Neural Quad Cortex

[redd]

Did anyone take advantage of the plugin black Friday sale? I just wondered if any of the available plugins are worth it for bass? I've already got Rabea and Parallax.

 

[MrDinsdale]

50 minutes ago, redd said:

Did anyone take advantage of the plugin black Friday sale? I just wondered if any of the available plugins are worth it for bass? I've already got Rabea and Parallax.

 

I didn't, although I have Nolly and Gojira, and both fave stuff that sounds great for bass. The clean amps with some tweaking are pretty usable. 

[Kev]

The new updated has an OC-2 and Meatbox model, nice for bass to get some attention.  No experience with a Meatbox, but the OC-2 model is bloody good , compares very, very well with the original '82 I have on the board!

[redd]

12 minutes ago, Kev said:

The new updated has an OC-2 and Meatbox model, nice for bass to get some attention.  No experience with a Meatbox, but the OC-2 model is bloody good , compares very, very well with the original '82 I have on the board!

That's good to know! I had a little play but haven't had time to sit down and properly dial in the sounds yet. 

[Razvan Sofronescu]

Hello guys ,

 

I’m thinking about going from the Reddi to something more portable /better sounding/ and I was thinking about the quad cortex or the nano and a preamp .

 

Your real world experience would be of great help to me to decide making a rig .

 

Basic info: I play on a Fodera imperial and sadowsky . Exclusively IEMs . Mostly clean , 10-20% of the time may require a drive. I rarely use modulation fx . Don’t travel much internationally at the moment . The budget may be around 1500

 

So I want to decide if I go the quad cortex/ nano route or stay analog

 

These would be the options;

 

- Quad cortex and that’s it

- I get a analog preamp ( thinking of Jule SImone ) and then into a Nano cortex for amp/cab/more complex capture-

- A Jules Monique rack mount + maybe a Cab sim ( already own a Opus )

 

Thanks for your ideas!

 

[joel406]

7 hours ago, Razvan Sofronescu said:

Hello guys ,

 

I’m thinking about going from the Reddi to something more portable /better sounding/ and I was thinking about the quad cortex or the nano and a preamp .

 

Your real world experience would be of great help to me to decide making a rig .

 

Basic info: I play on a Fodera imperial and sadowsky . Exclusively IEMs . Mostly clean , 10-20% of the time may require a drive. I rarely use modulation fx . Don’t travel much internationally at the moment . The budget may be around 1500

 

So I want to decide if I go the quad cortex/ nano route or stay analog

 

These would be the options;

 

- Quad cortex and that’s it

- I get a analog preamp ( thinking of Jule SImone ) and then into a Nano cortex for amp/cab/more complex capture-

- A Jules Monique rack mount + maybe a Cab sim ( already own a Opus )

 

Thanks for your ideas!

 

I would go full QC. Don't worry about the preamp. There is a Noble pre on the Cortex cloud. Along with tons of other amps, Preamps and cabs. The possibilities are literally endless. I do recommend the Keely compressor pro. There are some good ones in the QC, but I've really taken a shine to the Keely pro. 

[Kev]

7 hours ago, Razvan Sofronescu said:

Hello guys ,

 

I’m thinking about going from the Reddi to something more portable /better sounding/ and I was thinking about the quad cortex or the nano and a preamp .

 

Your real world experience would be of great help to me to decide making a rig .

 

Basic info: I play on a Fodera imperial and sadowsky . Exclusively IEMs . Mostly clean , 10-20% of the time may require a drive. I rarely use modulation fx . Don’t travel much internationally at the moment . The budget may be around 1500

 

So I want to decide if I go the quad cortex/ nano route or stay analog

 

These would be the options;

 

- Quad cortex and that’s it

- I get a analog preamp ( thinking of Jule SImone ) and then into a Nano cortex for amp/cab/more complex capture-

- A Jules Monique rack mount + maybe a Cab sim ( already own a Opus )

 

Thanks for your ideas!

 

I guess I'd open with, what is leading you towards to Quad Cortex, given your preference for what sounds like a very straightforward setup?

 

Gut response is to go Nano, as it doesn't sound like you'll use anything but captures and IRs, but just curious.

[Razvan Sofronescu]

1 hour ago, Kev said:

I guess I'd open with, what is leading you towards to Quad Cortex, given your preference for what sounds like a very straightforward setup?

 

Gut response is to go Nano, as it doesn't sound like you'll use anything but captures and IRs, but just curious.

the thing that would be interesting for me would be the possibility to run things in parallel.
Something like a clean channel (nobel capture or some other clean preamp) and blend that with a parallel compression channel  and on another lane an saturated amp/cab sound.

I like having the natural sound of my bass and blending some more texture/saturation to that. Similar to what i would do in studio situation

 

probably i need to test a QC and see how it feels playing through it. I’ve only played through the reddi for the last 8 years

[Kev]

10 hours ago, Razvan Sofronescu said:

the thing that would be interesting for me would be the possibility to run things in parallel.
Something like a clean channel (nobel capture or some other clean preamp) and blend that with a parallel compression channel  and on another lane an saturated amp/cab sound.

