitars quite loud in the mix.  In my ears I have a little of my guitar and the vocals. The bass, drums and keys I can hear, as I only have 1 earpiece in.  Using both ears isolated us too much and was a faff to get the mix sounding good.  The band uses an XR18 mixer, controlled by iPad and each band member has their own aux out and can control our mixes independantly.

Lewy

Incidentally - there's new firmware and a new editor that brings some CC control to the IR-X and IR-D out today, in case you didn't catch that

NelsonP

@sorbz62 definitely interested to hear where you rank the Atomic in that list. I've had one for a few years  loved it initially, now thinking it lacks dynamics compared to my amps. I read good things about tonex, fractal etc but not sure if it's worth upgrading.

Would love to hear your thoughts 

sorbz62

NelsonP said:

@sorbz62 definitely interested to hear where you rank the Atomic in that list. I've had one for a few years  loved it initially, now thinking it lacks dynamics compared to my amps. I read good things about tonex, fractal etc but not sure if it's worth upgrading.

Would love to hear your thoughts 

The Amplifire was much more dynamic and present than other modellers but the Quad Cortex is very much better with more capability and effects. That plus the IRX gives me everything I need. 

NelsonP

@sorbz62 ;Which models did you use on the Amplifire l? Still got any presets?

sorbz62

@nelsonP I messed around with it, using tge Plexi, 5150 and Be100 models. All sounded great.  I have no presets now.