Neural DSP cortex

[west fjord]

Hi Guys,

I am thinking about getting a neural DSP quad cortex. I’d sell all I have (amp and pedals) to get one, however is this a possibility?

If I get a DSP, does it work in the sense that you do not need an amp? Seeing as it models amps and effects, why would there a need for an amp? And in addition, how do I project the sound it makes, from a set of speakers?

I would love to hear some answer to these questions to determine it’s worth.

Thanks!!!

[tough whale]

Yes wouldnt need amp and you would need a frfr cab or a pa

[west fjord]

Ah okay, that’s cool

Makes it a lot more worthwhile then

Would you have any good recommendations for the listings above?

And I could just “ditch” the pedal board

[tough whale]

Wdym?

[west fjord]

Like you mention cab or a pa, I know what a cab is but not a pa or frfr. If you have good recs for them would be cool 💪

[tough whale]

Pa is well the big speakers that venues have, frfr is a full range flat response cab basically a big monitor (similar)

[west fjord]

Okayyy, are there any brands or models you recommend? Mostly for at home use but with great sound.

I have very little experience with those things, amps I can manage but other things not 😅

[tough whale]

Headrush frfr 112

Or spark cab

[west fjord]

Alright cool! These are good and could replace together with the cortex my current pedals and black star El34 combo?

[carmine plover]

yeh

the cortex does the amp stuff and pedal stuff
the frfr/pa does the sound output

you can also integrate pedals with your cortex

[west fjord]

Yeah I saw the capture feature but I’d rather save some money and use other’s captures

Say I’d want to use the famous archetypes, how would that work with a quad cortex and more
Importantly, would it work without one? If so, how?

Say I buy a cab like the frfr and buy an archetype plug-in, does that work?

That way I could start out with that before benching the whole rig, see how I like it

[carmine plover]

a qc has its own amp units and pedal units in it

you just get some archetypes/plugins as additional amp units/pedal units

the ndsp plugin page says which archetypes are compatible

like i think they have gojira x and soldano x compability with qc but not tim henson

[carmine plover]

yes

but youll need to find a way to actually output the plugin

eg. speakers or headset

[snow robin]

What are you trying to use this for? My questions:

• Just home playing?
• Are you recording at all?
• Are you playing gigs/venues where you want some options?

For #1 above, you can easily connect to an amp. Front of amp, or FX loop, or both (4-cable method)

For #2 above you can easily connect to any audio interface, or use Quad Cortex as the interface

For #3 above, you can connect to any rig and any mixer in a live setting, but I **recommend connecting to a DI box before mixer or PA ** to retain a high quality signal

Otherwise, Quad Cortex certainly has all the amp, pedal and effects models you'll ever need

[west fjord]

Im just 1.5 years into playing and am super passionate, playing and practicing every day for 1.5 hours. In the future I’d like to be able to gig with it.

My teach says I’m incredible for at the point that I’m at, I’d disagree but I’m flattered he says so. I’m still always looking for ways to make my tone more convenient and less expensive. Having an amp and lots of pedals kinda bothers me, having just one device (QC) with insane amps built into it in a way seems so much nicer

[snow robin]

Very nice!

Yeah you pretty much have a complete rig with Quad Cortex, or any other similar modeller for that matter

It'll be usable in basically any setting, easily for the foreseeable future

I doubt technology will deliver us anything marginally better for quite some time haha

[west fjord]

Thanks! Yeah it looks super nice. Feel like it could really deter me from spending momey in the end on Two rock amps and such. I’d inevitably want those but seeing the QC possibilities, I’d be better off getting that

Just a hassle to sell all my stuff again 😅🥲

[snow robin]

There's one major caveat to that:

It is still worth buying a proper amp (especially a combo with FX loop for a modeller like Quad Cortex)

There are certain tonal characteristics that come from pushing real air, and achieving distortion that is unique to power amps and the speaker(s) it's connected to

But it's just a nice-to-have, just something to consider as an upgrade down the road

[west fjord]

I definitely agree. But to enable even getting a QC, I gotta sell the amp for now

[snow robin]

Yep, it'll still be worth it! Just something to consider for later if you play live especially

[west fjord]

You know my doubt, I’m scared illl get sick of guitar someday or hit a plateau that I can’t break through. That’s what’s sometimes putting me off. Even though it’s pretty much all I live for lol.

