FWIW, I was meaning my response to just be a long-winded “I agree” more than defensive. 
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My take away for the last 2 years has been that the people who make decisions at NDSP are totally OK with the pace of device/feature updates for the QC. Why? Over the 4.5 years since release, the pace hasn’t changed.
What ever became of the new TINA machine learning amp modeling creation tool?
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I think whether it’s the pace they want or not, it’s what we’re stuck with so we may as well accept it. They’re not going to suddenly become a different company or start emulating their competitors. I don’t know why anyone would expect that
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Yup. While there’s always some “learn from the successes/mistakes of others”, we largely don’t base any time line or feature based on our competitors. It’s more market-need or market-change based. I would imagine NDSP does the same… and Line6… and Fractal.
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I’m excited by the misha plug-in. I don’t really use the plug-ins myself and prefer to work off my QC but I understand the value. And I think it’s cool that they keep pushing the envelope with the plug-ins.
The laser and glitch effects really intrigue me. I’d love it if a similar block came in a free update (like how we got a harmonizer that’s a little different to the Tim Henson one) maybe next 50 percent sale I’d pick it up.
A lot of people gripe about how Neural does things but one thing that I appreciate is the focus on musicians. I don’t see anyone else in this space supporting them in this way .
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A plugin company that makes plugins !! Off course i’m not shocked by that but as a non really plugin user (yet ?) i’m a bit anxious on how the QC (which is not where it has to be on many levels) will be updated.
We probably will have a good idea on how it will goes with the next QC update.
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I’m quite happy for artist specific Plug-ins, but amp based plug-ins not so much, why not just add the amps as a normal free patch. Likewise FXs, yes an artist may have a particular boutique FX/modded FX or use a studio rack unit, but where an artist has traditionally used an off the shelf stomp box, I think paying for it via a plug-in is a bit of cheek. After all Line 6 (yes I know much bigger company), have been adding amp blocks and FXs with pretty much every firmware update.
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Line 6 is bigger…..but neural only has two hardware products to worry about. The rest is all digital, so they have way less overhead for building physical units or paying for parts. Yes that have to make sure the firmware is updated, but I actually wouldn’t be surprised if their profit wasn’t that different from what Line 6 sells since their overhead is way lower with mainly digital products.
Sales have probably been slower for the plugins more recently because they have only made one new plugin in the past two years. The QC and Nano have probably sold really well, but the cost per unit is a lot.
I would have purchased several more plugins had they ever converted them to the QC as it is I have 3 I have no use for now and sold the QC. NDSP would never attempt to resolve it with me by either refunding or letting me exchange for plugins that were compatible. Other units are moving past the QC unfortunately.
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The more they update the Nano and the Quad, the more units they will sell. I guess they don’t think that way for some weird reason. Like I said, this company is very bizarre. Unless there is some development plan or communication soon on the QC, both of mine will be gone. I will just get a Stadium and be done with it - and wont look back
These guys clearly don’t give a FK about their customers.
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I really hoped that 3.2 would bring more to non-plugins owners (and I own Nolly & Wong, so I’m covered) , like Dan said a few months ago (like ‘more frequent updates that will bring free content for everyone, plugins beeing a bonus’).
Saying I was disappointed is an understatement.
Ndsp doesn’t seems to respect their own promises, that’s why there’s so much critisism (valid or not).
What about ‘TINA’ ? What about the ‘Synth’ block teased last year ‘coming in a month or two’ ? What about ‘new content for everyone’ ? What about ‘Plugins is NOT a PayWall’ ? (but if you want new Amp & Effects, buy plugins…). I agree that the metronome is free for everyone…
The problem lies in the fact that if you want new amps, you have to buy plugins, creating a vicious circle since NDSP take good note of the customer’s behaviour and will probably continue like this…
Add to this that the ‘complainers’ are themselves ‘complained by happy paying customers’, and you have a bunch of frustrated customers … All of this slowly build bad reputation that isn’t immediately reflected in sales going down, but a lot of people will think twice when it will be time to buy another modeler…
There’s nothing wrong with plugins beeing a paid ‘addon’ , but NDSP should honor their promise to add new amp, blocks, effects for free to everyone on each firmware update. 3.1 was ok-ish (one new amp, one remastered, some effects…) but 3.2 is clearly NOT fulfilling the promise.
