This is the greatest creation in human history for the sake of music.

I use this for gigs. No more tube amps to shows and large cabs. This thing sounds so good! Every sound engineer was blown away, fans loved it too! I'm in a very highly populated guitarist town (Seattle) so lots of tone snobs out here and I get compliments every show. I use several of the Neural DSP plugins on it and they sound great (waiting for more of them to be added). Pro tip, it is worth it to load your own IRs on this. I like the York Mesa cab for my heavy music. The IR loader is meh, but you really only need to use it once to lock your sound.

Quad cortex is the best pedal I've had through the years. Very user-friendly and the results are great. The quality is definitely precision sounding. Keep it up guys. You're doing great.

This piece of equipment has replaced all of my amps. and all of my pedals and it has provided me endless opportunities to get sounds based off of other famous amps and effects that I didn't have, so it's essentially everything you can need. It's as a wonderful Looper on it. and has a tuner , it has everything! it's basically a computer for guitars. They have a sound interface built in so you wont need on of those anymore. IT does it all.

The only Negative thing I can say about the Quad Cortex is that For $ after taxes,you would think that ground noise would have been addressed, considering all the people that are in the United States of America are having to invest hundreds of dollars more on grounded power supplys.Woul it have really cost that much more in manufacturing,that the ground noise would be taken care of??? Sadly I returned it,to hopefully find something that doesn't require Hundreds of dollars more,just to be able to power it up, without the hissing of ground noise..And I did indeed try the Lift settings,and had absolutely no effect on the noise... After talking with several professional musicians,that all have the same thing to say about the ground noise issues..They advised me to buy a Cioks DC 7 AND SOME ADDITIONAL ADAPTERS TO fix the issue..Well that's an additional $ investment that I was just not going to make,in order to use the Quad Cortex...Now if Neural wants to give me of the Quad Cortex,I would probably be interested in re purchasing the Unit...

Great unit once you get past the ground noise.I understand that it made in a country that doesn't have the same needs as far as ground plugs.But Unless I want to spend $ for a grounded power source,I would have to deal with the miserable ground noise...Even when I hooked it up to my grounded computer ,the noise was very noticeable..Got better,but still undesirable...Fact is I have less noise problems with my 10 analog pedals ,than I got with just the Quad Cortex...I know I am not the only one who has had this problem.. Every person I talked too has had to deal with the issue..

i've had it about 2 1/2 months now love the quad cortex only complaint is really it being ungrounded that's about it sometimes I'll have some electrical noise, but other than that it's great worth the price!

I had been using amp modeling for over 20 years in various shows & bands in & around Las Vegas before I discovered the Quad Cortex! I'm increasingly in situations where I have to have a floorboard that plugs directly into the mixing console. What I used before sounded great going through an amp, but was a little sterile sounding when it had to go direct. Neural DSP has REALLY hit the nail on the head with this one! After my first time using it with my 70s tribute show "Bellbottoms" I'm already getting very positive feedback from audience members regarding the guitar sound! ... And that's from people who don't even know I have a new piece of gear! The hybrid mode with the scenes on the bottom & stomps on the top is perfect for what I need! Thank you Neural DSP for creating my dream pedalboard!

Works in about any situation, sounds great

I've had my Cortex for about 2 years now, having ample time to learn it's features and put it through it's paces.

In 2024 I needed to travel to Texas to perform at SXSW and feared traveling with my Vintage Fender amp, and Roq (my Sales Engineer of over 10 years now), recommended this piece and got me a great price. I slid this thing into my guitar case and had some of the best live sounds I've ever had. In the studio, this thing is an absolute force, but it's simplicity for use in a live setting is where it shines. It's missing a few of the stranger effects of a Fractal/Kemper etc, but for folks not looking to turn their guitar into a synthesizer, this thing excels in workflow and interface over those pieces dramatically. My only reason for the missing half star is that I've been unable to update it to CorOS 3.0, and Neural Support couldn't seem to help. Sweetwater however, got this thing to me in 48 hours in time for a gig, and I used it for the first time on stage after about 30 minutes of learning it's menus in the green room. There have been instances where issues with amps have affected bandmates, and I've been able to run three guitars and a bass running individual rig settings to save the day.

Best money I've spent, and while I'll never get rid of my tube amp, I hear more of a difference in the Fender Reissues than I do with the Neural capture version of my '75 Twin.

Overall great experience. Will add a video review using my business account when I order a second one this spring.

Awesome unit, perfect for my home studio.
I'm using it as desktop to my computer for recording & practice through my Mac.
The company site & manual are very thorough & helpful with set up. Make sure to do your prep before setting up.
I haven't been able to dive to deep into yet as I was slammed with Holiday obligations. Looking forward to really getting into this New Year.
It does everything I need and then some!!!
Props as always to my sales engineer John, thanks for talking me into going big with this model

It has been a few months since my purchase and I have not been able to try all the variations that this device has to offer since there are so many. I am more of a Tube Amp type of person but The quality of the sounds that this device has to offer changed my perspective and I have tried many different expensive Amp Modeling Gears through out the years but this one captured my interest more. I would definitely recommend this product to those who want to play serious guitar jams since it can do both quite midnight sessions in your studio and on performance stage. Neural DSP is awesome!!!

Top tier all around.

Quad Cortex remains at the top for a reason. It remains a great product. Only change I would make would be to add labeles to the buttons, and to bring in the rest of the Nerual DSP plugin library

I've barely scratched the surface, but this thing is amazing.

You don't have to blow the walls down with volume to get the tone you're looking for.

this thing is absolutely an amazing piece of modern technology! It's absolutely unreal.

Pros-
everything at your fingertips (amps, cabs, pedals, effects)
Less Mess with the spaghetti cables unless you run Rattlesnake Cables


Cons -

the really great amps cost
Figure out the conversion from dollar to Pounds before hand
Purchasing the extra things you don't have like the Y cable

I was skeptical to get one due to mixed reviews online. Decided to give it a try and I'm keeping it. Yes, effects (pitch shifter and octavers) can be improved and are not the best but when it comes to amp simulation, overdrives and everything else this thing sounds incredible. It's also very easy to use. Getting used to it took no time, and the presets on the cloud sound awesome. I like the idea of downloading presets/captures at no cost from reputable/famous musicians.

As always the service from sweetwater is top notch. Thank you

After six months of use, I can say this is the best multi effects processor on the market. The amp sounds are fantastic and the effects, although not top-tier, are still very very good. It's easy to edit, easy to organize, and simply guarantees great sound, no matter where you go. I've used Line6 and Strymon, but they just don't do it as well. The ability to capture other amps and some pedals is just a bonus feature of epic proportions.

CON: and this is pretty significant. When you use the tap tempo, a BPM screen pops up. But it stays activated for 3 to 4 seconds. So, if you have a song starting off with a click track and you hit the tap tempo you really can't switch any other effects on or off until that screen clears. Users have been requesting the ability to minimize that screen or turn it off completely but Neural DSP basically won't even respond to that request. If you're playing live and have a drummer that clicks in a tap tempo or you have a click track you'll struggle at the beginning of songs because the tap tempo screen stays up so long.

The tap tempo screen issue is significant enough that I could never give this five stars because it impacts every live player. It's amazing that neural DSP continues to look the other way year after year on what is probably a simple software fix.

This unit is amazing. It has a very easy user interface and it's very powerful. I didn't even open the manual and just started working on it, so if you have experience dialing in some modellers it's insanely easy. I ended up running an amp line for stage sound/tone and a parallel line for In Ears and Front of House, and that eliminated the need for a lot of what I was using. Just a 5 on every front.

I've owned several multi effect pedals over the years and nothing comes close to this. Very easy to use, very intuitive and the app makes it a breeze to operate. The factory presets are usable right out of the box, but you can download other custom rigs that sound fantastic. Dial in amszing sounds in minutes without option paralysis. But it's detailed enough to allow you to go deeper if you want to. I plug directly into the PA and absolutely no one knows I'm not using an amp. You've seen the videos and the demos. It's legit. Get it. You have over $ of amps & pedals built in. And more that you can download free.

There is one con. The buttons are slightly closer together than your traditional multi effects pedal. I'm just an average size 10 shoe, but I'll hit the wrong button once or twice a gig.

Go big or go home. I was somewhat reluctant to purchase the Quad Cortex (QC) at first - I am so happy that my Sales Engineer, Israel Hernandez, was there to consult with. There is so much more going on with this unit than any other DSP that I have used. The tube emulation is fantastic while the impulse responses (IR) bring the color.

The online community has presets that can be downloaded as well as plug-ins. If you do decide to look at the Archetype plugins, for example, pay attention to the ones that will work with your new QC. I purchased the Archetype Petrucci X only to find out that they are not supported yet. Others like the Archetype Plini X, Archetype Gojira X, Soldano SLO-100 X, and Fortin Nameless Suite X are compatible today. More are expected to be added in the future.

What I have seen so far is that the tone that you can get with the community presets and IRs, you really don't NEED the player branded Archetypes - but they are so cool. I'm still learning my way around and setting up my own configurations that fit me and they way I play. Running through two rigs like a Fortin Nameless and Soldano to blend their sounds has been a real shocker. The sound coming out of my studio monitors sounds so big and full.

I have a Mesa Boogie Mark V 35 that I have not turned on since getting the QC. The tone is on par and I don't have to disturb the neighborhood.

Whether your playing at home, in the studio or live direct into a snake/board - you can't go wrong. The Quad Cortex is worth every penny.

Using as my go-to live setup direct to board. Makes my life less complicated and sounds brilliant. The user experience is clunky, however if you are familiar with Neural DSP plugins their software layout will at least be familiar vs. practical. Overall very happy with this purchase.

I've been using the Quad Cortex as a full replacement for my rig for about a month now. I've played four live shows with it, and honestly, it's an incredible piece of gear. The user interface is the best I've seen on any multi-effects unit, it's built like a tank, it looks super sleek and high-end, and the sound… it's just beautiful. The time-based effects sound amazing in so many contexts, and the rest of the effects feel very organic. Once you know how to use it, you can dial in a great tone in under 5 minutes. That said, I do see some areas that could use improvement. First and biggest issue for me is the power input, I really wish it had an IEC port with a built-in power supply. The barrel-style DC jack is super easy to knock loose, and it has no lock or strain relief. If someone steps on the cable mid-gig and it powers off, that could be a disaster — especially since the boot time is over 30 seconds (which I totally understand, considering how heavy the algorithms must be). Then there's the USB Type-B port, it just feels dated on a unit this modern and high-end. USB-C (or Thunderbolt) would have made much more sense.

About the tuner, I know it'll be good enough for most players, but I'm super picky with setups, and I'm used to precise strobe tuners like the Peterson StroboStomp. I'd love to see a strobe mode added in a future update.
The needle-style tuner just doesn't feel precise enough for intonation work.
The lack of an expression pedal is also a bit strange. I get that it helps with the compact and clean design, but most guitarists will need one anyway (for wah or volume at least), so you end up carrying one regardless.

And lastly, no case included. For a unit this expensive and portable, it's surprising. I know a lot of people will integrate it into a pedalboard, but I personally use it standalone, and it's stressful not having a proper case out of the box. You definitely don't want to just throw this thing in a regular backpack.

Even with those things, I still think this is one of the best choices out there, in terms of tone, design, and functionality. It honestly feels like I don't need any extra gear in my rig. Between the captures and the routing power, it's basically a portable sonic lab. I'm very happy with this purchase.

I've had the Line 6 Helix, HeadRush Core, Boss GT1000 core and they all sound okay but the Quad Cortex is just on another level. I've had my Quad Cortex for about 2 months and I can honestly say it's the best piece of gear I've ever purchased. I don't know why I waited so long to get one. I've only scratched the surface of what this thing can do but so far it's amazing. It's so easy to get any sound you are looking for, whether it's metal, rock, ambient or whatever it is it's in there. The Cortex Cloud is great for all kinds of preset's and captures. I've downloaded some captures and they sound awesome. I purchased a demo unit from Sweetwater and honestly you couldn't tell it was a demo it looked like it had never been out of the box. Big thanks to my sales engineer Justin Sunday who is always ready to help and answer any questions that I throw his way.

Yeah, it's pricey. But it does what it does better than ANY other device. The presets showcase some amazing amps. The effects a seem simple compared to other boxes but they're really good and easy to dial in. Interface is easy to learn and, as a longtime Line6 user, just as easy if not easier to learn and use. No more option paralysis. There are some amazing FREE captures on their QC app and ridiculously simple to download. Download to your file via the app and it automatically loads to you QC's on board folder. Live, it's incredibly easy to use. I prefer scene mode but you can operate like a pedal board, too. Does your buddy have an amp or pedal you like? Make a capture! No one can tell the difference in a blind test. No one! Sell your other gear on SW, get the credit and buy a QC now! Then play a Vox and Twin in stereo simultaneously.

I would like to extend my sincere appreciation to NDSP for providing complimentary service for my Quad Cortex, despite it being out of warranty. I was impressed by the efficiency of their repair facility in California, which managed to return my unit—damaged due to my own negligence—within a week. It is rare to find a company that offers such exceptional service and turnaround time for repairs in today's market. After years of using Fractal products, I made the decision to transition fully to the Neural DSP Quad Cortex, and the improvement has been remarkable. Unlike Fractal and other models, the Quad Cortex allows for preset and signal chain editing directly through its built-in touch screen, eliminating the need for a computer. Most of the advertised features have been realized, and the sound captures are significantly more realistic than those from Kemper, with the capture process taking only a few minutes. I have also recently acquired several of NDSP's plugins, which perform exceptionally well on the QC, with the Soldano plugin sounding as good, if not better, than its PC/MAC counterparts. With the enhancements to the cloud services, applications, and the Cortex editor, transitioning to NDSP's ecosystem has been an obvious choice, and I have not regretted it.

This pedal is a game changer. If you like me and you're coming from years of playing high-end amps and low amps two band solid-state amps whatever it is you played this is a pedal for you. If you're playing in a band, this is perfect. But I will warn you this does not sound like an amp in a room, and it never was supposed to. For years, and I still have the amp, I played a Carr sportsman 112 and the only person that ever heard the amp in a room was me when I was sitting at home, but the second you would plug that amp in on a stage with a mic in front of it, you're now running it through a preamp you're running it through EQ's. You're running it through compressors in the PA systems you're running your pedals that have compressors overdrives, and all the stuff in it so what you're hearing is a process signal coming through the PA system of your amp. And it sounds glorious, but it's not the amp in the room Sound it's a much more refined, polished professional sound as what the crowd is hearing. Now don't get me wrong. I'm not mocking amps because I still love my amp and I wouldn't sell it to save my life, but for gigging situation, this pedal is perfect because now instead of being stuck with one amp, I get to have a slew of amps all in a single pedal. I now get to save presets and change multiple parameters at the same time. I get to change amps at the flip of a dime I get to change anything I need to to get the sound that I hear on the records and it makes playing easy because I'm no longer having a tap dance. I haven't had a chance yet to program midi signals or anything like that with the light shows and everything but I have a feeling in the near future. I probably will because if I can send many signals and receive many signals, why not enhance our show by changing lights based on what I do on the pedal. And as I hinted on this amp does not sound like an amp in a room, what it does sound like is the amps you hear on a record. No I personally don't really care for the Amps in a quad cortex that are models of amps, to me, they sounded sterile, but where this thing shines is in the profiling of amps. The little magic that was missing off the models is there on the profiles, it acts like an it sounds like an amp plays like an amp and it sounds amazing. Now I personally love buying third-party profiles, people that are running the microphones through really nice preamps and are blending together to microphones with set amps i.e. 57 and a Royer 121, so most of the profiles I have purchased have been running through a knee 1073 with those two mics blended together. And what I get is the sound to hear on a record, and what the crowd here's is the sound they hear on the record, I'm much more polished Sound, and it makes it so much easier to just plug play. All I can say is by this thing.

First, the unit performs admirably as advertised. I also have a Helix LT, which weighs 8 lbs more and about half the size of the QC. Honestly, if L6 came out with an updated model, at about the same size/weight as a QC, more DSP than the current HX LT...I would have gone with the L6 model in a heartbeat. Why, well, the QC is aimed primarily at the modern and metal music crowd, just look at the plugin/preset market and the Neural download page (which has a very odd UI). The support from the HX community in one word...HUGE. QC, pretty light, particularly help videos and how to's. L6 has a huge preset availability that are geared to all generations and styles, not just metal...don't get me wrong, I like metal, but as a cover band I need a big array of tones, not just high gain. Best I can figure from the Neural/QC web site, there are only 4 plugins compatible with the QC (ie which you can load directly to the QC after some pain in the butt licensing, and other hoops, the other plugins are standalone or need a DAW.

Why 4 1/2 stars instead of 5, well it is not due to how the QC performs, it is outstanding, but I am not a younger guy, so...I use my QC particularly as a fly rig and for shows less than 2 hrs, for longer/bigger ones with lots of styles ie R&B Classic rock, 60s-80s pop, I go with my HX LT. So, I am glad the QC was available and it's a great piece of gear and I am totally happy with how it performs. In all fairness, the HX has been around for 10 years so you would expect a larger support community with a variety of types of users, preset options and deep dive advice. So, if HX comes out with a comparable or better piece of gear would I sell the QC? For me, would seriously consider it.

Extremely useful and fun product, and Sales Engineer Kenny has been extremely friendly and helpful!

This thing is amazing. "Feels" like an amp to me, tons of options, perfect for an apartment where you cant really crank a tube amp, the community of captures is amazing, and the flexibility overall is unmatched for me. Wish they had more of their plug ins and some other effects added to the Quad but I know its all coming and I am here for the long hall with this one. No other modelers every really stuck with me and Ive used them since the Line 6 Pod Bean but this one just works for me. Amazing user interface on the Quad and the app as well. Get it! Of course nothing beats a tube amp and speaker pushing air but the flexibility, feel and quality of this is unmatched. Especially for someone who likes to play so many different genres of music - its all their at your finger tips

Shout out to my Sweetwater sales rep Riley for always dealing with my indecisiveness and helping me out!

I can't remember the last time a single piece of gear has made me so excited, motivated, and productive. This device has unlocked new worlds for me. I am new to modeling, but did a lot of research before purchasing. I'm constantly discovering new things about it and the thing is so well thought out it's insane. The sound is amazing—I swear it's oftentimes better than my analog/tube setup because there are fewer hiccups and I can get the sound I want at any volume. I also love browsing and downloading captures that people share. I've made some myself. It's so easy, and the unit has wifi so the updates and syncing is seamless. I can browse for captures on my phone, download them, and then when I turn on the QC they'll usually already be there, or will appear after hitting the sync button. This machine is inspiring and has juiced up my motivation to practice. It is amazing!

Not only does this sound absolutely amazing, but I was able to create a patch and tweak it to my liking in no time. After having the QC for a couple weeks and playing it every single day, I can say it's definitely worth the hype.

The neural captures on here of some pretty famous and classic rigs are unreal. I run a capture of a 65 deluxe into a Two Rock SSS with Soldano cabs and it sounds unbelievable. If there's a specific sound your looking for and you have an idea how you want to get there but feel a little lost, get this box. All of the settings are so easily changeable allowing you to make minute changes to sculpt the sound the way you see fit. If you're willing to go in on the quad cortex, I would highly suggest getting some high quality studio headphones or monitors so you can hear the subtle tone shifts when you make EQ and pedal adjustments. It's perfect for a home set up, and you don't have to worry about mics or making sure the acoustics in the room are correct. I'm running mine through an FRFR now and I have a really hard time telling the difference between this and my tube amps, and with this, I don't have to worry about a bunch of cables, cords, and pedals. It's all in one place and super easy to change. The only thing I regret is not switching to amp modeling sooner. Aside from being a sound snob, I can't honestly see a reason why I would switch back to using analog amplification. The tech's just gotten so good, you can really tweak it to the nth degree. It's very hard to tell the difference now between analog and digital, and it's only going to get better. I love this thing!

This thing is amazing. Coming from the Line6 Pod Go this is quite an upgrade. I didn't think I could get the tone I'm looking for from my PRS CE 24 with Mojotone Tomahawk pickups. Anyway, great investment. Thanks to sweetwater for getting this to me so quickly.

Coming from the industry standard modeling platform with infinite flexibility and (in my opinion) the best sound, I was only interested in this unit due to power for the size, as the most compact unit from my usual platform was less powerful than it's floorboard and rack versions, which limited my ability to run my usual presets on the smaller unit. Also, although I don't need it often, my usual platform is definitely not as intuitive for onboard adjustments, and I liked that the Quad Cortex (QC) was small, powerful, and easy to build/adjust on the fly. I also really liked the sounds I heard folks getting from it, which were to me, close enough in quality that the QC would be sufficient tone-wise for me and fill the super compact yet powerful & flexibly/ease UI-wise role in my gear arsenal.

Upon arrival, I really enjoyed the UI and workflow of it. Also, with the exception of some minor gripes regarding the amount and limitation of effects, and some pitch related artifact issues, I was overall really happy with the tones I was getting. Still preferred my usual platform tone wise, but plenty happy with the tones I was getting with the QC paired with the portability + power and UI benefits.

All that being said, I am returning the unit as we speak due to one glaring and surprising factor. The power supply. It's absolutely absurd that this device comes with a 12v 3a ungrounded, polarity-reversed wall wart power supply. Yes, I know you can buy other relatively reasonably priced PC brick style, IEC cabled power supplies, or spend a significant amount on a Cioks with adapters or Cioks + Crux. It's ridiculous that you have to do that though, especially at this price point. And for those of us that don't want to mount it to a pedalboard to mount the supply or mount with other pedals, having to buy and carry something larger and additional is just nuts. It defeats part of the benefit, and increases the price even higher, for those of us that legitimately want to use the QC as a singular, standalone, super-portable device.

I really want to have one again someday. Once Neural DSP resolves this issue in an effective way, then I'll be purchasing one again. I guess the benefit is that, by then, perhaps some of the minor effects gripes I had will also be improved.

Exactly what I needed

Well,

Now we watch Neural DSPs reputation totally take a nose dive with US customers as the longevity of the device is uncovered.

My quad cortex's 3 year warranty recently expired, and what do you know? Both XLR outputs have absolutely stopped working.

