NDSP Quad Cortex

[mikah912]

Yes

To be fair to those guys, they hopped on the thread and said there were actually multiple Fender reps on there answering questions and that development was humming on future firmware. Maybe they should start doing announcements about when announcements on future firmwares will arrive?

 

[TubeStack]

There was a thread here about NDSP models possibly being made up of many, many captures.

Found it.

 

[Elric]

It's blatantly obvious by now, but what should infuriate QC owners is that they sold the device specifically on that promise - 4 years ago now.

View attachment 20495

The truth is that the business models for the QC vs. plugins were doomed to clash with each other, and i think it's clear which one the company is choosing to favor these days.

Kind of funny how everyone on the net was raking them over the coals regarding the lack of plugin compatibility so they focused on that... Now that it is nearing a long overdue realization everyone is complaining about anything/everything else.

I think for existing customers the QoL improvements and the Plugin compatibility are pretty exciting updates; and are so major, that the lack of additional stuff in this update is hardly to be of concern. It's no surprise that the plugin compatibility was a much bigger task than they had envisioned it as being when it was promised, so I don't care much about this update being focused on that. It is a big ticket item.

I like the models in the QC, but the capturing is so good that drives and amps are essentially unlimited anyway which lowers the urgency for that stuff... I agree that the FX need a push from them after the baseline plugin compatibility goes out... Would love to see some focus there as they continue to ramp the rest of the plugs.

They've been delivering some pretty cool stuff in recent times (desktop editor exceeded expectations for usefulness)... Hopefully the pace of plugin conversions will not be glacial. That might continue to be a resource sink for them.

Anyway, I am a pretty happy customer... it's definitely legit at this point.

 

[mikah912]

Kind of funny how everyone on the net was raking them over the coals regarding the lack of plugin compatibility so they focused on that... Now that it is nearing a long overdue realization everyone is complaining about anything/everything else.

I think for existing customers the QoL improvements and the Plugin compatibility are pretty exciting updates; and are so major, that the lack of additional stuff in this update is hardly to be of concern. It's no surprise that the plugin compatibility was a much bigger task than they had envisioned it as being when it was promised, so I don't care much about this update being focused on that. It is a big ticket item.

I like the models in the QC, but the capturing is so good that drives and amps are essentially unlimited anyway which lowers the urgency for that stuff... I agree that the FX need a push from them after the baseline plugin compatibility goes out... Would love to see some focus there as they continue to ramp the rest of the plugs.

They've been delivering some pretty cool stuff in recent times (desktop editor exceeded expectations for usefulness)... Hopefully the pace of plugin conversions will not be glacial. That might continue to be a resource sink for them.

Anyway, I am a pretty happy customer... it's definitely legit at this point.

I don't even think it's complaining about everything else. Some updates are more inside baseball than others, and this one is definitely in that category. Again, QoL improvements are always welcome, and if I can dip my toe in the "Hot Take" waters for a second....I think Neural is easily outpacing Fractal when it comes to usability/UX improvements.

They're not just resting on the laurels of a touchscreen and cloud infrastructure.

That being said, there are glaring holes in their effects selection and still a few on the amp front. They'd do well to at least pay lip service to them sooner rather later. We know, after all, that they love announcements about when an announcement is coming......

 

[Lysander]

Kind of funny how everyone on the net was raking them over the coals regarding the lack of plugin compatibility so they focused on that... Now that it is nearing a long overdue realization everyone is complaining about anything/everything else.

Why sir, i'm nothing if not consistent!

But yeah, this is a perfectly legitimate complaint: NDSP sells the QC at a flagship price of $1700, yet it clearly has never been a priority for the company. Its development has been glacial at best. Plugin integration (~$120 a pop!) is just another item on a very long list of launch promises which took years to materialize... if they ever did.

 

[Mongillo19]

Would love to see some focus there as they continue to ramp the rest of the plugs

Im just wary of how long it's taken plugin integration (and they've only within the last year really seemed to work on it) and the subsequent update drop off.

I really don't see much being added until they catch up on plugins, which at this rate, won't happen any time soon

 

[Elric]

Im just wary of how long it's taken plugin integration (and they've only within the last year really seemed to work on it) and the subsequent update drop off.

This is very much a fair complaint, I agree. I think their R&D resources are spread a lot thinner they had originally envisioned when they started the process.

