NDSP Quad Cortex

[Jarick]

Oh I have most certainly read that the effects are bad sounding more than once but I’m sure not every thinks it so didn’t mean to imply that’s all that’s said about the effects so that’s why I made the limited options comment as well.

On the limited thing…. limits aren’t always bad and in some instances way better than all the options you’d ever want.

I can't stand those people on the internet that make sweeping generalizations!

Seriously though, it's a cool virtual pedalboard with solid effects. I like how they have so many Boss pedals, that's underrated. Stuff like the CS-3 and CE-2, good thinking. I'd love to see them build out more on the delay and reverb side, big opportunities there.

Flip side, for $1700 it's expensive to act as a virtual pedalboard when things like the HX Effects and Stomp XL are available for less than half that price new, or lots more used. The HX stuff to me has more vibe and is more inspiring, although the UX can be more clunky and there's more DSP limits. But again, the price...

I'll be really interested to see if Fractal releases something like a VP8, which would be KILLER with a tube amp or a standalone direct amp replacement (like UAD pedals, Strymon Iridium, Friedman IR, etc.).

Flip side, it would be really interesting if Boss did an effects-only pedal, something built off the GX/GT platform but with all the 500 series stuff, better UX than the GT-1000, etc. The Boss effects legacy and very low latency would be really awesome.

 

[Mikael Dez]

I can't stand those people on the internet that make sweeping generalizations!

Seriously though, it's a cool virtual pedalboard with solid effects. I like how they have so many Boss pedals, that's underrated. Stuff like the CS-3 and CE-2, good thinking. I'd love to see them build out more on the delay and reverb side, big opportunities there.

Flip side, for $1700 it's expensive to act as a virtual pedalboard when things like the HX Effects and Stomp XL are available for less than half that price new, or lots more used. The HX stuff to me has more vibe and is more inspiring, although the UX can be more clunky and there's more DSP limits. But again, the price...

I'll be really interested to see if Fractal releases something like a VP8, which would be KILLER with a tube amp or a standalone direct amp replacement (like UAD pedals, Strymon Iridium, Friedman IR, etc.).

Flip side, it would be really interesting if Boss did an effects-only pedal, something built off the GX/GT platform but with all the 500 series stuff, better UX than the GT-1000, etc. The Boss effects legacy and very low latency would be really awesome.

My buddy got a VP4 and the one thing I kind of scratched my head at was limitation of 4 simultaneous effects. If it's an addition to a pedalboard where you may have a few physical pedals that you can't give up I can understand that - but at 4 blocks I don't think it's worth the money (for me), in that case I'd just opt to save a bit more for an FM3.

 

[namathan_zirwir]

My buddy got a VP4 and the one thing I kind of scratched my head at was limitation of 4 simultaneous effects. If it's an addition to a pedalboard where you may have a few physical pedals that you can't give up I can understand that - but at 4 blocks I don't think it's worth the money (for me), in that case I'd just opt to save a bit more for an FM3.

VP4 also a big head scratcher for me. No interest in what it is, for the price. I would maybe buy an FX8 replacement

 

[laxu]

My buddy got a VP4 and the one thing I kind of scratched my head at was limitation of 4 simultaneous effects. If it's an addition to a pedalboard where you may have a few physical pedals that you can't give up I can understand that - but at 4 blocks I don't think it's worth the money (for me), in that case I'd just opt to save a bit more for an FM3.

The way I see it, most of the time you aren't going to have more than 4 different effects in use at once. Need a different 4 of the same type? Swap channels. Need totally different 4? Use another preset.

My beef with the unit is its high EU cost (more than Helix LT...) and I'm not sold on the user experience. That's why I passed on it, though on paper it would work well for my needs.

 

[AFKAEjay(retired)]

I can't stand those people on the internet that make sweeping generalizations!

Seriously though, it's a cool virtual pedalboard with solid effects. I like how they have so many Boss pedals, that's underrated. Stuff like the CS-3 and CE-2, good thinking. I'd love to see them build out more on the delay and reverb side, big opportunities there.

