I SPENT 2 HOURS WITH THE QUAD CORTEX
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- Опубликовано: 10 июл 2024
- Neural's Quad Cortex has taken the guitar community by storm, but I have never had the opportunity to play one. Now, thanks to Sweetwater, that time has come.
Sweetwater: sweetwater.sjv.io/Vmk16J
Thomann: thmn.to/thoprod/486992?offid=...
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0:00 Unboxing
1:06 Introduction
4:31 My first impression
6:43 One Preset is all you need
8:40 What’s the competition?
11:19 Scenes
13:25 Ins and Outs
15:41 My ONE Preset
20:12 Noodling with The Freeds
23:54 Some Presets
31:15 We add external FX
34:38 The 8 Amps in ONE PRESET
36:12 Updates and Promises
36:44 MY2CENTS
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The biggest compliment I can pay to the QC is that I never once looked at the manual. I have set up complex presets/scenes and managed to capture amps and cabs without reading it. That's a UI achievement.
I had HX Stomp and LT before QC. Every preset I made was done with desktop editor. With QC I haven't used it's desktop app once.
Thank you for the great video! 🫶
it's easy if the product is good!
Work with the man. Most of us watch his channel for the no-nonsense reviews.
Add the guy to your list :)
I love my Quad Cortex I gig with it on bass and guitar, I sold all my amps and cabs. We only use IEMs so I haven't heard my amp on stage for years, and this sounds better than I could mic my cabs live. So now I have any amp I could dream of and I carry it in a backpack with everything I need. I can now go to a gig with a backpack and my guitar/bass. My previous rig for years was a Helix Floor 4CM into Mesa amps.
exactly this. QC (and FM series too) sound so good its actually not a question of convinience only anymore. You literally sound better with it then with the same amp miced on stage, especially on a small/medium stage, where balancing backline and front is really an issue.
I have not had the opportunity to observe you demonstrate a modeling unit before. Well done! I have owned the Quad Cortex for approximately four years and continue to discover new aspects of its functionality. The possibilities are limitless! I anticipate that you will create a second video, as there are several topics that you did not cover. However, this video provides a sufficient overview for viewers. Great job!
The versatility of that device seems to be phenomenal. Thanx a lot for the really good video, Henning! 😊
"Two hours without Emmanuel." If he does not come home in the next 60 minutes, call the police.
I hope hes ok 😧
I'll wait for Immanuel. He's always on time. Besides I cant help it.
The review I've been waiting for. I'm sold.
That’s awesome review. That’s nice of Sweetwater to give you one. I can’t afford one. But I do use one at the music stores and it’s incredible. Has so much available in the box. But I love your review just showing one program or patch. Enjoy the Quad!!!!
Awesome review as always. Now I want one even more than I did before!
What sold me on the QC over some of the other modelers is the ability to run several amps in the same preset. The helix i messed with couldnt deal with that type of processing load. So when i play at church my wife and i can both run through the QC. Her on bass and me on guitar and we both can reap the benefits of this great sound. I was a latecomer to it as well, but I'm really glad i did. Cheers!
Hanning I can't believe you haven't demoed One of these already! The sounds you were getting were amazing! I mean really good The presets are there. I forget that a lot of guys use these live and obviously in the home in their studios. Such a great product. Definitely worth the money I have a tonyx which is okay but this thing is the top of the mountain in my point of view those presets are TOTALLY AMAZING. Great video as always Thanks Henning! ✌️
Wow! Thanks for your review. It was what I needed to make the decision.
You're awesome Henning. Thanks for the stellar review, bro!
I had mine since launch and haven’t regretted the purchase. Best tones I’ve ever had and I’ve captured some of my amps which also sound really good. I keep finding new ways to use it. It’s all I gig with now.
Brilliant video , terrific playing
I love that the footswitches double as knobs for adjusting parameters because originally looking at the design I wondered “ok, how will I be able to change settings without an app?” That’s really clever
Great vid and wow love the tones!
Cuad Qortex! Cool video man! 😊
It's definitely pushed the modeler market in terms of accessibility just plugging in.
