Man that capture was so good. Noticed the amp had a tad bit more low end than the Quad Cortex. It’s as you said though no one would complain about the capture in real life. Just us audio nerd who have the privilege to hear A/B comparisons lol
Amazing A/B testing! It was pretty much the same, though i heard something going on in the low end of the Quad. It was Cutting a tiny bit of low end, but not something that cant be fixed. Absolutely amazing piece of equipment!
@@neighbourhoodmusician Hell yeah man. I wasn't exactly a fan of B.C Kochmit's stuff when he came in during New Tradition, but when they released Hail Mary with Clint and Troy back, it was awesome!
If you already have a helix kemper or axefx it’s hard to get excited about it, maybe if it retailed for 999, but its the same price as the other big boys, and it sounds as good as they do
@@johnnewton1830 smaller size, bigger screen, touch screen, no computer hook up. Playing through a regular guitar cabinet. I know you weren’t asking me but just throwing in why I would buy this and maybe lose my other modeler/profiler. Still a great tube amp with just one great pedal like distortion, overdrive or fuzz and the feel and sound is still the best for me.
Great video! Thank you man! I currently own the fractal but I was curious to acquire the QC. I see that QC does very well! Mainly in high gains. But I confess that I miss the clean sounds with soft and robust bass. Like.. Deluxe reverb.. Matchless.. etc.. Do you think Neural will also pay attention to amp simulations in the next updates or will they leave them aside and focus more on captures?
The capturing is what makes this so powerful. Being able to get a studio sound with added benefit of plugins and studio gear and capture that entire rig and bring that to a gig is pretty insane really.
Your waving around of the unit showed me the answer to one of my questions. How visible is the screen from various angles? The answer? No problems at all.
Well in the mix it was hard to notice, alone tho, quads has more defined high ends, the Mesa had more mid range. At least that how it sounded to me. Thanks for sharing.
Only thing I’d buy the QC for is the fact that you can run 3-4 rigs at once. Otherwise, I’ll stick with my Kemper 🤷🏼♂️ I feel the video was a little too “over hyped” for the product, tbh, but was still a good video. Thanks, fluff!
Great video. I would love to see you capture a pedal and then A/B it with the original pedal in front of a real amp, rather than into the QC. It would be great if I could capture and replace my pedal board with the QC when I'm playing the real tube amp, (no amp or cab sims switched on in the QC), as well as having all the other QC features. I would then use the QC amp and cab sims (and effects) for headphone use and recording
Quad cotexing all around 🔥 i bet this brick will be the BOMB in future years ! I mean , maybe a Wah/Xpression/Volume pedal next time , a lil more ventilation , and even bigger and more powerfull CPU 🔥🔥🔥🔥
I think from a accuracy perspective its great, but not the best I've heard. The style and everything is 100% the same, and in context of a mix the difference is not rly audible to me anymore, however without backing u can hear the difference quiet well - I had more problems hearing difference from real amp to kemper. But in general, in most cases the stuff which happens below 350hz shows the differences, on higher frequencys its kinda the same to me, but then again I'm old.
Awesome ! Being able to load the plugins we’ve already purchased in a mobile platform besides a laptop is exactly what I was hoping they would include. That is the deciding feature for me.
In both Fluffs and in Glenns video I heard a little more fizzle with the Neural vs the real amp. Not saying I prefer one over the other, there is a difference though.
I watched this video while in my car with buetooth audio and literally couldn’t tell the difference between the real amp and the quad cortex so it passes the car test.
Hey Fluff. Great Video. But as i wrote yesterday in your Live Stream, you missed to tell the people, that the Quad Cortex is not ready for live use, because of horrible audio dropouts while change the presets. The Sounds are good (in my opinion on Helix level). But with the next Updates Neural DSP has to fix the dropout issue.
Agreed it is the future of pedals and amps. Most of the players in my market have one of these or a competitor unit. One concern though. I have a set of JVC HA RX-300 headphones which usually have great top end response. But the signal sounds pretty thin above 3k, and very thin above 6k. Is that in the EQ Pre-upload?
