Neural Quad Cortex

[redd]

Hi everyone. Just wondered if anyone is using one of these incredible things? I'm currently running this through a QSC k10.2. just wondered if anyone had used a Seymour Duncan Powerstage to power a 'normal' unpowered PA speaker or bass cab? 

[Bigwan]

@Kev is the only Quad Cortex user I know here. Looks like a serious piece of kit!

[Kev]

A very serious piece of kit!  Fantastic unit, pedalboard now presents as rather boring as a result!

 

Can't help with the query though, I have only ever used the unit straight to FoH.

[Tripehound]

16 minutes ago, Kev said:

A very serious piece of kit!  Fantastic unit, pedalboard now presents as rather boring as a result!

 

Can't help with the query though, I have only ever used the unit straight to FoH.

Hi Kev - I keep looking at these. I used to have a Helix LT but sold it as I found I was tending to use just the one patch and few effects. Moved to the Atomic Bassbox (I play in a band where everyone is straight in to the mixer) but am unconvinced by the tone and especially the overdrive. Considering the new Zoom B6 but keep wondering...

 

Can I ask which amp models/captures you've tried and what you think of them vs other modellers?

[Kev]

2 hours ago, Tripehound said:

Hi Kev - I keep looking at these. I used to have a Helix LT but sold it as I found I was tending to use just the one patch and few effects. Moved to the Atomic Bassbox (I play in a band where everyone is straight in to the mixer) but am unconvinced by the tone and especially the overdrive. Considering the new Zoom B6 but keep wondering...

 

Can I ask which amp models/captures you've tried and what you think of them vs other modellers?

Have to say, I'm useless when it comes to other modellers.  The last modeller I had before the Quad Cortex was a Zoom GT-6B!!!

 

I have used a ton, there are SO many on the cloud.  Only problem is finding the good ones, as Captures are only as good as the person capturing them, setting the input levels right etc.  In my current live presets I use Captures for the Darkglass X Ultra (mine), a Sadowsky preamp and some cab sim captures and they all sound great.  I have 3 or 4 dozen captures downloaded that I've played with and deemed them good enough to keep, mostly drive pedals and fuzzes.  I use compressors, reverb, delay and pitch shifting all to great effect.  I play in drop B but my backup bass live is tuned to E standard, so if I need to use it I drop the E to D and kick in a preset that pitch shifts down to Drop B and it sounds almost perfect.  I'm still discovering sounds every day.  Its weakest aspect at the moment is its effect models I think, from what i've heard from others with Fractal experience etc, but its very young and Neural are regularly updating.  The fllters aren't great to my ears, no real "synth"options at present.  The delays and verbs are fantastic though, not left wanting there at all.

 

For me, my mostly Darkglass and drive pedal laden board almost completely covered the QC when I sold it all, and the QC captures are PHENOMENAL.  As I say, I captured the X Ultra pedal before selling, capturing the channels separately, and it was completely indistinguishable from the real pedal.  It's worth the money alone, it really is.

[bassmayhem]

I've ordered one, but it seems I have to wait a month more or so to get it delivered. My friend Erik is a user since last winter... https://www.youtube.com/c/erikarko

I got tired of not being able to use my rig at the local clubs, since "you have to turn down the bass on stage so I can get a decent sound in the PA". I decided to go gigging without a lot of luggage to tote around. Bass(es) and a good direct signal and then use the stage monitors until I puke on them.  

Edited May 29, 2022 by bassmayhem

[redd]

Hey guys.

I've had my QC for about 2 months now. Upgraded from a helix LT. It's an incredible piece of kit but I haven't really even scratched the surface of it's capabilities. I've been going straight from this unit to FOH and it sounds incredible. For the first time I'm getting strangers at gigs complementing me on my sound. The only slight niggle I've got is powering up the sound to live volumes. Through a pair of studio monitors or headphones it's incredible. Pumping up the sound on stage I've found the sound gets a little flat, like it needs a valve warmth or something (this is me being RIDICULOUSLY picky!)

 

On some of the guitar forums our six string brothers have been running the QC through a stage power amp pedal (Seymour Duncan Powerstage seems to be the unit of choice) and then using a 'normal' guitar cab, rather than a powered speaker. Just wondered if anyone had tried this.

 

I've asked this question on a few sites now and no one seems to have tried this on bass. I've just bought an acoustic image double shot from a fellow bass-chatter and I've got a Phil Jones cab so I'm going to experiment. If I reach any eureka moments, I'll come back and share!

[bassmayhem]

I got mine last week, have used it on rehearsal so far. I've been tweaking tones and made some captures so far. RogerHedinBass is my user name on the QC cloud.

