DIgital Modeling Quad Cortex

A

Al Holloway

Devizes UK
These look interesting but very spendy considering the oposition. All the main rivals now have various options from several hundred dollers up. So this is right at the top end in full Helix and Kemper territory.

cheers

Al.
 
CaptainMoto

CaptainMoto

Blues Voyager
Yeah, I see that.
The claim is ...........it's better.
Given I really havn't studied the other offerings, I can't evaluate if that's true or not.
Watching the video, It sure looks powerful.

A long time ago I decided to avoid things with endless digital menus.
Although this certainly has endless menus, It appears to be laid out in a logical format to me.
 
A

Al Holloway

Devizes UK
It depends on how you use it. I tend to use my Amplifire as an amp (I don't use much modulation except reverb) with drive pedals in front. So all those bells and whistles just add to the cost. The sound out of the Amplifre is good IMHO so how much better can it be?

cheers

Al.
 
CaptainMoto

CaptainMoto

Blues Voyager
Al Holloway said:
It depends on how you use it. I tend to use my Amplifire as an amp (I don't use much modulation except reverb) with drive pedals in front. So all those bells and whistles just add to the cost. The sound out of the Amplifre is good IMHO so how much better can it be?

cheers

Al.
Click to expand...
Which model of the Amplifire do you have?
 
A

Al Holloway

Devizes UK
CaptainMoto said:
Which model of the Amplifire do you have?
Click to expand...
I have the original Amplifire 3 and the Amplifirebox. Both have the same engine, just more bells and whistles on the 3. To be honest the way I use it the Ampli-firebox is probably all I need, This is on a small board at my holiday home.

cheers

Al.
 
dan5150

dan5150

Shredding the Blues
I pre-ordered the QC from Neural DSP so should hopefully get it before the end of the year, before the retailers do. I also was able to play through an early version they had at NAMM. It does sound really good. I like my Helix, but the QC is smaller and lighter, plus it has the capture function similar to a Kemper.
If you like to record into a DAW they have all of their plug-ins on sale for 50% off...
 
aleclee

aleclee

Tribe of One
I've used to have an AxeFx, currently own Helix and Atomic (Amplifire 3, Amplifire 12, Firebox) and the 4C seems to address what I consider to be the shortcomings in each:
  • AxeFx
    • HATE the rack form factor
    • Lots of scrolling through menus to program the device
  • Helix
    • Big and heavy for a floor unit
  • Amplifire
    • Device is too big (A12) or not enough control for live use
    • No USB audio
    • Limited # of amps
The Quad Cortex is in the Goldilocks zone from a size standpoint: big enough to have 10 foot switches (same as Helix LT) and small enough to fit in a gig bag. On a pedalboard that's basically the size of my Helix, I can fit the Cortex, wireless, two (mini) expression pedals, and six other stomp boxes. If I don't feel like running that many outboard FX, I can go with a smaller board or just shove the modeler in the pocket of a gig bag.

Given NDSP's prowess with plugins, there's no doubt that they know how to make good-sounding guitar modeling. The UI is slick. On top of dozens of amp models, there are also dozens of captures and likely to be hundreds more in the coming months. BTW, based on the demo videos they've done, the captures sound pretty much spot on.

For me, the main questions are performance features (e.g., preset switching, expression pedal parameters) and USB audio capabilities and latency. While I don't expect those to be perfect at launch, seeing CEO Doug Castro talk about software development makes me think that NDSP knows what they're doing when it comes to writing code. Thus, deficiencies would most likely be due to insufficient understanding of user requirements. Assuming the hardware is up to the task, that's fixable as the developers' understanding improves.

In case you didn't figure it out by now, I'm pretty excited about the potential here. Hopefully we'll get our first look in the coming weeks...
 
CaptainMoto

CaptainMoto

Blues Voyager
aleclee said:
I've used to have an AxeFx, currently own Helix and Atomic (Amplifire 3, Amplifire 12, Firebox) and the 4C seems to address what I consider to be the shortcomings in each:
  • AxeFx
    • HATE the rack form factor
    • Lots of scrolling through menus to program the device
  • Helix
    • Big and heavy for a floor unit
  • Amplifire
    • Device is too big (A12) or not enough control for live use
    • No USB audio
    • Limited # of amps
The Quad Cortex is in the Goldilocks zone from a size standpoint: big enough to have 10 foot switches (same as Helix LT) and small enough to fit in a gig bag. On a pedalboard that's basically the size of my Helix, I can fit the Cortex, wireless, two (mini) expression pedals, and six other stomp boxes. If I don't feel like running that many outboard FX, I can go with a smaller board or just shove the modeler in the pocket of a gig bag.

Given NDSP's prowess with plugins, there's no doubt that they know how to make good-sounding guitar modeling. The UI is slick. On top of dozens of amp models, there are also dozens of captures and likely to be hundreds more in the coming months. BTW, based on the demo videos they've done, the captures sound pretty much spot on.

For me, the main questions are performance features (e.g., preset switching, expression pedal parameters) and USB audio capabilities and latency. While I don't expect those to be perfect at launch, seeing CEO Doug Castro talk about software development makes me think that NDSP knows what they're doing when it comes to writing code. Thus, deficiencies would most likely be due to insufficient understanding of user requirements. Assuming the hardware is up to the task, that's fixable as the developers' understanding improves.

