Quad Cortex Mini

[dean701]

I thought SW was the exclusive US retailer for NDSP hardware, too. But Geartree looks legit.

(Late April, though...)

Neural isn't dumb enough to give exclusive permanent rights to one shop. If people won't shop at that location for whatever reason, they are limiting their own sales. Sweetwater gets first crack. There are a ton of authorized NDSP dealers in the United States.

In Canada, there is no exclusive rights deal. Everyone gets a fair shake. The only problem is that you never know how many are going to each store or when.

 

[dean701]

Quad Cortex dealers in USA

Find a Quad Cortex retailer in USA

neuraldsp.com

Quad Cortex dealers in Canada

Find a Quad Cortex retailer in Canada

neuraldsp.com

 

[TheTrueZoltan!]

So, my QC Mini arrived this afternoon. I have to say, Neural did a really great job with the design. It looks very classy, and let me tell you...

I like the form factor and it suits my needs.

But seriously, I can't make a direct comparison now, but I think I can say with reasonable certainty that the Mini is significantly less noisy than the original QC. I sent that one back because I had a significantly lower noise level when playing the plugins on my Mac than with the same plugin components on the QC. So now I've just done a direct comparison between the Nolly X ‘Engage the Curse’ preset (without noise gate) on the QC Mini and as a plugin. The result: practically no difference, the noise level is almost identical.

Really happy with my purchase so far!

 

[JiveTurkey]

Quad Cortex dealers in USA

Find a Quad Cortex retailer in USA

neuraldsp.com

Thanks. Order cancelled.

 

[Desertdweller]

So, my QC Mini arrived this afternoon. I have to say, Neural did a really great job with the design. It looks very classy, and let me tell you...

I like the form factor and it suits my needs.

But seriously, I can't make a direct comparison now, but I think I can say with reasonable certainty that the Mini is significantly less noisy than the original QC. I sent that one back because I had a significantly lower noise level when playing the plugins on my Mac than with the same plugin components on the QC. So now I've just done a direct comparison between the Nolly X ‘Engage the Curse’ preset (without noise gate) on the QC Mini and as a plugin. The result: practically no difference, the noise level is almost identical.

Really happy with my purchase so far!

View attachment 58846

It really is the most attractive device in music gear right now.

 

[mbenigni]

It really is the most attractive device in music gear right now.

I said exactly this to our bass player the other day. (I may even have said "sexiest" - cringe.) He'd been playing through my QC for the first time, having a blast changing up his effects, etc., and he kept telling me he was probably going to wind up buying one...

 

[mbenigni]

Neural isn't dumb enough to give exclusive permanent rights to one shop. If people won't shop at that location for whatever reason, they are limiting their own sales. Sweetwater gets first crack. There are a ton of authorized NDSP dealers in the United States.

In Canada, there is no exclusive rights deal. Everyone gets a fair shake. The only problem is that you never know how many are going to each store or when.

I guess SW was temporarily the exclusive QC retailer? Maybe for the first year or two? There's no way I would have just spontaneously invented this idea.

Anyway, glad to hear there are some other options now.

 

[Boudoir Guitar]

I thought SW was the exclusive US retailer for NDSP hardware, too. But Geartree looks legit.

(Late April, though...)

The really tiny (and really annoying) little “boutique” “custom curated collection for fellow gear lovers” shop in my tiny Maine town is a NDSP hardware dealer - apparently not too hard to get.

 

[Dez]

I can't believe I was lucky enough to snag one and lucky enough my SW rep accepted a return that was 2 weeks out its window so instead of feeling like I spent $1400, it feels like I saved $400

 

[Dez]

So, my QC Mini arrived this afternoon. I have to say, Neural did a really great job with the design. It looks very classy, and let me tell you...

I like the form factor and it suits my needs.

But seriously, I can't make a direct comparison now, but I think I can say with reasonable certainty that the Mini is significantly less noisy than the original QC. I sent that one back because I had a significantly lower noise level when playing the plugins on my Mac than with the same plugin components on the QC. So now I've just done a direct comparison between the Nolly X ‘Engage the Curse’ preset (without noise gate) on the QC Mini and as a plugin. The result: practically no difference, the noise level is almost identical.