It's a $ unit, and now if I want the XLR outputs to work I have to send it to Finland which who knows how long that takes, I have to pay the shipping, and all in all repairs for 2 outputs will cost me $!!!!

UNACCEPTABLE. The fact that the unit can't be services by anyone except Neural DSP, and the unit failed right after warranty expiration is highway robbery and I hope this company fails unless they find a solution.

The modeling world is vast! I've used a hx stomp stomp XL, nueral dsp plugins, UAFX pedals, you name it. This technology is probably some of the best tones I've gotten with minimal effort. Cortex cloud app and it's ease of use gives you so much variety there's no way you can't find a good tone. Just downloaded a 1980s dumble overdrive special captured from somebody with a venuram 808 and a capture of one of my Jay rockett blue note pedals and I have myself a perfect rig.

The built-in effects also are top notch. Phasers flangers choruses compressors even the built-in overdrives just phenomenal. If you have the money to spend to get this obviously just know you need studio monitors for a quality sound. I'm using the IK media MTM Mark II and the pairing with the quad cortex is perfect. Don't forget you need yourself XLR cables that's probably one of the biggest unknown introduction is the cables you need for delving into this world if you're going studio monitors.

I've used it with my line 6 power cab only a small amount of times and was getting okay tones. I think there has to be more dialing in when it comes to things like that that are outside studio monitors. That's my next mission to overcome. A simple YouTube video explanation can get you manipulating menus and building your rig. Most of the time you can download from the cloud a full rig where you don't have to even bother going through menus at all. Maybe there's a little confusion when it comes to activating ins and outs on the back and adjusting gain but there's always a video for that.

And also we can't forget how clean this is. It's better than a chain of pedals that are all wobbly taking up room. This also makes me buy more pedals so I can capture them or just put them in the front right into the quad cortex. It's all some new fun!

As I have gotten more and more into the Quad Cortex, I am confident that these will be around a long time. Neural DSP is constantly improving and innovating.

This is the longest review I've ever submitted…anywhere. And for good reason. Short version: QC is a home run.

I've had a love/hate relationship with modelers since the Johnson Amp way back in the day. I've used primarily Line6 offerings since then while going back and forth between tube, solid state and digital rigs. I'm a pro and have needed solutions for silent stage applications for the past decade. I most recently had a pedal board rig with a Simplifier. Great tone and feel even if limited somewhat, though nicely simple and mostly one knob to one function. No menu diving. Alas, footswitch dancing and some limitations got old. Add in multiple points of failure like all the patch cables and I was ready for (another) change.

When I examined the current crop of digital platforms I was tempted to return to Helix for what would have been the fourth time. But I wanted something "fresher." I almost bought an FM9, but it's huge, and I could tell I would not enjoy the arduous editing process. Enter the Quad Cortex.

In its early form the QC would not have meet my needs for some great delays and reverbs, which are now excellent on Helix and well lauded on Fractal. Turns out Neural's updates have made it comparable, so I hit the order button. After one long (enjoyable) day with the unit and a successful live performance I can honestly say I made the right decision.

From the first note on the first factory preset I could tell the Quad Cortex was something special. Not just tone-wise, but feel-wise and the user interface is just brilliant as is the edit application and cloud ecosystem, which makes this a virtually seamless experience. I was able to quickly dial in many excellent factory presets, and downloading captures and presets from the Cortex Cloud community was very easy.

After modifying a capture and preset to be used with my G&L ASAT Z3 from one of my favorite sources I built a fresh preset for my Eastman slope shoulder with a K&K Pure Mini. A little gain on the input, a UA 1176 compressor model, a wonderful parametric, an amazing Dimension C device and some amazing reverbs and my acoustic guitar tones were ready. Defining scenes was a breeze and alleviates mid-song patch changes and the commensurate audio dropout.

I have to say that, being a loyal Helix user for so long, it seems like the QC has taken the Helix workflow and brought it to the next level. And the tone and feel, IMO, are a step ahead.

This unit is as sleek as an Apple product and the most enjoyable guitar modeler I've used to date. It has completely replaced my entire rig and has enough processing power to give me the multi-amp rigs and big delays and reverbs I need. If I have any gripe, it's that I will probably will have to use my round toed boots and leave the square toes at home. I'd love a little more space between foot switches, but it's not a deal breaker, and the smallish footprint of this unit worth a little compromise in real estate.

The current state of guitar modeling technology leaves many viable options. Choosing one "best" one is an exercise in futility. Choose the one that inspires you most and play your guitar. For me, for now, it's the Quad Cortex!

I've been using modeling technology for the last 20 years, Boss and Line 6 mainly. The Helix has been my mainstay the last seven plus years, and it won't leave anytime soon. That said I've been eyeing the Quad Cortex since its debut. Instead of buying it two years ago I went with a whim and bought the Fender Tone Master Pro. This is a great unit in its own right but I just never bonded with it. Thanks to the Sweetwater Gear Exchange I sold it and a few other items, what a great service to musicians! And thanks to my Sweetwater Sales Engineer Ryan Gregory the Quad Cortex purchase was almost too easy, he took care of everything! I'm still finding my way around the QC but I am impressed! First I have to mention Cortex Control, from firmware update to auditioning presets and captures Cortex Control is perfectly suited to help player meet tone. We all know the disasters that most call factory presets, not the case here. In no time I found usable tones to build on. The Neural Cloud is a great place for users to find and share ideas, there is some good stuff in there! I'm up and running faster than ever before. By the way along with playing electric I also play acoustic guitar and mandolin. My QC mandolin preset (thanks to the cloud as a start) is as good as I've had to date. I'll stop, yeah I'm pleased.

It's basically all here! I'll leave the collecting of $ amp heads to the blues lawyers and dentists. I'm done! Just grab this unit and FRFR monitors or cabinet and join me!

I moved to the Quad Cortex to honestly simplify my set up and it was the best choice I could have made.

Super Flexible and Easy to use Esp. if you download Cortex Control.

Getting Captures from the Cloud is easy and there are tons of Tones you can reach for.

Amazing device provides endless possibilities
Excellent sound quality Friendly touch screen interface
Awesome sounds for all genres
Worth the price

I bought a Line6 Vetta (series I) combo in 2003. It lasted me until... 2023. I just exhausted what I could do with it, and it was time for a change. So I gave it to a friend, and got my first taste of Kemper in the fall of 2024. I really liked the Kemper, but the cost was super high, because I also wanted a pedalboard. Plus I do a lot of production work these days (my career is in tech, and I do production as a side business) and I felt there was a disconnect between the Kemper toaster and how I wanted to interact with a modeler (I do computing stuff 7 days a week, and wanted a different experience). Plus Kemper was massively expensive.


So I looked at Fractal, Tonex, Kemper Player, the whole lot of them. It took me a year to finally come to the conclusion that the QC was for me. I like how I can use a computer (app) or not. I like how it's small and portable. I like that I can set it on my desk or use it as a pedalboard. I like that Neural DSP is always evolving.


Positives? Easy to use. *Tons* of tutorials on the net. I *love* scenes and ease of switching between presets, pedals, and scenes. The 3.1.0 firmware update is quite good. I really like its capture feature. The (computer, in this case a Mac) app is quite good. The touch screen is amazing and is exactly what I was looking for. I love how you can change settings either through the pedalboard or the app. Love how international power adapters are included. Packaging has an Apple vibe to it, and made me excited to get rolling with it.


Negatives. The stock sounds (presets) are better than my former Vetta combo, like by a wide margin, but still aren't that great. They aren't bad, but they aren't amazing. Luckily introducing captures on the QC is extremely easy. The documentation is somewhat out of date, which proved to be a challenge when trying to create and save scenes. The iPhone app doesn't seem to work with the QC (not a big deal). It doesn't ship with any kind of bag or carrying case. I worry about transport and the switches and touchscreen, and losing the international power adapters. Tap tempo is kinda weird to me as it's not variable. Not really thrilled with the out of the box bass models; am still investigating this.


Overall, though? Best gear that I've bought in a long time, and that's saying a lot since I got 20+ years of tracking with the Line6 Vetta (series I) combo.

Sounds amazing and is super easy to tweak on the fly compared to other modelers from kemper, fractal, etc. Ability to use captures and neural dsp plugins is a bonus (been loving the soldano and plini).

What's more to be said that hasn't been written elsewhere? I'm a recovering tube addict, former session guitarist, reigniting a journey in music after a small hiatus. Before I left music, I would spent countless hours and immense amounts of money buying pedals, trialing them, selling them when they didn't have that magic, buying more - the cycle was endless. I very rarely found what I wanted, and amps were just as much of a problem. I've had several iterations of amp modelers in the past, old Boss models and the Line6 kidney bean. They were all kind of meh. So when I kept hearing about the new generation - Kemper, AxeFX, Quad Cortex - I was skeptical. Watching some of my favorite artists switch them helped, though. I took the plunge on the Quad Cortex after buying a few NeuralDSP plugins and being thoroughly impressed with the tone quality I could get with very little tweaking.

This thing opens up whole new worlds. User interface is extremely easy to figure out, the possibilities for even a single scene are nearly endless. The dynamic gate is one of the best noise gates I've ever used, the darn thing just works. And every update brings more and better features, with no sign of them moving to another platform any time soon. This most recent update added momentary switching for effects - this is a massive deal for my style of play and honestly eliminates a good amount of other stuff I would need to buy.

The ONLY 'complaint' I have is that it doesn't handle pitch shifting as well as the much-beloved Digitech DT Whammy - pitching down it does okay, but up it's pretty bad. I'm sure this is something that will improve over time, but for now, I wouldn't expect to be able to do fun screamy high-end stuff with it.

12-9-24 Bad day to be asking me… lol. I am packing mine up to return to Neural DSP in Europe for repair they say will be $.

I got it in 2021, did church gigs every weekend and then around 30 gigs a year additionally. Practiced at home with it several hours every week.

Back in July it would randomly boot up to a blank screen, I'd unplug it the usually (but not always) it would come back up normally.

Then it started booting up and looking normal but no sound would come out. I checked the tuner, it worked. The input meters and output meters both showed signal but no sound would come out of the XLR or the 1/4" outputs.

Sometimes it could be solved by a re-boot, sometimes not.

Sometimes it would work like it should… totally unpredictable.

Sometimes it could be started up again by using the A-H reboot, sometimes not.

Sometimes you could let it sit for a couple of hours, go back and it would start normally.

These failures kept increasing in frequency.

It has become unreliable for any gigging use. I always carry it in a foam lined flight case, and use the factory power supply.

Also I worked at Yamaha Music as a Pro Audio District Manager so I know how to diagnose a signal chain.

I started keeping records of the failures and submitted them to Neural.

I could not in good conscience recommend this as a unit you can rely upon for a long period of time.

If it comes back after the $ repair and works every time I will come back and update you.

I've been into modeling technology for a long time and was a fairly early adopter of Line6. Modeling technology is simply not what this is.

I don't know how they do it, but Neural DSP produces (the Cortex line and their plugins) just sound more dynamic, more authentic, and more accurate than anything I've played before.

I enjoy the sound of playing out of my Quad Cortex more than any other guitar equipment I have, only matched by several Neural DSP plugins I also utilize in my DAW, which are all eventually going to run natively on the Quad Cortex, I'm told.

I previously owned a Helix, and after hearing a comparison online, the Helix went bye bye.

What the Cortex lacks in options compared to older companies like Line6 or Fractal, it makes up for in sound quality and user interface.

The Quad Cortex is incredibly powerful… the amps and cabinets alone are superb to anything else I've used, and setting up patches is a breeze with their brilliant touchscreen and hybrid switch/knob hardware.

Thank you, Neural DSP. You've made a big fan out of me, and it just keeps getting better.

For the record, I have previously owned 2 Kemper Profilers, and I also have an Axe FX FM3 currently. I will be basing my review of the QC with those two units in mind, with the latest CorOS 3.1.0 software installed on the Quad Cortex.

So, after using the Quad Cortex for several days, here are my findings:

PROS:
1. Very easy to use overall
2. Far, far less tweaking and menu diving required compared to the FM3 or Kemper
3. Less PC software to install than Fractal
4. The Touch screen rules: Easy to read, basic and too the point with the info. Touch screen is smooth and easily as accurate as any phone or tablet.
5. The computer editor is very easy to use, though a bit limited (for now).
6. Very small unit, feels solid.
7. No issues with noise or sound quality
8. FX are good quality overall. There aren't 30 Reverbs and 40 delays to have to decide which is best.
9. Doing captures is explained VERY well with an onscreen guide, and are super easy to setup and do. Want to make multiple captures once you are setup? No problem – Immediately after saving a capture it you can hit one button and start the next one.
10. Capture quality is superior to Kemper's, in my experience at least. The top end of distorted tones is smoother and not so digital/harsh sounding.
11. Capturing items only takes about 5 mins.
12. Unlike the FM3, the amps that I capture are based on MY OWN AMPS and not someone else's programming/interpretation of what that kind of amp should sound like.

CONS:
1. Default stock/factory tones are kind of meh. I had a hard time trying to get a super clean sound, so I had to profile my own amps for that.
2. Software updates can only be done when connected to Wifi. Being connected to your computer via USB cannot do them.
3. The process to rename/reorder presets is cumbersome and needs to be fixed in a future software update
4. Software updates are slower than the FM3 but pretty much on par with the Kemper
5. I've had a bit of a difficult time trying to split components of a preset onto the multiple lines to split up the processing power. I don't use a lot of FX drenched settings anyway, so I've never seen the processing power used go over 30% even with an amp/cab/EQ/delay/reverb all on one line.
6. Captures take some practice and experimentation. This is not a deal breaker for me, but for some it might be (I'd rather experiment with captures than endlessly tweak settings for a week). Similar to the Kemper, I feel like you pretty much have to capture the sound you are going for and then expect to only make minor tweaks once it's saved in the unit. For example, I normally play a Dual Rectifier boosted with a Mesa Grid Slammer. Capturing the boosted sound seems to be more accurate than capturing the pedal and amp separately and then combining them in the Quad Cortex. Hopefully that will be improved in a future update.


Overall this is a great unit and I really like it. I imagine that there will be lots more future updates and improvements over time to make it an even better unit. It's fun experimenting with Captures, and best of all with the touch of a button I can go from sounds of my own Quilter, Mini Dual Rec, to a full sized Dual Rec literally at the touch of a button without fiddling with any knobs, unplugging cables, etc.

I would recommend the QC for anyone wanting to streamline their amps, simplify their overall setup, etc.

Simply put it is a stellar unit, I had a Fractal and I think this handles gain and fuzz better.

I am a home player so I don't know how all the various functions compare to equivalent units

for gig use.

I basically turn it on and play, making adjustments is easy though.

Alex

So good. Endless possibilities. Took a couple days to understand how to use it but there are great tutorials online. It's so fun that I can't wait to get home every day to mess with it.

I was SO excited for the QC. After watching multitudes of videos online and reading tutorials, I really thought this was gonna be a game changer for me. I may not be a sound engineer, but I had a helluva time trying to get a decent tone with this. Maybe I was doing something wrong, but I swear I tried all sorts of combinations of amps, cabs, drives, etc. and just came up short. This was while running directly into my Scarlett 2i2, using the QC as an interface itself, and also running through a Peavey 6505+ head and cab, as well as a Blackstar 2x12. They all sounded bad in their own special way. Four cable method, direct out, effects chain, I tried it all. The sound was just SOOOO over processed and kinda hurt the ear. Of all the sounds, the best I found was a capture of "Johns Amp III" or something I don't 100% remember. I'm glad I tried it, however. I have decided to exchange it for a Headrush Prime. Main reasons for that: if I am going to just skip out on any of the amp captures or presets and all the other bells and whistles and just use my amps gain channel, why have a device that cost me 1800 when this one will probably do the same for 1000? All I'm really looking to get out of this now is the effects and use my gain channels from my amps. You just can't duplicate that tube sound. Also, the HR Prime has an external amp out that is supposed to control my channels on my amp from the pedal! Why the hell did QC not have this feature? Anyways, I'm not sure what will come of it, but I'm willing to take a chance on the HR since the return and exchange process with Brook has been super easy.

This thing is the real deal great tones great functionality in my studio setup.

First let's start with what QC gives you - amazing capture technology!
The amp capture technology is definitely where the future of modelers is headed and once you hear the captures (if you have a favorite amp) then the choice of QC and the reward for capturing it is so worth it.
The desktop editor + cloud sharing of captures + tones from some of the modern guitar player big names are available for you to download - right away. All for "free" - once you pay for QC of course. You will not regret getting it just on these factors alone. Now, let's deep dive:

Native amps on QC:
The amps on the QC are not hard to dial - however I do doubt their controls being closely related to real amps. For ex. the Mesa JPC++ the controls on the real amp for Bass, Mid and Treble - are preamp - they really don't do much. On the amp you have to be drastic with these controls. Any one who has owned a Mesa knows it - you gotta move them all the way one way or another for the tone.
You have to use the 5 Band Eq to shape your tone - which are more subtle changes in eq with big tone differences.
Unfortunately QC doesn't capture that. You have to play a lot with EQs to get less "muddy" "boomy" sounds. It's time consuming but can be done easily.

There's also a whole lot - and I mean a whole lot of captures by QC - like 1000s of amps they have uploaded that you can download. The problem is they are not categorized and don't have any description. For ex. Mesa Mark V will be like CA MKV Channel 7 - like it doesn't have 7 channels, what do you mean?
QC needs to work on cataloguing these better and that by itself will make they reproduce worth every penny.

Native Effects on QC:
Let's be honest here - there aren't much - definitely not the versatility of Helix where you can even select a version of the Pillar Fuzz Drive or whatever you want. The reverbs are alright. Delays have the variety - they are okay. The gates do their job really well.

Capture technology on QC:
So far the review doesn't sound too glorious right? But here's where it changes - you name an amp, someone has uploaded a capture of it up there, put it in a preset and presented to you as a beautiful package - as part of an amazing sharing community. And once you hear a captured amp - with just the right eq and cab. You will not go back to your Helix (eh maybe I will - who knows). QC sounds so organic and if you have a 5 position pickup - you can tell that each position sounds different. Which is unique either to mostly tube amps or QC - I love that!
The growl playing metal - the chimes playing funk (and so many presets available by users to try and mod) - it's like Christmas!

Compared to Headrush:
Now if you're short on money and can't afford a QC, the capture of Headrush is just as good! You can barely tell a difference. Dare I say - it's a little easier to dial as well with delivered EQ presets. But there are some BIG problems with Headrush and these may only be to me - No updates - after 6 months they update 2 new pedals, like what!? No desktop editor on Headrush. There is a cloud but nothing sounds good to me - due to lack of user base. The one thing I did with my Headrush was capture my Mesa Boogie - and boy did that pedalboard deliver! Get it if you have amp to captures - it is the same in Capture Quality as QC.
But capture has a problem - you gotta have the amps - with QC cloud you get a library of them at your fingertips. With Headrush you have a cloud but the volume is just not as good. Maybe they start updating Headrush more often and bring more amp models in - the user base will grow because the product is so good!
Anyways - happily go for Headrush if you don't want to spend a lot of cash - Headrush Core will do- if you have amps to capture and want to use it for that - more than enough for most of us.

Compared to helix:
Now this is a tough one - Helix has its goods and bads and the beautiful thing is we all know them. We KNOW Helix - we can dial it within minutes what we want in helix and know it's gonna rock! Will it be the same as a "real" amp - umm no. Will it be fantastic to jam to - you know it will be. So much control over everything! So many models - right there. Amazing updates - non stop! It's the king of pedals in my opinion - for consistently updating things for YEARS.

Bottomline:
Yes QC might just be worth it - the sounds are amazing! Don't spend a day on it and have buyer's remorse. You need to KNOW it like you know your Helix. I am positive QC and Helix will keep bringing updates and delivering on their product - which is something I can't say for Headrush.

How to hear it:
If you are coming from an amp - like me - the speakers don't do it and I hate them to their core. I played my modelers through a Katana MKII - Power Amp IN for years - sounded magical with a real amp feel. You can leave your IRs and Cabs in - it literally works the same as a power stage or whatever. Not kidding it will take your modeler like a champ.
Get 2 Katanas and go STEREO if you want - no appreciable loss in quality. Yes it's less chimney or whatever but playing on high volume you can barely tell the frequency "nuances". I also have a Laney power cab - hands down beats Line 6 Power cab or Fender cabs.

Good luck Imma go play the hell outta my QC! peace brothers

The Quad Cortex is the only way to go fro modeling. I now have two. The first one is 4 years old and is on 100+ gigs a year and has been flawless. The second one will be back up.

Fantastic. This beast can clean the kitchen for you.

Pros: The attention to details in the I/O section are beyond great. All the choices of cabs/FX/Amps next to none. No fluff, just the good stuff included.

Cons: This is specific so I will explain (and discussed many times in forums yet I find no solution for one exact use-case) in detail.

* This only applies to GarageBand (and a few other low-level-non-complete) DAWs and using the Quad Cortex as you main system audio device/interface Input/Output. In other words, No other interface.

When using OUTPUTS 3-4 (1/4" TR/TRS) as your main outputs going TO ---> Studio Monitors/Speakers.

When playing back through (GarageBand/MixPad/whatever) for instance this signal can pipe IN to your QC via USB INPUTS 1/2 and you get No Playback OUT to 3/4 OUTS on cortex. Only INPUTS 1-2 routed OUT from USB IN 1-2. Should be able to route that to 3-4 1/4" OUTS but I can find no way.

Of course this is very case-use specific. NormallyMulti-OUt takes care of getting signal anywhere.

Anyway... A great unit, love it, gotta have it!

Thanks Brad @ sweetwater. Good recommendation.

Donald

It's 2024 and this unit CANNOT do polyphonic pitch shifting.
I'm really annoyed that they are marketing it's new "Transpose" feature, when in fact it warbles like a first gen whammy pedal if you even think about playing anything clean with it. I had to throw a $30 chinese pitch pedal in the FX loop to get a usable transpose function. Something I absolutely SHOULD NOT HAVE TO DO with a top end unit like this. My 12 year old Kemper does this effortlessly.