Also I appreciate the shoutout so so much!
Any time!
dude, that solo! well done!
This is my first time trying a modeler. I got mine 4 days ago and I agree with everything you say! Great video.
That's pretty awesome dude, thank you for this
Sehr schönes Video, Henning! I feel you! 😉
Fantastic. I preordered mine like six months before they came out. Liked it since the first moment. 🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘
Great sounds, from a great player. ❤
Great video. I also bought QC recently this month and it has changed my life.
Not even joking a little bit. I haven't been excited to play guitar this way since I was a teenager. To those of you who are considering one, even those who are even only slightly interested - save and no matter how long it takes - buy it.
Your future self will thank you for doing so.
Awesome Video Henning 👌
Love my Quad Cortex! Easy to use and it sounds good. Super easy to capture an amp or a pedal as well!
Yup, preset one is the 2203 and it was an instant bond for me. I use my QC for a whole lot of things including all-in-one, as a traditional pedalboard, into a power amp and guitar cab (no cab block), and 4cm with my real amps. Extremely useful.
Absolutely! Having the Brit 2203 as the first preset is genius. I got my QC, booted up, turned everything up loud and played AC/DC riffs for a full hour. Bliss!
Cracking video. I've thought about getting one of these a few times but put off but the complexity that normally comes with multi FX units.
You have put that thought to bed...and now I need to raise some pennies to buy one.
GREAT video! 🤘
This pedal was the final straw in me selling many amp heads. After a few months with it I knew I was never powering those amp heads on again. I should mention I run it into a big tube power amp and into ky cabs so still have the same big amp in a room sound.
I agree, one preset should be all you need.
Thanks for your typically thorough review. It's what I've come to expect from you.
I've had my QC for 6 months as I wanted to wait for it to mature. There are niggles - software updates aren't seamless for everyone and some of the effects aren't as good as the hardware could support, especially the reverbs IMO - but for a single piece of hardware I think it's remarkable. One thing that's often overlooked is that it supports guitar and bass, so despite the price, it's actually saved me money. The impending CorOS update to v3 will support NeuralDSP plugins which promises so much.
I totally agree with your conclusion that if you can't record what you need to with this box, the problem is with you.
nice unboxing shirt henning. i like it.
Great video Henning! I preordered one of these and have had it ever since. It took a while for the software to get there, and they are finally close to allowing their plugins to be used on it. I played a jam with myself and a bass player using the one QC, seriously flexible. Try putting some pedals in the front, surprising feel.
I've been using the Quad Cortex for about a year now. Haven't looked back. I have a Helix Floor for a backup and for band rehearsals (and most of the time I still take the QC with me to use anyways) and I have an Axe Fx in my desk rack that gets limited usage. I also have a mid 90's 5150 half stack in the corner that's not been on in years ... lol .. The QC goes to a monitor for me and to the board for FOH. 90% of the people that show up for shows shower me with compliments on my tone and our sound guy LOVES the fact that I am totally plug and play, only adjusting my gain to appease his needs for input levels on the board. Sound Quality, ease of use, the user interface, and being able to see the damn thing sitting on the floor and read the display ... it all gets a HUGE thumbs up for me. Not one issue or hiccup in MANY hours of playing. Even my Helix had a foot switch button grenade in less than a year of ownership.
2 hours didn’t even scratch the surface for me. I spent 4-5 hours just on amp captures and probably another 20-30 testing all the effects tones and setting up presets.
Credit to you Henning for giving an honest review and not being biased because you haven’t worked directly with Neural. That’s why we appreciate your channel. Cheers!
I mean… he did get it for FREE from Sweetwater. Still feel like it’s unbiased though.
Love that classical-style headstock❤
Great review!
Great review, thanks
I’ve been a tube amp guy for 40 years. The Quad Cortex is the best pc of Music gear I’ve ever bought. Couldn’t stand the other modelers. This one sounds better than my amps. I’ve had mine almost since it came out.
Best ever review of this multi effects beast. Now I am sold on it.
It really is that good !
Totally agree, the QC is the ONE !
LOVE that Maybach.
