NDSP on the Nano Cortex's infamous launch campaign: "We weren’t thinking, oh, people are gonna hate this.”

Shredder777 said:
Do the models actually sound better than the FM9? Or are the models a push, but the interface is 100x better?
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Not better just a bit different and it also hit and miss
Some are really good. some are decent and others like the Recto are just not good

But if you take their best models like the gold EVH
HBE , Silver Jubilee, SLO (plug-in ) I think they compete well
 
Shredder777 said:
Do the models actually sound better than the FM9? Or are the models a push, but the interface is 100x better?
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Definitely the second option. But sometimes that is enough motivation to move on. Also your workflow might eventually (for some pcom/plugin items) be - craft your sound using the looper in QC (QC acting as interface) and a neuraldsp plugin on the computer using a very easy to manipulate skeuomorphic representation of an amp etc (yes hate the word too) - then grab your saved preset and throw it into the QC using cortex control. I have the axe fx 3 and while I love it, it isn’t as much fun/fast dialing in a preset (despite the extra amp controls in the axe) as the process described above. But to say any of the QC models are better than fractal - absolutely not and for effects it’s even a larger gap - but here is where a very accessible ux/ui with competent sounds/processing power/capture options and plugin integration might make the QC more desirable especially as more plugin content becomes (slowly) available.
 
Shredder777 said:
My experience is once they had ported one plugin, the rest would rapidly fall into place.
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I have some experience working with software development teams, and one thing I have noticed over the 16 years I've been part of music tech is, the average 'punter' thinks that a product has more resources than it truly does. It is a shame, but this industry... man.. this industry, everything is made with as little resourcing as possible as far as I can see.

It wouldn't surprise me if the QC had 2 or 3 devs on it, tops. When really to be able to deliver what they originally promised, they probably need at least 7 or 8.

Wages are stagnant, and companies with a bad rep find it hard to employ quality c++ or embedded guys, and many jobs get outsourced to cheaper countries like India, to teams who have experience in the languages, but are not audio experts.
 
deadpool_25 said:
I wouldn't say the models or captures sound better than the Fractal models. I'd say it's probably a push in that department as both can be absolutely stellar imo. The interface is significantly better yes. Again imo.
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I wonder if fractal is even interested in a more modern gui system
 
Shredder777 said:
My experience is once they had ported one plugin, the rest would rapidly fall into place.
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I’m pretty sure they’re not porting it. If you read between the lines it sounds like they’re recapturing / remodelling the amps and entire plugin (for some reason) to work both on the qc and vst. Can only assume a straight port wasn’t possible and this was the way forward. I’ve always thought the massive delay was because they need to essentially do a plugin from scratch but also keep it as 1:1 as possible with the old one, that would definitely chew up a lot of time.

Would be cool if they had capacity to release some new plugins *cough* Fortin Evil Pumpkin *cough*. Will be interesting to see their output as a company once all the porting is done.
 
deadpool_25 said:
The problem is being goofy and silly can wear on folks after a while.
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Here I Am Mirror GIF by Jeopardy!
 
Orvillain said:
Wages are stagnant, and companies with a bad rep find it hard to employ quality c++ or embedded guys, and many jobs get outsourced to cheaper countries like India, to teams who have experience in the languages, but are not audio experts.
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Given the size of their operation, they could be scraping the bottom of the barrel and using Indian labor. Also consider turnover, just one key employee could have sought greener pastures and leave them dead in the water.

You say it is 2-3 people, it could possibly be just one developer tasked with porting plugs (who left). And the business owner likely has more comfort in marketing than he does product/software development. Organizations that don't have a software process are unlikely to be able to manage a complicated effort and there is really just one person doing the lion's share of work.

I also believe they make more money on the plugins, and that with steep competition in this space, the only thing that really distinguishes them is their marketing and collaborations.

Last time I was active in the music forums, QC had launched and everyone was really upset with it/them. It doesn't seem like much has changed, the only positive from ndsp is artist collaborations. The company is stronger in marketing than it is in technology.
 
Orvillain said:
I have some experience working with software development teams, and one thing I have noticed over the 16 years I've been part of music tech is, the average 'punter' thinks that a product has more resources than it truly does. It is a shame, but this industry... man.. this industry, everything is made with as little resourcing as possible as far as I can see.

It wouldn't surprise me if the QC had 2 or 3 devs on it, tops. When really to be able to deliver what they originally promised, they probably need at least 7 or 8.

Wages are stagnant, and companies with a bad rep find it hard to employ quality c++ or embedded guys, and many jobs get outsourced to cheaper countries like India, to teams who have experience in the languages, but are not audio experts.
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they claimed 60 people on the development team at launch
 
[Nathan] said:
I’ll remain optimistic but it really doesn’t seem like it. VP4 was kind of same same, a nicer mIRC skin
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its still essentially based on the same hardware though and was probably developed at the same time .

To know if the GUI will change we will have to wait and see the next gen hardware , which might be a bit of a wait. right now they are somewhat limited by hardware in the middle of a life cycle
 
Shredder777 said:
Given the size of their operation, they could be scraping the bottom of the barrel and using Indian labor. Also consider turnover, just one key employee could have sought greener pastures and leave them dead in the water.
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I doubt that is the case. Here in Finland the only times I've seen low cost labor from e.g India, is with big companies working on multi-million euro projects. All the Indian devs I've worked with have been smart, lovely people, but often not experienced enough for the project demands.