I made captures of my Monique and Spartan, also my Magellan 350. As far as I can hear, the captures are spot on. It also feels the same playing through the QC as through the "real stuff"...

[bassmayhem]

Please, follow me on the QC cloud, Dood. Then we can share stuff.  Other users too!  

[Quatschmacher]

On 28/05/2022 at 21:39, Kev said:

Have to say, I'm useless when it comes to other modellers.  The last modeller I had before the Quad Cortex was a Zoom GT-6B!!!

 

I have used a ton, there are SO many on the cloud.  Only problem is finding the good ones, as Captures are only as good as the person capturing them, setting the input levels right etc.  In my current live presets I use Captures for the Darkglass X Ultra (mine), a Sadowsky preamp and some cab sim captures and they all sound great.  I have 3 or 4 dozen captures downloaded that I've played with and deemed them good enough to keep, mostly drive pedals and fuzzes.  I use compressors, reverb, delay and pitch shifting all to great effect.  I play in drop B but my backup bass live is tuned to E standard, so if I need to use it I drop the E to D and kick in a preset that pitch shifts down to Drop B and it sounds almost perfect.  I'm still discovering sounds every day.  Its weakest aspect at the moment is its effect models I think, from what i've heard from others with Fractal experience etc, but its very young and Neural are regularly updating.  The fllters aren't great to my ears, no real "synth"options at present.  The delays and verbs are fantastic though, not left wanting there at all.

 

For me, my mostly Darkglass and drive pedal laden board almost completely covered the QC when I sold it all, and the QC captures are PHENOMENAL.  As I say, I captured the X Ultra pedal before selling, capturing the channels separately, and it was completely indistinguishable from the real pedal.  It's worth the money alone, it really is.

Presumably you could borrow something like a future impact and do captures of that to get great synth sounds. I’d be curious to hear the results. 

[Kev]

5 hours ago, Quatschmacher said:

Presumably you could borrow something like a future impact and do captures of that to get great synth sounds. I’d be curious to hear the results. 

The tech isn't there yet, the capture technology is limited to amps and drive pedals, as far as fuzz depending on the type of circuit.  It can capture the "tone" of the signal, but it can't capture modulation, time effects or anything like that.  This can be explained this FAR more eloquently, but other than sustain, if the pedal changes the sound from the bass whilst ringing out, the QC can't capture the effect...yet.  It is something they are working on.

 

You're not alone with thinking this. There are lots of capture attempts in the cloud that obviously don't do as intended.  Tons of people think you can capture compressors, and there are loads of comp captures uploaded, but in reality all the capture is doing is capturing the tonal qualities of the compressor, not the compressors action.  I have no idea what would happen if you tried to capture a filter or similar.

[WinterMute]

I'm borrowing a friends while he's on holiday, I switched my old Pod XT Pro out for a GED2112 and then an HX Stomp, which is fine but quite difficult to get on with complex programming due to the heavy parameter access. My guitarist mate is a big Helix user and I've had a good play with his Helix board, which I like a lot, but I'm looking into the modeller market too.

 

The bottom line is that I can't afford a Fractal Axe 3 and I'm not a big fan of the Kemper approach, so the QC is really the main alternative to the Helix.

 

I'm hoping the sound will live up to the clearly superior editing functions, if it does I'll be buying one, if not I'll track down a Helix Rack.

 

On 28/06/2022 at 00:04, Kev said:

  I have no idea what would happen if you tried to capture a filter or similar.

 

I don't think they'll ever get to the point that you can capture Chorus or any modulation effect, I might be wrong, but I think that'll be beyond the tech. However it'l be very cool to see where they go with it over the years.

[Kev]

4 hours ago, WinterMute said:

I don't think they'll ever get to the point that you can capture Chorus or any modulation effect, I might be wrong, but I think that'll be beyond the tech. However it'l be very cool to see where they go with it over the years.

Doug (I think, may have been someone else at Neural) actually suggested early doors that the technology could well be adapted to capture time effects in the future, but it's not there yet.  Would be mad if it did, but limited application really.  I'd rather efforts were focused on creating models as good as the plugins.

[WinterMute]

22 hours ago, Kev said:

Doug (I think, may have been someone else at Neural) actually suggested early doors that the technology could well be adapted to capture time effects in the future, but it's not there yet.  Would be mad if it did, but limited application really.  I'd rather efforts were focused on creating models as good as the plugins.

Wouldn't that be something? Although you actually have to capture specific settings I'd imagine, a new capture for every different setting you wanted to use. Not a problem if your saving it as part of the patch obviously, but time consuming.

