Nano Cortex Review (another try at digital)
So, even though not gigging yet, dragging my combo and trying to keep track of pedal settings in band rehearsals isn't working for me, so I've ordered a nano cortex, fr12, and a mic. I'll profile my marshall sv20 and maybe even a katana clean sound I like, stick a bd or halycon gold in the front see If I can get on with the onboard effects .If that doesn't work I might give up on digital untill 2030. To be fair, I haven't had a pa or frfr to truly test this stuff, so trying that this time. but yes, pod go went back, tone master pro went back - just too much hassle Vs plug into valve amp and go. hoping 3rd time lucky. I do quite like some amplitude sounds I get in logic pro through headphones so not without hope digital, albeit profiling will work for me. If anyone's interested I'll let you know how I get on...
Comments
I think a lot of us have gone through the same journey at some point. Some make it work and are happy with it, some go back to an amp and pedals.
My trouble is I'm lazy and can't be bothered tweaking gear. If it doesn't sound organic and inspiring without a few minutes then I lose interest in it. Because my actual amp does sound organic and inspiring as soon as I turn it on. Those with more patience though will persevere and get a tone that is pretty good though and instantly recallable effects.
A lot of it is also down to how many sounds you need to cover. If it's only a few then an amp and a few pedals is hard to beat for convenience. If it's loads of sounds then a modeller is a lot of work to begin with but then no work at all after .. to a certain extent.
Whatever you choose, enjoy the journey
My trouble is I'm lazy and can't be bothered tweaking gear. If it doesn't sound organic and inspiring without a few minutes then I lose interest in it. Because my actual amp does sound organic and inspiring as soon as I turn it on. Those with more patience though will persevere and get a tone that is pretty good though and instantly recallable effects.
A lot of it is also down to how many sounds you need to cover. If it's only a few then an amp and a few pedals is hard to beat for convenience. If it's loads of sounds then a modeller is a lot of work to begin with but then no work at all after .. to a certain extent.
Whatever you choose, enjoy the journey
Danny1969 said:
My trouble is I'm lazy and can't be bothered tweaking gear. If it doesn't sound organic and inspiring without a few minutes then I lose interest in it. Because my actual amp does sound organic and inspiring as soon as I turn it on.
What amp do you play through Danny?
I use a Fractal FM9 and have been gigging their modelling gear for the best part of a decade. As you rightly say, a lot of effort to begin with, but now it's plug and play unless I need a new specific sound and they're super quick to dial in anyway.
I do still get tempted by the idea of a valve amp, but on balance I don't think it'd be worth the aggro, and nobody other than me would notice the difference in tone, if indeed there was any.
I’ve got a Nano Cortex and planning a Fender FR-10 shortly, be interesting to hear how you get on. I’ve barely had chance to touch the NC this week with work being mental but hoping to have a deep dive tomorrow and rehearse with it on Sunday but through the PA. I definitely want a speaker before I gig it.
Guys, wouldn't this thread be better in the digital section?
I have a Fender HRD which gets used the most but also a Marshall combo and a Matchless clone. I have done a lot of gigs with modelling and IEM's, no backline or speakers on stage at all but I still prefer the sound of my amps, even though they are nothing special.DavusPG said:Danny1969 said:
My trouble is I'm lazy and can't be bothered tweaking gear. If it doesn't sound organic and inspiring without a few minutes then I lose interest in it. Because my actual amp does sound organic and inspiring as soon as I turn it on.
What amp do you play through Danny?
I use a Fractal FM9 and have been gigging their modelling gear for the best part of a decade. As you rightly say, a lot of effort to begin with, but now it's plug and play unless I need a new specific sound and they're super quick to dial in anyway.
I do still get tempted by the idea of a valve amp, but on balance I don't think it'd be worth the aggro, and nobody other than me would notice the difference in tone, if indeed there was any.
I play with 4 different bands and quite often just jump into an Uber with the HRD, a pedal board and a guitar. I have a little fold up trolley I use if I know the load is a bit grim but other than that its a pretty light setup
I'm fairly happy gigging my Pod Go, but tonight and tomorrow night's venues are wildly different in sound.
