NDSP Quad Cortex

[2dor]

I’m a home player only so it’s perfect for desktop use. Way better than having a separate computer editor fired up all the time.

If I were to use live I’d probably get some button toppers at least for the top row. QC plus 1-2 expression pedals. Keep it simple.

I've played a lot at home only and I hated having it on my desk. If I was playing a song & needed to change presets - tough luck.
IMHO the unit's meant to stay on the floor and that Cortex Control app was long overdue - it makes the QC and managing stuff on it while at your desk a lot more enjoyable.

 

[the swede]

I've played a lot at home only and I hated having it on my desk. If I was playing a song & needed to change presets - tough luck.
IMHO the unit's meant to stay on the floor and that Cortex Control app was long overdue - it makes the QC and managing stuff on it while at your desk a lot more enjoyable.

Oh! There’s a control software now. Wow, that’s a huge thing coming from them. Ignoring gear news for a year pays off in terms of surprises haha!

Well, that’s good. I’d def put it on the floor in that case, even as a home/desk player.
All in all they should have waited to release QC until they had a “complete” package. It’s like they took the same path that the gaming industry has done… ya know, some studios hyping up their game, underdeliver and apologize after.

 

[GTR37]

Oh! There’s a control software now. Wow, that’s a huge thing coming from them. Ignoring gear news for a year pays off in terms of surprises haha!

Well, that’s good. I’d def put it on the floor in that case, even as a home/desk player.
All in all they should have waited to release QC until they had a “complete” package. It’s like they took the same path that the gaming industry has done… ya know, some studios hyping up their game, underdeliver and apologize after.

That’s pretty much what they did

 

[Achilles]

Appearantly…whatever they did wrong…they also did a lot right

"They like me. They really like me!"

 

[Los-D]

"They like me. They really like me!"

View attachment 25160

 

[the swede]

Did they?
They took a significant place in the market in 4 years as a newcomer…I wouldn’t be surprised if they are in the top 3…also a sound position in the pro segment by the looks of it…that’s quite an accomplishment in my book.
Appearantly…whatever they did wrong…they also did a lot right

I agree, with everything :) it’s all good. But… you know, we all know… initially a questionable start of the thing. I think we oldies (at least me) are more accustomed to things being 100% done as promised when a “thing” (whatever it might be) is released. I can’t help to draw the gaming industry parallel. When that “trend” started to happen no one was accustomed to it. Now we kinda accept it and anticipate it even. Cyberpunk being a great example. Now I know that’s unfair towards QC as QC was perfectly useable on release, it was great then and even better now. If I could afford one I’d have one right now as all it’s features and size is very compelling to me.

 

[Jarick]

I was intrigued by the QC when it was announced, but with the delays at launch and rising prices during the pandemic, it was firmly off my radar. It wasn't until last year when I started hearing how good it sounded in audio demos (I blame @GuitarJon and @2112 ), then saw the used prices were dropping, and got a nice bonus from work to pull the trigger.

I do have some of the plugins, but I'm not terribly concerned about them not being available. For the most part there's stuff in the QC already that covers what is offered. The only ones that pop out to me are the Toneking Imperial, Morgan amp suite, and the multi-head tape echo in the Mateus Asato plugin.

 

[MindCrime]

My Quad Cortex landed today but I won't be able to get into it until Sunday afternoon. I scored a demo from SW.
I'm also sitting on a new TMP. Again, I'm waiting until Sunday afternoon...I have some obligations where I can't spend time with the modelers.

I'm expecting some really good tones from both.

 

[GTR37]

"They like me. They really like me!"

View attachment 25160

is this LIVE from Tuscany or pre recorded?

 

[Thrifty]

I think the biggest reason for me to keep the QC off the floor and use a separate midi foot controller is that I sometimes have to run to the little man's room in public places while jamming. They're usually disgusting, with piss and fecal matter all over the floor.

Just the thought of going into one of those and then stepping on and later tweaking on the QC makes me feel sick.

Not that it's much better if you have a midi controller and do the same thing mind you. But at least you don't touch the footswitches later and can clean them with Dettol at home (ugh).

It's not a sensible design, unless you are leaving it in a rack or on your desktop, imo. I really, really like the touch screen, it is very responsive, better than I thought it would be. I didn't have much trouble fine-tuning as well. Perhaps later firmware updates will make it even more sensitive.

I have been jamming on this thing for a few hours every day since I got it. Today I hooked it up to my laptop and used it as a soundcard while recording some guitar. The recording was shite because the Fishman pickups I was using were out of charge. But getting somewhere.

First impression three days in remains the same: I think it is perfect for a gig, where the average user won't be able to distinguish between 80% tone and 100% tone (a musician's opinion), unless they are one of those musicians who goes to a gig and stands with his arms crossed looking at the musicians, determined to have a bad time.

I am intrigued, however, about how Neural's plugins sound. I've read the reviews, but I'm wondering what everyone is hearing. Haven't used the trials yet.

 

[laxu]

I am intrigued, however, about how Neural's plugins sound. I've read the reviews, but I'm wondering what everyone is hearing. Haven't used the trials yet.

Try the trials, use your QC as an audio interface and you will likely find they sound pretty much the same as what's on board the QC already.

 

[Jarick]

Brit 2203 amp is SO GOOD. Of all the 800's in all the modelers, it's easily my favorite.

 

[JiveTurkey]

 

[Los-D]

Valid concern. Nobody is saving you from dung smelling encoders.

 

[GTR37]

Brit 2203 amp is SO GOOD. Of all the 800's in all the modelers, it's easily my favorite.

A lot of the tones are good I just was watching Hennings
Vid of it and there are some great presets in there from Clean/ Crunch / lead and some special fx , like that toxic synth one and octave fuzz
But yes Henning says same thing the 2203 is all you need
Preset 1

 

[GTR37]

Valid concern. Nobody is saving you from dung smelling encoders.

Put switch toppers on for live use , pull them off at home or in the studio problem solved
You could even get a Spider-Man topper set

 

[Thrifty]

Try the trials, use your QC as an audio interface and you will likely find they sound pretty much the same as what's on board the QC already.

Still a way to go on figuring out the QC. I’ve mainly been messing with the presets and making small tweaks, but would like to graduate to creating patches from scratch before messing with plugins.

I’ll eventually look at the plugins when I’m more familiar with the unit, but if it’s like you said and replicable using the in-built models, I won’t be purchasing the plugins.

 

[Mongillo19]

Still a way to go on figuring out the QC. I’ve mainly been messing with the presets and making small tweaks, but would like to graduate to creating patches from scratch before messing with plugins.

I’ll eventually look at the plugins when I’m more familiar with the unit, but if it’s like you said and replicable using the in-built models, I won’t be purchasing the plugins.

Tbh the plugins will be more user friendly with their presets. The QC of course has presets but the plugins are known for their plug and play attributes (no pun intended).

But yeah, definitely feel the QC out. It's not like it's that hard to get around imo. Part of its charm

 

[Thrifty]

So just for shiz and giggles, here is one of the presets I found interesting on the QC.

I don’t have my soundcard and dsp plugins with me, so the QC is being used as the interface and the only plugin is a maximiser to get things up to a decent volume.

Sounds okay-ish, I guess. First a dual track recording and then a mono guitar track.

 

[Stone]

Are plugins really just presets that your paying ~ $150.00 for ?
you get the amps OD delay etc etc but those can be found in most modelers no ?
so what is the incentive or appeal to buy X plugin and pay for it ??