Neural DSP Quad Cortex Firmware Update Thread

[laxu]

No hate for the Kraken from me. I've tried the real thing and thought it sounded pretty good. It's not the amp for me but it's fine.

The QC update seems to bring in some quality of life improvements which are welcome. With the capture functionality even at release I didn't care all that much about how many amp models it had.

The new cabs are more than welcome though. The QC has way, way too many 4x12 V30 cabs compared to other types.

 

[Elric]

They aren’t going to win over any hearts and minds, but at least they are plugging away at it. (That wasn’t always a given lol)

Agree. They've got a lot of folks on the gear forums where the broken trust of their initial release vs the actual product and the subsequent failure to follow through is likely to never be righted.

I.e. they could release a new version with all of the 'missing' stuff and I think folks who have written them off would still be like "too little too late".

That is perfectly fine (and absolutely fair), too. I think they earned that skepticism/scorn from the hardcore gear hound crowd.

that said, I think the product will continue to do well in the marketplace spite of that... At least until some next generation stuff from L6 or Fractal comes along and steals their thunder...

The form factor is great, I/O is great, UI is great, profiling is great and can be done right on board, CAB UI is superb, most other bread and butter stuff is good to at least solid at this point (reverse delay, etc ).

There are few things that'll be deal breakers right now for folks like any product (switching still needs improvement, desktop editor, etc) some of those are likelt to get fixed, some are likely to never change (i.e. their cloud model, grounding issue, etc).

But as Whiz notes, development is clearly continuing... I think they HAVE demonstrated that they are committed to developing the platform, they are doing consistent communications and updates at this point, IMHO; their pace is just glacial for folks used to 'FASt' updates.

Now that the product actually has enough features/FX/etc implemented that is okay with me as a user, personally. The thing is stable and sufficiently powerful/complete to merit its use for my tastes.

 

[mikah912]

Agree. They've got a lot of folks on the gear forums where the broken trust of their initial release vs the actual product and the subsequent failure to follow through is likely to never be righted.

I.e. they could release a new version with all of the 'missing' stuff and I think folks who have written them off would still be like "too little too late".

That is perfectly fine (and absolutely fair), too. I think they earned that skepticism/scorn from the hardcore gear hound crowd.

that said, I think the product will continue to do well in the marketplace spite of that... At least until some next generation stuff from L6 or Fractal comes along and steals their thunder...

The form factor is great, I/O is great, UI is great, profiling is great and can be done right on board, CAB UI is superb, most other bread and butter stuff is good to at least solid at this point (reverse delay, etc ).

There are few things that'll be deal breakers right now for folks like any product (switching still needs improvement, desktop editor, etc) some of those are likelt to get fixed, some are likely to never change (i.e. their cloud model, grounding issue, etc).

But as Whiz notes, development is clearly continuing... I think they HAVE demonstrated that they are committed to developing the platform, they are doing consistent communications and updates at this point, IMHO; their pace is just glacial for folks used to 'FASt' updates.

Now that the product actually has enough features/FX/etc implemented that is okay with me as a user, personally. The thing is stable and sufficiently powerful/complete to merit its use for my tastes.

Speaking as one of the folks with broken trust, there indeed isn't a hardware product or magical firmware revision they can put out to change how I feel about them....because it was never about being late with a feature or running well behind schedule.

For me, it was simply being insulted with demonstrably unserious and untrue updates and explanations for why the proverbial goalposts were moving yet again. It was being insulted by the cavalier and energetic engagement when trying to sell the product, yet Witness Protection-esque silence and subterfuge when it came time to answer for previous promises made. The consistently low opinion and demand of control of their customers - that's the stuff that needs the most fixing.

Beyond that, I agree on the form factor, Cab UI and I/O of the hardware itself. Fantastic stuff. But the promise of being the best/most powerful/GOAT floor modeler is severely cut short by simple UX errors that they seem to have no interest in fixing completely. I realize I jumped ship before the recent file management update, but from what I can tell.....it's still cumbersome to handle scores of captures, or to buy them from a third-party, or to securely store them off-device for future usage without them being deleted from the cloud.

I never really wanted to engage with the captures - as great as some of them sounded - unless it was a set of factory captures or from someone like Rabea who took the time to make them work inside a preset with well-laid out Scenes. So that's a good amount of what sold the device crippled for me. The touchscreen also just isn't that responsive. The need for constant WiFi connectivity with a painfully weak WiFi antenna is a joke. These are small things that add up over time and become dealbreakers in aggregate. Not even going to get into the power supply....

It's not a bad product by a long shot. Just a weird mix of very thoughtful and mind-bogglingly thoughtless features offered by a company that shoots itself in the foot whenever possible.

 

[laxu]

Agree. They've got a lot of folks on the gear forums where the broken trust of their initial release vs the actual product and the subsequent failure to follow through is likely to never be righted.

I.e. they could release a new version with all of the 'missing' stuff and I think folks who have written them off would still be like "too little too late".

