Posts by caveman1

    I have the QC, Kemper, and Axe Fx. I have this urge to just pick one and forget the others....it's essentially option paralysis. How do you focus on playing? I almost feel as if I need to pledge my time to one unit but then I feel guilty about the others just chilling there. I also read too much into guitar forums. Essentially everyone claims the QC to be heads and shoulders above the kemper but idk, I think they are very similar in terms of pure guitar tone and I often lean towards playing the kemper given my familiarity and maturity of the unit. I guess those who have a QC at the moment pre-ordered either within the first months of it being announced or shortly there after so maybe they have a bias given they have waited so long and also are obviously big NDSP fans if they preorded direct without any knowledge of the product. Not saying the QC is a bad product! Just that to me, it isn't the gamechanger they tried to push it to be.

    I think the one undeniable thing about all the units is you can get a killer sound out of all of them, it all comes down to personal preference.


    I think in someways the QC is a bit of a game changer because it combines modelling with the captures and the touch screen (even though I believe another unit has done it before)


    The Helix was a big game changer in terms of just ease of use, I think Fractal should have a hide option for all the deep editing stuff ...

    All these units right down to the POD have helped the evolution of this gear

    Well I've gave mine a bit of a spin and I need to do so in case I do decide to return it as I'll be away for two weeks unfortunately!

    It was a bit of a surprise when I saw it had arrived at the local dealer and thankfully the original price.


    First thing I want to say is I'm old enough to remember 2 channel amps (3 if you were lucky!) and hauling around 4x12's....

    If someone put one of these things in front of me with wifi, amp captures, multi fx etc back in the day my head would have exploded :)


    So while we live in IMO the best current period for music gear (except for the 50's if you are a LP fan :D) its also the worst time for complainers :)


    I really feel for the people building this gear sometimes and the BS they have to put up with online, so two thumbs up for all the awesome manufacturers putting out this brilliant gear!!!


    One of the reasons I didn't want the QC is I've found a certain happy medium/compromise with my gear I already have and to just focus more on playing. Being off social media has also been brilliant as far as even though I'm out of the loop of new gear I'm focusing more on what I own and not killing the wallet either.


    Anyway back to initial impressions!

    1.Some of the higher gain presets do have some nasty high end spikes, some sound a bit muffled (some of the factory profiles on the kemper and fractal I felt were the same) but there are some great ones right off the bat that could be used live. I do believe the fractal to be the best handling any aliasing which gets brought up once in a while.


    2.Ease of use, light years ahead of the Axe-Fx...the Kemper while at first was very intimidating with the CRO look, didn't take long to learn at all

    I would say QC,Kemper and Fractal in that order (I haven't tried the Helix but they did a damn good job with that one too)

    The flip down for inputs and scenes/presets is brilliant.


    Not to mention fact you can put on a (free!) sweetwater video and get to know the unit in 30min vs paying some $120 course from a guy whose tone sounds as smooth as legos in some vids


    3.Cabs I think its one of the most straight forward approaches ever. Pick a cab/mic and adjust .....the 1000 IRs in the AFX is just a nightmare.

    I'm assuming that is the way they are housed in the QC which makes perfect sense.



    4.Effects not as bad as I had read...I think its somewhat a tie with the AFX and the Kemper (some effects better than others ...the AFX pitch shift always seemed not good to me) the QC from my limited use is good enough and its early days.


    5.Capture

    I have not got to this part yet but the last 6-7 mths have had very little free time so maybe I'll even do some QC profiles on the Kemper and share here hahah



    6.Footswitches

    At first I was a bit worried about how close they are but its not too bad, the angle works great because you can just lay your foot flat to hit the upper ones.

    Saying that with the touch screen and the encoders I might go the way of using an RJM mastermind for a controller....idiocracy is very real and I'm not sure its worth the risk at some venues....


    Is the Kemper or Fractal going anywhere? Not yet...as much as the Fractal is a PITA with the interface and FW changes that ruin patches I need it for the guitar synth stuff I do due to the routing/outputs.


    I think I will use the Kemper for a pure guitar rig (if only the parallel path had more features for piezo guitars but I've found a compromise)

    But I may still sell the stage and keep the toaster...there is a high probability I'll share profiles between the units too for consistency!


    With the QC I think I will mainly use it for Bass/Acoustic/recording and possibly a live guitar rig depending on if I sell the stage


    Anyway just more of the same info, nothing new....I need to dig in deeper yet.

    I'm going to keep my stage ...potentially sell my toaster? My stage will be more just a pure guitar rig (with footswitch stickers cause I can't read that screen lol)

    I couldn't sell my stage after buying the thomman case and paying that nasty shipping urghh lol


    The big question is if I will sell my axe-fx iii and buy another QC.....I've VERY MUCH looking forward to that .....the PITA the fractal units have given me over the years with the UI will be a huge relief to be done with them! (I'll keep my ultra though lol)


    I do wish the QC had a rackmount version

    i don't know if this is the right place to put this thread but im going to anyway.

    since the kemper eq doesn't react like the real amp eq that was profiled,

    does the QC does?

    couldn't find an answer when googled it.