Really happy with my purchase so far!

View attachment 58846

 

[Los-D]

I can't believe I was lucky enough to snag one and lucky enough my SW rep accepted a return that was 2 weeks out its window so instead of feeling like I spent $1400, it feels like I saved $400

 

[dean701]

Uh oh, the mini has some competition.

 

[mbenigni]

The really tiny (and really annoying) little “boutique” “custom curated collection for fellow gear lovers” shop in my tiny Maine town...

 

[Dez]

Uh oh, the mini has some competition.

View attachment 58847

 

[Dez]

So, my QC Mini arrived this afternoon. I have to say, Neural did a really great job with the design. It looks very classy, and let me tell you...

I like the form factor and it suits my needs.

But seriously, I can't make a direct comparison now, but I think I can say with reasonable certainty that the Mini is significantly less noisy than the original QC. I sent that one back because I had a significantly lower noise level when playing the plugins on my Mac than with the same plugin components on the QC. So now I've just done a direct comparison between the Nolly X ‘Engage the Curse’ preset (without noise gate) on the QC Mini and as a plugin. The result: practically no difference, the noise level is almost identical.

Really happy with my purchase so far!

View attachment 58846

I haven't gotten Plini because I have Nolly and Gojira, but do you know what model 5150 Plini is based on? Nolly is a modded old block letter, Gojira's a 5153

 

[mbenigni]

I'e been trying to talk myself into a factory reset on my QCs for about 2 years now,. But even with the backup, I get nervous about losing track of some specific sound that I tracked 70% of some old project with. As if I'm ever going to go back and finish those projects...

So I launched Cortex Control, for maybe the second time ever, the other night. (The first time would have been just to confirm that it worked.) I wanted to try weeding out and organizing my old presets and captures. OMG I think it may be too late. I'm just completely overwhelmed with the amount of detritus I've accumulated on this thing. And for some reason I feel even more disoriented looking at it in the app than I do on the QC itself.

But what I really wasn't prepared for was how depressing this process might be. At the beginning of each year, I'll typically start a new setlist named for that year, e.g. "2026". Spending an hour poking around and thinking, "Wow you had a really promising idea here in... oy, 2023..." is not exactly uplifting LOL.

 

[Dez]

So I launched Cortex Control, for maybe the second time ever, the other night. (The first time would have been just to confirm that it worked.) I wanted to try weeding out and organizing my old presets and captures. OMG I think it may be too late. I'm just completely overwhelmed with the amount of detritus I've accumulated on this thing. And for some reason I feel even more disoriented looking at it in the app than I do on the QC itself.

But what I really wasn't prepared for was how depressing this process might be. At the beginning of each year, I'll typically start a new setlist named for that year, e.g. "2026". Spending an hour poking around and thinking, "Wow you had a really promising idea here in... oy, 2023..." is not exactly uplifting LOL.

Wipe it and start clean

 

[dean701]

I haven't gotten Plini because I have Nolly and Gojira, but do you know what model 5150 Plini is based on? Nolly is a modded old block letter, Gojira's a 5153

Plini

• Amp 1 (Clean): Unique, hi-fi design with high headroom and a blend control.
• Amp 2 (Crunch): Based on a Friedman BE-100 (British-style).
• Amp 3 (Lead): A blend of a Friedman HBE-100 and a Peavey 5150.

other info:

• Archetype: Plini X: Includes amps based on a Roland JC120 (Clean), a Friedman BE100 (Crunch), and a 5150-style amp (Lead).
• Archetype: Gojira X: Based on a modified EVH 5150 III with EL34 tubes, featuring custom Clean, Rust (Rhythm), and Hot (Lead) channels.
• Archetype: Nolly X: Features four amps modeled after Nolly's own modified amps: Bogner Shiva (Clean), Marshall JCM800 2203 (Crunch), Peavey 5150 (Rhythm), and Victory Kraken (Lead).

 

[mbenigni]

Wipe it and start clean

But what of my enduring legacy???

 

[Dez]

I wish you could trial the plugin within the QC itself that would be nice.