Give it 2 years tops before a rack mount version is announced. Once touring resumes, and touring bands want this in their rig, there'll be a push for it. Hell, you could have the whole band be setup with a single unit .
I'm not sure why, but, I have high end gear/guitars..im playing through Focal Shape 65s and I can't tones that don't feel dull or lifeless..almost sounds like the tone knob on my guitars are turned down to 1 lol..I can't get those bright cleans and punchy gains. For other reference, i have a UA Apollo Twin X , Imac with Cubase 12 pro as a DAW....maybe the monitors?
I know this video has been published a while ago, but maybe someone sees this. I've got a question on input levels in the QC. I'm struggling to get the input level "right". Lots of sources state that you should increase the input gain such that the input level reaches around -12dB. For my strat, I'd have to increase the level by approx. +20dB to get to that level. But then I ask myself "Isn't that like having a booster pedal on all the time?". My thinking around that is: All the amp and pedal sims in the QC are meant to sound like the real deal, right? So why would I increase the level of my guitar? I want the sim to sound as if I plugged my guitar directly into the actual amp. Did you increase the input gain on your QC, Rabea? Any hint welcome and appreciated.
G-system did that “button thing” 15 years ago...people really have bad memory. Btw, I have one and still works flawlessly, so for the ones that are not “sure” about durability of those buttons, well, they will be pretty reliable cause it’s not “new tech” at all...
While the unit sounds excellent and includes a lot of great features, the only reason I won't invest in one is because every capture and preset has to be saved in the cloud. You can make a full backup of the unit, but you can't save or restore individual presets and captures to or from your computer, so your entire library is only accessible in the cloud. For whatever reason, if you have network issues, you won't be able to access your library.
Thats only a problemfor a short while, As I've said before,this is still in the beta stage. Doug from neural DSP, over on the gear page said "I’ve clarified this a few times today, but the thread is moving fast: cloud IRs are only the case until the desktop controller is released. Then you will be able to load your own IRs offline (as well as create, store, and restore backup files)."
@@MickH60 In the thread at The Gear Page Doug stated, "All file transfers have to be done through the cloud with the exception of local backup files once the desktop controller is out. With the desktop controller, you can create a local backup file that you can restore in another QC once you login to it with your cloud credentials" Basically, users will only be able to make full backups of their system once the editor is available; however, they'll be required to use the cloud in order to save or restore individual presets and captures. You can't download and save individual captures and presets to your computer, and you won't be able to transfer them to a thumb drive or send them via email.
I would love to see this unit compared to the Kemper and the latest AXE-FX III. Also if you use a single coil guitar to capture an amp vs using a humbucker equipped guitar.
"You are a current Kemper, Line6, Fractal user looking to upgrade..." I haven't seen much that indicates to me that this unit is much other than a lateral move from most of those devices. Past the 'capture' feature, it's not exactly breaking new ground and the tones so far aren't kicking my ass by any means. It's not a knock on the device. Looks like a good piece of gear, but 'it's on par with', not 'an upgrade'.
Dear Mr. Beard, I've planned on buying a Quad Cortex. I've heard it wasn't accurate for the amp models. Heard the Helix and Tonex is better. Should I purchase a Quad?
It's a bit odd and maybe a little telling that he omitted the FM3/FC6 combo as a rival device which as of now can be had for under $1500, or throw in an EV2 pedal as well for pretty much the same price as the QC with arguably more functionality. Why he compared it only to the more expensive Axe 3 I dont know as that is not a like for like comparison in my opinion. The FM3/FC6/EV set up is phenomenal and should have been duly mentioned in this review as he did for the Helix and Kemper floor units. For the record, I've used and love Neural plugins but use Fractal hardware and the QC hasn't swayed me otherwise thus far.