The CPU marketing is deceptive to a degree. It's my understanding that Rows 1/2 share CPU cores 1 & 2, while rows 3 & 4 Share CPU cores 3 & 4... which means you NEVER actually have 100% of the quad core "horsepower" on tap. There are scenarios where the CPU usage might show 50%, but it tells you there isn't enough CPU to load certain blocks because you're actually utilizing 100% of the 2 cores that are available to you, while the other 2 cores sit idle.

The overall "feel" of playing through the Quad Cortex still feels very artificial to me.


With all that being said, you absolutely can get some amazing tones out of this unit, Unfortunately for me the cons add up to death by 1,000 cuts. It's back on the storage shelf for the quad cortex, while I wait for my 2nd Kemper to arrive.

This thing is insane. I own a Kemper and have had the Axe FX II and III. This thing FEELS great to play through and I had it plugged in for maybe an hour going through presets etc and it took the least amount of time to get the sound I wanted in my head out of all options. I haven't felt this good about any gear since I bought a triple rectifier in 2007. Neural DSP completely knocked this out of the park. The UI and the Cortex control are also amazing. It does everything I want it to do with no hassle. I'm in awe.

I bought the quad cortex to replace my amp and pedalboard and it did just that it did that and more from let's go crazy by prince to strange brew by cream it can get the sound just incredible

I have been using a Helix for the past four years, but never really bonded with it, so it sat around, collecting dust. From day one, the QC has been entirely different. Whereas with the Helix, I could never get my tone quite right, I almost immediately got an incredible tone from the QC. It's smaller, easier to use and got me excited to play from the moment I plugged in. And now with the price lowered to a more reasonable level and plug in compatibility rolling out, it's a great time to snatch one of these up. Very happy with it!

i was a long time Fractal user and was blown away by the sound, capabilities and UI of the QC. Very happy purchase

Ive tried a lot of multi effects processing units, and in my opinion this blows them all out of the water.

After years of using the Fractal and Kemper units, I made the switch to the Neural DSP Quad Cortex, and wow, what an upgrade! The Quad Cortex's quad-core processing power is truly next-level, delivering stunningly accurate and dynamic tones that breathe life into every note. The user interface is sleek and intuitive, making it incredibly easy to navigate and tweak settings on the fly. The versatility of this unit is unmatched – whether I'm dialing in crystal-clear cleans for worship, gritty blues tones, high-gain metal madness, or twangy country licks, the Quad Cortex handles it all with ease and precision.

The profiling capabilities are a standout feature, allowing me to capture the essence of my favorite amps and pedals effortlessly. The tone quality is so authentic that it feels like I'm playing through the actual gear. The touch screen interface and powerful software make editing patches and creating presets a breeze. The robust build quality ensures it can handle the rigors of the road and stage.

What really sets the Quad Cortex apart is its community and continuous updates. Neural DSP is constantly pushing the boundaries with new features and improvements based on user feedback. This level of commitment to excellence and innovation makes the Quad Cortex not just a purchase, but an investment in the future of digital modeling.

If you're serious about your tone and looking for the best in digital effects modeling and profiling, the Neural DSP Quad Cortex is a game-changer. This unit has set a new standard for me, and I couldn't be happier with the leap in quality and performance. Huge thanks to Sam Hillman at Sweetwater for making this transition smooth and seamless.

I've had mine for about a week and I feel so spoiled with this thing. Prior to this, I was using a line 6 HX (which I loved too btw) but there are limitations as with everything, and I wanted to be able to do _a bit more_. For those of you that have used digital modellers in the past this will be very familiar. Honestly I had no troubles navigating - just watched a couple videos regarding the features while I waited for it to arrive.
Our band plays all sorts of genres of music so I heavily use the scenes and presets to get diverse sounds for different songs. Worth every cent for me.

I haven't had enough time to explore even a fraction of the features and capabilities of the Quad Cortex I ordered, but from what I've been able to do so far, all I can say is WOW!! This is an amazing piece of gear. The simplicity of the interface and all the seamless handling of data is truly incredible. I'm slowly going thru each feature trying to understand how it works and finding an application for it in my setup. I haven't tried the LOOPER yet, but it's on the docket. So far I can say I'm extremely pleased with this purchase.

There really isn't much to say here other than this is the best modeler on the market and Neural DSP has developed a massive community such that sharing of presets or captures is seemless. Furthermore, the captures are incredibly close to the actual device being captured. Sometimes so much so you can't even tell which is the capture and which is the real device when played through identifical setups. The build quality is outstanding, you can use it as an audio interface, it's reliable, and most importantly it's extremely portable. I personally use it to experiment with tones I don't have access to (i.e., purchasing and/or downloading captures of amps I am interested in) and run it through a KSR PA50 and whichever cab I feel would best represent the tone I want. I also use it to connect to studio monitors at times, but I prefer the tonal variety offered through the built-in, downloaded, or purchased captures run through a real all tube power amp to a cabinet. I love this thing as it allows me to play any combination of rigs in existence limited only by your imagination while chillin at home. If you wanna see what a Darkest Nightmare sounds like through your cabs, then all you need is to run your QC through a power amp to one of your cabs. I can't compare it to any newer Fractal products because I sold my Axe FX when I got the QC, and I have NEVER regretted that decision. Especially now that we finally have Cortex Control!

Let me start with my personal Sweetwater "Team". Joel Helton & Daniel Saloman. I had a "ID-10_T" error message between the the QC and the chair I was sitting in. Emails & texts were answered in possibly the most "real time" you could ever desire!
This was a large $$ purchase for me-was I hesitant? Absolutely! Sweetwater team walked me thru the stopping points in routing & configuration.

Now the Quad Cortex! Read The Manual! Can't stress this enough. Tones and sounds coming thru my studio JBL's from the QC were simply unbelievable. I created my first rig with 2 amps and matching cabinets and found out what/where devices should be placed: Either before/after. Pay attention to the manual when you start creating rigs. You want to use the processing power of "Both" processors instead of putting a rig on grid Line 1&2. Reverb and Delay should be placed on grid line 3&4. Again, Read The manual!
Right now, I am using the QC as an Audio Interface. Future FRFR purchase is coming, but right now, I am going to wait, create my rigs and set list and learn this device!
Completely and totally happy with this device as well as Sweetwater's Customer Service. 5 Stars on both!!!

I am a professional progressive metal musician of approximately 30 yrs and previously on a major label with touring mostly overseas. I bought this for convenience of setup and travel rig. I have 7 albums under my belt. Now that my experience is out of the way. I combined this unit with a Temple Audio Duo 24 board, Seymour Duncan 100S and Shure GLD16+ wireless. My review will be on my initial thoughts based on my comparison to Kemper and Line6 Helix LT which I still own. Right now I'm using it for writing and our practice sessions currently. The set up and navigation is pretty straight forward. I haven't done an immersive deep dive but the core processing and stock amps/effects are my favorite of any of the units I have used. I currently use the JP2C scene and that covers me well for now. In scene mode, the switching is seamless. Connectivity options are good for various setups from practice to live use direct & also to a cab for monitoring on stage if needed. Plenty of outs to cover your needs. I can't give it a 5 star until I run it live and finish my deep dive but I am pleased with it so far.

I absolutely love this modeler. The tone fidelity is second to none. And the ability to add, remove or tweak yOur settings is very good. It is intuitive but if you want to dig down into it's features you have a learning curve ahead. Luckily there are tons of tutorials available online.
My purchase experience was amazing, and I even got candy!

I wanted to love it. I did love my Kemper but I was unable to practice as the Kemper lived in our live rack. I got this and the interface is a million times easier to use. That is a plus. The captures are ok. The FX are solid. The patch changes are an absolute deal breaker. I thought they would fix that. Their answer of "try loading complex DAW songs instantly…" that does not fly. Kemper works and changes flawless. I'm done QC. Grow up the technology and I might reconsider. I unboxed my new Kemper Stage today. While the FX are not as good and the UI takes extreme getting used to… it's a far superior professional product for live working musicians. My last Kemper made it 6 years. Hope the new one does too.

I bought it for my husband's birthday and he said it is the best thing I have ever gotten him!
He said it is quick and easy to use and the possibilities on it are endless. If you're thinking about getting it… go for it, it won't disappoint.

I'd like to also add that Jesse was amazing throughout the purchase of my order and I appreciated all his help and knowledge!

The Quad Cortex is not only incredible, it keeps on improving with updated software, shared captures, and a great community of users. I don't expect that I will need anything else. This thing does everything imaginable.

I can't recall a purchase I've regretted more, the presets have an annoying static crackle overtone to them, after going thru them all I can say I prefer the sound of my blackstar stereo 10 to this.... if your thinking of getting this just get another guitar insted.

I have been playing guitar for more than 30 years and I never have the privilege to have something like the Quad Cortex. This technology master piece make playing live and recording so easy that looks like cheating. Capturing all my drives, distortions amps and cabs and keep everything is this tiny box make like music more enjoyable.

I've had the QC For over 1 week and this thing is Amazing.
I had the H.R.P and it wasn't what I thought it would be.
Now that being said the QC Is without a doubt the best and most powerful all in 1 processor.
Everything sounds Natural with great cleans and amazing tight gain, my favorite is the 5150 stealth 100W.
I live in Arizona and when I ordered it, it shipped from the new Warehouse in Arizona.
I got it delivered rhe next day.
Big thank you to my Sales Rep.
Stephen Dibble.

Great tones and easy to use. Didn't take long to dial in a great tone. Love the captures and downloading other people's captures. The only thing that would make it better would have Bluetooth for headphones.

I've had my Quad Cortex for about a month, month and a half now, and I'm still only scratching the surface of what it can do. I'm thrilled that it works just as well for my acoustic guitars (Taylor 150e 12-string and Fender Player Acoustasonic Tele) as it does for my electric (Acoustasonic Tele electric models). Tip for acoustics: just use the Roland JC120 head without a cabinet, and add effects from there to taste.

It's definitely a modeler where you get what you put into it in terms of time and effort. The stock models are great, but tweaking and coming up with your own presets is where you'll find the exact tones you're looking for. I haven't even messed around with mic and position settings on various cabinets, there's just so many options to play with.

I upgraded from a Valeton GP-200 and an Ampero II Stage to this, and while those aren't bad by any means, you can just tell the difference in fidelity of the sounds with just a little playing. It's like the difference between a Toyota and a Mercedes; they'll both get you where you need to go, but one is just a higher level of quality from the start.

The user interface is pretty simple to start using, but you'll definitely want to go through the manual to get into the very detailed stuff or find certain settings. Once you get the hang of it, tho, it's easy to keep on using without a lot of flipping through pages.

The community support is fantastic, with all the presets and captures that are available for download. All in all, I'm sorry happy with this purchase and recommend it for anyone looking to make the jump!

Nothing like the real deal, but this is the next best thing.

Ive owned a lot of amps, and a lot of modelers. This was the only unit that I was able to create a tone I heard in my head in a matter of minutes. The options are vast but easy to use without overcomplicating the signal chain and having too many parameters that simply arent needed.

The unit sounds super articulate and clean in the most extreme tones you can create. No digital artifacts or odd noises that require extreme gating to mask and choke your tone. The presets are starting points but it takes little effort and very little time to tweak them to taste and get them to sound like you hear them.

The build construction is very impressive. Many dont like the wall wart for live use but im an at home hobbyist (of 30+ years) who just plays instruments for creative expression and personal enjoyment. To me of all the modelers I have tried, being a very long list this is the only one that made me feel as if I am playing an actual amp. It sounds musical. Not just heavy. There is a difference. I simply cant say enough good things about it.

I wasnt completely convinced even when I ordered it. But it only took that first preset to know that this was the solution I have been seeking my whole guitar playing life. If you have been let down by other modelers. All I can say is try it. Because for me it is the goldilocks of such pieces of gear. Just right.

I have nothing bad to say about this. Most of the amps sound absolutely fantastic. It has a great interface, and it is the go to for gigging musicians who just don't want to drag around big equipment. For lack of a better term: It is great.

I love this thing. I'm not big on spending a lot of time trying to get good tones. The Neural DSP community provides soooo many presets and captures that I don't have to.

I'm very happy that I finally pulled the trigger on this one. This is the best modeler I ever had.

Can't say enough good things about this unit. Yes, the power supply could be better but it's what's on the inside that counters. So many different sounds available to me and I've never been more inspired to play.

I needed something to bring with me for daily practice while I work on the road most of the year. Bringing my pedalboard was allot even with minimal pedals. Also needed an interface for my laptop and headphone use in hotels (more gear). I had no idea how true to tone the QC was. Never mind eliminating tons of gear while I travel, the QC gives me motivation and is extremely easy to use. Very intuitive. I have infinite options for a signal chain with more amps and cabs than I could ever imagine using. I still love my pedalboard and use it at home but this gives me ideas for what I want in my ever evolving board and set up. I have also captured my drives, amps and cabs from home for my tone on the road. It is probably one of the best things I have purchased in a long time.

I purchased the limited edition Black and Gold Quad, and I am floored. I had the original Quad 2 years ago and couldn't get along with it. The new updates and plugin compatibility about to be launched makes this a game-changer! No more pedalboard chaos. Seamless and fluid changes and connections. Thankful!

Kurt Martin has been my Rep for 17 years and has never let me down! Sweetwater keeps getting sweeter with every purchase!

Been a player for many years, amps & pedals. Thought I'd give this a try. Latest rig was a practice setup with a dsl40 and collection of strymon etc. pedals, but live is always pedal board direct through PAs. So, I have a ToneX modeler for that setup. I was looking for something more integrate without the midi headache for multi-settings changes between songs. The Quad Cortex blew me away. The tones are fantastic - I mean really really good, the versatility and ease of use is excellent, and the documentation is probably the best I've seen - surprisingly good docs, hologram maybe 2nd best. For comparison, I've had the Tonex since it first came out, it's very good, but the cortex tones just sound significantly better with less noise on the dirty models and a better and a better noise gate implementation. Cortex can produce some fat tones due to the fact you can run multiple amps, and cabs at once, along with a variety of effects across multiple chains, but the IRs themselves very good crunch, dynamics and rolloff. Pitch shifting, looping, tape delays, a plethora of amps & cabs, it's got it. I have a hologram microcosm and thought i wouldn't get anything close in terms of ambient sounds with the cortex, but the cortex has some effects with a tone sync option that provide really interesting effects for ambient work. Finally, one thing I really like about ToneX was the ability to pull cloud setups from other players, but the cortex has that as well, and great implementation on web & mobile. Overall, one of the best pieces of guitar tech I've ever bought. I have a couple of friends that both have the Line6 Helix, and while they are good, I didn't like the size (huge in comparison), nor really like their raw tones - which could be they way they have set them up. Dare I say the cortex is the macbook pro of modelers.

I got a limited edition black and gold quad cortex.

Ordered. Got it delivered to the office the next day.
Went ahead and set it up and played with it over my lunch hour.
Solid, well built.
Everything works as it should.

With the combo of the Cortex control app in Windows and MacOS (I use both operating systems), they have given a nice quick change, easier entry into controlling the beast.
It is easy to use from the onboard screen. The turnable footswitch knobs are genius.
I am using it on my desktop, not on a pedal board.
I do love the fact that I can have my bass plugged in so I can jump back and forth when recording.

I like/love the sounds and the amps. (As an aside: I am keeping my HXStomp and cabling it into the QC, to give me some effects that the QC doesn't have: glitch, feedback and some additional delays.) There's nothing wrong with the existing QC delays, I just have both devices and can take advantage of it.

I have now spent hours just playing.
I think that speaks to a lot.
Once you hear an amp you like it's easy to dial in using the footswitch knobs, and then just play. That ease of finding a sound? Amazing. Scary amazing really.
It's responsive and for my purposes (home studio, composition, funsies) it works perfectly.

Quick notes:

The 'volume' knob is actually an attenuator, not a volume knob. I know it seems pedantic but it will help explain some changes in sound as you adjust it.
Use good cables/connectors. Seriously.
I have had good luck with both 80 and 250 ohm headphones. Your mileage may vary.
Global EQ control is your friend.

I'm looking forward to plugin support but have a huge wealth of sound to swim in now. I haven't even opened the plugins since I got the QC. Plus I can play without even firing up the laptop.

I am very pleased with my purchase and as usual, Tiberius, my Sweetwater rep was there to facilitate and get me where I needed to be. Small order? Big order? He can help you get what you need, when you need.
He takes care of the customer and so did the Sweetwater shipping guys, with really great safe packing.

It's everything I read about and more! The ease of use and flexibility are fantastic

Comparing it to the Kemper...
- Very similar amp sims
- Better fx
- main difference: Quad is more dynamic and cleans up better using the guitar volume. It is also easier to program.

Bottom line: I considered returning it because it is VERY similar to my Kemper overall. However, the Quad has some cool features like scene mode and it "captures" overdrive pedals very well.

Is it a game-changer as advertised? No!!! Not if you already have a Kemper.

Bought this so I could be direct for gigs. Amazing tones for all genres and easy to use.

This is by far the most realistic sounding modeler around.the only gripes I have with it is there pc editor sucks.and they could change a few things otherwise I love it.

First of all shout it to Mike W. For his excellent communication and customer service! He would answer my emails within minutes! We had a few situations with my first unit and he helped me get everything situated in a very speedy timeframe. Also Dylan S. For helping with Support! Guys did a great job, this is why I continue to purchase with Sweetwater, you CANNOT get this type of service with the competitors. Now about the QC. I come from Fractal world. I owned the FM3 and I sold it because of lack of CPU, then I got the FM9 with more then enough CPU but it was to big, heavy and bulky. Not to mention the primitive UI. The QC is as easy as can be to edit. Finally I can spend time playing rather then consistently editing trying to find the right tone. Also the Cortex app is awesome and I can download presets directly to my unit and have some amazing audio. This is the best guitar and bass mod I could imagine having.

This thing is amazing! I play Guitar and Bass and this pedal is all I need! I just played my first show, ampless and everything was flawless! I can play with this pedal for hours! Don't hesitate - grab one!

I have played many tube amps during my time as a guitarist, and have personally owned Hughes & Kettner, Mesa Boogie, and Bogner. I had been very hesitant to switch to a digital solution because it is such a large change to my workflow.

Upon plugging in the unit, I was immediately impressed. It was not exactly the sound I was going for, but it was obvious the product is very designed and accomplished lots of technical tasks. After some digging, I really found the pieces of virtual equipment that helped me get to where I wanted to. I had two big learnings during the early stages of familiarizing myself:

1.) Cabinet choice makes a huge difference in sound. I found on the Neural website which cabinet IR's were created by Nolly, and that instantly improved my tone. All IR's are not equal, and may contribute more than any effect or amplifier.

2.) Utilizing the Cortex Cloud to source workflows from pro users helped me understand how to better design. The pro users get help from Neural staff so have some tricks to squeeze every bit of power out of the unit. For example, Amos Williams from Tesseract uses a Sadowsky preamp into an Ampeg bass head WITHOUT a cabinet. Sounds crazy, but it works.

At a more advanced level, I am finding the limitations to be around the number of blocks that can fit in each of the rows. Even at intense levels of processing, the CPU usage is hitting 50% max. The point is, this thing is future proof. I also love the Cortex desktop program because it gives access to specific functionalities not available on the unit itself.

If you have $, this is the best piece of music processing equipment money can buy. It has far exceeding expectations as a former skeptic and tube amp believer.

I have been through various modelers starting with the Helix, Kemper stage, fractal FM9 and now the QC. Currently I have both the QC and the FM9. For amp tones, in my mind while there are differences, it is tough for me to say that one is better than the other. The Fractal has far better effects for sure. However, for live gigging, I find the QC far more efficient and effective. Editing on the fly without a computer attached is much easier on the QC. Also fewer parameters to work with enables me to escape "analysis paralysis".

I really enjoyed the stock patches, not gonna lie I have the Line6 Helix Rack and tbh both are great units , i see myself using more the Quad C just cause of the size, but I don't think this would fully replace my Helix . However The Quad Cortex touchscreen makes it a breeze to setup , in many ways is easier to navigate through its interface . That one thing i don't like is the fact the once you connect it to a power outlet it turns on immediately, i feel like the initial current feed might be too harsh and could potentially damage the unit , it happened to me once with a delay pedal I have.

I've only had this for around a month now, but I have played more guitar since this getting this then I have the past 15 years of playing. The build quality is great, the sound is great--the only thing I've noticed that's a little off is some kind of high mid squawk that I have to eq out on a lot of the high gain models/captures. Overall, a really great unit! I was able to capture my gear and no longer have to lug around a pedal board, cab and 50+ lb head.

This thing is top notch, whether you're studio or live it does the job. The neural capture is a thing of beauty. Once you get this dialed in you'll never think twice about not using an amp head. And to follow up Nico the sales engineer has always been fantastic to me! He really helped get this order out when I was in a crunch.

I'm blown away by how much fun the Quad cortex is. I've had many a modeler/capturer/profiler and this thing is it for me.

It just feels like a full bred music symposium.

Love mine and Mason Moss my Sales engineer helped make it happen again!

Now i'm set with this and then Bogner Uberschall for 2 different setups.

Be back for a guitar soon!

Neat unit. Can be kind of buggy with the looper. Sounds great though. Captures of pedals I'd never buy are pretty neat.

Sucks to see the price drop and for free plugins for purchases after August 1st.

I ordered my QC before they had even launched, and waited about 9 months for them to finally have one in stock to send me. I've used it every single day since then, having upgraded from a Line 6 POD 2.0 that I used for about 20 years. I love everything about this unit, from the sounds that I've been able to craft, to the versatility of how it's constructed. Now with their recently released desktop editor and the many plugins that are also top notch, this company is worth investing in for the long term as they've already shown they can deliver. 10/10, would buy again.

I've been using Helix for 4 years for practice and shows. Whatever using I don't pick will go to my gf who will use it to get familiar with bass effects and modeling. After a few days, the QC is in the lead.

Observations compared to Helix:

Overall, I can get great sounds from both units. It's just faster and more fun to do on QC. The ability to easily set any parameters to different values between Scenes is a big deal to me. The QC defaults for amps cabs and pedals are much closer to what I'm after, saving me time and making it more enjoyable to try new 'equipment'. The Cabs seem to default to one SM57 and one Ribbon mic, which is what I like! You can't go wrong with either. And I'm still not certain where I'll land.

