*Update: I should've mentioned the firmware is still in Beta at the moment.* The dropouts between presets will still be there on final release. Apparently its inherent to having a routing this flexible, but I was told they would be significantly less in the final release. In live scenarios using Scene Mode or Stomp mode is the way to go; although this limits you to having everything for the song on that one preset. Also doing something spontaneous which might need a preset change will always result to a dropout. I know it also happens on the Helix (not on Kemper tho), but maybe one might expect of a 'new generation' of modelers to switch presets without any audio dropouts... Maybe not. I just think it's worth mentioning. I would love to hear/see/read your thoughts! Would you ever consider getting one? Please share :)
I have always the same issue with these things. I just get overwhelmed by the amount of options and possibilities. Result is that I keep fussing instead of playing.
I appreciate your honest opinion and that it wasn't all roses although you probably recieved a review unit. I wouldn't buy one NOW anyway, as I'm currently in the process of setting up ALL my 50+ pedals, pre-amps etc, availible through old school patchbays. Like the 70s version of an Axe fx. Takes up half a room, four patchbays and seven shelves though... But I like to keep myself informed on more modern solutions. Not satisfied with how digital dirt sounds... yet. It lacks the danger.
Yes, this and Rhett Shull’s were both constructive criticism. I mean, how are Neural going to improve if they don’t get quality and meaningful feedback like this? I actually already pre-ordered a quad Cortex because I have faith that it will continue to improve. But I agree with Paul that that is not necessarily the best way to purchase gear, and unlike most of the other videos on TH-cam, this gave me a more honest expectation of what I can expect to see once it finally arrives.
@@missinbrain 95% of the QC videos on TH-cam are clearly a massive marketing campaign. There's always some amazing new product or plug-in on the horizon to lust after. I feel I was bitten by all the BIAS hype a few years back. The Nolly plug-in is decent enough for a hobbyist like me so I'm definitely not buying the QC. But it's interesting to watch all the TH-cam channels I follow blow up about it! I'm going to stick to my existing toys to make tracks. I can see how this bit of kit might be essential for the professional guitarist though.
It really is the best. It is a deluxe on roids. Then you can make it be a tweed all the way to almost plexi sounds. It does everything an amp needs to. I love it.
You are probably better off with a Sky King instead. There are two separate attenuator settings, one for each channel and you can better handle the volume on both channels when switching channels on same song. It also is a little more flexible and powerful. To me it sounded better than the Imperial, although a little more expensive. The Neural sound great though. Playing live on smaller places it probably actually sound better than the amp for the audience since you can dial it in better and feed it through the PA which disperses the sound better than your amp alone which is very directional. You could also dial in the sound at home on the Imperial/Sky King or any other amp or pedal and then store that response in the Neural when playing out live on smaller spaces. Beats bending over and fiddle with the pedal knobs and the amp knobs between songs when playing live.
I can't wait to get one of these. As a home hobby player who just wants a bunch of extremely accurate tone profiles for tons of different artists and songs and the occasional cover recording there's nothing better. It's a no brainer this thing is worth every penny IMO.
Agreed and I've used the Kemper and Quad Cortex. In a live setting, there are similarities but when you move into specialized effects, and there are a ton of the, there is no comparison: Real amp + Effectcs(examples: Keeley Monterey, Catalinbread Echorec, Catalinbread Adineko, J. Rockett Blue Note, JHS Bonsai, Vertex SSS, Ventris, Strymon Blue Sky, Neunaber reverb units, etc.....). This is why the pedal market is as strong as ever.
I have a Two Rock Studio Signature and a small pedalboard ( polytune , Tumnus , TS9 , Blues Driver ,Qtron , Aqua Puss and Flint Strymon ) , nothing can beat that . lol
@@ItsMeBarnaby Agreed but market competition reflects the enhancements to the circuitry of pedals and the dynamics of an expanding amp market. Players hear it and the healthy sales numbers reflect.....so healthy in fact the PRS has now put a foot in the pedal arena. Manufacturers make what the players like....and are buying. Not magic, but reality.