In case you didn't figure it out by now, I'm pretty excited about the potential here. Hopefully we'll get our first look in the coming weeks...
Click to expand...
This was first posted months ago and I really didn't know much about it.
After doing a little research it seems to be at the top of the game on this type of gear.
Doubt I'll ever go that direction but, good to understand a little about what's available.
 
aleclee

aleclee

Tribe of One
CaptainMoto said:
This was first posted months ago and I really didn't know much about it.
After doing a little research it seems to be at the top of the game on this type of gear.
Doubt I'll ever go that direction but, good to understand a little about what's available.
Click to expand...
It has the features, to be sure. I believe that they can execute on the vision but you never really know until they actually go out and do it.
 
ervjohns

ervjohns

Blues Junior
Used to have a saying back in the day when I was a product manager

“what we’re talking about is better than what they’re shipping”
 
Crossroads

Crossroads

Thump the Bottom
It will be interesting to see how the final product will sound and perform.

At the time it was a little too bleeding edge for me at that price point, and I didn't want to wait a year.

Their plugins sound awesome, so I hope it will be a great product, and cause Kemper to step up their game, especially in the area of desktop/mobile software.
 
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Zzzen Dog

Zzzen Dog

Blues Junior
Well after reading a lot about the Quad Cortex, and hearing recent demos... I too jumped on the pre-order wagon. Last modeler amp I used was a Line 6 MkII, and a POD before that. They were fun, but always had something lacking in terms of tone and expression. One of the things that drove me nuts was the inability to easily balance the final volume of the various patches. It was really easy to get a surprise, when switching.

Some things that tipped me over the edge:
  • Some really GREAT sounding tones are coming out of that thing
  • Really captures the expressiveness of the guitar interacting with what we'd consider various stages of a traditional amp
  • The UI is amazing and intuitive
  • Really easy to set up patches on the fly
  • Can deep dive if wanted
  • Works equally well for guitar and bass
  • Bluetooth and WiFi comparability
  • Balance of portability and access/control
  • Can act as a computer interface
 
A

Al Holloway

Devizes UK
A review from the Andertons guys https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xP1uHfSXUys Really impressed with the foot switches being knobs. Means on the fly adjustments should be possible at gigs. Still a bit rich for me. If the sounds live up to the hype then it is a lot more usable than my Amplifire. However at 3 times the price it would have to be. Maybe when they have recouped some of their investment they may bring out a cheeper model for me.

cheers

Al.
 
Zzzen Dog

Zzzen Dog

Blues Junior
Bringing this thread up again, as a ton of new content has dropped:

  • Rhett Shull - Probably the most unbiased so far. Share more direct negatives that he's encountered, but at the end... he's going to buy the one he received for testing.
  • Pete Thorn - Come on, it's Pete!! He always does a stellar job. Does some really interesting things using the expression pedal, good edge of breakup, mid-gain and high gain tones. Also some bass. Also planning on keeping his.
  • Tom Quayle - little more ambience and jazzy, but still shreds. Don't recall whether he discussed incorporating into his rig.
  • Rabea Masaad - More progressive, but still pulls out some cool bluesy strat tones. He'll definitely be keeping his.
  • Riffs, Beards & Gear - for those of you who need/want a little chug. Honestly, this is my least favorite review, cuz I feel like he's a one trick pony.
  • Anderton's - next in their content drops, with Danish Pete and Rabea. Good clean and edge of break up tones. Rabea was primarily handling the technical, and Pete was playing. The two of them playing separate rigs through the single QC unit at the end was impressive.
  • Sweetwater - here’s some actual content from Sweetwater. They came at it from a complete newbie to modeling. And proved ease of use, along with some tones that would definitely be at home in the blues.

After watching these, I have to say I continue to be happy with my decision to pre-order the Quad Cortex.
 
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Crossroads

Crossroads

Thump the Bottom
I only watched Rett's review to save time. I typically find him to be straight up, not a give me the gear for free and I'll give a good review guy.

There are some tone shaping controls that are unique to the Kemper, I think a twist of the definition knob would have resolved the difference in sound Rett mentioned. That said right out of the box with no tweaking, the QC sounded better to me. The capture is way improved from what I heard in November.

Some things I like about the Kemper which do not appear to be in QC
Definition
Character
Clarity
EQ - The cabinet EQ, not multi band gives you more flexibility on dialing in your sound, though the moveable mics on the speaker are nice on the QC.
High and Low Shift - Instead of high and low cuts you get with other units, Kemper shifts the frequencies either up or down into the range you want.
Morph Feature - You can assign up to 5 amps per performance and a morph for each one where a single foot stomp will give you up to 5 effects and lead boost per position, with one stomp.

So I don't know if the QC has the tone shaping ability the Kemper gives you, but likely the QC has features the Kemper does not

It is new tech so there is the bleeding edge thing, but they are well past the release date of November, so hopefully that is due to good QC.
The footprint is much smaller
I'm still a little iffy on the twisty knobs and the large glass display so close to my clumsy feet, but that's just me.
The QC UI is far better and though no desktop currently, the mobile app has potential, depending on what editing ability it gives you on the fly. I wish to heck Kemper would do this, and supposedly there is blue tooth in the stage, that hasn't been activated yet. We'll see.
You can run stereo amps and up to 4 channels, though I wonder how much DSP is there, I ran into the DSP limitation with the Helix, but stereo amps and parallel signal chains should be bare minimum on any digital device. I would be happy with two amps/chains in the Kemper. It can be profiled that way but then tweaking is difficult.
The effects in QC not being so great, is not big deal IMO, in time I'm sure there will be updates. Kemper is still working on theirs after 10 years.

Definitely like what I am seeing in the QC. If I were looking and had not already ordered, I would be in a wait and see mode to see what issues, if any need to be shaken out with the initial units, but I would probably be on a wait list at Sweetwater now, as I imagine you would be a couple of months out due to likely high demand.
 
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