TLDR breakdown:
* QC is small and light.
- There's no built in expression pedal. I use a cheap light pedal.
- I'm lazy. The Helix really is all in one. But I also like the real stuff. The QC allows room and wieght to build a board with. I might do that for an Exp Pedal, my favorite wah (Xotic), and a fuzz. Modellers have a hard time doing fuzz. Don't know why! You'd think turning signals into squares would be right up digital alley.

* QC is faster when setting up patches from scratch
- The Helix default amps and cab settings are not good. Well, they've gotten much better since the latest Firmware release. So maybe this is a moot point
- The Helix effects setting defaults are not my thing. Too much every time. You can save your preference as a default in both. The QC is just much closer to what I'm personally after
- Touchscreen and workflow are more simple and intuitive. There's WAY more parameters to tweek in Helix. I'm just not a tweeker.

* Helix has more fine tuning capabilities. Too many for me. But could be a pro or con for you.

* QC clean and edge of break up tones are the big one for me!
- I don't like Helix clean and light break up tones. Most clean amps have a fizz to them that irritates me. I've spent lots of time learning techniques to combat this, and they work. But they do require the work be put in.
- QC does the thing for me.

* QC Scenes > Helix Snapshots
- QC's ability to EASILY separate parameters on any object to be scene specific is exactly what I want!
- You can have one amp set to different Gain, Treble, Bass, whatever settings between Scenes.
- You can use one distortion pedal and change gain settings between scenes
- You can adjust Reverb Mix... You get the idea. It makes for very adjustable presets without adding assets
- On Helix, this can all be done. But it's more work. You have to assign the parameters to a stomp. Then you can have it change values by Snapshot. It's more limited and more time consuming.

* As an interface, the Helix is more plug and play
- When connecting to my MacBook, getting sound into a daw is the same between the two
- The difference is audio out. I have to use the Headphone Out to get music to play. Nothing shows up for output 1-4. Bummer.
- At practice, I'm the one who plays songs to listen to. With Helix, I just push play. Out it goes to the PA. But I'm going to have to go out from the Headphone Out instead of output 1-4

* Helix Pitch tracking is superior
- Rabeaa is full of it saying QC tracks better. It's not good.

* Helix has more effects options

* QC is more fun to work on! The touchscreen is good. I love the ability to turn the knobs to adjust stuff. Slowly turning makes micro adjustments. Quicker turning for macro. It's intuitive. There's knobs on Helix, but it's too big to be on a desk, so I use the HX Edit software. QC's desktop editor is out now. It works well. But it's honestly more enjoyable to adjust on the unit itself. This is a big deal to me! Adjusting stuff at a show is just something I would not bother with on Helix. Too many menus.

Rating: ★★★★★ (5/5)

I recently had the unique opportunity to try out the Neural DSP Quad Cortex in a live setting, and I can confidently say that it deserves a solid 5-star rating. Here's why:

1. Incredible Responsiveness: The responsiveness of the Quad Cortex, coupled with its authentic tone, elevates it to one of the best multi-FX processors and amp modelers I've ever had the pleasure of using in my music journey. The live experience is nothing short of amazing.

2. Intuitive Touchscreen: The touchscreen interface is not only visually stunning but also incredibly easy to read and navigate. It makes tweaking your sound a breeze, even in the midst of a live performance.

3. Versatility of Foot Switches: The Quad Cortex's design is incredibly thoughtful. The foot switches double as twistable knobs, allowing for precise adjustments to individual effects and parameters. It's a game-changer when it comes to dialing in the perfect tone on the fly.

4. Seamless Sound Exploration: The companion app is a fantastic addition. It enables you to explore and download artist sounds via Wi-Fi directly to the device. This kind of convenience is unprecedented and a major time-saver for musicians looking to diversify their tones.

In conclusion, the Neural DSP Quad Cortex is a powerhouse of a machine that offers unmatched tone, flexibility, and convenience. I can't recommend it enough to fellow musicians and sound enthusiasts. Whether you're a seasoned professional or just starting your musical journey, this device is a game-changer. Don't miss out on the opportunity to take your sound to the next level

First and foremost, I'd want to emphasize that practically everything is a matter of personal taste. This item, on the other hand, is at the top of the game for amp modelers in our opinion. We have most of the main modelers (e.g., Helix, AXE3, etc.) which are great alternatives and have been workhorses for years, but changing defaults and other settings has been a pain, necessitating the use of an editor. Personally, we believe that the QC possesses some highly distinguishing characteristics that other modelers lack. It reacts to our playing in the same way as a tube amplifier would. You can sense the vitality in the tones, something I don't think most modelers do. The simplicity, power, and workflow are outstanding for recording, live gigs and future proof for years due to the overall design. 

I had mine for 5 months and the screen went crazy. It was all static and white. You couldn't see ANYTHING. Only way to turn it off and on was to unplug it. I had to sent it in for repair So I got 5 months out of a new $1,800 unit. We shall see how it goes once I get it back. The Sweetwater crew was very helpful as the vendor has been too. It was great for the 5 months though.

I got a Quad Cortex from Sweetwater's very first shipment (2021 I think) — and I'm so pleased to say it's been an absolutely perfect experience so far. I've gigged live with it dozens of times since then in all sorts of venues and spaces. I've also extensively tracked guitars through it in the studio and I even converted 1 pro producer to get one after only playing around with it for 1 day. It's truly a wonderful piece of gear. When I'm not gigging at a venue, I play it through the 12" Headrush FRFR speaker and I have to say that speaker, for the price, absolutely slays. Highly recommend the pair. Not to mention the headrush has 2 inputs if you really want to do stereo, otherwise you're good to double up vocals for band practice. VERY HAPPY CUSTOMER.

I was an early adopter of the QC. Got probably 2nd or 3rd batch from Sweetwater after introduction. Early on, I found I had the common ground loop many were experiencing with their QC's. Contacted both SW and Neural support and both were of little help. Eventually, as of two years ago in 2021, Neural publicly admitted that some users were experiencing these ground loops and that they were working to source a new grounded power adapter. The stock power supply with the QC is ungrounded. Since 2021, and only one additional follow-up email about the issue from Neural support, no additional news. Of course I have since bought a new, grounded, after-market power supply costing about $100 that mostly fixed the issue. There were occasions that I got a ground loop even with a grounded power supply but that was rare. Wifi is also very spotty. Could be right next to your router and get a weak wifi signal. Overall the build quality is ok. Like that of a high dollar pedal like Strymon. Compared to some of the other modelers however, the QC is a much lighter weight, less rugged option.

As for the QC's ecosystem. It's come a pretty good way in the past few years. Overall, I'd say they are pretty much where they need to be in order to be considered a viable option against some of the more refined ecosystems. The captures are incredible. The speaker cabs are also great. And the interface is 2nd to none. In fact, I'd argue that Neural have set the new standard for modelers in terms of user interface. Touch screen, twistable foot switches, it's just very intuitive.

I hope for a 2nd generation that fixes some of the build quality issues many have experienced.

I love this processor. It's incredibly powerful, and while it is slightly limited in comparison to other modelers at a similar price, what it delivers sounds really really good. This was the deciding factor in me buying this specific product over competitors. That is honestly what matters most to me, the product makes my guitar sound how I imagine it might sound when I'm thinking up these routings and presets on it. It does not have all of the features of similarly priced models, but what it does it does so well that I don't care, it sounds so good!
I can't stress enough how easy this thing was for me to figure out and get good sounds out of. It's also really useful on stage as it as 2 TRS outs and 2 XLR outs. You can run two guitars (or a guitar + bass) through this model easily, and I've done it a number of times. Another option is to use it as a USB interface, it's incredibly versatile!
Also, there is a desktop app (currently unreleased, but teased) on the way for editing the device, and NDSP are still spending effort to update it.
It must be said that we still do not have the promised plugin support, but I understand how difficult that is to actually implement, and why it's taken so long. What they do have is most of the amps and cabs from the presets. The few that you can't get in the box (like a dumble) are also pretty easy to find from the incredible community.
Overall, I am so happy with this product and I would buy another. It is an invaluable piece of my gear now, and I have gigged with it multiple times with nothing but good results.

I don`t play out but its cheaper then me spending 2000 to 4000 on a amp Because that`s what I seam to like This thing cane hit 90% or better sounding like real amp is a winner in my book. Tons of options. Seams pretty solid had mine almost a YR now my kid steals it from my room all the time he loves it. If it was stolen Id get another. Tons of tones to download..... Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

Sound- Amazing. This will replace your amps and cabs in the studio, at home, and at shows. I've been designing, building, and modding guitar effects and amp circuits for decades so I'm decently sensitive to the sound and feel of my equipment. The Quad Cortex has replaced my amps, cabs, and pedal boards. Imagine showing up to a gig, plugging your guitar into your Quad Cortex, putting on your in-ear monitor, and then running the Quad Cortex straight to the soundboard. No carrying amps, monitors, or anything heavy; Just you, a couple of guitars, a Quad Cortex, and acting like you're in the bathroom for 30 minutes while the rest of the band brings in the drums and PA. Cool.

Support- I had a slight issue with mine and Neural DSP sent me a return shipping label and I had it back in a matter of days. Incredible!

Functionality - The switching options feel endless. I play in cover bands that cover everything from rap to grunge, to metal and pop which means that I want radically different sounds through a live set. I use the Quad Cortex by setting up each song with its own set of amps, cabs, effects, and switching. A typical setup will have a stomp switch for: Song Intro, Verse, Chorus, Solo, 2nd verse, Outro. Each setting has its own unique amps, amp settings, effects, and effects settings. Once I have these setup, I plug it into a DAW and set the levels based on the LUFS which will make your sound guy cry happy tears.

I've been using my quad on stage for about 8 months now. Easy to program and use. Great sounds, updates keep adding features. But something was not right with the sound. I had been using a solid state power amp and it never quite sounded right. Then, I purchased an all tube Fryette power amp LX 2 to push this gem. Suddenly I found my sound. No amp compares to the combined sounds I am now hearing. Add 2 orange ppc 412 cabs to the mix and WOW this quad just became the best sounding combo pack ever. Every amp you can imagine sounding clear and powerful.

This is my touring rig. Any country any voltage.

Yesterday, after traveling for more than two hours to get to a gig, a concert, as we were setting up our equipment, I connected my Quad Cortex to my pedalboard. It started to power up, but suddenly it shut off. I unplugged the power supply, tried to plug it in again to see if it would turn on, but it never did.

I'm not really angry, but it was a frustrating situation because it's part of a job and responsibility. So, one can't expose themselves to a situation where, if there hadn't been an amp provided for me to use, I would have had to tell them, "Oh, my Quad Cortex broke," and you know how that goes. I think Neural DSP is a promising company. It seems like a high-level technology. But I've often shared that I think it's still a developing company, especially when it comes to the Quad Cortex. There's still a long way to go. I believe in the near future, it's going to be something spectacular. Perhaps for someone who uses this tool in their studio or at home, everything is fine. But for live work and equipment movement or simply having to rely on a product that won't fail when playing live and won't compromise your work, in my personal opinion, I don't want to speak badly of the product, but based on my experience, I can't use this live again. Unfortunately, I have to share this because many people ask me on social media for my opinion, and I often say I have Fractal, Tube Amps, Line 6, Quad Cortex, and many other gears that I use depending on the situation. But in the case of modelers, I've never had an issue with Fractal or Line 6. Speaking from the year 2000 when I used a POD 2.0, I never had an issue like this. I hope to resolve it, but truly, in my experience, I can't trust a product like this again for live performances.

The QC is a quality product so far. Pros: The amp models and captures sound nice. I get so much utility out of this thing and can pack a pro sounding rig into a backpack. The size, rotary switches and touch screen really do make this thing easy to use. I find not having a desktop editor a non issue. It is very easy to build and save patches. The looper is an amazing addition as well.

Cons: Updates are slow to release and the UI can be a bit buggy depending on firmware version. The looper can freeze up the unit and a reboot is needed to clear its memory I suppose on 2.1.1. The effects loop is also not at unity with the rest of the effects chain by default. It takes some adjustment for sure.

Overall, it's a dope product and I hope that Neural continues to make refinements, improvements and additions to the QC.

Quad Cortex sounds and feels like one is playing through a real amp. Truly amazing!

The only problem one may have when purchasing the QC is the grounding issue when using only headphones for monitoring. Neural DSP is working on a fix for this but it is not available yet according to their support team. So, I had to purchase a third party grounded power supply (e.g. CIOKS) to fix the grounding issue.

Very happy with the QC once I was able to get the grounding problem resolved.

Had it about 2 weeks now, have made several neural captures, absolutely incredible. Closest amp sim to real thing I've ever heard/played both in terms of sound and feel. Onboard effects and amp models, compressors, etc all sound fantastic as well. For several sounds I ended up using their Amp/Cab Sim modeling over my own neural captures. Their "D - Cell" modeling is insanely accurate and juicy(I have used Diezel amps for years, and am very familiar with their character and thus a qualified judge.) So stoked and happy this technology exists. And with it being software based its only going to get better. Also, great online user community, with direct contact to developers who are actively listening and looking to implement users requests for features. This things gonna take over the entire industry!

I've had my new QC for a little over a week, now. I've had previous modelers from Line6 and Zoom. This is much, much better, clearer, and more realistic. It has amazing capabilities, however, I differ from many other reviewers about the intuitive UI. I'm an electrical engineer with a lot of previous modeler experience and I have still found this unit to be difficult to program. It also lacks some critical shortcuts that other modelers have, such as copying and pasting of presets, and moving those presets to other user locations. Also, there are hundreds of built-in presets that mostly sound similar. Finally, it should have been updated with a built-in expression pedal by now. Still, I'll be keeping this unit and using it for many years because it sounds great after you spend many hours coaxing useful sounds out of it.

So I bought one initially about 18 months ago. Waiting a while for it to come in and loved it. Was a little discouraged at the slower pace of updates than I expected. Hybrid mode was still a little cumbersome.

Ended up selling the unit to try something else. Well long story short, I'm back and I love it. It is just fun and easy to dial in preset tones and build presets from scratch. Nice knowing I can do everything on the unit itself without needing a laptop. And there's something so gratifying turning those switches to make fine tuning adjustments.

I think Neural is doing great things. I'll just have to be more patient on future updates because they do happen but slowly. For what the unit is right now though, I love it. I was able to squeeze it on a board with a ridiculous amount of other digital pedals and some analog with a switcher and it's glorious. I don't think there much I can't do with this setup. And best of all no laptop needed. (however I won't be mad when the QC editor does eventually come out).

The QC gets a lot of hate due to delays in promised features (plugin porting, desktop editor etc), fair enough. The key is, don't buy a product based on future promises. I personally don't care about a desktop editor because the UI is phenomenal! I had a Fractal FM9 and the UI is a nightmare! The sounds were good, but I had to spend WAY too much time tweaking endless parameters. The free captures on the Cortex Cloud (especially Tone Junkie) are awesome, and the built in models are outstanding! The bottom line is Quad Cortex, Kemper and Fractal can all sound amazing! For me, it comes down to workflow, and the QC is EASILY the winner. QC is amazing!!

Completly blown away by how this thing sounds. I'm mainly using this at my home studio, and it streamlined the entire process. Not to mention the sounds I'm able to get out of this right out of the gate are nothing short of incredible. You read a lot of negative comments about the QC, but for me it's perfect. It's very user-friendly. The cortex cloud is awesome. It's built like a tank. And it has an incredible future ahead of it. 10/10!

Sound is incredible once dialed in to your situation.
The tone sharing on the app is absolute time saver, if your like me and don't like to spend hours turning knobs then you will enjoy these files that you can tweak to your liking.
There's more to come with this in the future and i bought it on that promise that we will be able to run our Neural DSP plug ins through on this, still waiting on this major update at time of review.
The options of routing are crazy i was very impressed running this straight to house !
The delays and modulations are extremely good.

Did i need this - No
would i recommend this - Damn skippy !

This is the best modeler / capture-based effects unit I've ever used. The sounds that come out of it are amazing, the ability to push the amps to breakup, the complement of tasteful effects, the fact that I can use it for more than one or two (read: 4 + USB) inputs and that it provides both balanced 1/4" and XLR outputs is just fantastic.

It also weighs maybe 1/4 of my Helix Floor and has enough footswitches to make the changes I need when I need them is fantastic too.

The only things I wished it had would be something akin to the control center where I can control other parameters than just on/off and not get into making scenes just for that purpose, and that it has a wall wart rather than a full NEMA 120V cable would be just great.

This unit has power for days. I still haven't maxed it out yet.

Best,

Ken

This gets a lot of great reviews and I have downloaded some great tones. That said, the onboard tones are flat and I think it'll take some time for new users to figure it out. I had a hard time figuring out basic functions and I'm normally good at tech. If you get this, it's best to know someone who also has it, imho, to give you several tutorials.

All what I need, great gear, great sounds great things coming up, I really love this Quad Cortex so far.

I picked this up after watching a review my sales engineer Andrew did and it's probably my favorite purchase. Tons of settings to play around with, the capture feature works well, and it sounds great. I like that the captures in the cloud are not hidden behind a paywall.

My only minor complaints are the wifi is spotty when updating or downloading from the cloud and Im not a fan of the push/hold for the tuner.

Just utterly fantastic quite honestly after being on the fence for some time I have zero regrets its the most amazing piece of guitar gear I've ever purchased in my 30+ years of playing worth every cent. Its frighteningly brilliant.

After getting two defective Kemper profilers, Ben Robinson suggested I try the Quad Cortex. All I can say odd I absolutely love it!! The tone that I get is absolutely amazing, and the ability to clone pedals is far beyond what other profilers can do. Even when using in ear monitors, I still have that amp in the room feel. I wouldn't think twice about recommending this unit to anyone. The amp profiles are amazing and sound so close to the real thing that it's scary!! Make the investment, you'll not regret it!!! Thanks again Ben, you need a raise!!!

This unit is phenomenal. It's the heart of my set up and it does everything perfectly. Logan is my rep, and I hope they pay him extremely well, he is top notch. I never consider buying through any other company! Thanks guys.

For a unit this price, I was left a bit underwhelmed.

The amp modeling is ok. With IR's, it's better (tried quite a few of the stock cabs, just wasn't impressed)

This thing really shines with the captures. They sound much better than the modeled amps and are less noisy. But......captures are inflexible. You can't tweak them like a real amp. Unless someone captures an amp with the exact settings you're looking for, it's a pain to find your sound.

Add to that what was probably a faulty power supply (unit had a constant buzzing in the 3-5khz range. Isolated to the unit with all other items off an only connected to an interface for ground) and this just doesn't feel good at 1850.

Probably great for live playing, but I'm a studio hobbyist, and it just didn't do it for me.

It almost feels illegal owning one of these. The amount you save on pedals and amps is worth the initial investment when paired with a good FRFR to get close to that "amp in the room" feeling. I've owned and used other popular amp modelers since right around when I began playing guitar to begin with. The QC was chosen to replace my previous modeler primarily due to its form factor- it's small and portable with a UI and cloud ecosystem that makes it feel kinda like a less bloated Apple product. It's even replaced my audio interface and I'd say it's been a step up. If you're a gamer at all, you can even use the QC as an input mixer for your mic, eliminating the need to buy a separate gaming headset. It's also fun to change the pitch of your voice to mess with teammates.

There is some room for improvement, however. Many were disappointed with the lack of features that were initially used to sell the device (desktop editor, plugin integration). I understand their disappointment, despite it personally not inhibiting my experience whatsoever as it sits on my desk and does all I need it to as is.

The storage capacity for downloaded presets could be improved, as could the file organization system. The drag and drop touch screen is nice, but sometimes I feel as certain things could be more simple and efficient.

On the hardware end, the USB and power cable that came with the QC fit a little too tightly in their respective slots on the device itself, which seems a bit odd and can feel offputting when plugging/unplugging the QC for transport. The volume pot can be finicky which is not great when using it as an interface. When making small adjustments to volume, it can jump around causing loud spikes in volume between nothches. This is alarming if using monitor speakers that get loud.

Aside from my complaints that boil down to minor nuisances, I'd still recommend any guitarist grab this. Especially if you're a guitar teacher looking for something to bring to students' homes to keep them interested, or if you jam with others regularly.

Maybe the best gear purchase I've ever made. Super responsive and user-friendly. Endless possibilities for the average gig musician. The recent updates have been great. Desktop editor comes out soon which should make it even better.

I'm really impressed with this processor. It's really well built, the touch screen and switch/knob UI makes it super easy to program and I'm getting arguably the best tones I've ever gotten. The amp/cab models and captures sound fantastic and (most of) the effects sound great too. The ability to create my own captures and use 3rd party captures is a real plus. I would have given it 5 stars but I think Neural has some work left to do on the firmware. Some features like MIDI implementation and effects selection are still a bit limited. The V2.0 update brought some big improvements. Hopefully the other limitations will be vastly improved within the next few months. All in all I'm really happy with this great lil' tone machine!

I have used other products in the past that sound just about as good as the Quad Cortex but it took much more setup and trial and error to get them sounding great. The only count I would put against it is that the buttons are so close together making stage use a little difficult. I have a knee replacement and am a little unstable on one leg. This may not be an issue for others. I've been recommending this to all my tone chasing friends of late. Great product.

My brief history is that I have been playing bass for forty years and have played in a metal covers band on and off for thirty. The last dozen-ish years have been an "off" period. During this last break I sold the best rig I have ever owned which was a Mesa Boogie 400+ and a Powerhouse 1000 cabinet. Also sold was my modest collection of effects pedals. So recently I was approached to gig again. While I loved my previous setup buying it all again was impractical for my current needs. Sensible for my current situation would be a mini-amp for home noodling and something to aid me going amp-less at band practice and gigs.

Enter a Line 6 Helix Floor which was my 1st attempt. I gotta say it is a great unit and I was able to use it as I hoped with a tone I was very pleased with. The ONLY reason I did not stick with it is that with the effects chain and modeled amp that I put together for my "go to" tone I was running out of processing power when I would add their detuning effect (Poly Capo) and I needed that since I currently only have one bass and we play songs of differing tunings. I may have been able to reconfigure my signal chain to make it work but every time I tried it was a compromise that I didn't care for in tone. Helix returned.