Flip side, for $1700 it's expensive to act as a virtual pedalboard when things like the HX Effects and Stomp XL are available for less than half that price new, or lots more used. The HX stuff to me has more vibe and is more inspiring, although the UX can be more clunky and there's more DSP limits. But again, the price...

I'll be really interested to see if Fractal releases something like a VP8, which would be KILLER with a tube amp or a standalone direct amp replacement (like UAD pedals, Strymon Iridium, Friedman IR, etc.).

Flip side, it would be really interesting if Boss did an effects-only pedal, something built off the GX/GT platform but with all the 500 series stuff, better UX than the GT-1000, etc. The Boss effects legacy and very low latency would be really awesome.

People mean different things when they comment on the efx of the QC..some simply want more to choose from, some want more parameters, etc.
I’d buy the QC again in a heartbeat, and most efx categories are perfectly fine, but I’m not happy with the reverbs tbh. Serviceable, plenty of types, plenty of knobs to turn…sure.
In my mind there are 2 kinds of reverbs:
A…the ones that annoy you / get in the way when they are audible
B…the ones that simply give you a sound that’s too wet when turned too loud.

From the stuff I used hands on: lexicon, tc, Kemper, boss…all category B imo, set and forget…QC leans to A imo.

 

[ejecta]

The way I see it, most of the time you aren't going to have more than 4 different effects in use at once. needs.

It depends on the gig and rig choices. For some styles like PW I use a cleanish amp platform with a couple different drives driving into each other, some delays doing the same then those for the super washed out verb for ambient, and add compression, volume block, eq, tremelo etc. You can most certainly run out of blocks for some gigs but yeah “in general” I too would think most should be able to make 4 work.

 

[Mikael Dez]

Captured my invective MH - enjoy, and let me know if you like it!

Tight button engaged / pre gain 4.5 / low 6 / mid 6.5 / high 5 / post gain 7 / resonance 6 / presence 7:

Neural DSP Technologies - Algorithmically Perfect

Unlock an ever-growing collection of tones with Cortex Cloud. Explore thousands of Captures created by other users including renowned artists and producers.

cloud.neuraldsp.com

 

[Mikael Dez]

"Dumb" capture question. I love this free capture: https://unity.neuraldsp.com/t/new-supernova-tone-neural-capture-mesa-dual-rectifier-rev-f/8563

The description says it's preamp only, no power amp capturing involved. "should" I have either a capture of a power amp, or a real power amp, somewhere in the chain? I realize I could send this signal into my amp's return and use the real power amp signal there, but what about contained in the QC? Just looking for the best practice, I guess, or to at least understand it better.

 

[laxu]

"Dumb" capture question. I love this free capture: https://unity.neuraldsp.com/t/new-supernova-tone-neural-capture-mesa-dual-rectifier-rev-f/8563

The description says it's preamp only, no power amp capturing involved. "should" I have either a capture of a power amp, or a real power amp, somewhere in the chain? I realize I could send this signal into my amp's return and use the real power amp signal there, but what about contained in the QC? Just looking for the best practice, I guess, or to at least understand it better,

If you like it as is, there's no issue. You could dig up a poweramp capture and slap that after it tho to see if you like it even better.

 

[mbenigni]

You could dig up a poweramp capture and slap that after it tho to see if you like it even better.

And there are quite a few power amp captures in the QC factory content, if I'm not mistaken. :)

 

[AFKAEjay(retired)]

Last week I got me this amp, a well done ODS clone with HQ components.

Just now I made a couple of captures of the PREAMP. So from input to send of the amp. (I use captures of preamps live, going into returns of amps)
Captures came out great, I’m very happy with them at home…very “alive sound”. Sunday a maiden voyage on a gig!