Tonight's is fine but the one tomorrow has an overhanging partial ceiling over the stage then it goes up to a two-storey roof, and there's something about the shape of it which makes every amp sound boxy, even a 100w half stack.
On those occasions I like to have tweakable EQ, so I'll just use my pedal board so I can change things on the fly easily.
Tonight's is fine but the one tomorrow has an overhanging partial ceiling over the stage then it goes up to a two-storey roof, and there's something about the shape of it which makes every amp sound boxy, even a 100w half stack.
On those occasions I like to have tweakable EQ, so I'll just use my pedal board so I can change things on the fly easily.
I've got a Tonex Pedal going in to an FR-10. I'm really happy with it and it had its first gig on Saturday.
Only thing I found was that the sound guy wanted XLR out for DI which the Tonex doesn't have (only jack out) but luckily the FR-10 has one so he used that instead. Not sure how that compares sound wise to a DI straight from the Tonex but we sounded great anyway so all good.
Only thing I found was that the sound guy wanted XLR out for DI which the Tonex doesn't have (only jack out) but luckily the FR-10 has one so he used that instead. Not sure how that compares sound wise to a DI straight from the Tonex but we sounded great anyway so all good.
Off topic, @DiscoStu but... I now always use a DI box when I'm playing out and going direct. Last year I had a sound engineer mistakenly send my "go direct" setup some phantom power down the XLR cable. That generated unpleasant noise that caused some pre-gig panic. But it might have broken something, so now I make sure there's no direct connection between my gear and the venues gear. I can't detect any difference when there's a DI box in the path, and these days my "go direct" sound is with a Tonex Pedal.DiscoStu said:I've got a Tonex Pedal going in to an FR-10. I'm really happy with it and it had its first gig on Saturday.
Only thing I found was that the sound guy wanted XLR out for DI which the Tonex doesn't have (only jack out) but luckily the FR-10 has one so he used that instead. Not sure how that compares sound wise to a DI straight from the Tonex but we sounded great anyway so all good.
Cheers, that's good to know. I haven't gigged since the 90s and things have moved on so much! The advice on here was that I could go to FOH with the second jack output but the sound guy last week needed XLR so that threw me a bit.TheBigDipper said:Off topic, @DiscoStu but... I now always use a DI box when I'm playing out and going direct. Last year I had a sound engineer mistakenly send my "go direct" setup some phantom power down the XLR cable. That generated unpleasant noise that caused some pre-gig panic. But it might have broken something, so now I make sure there's no direct connection between my gear and the venues gear. I can't detect any difference when there's a DI box in the path, and these days my "go direct" sound is with a Tonex Pedal.DiscoStu said:I've got a Tonex Pedal going in to an FR-10. I'm really happy with it and it had its first gig on Saturday.
Only thing I found was that the sound guy wanted XLR out for DI which the Tonex doesn't have (only jack out) but luckily the FR-10 has one so he used that instead. Not sure how that compares sound wise to a DI straight from the Tonex but we sounded great anyway so all good.
I'm all for digital for various applications, whatever works, but I do wonder why people think valve amps are aggro?DavusPG said:Danny1969 said:
My trouble is I'm lazy and can't be bothered tweaking gear. If it doesn't sound organic and inspiring without a few minutes then I lose interest in it. Because my actual amp does sound organic and inspiring as soon as I turn it on.
What amp do you play through Danny?
I use a Fractal FM9 and have been gigging their modelling gear for the best part of a decade. As you rightly say, a lot of effort to begin with, but now it's plug and play unless I need a new specific sound and they're super quick to dial in anyway.
I do still get tempted by the idea of a valve amp, but on balance I don't think it'd be worth the aggro, and nobody other than me would notice the difference in tone, if indeed there was any.
I've gigged them for getting on 30 years and never really had any problems. Actually with the decent stuff (i.e. not made to a price PCB amps), I've had 0 problems.
There is the weight, I think my amp (40W Emprize) weighs about 17kg, my 5E3 around 12kg, so there's not a massive saving going to an FRFR cab, you still have to cart that around.
I suppose if you are lugging a Twin or AC30 around digital would look a lot more attractive.
That's fair - and I did gig a valve head before going digital.