Now I welcome the Quad Cortex. First off, running out of DSP is a non-issue. My biggest chain with multiple amps and cabinets with every effect I could possibly want including the detuning leaves me with plenty of DSP to spare. The interface to program the unit is very user friendly and this is coming from a noob at this sorta thing. The stomp switches functioning as knobs to tweak parameters is such a handy and cool feature. Selecting and/or moving amps/cabs/IRS/effects is a breeze. Setting up a preset and creating various scenes inside of that preset makes it a joy to use live. I have a Lehle expression pedal to go with the QC. Being able to control multiple parameters from the Lehle is something that most people into this sorta thing probably take for granted but for me it was mind blowing and something I can't imaging not having now. My needs are using a modest fraction of the capabilities of the unit but I am a complete convert.

The tone is what really matters. It nails the sound I was after......my old Mesa 400+. As soon as I dialed it in I quickly found my dirty overdriven base tone and my occasional use clean tone. I felt at home. Using it as my direct box at practice and at gigs is where it really shines. This is by leaps and bounds the best I have ever sounded live and in the mix..

It being a computer gives me some pause as to it's long term durability but that may just be the old curmudgeon in me since it also isn't exactly cheap but the physical construction appears stout and I have no tangible concerns about reliability.

I have had this about 1 month. Completely blown away with tone and response. Used a Helix for the last 2 yrs and honestly wish I had switched sooner.

Being a beginner at a late stage in life this incredible engineering marvel is not for me.

The build quality is awesome, the user interface is intuitive and easy to use.

So you're probably wondering why I returned it a week after I unboxed it.

For me it's just overkill.

I did a ton of research on YouTube, sweetwaters web site, Reddit, the Neural blogs, basically anything and everything I could get my hands on.

Here's your answer.

1. I don't know the sound of a Supro vs Mesa boogie vs Evh 5150

I know all the buzz words, but don't have the ear to knows what's the tone I'm looking for.

2. I bought the unit and a Line 6 speaker box so when ever one of the pre-sets sounded super gainy I call my experienced friends who big regularly, they said just go into everyone of the presets and turn the gain down. About 25 presets in I said "screw this" and called sweetwater by SE confirmed that the presets could be too gainy so I returned to modifying the remaining preset about 25 more into the process I said "screw this". With a different word and decided I was not ready for big boy toys yet


I sent it all back and am waiting for my Princeton amp and slew of pedals (with real dials that I can see) to be delivered.

Maybe in a few years I'll know more and will tackle whatever modeler is the hot toy in 2025.

Moral of the story old guys can afford to jump in the deep end, but if Sweetwater didn't have a liberal return policy…

The quad cortex sounds amazing, is extremely versatile, and easy to operate. In terms of tone, it is five stars. Dirty sounds are insane right out of the box, you have to dig a little for clean tones, but they are incredible once they are dialed in. I use the QC with my guitars, but also with my Roland FP60x digital piano, and it takes the piano to another level.

Cons, wi-fi is terrible. I have to move my quad cortex right next to my wifi router for it to connect to wi-fi. Not everyone seems to have this issue, but many share this issue. Im using a Spectrum internet provided multi-band router that outperforms my netgear nighthawk router with every other device in my house.

Also, dealing with input and output levels on user created presets sometimes creates issues with clipping signals. Im a guitarist, and these issues are above my pay grade. Seems to happen more with user created captures, and I'm sure some people can figure this issue out better than I.

I use the QC through Yamaha HS8 studio monitors. I sold my fender deluxe reverb reissue, Mesa transatlantic 30 head, and most of my pedals after purchasing the QC and couldn't be happier. No more buzzes, hums, and other quirks involved with maintaining my tube amps and analog rig.

I'm still unraveling the mysteries of the Quad Cortex. It has so many presets that I forget I can model, build my own and etc.

The only thing more deep and vast is God above.

You'll have tons of fun diving into this thing. Don't be overwhelmed, start simple and phone a friend.

It can be fun at times but it's lacking in a lot of areas. They've made promises they haven't kept which is bad business imo. The best sound I got out of it was capturing my Axe-FxIII. I hope they get around to fulfilling their promises. It's been a couple years now.

I absolutely love this has a great feel very intuitive to what u play I've used everything from helix to boss to headrush to mooer this just rules over all of them..keeps ur tone of tube amps very nicely closest Sim amps I've heard ...

UI/UX is flawless, sounds phenomenal. Nothing I would change about it.
Way smaller and lighter than I initially expected, which is pretty cool too.
Rotary knobs are great.

Probably the funnest gear. Even if no one else gets to enjoy this going over a sound system. I could play with this forever. Worth the $$$

Kyle - my sales rep. IS the best!

I've used Strymon, Line 6, Kemper, Fractal, Boss, etc and this is hands down my favorite all-in-one floorboard molding unit! It was definitely a little lacking in the effects and usability at first but with the additions and upgrades Neural continues to put out it has become just as good if not better that the other units out. Here's my pros & cons:

Pros- super compact unit with a crazy amount of processing power, the amp models are fantastic and feel better to play than the other units, you can tweak a bit but I really like that they don't let you tweak every tiny detail of the amps like Line 6 & Fractal because you spend more time playing instead of endlessly tweaking for hours, the Capture feature is the real star feature because it replicates amps and drive pedals to about 95% accuracy (except Fuzz pedals because of impedance issues) and you can upload other users captures for FREE, I love trying out other user's pedal/amp/preamp captures! It's built like a tank, the pedal switcher/knobs are genius, the unit is very lightweight, and Neural is working around the clock to keep making this thing even better.. every update has made using the unit easier, more intuitive, and more fun. As a working musician that needs to cover a ton of sounds this thing does so much more than I would ever need. I use this in the studio, live with bands, live as a solo/duo, and for solo/duo gigs I run my vocal, guitar (& internal looping pedal), backing tracks, and saxophonist through just this floorboard; it sounds amazing and saves a lot of setup/teardown time!

Cons- I don't love the compressors in the unit, and there are now a bunch of them, there's just something that seems to be missing in the compressors (why many people keep their favorite compressors on their pedalboards along with the QC. While there is a lot of processing power it's not endless. Captures eat up a lot of the DSP so if you think you're going to run 10 different capture blocks then be prepared for latency lag; they swear there's no latency but unfortunately there is and it can be measured, but this seems to only happen when using a lot of Captures in a preset. The power supply is a joke for a unit this expensive, it should've been a grounded IEC power outlet, but replacement power adaptors are cheap and there are companies like Cioks and Sweetfoot that make great multi-output power supplies for the QC & extra pedals (though they're not cheap). If you LOVE your specific delay, reverb, octave type effects then you'll need to keep them; the QC finally has a great variety of effects but you can't Capture these types of pedals so you'll need to try replicating them or just add them to your pedalboard (though I was really surprised I could replace all the amazing delay & reverb sounds from my Source Audio Collider!).

One magic day they'll figure out how to get all the plug-ins onto this unit, and when that happens I think it'll make this the new golden standard of modern molding units. But until then I can still make Captures of my favorite plug-in tones and use those amazing sounds in my live shows!

I've been a tube amp user for the past 15 years and I've resisted going digital the entire time. I've the last year I've been playing out a lot more and it has just become such a hassle to lug around heavy amps. This little guy covers all the bases and then some. All the amps in this sound amazing. I love that neural dsp has an online community to share settings and captures. My only thing that I'm concerned about is how roadworthy it is going to be. I guess only time will tell.

I have had my Quad for around half a year now, and I can say that it is one of the best investments you could make. What makes this stand out is that it can produce pretty much any sound you could ask for, they all sound really good, and the UI is extremely intuitive to the point that I never needed o tread the instructions to figure out how to use a feature. I use the Quad for three main settings, bedroom practice, worship, and home recording. Using this as a practice tool is great since you can quickly get whatever tone you want and easily play using the headphone output. In a live setting, you can easily change sounds on the fly with zero latency using one of the 3 modes. And for recording, the Quad works great as an audio interface which is nice since I can plug straight into my computer. They recently updated the IR loader feature which makes importing my cab sims super easy. And of course, it's just super fun to mess around with all sorts of effect combos to see what works and what doesn't.

I own a Fractal Axe FX II XL+ that I've used for the last few years, but it's just too bulky, and while it does have significantly more functionality built-in to the device, it simply isn't the most user friendly with respect to tweaking your settings. However, as an enthusiast, and more a home studio guitar player, you can't beat the Quad Cortex. The community is great with seemingly endless presets available for download, and it's just plain easier to use. For example, if you're playing a gig, and you're running your Axe Fx, you need the Axe Edit and a PC/Mac if you need to modify/tweek the settings. The Quad Cortex provides an intuitive touch screen display with more amps, cabs, and neural captures than one one human would ever realistically use. In my honest opinion, this is the best amp modeler for a digital setup out right now. That said, the Axe Fx may have more "tweakable" capabilities, but unless you're truly a professional artist, the additional features are negligible. That said, I have an Axe Fx with the MFC-101 footswitch, expression pedal, and a half dozen humbuster cables in my closet, and I don't see it coming back out while I'm still running this little desktop beast. I spent a lot of time deciding between upgrading from my Axe Fx II to a III, and in the end I chose the Quad Cortex, AND I WAS NOT WRONG!!!! Save the money and space folks, and get the Quad Cortex.

After owning a Helix for 6 years I was hesitant to buy a new modeler. I`m not the one who follows the hype so I was very skeptical. This modeler is superior, the captures are great and I can dial in a preset in minutes, compared to the helix that took me countless hours. Did two gigs with it and this thing sounded amazing, feels almost like a real amp. Why 4.5 stars? Delays are on the weak side, took me a while to figure out how to dial in two delays for a U2 inspired preset whereas in the Helix was easier. Another thing is that I miss the scribble strips and many setup options in the Helix but man the Quad Cortex fits in my guitar gig bag and that is a big plus!!!!

duration of ownership: approximately 6mo
experience with sweetwater: excellent, thank you sales engineer Joe Holsclaw ; was expecting a 1-3 month queue, unit ended up shipping in a week. he was professional and helpful.

the quad cortex has the sound you want; it has all of the other sounds as well. it has too many sounds. it sounds amazing. pairing with high quality studio headset/speakers is essential.

the chassis is well designed ; it feels like a piece of music equipment. i particularly enjoy the edge bevel and the interaction i have with the knobs. the touch screen is responsive and abrasion resistant. there's a lot to be said about the hardware and software - i just can't say it. i've had this thing for 6 months and i feel like i'm barely scratching the surface. what i can say is that i was considering the quad cortex or a traditional tube amplifier/cabinet setup. i am glad i went with the quad cortex. it is small and sounds great at any volume, and the digital connectivity has opened up new practice and recording opportunities for me. if diving deep into each amp and pedal setting is too much for you, as it was for me in the beginning, use the app to download presets that others have made. it's easy, and doing so will help you understand how to make your own ; downloading presets is also a great way to very quickly sound like your favorite artist and play along to songs. neural has been good about rolling out frequent OS updates that add new features.

in my experience ; this thing is incredible. would not exchange for anything, it's mine and you can't have it back. i would only consider buying a tube amp/cab as a decoration to flex in front of house guests, and to use as an archaic reminder that boomer musicians existed.

Coming from using the Kemper as my profiler, I can say that there was an immediate difference for me the moment I plugged the Quad in. The amp models actually "feel" like the amps, not just sound like them which is what I think a lot of the other profilers lack (Kemper, Line 6). I understand the frustrations a lot of people have with their slow process of new software updates, lack of desktop editor, etc., but I think that will all come with time and highly doubt this is some unit that will be abandoned within a few years. Their latest software update took about 6 months for them, but was well for the wait in my opinion. See for yourself, but my Kemper was listed for sale within hours of playing the Quad!

Since receiving my QC several weeks ago, I have had the time of my life. I love the tones, feel, portability and ease of use. There is not a ton of parameters that need to be adjusted, but the ones that need to be are there, which I like! There's a reason that players like Martin Miller, Jack Gardner, Tom Quayle and a host of other top notch guitarists are loving there Quad Cortex's! The hype is real!!!!

I switched from Native Instruments Guitar Rig 6 Pro to this and there's no comparison.

Okay, there's some comparison:

Foremostly, this is rock solid and won't glitch out on stage or in the studio (that's the main reason I switched.)

Secondly, this has effectively unlimited sounds considering the captures available in the community. GR6 has dang near nothing in comparison.

Conversely, Guitar Rig's modulation options beat the Quad Cortex. Namely, the ability to run LFO's to modulate any parameter. Though I suspect they'll add that at some point.

The only other place where GR6 kills the QC is the ability to keep physical copies of your own saves. I should be able to download my presets for safe keeping. But honestly, that doesn't affect day-to-day usage (until Neural's server crashes and everybody loses their backups lol) It does seem that they may be delivering that option with the PC/Mac editor though.

But, really, this device is life-alteringly amazing. It is amazingly fast and intuitive to program (with a relatively small learning curve up front) and gives you real time feedback about what you're doing. I have never in my wildest dreams imagined that I could modify such a powerful signal chain in real time. Just a few years ago, it would take millions of dollars of equipment and a world-class studio to switch sounds like this. My mind is blown.

The technology is phenomenal and it's so nice to have a roomful of amps and effects without the wiring headaches and backaches. I paired mine with Yamaha HS5 studio monitors and the sound is terrific. There's something about the gutpunch of a great tube amp that can't be replaced, but that's lost when it goes into a PA or a recording anyway. This is a 10/10 product for me.

I also have AxeFX 3 and HX Stomp (+a dozen tube amps, of which I only regularly use a couple). Is Quad Cortex perfect? Not at this point. The effects are fairly rudimentary and have nowhere near the configurability you'd find in either Helix or AxeFX. There's also no desktop based editor, which IMO is something Neural DSP needs to fix ASAP. But the headline feature - neural capture easily redeems it, even if effects are not quite enough for a sophisticated user. Within 5 minutes I had a replica of my Mesa Mark V + UA OX tone that sounds like a million bucks. I could not accomplish the same with AxeFX's tone capture. In order to replicate that tone there, I had to capture the IR of UA OX (+eq) separately, for which one needs a solid state amp, BTW, and then I had to laboriously dial in the amp settings of which for the Mark there a few dozen. I'm not even mentioning Helix, which does get you somewhat close (only with this IR again), but just doesn't sound the same as the amp. So TL;DR: if you already have a tube rig and like its tone, I do not believe there's currently a better device on the market to faithfully emulate it in terms of both the tone and the feel. Everything else is just gravy, and it'll get better over time. From the standpoint of manufacturing quality, the device is in a league of its own. The user experience is great due to the touch screen, in spite of the lack of the desktop editor. I did not need the user manual.

This modeler it's awesome I dare to say the best one in the market right now, tried helix & and kemper but this one it's really special , user friendly sooo intuitive within the first hour to start of using it I could get many presets for the music that I play (live & studio) , and the feature that has built in Wi-Fi and you don't need to use a computer to update or transfer presets it's a bigass bonus. This really is the MacBook Pro for the guitar/bassist players I love it. Thanks to Aaron tremain my sales engineer.

I bought this for a long work trip to the East Coast. I was interested in hardware that had good form factor, sounded great, and was dead simple to use. The QC delivers this in spades. It's half the size of a Helix, has the best "feel" of any modeler I've played, and the UI is what draws people to the unit. Touch screen is really nice; very responsive.

So why 3 stars? A few reasons. For starters, there is no desktop editor for this thing; everything is done via the Cortex Cloud app via Wi-Fi. Cool right? Nope. There is zero organization to any of the captures, presets, IRs, etc. You just "star" it on the app and download it on the unit. No folder system. Nothing. Additionally, the Wi-Fi is atrocious on this unit, and quite famously so. Most peoples fix for this is using mobile hotspots or just living with it; I'm not living with shoddy Wi-Fi connections on an $ unit that literally relies solely on the Wi-Fi for any functionality other than playing it.

Lastly, I'll touch briefly on NDSP as a company. NDSP has a phenomenal reputation when it comes to their plugins which truly are top notch. Unfortunately, they probably (wrongly) thought that their reputation would precede them when it came to entering into the hardware game. It didn't. They stumbled out of the gate, over promising and under delivering on several aspects and feature sets (namely a desktop editor, hybrid mode, and plugins ported). They still have not delivered those promised features two years after launch, and rather continue to use the "soon" strategy constantly leading customers on to think that these features will eventually be added. Their latest 2.0 firmware was supposed to be released in November, which slipped to December, which slipped to January and as of this writing (January 13), it has yet to be released.

My units Wi-Fi was inoperable and Sweetwater was kind enough to overnight another unit. That unit also had faulty Wi-Fi, and so in the end I decided to move on from the unit.
Sweetwater was superbly supportive in the troubleshooting and return process; thanks for the help Colton. I'm sorry it didn't work out.

In the end, if you are considering this product you should buy it for what it is today without thinking that it will be updated to include the features they promised two years ago. And for that, it's a great sounding unit with killer UI and a form factor that is unrivaled.

Feels and sounds like an amp more than any other modeler imo. Plus, great UI. Also, pretty fun to use as well.

Great unit, Im primarily a bass player but does everything I need and more! for jams, shows, or recording! Good tool and great value.

This unit sounds great. The capture process takes significantly longer time than Kemper. The touchscreen is solid but not as sensitive as smartphones.
The company is terrible. Tons of promised features are still lacking and the updates come extremely SLOW. Either all those promises are just baiting for consumers or NDSP just does not have the ability.
Just do not expect any updates, ignore the expectations that NDSP sells you. You will feel great with your purchase.

I really wanted to like this unit. I have a couple of Neural's plugins and they are great. The unit I got had soo much noise and hum it was unusable. I do a lot of my playing via headphones and there was so much noise from a ground loop buzz that I couldn't justify keeping it. Then I did some research and learned that this was a known problem. Maybe if Neural gets the kinks worked out, I'll give it another try.

Going through several MFX units, I've finally found one that seems to be amazingly accurate and keeps the feel of a tube amp. There will always be differences, but this is as close as it gets.

I started with the Stomp - was an integral part of my pedalboard eventually replacing most of mu FX pedals. I needed more IO, though to run wet/dry type setups and limited number of blocks was challenging at times.

Turned to the Headrush Pedalboard-amazing unit, plenty of IO, and I noticed some delays in things like pitch shifting. Made sense as the DSP their using is going on 8+ years. Sounded amazing and their FRFR 112 complimented it well.

The Neutral though was on another level. Dual DSPs, I can run vocals and guitar simultaneously through it, and although they don't have as many models as the Stomp or Headrush, I can run a capture on anything I make need. Game changer. Worth the extra $$$ if you have it.

The device is expensive, one of the higher priced options in its category. BUT, if you have a true need for what it brings, it IS worth it. The "capture" function alone justifies half the cost alone, it is simply amazing. Fairly easy to use and to shape tones. Clean to look at and to perform with and it is as flexible of a device as you will find. I did a ton of research and still hesitated some due to the price tag but I am left glad I did it. If you are into tweeks and knobs, this is pure bliss for you! If you are looking for pro level tones..you'll be very happy. If you are just looking for a toy to fiddle around with, then you may want to purchase something cheaper.

Buy 1 Now!

I'll probably by a 2nd one in the Spring when gigs pick back up for me 6 days a week during tourist season.
I've owned every Modeler available, tons of pedals, every pedal modeler, ect...
This blows everything away IMHO.

The ONLY Question I have is: Can it take the Heat during the summer time of outdoor shows???
Remains to be seen!

The Quad Cortex definitely can get the Tube sounds but most importantly, the feel!
I will say that I am using multiple captures that I purchased that are Spot On!

The Neural DSP Quad Cortex is an incredible tool for any musician or producer. Its ease of use is one of its standout features, allowing even those with limited experience with software or hardware-based effects to quickly get up and running. The user interface is intuitive and user-friendly, making it easy to navigate and customize your sound.

One of the best things about the Quad Cortex is the large community of users who share their own custom presets on the forum. This allows users to quickly and easily access a wide range of high-quality sounds, from subtle effects to more dramatic and experimental ones. The forum is also a great place to share your own presets and connect with other users to discuss tips and techniques.

Coming from the PodGo and the Walrus ACS1, I would say that in addition to great guitar sounds, I have never had as much success with bass sounds as I have had in the QC. I like to stay creative when I record, and I have just found this so easy to dial in and get right to work.

Overall, the Neural DSP Quad Cortex is a fantastic piece of technology that makes it easy for anyone to create professional-sounding effects. Its ease of use and wide range of available presets make it a must-have for any musician or producer.

This might be the best piece of music equipment I've ever purchased and I've purchased A LOT of music gear over the past 20 years in all spheres including guitar, bass, drums, keys, amps, pedals, accessories, recording mics and hardware, live audio and pa equipment.

This thing is the REAL DEAL!

Incredible sounding effects, a whack load of amps and cabs to choose from and the ability to MODEL your own amps and drive pedals make the Neural among the top in modeling units along with Kemper and AxeFX. While the Helix is regarded as efficient, I personally was never impressed enough to get excited.

My relationship with Neural started in the studio using Archetype Petrucci, (which is incredible as well). With the Neural I've been able to find great amp models and solid effects.

If you're considering going digital this is hands down the way to go. It's simple to use and efficient for live performance and most importantly it sounds incredible.

Cheers in your search and purchase.

This thing is incredible. I was totally expecting to not like it, but honestly, I loved it! I have many boutique amps and pedals but every time, I find myself gravitating towards the Quadcortex. My only concern is that it overheats. I am unsure how it would work in a hot environment gigging per example. As I play at home only, to fix that I use a laptop cooling pad, and it works like a charm.

I've owned a kemper and played a helix and axe Fx. The Quad Cortex is by far my fav. It's really easy to dial in and getting free presets and captures from the Cortex app is awesome!

This thing is powerful, it is perfect for my home studio. I own all sorts of pedals and amps; I could have saved so much money if I had this machine before. Do not get me wrong, even though I love it, it does not substitute the real thing, but it gets pretty close. You will not notice the difference in a mix.