Most of the smaller companies like NeuralDSP would at most hire individual consultant developers if they can't hire their own. Even then finding someone with a background in embedded software development can be challenging.

So some key person leaving the company can be a big blow, and I would not be surprised if something like that happened right after the QC was released. It's an issue for a lot of small companies. What would Fractal be without Cliff Chase?
 
[Nathan] said:
I’m pretty sure they’re not porting it. If you read between the lines it sounds like they’re recapturing / remodelling the amps and entire plugin (for some reason) to work both on the qc and vst. Can only assume a straight port wasn’t possible and this was the way forward. I’ve always thought the massive delay was because they need to essentially do a plugin from scratch but also keep it as 1:1 as possible with the old one, that would definitely chew up a lot of time.
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Exactly.

This comparison is mad disrespectful, but just look at (stifles nausea and dry heaves)....Headrush. For better or worse, they fully ported the X86-based Revalver engine to run on their ARM-based wrapper for Eleven Rack that powers their floor modelers.

Once they did that, everything was available at once. Not this "Oh, well we get two models here, but you won't be able to run them for another 6 months there, by which time...." nonsense.

There's just no other explanation for why Rabea X exists now, but QC won't be able to run it for another 8-12 months.
 
Shredder777 said:
Given the size of their operation, they could be scraping the bottom of the barrel and using Indian labor. Also consider turnover, just one key employee could have sought greener pastures and leave them dead in the water.
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not even sure where to start on how off base that is. What exactly would Neural do with a workforce in india, especially given the quad cortex’s are made in Finland? It would be way more hassle than it’s worth and I can’t even think what they’d need a workforce like that for day to day. Insinuating staff in India is scraping the barrel and inferior is a load of shit too.

Softube started off making their console 1’s in Sweden before moving production to Asia, I’d be amazed if NDSP don’t eventually do the same. I can’t really imagine they’d have a workforce in India (or anywhere else) unless it’s for manufacturing, or individuals working freelance and remotely.

I’d also imagine a lot of their “staff” work freelance/independently. They probably have a handful of in house guys too but for specialist jobs it’s quite common for them to do bits and pieces for various companies rather than being in the same office with long gaps with nothing to do.
 
Shredder777 said:
Do the models actually sound better than the FM9? Or are the models a push, but the interface is 100x better?
Click to expand...

IMO they are generally pretty close. Sometimes one will sound better than the other but not by much.

Fractal lets you get under the hood and start making changes if it's not what you want, but for many of us that's something we never do and just adds clutter.

QC is way easier to use without a computer, it's just a matter of if those specific amps sound good or not. Some of them sound way different (like the Rectos).

[Nathan] said:
I’m pretty sure they’re not porting it. If you read between the lines it sounds like they’re recapturing / remodelling the amps and entire plugin (for some reason) to work both on the qc and vst. Can only assume a straight port wasn’t possible and this was the way forward. I’ve always thought the massive delay was because they need to essentially do a plugin from scratch but also keep it as 1:1 as possible with the old one, that would definitely chew up a lot of time.

Would be cool if they had capacity to release some new plugins *cough* Fortin Evil Pumpkin *cough*. Will be interesting to see their output as a company once all the porting is done.
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That actually makes a lot of sense, good call! Porting code shouldn't take as long as it has, but if they are completely reshooting the amps, then yeah that would take time to re-do. And maybe that's why we have seen some new cabs as well.

laxu said:
I doubt that is the case. Here in Finland the only times I've seen low cost labor from e.g India, is with big companies working on multi-million euro projects. All the Indian devs I've worked with have been smart, lovely people, but often not experienced enough for the project demands.

Most of the smaller companies like NeuralDSP would at most hire individual consultant developers if they can't hire their own. Even then finding someone with a background in embedded software development can be challenging.

So some key person leaving the company can be a big blow, and I would not be surprised if something like that happened right after the QC was released. It's an issue for a lot of small companies. What would Fractal be without Cliff Chase?
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Agreed, it would make zero sense for a small company to try to develop offshore. Similar to your experience, the Indian devs I've worked with tend to be less experienced which requires a lot of supervision and review of work. It's a lot better if you have something that's easily repeatable, or if you have managers/engineers colocated with that group to direct the work.

I actually think Nathan's point is probably the most realistic, they are re-shooting amps with the Tina thing.
 
mikah912 said:
Exactly.

This comparison is mad disrespectful, but just look at (stifles nausea and dry heaves)....Headrush. For better or worse, they fully ported the X86-based Revalver engine to run on their ARM-based wrapper for Eleven Rack that powers their floor modelers.

Once they did that, everything was available at once. Not this "Oh, well we get two models here, but you won't be able to run them for another 6 months there, by which time...." nonsense.

There's just no other explanation for why Rabea X exists now, but QC won't be able to run it for another 8-12 months.
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Compatibility.
:farley
 
[Nathan] said:
I’m pretty sure they’re not porting it. If you read between the lines it sounds like they’re recapturing / remodelling the amps and entire plugin (for some reason) to work both on the qc and vst. Can only assume a straight port wasn’t possible and this was the way forward. I’ve always thought the massive delay was because they need to essentially do a plugin from scratch but also keep it as 1:1 as possible with the old one, that would definitely chew up a lot of time.
Click to expand...

Of course they aren’t, being that the plugins don’t actually run on the unit. They just made blocks that sound as close to the plugins as possible with extra steps/costs to unlock them.
 
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