Neural DSP Quad Cortex Reviews

Best modeller out there

If you are searching for a modeller that sounds real, search no more, this is the thing. Of course I can find difference in sound and feel from the real thing, but it is pretty damn close, super light to carry and super convenient to use

Sounds, looks, and feels greate !

A joy to use !

Fast shipping & great product

Highly recommended product if you want a lot of different amp tones. The effects are somewhat lacking at the moment but the captures respond incredibly well to modulation effects. Has replaced most of my pedals but not my phaser and delays yet.

This is basically just a prototype... (and you can't direct monitor on Windows)

Direct Monitoring feature still is unusable on Windows as of January 2022. I have tried every QC OS update/USB driver/windowsOS workaround on the PC of every bedroom producer I know and all with the same result. The entire signal gets bitcrushed when you record, fizzy unusable mush. Line-outs work just fine. Never had this issue occur on a Mac.

Side-note: I'm pretty disappointed that many teased features (such as being able to load Archetype plugins, having a desktop editor) have not been added and at this point never will be. I anticipate they'll put out a new unit with this feature in a few years and leave any early adopters in the dirt. This unit is rusting away, a waste of potential. The company's focus seems to have shifted almost entirely to their plug-in users. Not acceptable conduct at this price-point. I dare you Neural, prove me wrong in the next update

Lastly: flimsy unconditioned power supply, should come with something more reliable. USB 2.0 Type B is practically extinct why is it on this unit? Why doesn't the app have audio demos for user presets? Why is it so cluttered to navigate? Why is there so much latency switching presets?

Great potential, but...

Sound-wise, I have no complaints. It sounds really good and it stands up to the more expensive competition. Capturing is better than the Kemper.

But what limits and bothers me a lot is the way the presets are managed. It's really unpolished at the moment. I don't understand why I can't save presets to my computer. The cloud solution is cool, but I want to have other options. Can't work with multiple items at once, in a batch. This is very annoying and tedious.

The second thing is the non-existent desktop editor. Since I work in a studio, I need new sounds every day. I'm really tired of having to leave my desk for every edit and deal with everything physically on the unit because I can't do it any other way.

Love this thing, first modeller i kept.

it's a great build and easy to use product, it's the first modeller i kept "AWESOME SOUND"! I use it with a Line 6 Powercab & 250ohm dt 770 pro headphone. But i would recommend a headphone with lesser ohm!!! This product is still receiving updates every 2 months and the sounds still get better and better.

Quad cortex

This machine is amazing.

All reviews are true. sound is form another galaxy. only going through all the presets you can find sounds for everything you want to play. diving in means you need to be a "pro" due to the deep simulation.

noticed some flaws. volume button sometimes seems to be moving up and down one value. once i fired it up it had great noise in the output (xlr and ts) but after a restart everything was fine. one more time the screen seemed to be touched even though i didnt touch. cleaned it and again was fine. could be software issues but imo are minor and never noticed one again.

Superb purchase and i am super happy.

great product

After used Fractal Axe Fx 2 and 3 for seven few years, I'm delighted with the Quad Cortex!

Perfect form factor.

As soon as you open the box and take it out you feel the quality straight away. The Quad Cortex is simply lovely to hold and looks sleek and modern. The touch screen makes it look on par with an iPhone or Android device. The fact the stomps double as knobs make this super easy to use.

This ease of use is my favourite thing about the QC. My previous modeller was always hassle for dialling in tones, particularly heavy tones, and always sounded a bit plastic. When I enquired about it on the related forum people were recommending third-party IRs. The QC, on the other hand, works great out the box with no IRs needed as the ones supplied do the job.

If there's any downsides it still needs some features like a looper and desktop app, and some more models, but like all of these types of devices its an ever evolving platform and they're sure to come.

I think overall, though, this device has been a great purchase. I've spent far less time dialling in which means more time playing and simply having fun. If you are already familiar with the plugins and love that sound then this device is highly recommended for if/when you decide to start stepping out of the bedroom.

Best modeller out there right now

I wanted to get my self a proper modeller for home studio use. Obviously the Neural QC platform is still under development and upgrades are expected, but it already shines out with super practical user interface. It is extremely easy to build setup, the capture feature is excellent. I can't compare it to others like Kemper but I managed to capture multiple pedals, amps with very close or equivalent tones. It has brought tons of inspirations for playing. I use it as a standalone or sometimes linked with my UAD Apollo, bringing analog and USB signals both in. Allows me to get some top notch recording quality plugins to the signal path end but still have option with all the amps QC platform offer. Actually you can use this as a standalone audio interface and route your signal in various ways in DAW mixing QC unit externally and plugins in computer. Absolute joyful device.

Great unit!

I've never really used modeller units before this and I am so happy with the purchase! I love the Neural plugins and use them all time and also I had to find a way to make my traveling rig more portable, this does the job very well! Fits in my backpack so handy for gigs. I haven't used it with any gigs yet, but hopefully I may put it to the test soon.

I've got nothing to complain about regarding the Quad Cortex. Easy to set up, very enjoyable UI and making presets is not only fun, but simple and straight to the point!

Neural DSP nailed this one!

It's still in "early access" mode

The good stuff:

- It sounds amazing

- Interface is quite intuitive

The bad stuff:

- There's still no desktop/mobile editor which should be available since day one!

- a lot of people are experiencing wi-fi issues (device must be connected to wifi to update and most of the times it fails to connect)

- a lot of users are experiencing sound issues when using it as an USB interface (the last update fixed it for me, but not for everyone)

- DSP gets filled up very quickly (but they are optimizing it and it's getting better with updates)

- limited amps/cabs/effects

It's still early in development, so you're more or less buying a promise at this point. It has great potential for which I believe it will achieve, but for now, I can hardly recommend it.

Great unit. And it will be better!

I have had my QC for some 6 weeks now. As a satisfied long time Helix owner I wanted to try captures and also something smaller for live gigs. The UI is so intuitive and you know what to do very quickly. The sounds - amp sims are at least as good as Helix, the downloaded captures quality vary and it depends but most of those I had tried (JMP 1959, Bogners XTC, Mesa Roadstars...) are phenomenal and became a part of my live presets. With the time this unit will offer more and more effects. I do not regret and it is a keeper for me!

Very good device

Sounds very good, wide functionality. The only thing that fails is software support. There is no template editor, a very inconvenient mobile application.