I've been really loving my quad cortex. It sounds great, it's super versatile, it has tons of routing options, and it's pretty intuitive to use (after watching the YouTube tutorials, that is). It's also easy to gig with (seamless switching when using scenes!). Plus they're going to continue to support it with updates which is really awesome.

I've heard nothing but good things about the Quad Cortex, and Neural speaks for themselves from their legendary plugins. I had a friend who's had the QC from the start and he says they've been nothing but all ears and nonstop with updates that further improve the QC. Within minutes of turning it on and plugging in my guitar, I already had a really great tone dialed in. What really blew me away were the captures. My goodness. The fact I can capture my favorite analog overdrives and tube amps just make this a game changer. They sound and FEEL just like my overdrives. The power, touchscreen, abundance of switches, and unlimited freedom for creativity make it the perfect all-in-one for a live musician.

I've waited on getting a modeler for a long time and was on the fence between this and an AxeFX. I ended up getting this (after they came back in stock) due to the form factor. I love how portable the unit is and how easy it is to get up and running. It sounds PHENOMENAL! I wish the cab impulses were higher quality but, like the original AxeFX, updates are coming to address a lot of features and improvements. I look at the unit as an investment in the future. The effects sound much better than expected and the feel of the amp models are terrific. The captures are truly amazing and open up an endless supply of tones!

The USB interface is really good too - no issues, low latency, and direct monitoring. Very VERY happy with the purchase. Also, the Sweetwater presets/captures are a great starting point for some great tones!

I've always used analog devices, with a lot of disbelief I decided to try the QC anyway, now I've completely changed my mind, this is an amazing device, with huge possibilities, this is the future of guitar equipment!

I was a Headrush and Eventide user (Enough said). Had to sell off many pedals that were (honestly) my favorites, so I could afford this one unit. No regrets here. Size at 11.4" wide is beyond belief for what it does. Fits my circumstance perfectly, just wish I hadn't waited so long. Also SW's price was the best, couldn't get a better one used. Shipping was fast, as is all of my SW purchases. Thank you Adam!

It's nearly everything I liked about the Kemper and then some. I still really like a playing through a cab and making my own profiles or captures…Im capable and experienced with making direct profiles and "merging" them on Kemper but always hated how when you turned cabinet simulation off it just took out what it "thought" the cab sim was. Even merged profiles sounded different than it should have. Having an ir block fixes all of that though. That was just my biggest pet peeve with Kemper. However, the design, layout, learning curve, screen, and everything else feels a lot better on this as well. While it's pretty much a must to read the manual on any high end modeler…you can quickly and easily dial in a really nice tone with this with almost no knowledge and without spending a day reading. A powered rack version would be extra sweet…but I'm sure I'm the minority on that. I currently split my signal and run a cab ir to the pa and run a signal with no cab to a separate output which goes into a power amp and into a cab. You wouldn't know that it's not a real valve amp without looking at it. It's honestly remarkable and I've just barely scratched the surface.

As a Kemper and AXE FX 3 owner I bought this with Low expectations. I thought this was mostly hype and wouldn't stand with the Kemper and the AXE FX, I couldn't have been more wrong. This thing sounds huge, effects sound stellar and doesn't leave me wanting to use my Strymon effects. Amps are full and LUSH, sounds just like my fenders and Friedman and it even has that chew that my Friedman has.

The captures of pedals and amps are so stunning my friends and I couldn't tell which was real amp and what was the Quad Cortex. IMO more accurate than the Kemper captures hands down.

Touch screen: absolutely stunning display! touch sensitivity is great and leaves me wondering why more bigger companies don't offer this feature! Excellent quality

Build Quality: This is an absolute Tank and is of the highest quality materials.

Footprint (Size): I was shocked at how small it was, its no where near as big as the Kemper pedal or helix, But it is bigger than the HX Stomp lol.

Foot-switches: Are super high quality and doesn't leave me scared to step on them, they seem to be of highest quality

Cons: I hate the power supply it dissent seem like it would be durable for the working musician so I ordered the CIOKS DC7 power supply to solve this to give me peace of mind. The Last con I have is that I didn't get this sooner.

If you are on the fence get it and try it out, coming from Kemper and AXE FX there is a learning curve however its cake, once you spend a little time with it. Sweetwater has a great tutorial and I Learned a lot from Mitch's video.

Enjoy and take the plunge I dont believe you will be sorry one bit.

Great Job Neural you did it!

I've had mine for 14 months now. I never particularly wanted a modeler, but I loved the NDSP Plug-Ins and the QC caught my eye when they announced it. It may be lacking in a few areas compared to other modelers and certain features that were promoted at launch, but for what it is I'm good with it. Flexible tones, GREAT UI, reliable performance. Do your research, know what you're getting, and it won't disappoint.

I gave this a 3 star because I obviously have ALOT to learn about this awesome piece of gear.
I have other software I record with, so I do not use my recording monitors.
I use PA's and Head Rush 108's and pretty much most of the factory presets sound dull like im using the bridge pickup.
I built a filtering EQ template with a few choice cuts that get close.. but still not quite mesmerized like most reviewers.
It has to be something im doing, so I still reserve judgment.
The high end and upper mids do not "bloom" like others.

The Quad Cortex is a fantastic piece of gear, some of the on board presets are not the best sounding out there, but if you download a few presets from Neural's web site, you will be gladly surprise, I'm still on the learning curve, but so far this is awesome and its a keeper, thanks to my rep Ty Heimann for all his help to get me one of this...

First things first, I'm a humongous fan of Neural DSP. I love what they're doing with the guitar community, their plugins (of which I own a few and absolutely LOVE), and all of the wonderful things they're doing to bring the guitar forward into the future. As a gigging and touring musician for about ten years, I've been so excited for this thing since it was announced. The quality of their plugins in a giggable, tourable, and portable format? I was absolutely FLOORED when my Sweetwater engineer let me know that my unit was finally ready to be shipped out to me.

And so, I got it. And I opened it faster than a kid on Christmas Day, plugged it in, and fell in love. I did notice a few strange sounds happening, but I ignored them as I was finally playing this thing that I was waiting to play for so long! As I familiarized myself with the sounds, I loved so many, but noticed an issue with a few core sounds that I needed for my work: it was (what I can only describe as) aliasing. Hardcore. On some pretty low gain sounds, too, which is the bulk of the work that I do and the music that I create. There were sounds happening that I wasn't playing which covered up the chords and intervals I was playing, especially through headphones and direct into monitors. Some of my chords didn't even sound like what they were supposed to! Through an amp, it was easier to hide them a bit, although they were still there (more so when bypassing the preamp of my amp and using a clean amp model through to my amp's power section instead of using the QC as a Pedalboard into the front of it). Whether it was through my own (or downloaded) pedal captures, the same sounds would shoot through. I'd never dealt with anything like that using their plugins, analog gear and tube amps, or even a budget modeling amp.

For non distorted sounds (super clean funk things and plugging in my Yamaha Silent Nylon for what I normally do: multi-guitar gigs), it was absolutely perfect. I really loved it. I even found that I love the sound of a nylon string guitar going into an envelope filter lol. But for anything else, it just wouldn't work right. I researched this issue, adjusted all of the I/O settings, looked up techniques to get modelers to sound as best as possible, and did pretty much everything I could by myself to try to fix this. Tech support was very helpful too, but Neural DSP wouldn't get back to them when they'd try to connect me.

Naturally, you can't risk having these nasty sounds popping out at an audience through front of house in huge halls and in music-mates' monitors, so I decided to return it and now I'm stuck having to deal with traveling with pedalboards, dealing with cables, heavy weight (my back isn't the best haha) and hoping that TSA (I fly a lot for my work) won't take anything apart when I see them, and spending more money on gear in the long run than I would have if my QC worked. I don't feel comfortable messing around with modeling for a bit after this experience, as it was a huge disappointment and I don't want to risk having this kind of experience again. Who knows? I may try a helix or an HX stomp at some point and see what happens.

I don't believe this is an accurate representation of everyone's experience with it - I'm very sure I got a dud. However, it was mine and I figured I should share it. Based on all of the other reviews and videos on the internet, you should more than likely have a better experience than I did with your Quad Cortex. At least, I hope you do.

Shoutout to Tech Support and my Sweetwater engineer for putting up with my emails and frustrations. They were absolutely great and I appreciate the work that Sweetwater does to treat their customers RIGHT.

The Neural DSP Quad Cortex is a beast with its massive CPU!
I use it for both Bass and Guitar and was able to replicate my pedalboard with ease.
Using captures is simple and a great way to have the pedals, amps that you use in the QC.
Check out the awesome captures from Sweetwater Studios on the Cortex Cloud. Amazing! The
QC is only going to get better with future updates. Thank you Sweetwater!

I had some fun checking out this unit, the sounds and workflow are really nice, wasn't hard to navigate the unit and try out factory presets and make my own sounds relatively easily even without using a manual. My issues with the unit are of a different nature, they've promised a computer editor since the beginning and its still not there, they've promised an upgraded power supply to help with some of the ground loop issues some were having and even the power supply itself was meant for someone who never leaves their house with a machine that is supposed to be used on a stage somewhere, the adapter wouldn't last two weeks with someone regularly gigging out, why they would send such a flimsy garbage adapter with an almost two thousand dollar unit is laughable. So i think they have a great sounding unit that's going to be great in coming years but at this price point they should do better.

Put simply, the QC was clearly built with the end result in mind (what the listeners ultimately hear). The Axe-FX was built for tinkerers, and the Kemper long enjoyed pretty much zero competition in profiling/capturing. None of these 3 are really worse than the other, but the Kemper adds its own unique tonal characteristics to its profiles and it doesn't really nail the real thing like the Quad Cortex. Rabea Massaad did a fantastic comparison on YouTube between the QC and the Kemper.

The QC met and exceeded all my expectations. I paired it with a Mission Gemini II cabinet and after a few minutes tweaking the cabinet, I was thoroughly enjoying the tones of the presets alone. The difference in tone from the real amplifiers is pretty much indiscernible with this setup because the cabinet provides the perfect balance between "FRFR" and "guitar cabinet" for the perfect "amp in the room" sound. I've owned and played several Marshalls, Oranges, Peavey's, Mesas, EVH's, Egnators, etc. over the years and will be selling my remaining collection after I capture them with my Quad Cortex. The captures that can be found on Neural's cloud sound even better than the stock amps too.

My only con is the super flimsy power supply. One has to be very careful to not accidentally pull it out or break it when playing out. Thankfully this is not a big issue for me as a home player, which is why I still give it 5 stars.

Free tip: Don't buy an expensive stand. A cheap laptop stand is enough. Very convenient and allows you to make adjustments at your desk while playing.

I received my Quad Cortex back in June 2021 and let Neural DSP know I'm having ground noise issues. They confirmed this is a know problem affecting many customers and they're working on sending us grounded power supplies. We've been waiting for over a year and Neural DSP still hasn't sent out replacement power supplies. I think the QC is really great, but I would never use it live due to the unreliable noise issues I'm having.

The Quad Cortex is the real deal. Factory presets are decent but downloading other users presets like Rabea Massaad is where it's at. It's very easy to navigate. When they have the firmware update where the Neural DSP plug-ins will be in the pedal is what we are all waiting for. Very blessed to have this unit and very pleased with it so far. I've tried other modellers Headrush, line 6 Helix but was never happy with my tone but the Quad Cortex is as was it gets. Check out my unboxing video on YT link is below

After capturing my personally owned favorite Fender amp and my overdrive and distortion pedals I can honestly say this thing is awesome. Sonically I personally can NOT hear the difference once I dialed in the capture correctly. It does take a few captures to figure out where settings should be especially on pedals but once you do it's amazing and accurate. It was a bit of a wait for the QC but I could not be happier as it is excellent. I am not sure I will keep my amps and all my pedals now that they have been captured and saved. It's just that good. Great product.

I finally set up my QC after having it for about a month but not having the time to mess around with it. The on-board sounds are great and there's so much you can do with it but I was a little disappointed in Sweetwater for only posting part of an answer from the QC FAQ. On the Sweetwater page, they have this:

Q: If I have bought Neural DSP plug-ins, can I get them on QC? A: We will send a free plug-in update in a Cortex compatible format to everyone who owns our plug-ins, so the modules in them can be loaded onto the device.

The COMPLETE answer from Neural is this:

If I have bought Neural DSP plugins, can I get them on QC?
Not currently - we are working on it. When it's possible we will send a free plugin update in a Cortex compatible format to everyone who owns our plugins so the modules in them can be loaded onto the device.

So one of the things I was most excited about isn't even possible at the moment and god only knows when it will be. A little frustrating, but still super excited to mess around with the unit!

I have had the QC for about a month, and it has exceeded my expectations in the area of "ease of use" and overall feel and sound. I have owned several modelers and this is by far the easiest to get the sound that your looking for. The presets done by other professionals is a big plus if you don't want to spend time creating presets from scratch. The touchscreen interface and the stomp or knob option for the ten buttons is very clever and useful. So far this is the state of the art, in my humble opinion.

Our studio has primarily used Kemper and older AXFX gear which have been real workhorses but they aren't keeping up with the needs and requirements of musicians. When new products come out there is always a huge amount of hype for the launch and the QC has been the top of the hype for over a year since launch but this time, the hype is warranted. Everything about this gear is state of the art, forward thinking and incorporates almost every feature found in existing modelers. Thanks NDSP and thanks to Sweetwater for providing what could be the hottest gear for the next 2-3 years. You will see negative reviews for just about anything these days but from my perspective, the QC seems to defy and maintain strong positive reviews so we gambled on the hype, sold off some of the legacy Kemper/AXE gear and migrated to the QC and never been happier.
This is truly gear for the forward thinking musician.

It's just insane what this QC can do. It's like having the future right in front of you. Really looking forward to more updates and the ability to use archetypes with it.

Many of the features advertised by NDSP have yet to be delivered. Many people are having problems with hum, NDSP promised a new replacement power supply to fix this but have yet to deliver. Captures are kind of cool, but they are not nearly as accurate as Kemper profiles. The cloud is very awkward at best, the only connectivity that you have to this device is through the Neural cloud via a Wi-Fi connection. You can only have one backup, every time you make a backup it overwrites your previous backup. To load IR's you must first upload them to the cloud on your computer and then download them to your QC from the Neural cloud over Wi-Fi, it would be so much easier to do all of this from your PC connected to the QC but you can't. File management is horrible. I kept mine hoping that they would deliver on their promises, but they have yet to do so, very disappointed to say the least.

Sounds excellent. Compact,straight forward, easy to use. In my opinion it sounds and feels better than a Helix. I don't have experience with Axe-FX. As OS updates are released it gets better and better. It's definitely a pro level tool.

I was a Line6 guy for years and I still own and enjoy my HX Stomp. What I really enjoy about the Cortex is what some people complain about. I hate having to get out the laptop if I just want to noodle and explore tones. I've never experienced an easier to use interface right from the front of the unit itself. Not to mention how quickly you can dial in a quality tone. Sure they have a ways to go with effects, but what they have is quality, and I do hope to see improvements there soon but what's there now is fine. Huge shout out to Spencer Kennedy for all the years not that he's helped me and followed up too!

This thing is fantastic and it hasn't even come close to being fully fleshed out yet. Really excited to see what the future holds for this unit and company. After a couple of years of bouncing around to different amps and modeling pedalboards the hunt is finally over.

If you are even remotely considering purchasing one of these I do not think you will regret it. I've had the Quad Cortex for a few months now and have never been even close to being this satisfied with my tone in anything. So versatile, sounds incredible. The UI makes sense and is easy to pick up on. The only other modeler/profiler I've spent a substantial amount of time with is the Kemper, and the Quad Cortex beats it out in every way. If you get the

I received my quad cortex. I was super stoked to get it after wating 5 months. I opened it up plugged it in and there was a big blue spot in bottom left of the lcd screen about the size of a half dollar. I spoke with sweat water they contacted ndsp and was told it wasn't a big deal and if it functions properly it's ok… so I could not exchange this item for a non Defective qc…. I am very disappointed after spending 2 k and wating 5 months to get a defective qc and then be told to deal with it…. I am beyond words. Gage Massey is my rep I am very disappointed.

I personally do not care about the Plugins. The Device has everything I need.
The Noise issue is only a problem if you ONLY plug in Guitar & Headphones & do not know how to use a Noise Gate.
This is my Modeler/Capture device of choice when not running a Real Amp.
When I run a Real Amp this is my Pedalboard "Virtually"
It copies Drives & Fuzz & they behave exactly like the Real thing at that setting.
Have more than 1 setting you like for a Drive, capture both ways & switch in an instant.
Effects are not as Plentiful as the AxeFX, but all the Basics are there.
I captured all my Amps & Pedals.
So if I have a gig where I can get loud I run an Amp & this is my Pedalboard.
The deficiency isn't the QuadCortex, it is FRFR... I Don;t like it as much as a Real Amp.
If I need to play a small Venue, I run this into a Friedman ASC-10 on stage & direct to the PA (FOH)

Recent updates added the Looper & more.
Anyone complaining there is not enough "Models" have to realize this is more like a Kemper.
You have Profiles/Captures galore. There's 50+ Amps "Models"
With Captures there's 1000 of Amps & you can take your Amp & Pedal Collection with you too. Plus everyone else's Pedal Collection too. To me the Captures Feel/Sound better than any Modeler anyways, cause they Feel & Sound exactly like what you just Captured.

Downsides I find:
WiFi is bad. Neural's Engineers did not know what they were doing here.
Boise for the "Couch" guitarist. Guitar & Headphones with nothing else plugged in... use a Noise Gate or plug something else on will fix. Also a Globtek Power Supply will fix this. But who's gonna complain about the Noise Gate in your performance??? Your by yourself on a Couch...

First off I'd like to say that almost everything comes down to personal preference of course. For me though, this thing is top of the game for amp modelers. I've played through Kempers, the Headrush, messed around with a Helix and those are all great options as well. I personally think the QC just has something special the others are lacking. To me, that's how it feels when I'm playing through it. It feels very reactive to my playing in the same or similar way a tube amp would. You can feel the life in the tones where I feel especially with Kempers in my opinion you don't get that. Kempers have always seemed and felt very digital to me and there's nothing wrong with that. But I love how natural and real sounding the QC feels.

I've done two full US tours with the QC now and let me tell you it absolutely holds up on the road. It sounds consistent every night and with the cloud it's so easy for me to update my rigs/tones on the fly if need be. Even if I just want to try a different OD or Amp for one night. It couldn't be easier.

On that note as well, the cloud is just a phenomenal part of the package too. Having endless presets, captures etc... at your disposal is just incredible.

As soon as they put out the desktop editor it will be perfect.

TLDR: The QC has been an excellent performer, though it still has a couple of workflow issues yet to be ironed out.

I recieved my Quad Cortex in September of last year after a few months of waiting, and I have greatly enjoyed my time with it so far. I my background is mainly in blues and classic rock, though the vast majority of what I've been using the QC for so far is serving on church worship teams. Before getting the QC, I used the HX Stomp with a pedalboard for a couple of years, and I ordered the QC because I wanted to move up to a unit with more DSP horsepower that still had a smaller form factor than the Helix LT/Floor or Fractal FM9. To that end, the QC has been rock solid so far and I have had no issues in terms of tones or reliability. I'm very familiar with the types of tones I go for when playing live at church or as a part of small blues groups, and I was able to dial in those tones within just a couple days of experimentation. Part of what made the transition from a medium pedalboard to the QC as an all-in-one solution was the ability to capture my analog ODs. I still prefer to use my Belle Starr, ODR-1, and Timmy when I'm at home, but for live use the captures do an incredible job of giving me the sound and feel of the pedals without having to bring them along to the gig.

On the software side, NDSP has so far shown an excellent commitment to supporting the QC post-launch. They've pushed feature rich updates fairly consistently ever 2-3 months that have alleviated all of my initial hesitations with the unit such as the initial issues with DSP optimizattion on stereo reverbs and delays. They've also made vast improvements in the general workflow of the QC, however I still have two main missing workflow features that have yet to be added.
1- As of now, you cannot assign a footswitch in Stomp mode to toggle parameters between a user-defined max and min value. This is a feature I used regularly on my HX Stomp to easily toggle my amp gain between clean and light drive for example. It is also super useful in a CCM setting for setting a single button to increase delay and reverb mix & decay on the fly in Stomp mode without having to have a scene pre-programmed in advance.
2- There is currently no desktop editor. This feature is honestly needed ASAP. The touchscreen is neat and all, but honestly it feels more like a gimmick than an actual workflow improvement over the Helix's buttons and knobs. As such, I firmly disagree with the idea that the touchscreen does away with the need for a true desktop editor.

These issues are not dealbreakers for me personally and I have confidence that NDSP is continuing to work on implementing features such as these, but for now I'm taking off half a star.

Long overdue review. Admittedly, I had to camp on it and run it through some paces. First, 5 star props to Mike Soper for his 'ear to hear' and sharing & caring to get this in the bag. Thanks Mike, best purchase in years. You are AWESOME!

The QC may bot be a fit for everyone, but for my situation (wood shedding, writing, composing, songwriting, recording, and playing guitar, bass and acoustic music), its what works better than expected. After carving out over 100 presets to build custom libraries, patches, and scenes for very workable quick recalls was easy. Routing options galore make for perfect injection other gadgets, stereo combinations, and more. The small footprint and simple patch building process flow, combined with cloud capture sharing of IR's and patches makes for building sounds simple. Found a few things like MIDI over USB to enable using Quantiloop, a 4 track looper for laying down ideas on the fly. Noting slack with the latest QC update's looper if one track looping is all you need, it beats others. Tough screen and rotary are great, I will wait for the UI app that will likely close the gap on Helix for desktop control. Only negative, and actually - its getting better; the effects. Quality & quantity is there and getting better. The first firmware was shy a few things for me and I paired it up with an HX Effects in the QC's effects loop, allowing placement of many variations of effects, anywhere in signal path, in stereo too. That combined with a couple expression pedals, one for the QC's 2 exp ports, 1 for the HX Effects 3 exp ports, both with break-out switches to control individually or at the same time, and an Airstep for the Quantilooper app (useful for many things actually), all direct- mounted to a Temple Audio board. Couldn't be happier. Thanks Sweetwater.