Having owned a Kemper for a few years and having recently acquired a QC: I'm really not sure which I prefer, as each has distinct strengths and weaknesses. In terms of sound and options, the Kemper is better (it simply has a lot of stuff the QC lacks - lack of octave fuzz is one that drives me nuts, and the QC can't even capture it for some reason, I've tried, although the Kemper does lack cab modelling); in terms of interface, the QC is far better.
If I was prioritising getting any sound I wanted and it being as good as possible, I'd get a Kemper; if I was prioritising actually enjoying the experience of using the thing, I'd get a QC. The Kemper is wonderful, but my God I hate actually using it.
Great playing.
Thanks Henning, good video... now as someone who owns a bazillion of amps and pedals get to capturing and share with us! I think you nailed it in your closing comments about promises. This is a swiss army knife capable of recording of anything in the current state. I think majority of people who are sour about promises are the pople who were early adopters, as sure, it took some time to get to the current state of QC.
Loving my QC, now running it into a Seymore power stage 170 then to a 1x12 mesa cab, getting a good amp in the room sound, plus if needed can go out to desk, amazing piece of gear
Had every modeller bar the fractal stuff and the qc is the best .Easiest to get great tones from quickly for example the helix you have to heavy eq everything .
The capture stuff is also fantastic .
It's still my number one and only modeler
Missed a trick with the toxic synth. You can change the drone note using scenes and it's mega fun
Been playing mine over a year and it's all i need. Actually the factory presets are already more i need, but it's always fun to load some users presets too.
This was my EXACT experience when iI bought my QC a couple of years ago. I owned a Helix and a Axe FX, both of which I used for years in the studio and live. When I played the first preset on the QC it was over.
If you want to create music then this is the answer, if you want to collect, catalog and endlessly tweak digital models (I've been that guy! It's fun!!)? There are better options (Fractal in particular) but the QC just sounded and felt... for my ears and hands... "better".
I will say, don't ignore the captures. They do sound better than the models! Just like good IRs sound better than the stock cabs.
As good as it sounded out of the box, it sounded even better a few hours later when I really started working with the onboard captures.
The cloud I view as an "amp rental shop", if theres a specific sound I need and don't have then there are usually a few really good captures on the cloud to use.
Thanks for the great review!!
Thanks alot for this great review, Sir! There’s not many videos that cover SO much in just a single watch. I couldn’t look away for a second lol. Truly appreciate your efforts and all the hard work! 🙏🫡
And now about the QC, this unit is phenomenal. Super powerful. Have been debating between building a dream pedalboard with just stomps and getting this, but now I will probably have to do both! 😅
Still happy with mine and glad you like it as well! I think Bernd has a point BUT you´ll have the "beer" problem with every kind of "pedalboard-amp" no matter BluGuitar, Pod Go or sth.
And since there´s a Desktop app now, no one has to dial in sounds on the knobs where beer, sweat and pee from the last gigs still sticks on.
Who takes a computer to a gig?! I’m hoping they’re working on an iPad version of the editor/controller.
As a long time Fractal user, I've been really enjoying the QC the last few months. It's really easy and FUN to use. Sounds great too. I'll be interested to get some of the plugin amps and effects in there this year as well!
How's the quality of amps and effects compared to your fractal?
@@touarec generally on par for my tastes, with the exception there’s way more variety with the fractal and way more options to tweak. But the QC is a lot quicker to dial in and less option paralysis for me.
@@JarickL Thanks for elaborating. Will probably grab a QC myself soon when they integrate the amps and FX of the archetype plugins.
Just got into modeling a month or two ago with the Stomp XL, but this thing sounds amazing.
Sounds lovely.
At 2500$ CD$$, us retired old timers will be waiting a hellova long time to get this!
The same company makes several types of computer software that sounds really great for about $130 - $150 usd.
I waited for awhile then decided to buy the QC. I’ve had a kemper ,helix,axe fx . To me the QC easily stands among them. It’s powerful,portable,easy to navigate. I didn’t even bother reading the manual . The sounds are super . I run it through a guitar cab using a Seymour Duncan power stage …no issues
run it through a guitar cab, but use a tube power amp... it is a MASSIVE difference... tried that with the UA Lion.... worlds apart
@@EytschPi42 do you emulate power section twice then, power section emulation from QC and another running into tube poweramp?