That is perfectly fine (and absolutely fair), too. I think they earned that skepticism/scorn from the hardcore gear hound crowd.

that said, I think the product will continue to do well in the marketplace spite of that... At least until some next generation stuff from L6 or Fractal comes along and steals their thunder...

The form factor is great, I/O is great, UI is great, profiling is great and can be done right on board, CAB UI is superb, most other bread and butter stuff is good to at least solid at this point (reverse delay, etc ).

There are few things that'll be deal breakers right now for folks like any product (switching still needs improvement, desktop editor, etc) some of those are likelt to get fixed, some are likely to never change (i.e. their cloud model, grounding issue, etc).

But as Whiz notes, development is clearly continuing... I think they HAVE demonstrated that they are committed to developing the platform, they are doing consistent communications and updates at this point, IMHO; their pace is just glacial for folks used to 'FASt' updates.

Now that the product actually has enough features/FX/etc implemented that is okay with me as a user, personally. The thing is stable and sufficiently powerful/complete to merit its use for my tastes.

I'm still of the mind that selling mine back when I had used it for a month at release was the right choice. I had hoped it would grow into its shoes but it still really hasn't.

It seems they have finally picked up some steam with relevant updates, including UI related improvements which are in very short supply from Fractal especially, barring big features like Dyna-Cabs.

NeuralDSP saw good growth as a business last year, so no matter what people think about the company, they are successful.

But at this point, I feel like I don't want to jump back into it because it feels like only a few years later there will be something better. Line6 has been quiet almost the whole year, Fractal must be plugging away at the next gen stuff (even if it's basically Axe-Fx 3 or FM9 in a more user friendly package) and who knows what Boss is working on.

 

[Whizzinby]

Agree. They've got a lot of folks on the gear forums where the broken trust of their initial release vs the actual product and the subsequent failure to follow through is likely to never be righted.

I.e. they could release a new version with all of the 'missing' stuff and I think folks who have written them off would still be like "too little too late".

That is perfectly fine (and absolutely fair), too. I think they earned that skepticism/scorn from the hardcore gear hound crowd.

that said, I think the product will continue to do well in the marketplace spite of that... At least until some next generation stuff from L6 or Fractal comes along and steals their thunder...

The form factor is great, I/O is great, UI is great, profiling is great and can be done right on board, CAB UI is superb, most other bread and butter stuff is good to at least solid at this point (reverse delay, etc ).

There are few things that'll be deal breakers right now for folks like any product (switching still needs improvement, desktop editor, etc) some of those are likelt to get fixed, some are likely to never change (i.e. their cloud model, grounding issue, etc).

But as Whiz notes, development is clearly continuing... I think they HAVE demonstrated that they are committed to developing the platform, they are doing consistent communications and updates at this point, IMHO; their pace is just glacial for folks used to 'FASt' updates.

Now that the product actually has enough features/FX/etc implemented that is okay with me as a user, personally. The thing is stable and sufficiently powerful/complete to merit its use for my tastes.

Yeah it’s definitely one of those things where if you weren’t aware of the prelaunch theatrics or gear-forum-banter, you may be properly confused why the company is so polarizing or the device is not held in higher esteem in some pockets of the internet.

I’ve actually toyed with the idea of plugging my nose and buying it again once the editor beta drops. It does look like they are going to land the plane on the initial promise of the device (though I’d expect the staggered plug-in rollout to last well into 2024) but its still got a really unique and compelling feature set, and I’m not sure which of their competitors are poised to do anything notable in the space in 2024. (Maybe Line 6?)

 

[Lysander]

I’ve actually toyed with the idea of plugging my nose and buying it again once the editor beta drops.

Same here - i actually ran into a good price for a used QC recently, and seriously considered it.

Thing is, even if they land every single promised feature for CorOS 2.2.0... i feel the QC would still be lagging (way) behind the competition. Don't know if Line 6 is going to announce anything anytime soon, but it's remarkable how much Helix improved in the timespan we all sat waiting for NDSP updates.

 

[Gearzilla]

I’m not sure which of their competitors are poised to do anything notable in the space in 2024. (Maybe Line 6?)

 

[mikah912]

Yeah it’s definitely one of those things where if you weren’t aware of the prelaunch theatrics or gear-forum-banter, you may be properly confused why the company is so polarizing or the device is not held in higher esteem in some pockets of the internet.

I’ve actually toyed with the idea of plugging my nose and buying it again once the editor beta drops. It does look like they are going to land the plane on the initial promise of the device (though I’d expect the staggered plug-in rollout to last well into 2024) but its still got a really unique and compelling feature set, and I’m not sure which of their competitors are poised to do anything notable in the space in 2024. (Maybe Line 6?)

I'd love the form factor again, for sure, but the file management and "mid" touchscreen responsiveness and wifi would be major concerns for me still.

Also, I've really come to rely on the extensive Fractal effects library and the accompanying esoteric and sound design-esque factory patches on offer. Been using them extensively on an quirky alt-rock album I've been recording with friends for the past several weekends. Instant inspiration sometimes with that stuff.