Always in the pursuit of better tone and primarily being tube amp guy until 2012, I've tried most of the contenders and a number of high-quality digital modelers in an attempt to find an all-in-one unit that could FIRST...produce convincing amp tones...the Quad Cortex (QC) "finally" does just that! Having extensive experience with the following processors but not to discredit these fine companies at all...Fractal Audio (AX8), Kemper Stage and the L6 HD500/Helix I found myself only somewhat content with the modelled amplifier tones these units produced. I then designed a pedalboard based around Kingsley tube preamp pedals and was finally able to achieve true tube-amp tone from a pedalboard and without having to lug an amp to the stage or studio. However, that board consists of two large Kingsley dual switched preamps, a Big Sky, two H9s, four Overdrives, a volume pedal and an expression pedal...along with an ADA GCS-3 D.I., Cioks DC-7 and an MXR M239 power supplies. My major intrigue with the QC was to see if its capture feature could accurately replicate my Kingsley and Bogner Atma tones. Well, after capturing both my Atma and Kingsley preamps (captured through the effects Return of my Atma) with the QCs capture feature I can honestly say the captures are astoundingly good and almost undistinguishable from one another! Great UI as well and in a small, lightweight unit;)

I recently received my Quad Cortex after waiting almost five months and all I can say is it was definitely worth the wait!
I have been using my Helix for the past 4 years and needed a smaller platform for ease of travel for upcoming gigs and the Quad Cortex hit all the check marks for the perfect modeler so I sold the Helix and no regrets. I have been watching the forums and seeing the excitement of users posting phenomenal feedback and videos so I was really happy to see what all the fuss was about and now my bass player and other guitarists are also planning on purchasing one soon! Thanks Sweetwater and Neural DSP!

I decided to try the Quad Cortex for a couple of weeks before writing a review. This is the first modeler I have tried which actually have usable stock presets that sound amazing (I had before Fractal's AX8). I really like the price for what it has to offer, a good portable size, amazing construction, amazing sounds with really good feel at hands, captures capability, nice effects, etc.

This unit scaled my rigged down nicely. Was using a Splawn modified Marshall and a TON of stomp boxes. No more. Unbelievable tone for a modeler and finding new tones everyday. UI is pretty intuitive, easy to find great tone out of the box.

Got a great price on a demo unit that is absolutely perfect (Thanks Sweetwater!). New OS out, can't wait to see the new features. Definitely recommend this unit to those that need a lot of versatility in a small package.

This thing is simply amazing. It was worth the 3 month wait to get it. Dave Yanes is a super wonderful sales rep. Now I will start to configure my temple board.

I have years of day-in day-out experience with a Lone Star guitar amp and with RB bass amps. I find the Quad Cortex versions to indistinguishable from the hardware. This experience shocked me -- I have never played an emulation that felt as good as real hardware before. The G-K sounds better and is more accurate than G-K's own reissue. The ability to drop in a Klon, tape delays and plate reverb is really special. And total integration with a DAW is icing on the cake. Being able to record, practice to tracks, punch in overdubs without any setup time is great. Now bring on the plugin support so I can use the Plini and Corey Wong amps!

I was just as excited about checking this out as anyone. It took about 3 months to receive after I put in my order.

Keep in mind that this is my first modeler.

Pros:
-Time flies by trying Presets and mixing matching Captures
-I'm personally a huge fan of not having Captures behind paywalls
-get to try ludicrously expensive and rare amps (via captures)
-customizable IR's that sound quite good (may take a second to dial in)
-intuitive Operating System
-built well
-easy to use App

Cons:
-I find the Captures of Pedals lack flavor/essence
-lack of effects and pedals
-some cabs seem to have more TLC than others when changing mics/positions
-trouble picking up Wi-Fi

Grey Area:
-over promised possibilities?
-infrequent updates?

I've messed around with a many amp modelers (Fractal, Line-6, Kemper). I must say, this is truly a remarkable one. It was extremely fast and intuitive to lock in a tone compared to the QCs competitors. Recording and live quality is amazing. NeuralDSP's plug-ins I've been a fan of and it's fantastic to see a modeler come out from them. Playing shows with this and just traveling with this is far more efficient. I would def recommend this product. The wait IS worth the outcome!

This device has lots of potential and may be great after some issues are resolved and it gets all the features hyped when first announced. As of now it has major noise issues if only used with headphones (only connecting guitar cable, headphones and power). Once properly grounded to other devices (using XLR, USB, etc.) the noise mostly goes away, but in some environments it still has noise issues where Fractal, Helix, Kemper do not. Amp and effects selection is barebones compared to the competition. Effects are generally much better on Fractal and Helix. Captures can be great and seem on par with Kemper, but also lots of terrible ones. Managing captures is terrible, but managing your data in general is not good on the QC. QC is definitely a case of a company over promising and under delivering. Maybe someday it will equal the hype, but for now I use my Fractal 90% of the time.

Cool unit, lots of potential, definitely needs refinement and improvement to play with the top notch modelers (Fractal, Kemper). This is NOT a magical digital modeler that is going to bridge the divide and make real amps obsolete. The amp modeling is pretty good, but not a ton to choose from - I would say in between Helix quality and Fractal.
The capture quality is great and on par with Kemper, but much less profiles to choose from right now and I think even the best profiles can be almost matched with great digital models.
FX are woefully behind vs. Fractal, not even close.
Neural DSP overpromised at launch, under delivered and there release cadence for updates has been slow to date.
I sold mine and have not interest in rebuying in the future.

I bought this from Sweetwater when the QC first came out after waiting a VERY long time for first shipments.
I was pleased with the solid design, and functionality of the unit was exactly as advertised...very cool.
The unit however did not have a looper, extensive effects selection, or desktop editor, and to date, it still doesn't. The unit overall sounds very good, and if "captures" are your thing, this is probably the unit for you.
However, if captures are not important and you want extensive built-in amps and effects, this is probably NOT the unit youwant...at least not yet. I was also unimpressed with the power supply arrangement for a unit of this caliber. I ultimately sold mine, because I grew tired of waiting for more effects, a desktop editor, a looper, and an iOS app the was something more than another way of social networking (a Bluetooth edotr would have caused me to keep it). These are a lor of money...be sure this is what you want.

I am absolutely blown away by the Quad Cortex. Everything you love about the Fractal Axe FX, Line 6 Helix, and Kemper profiler is found in this gorgeous unit. As a former Kemper user, I have to say this is the superior product.

The intuitive interface and touchscreen makes tone chasing easier then ever before, not to mention how convenient the WiFi connectivity is to have. The tones out of this little box are INSANE. Even the stock presets are useable in a live or mix setting. I feature that took me by surprise was the pedal capture. Having the chance to try a Fortin 33 and other overdrives was a lot more fun than I anticipated.

I would love to see additional amp models and effects added to the quad cortex but I know that in due time the appropriate updates will make this product an absolute monster, ESPECIALLY once the plug-in integration takes place.

10/10 would recommend.

I play a lot of metal music. I found the QC to be lacking in this department and I couldn't get a good sound out of it for high gain. I tried for days, but could never really get a sound I was happy with. The clean tones were amazing and I was very satisfied with them. The interface was awesome and very intuitive. The capture didn't work well for me either. Ultimately other units are better in my opinion. Maybe a few future versions will get this where it needs to be but in my opinion it was not as great (at least for high gain) as it's hyped to be.

Imagine having an unlimited resource of guitar & bass amps, pedals and fx all available at the touch of a finger. Imagine combining all the top modelers, tones, features, added functionality and putting that into a perfectly sized platform that is all controlled via a large multitouch touchscreen (no computer editor needed here folks). Imagine owning a piece of history, that motivates you in ways you never knew possible. Well this pro audio gear is a reality and available from Sweetwater!

What else can you say other than the reviews are 100% correct and this piece of hardware is the hottest thing on the market currently and will probably remain there for a few years. Nothing can touch the quality or performance of this gear and Neural hit it out of the park on this one. The capturing ability of amps, pedals, the extreme ease of use, switching and routing, support for USB Audio and more all in the smallest platform with touch screen is simply amazing and with ongoing firmware updates, it's only getting better. If you are serious, it's time to step up and treat yourself to the best gear available and this is definitely it!

I love this thing, smells and performs like a new car.

As is pretty standard with this product, the order for my Quad Cortex went in about Jan/Feb 2021 timeframe and then finally received it in July. I furiously unboxed it and went to work. I then experienced the phases that all of us are familiar with when it comes to new gear: excitement at first (I mean, just the out of box JCM 2203 tone is out of this world), but then as you go and tweak and adjust and tweak some more, you run into some road blocks...and then you get less excited and more overwhelmed, you watch 27 videos of others reviewing what they like and don't like...then your ears get tired...you run into phase and routing issues, you forget to save the preset a baker's dozen times and have to start from scratch, and then the dreaded buyer's remorse sets in as you start gravitating back to your old ways until it finally either secures a place in your sanctuary...or ends up on eBay :-/

Unfortunately, I had gigs coming up where I fell back on my Rockerverb and vast array of pedals and footswitches to play gigs this summer as I ran out of time to perfect the Quad Cortex...so I boxed it up and sat on my shelf for a couple months while I lugged a metric ton of gear around to each show. I'd look at it every once in a while but I was uninspired, almost convinced a few times to just sell it and not hold out.

Fast forward to last weekend...I had just did a gig with my OWN tried and true PA, and I was not satisfied with the sound of my rig that I know and love, mostly due to not being able to juice my amp without overpowering the room...setting out on the journey again, I cracked open the Quad Cortex again, factory restored and updated it, and did a re-capture (dry) of my Rockerverb, and I fell in love all over again. Not sure what if anything changed, but it felt like night and day from my prior experience...but then I ran into the same issue of how to create a "footswitchable" neural capture (or amp block in general) and I just...couldn't do it...it doesn't exist. I'd have to swap between scene and stomp mode and it was just heading into dangerous territory for a live setting and was reliving the frustration all over again. I almost put it back in the box...

Then I got a lightbulb moment: what about MIDI??? I settled on a Morningstar MC6 fully programmable MIDI controller and got to work fine-tuning my rig. Not only was I able to set up the QC to create two "Scenes" that would switch between two amp captures *while at the same time* staying in "Stomp" mode on the QC, I was now able to perfectly program banks onto the MIDI controller where I could switch between gig and flow view, hold the same switch down and go to the preset that I need along with the default mode of the QC ("Stomp" or "scene", depending on song) and name certain blocks generically (like "Delay" and "Dist" instead of the names that) on the MIDI controller. I spent about 8 hours putting in the work and then making sure I could play songs all the way through just using the MIDI controller and occasionally a stomp or two on the QC depending on the moment. Then I routed the pre-cab sim'd signal into a power amp into my cab and I absolutely could NOT tell the difference between the QC and the real deal. Then finally, I put it through studio monitors and thusly...I finally achieved what I set out to do since the original purchase - pack the tube amps and some of my outboard stompboxes away and go fully digital for the first time since I picked up guitar in 2001. I still have some pedals I can't let go of or get absorbed into the QC...but the modeler is now doing most of the work.

I re-wired my pedalboard and brought it to practice the other day, where I have our own PA and monitoring system set up. I purposefully left my tube amps at home. This was it...if it didn't pass the test through a professional PA, I was probably going to put it up for sale. I plugged the XLR out to where a mic would normally go in front of a cab and my drummer and we let a song rip...wow...just, wow...not only was I grinning like an idiot, but in some respects, the sound was even more clear than a mic'd cab, especially since I wasn't battling resonance and feedback. The saturated tone was there even at lower volumes and it just sang in a way that I never thought possible. It sounds great with ALL of my guitars - Strat, Les Paul with P90s, SG with Seymours, Standard Tele...with some very minor adjustments, I can get the perfect sound out of every guitar now.

So after months of hemming and hawing over this thing, I finally obtained what *I* needed out of the Quad Cortex and I can roll up to a gig with just my pedalboard if I really needed to now, especially in venues with a good PA. With my setup...if the QC is the heart and soul of the amp/effects, the MIDI controller is the brain which is why it's front and center in my board. You will feel like a wizard after you figure out what works for you!

Alot to love about this thing. If you can get through the 3-6 month wait. It's still missing a few things that im sure are coming like - loop function, support for nueral plugins, etc. But otherwise it is a superb do-all modeler that is built and designed pretty much perfectly.

I have used modelers all the way back to the original line 6 pod and have extensive experience with real amps. The quad cortex is incredible! Why? It is easier to dial in great tone compared with other units. The amp controls are extremely close to the actual amps so experience with real amps makes it even easier to dial in. The Cab module offers tremendous flexibility and really helps dial in tone in a much more natural way compared with scrolling endlessly through IR lists. The captures are very accurate. I captured a few on my amps and other than a very tiny variation in volume the tone and feel was there. I owned a kemper for years and while I think it is still an awesome tool the Quad Cortex is more accurate and I'm happier with the tone. There always seemed to be a little 'extra'signature to kemper profiles which I don't experience with the QC. Obviously the unit is still in its infancy and there are many things that will evolve but even in its present form it is incredible (and I do own an axe fx 3 — yes — too much gear….).

*This is a revised review*

This is not worth the money. I have an Axe2 and after using the QC for a couple months, exclusively… I'm not a fan.
Way too much money for what it offers. It's a dedicated bass modeler currently.
It actually does bass better than guitar. I say this with no bias towards other products, this is just an honest review.
I wanted to like it because of the price tag and hype. I was making myself like it because of those reasons. Truth is, it lacks a usable EQ. The loaded presets are as good as it gets as far as dynamics. It lacks punch across all of the guitar presets. Even when I put my favorite SlateDigital comps/press on the channels, it lacked punch/smack. I found it to be dull sounding overall.

As far as toned back genres like ambient rock and some classic rock sounds were ok. Still lacked punch when I wanted it.
The ambient stuff sounded good though.
Here's where they lost me though…
I plugged my Axe2 back in and realized how much higher fidelity it had. Way more sparkle and usable EQ!

So now, it's a dedicated bass brick… I could have bought a Alpha head from Darkglass for less and hooked up a slick pedalboard to with that money.
After taxes and the case I'm nearly $ into this thing.

At this point I'm along for the ride. If this sounds harsh, so be it. There's not enough honest people out there anymore. I though I could trust RabeaFro but no - he was the one who sold me on this thing!
Everyone out there just carrying on and on about how much they love it… it's dishonest.

If you have the money, I would spend it on fractal for guitar. That said, I do t think fractal has a great bass tone. This thing has a fantastic bass tone. I have a Dingwall NG2 That rips through this thing, it's pretty awesome. That it though, don't expect to have your mind blown by Neural if you've used Fractal.

Also, I learned that neural hired an R & D team to rehash tech they already own! That SLO preset you love!? Nope, they decided to not load their flagship presets into this thing… why? Well, because it is more lucrative to hire R & D to rehash something (IMO) of lower quality into the "new and improved" floor modeler. The fact it didn't come with the tech we know and love - it's shameful. There's no good reason, again, my opinion.

The FX are not bad. I dont think they sound as good as fractal, again, not as high-fi. Also, there's a lot of flow issues. It's not intuitive as everyone claims. These are minor issues that I'm sure will get worked out eventually but it doesn't save changes you make to input output sequencing. I was annoyed by that.. just little things…

I'm unhappy that EVERYONE hyped this to be the latest and greatest and it isn't. Plain and simple. Axe has a million tweakable settings and they all are usable. The QC has limited tweaking abilities and they're mostly trash. The table EQ is harsh and feels clumsy… like using an outdated radio with a simple eq.

So, this is my honest opinion. I tried to talk to neural about some of the things I thought were disappointing and some guy named "Bastion" was literally rude and angry towards me. That left a bad taste in my mouth - so I guess that's the cherry on top.

It does bass super well but the guitar modeling is subpar especially at that price point. Don't say I didn't warn you.

I've had my Quad Cortex for about 2 weeks now and within that time, I've maybe utilized 0.1% of it's features and capabilities. It has so much to offer that it gets a little overwhelming at times, but I absolutely think it's worth it! I think Neural DSP knocked it out of the park, but the Quad Cortex has a few more firmware updates to go before it's perfect. I have found that the UI is a little buggy and lags a bit. The tuner is probably the worst offender. When I first received it, it had connectivity issues and the first firmware update (from 1.0.0 to 1.1.0) took about 4 hours after troubleshooting, restarting, and then finally downloading and installing. The second one, which released today (9/17/21), took about 15 minutes, so there's already improvements. I think a few more updates and this unit will be smooth and feel complete. As for the backorder/wait times, I ordered mine on 3/26/2021 and it arrived 9/04/2021, so a little over 5 months of waiting [and calling my Sweetwater sales rep every month for updates (Thanks Colton, you're the best!)]. I think the wait was worth it... If you don't mind the wait and you don't mind the price, then I definitely think picking up a unit is a smart decision. This device rocks!

I have owned this Quad Cortexfor a few months now and I'm still surprised how incredible the modeler is. Incredibly versatile and easy to use. Factory presets are pretty good especially with a little tweaking. This is probably the most hyped piece of equipment in the last few years and for good reason.

I have been apprehensive to say the least after spending dollars on this thing but have been happy with the quality and fidelity of the tones ESPECIALLY the captures... Now admittedly I don't own any other modelers but this thing sounds exactly like the amps I put though it even down to the feels and touchyness of the gain..... Would recommend to anyone on the fence about being one. ; )

I've had the Quad Cortex for over 3 months and can't say enough great things about it. I use it for simultaneous guitar and vocal processing, and have now gigged live with it many times.

First and foremost, the amp/drive tone is in a league of its own. They nailed it with the machine learning approach to capturing amps. This and the neural capture technology alone justify its price tag. The form factor is also amazing. Previously I used a vocal processor and separate large guitar pedalboard (OD pedals and Modeller on it). Now I just have one tiny QC for everything and I'm barely touching the DSP capability. I also get consistent comments on how amazing my tone is.

The only downside is that it's a very new product. Some conveniences I'm used to (like a really flexible stomp mode) are missing. I'm confident Neural DSP will address these in future updates. Also, the stomps are a little closer than I'd like, but I got used to it quickly.

Neural DSP raised the bar of what to expect from a digital device. 5 stars all the way!

This unit is well worth the wait. I just received mine a couple of weeks ago and have been thoroughly enjoying the fantastic tones and features of this device. The built in amps, effects, and IRs all sound great but one of the most impressive features is the app which enables you to download captures of amps and pedals that other people have made of their own gear. I also love that I can use this device to make neural captures of my own gear like my early '90's Fender Hotrod Deville 4x10.

The capture process is extremely easy to set up and the results are outstanding. The captures sound almost indiscernible from the reference in all fo the times that I have used it. This is definitely a device that is well worth the price!

My interest in the QC was driven by the advanced routing capabilities and the ability to 'capture' my amps. I am a former green profiler user, and while I love that device, I just could not do what I wanted to do without purchasing a second unit and some sort of mixer to blend them. The Quad Cortex appeared to be a more cost effective solution, and I am very happy with the purchase so far.

It's clear that Neural kept bass players in mind from the beginning. Out of the box, I had no trouble finding plenty of solid amp tones. The ability to run multiple signal chains and amps is exactly what I had hoped it would be. The selection of effects is obviously a work in progress, especially compared to the more mature products out there. That being said, I have not personally found a deal breaker, and it seems as though Neural is on the ball with development and updates. I'm sure that they will close the gap over the next couple of years.

The interface is a real treat to work with, and the rotary stomp buttons are super nice for fine-tuning the settings. The whole experience of going into the settings and dialing in a sound feels very natural to me.

Capturing works exactly as it should and the results are excellent. I'm also impressed with the online system to share captures and presets, as well as a place to backup and restore the device. Big thumbs up.

Overall I think this is a great concept that is well executed and will only improve with time. Was it worth the wait? Absolutely. Would I buy it again? Absolutely.

It's possible I come back and give it a worse rating. Let me explain where I am at…

I received the unit a little more then a week ago. I plugged it in and thought the people who rave about "it's so steam-line! Like an Apple iPhone but a pedal" no, I don't think so. I think there are several things counter intuitive.
It's true that if you use the outputs beyond their default factory settings, you have to change them EVERY-TIME you step on a trigger…
Also, I got stuck in "user presets" confounded that when I hit the preset buttons they did nothing but hopped me in and out of empty user banks.
You have to touch the screen to return to factory presets.. also not awesome.
These are small things that sort of annoyed me at first. I can move past that especially now that I have learned the way it operates.

It does bass better than any modeling system I've used. It's not a big surprise being that Doug founded Dark Glass. The Darkglass presets are amazing.

So, guitars sound great. Here's my issue though - it doesn't not have the detail like fractal. The knobs do not work or feel like a real amp.
I own a triple rectifier and when I turn up the presence it is audible, throughout the spectrum of its ability. You could turn the presence knob on the QC and hear almost no change until you are nearly maxing the knob.
That goes for treble and bass settings.

Another thing I realized is - this unit is made to give you a perfectly mic'd sound. Do not attempt to try and dial in what you would hear in a room, it just doesn't really get you there. I think that's why people have been so turned off by it.
See, we are all so used to our, kemper and axe fx rigs that we are super biased.
The reason I am giving it 5 stars is because I have had time to play with it, past the feelings of "this is not my Axe2 or my Triple Rec" once you get past that you can start to have some fun.
I have been having a blast with this unit. The presets are fun too. People have complained about them but I like how different they are from my own personal presets on the axe.
Also, my recordings have been almost perfect without adding anything to the guitars.
I may add parallax to a split bass channel or some slate comps to a master guitar buss… but I'm loving the way it sounds.

At this point, I will be keeping the unit. It's not perfect. I like where it's going though. I am going to give it a shot and continue to work with it. I think with time they will iron out the small things and bring us a product that's superior then some of the others.
Fingers crossed we will get there sooner rather then later.

.
Four stars because it has potential and I'm along for the ride wherever it goes. It's also way more portable than my current axe setup.