The aggro wasn't meant in terms of using it, but more the process of having to create new presets etc as I'd want to use it 4CM with the FM9 for effects and for the odd songs would still want the option of modelled amps.
Even that wouldn't be that much of a hardship to be honest....I've come very close to trying a Suhr PT15 IR on several occasions so my aggro sentiment is possibly a way of trying to save myself some money!
I'll crack eventually no doubt
The aggro wasn't meant in terms of using it, but more the process of having to create new presets etc as I'd want to use it 4CM with the FM9 for effects and for the odd songs would still want the option of modelled amps.
Even that wouldn't be that much of a hardship to be honest....I've come very close to trying a Suhr PT15 IR on several occasions so my aggro sentiment is possibly a way of trying to save myself some money!
I'll crack eventually no doubt
menamestom said:I'm all for digital for various applications, whatever works, but I do wonder why people think valve amps are aggro?DavusPG said:Danny1969 said:
My trouble is I'm lazy and can't be bothered tweaking gear. If it doesn't sound organic and inspiring without a few minutes then I lose interest in it. Because my actual amp does sound organic and inspiring as soon as I turn it on.
What amp do you play through Danny?
I use a Fractal FM9 and have been gigging their modelling gear for the best part of a decade. As you rightly say, a lot of effort to begin with, but now it's plug and play unless I need a new specific sound and they're super quick to dial in anyway.
I do still get tempted by the idea of a valve amp, but on balance I don't think it'd be worth the aggro, and nobody other than me would notice the difference in tone, if indeed there was any.
I've gigged them for getting on 30 years and never really had any problems. Actually with the decent stuff (i.e. not made to a price PCB amps), I've had 0 problems.
There is the weight, I think my amp (40W Emprize) weighs about 17kg, my 5E3 around 12kg, so there's not a massive saving going to an FRFR cab, you still have to cart that around.
I suppose if you are lugging a Twin or AC30 around digital would look a lot more attractive.
I've had valves go bad on me several times when playing out. Replacing a valve isn't that hard but it is annoying, especially when you need to figure out which valve it is. The metal cages around them on modern amps make it more difficult though.
The other problem with valve amps is that you tend to use them with pedals. That means patch cables on the pedalboard can go, although that's better since I stopped using solderless cables. TPDT switches fail as well. If the effects are in the modeller you avoid that problem. Whatever the momentary switches are on digital gear are, they are a lot more reliable than TPDT switches. I don't think I've ever had one fail.
The biggest thing though is the sound out front. The first time I saw a Kemper was in 2012. I'd seen the same band in the same venue the year before. In 2011, the guitarist was using a conventional amp, while he used a Kemper in 2012. The sound out front in the house with the Kemper was far better. I used a Line 6 Pod live once or twice 20 odd years ago. I got told by a guy who
used
to guitar tech for bands on the road that the sound out front was
better with the Pod than with my amp mic'd. I went back to an amp at
that point because I was struggling to hear myself on stage. Now I've got a decent FRFR active speaker I don't think I've played live with an amp since before the pandemic.
From a sound point of view all you can do is trust your ears. If it sounds good to you and inspires you the that's what matters as that will come through in your playing.
Reliability wise, well I repair electronic equipment professionally and god knows I've put enough repairs on here to illustrate this. Don't be fooled that modern SMPS modellers is modern a leap in reliability, it really isn't and in some cases the cases the SMPS in a modeller will fail before the valves in a well designed valve amp will.
I’ve used the top end of both fairly extensively.
I don’t think the “conveniences” of digital are as superior to valve amps as is made out.
I don’t think valve amps or analogue gear is unreliable at all. I’ve gigged literally thousands of times with a valve amp and I can’t recall an issue.
I don’t think valve amps sound FAR superior to digital solutions but they do sound better and a mic’d cab sounds better than an IR.
I don’t think valve amps are “inconsistent” night to night. Especially if you have something dealing with the IR side of things such as a Suhr RLIR, Ox or Two Notes setup. If anything I find it easier to get a sound in a room with a valve amp when used in this way.
I don’t think valve amps are much more hassle to carry around than a digital system with an FRFR monitor.
Whilst I do absolutely believe digital solutions sound good, I think there is a lot of guff chatted about valve amps as a way to help justify the switch by people that have made it.
