Neural DSP Quad Cortex Reviews

sold it

i just sold it because of the politics of the company - e.g. support, forum threads shut down and long time promised features are still not there. if they will be released you will have to pay for it - i assume but i think it will be the case - also because in the end it is all about selling the company like it has been done with dark glass. the effects are not so good. it's still a green banana.

Amazing Pedalboard

The future of guitar pedalboards, amazing sound, it has everything you need (but an expression pedal). The best option out there if you are thinking to switch from your amp to a digital pedalboard

Quad CoreBlimey

Tbh I was introduced by a proper guitarist who tours with his QC and says Kempers are converting over. I didn’t know what that meant (I do now). I’m still getting my head around the programming or navigation and captures but I love the presets and the captures my pal loaded up for me.

It’s real real close to the real mic, amp deal. In fact I sometimes struggle to get my mic, amp and pedal setup on point especially under time constraints. It sounds analogue and punchy and funky and rock driven and burning and broken without the usual digital tell tale signs. Really the best thing out there for pros on guitars.

Perfekt für Bass & Gitarre

Insgesamt alle Erwartungen erfüllt.

Plugins lassen sich bis zur nativen Unterstützung profilen - lediglich selbst mit CorOS 2.0.0 immer noch keine Möglichkeit, die Eingangsimpedanz und Empfindlichkeit pro Patch abzuspeichern. Das nervt ein wenig, wenn man zwischen Instrumenten mit unterschiedlich heissen PUs wechselt. Aber auch da kann man einfach Input 1 für "Hot" und Input 2 für "Cold" nutzen; sowie an einigen Amps das auch auch der Fall ist.

What an amazing tool!

I am an owner of many multi fx products, and have extensively used amp modelers from Line 6, Fractal audio, and Positive Grid. I have had my eye on the Quad Cortex for some time now, especially since I have noticed a few artists using them at live concerts with amazing tones coming through the PA.

So I just received my new QC unit, and right out of the box I was already very impressed by the amp tones, as well as the variety of effects in the factory presets. But once I began editing my own patches the real quality became very apparent quickly. Building patches is so easy, and I have figured out how to save scenes and tweak virtually every setting with expression pedals and stomp modes. The routing and blending possibilities are just endless, and the layout is very intuitive. I especially love the ability to turn the foot switches like amp knobs, as well as numerically enter exact parameter settings with a touch of one finger on the screen.

In all honesty, having access to hundreds of real tube amps through my job at a major backline company, I have grown very used to the real life organic sound of all of the included amp and cab models. These captures are so good, responsive to playing attack and volume changes just like the real deal. It is unbelievably realistic, yet so much better with all the effects and routing options. I can hardly wait to create some captures of my own!

Another aspect that I am really enjoying is playing my acoustic guitars through the QC. With just a little compressor, a subtle eq, some chorus and reverb, the acoustics are sounding absolutely stunning. I normally use a Fishman Aura to add some simulated mic tones, so I will attempt to capture the Aura pedal and blend it into these patch signals for added realism, although puting the Aura in the fx loop is also a viable option. Ahh... so many options with the QC! I am very happy and excited to create more music with this incredible tool!

It needs no explanation

I saw a bad comment... ;(

However, Its dont need to explain this product after using it myself.

1. A really simple way to operate it

2. Noise? 12V 3A grounded adapter will solve everything. Change the adapter.

3. Sound? You can do it. And theres a lot of presetting.

The basic sound itself is cooool..

Do you like iPhone or Samsung? That could be the answer.

You should experience it yourself. You don't have to listen to anyone else.

state of the art

After owning Kemper and Helix, the Quad Cortex is definintly the one for me. Its easy to get the sound that your looking for without tweeking for hours or playing with cabs and IR's. The flexibility of pedal controlled parameters is superior. Would give all fives but it doesn't have rubber feet.

Cheap hardware, broken promises, lots of troubleshooting time

I switched from Kemper and spent hours and hours troubleshooting this thing. Some say that the CPU inside is less powerful than what Amazon puts in their Fire TV stick sold for $25. I believe that, because despite overly promised functionality you can mostly get constraints and spend your time troubleshooting noise, hiss, kinky user interface probably built by someone without a basic design degree.

