Locked Experience

Quad Cortex Feature Requests
1

Subject: Proposal: Audition Locked Plugin Devices in Cortex Cloud Presets

I want to offer some constructive feedback regarding PCOM and the way locked plugin devices are handled in Cortex Cloud.

I understand that Neural DSP wants to protect the value of its paid plugins, and I have no problem with charging for the plugins themselves. However, I think the current implementation creates a significant problem for Quad Cortex owners who use Cortex Cloud to discover new tones.

One of the things I love about the Quad Cortex is being able to browse other users’ presets for inspiration. I regularly download presets specifically to hear how other people are building their rigs and to discover amps and signal chains I might not have considered.

Unfortunately, with PCOM, many of the presets I encounter now have a locked plugin amp as the primary amp. Since the amp is often the most important part of the preset’s sound, I can’t actually determine whether the preset is good without purchasing the associated plugin.

Simply allowing me to replace the locked amp doesn’t really solve the problem. If I can’t hear the original amp, I don’t know what made the preset appealing in the first place.

I think there is a much better solution that would actually encourage plugin sales while preserving the Cortex Cloud experience:

Proposed Plugin Device Audition System

When a Quad Cortex owner downloads a Cortex Cloud preset containing a locked plugin device:

  • Allow the user to audition the locked device 10 times.
  • During those auditions, the preset should function normally so the user can actually experience the tone.
  • The user should be able to adjust settings and experiment with the preset.
  • After the 10 auditions are used, the device becomes locked again.
  • After 30 days, the 10-audition allowance resets for that particular preset.
  • Downloading another preset containing the same plugin would provide another 10 auditions for that preset.

This would not give away the plugin. It would simply allow QC owners to hear what they’re being asked to buy.

In fact, I believe this could increase plugin sales.

If I download a Cloud preset and the locked amp sounds incredible, I now have a reason to purchase the plugin. I’m buying it because I experienced the product and decided I wanted it—not because I encountered a locked device that prevented me from evaluating the preset.

It would also preserve one of the biggest strengths of Cortex Cloud:

Discover → Download → Play → Experiment → Get Inspired → Buy if you love it.

I think this would be a much better experience for existing Quad Cortex customers while still protecting the value of Neural DSP’s plugins.

I bought the Quad Cortex because I believed in the Neural DSP ecosystem, and I want to continue being excited about it. I just don’t want Cortex Cloud to become a place where I see a great-looking preset but can’t actually hear the thing that makes it great.

Thank you for considering the suggestion.

2

This is extremely unlikely to be considered. Neural DSP have stated they do not intent to allow trials on the plugins on the Quad Cortex because it would require the Quad Cortex to always be online. The same would be true for what you are suggesting.

Can I use a trial of a plugin on Quad Cortex?

No. This would require Quad Cortex to be always online for the trials to run, which we did not want to implement.

3

Just load the plugin on a laptop and use the QC as the interface. They can be loaded as a standalone program without a DAW

4

@SelfTitledLP Yes, but OP is asking specifically about QC presets that they’re finding in Cortex Control.

@cjpilling83, I like this idea a lot, truly. There’s a potential problem with this request as written, though: a user with a plug-in license can keep uploading the same version of a preset multiple times to Cortex Cloud.

Users without the corresponding plug-in license can keep downloading it for use after they have used up whatever auditions they have left from the previous preset they downloaded. In other words, your buddy who has Gojira X could just keep pushing the same preset out for you to take and use.

Also, some users may keep their QC units on for many hours or days at a time, presumably using up only 1 “audition” for a preset that they have downloaded.

There may be a way to implement this in a way that serves the purpose of allowing users to discover a sound they like, without being too free and open for everyone to take advantage of the system. I have done trials on plug-ins that introduce an audio gap or static noise every 10-15 seconds. If Neural were to consider this, that might be the way to go.

5

I’d still find it annoying, to be honest, since I’m not interested in buying any of the plugins.

It would be great if they added some filter options to the search, so you could choose whether or not to show presets that use paid plugins. Ideally, you would also be able to select which plugins you own, so the search would only exclude anything that relies on plugins you don’t have.