I feel people do tend to justify their switch when talking about it. I think that says a lot, does it not??
Having gone from valve amps to digital, and then recently trying a valve amp again and not particularly enjoying it, I conclude that I actually don't like the "amp in the room" sound and experience that much at all, and in fact what I really like - and which makes me feel most comfortable when playing - is the sound of a well mic'd amp with a bunch of post-cab stereo fx. Having got used to the sound of a guitar speaker going through fx rather than fx going through a guitar speaker, I'm now quite sensitive to the difference. That's practically only really available to me in the digital realm. All of the other pros and cons are rendered moot.
I’m lazy and, thankfully, utterly happy with Quad Cortex. It’s terrific and does all I will ever need. I had Helix and liked it then moved to Kemper which sounded great but was a pain to work with (for me). QC is so simple and sounds so good. I can’t imagine ever going back to valves and pedals.
Digital for home and digital for gigging are entirely different.
At home you have all the time in the world to play with everything and wade through heavily menu driven devices. You can indulge yourself in tweaking all the nuances of amp, cab & mic settings and only minimal floor control is needed.
In a live gigging situation it's completely different. All the nuances about modelling accuracy, IR's, setting tweaks, cab models, mic type & positioning all, for the most part, largely go out the window in a band mix. What you need are some good core tones - a good clean, crunch, & distortion, with a decent reverb, delay, compressor and modulation where needed. All those distortion effects that you think sound so different at home will all begin to sound very samey live, ditto amp models etc. And patches that sound great at home will often sound pants in a live mix because live your tone is in the mids.
What you need on stage is functionality, excellent floor control, a clear display, and a good selection of real knobs/selectors that allow you to select an amp or effect model and tweak in seconds, with fast easy access to a tuner and a volume boost for solo's. There really isn't much around that does this. All the 'big name' MFX such as Helix, Quad Cortex, Boss GT1000/GX100 etc can sound great, but take ages to set-up and aside from a few knobs are 95% menu driven which makes them a potential nightmare on stage.
Out of all the current options out there, for live gigging you really want something like the Boss ME90 because it's laid out like a conventional pedal board with real knobs and selectors, no menu's, and has fast easy to use footswitches. It has a dozen of the AIRD amp/cab models from the GT1000 and a load of quality Boss effects. If it wasn't for one serious shortfall, I'd buy one for gigging myself but that shortfall - lack of patch naming - is a complete killer for me. LED numbers for patches went out with the arc. I play mostly covers and I set up patches in set-list song order where I don't have to tap dance and I can move seamlessly from one patch to another. And if there's a song order change, I can find it easily. In a 32 plus set list I'm probably only using 7 or 8 different patches so many are duplicates, but it's a fast easy approach for gigging. I just can't do that with the ME90, which is a real shame.
I've tried so many different MFX over the years and none of the 'modern' mfx work for me in the way that I want. Whilst my Pod Go is compact, light and can sound great, it's again heavily menu driven and it simply has too many options re amps, cabs, mic types and placement positions. Great fun at home, just no good for me live other than if I'm going through eg a house amp. For this I set it up for use in stomp mode (akin to a traditional pedal board but without fast easy access to real knobs) within a single patch where amp/cab models are turned off and I put the Pod Go through the fx return or through front end, clean channel. In this mode it's great and it's what I take where I need to travel light on tube/train and am using a house amp. Unfortunately the PSU is utter crap & I've replaced the Line 6 unit with something a bit more gig worthy.
The only mfx that works for me on stage are old tech Vox Tonelab SE and LE units that are built like tanks with long, thick gig worthy power cables that have a mid cable on/off switch transformer and a standard 13 amp plug (no ugly, awkward 'wall-wart'). Essentially, all amps & fx and (on the SE) cab models can be selected via real selector knobs and there are real knobs to tweak everything quickly on the fly. No IR capability, limited amp/cab/fx options, and you can't play them through a computer without a separate audio interface, but they still sound excellent on stage and the clever use of a 12AX7 valve as a power valve makes them sound & feel surprisingly valve-like. I either put these through FOH or through FRFR powered speakers.
