It’ll be two years for me come spring. 75% of the time it’s used for record, 25% it’s live. Not one issue ever with its functionality or sound. I’m a happy camper.
I’ve had it for 2.5 years, other than flickery master volume knob values it’s fine. The warranty is over now and even if it wasn’t sending the unit half a world away to get it fixed seems somewhat bothersome.
1.5 years with no problems
I got my QC 2022 November. Until this day i had zero issues.
Best piece of gear i’ve ever invested in. I knew what i was buying and everything what came as additional feature is a bonus for me which i really appreciate!
Usage: Homestudio as Interface (bumped my focusrite for that), 1x per month rehearsal with my whitesnake tribute band. + gigs.
Not that it matters to this thread but I’m curious aoloso: do you play Love Will Set You Free? The guitar is outrageous in that tune…
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Funny you mention it, my requests for the next tunes on the setlist were:
love will set you free, Cheap n nasty, kittens got claws, crying, all out of luck, tell me how.
I love doug aldrich on the guitar!
So we will play it in the future! right now we’re having a set which consists of the 20 most known songs (mostly from the 87 Album)
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I ❤️ my QC - I guess its been about a year now and I’ve still had no issues. I use mine everyday… at home and gigs. Super happy with mine… just can’t wait to have nolly X on it natively 
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I’ve had my Quad Cortex going on four years now. I got it around October 2021 and it has been used a lot. Sometimes I keep it in standby mode for weeks and it doesn’t miss a beat. Has even survived my kids playing with it too.
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bought used about 2 and half years ago, dozens of gigs, outdoors, in the corner of a filthy pub etc and hasn’t let me down yet.
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Almost 3 yrs. for me with QC but had volume flicker issue and neural fixed it.
Been gigging mine for almost a year (not a LONG time, but heavy usage). Zero issues. The only problem I’ve ever had was accidentally stepping on the two switches at once changing it from hybrid more to preset mode. That messed me up a couple times. Also, the MIDI got wonky with the latest update, but I can work around that.
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Hola, lo tengo desde febrero de 2024, hace unos días tengo una falla en la pantalla, no puedo visualizar nada, la función de audio y edición funciona perfectamente, lo puedo editar desde mí PC, en ocasiones en shows en vivo he tenido problema de ruidos eléctricos, lo asocio a interferencias, dado que en mí estudio es silencioso.
Sentimientos encontrados, el audio y la edición es lo mejor que he probado, toco la guitarra hace 25 años, pero la confiabilidad de duración y funcionalidad es incierta.
Concejo, si compras uno, hacelo en una tienda oficial, el mío lo compre nuevo en una tienda de USA , no oficial, y estoy fuera de garantía por esa razón.
Saludos!
My QC has been running without flaws, it runs great. Although there is one major issue, the lack of updates or rather regular updates to the unit. The speed of added effects, amps and cabs is ridiculously slow.
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Almost four years with ZERO issues. Approximately 50-70 gigs/year.
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Over a year with no issues. Use it almost every single day… gig roughly every other weekend. I loved it so much I got the nano too.
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There are going to be people who have no problems. This I will fully admit. But as a person who had his unit replaced just a few months ago I can tell you the internals have been significantly reworked. From the types of cables they use, removal of components. Reversing circuit boards. This was a dramatic unannounced reworking of the internal structure of the quad. Some speculate it was to make it cheaper to produce. Which I disagree with as the new components are of a higher quality and lighter weight and are self rejecting of magnetic interference. I even had one guy say that its because all new quads are made in korea and the old ones were made in finland. They are all made in finland. With components from all over the world.
Noise can be an issue but proper gating and settings can mitigate most of that. If you were going to buy one, I would buy it new. And I would buy it from sweetwater. The extra year of warranty coverage is worth it. And my experience with having my original unit repaired by neural was not an optimal experience.
The reason why I would not get a used one is because you really dont have any recourse. Ive seen guys buy used ones at GC only to get them home and find they are bricked and worthless.
I personally think the new ones sound better. Some might say that it is placebo. But I didnt actually remove the base from my new unit until I was blown away by the differences in how much less heat was bein generated as well as how much better it actually sounded.
Now one could argue that this is NOT due to any component changes. It could just be because one was faulty and the other not and had my original been up to snuff no difference may have been noticed. I really cant say.
But I can say that looking in a pre 2024 model and into the unit I have now one looks like it was wired up in someones garage with whatever they could gather to get the job done and the new ones look a lot more professional and well made.