 

[TheTrueZoltan!]

I see absolutely no reason to give this company another chance. Fool me once...

 

[eggpl@nt]

I'd love the form factor again, for sure, but the file management and "mid" touchscreen responsiveness and wifi would be major concerns for me still.

Also, I've really come to rely on the extensive Fractal effects library and the accompanying esoteric and sound design-esque factory patches on offer. Been using them extensively on a quirky alt-rock album I've been recording with friends for the past several weekends. Instant inspiration sometimes with that stuff.

Yeah, every time the I feel even the slightest interest in the QC, I remember the hardware issues I experienced—those that won’t necessarily be fixed by a FW update: Wi-Fi, touchscreen, and power supply/noise (I’m not spending additional $ on a third-party PSU to fix a ****** design flaw on a ”premium” device).

 

[Whizzinby]

I'd love the form factor again, for sure, but the file management and "mid" touchscreen responsiveness and wifi would be major concerns for me still.

Also, I've really come to rely on the extensive Fractal effects library and the accompanying esoteric and sound design-esque factory patches on offer. Been using them extensively on an quirky alt-rock album I've been recording with friends for the past several weekends. Instant inspiration sometimes with that stuff.

I thought some of the file management and search issues were addressed with 2.0?

I never had connectivity issues with wifi, but did find it annoying that it would require me to re-login to the cloud as frequently as it did.

Regarding your last point, I agree. While a lot of people were pointing out a lot of usability issues etc. it was really the pace of content that bothered me most. I expected them to be cranking out models and effects at a much faster rate. They did address most of the glaring effects misses, (though I still wouldn’t consider effects to be strong point of the device) but their pace of releasing new amp models has really been slow as hell.

 

[JiveTurkey]

I know some people love it. I also know it's still the first digital device in it's self appointed tier that still hasn't moved the needle for me. 4wtfever years later.

 

[mikah912]

Yeah, every time the I feel even the slightest interest in the QC, I remember the hardware issues I experienced—those that won’t necessarily be fixed by a FW update: Wi-Fi, touchscreen, and power supply/noise (I’m not spending additional $ on a third-party PSU to fix a ****** design flaw on a ”premium” device).

Yup. I really can't work out what I'd be gaining if I sold my FM9 and went back. Nothing tonewise. No additional sonic capabilities. Less so, in fact. Crappier foot switching. Crappier PSU. I sold all of my NDSP plugins when they proved themselves to be untrustworthy snakes, so integration of those means nothing to me.

Essentially, it'd be easier to create and tweak patches on the fly, and....uh....Victory Kraken?

 

[James Freeman]

and....uh....Victory Kraken?

A small token for their #1 customer, advertiser, NAMM host and partner for life.

 

[mikah912]

I thought some of the file management and search issues were addressed with 2.0?

I only read about them as I sold mine before 2.0 dropped, and indeed stuff like autoscrolling to the next 8 items in a list seems like an improvement.

That being said, the "improved" searching and filtering through results means I have to use that not-great touchscreen more than ever.

Meanwhile, there's nothing on the horizon about a marketplace of any sort, which means the profiling/capturing is nerfed as all of the great third-party providers are holding back the good stuff until they get it together.

 

[mikah912]

A small token for their #1 customer, advertiser, NAMM host and partner for life.

Even when he could only capture his "signature" amp, most of his presets used captures of JVMs, Soldano and Friedman amps.

 

[Jarick]

I've always been intrigued but never pulled the trigger, even as prices came down. It just never seemed ready for primetime. Competition is mature and full featured, and the price of the QC is too high to be in perpetual beta mode.

 

[Sleezy E]

Always Be Kickstarting™

 

[Whizzinby]

I only read about them as I sold mine before 2.0 dropped, and indeed stuff like autoscrolling to the next 8 items in a list seems like an improvement.

That being said, the "improved" searching and filtering through results means I have to use that not-great touchscreen more than ever.

Meanwhile, there's nothing on the horizon about a marketplace of any sort, which means the profiling/capturing is nerfed as all of the great third-party providers are holding back the good stuff until they get it together.

Same here, I think we both got off the train about the same time. Not sure of the specifics but 2.0 I thought addresses some of the more glaring file management and search related issues. TBH I wouldn’t know unless I tried it again.

I’d guess the on-ramp for the marketplace, like plugins, will be the editor. Though, personally a marketplace doesn’t move the needle much for me, as much as the plug-in porting. Like most things, I think what everyone wants differs, so until they release it all, someone is always going to be sore about one thing or the other. (And rightfully so given the distance between launch and now)

 

[metropolis_4]

Sudden Kraken hate here post QC add, feels like when Fractal adds a new artist and the toobz4life crew on TGP responds with a chorus of "I never liked their tonez" or "their live sound sucks now, their first two albums are where it is at" kind of stuff. Well done, TGF.

Doesn't it seem plausible that the fact that it was brought up by being included in the update gets people talking about their own thoughts about it?

People aren't developing hate for it because it was added, they are sharing their existing thoughts about a topic that just came up