There have been some other MFX that caught on to the 'real knobs' concept including the Zoom G11 (which once you get past the Fischer Price look and ignore what are probably the worst factory pre-sets ever created) is actually a pretty good gigging MFX. Where Zoom went wrong was its ridiculous pricing that killed it. Another surprisingly good mfx is the Valeton GP200 that has (similar to the Zoom G11) dedicated amp controls. But it's still too heavily menu driven and whilst it has patch naming, the fooswitches can't be named. This means that in stomp mode they are labelled ABCD and you have no idea of what you've programmed them to kick in unless you have an incredible memory or put labels on! And even then the same footswitch would have to do the same thing in every patch. Hardly flexible, wholly unintuitive and again (for me) useless on stage.
So, yes, going digital for gigging has advantages but also a lot of disadvantages and disappointments if you don't do your research properly to ensure the mfx unit you buy will do what you want, in the way that you want, live. And whatever you buy, be prepared for compromises. Manufacturers are wonderful at cramming tons in and telling you what it can do, but it's what these can't do that you need to get your head around too.
At home you have all the time in the world to play with everything and wade through heavily menu driven devices. You can indulge yourself in tweaking all the nuances of amp, cab & mic settings and only minimal floor control is needed.
In a live gigging situation it's completely different. All the nuances about modelling accuracy, IR's, setting tweaks, cab models, mic type & positioning all, for the most part, largely go out the window in a band mix. What you need are some good core tones - a good clean, crunch, & distortion, with a decent reverb, delay, compressor and modulation where needed. All those distortion effects that you think sound so different at home will all begin to sound very samey live, ditto amp models etc. And patches that sound great at home will often sound pants in a live mix because live your tone is in the mids.
What you need on stage is functionality, excellent floor control, a clear display, and a good selection of real knobs/selectors that allow you to select an amp or effect model and tweak in seconds, with fast easy access to a tuner and a volume boost for solo's. There really isn't much around that does this. All the 'big name' MFX such as Helix, Quad Cortex, Boss GT1000/GX100 etc can sound great, but take ages to set-up and aside from a few knobs are 95% menu driven which makes them a potential nightmare on stage.
Out of all the current options out there, for live gigging you really want something like the Boss ME90 because it's laid out like a conventional pedal board with real knobs and selectors, no menu's, and has fast easy to use footswitches. It has a dozen of the AIRD amp/cab models from the GT1000 and a load of quality Boss effects. If it wasn't for one serious shortfall, I'd buy one for gigging myself but that shortfall - lack of patch naming - is a complete killer for me. LED numbers for patches went out with the arc. I play mostly covers and I set up patches in set-list song order where I don't have to tap dance and I can move seamlessly from one patch to another. And if there's a song order change, I can find it easily. In a 32 plus set list I'm probably only using 7 or 8 different patches so many are duplicates, but it's a fast easy approach for gigging. I just can't do that with the ME90, which is a real shame.
I've tried so many different MFX over the years and none of the 'modern' mfx work for me in the way that I want. Whilst my Pod Go is compact, light and can sound great, it's again heavily menu driven and it simply has too many options re amps, cabs, mic types and placement positions. Great fun at home, just no good for me live other than if I'm going through eg a house amp. For this I set it up for use in stomp mode (akin to a traditional pedal board but without fast easy access to real knobs) within a single patch where amp/cab models are turned off and I put the Pod Go through the fx return or through front end, clean channel. In this mode it's great and it's what I take where I need to travel light on tube/train and am using a house amp. Unfortunately the PSU is utter crap & I've replaced the Line 6 unit with something a bit more gig worthy.
The only mfx that works for me on stage are old tech Vox Tonelab SE and LE units that are built like tanks with long, thick gig worthy power cables that have a mid cable on/off switch transformer and a standard 13 amp plug (no ugly, awkward 'wall-wart'). Essentially, all amps & fx and (on the SE) cab models can be selected via real selector knobs and there are real knobs to tweak everything quickly on the fly. No IR capability, limited amp/cab/fx options, and you can't play them through a computer without a separate audio interface, but they still sound excellent on stage and the clever use of a 12AX7 valve as a power valve makes them sound & feel surprisingly valve-like. I either put these through FOH or through FRFR powered speakers.