When I look into a processor I dont expect to see giant capacitors bridged with circuit board cement and electromagnetic interference deterent devices wrapped on the wiring looms and rubber o rings to hold cables together.
Now as for the quad there is going to be an upgrade to the Codec used in the units. The previous unit they were using is discontinued and obsolete. According to neural the new codec is up to 50% more power efficient. And will have some other minor tweaks that will make the UI slightly different on units with the new codec. But the power efficiency for me is a big one.
Buying used in this particular circumstance I just wouldnt advise it. And that is coming from a guy who has a quad, loves it but is realistic. If the unit is out of warranty you could buy it today and have it fail tomorrow. Then cost of repair may set you back to the point of a new one.
I dont know why the internals on mine are different than previous models. According to neural the new codec should not be available on any units until a production date of august this year. So technically no units with an ESS codec except prototypes and dealer samples should exist if dealers even got any ESS units for testing and/or product training.
The main architecture of the inside is definitely different now than it was years prior. Whether this means old units will be more reliable than new or vice versa is too early to tell. But what is known is that it has been changed internally and to a significant enough degree that it has me curious why.
I wouldnt say to not get a quad at all. While I am not exactly happy with the company, its customer service and a few other things it still sounds great. But ive also had enough high end gear and been part of beta testing for other units to see that things can go sideways at a moments notice. And just as a customer who doesnt prescribe to a sense of brand loyalty I would be lying If I said I thought everything in the world of neural was running like a finely tuned swiss watch.
And with other companies like line 6 coming out with the helix stadium its got people wondering if jumping ship is the way to go. My advice is to wait. Wait to see if neural gets rolling with its updates again. The quad was expected to get 3.1.1 software update this month. We are quickly seeing the end of that time approach. Not only that but 3.1.1 is really a Codec support update. Which to me had me questioning why considering these new units with the codec shouldnt even start production until august. We are a month out from these things even starting to be utilized but that is what they are focused on. The next update after that has no month assigned to it at all. They have simply stated that they expect it shortly after 3.1.1.
Why do I say wait? because if the codec is 50% more power efficient it should create less heat. And the internal redesign to me signifies that they learned some stuff with the original unit and had the ability to improve not only the efficiency but the ability for these units to be serviced more easily with simple board swaps that dont require a lot of man hours to disassemble and reassemble.
which in turn should make units easier and less costly to repair just from a labor standpoint. This is why while the line 6 unit looks very intriguing to me Im not dumping my quad and waiting for that unit just on promises and promotional jargon. Because while they have been in the game longer than anyone in the modeling community, I still see a “this is what the unit is and we have planned for it”. As for what it will actually be capable of upon release and how they are structuring updates and how quickly they will become available is anyones guess.
But I also hear it will have all the legacy equipment from the previous helix. So while it only has 16 new amp models and the build looks impressive I remember when the mazda RX8 looked like it was gonna be some mega bad ass high power street car that ended up falling far short of its promises.
But here is a screen shot from a YT teardown video of a 2022 QC unit. My original looked identical inside. The second picture is of the replacement unit supplied to me by my dealer when the repairs made to my original were less than satisfactory. The newer units to me look more robust, create less heat, have more space for heat to escape with more air space for components that do generate heat. Lighter wiring. To my eyes it looks more professional. Like opening a high end computer.
If you choose to get an older unit that is used, I STRONGLY recommend buying from someone with a return policy. I think the majority of older units are probably great. I just had bad luck. But I just cant stress enough that you want to protect yourself from being scammed by someone who wants to make their problem unit your problem unit.
If you buy a used one first thing to do is make sure it will have a solidi wifi connection. My original did not. I had to be 1 foot away from the modem to get it to connect, update and sign in. Second I moved it to another room it would not connect to wifi even with my iphone as a hotspot. Also tap on the glass. You should not hear any mechanical clicking by touching the screen in any location.
Check the inputs and outputs for retention on a TS cable. Just make sure all of its basic functions and connections are working properly. And if it has a problem booting up, remove and insert the microsd card. If after that it wont boot insist on returning it to the seller for a refund. Also anyone selling a quad for a low price is doing it for a reason. Sometimes I will let gear go for a cheaper price than anyone else knowing mines in better condition just because i am impatient. But in the quads case, if the price is too good to be true and PP friend and family gets brought up and/or sold as is, its not worth the risk imho. The Quad is worth the money and the risk in general IMHO. Im just very weary of used units that can be bought sight unseen with no recourse if it goes bad.
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Almost 2 years. No issues at all
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