I like having the natural sound of my bass and blending some more texture/saturation to that. Similar to what i would do in studio situation

 

probably i need to test a QC and see how it feels playing through it. I’ve only played through the reddi for the last 8 years

Ah okay fair enough, QC it is then!

 

Its a different world, but once you learn how to use it i'm sure you'll find itll do everything you want, and tons of stuff you didn't think you'd need.  I've owned since launch, replaced quite a hefty pedalboard, and no regrets at all.

[MrDinsdale]

I'm really loving the Gojira Clean amp for bass at the moment. Had a play to see if I could dial in some nice tones without looping any physical pedals or captures in which I usually rely on a bit and very impressed.

 

I'm definitely going to make more effort to utilise the models rather than reaching straight for a capture.

 

It helped settle my mind to not bother with a Nano Cortex.

[Killerfridge]

On 14/12/2024 at 00:27, MrDinsdale said:

I'm really loving the Gojira Clean amp for bass at the moment. Had a play to see if I could dial in some nice tones without looping any physical pedals or captures in which I usually rely on a bit and very impressed.

 

I'm definitely going to make more effort to utilise the models rather than reaching straight for a capture.

 

It helped settle my mind to not bother with a Nano Cortex.

The Gojira plugin has been a surprise success for me. I got it just because I thought it would be fun for the octave effects (and for guitar obviously), but it's got some great bass sounds too

[acidbass]

Fairly new QC user here - what's everyone's favourite compressor for bass?  Looking for an always-on mild compression (4:1 ratio, smoothing maybe 3-4db)

[Dood]

16 minutes ago, acidbass said:

Fairly new QC user here - what's everyone's favourite compressor for bass?  Looking for an always-on mild compression (4:1 ratio, smoothing maybe 3-4db)

 

I've got a little time off from gigging so I'm planning on getting my QC up on the bench to have a look at the live presets I use. I need to tweak a few things, namely the compressors. Theyt all nearly  do what I want. They are good though!

 

For general use I like the 1176.  I like chaining the 1176 and the Opto together for the 1176/LA-2a trick as well and, at the very end of my chain I have a very fast comp for brickwall limiting. I'm pretty sure that's the 1176 set to 20:1.

 

I am thinking about adding an always-on external comp as I have the rather amazing Becos Stellar pedal at my disposal which has a transformer coupled DI out that sounds FAT. It seems a shame not to use it. 

[Dood]

Oh! I forgot to add! I can't wait until nDSP bring the Cory Wong plugin over to QC. I love the SSL desk preamp and "4th position compressor" (in parallel mode). In fact, the sound I want to use 90% of the time is the Cory Wong plug-in. It's brilliant for fundamental bass tone.

[acidbass]

Been using the 1176 at the start of my chain (well, after HPF block) to smooth out the signal before it hits the OC2 block.  Seems to work well, although I'm not quite sure that I'm using it correctly!  The hard comp at the end is a nice idea but I'm just learning about gain staging at this point for all the different blocks, so may leave that one for the future!

[acidbass]

@Dood have you had to reduce the input gain of the QC significantly to ensure the signal isn't hitting the compressor too hard?  I have reduced the input threshold of the 1176 hugely to ensure it doesn't overcompress, but think maybe a pad on the QC input itself might be a more appropriate way to gain stage (particularly with active basses)

Edited January 8 by acidbass

[Dood]

6 minutes ago, acidbass said:

@Dood have you had to reduce the input gain of the QC significantly to ensure the signal isn't hitting the compressor too hard?  I have reduced the input threshold of the 1176 hugely to ensure it doesn't overcompress, but think maybe a pad on the QC input itself might be a more appropriate way to gain stage (particularly with active basses)

 

I do as a matter of course! I'm using EMGs on all my basses with the QC and the input gain definitely needs pulling back even as a starting point. Check the input level meters to see what's coming in to QC. I also keep an eye on the output level meters too, (hence the hard limit at the end of the chain).

 

I do have one issue with the QC with regard to this, a post maybe for another day, but I wish that QC had an analogue "line driver" at the output to make up for lost gain in the DSP path by staying "in the green" when gain staging. 

[Kev]

On 05/12/2024 at 09:21, Kev said:

The new updated has an OC-2 and Meatbox model, nice for bass to get some attention.  No experience with a Meatbox, but the OC-2 model is bloody good , compares very, very well with the original '82 I have on the board!

Going to expand on the OC-2 comparison a little.

 

I got the board out this afternoon with a view to seeing if I can actually justify selling the rather £££y OC-2 and just using the QC's model going forward.  I use mine with my Chunk synth mostly but I do like it -1 solo'd too.

 

I decided not to sell.

 

It IS very good, particularly when used with other effects, but isolated it just doesn't quite nail the rubbery tone, and the mids are a little off and EQ'ing couldn't quite bring it round.  I also think they may have slightllllllly overdone the glitching?  I feel like it glitches easier, which could be cool but I preferred the pedal's action.  If I didn't have the OC-2, I would be perfectly convinced that it sounded identical, there really isn't too much in it.  But side by side, I feel i'd miss it.

 

This is compared to an '82 anyway.  I have had later Japanese and Taiwanese models that sound different to mine so YMMV.