I think Henning means a Fryette Power Station. There you could leave power section on QC on as it is quite neutral for tube. Into a return of an amp… I don’t know … but my rather unsatisfactory attempt over the years stopped with the first gen of Axe-Fx. It’s a gamble.
@@EytschPi42 Does an amp work as well?
I run mine with a Fryette PS100 and a Bogner 212 oversized and couldn’t be happier 🎉
Neural get this man an endorsement
Because I have met you in a station in Lille one week ago, and we had a great conversation I am buying this thing. Please don't bump into me anymore in real life. :) Thanks alot for the great talk and being the same as in your videos !
Hey Peter....
But are you buying it at Thomann? Are you using my link? Pleeeeaaaaase!
The QC is the best amp modeller/ capture unit out there by far. Sounds are great and the feel is like an amp I can’t stop playing mine. Programming options are endless also
I am pretty bad with dialing in amps I’ve gotten better over the years but with the quad cortex that issue is far behind me. 15 minutes and I was playing music. I haven’t looked back I’ve gone down a rabbit hole that I can’t see myself leaving anytime soon. I’ve saved so much money on gear and got better at playing music from this unit. Only thing I like to say to you is. THANK YOU for an honest review. I can’t fault this unit at all on anything I complain about a few things and they fixed them in updates. My favorite is replacing the tap tempo with a double click tuner genius move it’s fast and your playing again in seconds.
Glad you finally got your mitts on a QC!
I really missed your Input back when I researched it prior to buying a unit for myself.
Mine currently lives ontop of my 18'' rack and is routed through a laney IRT studio with a captor X, so I can use the laney's preamp or power amp whenever I want to. Having a real power amp in the chain helped quite a bit with the final sound.
On the point of the switches maybe not surviving live gigs:
You could easily place it somewhere it's not too exposed or inside a seethrough box and operate it with a midi foot switch.
I just spent 2 hours on the toilet! 🚽
With or without a manual?
I LIVE on the toilet, that's where I learned all that stuff
What’s going on in there! Maybe more fiber in your diets!
In the toilet with a quad cortex, nice!
@@PooNinjathat's where I make my fiber cables 😂
Got mine less than 1 week ago. I'm using it with my own powered stage speakers, guitars, basses, mandolin, acoustic guitar...
I am now thinking about having a lot of floor space free again.
And it solves a big issue I had : how to sound good on stage with my acoustic guitar. Put a good folk guitar IR, and it was done, my Harley Benton sounds better than most folk guitars I heard onstage insofar. Problem solved within the first 1 hour of use.
Now it's fun time with experimentation, we are living a good time.
By far the best digital guitar equipment out there and I’ve had them all
Have been into neural since the nameless plugin came out. Got this at launch and instantly became my main. It has some of the best routing options. I can do 2 guitar signal paths and bass guitar maybe even a vocal chain at the same time.
Plug in compatibility is so close as well
The Emanuel Kant joke never gets old XD
Fun thing to try: Put your Drum Software to full gain by setting the master output to Zero instead of the usual -6.0db (Usually not a fader, but a knob) and put the Cortex knob all the way up, your recordings will ALMOST mix themselves because they were "Referenced" to begin with. I do 4 mono rhythm (4 different takes L/R) and a Stereo lead. I use Scene mode only. Find the correct combinations as you experiment.
Hallo Henning, bei ungefähr min 18:30 wo du clean spielst und die Akkorde ausklingen lässt, kommt ein rauschen im Hintergrund. Kommt das vom QC?
Als ich mein QC hatte, war das problem sehr prägnant, so dass es mich interessieren würde, ob sie es vielleicht verbessert haben.
Henning: annoyed by the brand
also Henning: makes the best comercial for qc possible in '24
my experience with modelers is that they make you sound better. practice at home with a modeler then with the band on my 50 watt marshall and it is tough transition. amps are not as forgiving :)
Good point 😄
I bought a Helix years ago and I didn't liked it at all. Could do whatever I wanted but it never sounded good.