If you run a QC into poweramp&cab also, here’s my preset with 4 of them. I didn’t check the usb feed yet, so no clue how the cabsimmed path sounds Meant for hybrid mode, so no clue what scenes A/B/C/D give you, I use E/F/G/H

Neural DSP Technologies - Algorithmically Perfect

Unlock an ever-growing collection of tones with Cortex Cloud. Explore thousands of Captures created by other users including renowned artists and producers.

neuraldsp.com

 

[GTR37]

They should be due for a news updates I would figure
Nothing December or Jan I figure they should be well into the next update??

 

[AFKAEjay(retired)]

"Dumb" capture question. I love this free capture: https://unity.neuraldsp.com/t/new-supernova-tone-neural-capture-mesa-dual-rectifier-rev-f/8563

The description says it's preamp only, no power amp capturing involved. "should" I have either a capture of a power amp, or a real power amp, somewhere in the chain? I realize I could send this signal into my amp's return and use the real power amp signal there, but what about contained in the QC? Just looking for the best practice, I guess, or to at least understand it better.

Ime:
- captures of preamps work a wee bit better into returns/poweramps then full captures
- captures of preamps are a bit duller then with the poweramp included (9/10)
- preamps into cabsims/ir are 9/10 a little duller, so for that application I add a poweramp capture, or an EQ block boosting top end and reducing lows/lowmids.

 

[mikah912]

They should be due for a news updates I would figure
Nothing December or Jan I figure they should be we into the next update??

Well, they've already announced which X plugins are coming in the next update....whenever that is. Is there anything else notable for them to talk about?

Obviously, TINA was a meaningless announcement, and they appear to need all of their people laser-focused just to stick to the already lax schedule of plugin "conversions". I expect nothing more to be announced than that.

The good news for them is that everyone (except for maybe Hotone) is taking their time to respond to the QC touchscreen and form factor, so they still remain a unique value prop on the market.

 

[Mikael Dez]

Ime:
- captures of preamps work a wee bit better into returns/poweramps then full captures
- captures of preamps are a bit duller then with the poweramp included (9/10)
- preamps into cabsims/ir are 9/10 a little duller, so for that application I add a poweramp capture, or an EQ block boosting top end and reducing lows/lowmids.

Just tested it out into the return of my invective MH, and I'm very impressed (and love that I have resonance and presence control in front of me now). This might be my favorite sound that I've found so far with the QC - but we'll see how my ears feel tomorrow lmao

 

[paisleywookiee]

What are you guys using for capturing amps, between a head and cab? Kemper makes a DI that looks like it'd work well.

 

[laxu]

What are you guys using for capturing amps, between a head and cab? Kemper makes a DI that looks like it'd work well.

Bluetone Loadbox (100W power handling) with the attenuator set to off, line-out running into capture device.
Lehle P-Split 2 between capture device output -> amp input if needed, mainly for ground lift.

 

[GTR37]

Well, they've already announced which X plugins are coming in the next update....whenever that is. Is there anything else notable for them to talk about?

Obviously, TINA was a meaningless announcement, and they appear to need all of their people laser-focused just to stick to the already lax schedule of plugin "conversions". I expect nothing more to be announced than that.

The good news for them is that everyone (except for maybe Hotone) is taking their time to respond to the QC touchscreen and form factor, so they still remain a unique value prop on the market.

I would say yes , next one would be a strong indicator of the plan , really the last one with the 2 deluxe (although word is they sound great) and the octave stuff was not really ground breaking .

So I am curious one if new models and things like a decent spring reverb are on the way, that's the one thing I did enjoy from them was the Monthly communication and saying wants on the way , even if it is months away

also curious about the new update to Nano , as they must have something in the works for that too likely

 

[Mikael Dez]

What are you guys using for capturing amps, between a head and cab? Kemper makes a DI that looks like it'd work well.

I have a Julius Music Box, the original style I think (mine is 8 ohm, 50watt), the new one is little more expensive, but still cheap compared to alternatives: https://reverb.com/item/26813305-ju...attenuator-with-jensen-di?page=1&filter=buyer

 

[Los-D]

TINA was a meaningless announcement