Neural DSP - Cortex Control beta, CorOS 2.2 released

[laxu]

Nah. Everybody's priorities are different. I'm kind of a UI geek so I can relate. I've designed software and UI's (on and off) for a living most of my life, so when things are unnecessarily complicated, I get annoyed. Which is not conducive to creativity.

That said, complexity in a UI sometimes reflects power in the underlying system, as is at least partly true with Fractal. If you're cool with the fact that the TMP and QC offer fewer options, then all's well. But you still have to determine what you're trying to improve over your Helix LT experience. If it's strictly a matter of getting better tones... this is very subjective.

I'd say the starting point also matters. A lot of the parameters Fractal offers even on the basic page are alien to me, but the starting points for most effects are good enough that you might want to just adjust the mix a bit and call it a day. The drive, amp and cab blocks are the only ones that default to a blank slate.

For UI the QC is easy, but for me the effects left me wanting more. Fractal to me is at the very top tier, at least for delay/reverb/modulation, right in the same class as the best of the best for fx pedals. Helix is somewhere just a bit below that - sometimes on par, sometimes not quite as good.

 

[Whizzinby]

I'd say the starting point also matters. A lot of the parameters Fractal offers even on the basic page are alien to me, but the starting points for most effects are good enough that you might want to just adjust the mix a bit and call it a day.

100%. I’ve barely touched anything beyond the mix and decay and they sound great. It’s a bit of misconception that you have to be a deep tweaker to appreciate the Fractal stuff.

For UI the QC is easy, but for me the effects left me wanting more. Fractal to me is at the very top tier, at least for delay/reverb/modulation, right in the same class as the best of the best for fx pedals. Helix is somewhere just a bit below that - sometimes on par, sometimes not quite as good.

110%. The FM3 is the best multi-fx unit I’ve ever owned. Not even close.

 

[MindCrime]

@Bob Zaod Have you tried or spent any time with the Quad Cortex ? If you have or mentioned it here on TGF. I didn't see it...sorry.

I know you've tried several differnt modelers. Yeah, I know the QC is laced with mixed reviews all over the place...but from what

I've read, it IS GETTING BETTER. So.......comments, concerns, opinions ? What say you ?

Thanks for the input...

 

[MindCrime]

Yeah, I'm inclined to agree with @Mongillo19. Unless you can find a used unit at a seriously reduced price, it's safer going new.

On top of what @Mongillo19 has already written about warranty policy, user experience seems to vary quite a bit in terms of reliability and defects. If this implies that NDSP has made hardware revisions, then I'd want to improve my odds of receiving the latest and greatest.

But even more importantly: Sweetwater (still the only vendor in the US as far as I know?) will give you a 30 day return window - crucial for determining whether the QC is right for you. I don't think many individual resellers would agree to that.

I'm still eyeballing this QC unit real hard. I've been uncovering some killer videos from LT, JC, and of course Rabea. Some go back a year, some go back a few months. I found out the looper is glorious in this box not to mention the freeze option.

I don't know for sure but I feel the QC will get better in time. I don't play djent or metal but the Victory Kracken & the Soldano are
quite good in the QC. Just my opinion. (Soldano for earlier Clapton tones and maybe Lukather tones as well.)

 

[Lysander]

I don't know for sure but I feel the QC will get better in time. I don't play djent or metal but the Victory Kracken & the Soldano are
quite good in the QC. Just my opinion. (Soldano for earlier Clapton tones and maybe Lukather tones as well.)

As a former owner: buy for what the unit is today, not for what Neural DSP promises down the road.

There's plenty to like about the QC in it's current form, and if you're happy with the feature set, it's definitely a strong buy.

 

[mbenigni]

I'm still eyeballing this QC unit real hard. I've been uncovering some killer videos from LT, JC, and of course Rabea. Some go back a year, some go back a few months. I found out the looper is glorious in this box not to mention the freeze option.

I don't know for sure but I feel the QC will get better in time. I don't play djent or metal but the Victory Kracken & the Soldano are
quite good in the QC. Just my opinion. (Soldano for earlier Clapton tones and maybe Lukather tones as well.)

As you know, I love the QC and I encourage you to try (emphasis: try) one for yourself. But based on NDSP's track record thus far, I wouldn't purchase on the assumption that they'll improve the QC substantially in the near future. Their updates thus far have come at a snail's pace.

Funny you should call out the Soldano as a specific strength. That model caused a big kerfuffle on release because a lot of people (e.g. @Whizzinby) thought it wasn't as good as NDSP's own plugin version. It's since been updated, so maybe it's an authentic model now. To be honest, I wouldn't know either way.

On the bright(er) side: yes, the looper is fantastic. Along with nearly everything else IMH-but-not-widely-shared-O.

 

[MindCrime]

As a former owner: buy for what the unit is today, not for what Neural DSP promises down the road.

There's plenty to like about the QC in it's current form, and if you're happy with the feature set, it's definitely a strong buy.

No, not buying it for what it could be but I like what I hear currently. I thinkt it's very usable in its current state.

More so than the TMP. Keep in mind I'm impressed by "OLDER" videos & comments.

Plug Ins ? Don't know the first thing about them........