Guitar is a joy time for me, I spend big buck for this hobby. And this product just is not good enough.

Also — many say that NeuralDSP plugins sound _better_(!) and you can buy them for 49$ on sales. They promised their plugins will work on this unit — but come on when I googled what CPU was inside I'm like what.... are you kidding me.... It's 25$ on Amazon in a great product, not only a processor inside. And this is like almost $2000.... a joke.

Greed, promises, unexperienced designers.

The best unit

Excellent quality and sound! Super easy to use!

Sick device

Gorgeous device, bought it after fractal, insanely satisfied. Compact dimensions, many possibilities, a huge amount of memory for solving any problems (I have more than enough))

We play with the whole group in one device, also all the familiar musicians switched to Quad cortex)

Great pedal for performing

It is very great experience to use it in gigs.

DSP was very powerful, I could have 4 chain of all effects and IR all functional at the same time.

Scene mode is a great design, I can play whole gigs without switching presets.

Sound quality was great.

Excellent Product

I really enjoy making music with the QC. I’ve created multiple recordings and have lots of presets created for my style. The community is also very strong. You can literally find any type of amp cab combo under the sun.

Amazing

This thing is ahead of competition. As owner of kemper the sound and the feel is way better... The only problem is the power supply.. that is noisy.. you have to find other solutions as cioks 7...

Great

It sounds great and it's easy to use.

Moved from fractal axe fx 2 and love it

I have to say the amp modeling and capture are so detailed that nt axe fx2 felt real bad compared to QC. I still miss the effects from fractal but other than that , eveything is perfect.

Perfect product

Headline is describe everything on single word

Urządzenie z innej planety

Jak dla mnie to QC ma wszystko czego kiedykolwiek mógłbym potrzebować. Rewelacyjna jakość wykonania, dziecinnie prosta obsługa, oraz super brzmiące na dzień dobry presety. A to dopiero początek zabawy....

Potentially the best on the market…

I bought this unit after almost two years of “hunting”. Not a fan of prepaids, so was waiting till online availability. And then it happened, so I bought it instantly - happiness :-)

I bought it, as I am using NDSP plugins, and they sound fantastically. Nothing mimics my old Marshall like Nolly plugin. And I remembered, NDSP was promising the ability to have your plugins available in your Quad Cortex. Well, not yet, and there is no date set to it.

About the Quad Cortex self.

PROS

- processing power - it is really there, you may create any crazy signal chains and QC is processing it easily

- great touch display

- good design (both the physical device and the interface)

- footswitches act as potentiometers also (rotary encoders)

- tons of amps and effects to choose from

CONS

- not really built “as a tank”, my impression is QC is rather fragile (comparing it to some other devices I own (no names in the review) :))

- footswitches are very noise (they squeak like they will break any moment)

- because of processing power this unit goes hot, even on standby

- with all the amps and effects available - missing the ones from NDSP plugins, which is big disappointment

I know, I shall read the whole Internet before buying, and not rely on what I remembered from the initial statements of NDSP. The lack of amps and effects from plugins is quite a bad surprise to me.

Otherwise, great unit. Especially, when you want to use it as sound capturing device (did not try it, but youtube videos sound convincing).

Quad cortex

Good sound and control

User friendly

I've had it for almost a year now and it has two big pluses: sound quality and ease of use.

It is so easy to move around the blocks and build complex rigs really fast. I'm usually runnig two guitar lines with a detuned line for a bass emulation all in a single preset and it can handle it with no issue.

As for the sound quality, it is what you can expect at this top price range. I've had other simmilar devices (Kemper) and it is simply undistinguishable regarding the captures/profiles.

As for the downsides, the preset exchange on the app is a bit messy, you cannot download and share single presets "offline" as you can with other similar devices. So far they have been quite consistent with the updates.

I'm still curious about the build quality. So far so good but have not had any gigs yet.

Would definietly recommend.