Real Amp/cab With Quad Cortext Or Monitors With Vsts Or Real Amp/cab With Vsts? Need Help :/ Options

[JohnMathew]

I'm really confused about all these options and if they are really comparable.

Fist I must say I own an old 30 year valvestate 100 amp. It served well but It is a bit lacking. As you know it is not top quality and I think it should be flagged as a medium quality amp. So I want to update my gear but being as efficient as I could in terms of money spent/quality.

So, I have 4 options (if anyone knows others let me know):

1 - Real amp/cab with quad cortext: The most expensive option, perhaps too much.

2 - Real amp/cab with a load of pedals, etc.: This is another expensive one, perhaps not as much as the previous one but less flexible.

3 - Monitors with quad cortex: I'me leaned towards this one perhaps I could reuse my monitors for music production.

4 - Monitors + vsts (Neural DSP, Stl Tonehub, THU, etc.) : This will be the cheapest optionand I think there won't be much differece with 3 because in the end quad cortes is a "hardware vst" if I can call it that.

So, my question is, how can we compare sounding through a real cab to use monitors with vsts, is there a noticiable diffrence in quality, warmness, etc.? If there's no any and in the end is just a player preference because both options provide a really good sound, would you go for the cortex or just stick with the vsts? I won't play live it is only for home production.

Thanks in advance!

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This post has been edited by JohnMathew: Nov 28 2021, 08:40 PM

[Storm Linnebjerg]

There's is that SOMETHING about a real amp with tubes and all. It feels more alive in a way to me, but I don't use my Laney amp much, as it's just more of a hassle with setting up a mic, levels and everything, even though I have a mic placed near it almost permanently.

I do 99.99% of my guitar playing in front of my computer, so having a good audio interface and a good VSTs just seem the best for me in most situations. Certain songs I have mic'ed up my amp for though, but VST plugins have become really great in recent years. They seem to respond better than 10 years ago, and especially Neural DSP have some good stuff. I think you can trial their plugins too, so that might give you some insight as to whether you like it or not. I think Todd and Phil both like THU a lot. I haven't tried it yet.

In my previous home being able to play with headphones was a must, but where I live now I can turn up as loud as I want, but I actually still often find myself playing with headphones. Maybe it's out of habit. It is nice to turn on the amp and crank it up a bit every now and then.

I do like the look of the Quad Cortex though, and I think that's a really solid choice. I think it's going for what you think will serve you best and inspire you the most. I can't afford something at the price range of the Quad Cortex, but if I could, then I'd likely go for that or maybe an Axe FX-III if I had a bit more.

I'm sure you can find some comparison videos on YouTube with amps vs VSTs vs Quad Cortex, but it's always difficult to judge, because of how the amp have been mic'ed, mixing, different guitars, strings, pickups, settings and so on. But maybe it can give you an idea.

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[Phil66]

Don't forget you can send the vst stuff into your fx loop of your amp from the line it or headphone out of your interface, just throwing something else in.

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[Todd Simpson]

Given that it's for home music production, i'd start with the VST option and get OVERLOUD THU to be honest. For home recording, it's hard to beat plugins. You can make changes at any time with plugins. That's what makes them so great for home recording. The quad cortex is a great unit, but like a tube amp, it's better suited for live work imho. If you use it at home, once you record a track with it, the effects are burned in. You'd have to re record it in order to change them. With plugins, you are never married to the settings.


Todd

I'm really confused about all these options and if they are really comparable.



Thanks in advance!

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[Storm Linnebjerg]

Given that it's for home music production, i'd start with the VST option and get OVERLOUD THU to be honest. For home recording, it's hard to beat plugins. You can make changes at any time with plugins. That's what makes them so great for home recording. The quad cortex is a great unit, but like a tube amp, it's better suited for live work imho. If you use it at home, once you record a track with it, the effects are burned in. You'd have to re record it in order to change them. With plugins, you are never married to the settings.


Todd

Yup! I remember running into issues like that when I was recording some songs for the album I was working on (it's on the back-burner for now). Had about 7 songs recorded and then thoughts of "did I put too much gain on this when recording?" started creeping in. Difficult to change at that point. I'd say if you recorded that way at least maybe invest in a DI box that can send the signal through etc. And then a re-amp box.



That way when you record your song you can always send the DI-signal back to the amp and re-record using the original take.



However some people do say that your performance can be affected by the sound you're hearing while playing. If you originally recorded with a lot of gain you might not have hit the strings for the same dynamics as you would with less gain, so that is one of the question marks on re-amping for me. Maybe with less gain my playing would have been slightly different, meaning the re-amped DI signal might not be as good as if I had just done the recording with less gain in the first place.

2:50 in this video has some points on that:

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[Phil66]

Given that it's for home music production, i'd start with the VST option and get OVERLOUD THU to be honest. For home recording, it's hard to beat plugins. You can make changes at any time with plugins. That's what makes them so great for home recording. The quad cortex is a great unit, but like a tube amp, it's better suited for live work imho. If you use it at home, once you record a track with it, the effects are burned in. You'd have to re record it in order to change them. With plugins, you are never married to the settings.


Todd

If I remember correctly, when I had the Helix, you could record a dry track at the same time as the wet track, this enabled you to re-amp. Just be sure to keep a copy of the dry track. I'm not sure it the Cortex allows this but I would think it would.

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[Mertay]

Friend of mine has really amazing gear (both amps, processors, vst's...) who is a hobbyist.

The most frequent he uses is his boss Katana and loves it. You flick a switch and get a british-like rather good sound with satisfying fx options...it simply makes him play guitar with comfort and this should be your goal too.

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[jstcrsn]

also, with recording live , you need the equipment to pull that off ( mic, mic stands and the time to get the placement correct ) and most of all .. A capable ear , to get a good sound out of everything. If you are doing any live playing I would get the quad cortex ( you could use this live and record with it ), if just studio - the vst/ plugins these will serve you better than you trying to record a live amp, do you have experience with this ? Along with the plugins is getting on forums with others that use the same and with this resource can get you a great sound very quickly

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[Todd Simpson]

Very true! Most boxes will let you record a DI along with the effected signal. However, if you are using a processor, you have to change settings and run the DI through the processor again to get your new settings recorded as a track. If it was a plugin, you jsut tweak the knobs to taste as you listen to the perforance during a mix down. so it's got the best of both worlds when one uses a plugin in that you can hear the performance with effects in real time and change the effects at any time during mix down. Your never tied to a printed track. You don't have to re record/reamp, you just tweak the patch to taste as you listen to it. Just my view of course. IMHO for home studio work, a great plugin is just the easiest way to get good tone on tap and the most accessible way to make changes.


Todd

If I remember correctly, when I had the Helix, you could record a dry track at the same time as the wet track, this enabled you to re-amp. Just be sure to keep a copy of the dry track. I'm not sure it the Cortex allows this but I would think it would.

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This post has been edited by Todd Simpson: Nov 30 2021, 12:11 AM

[klasaine]

As a die hard tube amp guy who still mics amps when he records, I have to say that I am becoming a convert to at least recording totally ITB. With the current amp sims and modelers (and a little bit of patience tweaking) - I dare anyone to tell the difference, especially when playing along to tracks and/or recorded in a mix.

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This post has been edited by klasaine: Nov 30 2021, 12:13 AM