I've had a QC on loan for 3 weeks now (returning it to its owner tomorrow), did 2 gigs and a bunch of rehearsals with it (all on IEMs, a bit with also a wedge monitor in front of me), and what impresses me the most with it is the feel, and specifically the way it responds to your playing. I'm used to a pretty responsive amp (Marshall Studio Vintage into an EVH 2x12, with a couple of pedals), so what usually throws me off with modellers is how inert they feel, and how none of what you do to guitar controls (pots and selector) translates. Not at all the case with the QC, it feels really responsive and dynamic. That is very, very impressive in my opinion. Also, UI is quite intuitive, I was able to build a couple of presets in a few minutes, and got them gig-ready in a matter of hours, and they translates perfectly into a big PA. A few people (including the musicians I was working with) actually commented on how good it/I sounded. Got to say I also had the ToneX on loan at some point and even though it felt kinda responsive, I wasn't entirely sold on the tones I got from it, and the app experience was awful (can't edit from it, won't work if the pedal isn't registered into your account, which I would never do for an unit on loan...and the standalone app/librarian isn't very easy to use overall anyway). I didn't have the occasion to gig it, but I'm not sure it would have been as impressive as the QC was. And the friend who loaned me the QC has or has had them all, and commented on how much better the QC is, compared to what's around (especially the Kemper he's been gigging several times a week for the last few years). So...yeah, long story short, the QC is expensive, but in my experience is worth every penny, and then some. I need to get one for myself.
Listening to both of you play those clean lines and chords with an effect or two is quite therapeutic. You really have a great channel here Paul, and thank you for stopping by Lee.
10:04 if you wanna change the device to try a few, the top right knob/switch will cycle through all of them. Quite handy actually! Works to test cabs/irs as well.
Paul, you know what’s strange for me it sounds and feels great and as far as that goes, that part for me has never changed. This guy right here- Paul is the reason I figured the quad out so quick a few yrs ago. He’s a great teacher and player. Thx again Paul!!! I think you can turn the top right knob and it will go through all the fx so u don’t have to click out and into guitar settings and go down the list. Just click like you did at the beginning and start turning the knob. Cheers.
@@TheStudioRats @fram8045 That is what we love about Lee, it's his attitude to buying cheap to reasonable gear that will work in a Live situation, as he is gigging frequently and not just in the bedroom.
Hi Paul, the cortex looks and sounds great but its a bit expensive, I took a slightly different route and bought a Boss Gt1000core and put a tonex in the fx loop. Does very nearly the same job as the cortex but at nearly half the price roughly £880 ish and sounds incredible.
Great show, everyone needs a moddler imo , i got mine six months ago and even though I’ve only scratched the surface of it’s potential, i think it’s fantastic
Do you guys have a video doing an overview of exactly how you record your demos? This channel consistently has some of the best sounding demos on RUclips
I too have purchased the QC twice now. Once early on and sold it… regretted it and bought again. I also have a fractal fm9 and hx stomp. I don’t think the sound on the QC is quite as good as the FM9 but the UI and ease of use and ability to capture gear and take it with me is a real joy. It’s staying :) I think I’ll keep the others as well. I just like messing with all the modelers and test out the new updates that come out. I probably need a better hobby…
What’s wrong with guitar and gear as a hobby? I think it’s a great hobby. Guitar is thee best hobby to have. It’s a never ending learning experience and it’s fun. Re gear it can be expensive but you get what you need and enjoy yourself. Cheers.
Lee has a good point about cost - a lot of people don't need a Cortex with all its obvious abilities. Too many people compare these units = Fractal, Helix, etc etc without putting the price into the equation. Especially for live use. Having said that I am delving into in with a Fractal AX8. Not the latest but still has massive abilities. I don't need the capabilities of capturing even if i did have a studio to record all these amps (that I don't own, lol).
@@DomTremendous Yes and also to scrub the cursor through text! Very useful for comparing a different captures of the same device that are stored sequentially.
Couple things that I caught about the Tonex pedal. The capture processing goes much faster if you are using an NVidia video card in your computer, the process is designed to work with one of the components in that make of video card. Second is you dont really need an effects loop, Anything you would put in the loop, you can simply put those effects after the output of the Tonex pedal. I have a delay pedal set after the output going into my FRFR and it sounds great.