There have been some other MFX that caught on to the 'real knobs' concept including the Zoom G11 (which once you get past the Fischer Price look and ignore what are probably the worst factory pre-sets ever created) is actually a pretty good gigging MFX. Where Zoom went wrong was its ridiculous pricing that killed it. Another surprisingly good mfx is the Valeton GP200 that has (similar to the Zoom G11) dedicated amp controls. But it's still too heavily menu driven and whilst it has patch naming, the fooswitches can't be named. This means that in stomp mode they are labelled ABCD and you have no idea of what you've programmed them to kick in unless you have an incredible memory or put labels on! And even then the same footswitch would have to do the same thing in every patch. Hardly flexible, wholly unintuitive and again (for me) useless on stage.
So, yes, going digital for gigging has advantages but also a lot of disadvantages and disappointments if you don't do your research properly to ensure the mfx unit you buy will do what you want, in the way that you want, live. And whatever you buy, be prepared for compromises. Manufacturers are wonderful at cramming tons in and telling you what it can do, but it's what these can't do that you need to get your head around too.
@Voxman - brilliant post mate.
For me personally, the issue isnt the modeller - they are all pretty good in their own way. Its the following;
1.) The Learning Curve - I found myself having to learn a completely new ‘language’, understand frequencies more, understand multiplE outputs etc ectc.
2.) This is the BIG one for me - the modeller is only as good as what you are playing it through. I personally think direct into a PA is never as good, anD that you still need decent foldback.
- DXR10s sound good clean, but more digital when the profilE is driven.
- Red Sound were easily thE most natural’ I tried.
- My Zilla cab (with an amp before it, naturally) worked VERY well, esp with the Kemper.
3.) Out of all of them, i actually preferred the Kemp (with built in amp) for sound, although the Fractal won for fx, and Helix for ease of use.
4.) All this means, and especially point 2 above, that modelling live for me actually meant;
a. More stuff to carry live
b. More stuff to learn anD more complex
c. Hence, more expense
So roughly on price, Kemper Power plus footswitch and Red Sound speaker at the time = around £2500.
There’s a lot of great sounding amps outthere for that kinda money.
YMMV.
1.) The Learning Curve - I found myself having to learn a completely new ‘language’, understand frequencies more, understand multiplE outputs etc ectc.
2.) This is the BIG one for me - the modeller is only as good as what you are playing it through. I personally think direct into a PA is never as good, anD that you still need decent foldback.
- DXR10s sound good clean, but more digital when the profilE is driven.
- Red Sound were easily thE most natural’ I tried.
- My Zilla cab (with an amp before it, naturally) worked VERY well, esp with the Kemper.
3.) Out of all of them, i actually preferred the Kemp (with built in amp) for sound, although the Fractal won for fx, and Helix for ease of use.
4.) All this means, and especially point 2 above, that modelling live for me actually meant;
a. More stuff to carry live
b. More stuff to learn anD more complex
c. Hence, more expense
So roughly on price, Kemper Power plus footswitch and Red Sound speaker at the time = around £2500.
There’s a lot of great sounding amps outthere for that kinda money.
YMMV.
I have been gigging with a Quad Cortex for a few years now and never had and issue quickly adjusting a parameter either in a rehearsal or a gig. The ease of use was a big part of my decision to buy it. I use it with an Atomic CLR as monitor, and in my case, where I also sing backing vocals, it is actually saving me weight compared to an actual amp, as I would need a monitor anyway
Wazmeister said:@Voxman - brilliant post mate.
Thank you Wazmeister. :)
It's a top quality & very sophisticated MFX no question, and it's pretty light & compact as compared to eg Helix, but it's darned expensive and isn't a standalone MFX from the perspective it has no built in expression pedal so you'd have to buy and connect one up if you wanted foot control for wah, volume etc. It looks great, works very smoothly, and I like that the foot-switches themselves double-up as rotary controls, but it's still very menu driven. If you wanted to add a wah or a delay to a patch that didn't have it, or change an effect or amp model that wasn't working for you live, just like Helix, Pod Go, Boss GT1000 & GX100 etc, you have to go into the menu to find what you want to add and (if its an add on) then decide where you want it in the signal chain.onyir said:I have been gigging with a Quad Cortex for a few years now and never had and issue quickly adjusting a parameter either in a rehearsal or a gig. The ease of use was a big part of my decision to buy it. I use it with an Atomic CLR as monitor, and in my case, where I also sing backing vocals, it is actually saving me weight compared to an actual amp, as I would need a monitor anyway
But for a top quality MFX, the PSU and connection to the QC is simply 'weak' and the cable seems very frail & frankly not much better than the Pod Go's PSU & cable (which is dreadful).
