Addressing the relationship between store promotions and Quad Cortex integration timelines

Community
43

Thank you for the detailed breakdown, and I must say I’m honored to see a moderator participating so actively in this thread. I’m well aware of the April update announcement, and as you mentioned, I’ve already shared my feedback directly with support.

Let me clarify my point better—and please excuse me as English is not my native language, so I might have misexpressed a few concepts.

What I am discussing isn’t what is coming, but rather the timeline and the reliance on vague, unrealistic timeframes for features that were part of the initial product premise years ago.

While I understand that there is no official public roadmap and that beta testers are under NDA, discussing how these delays affect the customer experience and long-term trust is exactly what a community forum is for. I’m not looking for leaked info or breaking compliance; I’m simply interested in hearing how other users view this approach to product transparency.

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44

I don’t like it, but I’m used to it. Expecting it to change is inviting frustration.

I used to wish they’d at least admit if there were certain feature requests they just wouldn’t be able to implement, but probably that would be bad for business to publicize, so now I don’t expect that to happen

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45

That’s a very practical mindset, and I guess many users end up adopting it. However, do you think this approach to communication is just a minor flaw in an otherwise great product, or does it actually impact your long-term trust in the brand?
This is exactly the kind of constructive feedback I’d like to gather and send to Neural, to show them how different users perceive the situation.

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46

Thanks! I wouldn’t say I am overly active in this specific thread. I’m here as an owner supporting other owners when possible and always learning, that is the fun part :slight_smile: I don’t always have the time and or leverage to engage in every thread but mainly here to keep threads on topic and preventing them from going off the rails. Thanks for your clarification and I do understand your (and others) point(s).

I do think you will get more visibility by encouraging others to email NDSP as they don’t engage here as much as we wish.

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Thank you, @MP_Mod. I appreciate your perspective as a fellow owner and your dedication to keeping the discussion constructive.
That’s actually exactly what I want to do with this thread: encourage other users to speak up and send their feedback to NDSP so we can gain more visibility together. Let’s see what they think about it and if we can succeed!

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As a guitarist who bought into this ecosystem with real enthusiasm, I have to say I’m tired of waiting.

I understand development takes time, and I don’t want a rushed or unstable release. But after years of “coming soon”, the wording just doesn’t feel fair anymore.

Plugin compatibility was part of the appeal of the Quad Cortex for many of us. Captures are useful, but they’re not the same thing as having the actual plugin workflow on the hardware.

So yes, I agree with Salvo. At this point, I’d rather have clear and honest communication, even if the answer is “not anytime soon”, than keep seeing “coming soon” over and over again.

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49

unfortunately, I feel like that’s kind of what we got with the “Full Disclosure on PCOM” news update and I didn’t like it. :slight_smile:

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50

@gemskilmi I completely agree with you on the plugin workflow vs. captures. That workflow was a major selling point for many of us who bought into the ecosystem with real enthusiasm, and that’s why the “soon” verbiage feels fatiguing after all this time.

@xush That “Full Disclosure” update is actually the perfect example. It felt more like a damage-control statement than actual transparency. When even a “disclosure” leaves users feeling like they’re just being managed rather than informed, it proves that the communication approach needs to change.

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I’m in agreement with @Salvo here. For the record, I work in marketing, so I can understand the strategy that they’re taking, and why they would release a full disclosure ahead of the birthday sale that many of us wait for to purchase plugins.

I fell for that bait and decided to buy the Rabea X plugin. I currently use Gojira X on my QC and love it, but wanted some more options. I don’t use plugins on a DAW too often, other than recording demos/scratch tracks for my band if I don’t feel like plugging my QC in. So anecdotally for me, I bought Rabea X with the intention of using it on my QC, which is 99.9% of the time run through a power amp and cab, under the impression the plugin/update would be coming soon.