There's a part of me that wants to sell my Kemper for this. But there's another less id-driven part of me that thinks "I sold an Axe-FX and ended up with a Kemper. How long is it going to be before I sell the Quad Cortex for the next newest best thing ever?". Really, the UI on the Kemper is a pain in the ass but sound-wise there's really nothing you can fault it on. As tempting as this is, I kinda feel it's maybe better to just settle for what you have, get off that neverending GAS treadmill of constant upgrading to the newest shiniest thing and, y'know, concentrate on writing fucking music :P
I'm with you, I heard that a rack version is coming. I guess that thing is rugged, I would hesitate to put any $1600 piece of gear on the floor in a gig situation; maybe I'm being too careful but still...just heard Fluff say no rack version coming, Doh!!
It sounds like you'd just rather plug in a MIDI capable floorboard to switch presets? Cuz people toss Helix Stomps in a rack all the time. In fact, that's exactly what Fluff did.
Seems like recording a modeler is almost always super close to the real amp. To me, the test is the “feel”.....as in, turning the guitar volume down and seeing how that reacts to the touch and the dynamics of the hands....plus “the gate” if there is one....(chopping off notes early, etc)
i don't get one thing... how does combining a footswitch with a rotary knob prolongs the potentiometer's life? i assume they take more impact from the stomping?
all i hear is the real amps pop out a tad more but as for the drive it sounds just like the amp, just missing that 3d low end bloom pop whatever it is like low air, great though to get in the ball park of all those mega amps out there plus dual amping and bass and fx, yip
The only thing that’s keeping me away from buying it, the power requirements, 12v 3A, REALLY difficult to put on a pedalboard, using an IEC would’ve been a better choice in my opinion
I debated waiting for this, but I pulled the trigger on a Axe 3. Loving it, so if this ends up better, then oh well. I'm glad the tech is improving so dramatically.
Great review! Honest question: It's somewhat easy to get good sounds at headphone level. In my experience however, stage/PA loudness is a total different beast. Tube amplifiers sound often much better than digital stuff. Could you do a comparison at these kinds of levels, with these kinds of speakers?
I don't think, quad cortex is an upgrade from Fractal Fm9, nor an upgrade from Kemper Stage. They all have advantages. Quad cortex has far less profiles and effects and it's very simplistic compared with the other two. On top of that the size is also a disadvantage for live play. The other two have more of a pedal board feel and the layout is better for live use. The FM9 is cheaper and has better effects. Quad cortex can use 4 layers and switch seemless from one to another, it's easier to carry and the touch screen is also a bonus.
I saw Paul David do one that but wasn't logical. He switched to a completely new patch so of course there is drop out. It has to load a whole new set up into the memory. If he had just run two amps (Clean and a Dirty in this case) in the same patch and toggled them off and on then I bet there would be very little or no drop out.
Nobody will answer my question, and it's a legit one. My Katana Air takes longer to boot than my PC. My TV takes longer to boot than my Katana Air. I'm an old man, I ain't got time for this! How long does it take to boot? I would also be interested to know how often they become bricked and what they've implemented in system recovery/OTA updates (since they're using phone processors in everything, you should be able to recover your device without calling/sending it in every time it locks up).
FM3 is cheaper BUT runs out of CPU very quickly and with only 3 foot switches.. The plugins will be a game changer for sure. I think the capture feature is best in class. This unit is awesome and I can't wait for mine from Sweetwater. Thanks for the review.
@@r.llynch4124 I find this very surprising. Have you tried stepping down the quality in the Reverb block? I have a bunch of presets running Reverb and Delay blocks and none of them max the CPU, even one of the factory presets that runs all 12 blocks including Delay and Reverb doesn't max the CPU to the point of shutdown.
It’s getting there. Compared to the price of axefx or kemper, the quad cortex is pretty affordable. Helix is around the same price, but like half the capabilities.
Nice Video, but when you are in the Rig Manager from the Kemper there is a lot of more options to change and to find your Amp sound. Pick, Definition, Clarity etc. etc. Maybe there will be an update and all this is coming for the QC, but right now this thing is hyped to much! Just my opinion!
Helix UI with a headrush touch screen. Used both at a time I was thinking when “a combo of both” will come. I think that’s what is being showed here and more. Wonder if the next helix/kemper will give this beast a fight (a happy kemper owner).