But seeing players like Mateus asato or John Mayer (in some live recordings) makes me sometimes feel shitty haha

[snow robin]

Oh don't worry about that lol, play at your own pace for your own enjoyment

Some people like to challenge themselves to be better players, some want to be chill

It's all good at the end of the day

[west fjord]

I’m already too deep into it anyways 🤣🤣 and I don’t think I’ll ever stop.

[snow robin]

You just need to have a good reason to play, and you'll keep at it

That's all that matters

[west fjord]

You are right. I have never given up before. I now am getting more beyond just blues. More into r and b, jazzy stuff

[snow robin]

Nice! Yeah just stay curious, keep trying new things

Don't fall into the comparison trap

And practice fundamentals, or at least find fun ways to practice em

You'll be just fine

Btw @west fjord You will most likely have tone building questions later with QC

Ask here when you do, it's literally a phase everyone goes through 😂

the tone chaser phase

[west fjord]

Haha alright, will do. I very much appreciate your support and kind attitude!!!

[snow robin]

Yeah you bet! Have fun

[velvet sierra]

if you have an interface and a pair of studio monitos you can use that too, it's not the same but for bedroom playing it's more than fine

[west fjord]

Yeah don’t have an interface, do have headphones so for headphone playing, just buying an interface and neural dsp plug-ins would be the cheapest solution.

It’s like 250 then. If i get a focus scar lite interface

QC and fr fr would be like 2K😅

[velvet sierra]

if you have headphones with TRS plugs i think you can plug it direct to the cortex

[west fjord]

Ooh idk if I do, but it’s a good shout! I don’t have the QC yet tho, wanna sell some other stuff first.

But not gonna lie, the plug ins and QC are starting to really call my name because a lot of tones that I like come straight from them.

[velvet sierra]

yeah take a look

it has a phone out

[velvet sierra]

yeah it's really good, and you can use some of the nuresal dsp stand alone, and afik the plans is to make all of them compatible with the cortex

i want one too, but will take me a lot of time to save up lol

[west fjord]

Same here man, I have two guitars, one of which is getting a refin and new pickups, all the while I wanna get a QC and throw my whole rig around 🤣

Will be worth it in the long run but I’m not buying the QC yet until my other stuff sells, have to keep myself to that promise.

Experimenting with plug ins in the meantime is no biggy though, especially because I’ll still have the rig if I want to play “loud”

[velvet sierra]

haha i feel you man, which plugins are you using?

[west fjord]

I want to get the Mateus asato one

It really sounds killer and seeing some of the pedals it is modelled after, it is a great bang for buck.

Just need to get an audio interface to play with headphones for now, but idk if I’d also need a DAW. DAW for recording I understand but I don’t want that at this point.

[velvet sierra]

i have this one, and i love it haha

but it's not compatible with the QC yet

[west fjord]

Mind sending me some tones you got?

[west fjord]

Yeah won't be getting it yet anyways

what would be the difference, plug-in vs qc with that archetype?

Like what does it even change.

[velvet sierra]

mine is the UMC204HD it's cheap and reliable

[west fjord]

Cool, I'll check it out!

[velvet sierra]

AFAIK it's the same, but the plugin only works on your compouter, the ones compatible with the QC you just register them there, and are good to go anywhere

I don't have nothing recorded rn, i can do that later, what do you looking for ?

[west fjord]

Yeah exactly.

[west fjord]

Some cleans and like broken up / fuzzy sounds.

