NDSP Quad Cortex

[Jarick]

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

Honestly I wish they would put the metronome in. That along with the tuner is pretty key for practice.

Had an issue this morning for the second time where the QC sounded absolutely terrible, really muddy and bad. I checked the input levels and they were super low (like -35 peaks instead of -12). Tried swapping cables and inputs, still off. Then adjusted the gain up and down and it seemed to click back to normal. Input gain back to default and peaks were back to -12 again.

This is the second time I've had the issue. Hopefully it's some kind of a bug that gets fixed in the next update.

 

[timbuck3]

https://neuraldsp.com/quad-cortex-updates/quad-cortex-development-update-46-coros-3-0-0-and-pcom

 

[Jynx]

L8

 

[Mongillo19]

L8

It's part of his charm, you'll see

 

[MindCrime]

L8

It's part of his charm, you'll see

 

[GTR37]

Honestly , as I have said before I am waiting for there next product which I am sure will be a dual cortex based on survey they just had me do
By the time they release that
We will have plug in compatibility , a desktop editor that’s out now
A large resource of great captures
And maybe a grounded freaking power supply
I am keeping an eye but I think the next one will be fairly decent with all the stuff they learned in the past 3 and a half years

 

[yeky83]

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

 

[Elric]

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.

Absolutely. Ignoring the nonsense promises from the launch hype and just looking at the device in its current state, is the only rational way to evaluate it at this point, I think. Otherwise, take your money and vote elsewhere with it. It's years old... Neural is not going to suddenly do things in a wildly different way.

I mean it is fair (and reasonable) to say "I don't trust these guys" or "I want the device that meets all the OG specs" and pass on it without any further rationale, IMHO. Folks in that camp will never like the product, which is fine, there are plenty of alternatives. It's even fair to say, I don't want to buy something where the goal posts got moved too many times. Consumer trust is a thing.

That said, at this point, it's a great device, today, in terms of the value and compared to other products (for my preferences). Will it ever morph into the one device to rule them all that it was specced to be? Outlook not so good.

 

[namathan_zirwir]

Honestly , as I have said before I am waiting for there next product which I am sure will be a dual cortex based on survey they just had me do
By the time they release that
We will have plug in compatibility , a desktop editor that’s out now
A large resource of great captures
And maybe a grounded freaking power supply
I am keeping an eye but I think the next one will be fairly decent with all the stuff they learned in the past 3 and a half years

I highly doubt they release any new products for many years. The QC has a ton of untapped potential. I'm sure once the development picks up a little more- they will sell a lot more units. The next update looks pretty damn promising

 

[Mongillo19]

I highly doubt they release any new products for many years. The QC has a ton of untapped potential. I'm sure once the development picks up a little more- they will sell a lot more units. The next update looks pretty damn promising

Their update after this one will be most telling. While it just be perpetual lag behind of plug in updates, or will they branch out and update the QC with new amps, effects, etc

 

[GTR37]

I highly doubt they release any new products for many years. The QC has a ton of untapped potential. I'm sure once the development picks up a little more- they will sell a lot more units. The next update looks pretty damn promising

I will say next Namm 2025 January they will announce dual Cortex it may not be available till 2026 but they will have a proto and mock ups

 

[namathan_zirwir]

I will say next Namm 2025 January they will announce dual Cortex it may not be available till 2026 but they will have a proto and mock ups

Yeah, I doubt it. Not sure if you are trolling, or what.

 

[Mongillo19]

Yeah, I doubt it. Not sure if you are trolling, or what.

Why would they be trolling

 

[Jarick]

I've been back on a Teenage Wrist kick and wanted to dial in some tones to jam with songs. Marshall did a really good Rig Rundown a few years ago where he walked through and played all his gear to nail the tones.

I set up a stereo rig similar to what he had, although I used the Victory Kraken instead of the Orange Rockerverb as that's not modeled. JCM 800 on the other side. There's an Xotic BB Preamp modeled which is great, and then I used the "Dream Chorus" as that seemed kind of similar to the DOD FX65.

I'll be damned if it didn't sound super close and amazing. I was impressed by how good the BB Preamp sounded driving the amps that were on the edge of breakup. The chorus had the same big wide vibe, maybe not dead on but really good. Also I just threw a couple stock cabs up (Marshall on one side, Orange on another) and it sounded great with no adjustments at all.

So then I thought, well the Axe FX has the Rockerverb and BB Preamp, let's see if I can get closer. And it sounds like ass. The BB Preamp sounds like a fuzz pedal even at low gain and none of the chorus blocks get close. Where the QC was really exciting and inspiring to play through, the Fractal was not at all.

I'm going to take another run at it today, but that's just generally been my experience these last few months. The QC gets great tones with very little time and effort required. It doesn't have the variety, especially if you look at reverbs, delays, even some amp models. But the core stuff is great.

Here's the song that's been in my head for days:



Here's his rig rundown:

 

[GTR37]

Why would they be trolling

Yeah, I doubt it. Not sure if you are trolling, or what.

not trolling just basing on being part of a recent survey asking about feature set people who own FM3 , HX stomp would like to see
So polling people and having a focus group asking questions about a smaller models and features to me is a fairly strong indicator of future development

Plus it does not take rocket science to figure out , there is a market for smaller lower priced units and they have pretty much already done all the R&D it makes total sense to reuse it

 

[Mongillo19]

I'm going to take another run at it today, but that's just generally been my experience these last few months. The QC gets great tones with very little time and effort required. It doesn't have the variety, especially if you look at reverbs, delays, even some amp models. But the core stuff is great.

Be curious to see how Rd 2 with fractal goes

 

[namathan_zirwir]

not trolling just basing on being part of a recent survey asking about feature set people who own FM3 , HX stomp would like to see
So polling people and having a focus group asking questions about a smaller models and features to me is a fairly strong indicator of future development

Plus it does not take rocket science to figure out , there is a market for smaller lower priced units and they have pretty much already done all the R&D it makes total sense to reuse it

Fair enough. Let's see. Hopefully this year they can get a few big updates out first.

 

[Whizzinby]

Will it ever morph into the one device to rule them all that it was specced to be?

I think the lingering heartburn stems from it being such a forward thinking device that you can still easily envision it being The One if/when/ever it reaches that initial vision.

If not for its strength and potential, I doubt anyone (non owners) would still care.

Honestly , as I have said before I am waiting for there next product which I am sure will be a dual cortex

If it’s full feature except half of horsepower and footswitches, it will probably be a pretty compelling offering. I can’t think of a time any of my presets got CPU capped, and I don’t need a bazillion footswitches personally.

 

[Mongillo19]

Fair enough. Let's see. Hopefully this year they can get a few big updates out first.

May guess is this one they just announced in the next month or so and then 1 more with with 2 more plugins integrated

 

[Jarick]

Be curious to see how Rd 2 with fractal goes

Not great. I can get a good clean tone but adding any drive pedal to the 2203 sounds small, dark, and muffled.

Also have the Friedman IR-X hooked up with the HX Effects and that sounds great with just about any drive. Similar type of edge of breakup tone with the cleanish channel. QC is much closer tonally than that compared to the Fractal.