    I would say no, unless moving the eq knobs is part of the profiling how would the unit capture this? (unless it has a database of amp eq dials!) I actually remember hearing the kemper was possibly going to do that at one point via a database?


    People buy the "axe-fx reacts identical to the real amp knobs" which was obviously a move to uncut the competition with next to zero demonstrations....

    I've decided 100% to mount mine in a mixer rack case as well as a few other goodies and I'll use an RJM mastermind to control .

    The QC knobs will never be exposed to my shoes hahah!

    As I said, what guitar player goes out looking for a processor based on how many cores and what frequency it runs at? Seriously!


    For me, it is all about the work flow (live), durability and the sound quality.


    While I know others have different use cases where cool GUI's and editors are high on the list, my needs for live really are that simple.

    When you have a kemper DI profile that sounds 95% close to a real amp all the processing power don't mean too much lol

    coding ftw! Saying that I'm def looking to pick up a QC

    I'm actually considering rack mounting the QC and using a RJM mastermind for switching.


    Reason being those huge lovely big leds to see patch info, I can protect the QC from animals in the crowd and also don't get poop and urine on the footswitches hahaha

    I'll add one thing.....whatever kemper does next add in LEDs on the footswitches.


    Line 6 helix/RJM and now QC (well at least with the screen) you can see what you are gonna stand on is gonna do.


    The remote/stage screen is way too small to see what the individual performances are.


    I'm so tired of sticking tape on floor pedals telling me what is what.

    I feel like Fractal has spent its last generation trying to equal the KPA tonal quality .... and for the most part have achieved it ..... but at a higher price point, with a larger and heavier piece of equipment. They are still light years behind the Kemper in terms of ease of use though (and admittedly ahead with their editor). They still don't offer compatibility though. It seems like they change things so often that nothing is ever kept compatible (tonally and with each generation architecturally).


    Kemper's library of excellent free rigs and commercial rigs is outstanding..... and every Kemper ever made can use them.


    They tried with the "it sounds exactly the same and the knobs react exactly the same as the real thing" to but the countless updates would prove otherwise.


    If this was the case why don't the number of axechange patches match the rig exchange? (one because the FW updates nuke the sound more often than not)

    Either get your band to use remote switching from a computer, or buy a cheap midi pedal board. It does look a little delicate for live use on a stage floor.

    Because I might have a synth rig setup I'm thinking I might go that way....if RJM support the QC and allow patch name downloading etc it will be awesome. A mixer case would be perfect for it and a low profile hardware synth.

    Thats one big reason for it being un use-able in the giging world,, maybe on the studio shelf,, but not on the floor,, for gods sake,,in today's world?????

    Seems like an easy fix.....either an individual turner (like an electrical wire nut turner) or maybe those mushroom footswitch covers and use the underneath par.


    I'm more worried about the screen with the amount of savages running around these days.

    I keep running this movie in my head of setting up and playing in a scummy bar. Then I go to the bathroom, come back, stomp on the buttons, then bend down and turn them to change a parameter.

    Eeeewww... yuk.

    I was already thinking of a 3D print dog shit avoider for those gig tweaks hahah

    it is possible that this can be the impression if the IR is auditioned with the PROFILER's CABINET section switched off.

    Switching CABINET off automatically engages the Cab Driver algorithm.


    This does not mean however, that the conversion of IR to PROFILER cabinet is inaccurate at all, it means you are comparing different things. ;)

    hmmm, its been ages but I converted the IR to a cab and then used it in the cab section....unless this got changed in a FW if definitely changed the sound of the cab (compared to it in a torpedo/fractal/ir loader etc) maybe I will revisit it.

    IMO they fucked up twice


    First the Ax8 had a terrible interface, garbage screen and they skimped out on dual amps/tone match block and other things.


    FM3....3 footswitches ....I actually preferred the Ax8 just for the extra footswitches!!


    And make the patches compatible ffs ...drop out blocks if they can't handle the CPU but it seems like such a shoot yourself in the foot situation.



    Line 6/Neural got this right (even though I'm not sure about the rotary footswitches yet hahah)


    Only thing that pisses me off is the loading of 1000 IR's on the QC...and some certain IR vendors have been exposed that they don't even know whats going on when it comes to shooting IR's


    I know some in the fractal just sound hideous and could be pulled out ......anything muddy or honky or comb filter like just get it out of the unit.


    They would be much better getting the MBritts of the world and pro players in a room and paying them to cut down the bulk.

    Hopefully it doesn't end like deliverance....

    What I find the most interesting if that if it can direct profile the ability to use IR's.


    I've heard the kemper cabinets sound more realistic but I do know the cab maker always changed the IR's slightly when converted.


    If the QC is the real deal I'm excited at how much gear I can offload!