 

[Whizzinby]

No, not buying it for what it could be but I like what I hear currently. I thinkt it's very usable in its current state.

More so than the TMP. Keep in mind I'm impressed by "OLDER" videos & comments.

Plug Ins ? Don't know the first thing about them........

QC Pros

• Best on-device UI in the game
• Models + Captures
• Models are high quality. (Not bothering with a debate between other platforms, but their modeling is generally high quality, and where it wasn’t they’ve gone back and done some cleanup)

QC Cons

• Delays/Reverbs/Modulations are average at best. Effects are the weakest aspect of the device in general. Functional, yes. Inspiring, meh. This is one of those things that honestly doesn’t become too apparent until you start flipping between devices with awesome effects, so it’s YMMV imo.
• Smallish device list, albeit growing, but growing at a pace that’s much slower than anticipated. (There was a 14mo span where they added 1 new amp)
• The company has a horrible track record of communicating in good faith with users. Lots of Neural Decoder Ring required for most communication. They’ve gotten somewhat better with frequency, but their general trustworthiness is still iffy at best.

I wouldn’t buy a QC used. Get a return window and a warranty. Give it a try, it’s a pretty cool device.

 

[SeeD]

I`ll keep it simple, It`s fun to use and sounds good ( lots of guitar and bass stuff ) + it`s got the option to capture stuff, you don`t have to wait for the company to add this Amp or that OD, Boost as you can find what you are looking for on the Cortex Cloud)

 

[Fireproof]

Probably the weakest part of the platform at this point tbh. They’d be really well served to focus on effects after they land the plane on the plugins.

So …. 2026?

 

[Orvillain]

A lot of the parameters Fractal offers even on the basic page are alien to me

Genuinely???

Doesn't seem much more complicated than what I see on any other bit of gear to be honest!!

 

[Orvillain]

• Delays/Reverbs/Modulations are average at best. Effects are the weakest aspect of the device in general. Functional, yes. Inspiring, meh. This is one of those things that honestly doesn’t become too apparent until you start flipping between devices with awesome effects, so it’s YMMV imo.

This is probably why I didn't stick with it. I bought it exclusively as a portable effects platform to use with real amps in 4-cable-method, and it fuuuuuucccckkkkinnnnggggg blows hard chunks, to be honest.

 

[MirrorProfiles]

I used my buddies QC again for about 10 minutes. He felt like the Uber model might have been a bit off, so we compared it to my Rev Green and they sounded identical with no effort.

I was also keen to compare the rectifier again, totally sounds indistinguishable to my Rev G with the React IR load. With the Suhr (or a Mesa cab load) it’s a little darker but nothing a little EQ wouldn’t fix. I do like the footswitch poo encoders for dialling in tones.

It was hilariously noisy when plugged in, some seriously bad design with the grounding that seems to be a bigger issue than I realised.

 

[Orvillain]

It was hilariously noisy when plugged in, some seriously bad design with the grounding that seems to be a bigger issue than I realised.

Yeah it is pretty massive. I remember we did a gig at a typical Camden venue, loads of bands coming in and out every night of the week type place, and the QC just did not enjoy being connected in anyway shape or form to their PA.

My setup was the JVM and Helix, and it was completely noiseless.

Other guitarist at the time with his QC into the PA and a Powerstage 170?? Hum city. EVEN WHEN I USED AN ISOLATOR BOX TO BREAK THE GROUND LOOP!!

Thing sucks. Their plugins are pretty good, but their hardware is manky as.

 

[laxu]

Genuinely???

View attachment 13652

Doesn't seem much more complicated than what I see on any other bit of gear to be honest!!

Not in an amp block. Try some of the effects.

 

[Orvillain]

Not in an amp block. Try some of the effects.

Ah, well those don't have "basic" pages from what I can see, so I don't necessarily expect simplicity there.

I do confess though, a parameter called "Astable beta" is like .... okay bro......

 

[MirrorProfiles]

Other guitarist at the time with his QC into the PA and a Powerstage 170?? Hum city. EVEN WHEN I USED AN ISOLATOR BOX TO BREAK THE GROUND LOOP!!

we tried a line isolator and it made no difference at all, the PSU was just noisy-ing up everything. I do like their amp models, cab interface and the poo switches for dialling amps in. Wouldn’t buy one mostly because I’m captain plugin and they do that side of things way better. Guessing a lot of the remaining QC models will make their way plugins, just as the shiva/lonestar/matchless etc have

 

[James Freeman]

Noisy psu and lack of paralleled input dacs to achieve super low noise floor like Fractal and Line 6 are doing.

 

[Orvillain]

Noisy psu and lack of paralleled input dacs to achieve super low noise floor like Fractal and Line 6 are doing.

Which IMHO is stupid critical for 4-cable method.

 

[GTR37]

we tried a line isolator and it made no difference at all, the PSU was just noisy-ing up everything. I do like their amp models, cab interface and the poo switches for dialling amps in. Wouldn’t buy one mostly because I’m captain plugin and they do that side of things way better. Guessing a lot of the remaining QC models will make their way plugins, just as the shiva/lonestar/matchless etc have

It’s sad because I actually do like some of their models but that POS power supply and grounding issue that still has not been corrected like 3 and a half years later would give me pause