I think trying to find a real wah pedal when you didn't bring one to the gig might be a bit more difficult... It's like three finger presses on a touchscreen to add a wah (or any other block) wherever you want it on the grid.Voxman said:It's a top quality & very sophisticated MFX no question, and it's pretty light & compact as compared to eg Helix, but it's darned expensive and isn't a standalone MFX from the perspective it has no built in expression pedal so you'd have to buy and connect one up if you wanted foot control for wah, volume etc. It looks great, works very smoothly, and I like that the foot-switches themselves double-up as rotary controls, but it's still very menu driven. If you wanted to add a wah or a delay to a patch that didn't have it, or change an effect or amp model that wasn't working for you live, just like Helix, Pod Go, Boss GT1000 & GX100 etc, you have to go into the menu to find what you want to add and (if its an add on) then decide where you want it in the signal chain.onyir said:I have been gigging with a Quad Cortex for a few years now and never had and issue quickly adjusting a parameter either in a rehearsal or a gig. The ease of use was a big part of my decision to buy it. I use it with an Atomic CLR as monitor, and in my case, where I also sing backing vocals, it is actually saving me weight compared to an actual amp, as I would need a monitor anyway
But for a top quality MFX, the PSU and connection to the QC is simply 'weak' and the cable seems very frail & frankly not much better than the Pod Go's PSU & cable (which is dreadful).
Never had an issue with the power supply
You can't really win with MFX power supplies. On the one hand while an internal one may seem more professional than an external one, after 8 to 12 years when the internal one will begin to fail it's now a more major and costly job to replace it.
The external ones are easy to replace but it's annoying when they break as easy as they do. The only decent ones tend to be the type with a trailing mains cable and robust low voltage cable, like a laptop charger
The external ones are easy to replace but it's annoying when they break as easy as they do. The only decent ones tend to be the type with a trailing mains cable and robust low voltage cable, like a laptop charger
It's why I like the PSU's with my Tonelab SE & LE's. 9v AC (not DC), 4 pin DIN connection, thick heavy duty cables, mid cable transformer with on/off switch, standard 3-pin 13 amp plug (no ugly, awkward wall wart). I have one TLSE and 2 TLLE's, all with their original Vox power supplies and they all work perfectly with no sign of any cable wear or power problems. Not too shabby for units from 2004 (TLSE) and 2007 (TLLE) respectively!Danny1969 said:You can't really win with MFX power supplies. On the one hand while an internal one may seem more professional than an external one, after 8 to 12 years when the internal one will begin to fail it's now a more major and costly job to replace it.
The external ones are easy to replace but it's annoying when they break as easy as they do. The only decent ones tend to be the type with a trailing mains cable and robust low voltage cable, like a laptop charger
I promised to report back, so here goes!
Immediately I unboxed the pedal, which looks great and is very well made, I fired up my Marshall SV20 combo, set levels with my guitar, stuck a shure SM57 in front and ran a capture at 3-4 on both normal and treble (jumpered) so 90db+.
The capture process was very straight-forward but unbelievably loud (108db?) on these settings and the sounds used to profile are really horrible. About 1 minute maybe of noise, then the rest is processing. Isn't clear whether external noise or action can affect the capture when it goes quiet. I'm guessing not.
Anyway, with my amp+cab capture, available on cortex cloud, into headphones - really promising start. For the first time, immediately happy with the results - recognisably my amp. Captured at clean/moderate gain.
Next, I stuck a klon clone (halycon gold) in front. Not bad, but hint of fizzyness at higher gain and not that different from simply increasing the boost on the cortex. But usable. Stuck an SD-1 in front. Not as much difference in character between halycon and sd-1 as would be in to real amp, but ok. So feeling optimistic at this point.