This is by far the best review on Quad Cortex in my opinion, without a pressure for mindlessly endorsing it. Thank you very much for your honest insight.
At last a critical review. Everyone else is going goo goo ga ga over this thing and not pointing out it's weak spots. Great job Paul! (Edit - Thanks Matto for pointing out that Rhett Schull also has reservations. I hadn't seen his video when I made this comment.)
@@mattjns Yes fair play I hadn't caught up with that one when I made the comment, but I have now and he explicitly states that the QC trails Kemper and Helix when it comes to effects.
Seems like yet another multi effects geared towards the high gainers ( who don’t seem to have a bad word to say about it). But if your a ‘traditional’ tone chaser then it all seems a bit of a faff. Seems to be the same sketch with Line 6 ( I hated my HX Stomp), Factual and the likes. 🤷🏻♂️ What a refreshing overview. Makes a change from a lot of the other YT influencers 🤔
Killer review! Neural should be watching and making notes - nothing is ever perfect but this thing is pretty damn sweet regardless. Looking forward to receiving mine 🙌🏼
The sound quality of the cortex is amazing next to the Kemper. Thanks for the review Paul. For your information, you should use Scenes to switch between sound and not presets. The switch will be seemless.
best video i’ve seen on this unit.... i’ve had a kemper for a few years and play it every sunday at church. sounds amazing but the interface def can’t hang w the neural. i like how you are straight forward and honest with your review! great job
Sir, you must not have been very busy the day you did this review.. Because, frankly you could have turned on the unit, talked about the convenience of the control knobs, played a chord or two MENTIONED THE PRICE ,and ended the video... Anyone who would pay $1,600 for this thing has more money than talent.
Man I feel like the “profiling” from the quad cortext sounds clearer and better to my ears than the kemper. But that may have been just the profiling. The kemper had more gain and more low mids, slightly woofy. It really stands out on the matchless sample. *edit* just finished the video, and Paul says the same thing. Lol. I’m not taking crazy pills.
i mean the kemper literally has a parameter named Clarity :o) But im also surprised by the difference the profile had.. When I profiled stuff I could never tell any difference
Neural should have paid you to review the DSP QC earlier on in their design cycle. The way you approached is was methodical, yet practical, and very thorough. The “issues” you pointed out, some more egregious than others, were all legit and I am quite certain, if fixed, would be appreciated by 99.9% of users. Thank you for the through review and comparison. BTW, I completely agree in both instances, the original amp was the hands down winner. Win I heard the Kemper’s version I thought the exact same thing...it added more gain than was naturally present. If I heard you correctly, you actually dialed it down some to make it more realistic which makes me wonder how much worse it was from the start. While I own a Kemper and think it is amazing, I wish they would have employed digital pots in the design so that it could be mated to an iPad or tablet to release more in-depth control. I wonder if Kemper has something like this in the works.
Watched the whole video and have to agree 100%. Looks like it has good potential. It would also be great if it had a "Convolution Reverb" block that had preset reverbs and installable IR's for the Convolution engine. The tone matching really gives the other modeler manufacturers a feature they will have to think hard about.
Best QC review out there. Hands down. Appreciated. I have been waiting for months for a real review. Keep it up. I had seen your videos many times, but after this you gained a subscriber
Awesome job as normal Paul! Love how you demonstrated this. You really balance the pro's and con's very well! You made my decision with buying this a lot easier, cheers!
@@charlesfryer9127 at the moment, I do not think so. I think it is great, but for the things I’d use it for, it isn’t worth it for me! Hope that helps man
Very fair review. Appreciated hearing your opinion on the pluses and minuses of the Quad Cortex. With any of our gear there is always advantages and disadvantages and I feel you presented a god honest take for your situation.
Paul, ik ben blij dat je deze review hebt gedaan. Heel eerlijk en oprecht. Dank daarvoor, het is iets wat ik vaak mis van andere reviewers. Helemaal top 👊🏻
Great balanced review, definitely a level headed assessment compared to other (paid promotion) reviews so far. This has helped me decide as I am mainly a bedroom player just starting to get my head around home recording and profilers etc. Cheers.