Found some stuff from Mateus himself playing it

but they're like short bursts and not always my style, too gainy.

[velvet sierra]

Mateus have a video on his channel on how he uses it, i used it to get my tones

[west fjord]

Ah, then I'll look again, and copying them worked? That's nice, saves fiddling around

[velvet sierra]

you also have some presets you can use, but what i do is clean, edge of break up, and high gain distortions, pretty simples

[velvet sierra]

the high gain amp is a very gainy one

i think i have the list

i love the pink amp and the brown one (mesa boggie)

https://quadcortex.wiki/Plug-In_comparisons

Vintage Clean (Matchless DC30)

Modern Clean (Mesa Boogie Lonestar)

those are the two I use all the time

[west fjord]

Cool! Thanks for sending that through.

[velvet sierra]

np, want me to send you the video i mentioned?

[west fjord]

Also heard the reverb sounds great

If you have the title, i'd be able to find it

[velvet sierra]

i love it, the reverb and de delay, but i need to learn them better lmao

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfDHZj4f_H8&t=1111s

[west fjord]

Ah sick, thanks man. I'll copy tones of this vid. If he goes over it.

[velvet sierra]

MY FAVORITE GUITAR PLUGIN EVER!

[west fjord]

And i gotta get me an interface too. Do you need a DAW to use the plug-ins? No right

[velvet sierra]

this video theres are a tone of them, but it's not a walk over like the other one

[velvet sierra]

You don't, the DAW it's only if you want to record your playing

[west fjord]

Nice, yeah I would like that in the future but I wanna see how much I like digital playing.

It's just too good of an idea to be able to play through expensive rigs (digitally)

With it sounding so so good.

[velvet sierra]

that's not hard you can get free ones and all that

[west fjord]

Ah okay, thought they were locked behind a pay wall

cool for recording stuff like own tracks

[velvet sierra]

it's really cool man, and i would never would be able to play through any of thoses amps on the mateus plugins irl

but i still comeback to my boss katana and my pedals haha

sometimes i can't be bodered to start my pc to play guitar

just turn my amp on and start playing

[west fjord]

Feel that yeah. I often play unplugged on my electric just cause its nice.

[velvet sierra]

most are, but we have some free options and most have free trials

[west fjord]

Definitely. I am blessed with a nice rig but i don't have any strymon or vemuram pedals

[velvet sierra]

i have some good pedals, but my amps is a simple one, nothing close to those plugins lol

[west fjord]

Yeah haha same.

Love this tone too, also made with the plug-in

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_VSBcJcrQU

[velvet sierra]

even when i get a QC i don't think i'll go 100% digital, i like both

[west fjord]

Yeah for sure

[velvet sierra]

nice

[west fjord]

I wanna go mostly digital but have a speaker cabinet to still feel the air moving and play for friends and family

[velvet sierra]

i would use the pink amp for mayers stuff

but the brown amp is the most versitile of the three

[west fjord]

Yeaah it sounds killer

Pink one sounds very nice too

and even the geisha one is like my most high gain i'll go without any comp or ODs

[velvet sierra]

all three are killer haha, i just don't use high gain that much

[west fjord]

Me neither

But also cause I don’t want to wake up my Neighbors haha

[velvet sierra]

hahah

[tough whale]

Wdym you don’t wanna

[west fjord]

I don’t want my Neighbors to fight me 😂 I had complaints while playing on 2Watt

Not even full volume

[snow robin]

By far the biggest difference will be the quality of the jack. The QC jacks preamp was chosen based on a specific standard for input from a pedal and/or guitar. Most interfaces are able to handle that quality of signal too with the right settings, but just be aware of the differences, especially in budget vs pro level interfaces

The QC will also likely have less noise coming through the signal compared to say… a budget bus powered interface

How important that is will be up to you though! Just be aware

[west fjord]

Ah okay! Great that you point it out I rlly appreciate that.