After that I was forever done with modelling and bought a Pink Taco. Right now I like the Neural Soldano Plugin even more than my real PT.
Question is, does the QC sounds and feels better than the PlugIns. I only play at home, so I don't need the portability.
I played the QC once at Produktiv over headphones and was blown away. Something I never experienced with the Helix.
sold mine and got a fractal FM9 turbo, .. couldnt be happier.. not a bad little unit though i think its over priced
What about the response and feels ???
WOW, AWSOME PLAYING MAN!!!
faltan dias en el año, faltan horas en el dia y falta pasión para sacar el maximo de esta maravilla... yo lo disfruto a mi ritmo... y ustedes?
I'd love to have one of these. I don't have any of the new amp modelers. I just use amps. I'm not opposed to them, just haven't needed to buy one yet🤷🏻♂️. But if I did, it'd probably be the Quad Cortex.
Gassing again for an all in one flyrig/basement blaster big box of tone options.
I personally would like an expression controller on board. That aside I’m impressed with the sounds.
My neighbor across the street has one and I like it. I agree, it would be better for me with an expression pedal, but I do like the small form factor. It will fit in my electric gig bag, so that's the trade off I guess. Henning was sounding really good through this thing (his original POD Go series convinced me to get a POD Go instead of a Helix). QC may make me ditch my Line 6 stuff and switch to this someday. CGS had almost got me converted to a Fractal, but I stood firm with my Line 6 love. God bless and rock on 😎🎸👍
@@jcoulter43 im floating around between my podHd500 and my Katana mk2 but always searching for something yet undefined to make the leap into tonal bliss.
Yes, Its THE GOAT
Any views on this vs the Fender Tone Master Pro? In the market for a modeler and my only concern with the QC is it’s been around a while and they might update it with a better display like the Fender effort
Based on what Neural has put out there they are focused on the software updates and functionality rather than new hardware anytime soon. I was amongst the first batch of the QC owners from Sweetwater and this is the best out there (and I have the other major platforms as well) and has treated me well since day one. I haven’t tried the fender but everything I know about it, it’s going to be a lot more limited and simplified which is fine if you are mainly going for the typical fender stuff.
I have the QC, I've watched many reviews of the Fender TMP and from that, it seems that the TMP interface looks nicer but it seems that the touchscreen is less responsive. So i hope Neural-DSP doesn't go in this direction 😉
Have you done a Fractal FM3 MkII Turbo demo yet Henning?!
If not maybe I should loan you mine to do so?🤔
The Optional Paralysis of the AxeFx absolutely terrifies my inherent ASPD (Asperger's Syndrome) BTW!
😵💫
P.S. Oscar says "bork!"🙃
Does it have a feedbacker. I was just about to sell my helix when they released it... Too big though. I like the QC
I never really looked unto the Quad Cortex, because it's out of my range. But looking at this, I get the feeling that I would avoid a lot of the option paralysis and endless tweaking instead of playing, which is my earlier experience with multi FX and amp modelers.
I have always liked your videos but they became a bit too much after a while, no this one, to me it is your best video, all honestly ❤. Hope you will have loads of similar stuff, can't wait!!!
I wonder how many people are about that have used NDSP plugins for years now - but because of the lack of plugin compatibility (I know soon) have never got one of these yet - thats me in a nutshell and if they released a stereo plugin 'player' I would buy it.
I don't see the need to use the plugins on it. it easily stands on its own. All the sounds the plugins would give you can be built with similar amps and effects
@@EytschPi42 Yep, plus if you have an audio interface and a PC and a plugin why would you buy this expensive box? The only downside my PC setup has is that my cheap guitar picks up a lot of noise if I sit square on to the PC on my desk. Ideally if you were trying to record and get the best quality you'd want to shield or move the PC away from the guitar.