Ikr, how dare the paid youtubers play with the great reverbs and multiple fx of the Neural catalog when they could just put the one that does "boing"...
@@rabbamonkey I know how you feel!!! The Ox cost more than my amp. But it was definitely worth it. And I dare say that the price of the digital tools is also justified when you consider everything you get.
by far the best QC review I've seen so far. Got really tired of all those wheedling salesmen... They all sound great, what's there to doubt, but UI and useability is what matters
I think Rhett Shull did a pretty good job with an honest review, if you’re looking for more. I agree with you, and I want to know what it really is about before dropping major duckets
@@guitartube5822 this one almost perfect. Could detect a bit of annoyance at the manufacturer from how they responded to him. Other than that he points out a lot of issues, praises the best parts and points out a bunch of way to actually improve it. They should have sent it to him a year ago instead of yes men. To be fair, Kemper took 7 years or so to get good reverbs and delays.
@@wildmilne I’m admittedly still making my way through this review in between some work stuff haha. But Paul David’s is a good guy and will do a good job
Two years ago, I chose to invest in an amp and a pedalboard. There are limitations. It’s heavy. It’s more expensive. But with the time I’ve spent learning that one rig, I’m less into finding tones from eye glaringly endless options, a/b’ing endlessly, and tweaking presets all night, to instead using what my rig does best, creating a signature tone that nobody else has, and - most importantly - playing, practicing and writing more! Haven’t looked back since
Thats not what this is for. These are designed for pro touring musicians who cant carry 10 different amps every show. Now you dont need a rig from 3 albums ago to sound like that, you just load it up and play.
I was torn between a Kemper and The Quad Cortex. Nice you are showing us how it works right away rather then all the great tones. Rather have less the hassle right now and looks like i will be ordering my kemper.
So after watching this video, and others, I decided to pre-order one. I got it about a month ago and I am actually blown away by it. I see what people complain about, lack of effects, ui oddities, etc etc, but even with the flaws it is a ridiculously good sounding unit. You can either spend 2 minutes loading up an amazing sounding preset, or spend an hour tweaking it and routing eq's and effects in cool ways and it will sound even better. IMO it is the no question the best out there compared to earlier releases of fractal or line6 or kempers. And comparing to their current firmware's, the QC holds its own with more pro's than con's. Can't wait to see how this thing develops over the years!
I thought the amps sounded best, then the QC then the Kemper. The QC profiles were amazingly close. Thanks for making this video. I hope Neural implements some of your suggestions.
Thanks Paul, that was a very informative video. I use Helix but never use the distortions as my ears tell me that real pedals into the front are more responsive and clearer, maybe placebo but to me the most important feature of these units is the quality of their amp simulation and IR capabilities, seems like they all throw in loads of FX blocks to make it an all-in one solution but the distortions, reverbs and delays fall short. Any comparison you do always leaves me feeling that the real amp has the edge. Have a great day!
Modelers have been great at high gain (for the most part), and clean, but something about that transition to overdrive is just so hard to model. nothing sounds quite like the real thing
Ah, yes, the good and old “modeling amps are good with some tones, but where they really fail is *insert tone I’m most familiar with*”. The metal community is plagued by the same kind of thinking, but with high gain being where you really hear the difference. Really makes you think, uh?
This is the first time I have ever listened to a digital unit and not been able to tell that it's digital. It sounds SO freaking natural. That said, though, some of the bugs here are just unacceptable for something at this price point. I'll wait to see if they patch them out before I consider saving up for something like this. Killer review!
Eyhh... you had the noise gate activated on the Kemper when you demonstrated rolled back volume on the guitar! That creates a somewhat peculiar attack :-P
Thank you so much for your sincere comments Paul. Your are completely right about all of interface issues man. Your were spot on. I hope they use your tips to fix up that stuff
I remember your first test comparing Kemper to a real amp and the tones were extremely close, I'm a bit confused here because your Matchless Kemper profile sounded way too gainy compared to the real amp
Very good real world review. Wow, the Kemper really is 10 years old now! Man, I was on the original Beta tester program and owned one for a year or so.