I think in light of new releases this week, the ultimate board might just be an HX Stomp paired up with the Tonex One. You could put that board together for around $600-700
I have GX100 that does all i need BUT i honestly think this year has seen a huge amount of modelling type pedals (IR2, UA lion, pod express, strymon iridium, HX one, tonex one etc) are going to be preferred over complex floor based units with a million drop down menu modellers. These could become more studio gear? Just a prediction as the super pedals improve and get smaller.
Great video. Maybe you can try Valeton GP200 , I love it. The presets are little too wet. But amps and everything sounds great. I got one for new $350 CAD, $200 under retail. Cheers
My GP200 sounded pretty good, but failed in spectacular fashion and just up and died one day. Valeton support is garbage and they would not take care of getting the unit fixed or replaced. I ended up having to order a new one from Amazon and returning the failed unit. I ended up not trusting these units reliability and sold it off before the new one failed.
Hi Paul. Im a new ToneX Pedal user and going through all the presets i felt a bit underwhelmed. But then i came across your captures on ToneNet, and wow!! They are so good!. And the fact they are free is insane - many thanks for doing these. Love the Matchless. I use the HX stomp but now i bypass the Amp&Cab and use your Captures from the Tonex which sound more real than the HX amps.
I have a TMP but am considering getting a QC to side by side test them as the QC sounds epic. TMP is good but doesn’t blow my mind except for the ease of use and UI
@@johnoakleymusic thanks for the reply , I don’t have a QC to compare so a side by side would be interesting Although it seems with some work tweaking all the modern digital solutions sound stunning But QC and fractal seem the best out of the box 👍
Believe it or not I'm loving that tank G for $79 You guys did a demo on.! Keep in mind I'm just using it for at home practice with headphones though. Absolutely great unit for that! I like it a lot more than the much more expensive BOSS waza air headphones!
As always, I super enjoy the Skinflint Lee videos 😊 It is educational to hear both Paul and Lee’s thought process around the different music gear. Has Lee seen or tried the ToneX One? That seems like it might be right up his alley.
I hear it in nearly all the modelers, the high end gets very fizzy during breakup. ZERO hate, it just really sticks out for me. The Friedman IR-X is filling some very important territory in that regard. You should do a demo! I'm loving mine.
Thanks for the video! If we set aside the profiling/capturing feature, do you think the price of the Quad Cortex is justified in terms of sound quality and tone compared to modelers like the HX Stomp ?
The irony of this unit is it sounds almost like anything else on the TSR vids, regardless of price. Is it’s Paul’s smooth fingers or his lovely guitars that are what really give those tones?
Dear Paul....can u inform me what pickups u are using on that awesome Strat? It sounds phenomenal! I own the Strat American Professional mk 1 HSS but i don't really quite like the overall sound... my apologies if i'm asking a stupid question ...🙏
I think the Hotone options would be more appropriate for Mr. Budget. Either that or just the Tonex and some type of other effects pedal - or multi-effect pedal.
If you don’t like the ndsp low gain stuff I found you might need to dial back the gain on the input. To me it feels the default gain pushes everything a bit too much
@@TheStudioRats Or if you want to be really pedantic, the 2203 is the 100w Master Volume amp. Which is a model that ran through the JMP AND JCM eras of Marshall.
Seems a bit harsh continually comparing it with the Tonex pedal which is much cheaper and simpler. I would have thought the Kemper was a more realistic competitor.
I’ve had the Mooer GE200 in the past. I found that the US Gold (Friedman) patch was the only one I liked. More worrying was that the foot switches on the unit itself stopped working after a while. Cheap quality probably. Kinda put me off Mooer.
I wasn't an early adopter of QC. I understand your sentiment as it is well documented QC was underwhelming at launch. I think that QC in the current state is a great device for someone who likes that form factor.
I think there's no doubt the quad cortex is worth the money in a general sense, but like Lee I just can't justify spending that kind of money on it for myself.
Ya know what’s really thin? A tube amp on volume 1.5 because anything else is too loud. I love my tube amps but I’m so sick of not being able to play them in the sweet spot. I’m seriously considering modeling for that reason. I may be a convert.
All too digital and still sounds way too compressed (way too overpriced) Nothing close to an open sound you get from valve amps imho :) Having said that, its a great alternative for traveling gig and plug & play if you got the dough - BUT how much does one need and want to spend just to get and copy the same rock sound playing the same licks for the last 30 years? Its crazy 😀
I've had a QC on loan for 3 weeks now (returning it to its owner tomorrow), did 2 gigs and a bunch of rehearsals with it (all on IEMs, a bit with also a wedge monitor in front of me), and what impresses me the most with it is the feel, and specifically the way it responds to your playing. I'm used to a pretty responsive amp (Marshall Studio Vintage into an EVH 2x12, with a couple of pedals), so what usually throws me off with modellers is how inert they feel, and how none of what you do to guitar controls (pots and selector) translates. Not at all the case with the QC, it feels really responsive and dynamic. That is very, very impressive in my opinion.