I don’t play getting a really budget one but one that’s somewhat mid-way

[burnt prairie]

I had a quad cortex for a lot and I really enjoyed it, I recently had to switch to kemper for reasons, and I must say that I prefer my experience on kemper, however it is not a modeller so if you want a modeller qc is easily your best bet

Some pros of the qc would be

The form factor and ease of use
The (touch)screen
The possibility to run 4 rigs simultaneously
Routing options
Plugin compatibility now that it has it

I found myself comfortable with kemper because I surprisingly enjoy the workflow on the toaster and feel like the captures are just a bit nicer, and also the integrated power amp is very neat, (lugging around a power amp with the cortex is possible but kinda defeats the purpose of the portable form factor)

[raw flare]

My gripe with Kemper is that it feels outdated, the units are pretty slow and the UI is horrible

If I'd buy a profiling modeler now I'd probably buy the new Hotone Ampero or Stage

[burnt prairie]

I can understand that, and I was of the same opinion tbh, maybe still think it a bit tbh

[raw flare]

The Kemper player is nice though ... Bit limited as the name suggests

[burnt prairie]

Honestly would rather get the kemper stage, even with both lvl2 and 3 upgrades which basically transform the player into a fully fledged kemper, the difference between the stage and the maxed out player is around 3/400 euros, which I would def pay to get a foot controllable form factor and the profiling capability

Not to mention I/O

[west fjord]

I found some dude using a kemper with a strat and his tone was insane

but I think the QC would be much better for me because of the UI

and the captures still sounds pretty amazing

[burnt prairie]

Yea I think I’m the only person that chose the Kemper over the qc lol, I just figured having some comparison would help your cause

Idk where you are from but if you are based in the us a fractal fm9 is a good competitor to the qc

For roughly the same price

Sadly in eu it costs a lot more

When I bought one it was 2600 euros

I believe now it retails for 2300

[west fjord]

Yeah I am Dutch, so I think QC is the best option around here.

Unless there is some unknown EU alternative

I do appreciate you giving me the comparison tho! I wanna start with just plug-ins anyways, to play digitally while my other stuff sells

[snow robin]

i agree haha, the kemper is world-class tone and sound wise, but the UI is so outdated, feels like a Zoom Multi-FX hahaha

IMHO, Helix is still the most user friendly to this day

[raw flare]

Or the newer units too ... At least with the pc software

[snow robin]

like the HX stomp? Yeah that's great too, people get fantastic results

The meat and potatoes of Helix is really in the amp and pedal sims

so with a small footprint like the Stomp, yeah it's great

[raw flare]

I'd still go for a more modern implementation like something from mooer or hotone

The latter also having capture tech

[west fjord]

I got this one now. It is an audio interface x pre amp from Blackstar, designated for guitar use. If I get the QC, I can still use this as a PA into a RedOne cabinet which I plan on getting

[velvet sierra]

This is great , I am planning to the an universal audio one in the future, cause of the pre amps and the plugins

[west fjord]

Yeah gonna try it out later tonight

[raw flare]

Nice .. this will work great ... You might want to try out the blackstar St James plugin as well ...it's really versatile and sounds near identical to the amps

[burnt prairie]

never tried an apollo, although i own the ua volt 476 and it's great

[velvet sierra]

that's the one i am planning to get... do you use it with speakers?

[burnt prairie]

i have it connected to a pair of presonus eris 4.5

also it runs in a way that the front input is for my guitar, but it has 2 back inputs that get the stereo sound from my kemper if i want to record with that so i use it both with plugins and monitoring the kemper, and both ways work flawlessly in my experience

i never find myself using the compressor and the vintage button tbh

the compressor raises the noise floor a lot so i often use software comps, as for the vintage button i really can't feel any tangible difference

[velvet sierra]

man it has three pair of out in the back, how i suppost to hook it up?

[burnt prairie]

I just plugged output 1/L and 1/R to the monitors