Good review. I was really excited by this but it looks like it’s still in beta mode for now. Think I’ll stick with Helix for another year or so and see how it progresses...
Thank you for being honest about some features you didn't like. Great work on showcasing the differences as well. Oh, and your playing is always tasteful no matter what you run that guitar through! Cheers!
Keep the Kemper 100%. It still sounds more real. This small form factor is neat, but if you record regularly and need it to sound pro, stick with your Kemper for sure.
@@remy333 I'm personally going for QC for the same reason (and other reasons too), it sounds a bit more real to me. But it seems both unit have theirs own strengths really. If I already owned a Kemper I'd probably just keep it
Such a helpful review - others go through features and options, but this really demonstrates the most important aspect: TONE! The amp/QC/Kemper comparison was really the clincher: With lower gain sounds - like with the beautiful Tone King amp - the QC falls completely flat IMO. It lacks a complexity in harmonics - the Kemper does a fair job to its credit. Because of this, there's no sense of chimy/resistance in any of the QC amp models: it's like the sound is being being filtered through a spongy piece of Wonder Bread... Like the original amp tones, there should be shimmering harmonics at the attack of the notes (a metaphor is the crispy crust of artisan bread) that gradually falls away, but the QC has the same flat harmonics all the way through. I don't think any amount of EQ will fix this: the lack of complex harmonics was evident in all the comparisons. So glad I saw this before making a purchase that I would regret!
As a poor person, I'm looking forward to seeing a plethora of Kempers flood the s/h market over the next couple of years as the Quadcortex improves & gains traction. Might actually get a chance at owning one.
To be honest: I think the very cheap modelers are already there. Of course they are nowhere near a Kemper or a Line6 Helix, but the Ampero and Mooer GE250 are a godsend for budget-constrained people who just want to record. Imo they get 80-90% close to the "big" modelers and in a mix that's definitely close enough. To think of the features and different tones you can get for under $400 right now is insane when compared to 20 years ago.
I really trust your ear, I have a kemper and see no reason at this point to look at a Neural DSP. Thanks for your honest and extensive demo. It made me love my kemper more. Big Thanks!
This might be better than my Kemper (and probably is). But that does not make my Kemper worse. Still love it and I hope that every next piece of gear means progression. Not Quad Core, not Kemper, but progression and still being able to enjoy what you've got. As for your review. Honest and great! Thanks! Useful for the Neural team too.
Thanks for the video Paul, really enjoyed the walk-through; I especially appreciated the highlights on the missing points, which are quite useful in my opinion to whoever is watching the video within the idea of getting one of these. It reminded me of when I started comparing the AXE-FX and the Helix, almost 3 years ago. The Helix was relatively young at the time and the AXE-FX III was in pre-order, if I'm not wrong. Anyway, finally last year I pulled the trigger and went for Helix: honestly, I couldn't be happier. In the meanwhile, Line6 addressed a lot of issues Helix had when I started looking at it. So, TL:DR; maybe the QC is the new outsider, we'll see. For now, considering your review and few other things I've read around, to me still looks like a promising project, but we're not 'just there'... yet. Best!
Basically, the amp sounds like the amp, the QC has slightly more high frequencies, while the Kemper has a bit more bottom end. Honestly, I feel this is so close that a bit of EQ on any unit will make it sounds like the other one and vice versa. Being a Kemper owner, I can't say that soundwise the QC is any better or worse. It is a matter of EQ and taste. The QC interface is million years ahead of the Kemper; but that's not really important for me. I wouldn't sell the Kemper for it, but if I didn't have the Kemper I would surely put the QC into the equation. Something is missing in the video though, which to me made the biggest difference when I compared the Helix to the Kemper: how does it feel, in the hands?
Basically, when the AxeFxII, Helix, and Kemper came out we reached the point where there are marginal differences between high-end modeling units. Additionally, once they're in a mix it's nearly impossible to tell a difference. Finally, put all the units through the same IR and there's almost no chance a listener can tell any difference. Buy a proper modeler and just play!