Other than that I can't see any reason to spend that much on a tin box with a screen. Especially when you effectively have exactly the same algorithm. I did get a podxt way back that I still own but which I think made little sense now. One thing it did provide was an audio interface to the PC - but obviously at a OTT price compared with just buying an audio interface. It's much like buying an expensive digital piano and then plugging it into your PC - you;ll generally do as well getting a midi controller for a lot less and buying a physically modelled plugin for your PC. The standalone stuff makes sense in other situations, but not really for the bedroom guitarist who is happy sitting playing with DAW and plugins listening through high quality headphones like dtpros.
But my podxt cost too much but it was still only 1/5th of what Neural want for their tin box. Even counting for inflation it's ridiculously overpriced. If the reason for that is a 'Made in Finland' badge - why? No one has ever bought anything because it was made in Finland - I know they had a bit of reputation for building nuclear bomb proof mobile phones a decade or 2 ago, but they're infamous in that regard for the business failing miserably because they became overpriced and underperforming compared with everyone else's products.
Plugins are coming in the next software update, which is coming any day supposedly. I agree with Henny though that you can do much of the same stuff on the unit itself.
nice video
Do you need 2 speakers to get the full stereo experience here? (Never used active speakers)
Yes
NAM is still the best captures and its free. Thousands of captures in tonehunt and for free
yes
As someone who went from Ax8 > Helix > Quad Cortex, I can honestly say QC is the best out of the heavy hitters for modelers. It's not overly complex, it is easy to get amazing sounds, and as soon as plugin compatibility comes to fruition then it is over, no more debate.
It's hardly the best. It's a good option but far from being the best. While I owned one, I did enjoy its form-factor, routing flexibility and touch screen / rotator knobs.
@TudorAdrian so again, I have experience with the "big 3" of modelers and out of those it is the best, and it is a subjective opinion.
@@RequiemDead as have I and, subjectively, I can't say it's the best of the bunch; it does a few things better.
@@TudorAdrian different strokes for different folks. ✌
They're all pretty much the same. Fender do one now too. TBH I just think the Neural plugins are expensive when you compare with the suites of amps and effects you can get from others. Like Helix native is significantly better value than Neural DSP. Sure, if you wanted just a couple of amps and effects and were happy one Neural archetype might make sense because they are good quality, but if you're the kind of player who wants a bunch of different sounds and to experiment then you'd be better buying Helix native or one of the myriad other amp modelling packages that give you shedloads of amps and effects than a pile of Neural DSP archetypes at over €100 each. The other thing (for both Helix native and Neural DSP) is this dumb pricing model where they have a 50% or so discount once or twice a year when people actually buy them. They may as well just make that the price rather than trying to kid us we're getting value for money. As for the hardware unless you're gigging if you have a PC at home they're overpriced because all you really need is an audio interface and a PC - I'm using a podxt for that. Neurals tag line is something like "algorithmically perfect" but you get same the algorithm on the plugin so the hardware isn't worth nearly £1500 - it's not a handmade crafted japanese guitar is it? We already know a much cheaper PC can run the algorithm (and do more besides) so it's beyond ken that they dupe guitarists into paying so much for a few switches and an LCD screen put in an aluminium box.
So I bought a Fractal FM9 and it was mostly based on people saying the Quad Cortex isn’t there yada yada yada. But clearly, I made a mistake😮. I think I’m gonna sell it and get me a QC. Great review!
Try it first. You could be suffering from the grass-is-greener-on-the-other-side-syndrome. Or you may find it being perfect for you.
Is the water in that mug sweet?
what are you running into a amp or frfr powered cab or?
DAW
update it - it just gets better
Hey, when just talking about amp quality: what would be your 2 Cents comparing it to the ToneX pedal? Cheers!
just amps? About equal.
ToneX obviously offers a lot less that QC, but ToneX's amps are very good. It is missing a lot of other things, but if that doesn't matter to you it is a killer deal.
Thanks for your super fast answer. I am using the ToneX Pedal in combination with the HX Stomp and a Morningstar Midi Controller. The Morningstar controls the Stomp. And the stomp gets the Amps via effects loop from the ToneX pedal. For me its a nice combination of the amp universe from ToneX and the Effects universe from Line6...
Henning says: "I don't read manuals. I need the time to fiddle with video gear." ;-)