Don’t get the point. You don’t have to buy the plugin. We got the Dumble amp and the spring reverb engine for free and recently the synth. And tons of captures of all plugins are already on Cortex Cloud for free. Are they not allowed to sell plugins anymore?
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Amen, brother Andy! Why paint yourself as a victim if you’re not?
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I also criticized NDSP in the past but what they are doing now is a perfect solution in my opinion.
You get amps and blocks for free (Dumble, Spring Engine). So you can get the tones, you just need to build the presets (or download them or use captures) and you will get very very close to the plugin sounds.
If you want to have the exact same presets and sounds as in the plugin, and also want to use it on your PC, you buy it. And wait until it’s PCOMed, that’s the only remaining issue.
But there is no paywall, from my point of view.
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Agreed! Plugins are coming to the QC much slower than everyone expected (including Neural) but they never said that plugins would be free. I like a lot of J.M’s tones and early reviews indicate that the new plugin can deliver them. Once it’s available for the QC, I’ll probably buy it. In the meantime, I’m happy with the tones I’m already getting. The new (free) Dumble model has been a great addition. There are still odds and ends that I’m waiting for, like improved MIDI implementation and a better Leslie model, but personally, I’m pretty satisfied.
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Right, just like the Archetype: Petrucci X it’s been over a year with that.
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Well, how long is the QC now available? Updates? Improvements? Issues?
I like the unit, sure! No doubt!
I think and feel, there is a lot of improvement not only possible but really needed.
The cloud is a topic (instability, broken features), the presets they pick as favorites are missing included captures (Favorites 2025 - most currently 
). Cleaning up the device from unused captures - good luck with that. The unit get’s blocked while the app connects or when creating a backup, etc.
So - sometimes I really doubt there is a strict quality process.
Great plugins, okay. Expensive! And even there it takes much too long time to bring them on the QC.
The unit itself seems to get lesser attention as well as partly the surrounding eco-system.
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This is all very interesting, of course, but I recently bought a Fractal FM9 Turbo, and now I have the opportunity to compare the Neural with the Fractal. My first impressions are that the Fractal sounds much better. It’s no wonder John Mayer uses its presets both in the studio and on stage. With the Neural, his plugin does sound a bit muffled. With the Fractal, the preset sounds open, clean, and beautiful. I’ll experiment and compare further.
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Having used both units… and stuck with the QC I really think it’s a matter of taste and not a matter fact, also having used valve amps for the last 35/40yrs neural is closer to what my valve amps sound like…and that’s not subjective, thats what I hear..
But which one you like more is what you think is better sounding… I also don’t think jm plugin is dull… I also doubt that J. mayor would put his name on somtin unless neural came up with the goods… I doubt he needs the cash… but maybe I’m wrong
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Just a technical note:
I don’t know Neural’s internal architecture, but in most plugin products you can think in layers:
-
DSP core (the actual amp/FX algorithms)[AKA the real magic]
-
Host integration layer (AudioUnit/VST3/AAX on PC/Mac vs. whatever runtime + hardware/OS interface QC needs**)[AKA plumbing]**
-
UI/UX (graphics, controls, preset management)[the pretty part)]
Before PCOM, the DSP core was different and couldn’t work with QC, BUT now they are using a different and QC-Compatible core.
QC-compatible DSP core, is great — but it doesn’t magically ship Day-0 plugin on QC.
The integration/runtime + UI glue still has to be built and tested per platform, and QC ≠ desktop in terms of OS, drivers, memory, CPU scheduling, QA, etc.
So the Day-1 expectation is kind of missing the engineering reality, and… optimistic. (In a very “I also believe in unicorns” way.)
i also posted this as a thread if someone have something to discus about..
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+1
The power and detail of dsp components programming 
and intermodulation distortion in your ears.
I love the plugin. Just realised IR is not possible with 3 amps all together. Cab only appears if you use a single amp. Loved some presets with 3 amps together, and always use plugins with IR, so wished this could be possible
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I’m waiting for the QC model, but very interesting.
I wonder if anyone can tell me if the Dumble model is the same as the one we were just given? Or is it a different model in the JM plugin?
apparently they are different amps. The official NDSP Device list calls the QC model/captures a Dumble ODS (Overdrive Special), and the plugin model is his Dumble Steel String Singer.
Weird if they had 2 different Dumbles to model, I think everyone was assuming his amp was the source of all the NDSP models since they came at the same time, pretty much
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Very different amp. Steel String Singer vs Overdrive Special. Wouldn’t surprise me if Mayer had an ODS in his studio too.
That’s not true the quad still remains one of the top modelers. More pros are using 3 at a time on racks or just one. If you keep up guitarists and what they tour with you’d see it. It’s not going anywhere just like amps. I could care less re plug ins. I can find a ton of stuff to work with. They have so many profiles in them I have to remove thousands or it will slow it down.
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