Now nearly 2 months on, I’d hoped for at least a mention of how the update is going (I.e, getting close to beta testing, decided to add extra features…), because this is the driving force that lead to my purchase (and likely a lot of other QC users) and the plugin is currently sat unused on my laptop. If I had the benefit of hindsight, I could have waited until the next sale or later in the year to purchase. So for me, and I assume for others as well, the frustration comes from the fact we’ve parted with our money on the idea something is coming “soon” to the device we use primarily, but that purchase could have waited if a fairer time expectation were given.

But with all this said, I love what Neural offers. My QC’s screen died before an important gig, so I bought a NC as a backup, and Rabea X during the sale while my QC was away. I wouldn’t have done that if I didn’t like what the company produces. I appreciate the size of the team operating what is now a large force in the guitar industry. I’d just like to see more announcements so we know what’s happening. I understand the rhetoric that it’s to avoid past broken promises, but I have seen the community speculate that the update could come in summer, even in October. With the silence, it’s impossible for us to know, and when we’ve parted with our money based solely on PCOM promises, I’d just hope for a bit more clarity along the way.

For the record, I’ve been hoping for improvements to MIDI and cab assignment by output for a while, as this would allow me to unlock more potential of the QC with how I use it - I think many of us are happy with the QC from what I’ve seen, we just want to see it develop and have a bit more awareness of what’s going on.

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52

Welcome to the thread, @willfernyhough, and thanks for sharing such a transparent perspective. Having someone with a marketing background weigh in is incredibly valuable here.

Your experience perfectly captures the core issue: it’s not about the product—which we love—but about the financial timing. When a company teases a feature right before a major sale, consumers buy based on that timeline. Turning that into months of silence makes the investment feel less like a fair deal and more like a cash-flow strategy driven by hype.

Doing this is already highly questionable, but it becomes even worse when you realize that this integration wasn’t a recent bonus feature—it was part of the original specifications promised on day one.

As you said, a little clarity along the way doesn’t hurt; it builds loyalty. If the community’s only alternative to silence is wild speculation on Discord or Reddit, aren’t we just proving that managing public sentiment through transparency is always better than letting a user base guess what happened to their commitments?

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53

Completely agree with you! If I was to remove personal biases the best I can to see from a marketing perspective, this is how I would interpret it:

By announcing disclosure before sale with the “soon” communication, there are a number of probable scenarios that play out in demand:

  • Birthday sale is expected by many, so many will wait until then to purchase a plugin/s. The disclosure incentivises purchasing specific plugins (e.g., Petrucci, Rabea…) based on the assumption that the plugins will come soon to QC, and to get these at a discounted price. This maximises likely demand during the birthday sale, supporting cash flow for Neural at this time of year.
  • Users could wait until the Black Friday/November sale, but with the disclosure announcement this would be a perceived long wait, and definite fear of missing out in play if the plugins are ported before this sale - pushing users to buy during the birthday sale or miss out on the plugins on the QC if they only purchase during sales.
  • Alternatively, people could wait until the update is live, and buy with full assurance that plugins are available on the QC. This would likely be at full price which would be more profitable for Neural.

These outcomes hinge on how price elastic demand is for the plugins, and the effect sale “expectations” play in all year around plugin sales. All of this said, if the disclosure announcement had not come ahead of the sale - many of us likely would have waited to purchase relevant plugins after the update, or even in the Black Friday sale. Just a basic business tactic.

What I will say is, is that from my perspective it is fair game for Neural to do this - it’s just I would appreciate more clarity after the sale so I know my purchase was worthwhile at that point and time, and couldn’t have been delayed to another point later in the year depending on when the update comes.

I know we all have varying outlooks and that is absolutely fine and understandable - in my perspective something like a fortnightly or monthly Annoucement/round-up would help ease concerns - whether PCOM focused, free update/device features focused, both or neither. This would more so give us a bit of assurance that things are progressing, especially as many have had select plugins for years based on the launch day promise as you mention @Salvo

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Spot on analysis, @willfernyhough. You hit the nail on the head: using “soon” right before a sale maximizes immediate cash flow by leveraging FOMO, which is legitimate, but the subsequent communication blackout turns a good deal into an indefinite promise. A fixed-schedule update (even monthly) would kill the speculation, proving that post-sale transparency is just as critical a business asset as the marketing itself.