Also, UI is quite intuitive, I was able to build a couple of presets in a few minutes, and got them gig-ready in a matter of hours, and they translates perfectly into a big PA. A few people (including the musicians I was working with) actually commented on how good it/I sounded.
Got to say I also had the ToneX on loan at some point and even though it felt kinda responsive, I wasn't entirely sold on the tones I got from it, and the app experience was awful (can't edit from it, won't work if the pedal isn't registered into your account, which I would never do for an unit on loan...and the standalone app/librarian isn't very easy to use overall anyway). I didn't have the occasion to gig it, but I'm not sure it would have been as impressive as the QC was.
And the friend who loaned me the QC has or has had them all, and commented on how much better the QC is, compared to what's around (especially the Kemper he's been gigging several times a week for the last few years).
So...yeah, long story short, the QC is expensive, but in my experience is worth every penny, and then some. I need to get one for myself.
Listening to both of you play those clean lines and chords with an effect or two is quite therapeutic. You really have a great channel here Paul, and thank you for stopping by Lee.
Cheers fella
But mostly stay classy.
10:04 if you wanna change the device to try a few, the top right knob/switch will cycle through all of them. Quite handy actually! Works to test cabs/irs as well.
Paul, you know what’s strange for me it sounds and feels great and as far as that goes, that part for me has never changed. This guy right here- Paul is the reason I figured the quad out so quick a few yrs ago. He’s a great teacher and player. Thx again Paul!!! I think you can turn the top right knob and it will go through all the fx so u don’t have to click out and into guitar settings and go down the list. Just click like you did at the beginning and start turning the knob. Cheers.
Lee is a great guy, luv his playing & his mindset for great sound on the cheap. Nice vid ST's!
Couldn't agree more!
@@TheStudioRats @fram8045 That is what we love about Lee, it's his attitude to buying cheap to reasonable gear that will work in a Live situation, as he is gigging frequently and not just in the bedroom.
This little jam around the 7 minute mark was awesome. That background droning sound was fantastic!
Hi Paul, the cortex looks and sounds great but its a bit expensive, I took a slightly different route and bought a Boss Gt1000core and put a tonex in the fx loop. Does very nearly the same job as the cortex but at nearly half the price roughly £880 ish and sounds incredible.
Lee is the voice in your head that is trying to get you reasonable! What a lovely guy 😊
He sure is.
Great show, everyone needs a moddler imo , i got mine six months ago and even though I’ve only scratched the surface of it’s potential, i think it’s fantastic
Do you guys have a video doing an overview of exactly how you record your demos? This channel consistently has some of the best sounding demos on RUclips
I have done one in the past but maybe its time for an update, cheers Mr Blank
I too have purchased the QC twice now. Once early on and sold it… regretted it and bought again. I also have a fractal fm9 and hx stomp. I don’t think the sound on the QC is quite as good as the FM9 but the UI and ease of use and ability to capture gear and take it with me is a real joy. It’s staying :)
I think I’ll keep the others as well. I just like messing with all the modelers and test out the new updates that come out. I probably need a better hobby…
to me the QC sound better than the fractal,fractal still that digital sound,QC or Kemper sound like a real amp
What’s wrong with guitar and gear as a hobby? I think it’s a great hobby. Guitar is thee best hobby to have. It’s a never ending learning experience and it’s fun. Re gear it can be expensive but you get what you need and enjoy yourself. Cheers.
I have this modeler. I'll tell you all the tones you've played sound so good and the feel had to be there for me to want to buy it
Lee has a good point about cost - a lot of people don't need a Cortex with all its obvious abilities. Too many people compare these units = Fractal, Helix, etc etc without putting the price into the equation. Especially for live use. Having said that I am delving into in with a Fractal AX8. Not the latest but still has massive abilities. I don't need the capabilities of capturing even if i did have a studio to record all these amps (that I don't own, lol).
9:58 You can actually scroll through the list of devices and instantly try them out by simply turning the top right footswitch!
Correct. It's amazing how many people don't know this and it's a great was to scroll.
@@DomTremendous Yes and also to scrub the cursor through text!
Very useful for comparing a different captures of the same device that are stored sequentially.