If NDSP is going the ‘full paywall’ route, thay should at least be honest with it. A lot of customers seems to be very happy to throw more money at a 1850+ € modeler, fine for them, but it was not the initial promise.
I don’t expect a drastic change of behavior from NDSP, I’m happy with my QC but at the same time really sad to see that it could have been much more that it is today… Lesson earned.
Peace.
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This business model will not last. The competition is strong. They need to make some changes
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I share the frustrations, yhe diseappiring of the “ very agressive plan of updates” was a least suspicious, i see 2 possible reasons for it
1 (what i hope) well it was a to fast promise, we are not able to deliver that cause we are not able to program the QC as fast as we thought. A judgement error considering the gap with the reality.
2 We just lied and betrayed those how believed in this statement and bought the unit with that in their mind (like me). (still don’t think it is that but i don’t know)
Now i’m looking to see how it goes and if it’s something like:
”Well, you know the synth block teased before the launch of the QC ? well finally you’ll have to buy the Rabea X even you don’t care about the rest of the plugin ! You also want new ambient effects that you thought will come for free to the QC ? Look at the Glitch effects or Lazer of the Misha plugin, it’s nice isn’t it ?
I would be quite pissed to say the least.
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I own the SLO and Fortin plugins and they are great. I have no issues with NDSP working on plugins but why are the plugins made to sound better then the same amps in the QC. There should be no reason why the existing QC amps dont sound as good as their plugin versions.
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I’ve said that a few times as well. They don’t give a flying kcuf what their customers want as long as they buy plugins. They only release the bare minimum of free sound-related updates they can get away with (they think) and drag as much money in from their plugin fan base as possible. Not a sustainable business model imho.
I do like the unit but the love is over. If only they would add a bunch (a lot really) of great effects instead of the mostly mediocre delays, reverbs and whatnot.
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They should, at the very least, keep up with their competitors. It’s been on the market for almost 5 years now and it still doesn’t have certain MIDI functions that other modelers have. Things that have been requested time and time again seem to be falling on deaf ears.
They still haven’t even fixed the problem of the delays not being equally loud at 50% mix.
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So I recorded a song this weekend using the QC, and used Parallax for the first time on it. Hardware and software in one project. I’ve started mixing it, and I gotta say… I love where gear is at right now. Who remembers saving up just for one pedal to get “that” sound you were looking for, and squeezing every once of capability and sound out of it because you paid good money for it. And now, for the cost of a simple overdrive pedal like a TS9, you can get a handful of amps, cabs, and effects… within one plug-in, and not just Neural either. Debatably easier to record with, as well. I could make an argument about how sometimes too many options can be a bad thing, but there’s far too much nuance for that to be explored here perhaps. So plugins being the focus? QC not getting updates as often? Well, mods please don’t slash me for saying this because I genuinely mean it and am trying to be respectful: perhaps it’d be prudent to shut the hell up about company expectations and go play our respective instruments for a bit. We’re damn lucky to be where we’re at. Hell, I think that’s exactly what I’m going to do right now
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That’s great for you, but from my side I’ve already saved up $1800 to buy the damn thing in the first place. I don’t want to keep saving up on top of that to get the full experience that the competition provides for free.
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Well then, fair enough
I’m even afraid to comment, having already been banned once, blocked on Instagram. I’m a customer, I paid for Quad, I like what they deliver, but simply because I find it absurd to promise so much, they remain silent, just wanting answers, whether I was deceived or if they’re really working on it or just pushing it until all users give up on the product.
From update 3.1 to 3.2, which by the way came out buggy, there was silence, a strong censure to everyone who criticized the company, for their disregard for all consumers. At least in 10 days they fixed some bugs in version 3.2.
The next update? Forum requests? Neural’s own list of promises? Only God knows when it will be released.
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