Sam L

Been on this planet for 54 years. Been playing a musical instrument for 45 of those years. I have seen the "next thing to come that will change the course of music production" so many times that I've forgotten most of them.
This time... It delivers and delivers and delivers.
I opened a Kemper for about a year before I got fed up with it. I currently own the Quad Cortex and Helix LT.
There simply no comparison. They're just isn't!
I just updated to the latest version 1.01 and Neural has so many more updates to go before they deliver even more? Again, just no comparison.
The tones, available amp models and captures. No comparison.
I want to add a VERY IMPORTANT piece to this...
For whatever reason people are not talking enough about the pre-loaded captures. Orange Rockerverbs Thunderverbs, Bogners... And so on and so on. These seemed to get lost in the conversation. These captures are SICK!
The available amp models are great don't get me wrong and quite frankly SMOKE the sounds of a Helix! I'm telling you, there just simply isn't a comparison.
Ease of use... No comparison!
I feel as though the only people that have negative things to say, will just be those people regardless of the product.
I'm not easy to please just ask my sales engineer Bob Furlong lol
This pleased me more than anything I've bought in 54 years...

I first off want to say I have nothing but love for the Neural DSP team, and I wish them luck in the future. However this device just isn't for me.

The positives off the bat are the extensive routing options, killer UI, and a stunningly accurate capture feature. This easily beats out the Kemper & Helix in terms of ease of use and options.

But the amp models themselves are what define a unit, and the QC just hasn't sold me. The Neural DSP plugins are mostly solid, and I had high hopes that this unit would be on par with those tones, however I've had no such luck. Just comparing the QC SLO model to the Plugin SLO Suite, there's such an obvious difference. The QC's gain structure is more muddy and "squishy" for lack of a better word, and the cabinet simulator sounds are fairly inflexible despite all the mic options. The Dual Rectifier models have an untamable low-end power amp distortion with none of the characteristic high-end sizzle. The JCM800 lacks the clarity I'd expect from a Marshall. The Diezel VH4 model is ridiculously oversaturated, even with the gain way down.

The effects are usable and pleasant-sounding, and the built-in IR's seem fine, although it'a hard to tell with how weird the Amp models are.

I've had my QC a week. I've only scratched the surface of what it will do. That being said, I'll explain why I did not give it a full five stars. Simply put, the power supply. This is a premium product with a poor power supply. I am an electrical maintenance tech, and cable failures are probably the number one issue I deal with. I recommend an isolation power/surge supply mounted permanently in a case along with the QC. This will help avoid the need to disconnect reconnect at the point of demarcation on the back of the QC. I have also applied shrink tubing to the jack to help protect it from possible wire breaks. The isolation power supply will also help with the fact that the device is ungrounded. 60 cycle hum/noise. I am well pleased with my QC overall. Love the touch screen. Like most I barely even read the manual. Extremely user friendly. The learning curve is pretty much an afternoon of getting familiar with it. After that you'll be a pro. Is it better or worse than some of the competition? I still say tone is a subjective issue. The feel and lack of latency are absolutely what has been claimed in my opinion. Awesome response to how you play. Heavy string attacks as well as light attacks respond accordingly. Probably won't ever sell my tube amps, but I wouldn't be afraid to take it and plug right into house system and gig. Some will disagree, some won't. Like I said, tone is subjective. If you got the club up and jumping at a gig, chances are they like your tones also.

Hard to describe how good this is for me and my workflow. The flexible in/outs and routing are incredible, design is sleek and purposeful.

Now the sounds are the best modeling I've heard. I use Neural's plug ins and I think the QC sounds better - it's the first modeled JCM800 I like, with the right amount of punch and sizzle.

I can't compare to fractal/kemper as I don't have them but for me, this is a clear winner.

I had my Quad Cortex for 2 weeks now. It's so easy to get great tones out of it. With my helix i eventually got good tones, but only after trying different IRs and settings for too long, in the QC it's much easier. Even some factory presets are very nice. The provided captures and some found in the Cortex App are great, i tend to use more OD and amp captures than the modeled ones. There's also something great about the feel, the pick attack, it's hard to put it in words but you will know once you play with it, it feels much more "real" than the Helix. I love its small footprint, after adding an expression pedal (Mission SP1) and an external Boss pedal through one of its FX loops on a pedalboard this is still a smaller and lighter package than my Helix Floor.
On the negative side, effect selection is much more limited than in the Helix right now, there are some bugs and i'm really missing the looper right now. But according to Neural the looper will be available soon, also expression pedal auto-engage is about to be implemented wich is pretty cool and i believe bugs will be quickly solved, right now this is a very new unit (runing 1.03 firmware at the moment of this review).
I really don't like to use an external power supply (as oposed to my Helix that needed just a regular interlock power cable). I really don't like that XLR output is not grounded when you turn off the unit (ground loop noise if i turn it off and monitors are still on). I love the wifi implementation but wifi power is too low, if i'm not just next to my modem i have to use my phone as a hotspot and conect through my phone.
Even with a few negatives i found i think that overall this is a great sounding unit and the positive stuff (TONE! SIZE! CAPTURES! TOUCHSCREEN!) makes this a keeper and a good Helix upgrade.

After spending a month side by side with my Fractal FM3 I have mixed feelings about the QC. It has a lot of potential and the UI is really nice overall minus some design issues, but as a musical tool it feels half baked. There are a very limited number of amp, cabs and especially effects compared to the competition. The missing amp and cab models can largely be offset by the capture feature, but the many missing effects leaves you potentially needing an external effects units to fill in the holes. On the amp tone and feel front it's more a mixed bag. Some amps sound as good or better than the FM3, others not, but I would give the overall edge to the FM3. The cloud capture and preset sharing site is a hot mess as of now. I don't go near it unless I'm looking for a recommended capture, and even then it can be clunky to find and use. The unit has a lot of potential.

Short and to-the-point, this thing is an absolute beast.
You will lose hours and hours of time before you even realize it. Plug it through a quality FRFR for even more "blown away" facial expressions.
From only running an amp and cab, taking up just 2 blocks, to running all the effects you can think of, it does all of it extremely well.
Super duper happy customer here.

OK, I've had them all! I won't name them because you know what they are. Straight up easiest to dial in modeler I've ever used. Takes an hour or 2 to figure out the flow, than you're off. It may be short on effects but the amp sounds are solid, real solid. HOPEFULLY, Neural won't let us down and will get on it and get the updates out this thing needs to be REAL competitive. As of right now, I'm really diggin it but I'm sure it will be better, much better!

I just received my Quad Cortex from Sweetwater. I also own an Axe III and an FM3, and I can tell you that the QC is right there with the rest of them. It's not fully featured yet, but there have already been two updates with more in the pipeline. The sounds are awesome. I won't compare them with the Fractal stuff, but I don't find the feel or sounds to be lacking in any way. Each product has its own sound and feel, and suffice to say that I'm having a ton of fun with this box! There was a previous review criticizing the reverbs, and I want to address that. I am a reverb snob. I've only ever been satisfied with reverbs from Strymon and from Fractal (on the high quality setting), and I am very pleased with the reverbs in the Quad Cortex. They are lush and smooth, and I don't think they can be compared to Eleven Rack. That's just silly. Of course, there are many effects and features and amps that are missing from the initial software. But if you'll recall, the Helix was very limited at first also. But nobody is complaining anymore. I believe Neural DSP will fill out these omissions fairly quickly. But in summation, this is an awesome sounding box of guitar fun, and I'm glad I waited to get mine!

I've been playing over 25 years. Owned Kemper, Synergy, Axe III etc., this is by far the best modeler I have ever owned or heard! The user interface is far and away the easiest to navigate. The tones (both modeled and captured) are exceptional, far better than my Axe Fx III. This was well worth the wait, and I will be selling my Axe Fx and Kemper. As many have posted, there is room for improvement on some of the effects, but Neural is already working on updates for this that should be out soon. After many years of trying different "all in one" solutions, this is finally here. Best in class modeling with a Uber-easy UI, in a compact kit. I love the foot switch rotary knobs as well! Well done Neural!

Just received mine and underwhelmed to say the least. The reverb and delays are on par with my Eleven Rack, and that was the first modeler I bought back in 2014. As far as the amp models, everything seems to have a 100-150 hz bump that's annoying and I can't really EQ it out of the models themselves. Also, almost what you would get if you had a really long cable run or something. There's a dullness or something to my ears that takes away from the believability. There's no air or life to it like the Fractal stuff. At this point, no way there's 1600.00 USD value in this unit. Really surprised too, because I really had high hopes after trying out the Neural SLO-100 SW plugin. The time based effects are much better, and the one of the best amp models I've heard on anything, hardware or software. The QC is nowhere as close.

Still need to work with the captures to see if I can get something better, but even with a vast improvement, there still needs to be the right stuff around what I capture like high quality OD, delays and reverbs.

Most annoying thing is the over all signal output of the unit. I'm pegging the faders on the console to get a decent level. QC def calibrated at -10 db consumer level if that. Can't floor it on the channel side without blasting the converters. Should be a global setting. I've got 30 days before I have to send this back to SW. So I'll hang in there for a while, but if I don't see an improvement soon via a massive SW update, this ones going back. Given how long it was to ship since the launch, Neural has had plenty of time to get the SW together on the QC. So that makes me wonder if there isn't something else going on?

andyc

I've tried about every all-in-one pedal board out there starting with the digitech rp-1. Did the fractal, helix, mooer etc. My favorite has been fractal until this. Yes effects are not as great as fractal yet but the warmth and life of an amp even at low gain its there. I built one patch when i got the unit I'm still using it. This thing is extremely easy to use. The neural captures are insane. It was well worth the wait. Thanks to my amazing sales engineer Jozy!

I've had the Quad Cortex now for a week and some days. Ordered late December, and received delivery early this month (May). I was actually prepared to wait quite a bit longer if need be, so it was a pleasant surprise! Many thanks to my sales rep., Stewart Hisey for seeing this order through!

First things first, I feel one thing above all else needs to be stressed: the amp-models and "neural captures" in this unit ABSOLUTELY feel real. I've been lucky enough to have my share of time with some amazing tube amplifiers over my 41 years on this planet, and all I can say is this: if I were blindfolded, handed a guitar plugged into a QC into something with enough volume, and told I was playing through an SLO, Plexi, or Twin, I'd believe it. Anyone who tells you differently is either an extraordinary connoisseur, or pretending to be one. It's all there; sponginess in the models that call for it, immediacy and tightness in others that call for that, and even the edge of breakup "frying the egg" from pushing that vintage Fender into the sweet spot.

One of the first things I did with the Cortex when I got it, was dial up a blackface Princeton tone (an old standby of mine), and push it way too hard with an overdrive. And sure enough, there it was...the kind of splatty, mushy, dare I say "farty" tone that only a Princeton initiate could truly love. That's the level of detail we're dealing with here, folks. This little powerful unit actually took the sound of a tube rectifier and 10" Jensen speaker being overloaded and threw it back at me. Honestly, I was sold from that point. Everything else was icing. I've since crafted some utterly amazing sounding presets that run the gambit from vintage sparkly clean, to crushing, tight, modern metal, and I still feel like I've only scratched the surface.

In truth we're at a juncture now where technology is making most modelers scary good. Line 6, Kemper, Fractal, even HeadRush...most who might try to tell you they can easily discern the modeler from the real deal are lying. Either to themselves, you, or both. It may be a tough pill to swallow for certain purists, but it is what it is. It certainly doesn't mean amps are obsolete. There is still no replacing that feeling of the beast in the room with you, flapping your pant-legs. All I'm saying is I haven't had the chance of trying the Quad Cortex out with a pair of good FRFR's, and that if it DID recreate that feeling too, I wouldn't be at all surprised.

And that's where the Quad Cortex separates itself from the competition: it FEELS right. If I'm honest, Fractal and the Quad Cortex are tied at the top for feel in the list of modelers available, and I think everyone can agree that's excellent company to keep.

The amp and FX list on the Quad Cortex are admittedly short, but that is to be expected of such a new unit. I'm certain that with time Neural DSP will continue to flesh out the Quad Cortex just as the others had to do.

I enjoy the sounds coming from the Quad Cortex, but it definitely has a lot of room for polish. The software lacks a lot of basic features that similar DSP driven devices such as the Helix and Kemper have. One headache is managing the default output for the system. Currently you have manage it on a patch by patch basis.

There is a lot of potential here and I feel like we're at a beta stage, the desktop app hasn't launched yet (i would expect it to be comparable to the other devices previously listed) and the mobile app is pretty basic. Finding patching and sorting through them on the app is a bit cumbersome and overwhelming.

All in, the tone is pretty great, It has a lot of room to grow, and I'm sure over time the software will get to where it needs to be.

Got mine a week or so ago and have been messing with it quite a bit. Have been using line6 and this thing blows the sounds away. Love the touchscreen and how much you can manipulate the sounds. I did find the mike outs being line 1 and 2 being annoying when trying to use the presets until I bought a female to female connection and now I plug 1/4" straight in and let things rip. Saving my own sounds is simple and I can't wait until the online community grows because the wireless download ability is awesome for updates and sound share. The ability for this unit to listen to and cooy and old pedal that I love is just a phenomenal feature also. Get one if you can!!! I love mine.

Worth the wait!!! I've yet to scratch the surface on all the possibilities but so far its a great musical tool. I always liked modeling and own a few Line 6, Mooer and Behringer units and the Quad Cortex is far and above more dynamic and musical sounding, the ease of use with the touchscreen is great and the foot switch-dial knobs are genius. I plan to use this with a Friedman Runt50 for my guitar rig and have the best of digital and tube sounds. And it will be my main bass preamp as I'm gonna "capture" all the bass preamps pedals I own, Great job Neural!!!
Also thanks to Brandon and his team for the great customer service.

(A nod to the silly videos by the makers of the Blendtec Blender)

Here are a few thoughts based on my initial impressions:

1. The simplicity of the QC's interface design makes using it and tinkering with the options more inviting than the Helix LT
2. The size of the QC is really impressive, given the power packed inside it (I haven't tried it, but I think it would fit in the front pocket of the Helix Backpack)
3. Having an on-screen guide to walk you through such complex setups for capturing your gear is such a nice feature
4. The touch screen is huge and quite responsive, and responds to gestures much like a mobile app
5. The rotary encoders give you access to the emulations as though you were touching physical gear
6. Being able to customize your signal routing in the QC without requiring a software app is priceless; you can use any of the In/Out ports and assign them however you like.
7. I haven't used it as an audio interface, but allegedly its low-latency transmission rivals or beats other USB interfaces

My ears are not trained well enough to say with any conviction that what I'm hearing sounds like the genuine article, however. Using a preset like the EV101III Red, for example - I have no idea what the EVH head actually sounds like with these settings, so I couldn't tell you that it nails that emulation or not. Does it sound good to me? Absolutely, positively, yes it does. Does it feel like I'm playing through a real amp? I can only say, yes, it seems to respond to my playing technique (such as it is) much the way my H&K heads do. Rabea Massaad and others have commented on that aspect of the QC being a noticeable differentiator among the high-end modelers. One of the other things that I heard in those comparison videos is that the Kemper seems to add its own EQing to the profile it creates where there was none in the original amp/cab setup, even when using the Refine option.

As to the debate over who's the top dog now, I'd say each fills a niche the others cannot, and is like any power tool within a category of tools: do I really need more than one drill? Sure. Cordless for those times you don't want to or can't run an extension cord; hammer-drill for tough materials like concrete or ceramic; corded for jobs that would eat batteries alive, and require enduring power, etc. Some are more expensive than others; some you won't use but maybe once or twice a year, but you still want, need, and use them.

If your expectations are that this is the next best thing to do everything the others do only better - then you really need to check your expectations at the door. I have yet to see newly-released hardware that is 100% ready for the world that didn't require revisions (some the same day of release!?!?!) to get it to live up to its potential. Such a device would likely never see the light of day if it had to undergo constant revisions before it was deemed ready for the market.

For me, this is a much more portable and user-friendly arsenal of sound than anything I've seen or used. Neural's commitment to the QC means that even after several years, it will still be "new" in the sense that improvements to the OS, firmware, etc. can only get better, provide more features or build on existing ones. Accessing or sharing QC Captures from the cloud further increases its potential. As a fail-safe, don't forget to make a backup of your QC occasionally. In the event something unexpected occurs and wipes out all your saved presets, you can quickly reload without having to reprogram it all.

Minor Notes:

I take umbrage with Neural for deploying the QC with a wall wart.

1. Really? A wall wart?
2. This one is not well-suited for players with several warts on their pedalboard, unless you remove some pedals after capturing them with the QC.
3. I despise the fold-flat US adapter prongs that don't stay firmly latched in the open position, and may eventually wear down the detent over time (wobbly design).
4. The adapter base doesn't sit 100% flush around the outlet, allowing the wart to pivot freely back/forth on the axis where the prongs attach.
5. If anyone's ever had a wall wart stop working because the cord was bent too many times at the power tip or where it comes out of the wart (God help you if you drop and fracture the housing like I did with a Radial KeyLargo wart), I dread the day the QC's starts acting up...can I replace it with another of similar rating/tip polarity/tip size from Amazon, or do I have to buy one from Sweetwater or Neural?

Anyways - that's all for now. I'll post a follow-up review after I've had more time with the QC. Look for my next posting in about 60-90 days.

Cheers!

This is a follow up on my first review with the Neural Quad Cortex. While I was very pleased and excited about its features I encountered problems with the modeled amp models when recording. In comparison to my trusted Kemper with my favorite profiles, the modeled amps and drive sounds sounded very chunky. The Neural amp models all have a big boost in the 100-120hz range that replicates nicely the resonant frequencies of a guitar cab in the room that you wouldn't get from simply sticking a mic in front of a cab. This is the main difference to other modelers and the Kemper which are aiming at reproducing the signal of a speaker and closely placed mic delivered to a mixer or FRFR. While the chunky frequency boost can be a lot of fun for a user, it incorporates problems in a mix where these low frequencies are an obstacle. This is exactly what happened when I did a recording using the Quad and my Kemper simultaneously. To my biggest surprise the Kemper was cutting so much better in the mix. The Neural Quad Cortex signals needed to be turned up significantly louder to match the Kemper track. When I tried to EQ the Quad Cortex to adjust and lower the low end boost however, the signal didn't sound good anymore. When adjusting the amp models in the Quad Cortex there was another surprise. It seemed to me that they sounded only good when all the parameters were left in exactly the position as they came from Neural. Adding presence or treble by more than just a tiny bit and lowering some bass resulted in a harsh response especially when using the lower strings. Very annoying. This might be all different when capturing your tube amp rigs. Didn't try this yet since I don't own amps anymore. Just my honest feedback.

I have used all of the big modelers and profilers and this to me feels the best and sounds the best to me. I'm sure that people can nitpick, but if you want a great device, in an awesome form factor, that does it all, and will continue to have as Neural DSP continues to add to it, then this is the winner. The interface is stupid intuitive and lets you get to play more instead of spending an insane amount of tweaking, which you still can do but don't need to. This is also the first time I could literally just pull up a capture (profile if you will) or model and a cab and be entirely happy with that sound without having to do a bunch of things to make it sound and feel good. As far as I'm concerned this is the real deal and was worth the wait. Thanks to my rep John Tonello for helping me make the decision to pull the trigger on this, he is always does right by me!

Ordered the Quad mid of October last year and SW finally shipped it to me on Saturday. Had a weekend with it now. Super slick and small unit with a very user-friendly interface. Didn't take me long to get started. The backup function for example is lightyears ahead of the competition. So easy. Really great design and everything works as advertised. Precise switch/pots and very accurate touch display. Haven't done any capturing yet since I don't own tube amps anymore, but the baked models are useful and sound pretty good to me. Compared to my favorite sounds and profiles in my Kemper, the biggest difference sonically are the noticeably wider frequency spectrum of the Quad models. They provide a lot of low end that transposes very well to studio monitors as well as FRFRs and give you more of a "real guitar amp playing experience". For recording and for live use sound guys will most likely trim the low end, but for the player it makes a difference in regards of dynamic playing to have access to a bigger bottom. Helps keeping the fun alive I guess. The effects sound good too and are definitely on par with Kemper. While not quite on the Fractal level they are more than good enough for me. My biggest complaints are the lag time switching to another preset. This is not useful for live playing and puts the Quad Cortex at the moment clearly into the recording/home/recording domain for the time being and not for live use. Also, the total output is lower than on a Kemper in case you need volume from a FRFR monitor. Biggest thing I am missing is a Harmonizer. The auto-engage function for the wah pedal effect is also not implemented yet, but I understand that this can and will be all updated since it is just software related. At the moment the Quad has some serious flaws for me while being a extremely promising modeler which most likely will become another standard in the guitar processor world.

I compare the QC to something like the Helix as far as quality of tones go. The presets are okay, but where this shines is within the captures honestly and that's really it. Unfortunately the QC doesn't have the quality of effects that are on par with Fractal and or Kemper. I'm aware that NDSP will likely provide firmware to bring the unit up to speed sooner than later but quite honestly, they have a ways to go to be on par with the above mentioned competition. I think the QC will be a fair competitor within a few years but this definitely has some maturing to get there.

I got my unit in the mail after pre-ordering in Jan 2020. Well worth the wait and well worth every penny. This thing is unimaginably amazing. There's something magical about playing through a huge amp cranked up all the way to ear-bleeding levels...There's something makes you play better when you can feel the signal in your bones, it's like the guitar becomes a part of your arms and your brain doesn't have to think to play, it's as if the guitar is playing you...so too is the case with the Quad Cortex. I immediately am a better guitarist, more expressive and instinctual, when I play through or record with the QC. I don't know what else to say other than: I have never ever written an online review of any product. It never seemed like something I just HAD to do until now. So there it is. If you're reading this within 6 months of me posting it, good luck getting your hands on one of these units, but if you've preordered with Sweetwater and are one of the lucky few to grab one up, bless your soul, your life will never be the same and your guitar playing will certainly improve, if just because this this is so fun to play, you'll be playing more than your were previously.

This unit is quite impressive. Not as mature of a platform as Axe-FX or Kemper but may well end up as one of the very best. Presets sound great, very similar to Axe-FX quality. Limited effects at this point but frankly the effects are better than Kemper but not nearly as impressive as the Axe-FX. The form factor could easily make this my go-to unit for gigs and practice, so small! My only other minor detractions are that a unit of this quality should not be using a wall wart as a power supply and the touch screen is a little finicky. If you are into modeling, this is almost a must have device.