First song was absolutely beautiful. Bravo!
Great discussion guys! Loved the video
Glad you enjoyed it!
Couple things that I caught about the Tonex pedal. The capture processing goes much faster if you are using an NVidia video card in your computer, the process is designed to work with one of the components in that make of video card. Second is you dont really need an effects loop, Anything you would put in the loop, you can simply put those effects after the output of the Tonex pedal. I have a delay pedal set after the output going into my FRFR and it sounds great.
I think in light of new releases this week, the ultimate board might just be an HX Stomp paired up with the Tonex One. You could put that board together for around $600-700
I have GX100 that does all i need BUT i honestly think this year has seen a huge amount of modelling type pedals (IR2, UA lion, pod express, strymon iridium, HX one, tonex one etc) are going to be preferred over complex floor based units with a million drop down menu modellers. These could become more studio gear? Just a prediction as the super pedals improve and get smaller.
Great video. Maybe you can try Valeton GP200 , I love it. The presets are little too wet. But amps and everything sounds great. I got one for new $350 CAD, $200 under retail. Cheers
Thanks for the tip!
My GP200 sounded pretty good, but failed in spectacular fashion and just up and died one day. Valeton support is garbage and they would not take care of getting the unit fixed or replaced. I ended up having to order a new one from Amazon and returning the failed unit. I ended up not trusting these units reliability and sold it off before the new one failed.
Hi Paul. Im a new ToneX Pedal user and going through all the presets i felt a bit underwhelmed. But then i came across your captures on ToneNet, and wow!! They are so good!. And the fact they are free is insane - many thanks for doing these. Love the Matchless. I use the HX stomp but now i bypass the Amp&Cab and use your Captures from the Tonex which sound more real than the HX amps.
Welcome aboard!
Hi Paul, harmonic trem is coming soon just FYI as well as a lot of other fun FX and of course the plugin integration
Would love to see you demo the TMP , it solves the quick stage adjustment issue as it’s large UI is just like a traditional pedalboard
I have a TMP but am considering getting a QC to side by side test them as the QC sounds epic. TMP is good but doesn’t blow my mind except for the ease of use and UI
@@johnoakleymusic thanks for the reply , I don’t have a QC to compare so a side by side would be interesting
Although it seems with some work tweaking all the modern digital solutions sound stunning
But QC and fractal seem the best out of the box 👍
Believe it or not I'm loving that tank G for $79 You guys did a demo on.! Keep in mind I'm just using it for at home practice with headphones though. Absolutely great unit for that! I like it a lot more than the much more expensive BOSS waza air headphones!
As always, I super enjoy the Skinflint Lee videos 😊
It is educational to hear both Paul and Lee’s thought process around the different music gear.
Has Lee seen or tried the ToneX One? That seems like it might be right up his alley.
Cheers. Lee has currently borrowed my TONEX one for trial.
I hear it in nearly all the modelers, the high end gets very fizzy during breakup. ZERO hate, it just really sticks out for me. The Friedman IR-X is filling some very important territory in that regard. You should do a demo! I'm loving mine.
Sure, 2 delays and 2 reverbs there in the intro. Epic 🔥🔥 Been a qc user since spring 21 when it came out
Thanks for the video!
If we set aside the profiling/capturing feature, do you think the price of the Quad Cortex is justified in terms of sound quality and tone compared to modelers like the HX Stomp ?
I really do, the effects are worth the money on their own.
The irony of this unit is it sounds almost like anything else on the TSR vids, regardless of price. Is it’s Paul’s smooth fingers or his lovely guitars that are what really give those tones?
Once again, some fantastic playing by Lee.🎸🎸🎸🎶
Cheers David…too kind
@@LA.Guitar Hi Lee, do you have a RUclips channel of your own?.
@@LA.Guitar found it.😂😂
@@davidmcquillan4754not a lot going on there I’m afraid
Yeah. There is a point. Buy what You really need and You can afford (if gigging is not Your job).... so, I've ordered
QC... R.I.P. Credit Card ;p
Seems like a Tonex One guy like me. I get mine Tuesday and can't wait. I may have used your code too. Cheers, homies.
Hope you enjoy it!
Absolutely fantastic have a wonderful day also Saturday is my friends birthday ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤😊😊😊😊😊😊😊😊
Paul, you are a very "clean" player. Love your technique.