 

I picked up the loaner yesterday, I've got it for a week. Had a couple of hours with it last night, and initial impression are very favourable, its so much easier to programme complex patches than almost anything else thanks to the touch screen, the loading of IRs and captures is very easy and effective. On the downside, the cab models aren't great, and there aren't a lot of bass amp captures, but the ones that are there are great. I DL'd some captures and I have a bunch of IRs for my Stomp, so I threw those into the QC and they sounded just as good as in the stomp.

 

The main thing I noticed was just how much more responsive the models are, they play much better than the Stomp models, it does sound better than the Stomp in some ways but not so as you'd be startled by the difference, it's just a lot more like plugging into a VST and a fridge...

 

Will I buy one? Maybe to probably currently, needs more investigation.

[bassmayhem]

As I said in another thread: Follow me so I can follow you in the QC Cloud. My username there is RogerHedinBass.  
Also: show your QC Cloud user names here, if you like...

 

Edited July 25, 2022 by bassmayhem

[WinterMute]

Did some captures of my RND Shelford preamp last night, one with the blue silk circuit engaged, one with the red, I really like them at the start of a patch, gives some nice harmonic complexity to the signal before it hits all the models.

 

QC Cloud name is the same as here WinterMute.

 

[WinterMute]

I think I'm starting to get the hang of this amazing little box, I have to send this one back to it's owner on Sunday, so it's probably put up or shut up time.

 

The Pros:

Sounds as good or better than the HX Stomp/Pod XT level kit I've known.

Excellent "playability" of the models and patches, they respond really well to dynamic playing, it is just like playing the amp/cab.

Sooo easy to work with, the touch screen and rotary switches make the lack of a desktop editor almost redundant.

Excellent use of IR integration.

Neural capture works very well for some things (really like to see where they go with this).

 

The Cons:

The price (same as a Helix rack etc but none second hand).

Limited "community" although quite active.

 

Overall I'm talking myself into this aren't I?

[Owen]

It is not going to happen to me in the near future, but I can feel the gravitational pull. 

[WinterMute]

Loaner safety returned to it's owner, this turned up today...

 

 

 

[TDC]

New QC user here. Has only been 4 days and I think this unit has caused a major culling of pedals.

 

Such an exciting time! 

[nazzer]

Just picked up a QC 2nd hand and waiting eagerly for it to arrive! Took the jump kinda spontaneously because I haven't actually tried one yet. I was going to go this weekend to check one out, but saw one at a good price so I jumped. While I've loved my pedals I never need all of them when I play out, and taking my board apart every time was just getting on my nerves.

 

I have an HX Stomp that has been mostly great, but I've never trusted using the amp models live because they just never really hit the mark for me, so I'm crossing my fingers that the QC will do the trick!

 

Will update when it arrives  

[WinterMute]

Make use of the Cortex Cloud for captures, some of them are very good, the patches not so much, people seem to want to use everything at once...

 

The other improvement can be in the cab IRs, particularly stuff like Celestion's offering, which is brilliant for the 12s and 15s, but does cost a bit.

 

There's a ton of good free IRs out there for an hour or so on google.

 

It's quite a step up from the Stomp, and does take a bit of getting used to.

[bassmayhem]

7 hours ago, WinterMute said:

Make use of the Cortex Cloud for captures, some of them are very good, the patches not so much, people seem to want to use everything at once...

 

The other improvement can be in the cab IRs, particularly stuff like Celestion's offering, which is brilliant for the 12s and 15s, but does cost a bit.

 

There's a ton of good free IRs out there for an hour or so on google.

 

It's quite a step up from the Stomp, and does take a bit of getting used to.

What free IR's have you found that are worth using? I have the Shift Line IR package. Their B15 is sweet...

[Dood]

I hadn't spotted this post previous. I have a QC here on my desk. It's hopefully going to be gigging again soon! The latest update (I think) included a feature that I was really missing after having the Helix many years. I love the form factor, touch screen and 'multi-function' foot switches. It suits my needs and sounds superb. 

[nazzer]

8 hours ago, WinterMute said:

Make use of the Cortex Cloud for captures, some of them are very good, the patches not so much, people seem to want to use everything at once...

 

The other improvement can be in the cab IRs, particularly stuff like Celestion's offering, which is brilliant for the 12s and 15s, but does cost a bit.

 

There's a ton of good free IRs out there for an hour or so on google.

 

It's quite a step up from the Stomp, and does take a bit of getting used to.

Thanks for the pointers!

Yeah, I figure it will be a bit of learning curve, but I'm pretty savvy with these kind of things. It will just be a matter of then finding some sounds I like, which is what you good people out there will be able to help with I'm sure!

I'm mostly looking forward to having the additional DSP and flexibility with footswitches, oh and the sound quality obviously!