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If Neural has learned anything, the more they say, the more people will complain. Not surprising they now hold their peace.

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That’s exactly what used to happen…

when my son was very young and got angry with his friends, he would just grab his ball and take it away so nobody could play anymore :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: so I recognize that kind of behavior… but I don’t think Neural is being run by small children.:sweat_smile:

People don’t get frustrated because a company communicates; they get frustrated when that communication consists of vague marketing hype for years.

Look at other major software or hardware brands: when they say “Feature X is delayed until Q4 because of Bug Y,” the community respects the honesty. Silence or vague promises are what actually trigger the endless complaints.

Real transparency builds patience, not anger.

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57

Remember this sincere apology? I guess it was a one time thing.

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@Blue Exactly! Thank you for bringing that up. That update is the perfect proof of what I’m saying.
When they released that update, the community didn’t get angry—we actually appreciated the honesty and the fact that they faced us directly. It proved that treating users like adults works. The frustration returns when that transparency stops and we go back to the endless loop of vague promises.

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59

Great thread read. I feel like everyone’s response is correct whatever perspective.

A lot of us have seen these posts come through over and over again - and yes, it brings fatigue because it seems like the only posts that are actively discussed is around a new product or Neural DSP’s inability to perform updates timely.

I also get the frustration around what is clearly manipulation before sales or sometimes giving away devices from plugins as an add on freebies in updates to calm down the user base.

The truth is somewhere in the grey probably. I will say this - Objectively NDSP is not a good company - their customer base is always frustrated and they seem to have taken a new approach on going radio silence with “soon” which IS totally a meme at this point.

I don’t think they have anything special that Fractal and (now) Helix doesn’t have. However, I don’t think where the number of users and market is at - doesn’t reflect that. It is heavily tilted towards NDSP. And if you can spend the same resources and keep gaining user base why would you care what people who have already bought it think?

QC sound great for what it is and there’s a ton to keep the user base already occupied. Complaints about updates are totally legit but unfortunately it doesn’t make much of a difference to NDSP. There’s many who are happy with the product and would LOVE to get the plugins on it as soon as possible - me included. But it doesn’t stop me from doing what I need to do on it - for the most part.

So is it the user base that’s too demanding and needy or the company with really crap comms and shady marketing? It’s the company - it’s always the company, because it’s their job to keep up. We cannot blame each other for feeling one way or another.

At some point if a strong contender rises - which is highly likely in coming years, People will move on. By the time NDSP realize that, it will be too late. I don’t want honestly from NDSP, neither do I need to wait for updates. It is either the best stuff out there or at some point it won’t be; and when it’s not - we can all get something better. I was in similar frustration before, realized I got this thing to play and just played music. I have a Fractal that I love - if something better comes along, I will replace QC not my fractal.

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60

10 minutes of applause for this. :clap: You absolutely nailed it, this is an incredibly clear and spot-on analysis.

Your conclusion is the best part: at the end of the day, we bought a device to play music, not to spend our time on forums counting down the days until the next firmware update. But everyone’s patience has a limit, and NDSP’s overconfidence will eventually catch up with them. It happened to many tech giants in the past who thought they were invincible, and it will happen again as soon as a solid alternative shows up.

thank you @Aviraleads

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61

I think this is a very fair take, and I honestly relate to it a lot.

I still like the QC and I use it, but I’m way past the point of getting excited by vague “soon” promises and marketing hype. I just want clear communication and realistic expectations.

The product can be great and the communication can still be frustrating. Both things are true for me.

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I completely agree, and I think you put it perfectly. Separating the quality of the device from the lack of transparency in communication is exactly what this discussion is about.

A lot of us genuinely love the Quad Cortex and rely on it daily—that’s precisely why we care enough to call out the vague marketing.

Recognizing that a product is great shouldn’t mean we have to turn a blind eye to how the customer base is treated. It’s comforting to see that many of us are moving past the hype and simply asking for a more honest, realistic relationship between the company and its users.