A little background. I’ve played in copy bands off and on for 50 years. I’ve been fortunate enough to record a CD with some very talented musicians. I mostly have played Classic and heavy rock, though I enjoy listening to many types of music. The Quad Cortex is the first modeler I’ve kept, once buying the Fractal AX8 and sending it back. Didn’t like it at all. I’ve always been a tube snob and have used Fenders, Marshall’s, (splawn, short lived) and right before the Quad Cortex an EVH 50w III., that I still have and love.
Ok right to it. I’m enjoying the unit and plan on gigging with it, though I don’t find it without improvement needed.
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The Rotory and Flanger are the worst effects I’ve ever heard. The louder you turn the unit up the worse they get. Listen to No matter what By bad finger Neural and you will know what a rotory should sound like on a guitar.
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The phaser is a little better but not by much. My Ice cream Man solo by Van Halen sounds a little mushy and washed out. Hope you improve this also.
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The switches need to be programmable. The dancing between Presets and Scenes and stomp mode is making me dizzy. I need to program the top switches as Presets and the bottom switches as scenes. I don’t need more than 4 scenes per preset.
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The unit Pops loudly when turning on. It shouldn’t do this.
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You should only have to press a preset switch once when changing banks, not twice. Sometimes I forget and go right back to the preset I was trying to leave.
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I need output 1&2 for my FrFr cabinets and Outputs 3 &4 for front of house. I believe this will be in the next update.
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I get a little lost sometimes between preset and scene mode. When your standing the text is small. I’d like to see a better or bigger indication of what mode I’m in.
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More cabinet ir’s. I have only found two I like with any crunch or distorted sound, and mostly only use one. The rest sound bad to me.
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I need to be able to patch whole lines from one preset to another. Example: If I write a scene with a rythym sound in lines one and two, then write a lead sound in lines 3 &4 I need to be able to just copy lines 1&2 or 3&4 and paste in another preset. I’m writing the same lead Patch over and over in different presets. Unless I’m missing something this would save me a ton of work.
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Wish there was better ways to match preset / scene volumes, like maybe an accurate vu output meter on the screen. I’m not sure but something.
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I must say I like the form factor and size, but I wish there was aanother 1/2 inch / 12mm between each foot switch. Side to side but mostly up and down. However you can’t have small and light and bigger and heavier.
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There is some extra noise at times on heavier distorted presets. Usually not noticeable in the band mix, but needs to be addressed .
What I like:
The rythym sounds are great. Everything from clean to crunch to all out distortion bliss have been great. Nothing but compliments from every musician who’s heard it.
The lead sounds are 85% there. They get better with every band rehearsal. Got something going on in the high end that doesn’t sound as creamy and smooth as I would like, but it’s getting there.
The Choruses sound good to me and thank goodness that’s the effect I like and use most, besides delay and reverb.
The delays are just as good to me as anything else I’ve ever used.
The unit is responsive, easy to set up presets and scenes, with the above complaints.
I think for a new device Neural has hit a home run. I’m enjoying the unit and look forward to turning it on everyday. If Nueral supports and improves the unit continuously like Fractal and Line 6 has done or even better, the Quad Cortex will be the top contender to beat down the road. I’m happy I’m along for the ride.