Then, I captured the acoustic sim (via line out) on the Katana 100 Mk2. This time I could toggle between the sim and the amp (though that compare feature doesn't seem to be offered later, just as part of capture.) Some of the, for want of better description, 'sparkle' top end of the sim was lost, but close enough and usable.
So next, whilst I waited for a flat response Fender FR12 to arrive, I ran the nano into the power amp in on the Katana. Not amazing, but ok and normally where I'm already boxing the mfx/profiler/modeller to go back to the shop. Ran into hi-fi (I know) but that also sounded ok. So still feeling optimistic.
Time to setup some profiles, see if I could use the pedal practically for some songs ahead of a rehearsal. The profiles have to be manually selected in the app and added into 1 of the 4 foot switches. There's no mac/pc app to do this, and it's not ideal. The profiles can't be grouped into songs, and I couldn't see how to re-order in the library list. All a bit tedious, but got things set up with acoustic (intro), clean (verse), overdriven and additional effects for each switch. Enough variation for a song. Beginning to see myself taking the nano on holiday for practice and spending hours refining some great tones.
First fail - the manual says footswitches to change things until you release them, the reasoning being so that other features (like the tuner, which works well btw) can be activated. But that, for me at least, sucks.
Onboard effects, mod, delay, reverb (in that order only pending future updates I guess) were ok. I didn't love them. Usable though. I thought the pitch shift worked really well considering - I thought it tracked chords fine. I'd be tempted not to retune - I think it's usable definitely.
The FR12 arrived only just before next band rehearsal. I spent a bit of time trying out some Fender, Marshall, Vox profiles from other users, always amp and cab captures so I can relax knowing to switch of the IR and not stress about which IR to use.
They were ok, but more tweaking than just plug into amp and go for sure .In particular working out how far to push gain before things sounded off. Definitely not an amp feel though, and first doubts setting in.
At rehearsal, a couple of issues - really didn't like using the phone/app to change between sets of profiles. Sometimes, the left hand footswitch stopped switching between presets - sure this is a bug and would be fixed eventually, but problematic. But the big thing for me, I wasn't really inspired by the tone at home, and now not in a band mix. I thought it was ok, but lacking. At the end of the session, the drummer and bassist commented on the thinness and lack of 'thump'. I'd say lack of life. Like a recording of an amp, not an amp.
Also - if I don't like the nano through the PA (I don't) and want a monitor (the FR-12), then not really any more effort to bring my SV20 and mic it up?
Maybe, for my generation at least, the amp and guitar can't be separated - they're part of the same living, breathing instrument. Yet, profiling, modelling it's out there - everyone's using it. I just can't seem to get it for work for me (Pod Go, Fender Tonemaster Pro, Nano Cortex) other than when recording direct to Logic Pro (Amplitude.)
And maybe the problem I'm trying to solve is managing pedals/settings, so I'm going to try a switcher on my board (boss ms 3 for example) with midi and create my own presets.
I could really visualise a simple board - od > nano > FRFR/PA, but somehow it just hasn't happened. I'm reluctantly (I'm not sure why I'm fond of it) sending the nano (and everything else) back.
Hope this is helpful, though there are plenty of people out there proving modelling, profiling works for them, so this is just my preference ultimately.
My experience is very very limited in the modelling world but the key to a satisfying experience and tone is the IR.
Like I said limited experience and mainly at the budget end but I’ve tried Headrush MX5 and the Pod Go.
The Headrush I ran through the power amp of my valve amp with cab sims off. Not the best way to experience it but I did like its clean and mid break up sounds and its effects where excellent (as was the touch screen etc).
The Pod Go had/has better higher gain tones and this I ran through a headrush FRFR08.
Was pretty decent but not any better than my valve amp with the master low for “at home “ volumes.
It was at this point I was gonna sell everything digital but thought I owed it to myself to give it one more shot and decided to play about with 3rd party IR’s and that’s where the magic is.
Quiet or loud the right IR with bass and treble cuts can make any profile sound like amp in the room or recorded and placed the tones into that next level affair that I quickly sold my valve amp and pedal board.