 

[Mongillo19]

This is very much a fair complaint, I agree. I think their R&D resources are spread a lot thinner they had originally envisioned when they started the process.

Maybe it would work better if they offered Lite versions of the plugins on the QC that were free to QC users? QC users can still get some "new" effects and amps and it wouldn't be paywall unless they want the full suite of the plugin

 

[Lysander]

QC users can still get some "new" effects and amps and it wouldn't be paywall unless they want the full suite of the plugin

Note that some of the new effects promised for CorOS 3.0.0 come from their plugin line (Gate, Doubler, Blend, 9-band EQ) - nothing earth shattering though.

 

[Sedaxel]

I couldn't care less about plugin compatibility, honestly. I like the QC very much for the rest of features.

I've just been with my mate (ten minutes ago), preparing a borrowed QC for a fly gig (this Saturday) in which he'd been told just today to transpose the key in three songs. We've been testing the poly shift... And it works really great, man. Such a great device. He's got his Boogie MKII profiled, and several ODs. He also made a capture of his Boss CS-2 compressor (yeah, I told him that compressors are not profilable)... And, hell, it's spot on! I suppose the compression is not profiled, but We couldn't believe how good it sounds (maybe the tone coloration is enough to cheat the mind).

Bad things... The XLR outs make noise if you slightly touch the connector... He's going to carry an external DI box. That's a hassle... Shouldn't occur that in a 1600€ device.

 

[Whizzinby]

Note that some of the new effects promised for CorOS 3.0.0 come from their plugin line (Gate, Doubler, Blend, 9-band EQ) - nothing earth shattering though.

Yeah most of what’s being mentioned under new devices is just plug-in stuff being repurposed as part of the plug-in porting effort. (Since it’s not directly tied to any one specific plug-in suite)

 

[Jarick]

Personally I accepted the QC as a failure compared to what was promised at launch. So I came at it from the approach of it is what it is and anything new is gravy. I also got it used for a good deal compared to new.

 

[GTR37]

They did actually have a dumble model in the very first Namm firmware aptly named “the fumble”
Which in hindsight was fairly prophetic

 

[Mongillo19]

They did actually have a dumble model in the very first Namm firmware aptly named “the fumble”
Which in hindsight was fairly prophetic

Are we for real? If so was it that bad they didn't include it

 

[yeky83]

I think for existing customers the QoL improvements and the Plugin compatibility are pretty exciting updates; and are so major, that the lack of additional stuff in this update is hardly to be of concern.

I don't even think it's complaining about everything else. Some updates are more inside baseball than others, and this one is definitely in that category. Again, QoL improvements are always welcome, and if I can dip my toe in the "Hot Take" waters for a second....I think Neural is easily outpacing Fractal when it comes to usability/UX improvements.

They're not just resting on the laurels of a touchscreen and cloud infrastructure.

The v3.0 QoL improvements are nice and I am excited... but they're stuff that should've existed already.

More than one MIDI message, wao.
Context menus that should've been same to begin with, nice... ugh.
Some basic file management features on a cloud device... finally.

So... is this the "so major" update that's "hardly to be of concern" 4yrs after release? "They're not just resting on the laurels?" I like the QC too but me thinks they're dumb takes.

 

[GTR37]

Are we for real? If so was it that bad they didn't include it

Yes sadly I am not joking
Go back and watch Rabea playing it in a back room lounge he plays the JCM800
Fumble and 5153
Legend has it Cory Wong picked up the fumble and ran it back

 

[GTR37]

Are we for real? If so was it that bad they didn't include it

Finding it is a nightmare because they have updated but here is a forum post from 2020

note the list from Feb has a Fumble Amp which seems to have disappeared from the Sept List … Why !!! and can we have a Timmy Pedal , and a Zendrive !!

 

[Jynx]

Note that some of the new effects promised for CorOS 3.0.0 come from their plugin line (Gate, Doubler, Blend, 9-band EQ) - nothing earth shattering though.

What even is Blend? I still can't get an answer on the Discord.

 

[Lysander]

What even is Blend? I still can't get an answer on the Discord.

Really good question - i'm... not quite sure, to be honest.

Maybe it's the input mode switch available on most NDSP plugins (Stereo/Mono), but that's just a guess.

 

[Jynx]

I noticed they're not porting the metronome along with all the plugin stuff.