Cheers Tom
I'd like hear lee demo his neat little rig...see how he gets by with one effect at a time
Is it this?
ruclips.net/video/axV--WeMH-g/видео.htmlsi=aB4rABe2Tqd9S9Fc
Dear Paul....can u inform me what pickups u are using on that awesome Strat? It sounds phenomenal! I own the Strat American Professional mk 1 HSS but i don't really quite like the overall sound... my apologies if i'm asking a stupid question ...🙏
I’ve changed the pickups to a cream T cream of the crop humbucker and there are Sunbear pickups neck and middle.
@@TheStudioRats Thanx for the info👍
I think the Hotone options would be more appropriate for Mr. Budget. Either that or just the Tonex and some type of other effects pedal - or multi-effect pedal.
U don't have to go to, change the device..if you turn on the block and turn the rotary on the right under the qc logo will change your device
Would you consider making DI profiles of the “overdrive reverb” available?..and/or captures of the preamp only..
Yes I will do at some point.
If you don’t like the ndsp low gain stuff I found you might need to dial back the gain on the input. To me it feels the default gain pushes everything a bit too much
Great tip!
Question! I love Morley Wah pedals…. Would I just use it right in front of the QC? Has anyone done this?
Is there a way to set up golden ratio delays in the quad cortex?
with 3.0 update should be a good choice
What kind of studio monitors or frfr are you using with de QC for this video?
Ik precision MTM
I have great expectations for what the 3.0 update will bring…
Mr. budget was ripping baby great job!
Paul, just wondering what you have as the output from the QC; are you using monitors, cab, FRFR?
Interface then into studio monitors
@@LA.Guitar Cheers!
Paul is the Toxic synth preset a factory preset or one you’ve made? That one is immense! ❤
It’s a factory one
Hi. I’m looking for presets and captures from The studio rats on the Cortex Cloud, but there aren’t any?
They’re on our website
So if you didn't need capture feature which would you choose if money were not a consideration. Cortex or Kemper player>
The Cortex has better effects.
@@TheStudioRats whats?man that the real problem with the Cortex,the Kemper fx are better that the Cortex
2203 is the 100 watt marshall jcm800
cheers
@@TheStudioRats you’re welcome!
@@TheStudioRats Or if you want to be really pedantic, the 2203 is the 100w Master Volume amp. Which is a model that ran through the JMP AND JCM eras of Marshall.
Seems a bit harsh continually comparing it with the Tonex pedal which is much cheaper and simpler. I would have thought the Kemper was a more realistic competitor.
Then i think Lee pedalboard will complete with tonex one for drive in front of his ir-2
Have you tried a Mooer GE300?
I have not im afraid.
I’ve had the Mooer GE200 in the past. I found that the US Gold (Friedman) patch was the only one I liked. More worrying was that the foot switches on the unit itself stopped working after a while. Cheap quality probably. Kinda put me off Mooer.
Does it have a tuner?
It does Dave.
Have you moved away from Fractal entirely?
I purchased the QC when it first came out as well. I could never bond with it. Looks like it may be worth another try. Thanks for the video!
I wasn't an early adopter of QC. I understand your sentiment as it is well documented QC was underwhelming at launch. I think that QC in the current state is a great device for someone who likes that form factor.
Boss IR-2, and I won't say anything else :)
Going to be a tough sell to Mr Budget when he has that MVave Tank G that can run amp captures now with a similar setup to NAM. And it's $60 😂
I can’t seem to get my head around the Tank G software tho…. It’s mind numbing!
I think there's no doubt the quad cortex is worth the money in a general sense, but like Lee I just can't justify spending that kind of money on it for myself.
Lee break down and get one. I don’t think you’ll be sorry. I’m of no help re buying gear.
I'd rather gig Ampero II stage with a Tonex One in the loop
Don’t forget it’s uncanny ability to break down when you need it most. Give it time
Way too thin sounding. As a guitarist I dont want the produced in the mix sound these gizmos do. It's just bees buzzing
YOU could dial it in how u want it to sit in a mix.
@@swardmusicNaw… easier for him to complain.
Ya know what’s really thin? A tube amp on volume 1.5 because anything else is too loud. I love my tube amps but I’m so sick of not being able to play them in the sweet spot. I’m seriously considering modeling for that reason. I may be a convert.
All too digital and still sounds way too compressed (way too overpriced)
Nothing close to an open sound you get from valve amps imho :)
Having said that, its a great alternative for traveling gig and plug & play if you got the dough -
BUT how much does one need and want to spend just to get and copy the same rock sound playing the same licks for the last 30 years?
Its crazy 😀
I prefer the helix and the kemper