I’m a product manager and your review gives me goosebumps. You define the pain points really well, relate with real life scenarios and also recommend user experience solutions with easy workarounds. Anybody in the music industry should hire you as a consultant. Brilliant! Great playin and hearing as well. Best guitar channel🤘🏽
Really good Paul. I have been watching non-stop videos and reviews on the Cortex and I love that you picked out things to improve on. Constructive criticism and you did it very well. Thanks for this. Hopefully the guys from Neural will pick up on this.
This is the most rounded, deepest review of the Quad Cortex I've seen yet...great job, Paul. What's the song at 16:45, please? Sounds familiar but I've gone blank. Thanks.
I just can’t see myself playing with this live as an effects unit. Maybe if you have a couple guitarists with their own pedal boards you could do 2 inputs in and have their own outputs. 1 amp model setup for 2 guitarists would be sweet.
this is the first reviw of this device i have seen and i guess everybody and their parents in the guitar influencer world got one and is creating content like this. which of course isn't a bad thing! I just really think people should take note (in general) how this was presented. Reviews are never 100% objective, they are affected by the taste of the reviewer. Reviews are calibrated against existing things that have been used and proven for years. A new product most likely will have flaws at launch but some of that come down to your personal preference, some will be fixed in the future. This seemed very honest and i think the advice NEURAL will have gained from this will make this a much better product. I guess many people that receive a sponsorship like this will try to mitigate the flaws to look better to the advertisers by telling their audience what a great piece of equipment they are advertising. But in the end - this is much more helpful both to the consumer and to the company. So hat off, well done!
You mean, never buy based on promised release features if you are using CyberPunk as an example as you simply have no idea of the level and quality of updates that they will eventually provide at this point and if Witcher is an indicator, your example will make your point look dumb.
@@digitalchris6681 the one thing which is too late to update is the tiny window. And as I said all of them need help from real pedals. Except 2. The Yamaha 100hd double modeler and the Iridium.
From reading the comments I expected you to tear this thing apart but after watching the video you pretty much share the same opinions as some of the other reviews. I’m super stoked for this thing, especially at this price.
Drop out is massive no no! But the captured tones did sound very good! I do love the plugins from Neural so will see how this develops over time! Cheers Paul 🙌
Amazing review, being a Neural DSP plugin-user I'm strongly considering the Quad Cortex, but now you've given me things to think about regarding the kemper. But your final point about the cortex being more "future proof" is I think why I might buy it over the kemper bc idk what the kepmer's going to be like compare to the cortes in 5 years when DAWs get updated as well..
I love how that there is no need to rebuild your factory of production line in order to accommodate changes and tweaks based on the users' requests. It's a matter of changing the code, even if it is quite sophisticated. Good times.
Maybe I'm just getting older, but this seems so complicated. My brain can't handle too much other than turning something on and off and maybe fiddling with a couple of knobs.
Im the same...but FORCED MYSELF to learn when I bought a Helix LT. I am SO GLAD I DID! Bottom line: We can still learn, it just takes more time and patience than when we were younger. On a positive note, when we do force learn as I like to call it, I feel like the content is more truly absorbed because of the forced focus inherently involved with learning complicated things post age 50. ugh lol
The kemper has years to develop it's effects, they weren't as good in the beginning, quad cortex just starts (and it's not really available since now!), so I'm sure that the quality will increase in time. I'll change my kemper stage for the quad cortex, because of the stunning operation and controls on it, it's much more intuitive! And the format of the device for me is also a reason, I use it in studio, were the Toaster is nice, but the stage really not - the quad cortex can easily fit on my desk and also under my feet, that's amazing. At the end it's unbelievable that the kemper in it's way has no competitor (for me) in all the years of conquer the market, so I think a little bit competition might be good for the users ;-)
*Update: I should've mentioned the firmware is still in Beta at the moment.*
The dropouts between presets will still be there on final release. Apparently its inherent to having a routing this flexible, but I was told they would be significantly less in the final release.
In live scenarios using Scene Mode or Stomp mode is the way to go; although this limits you to having everything for the song on that one preset. Also doing something spontaneous which might need a preset change will always result to a dropout. I know it also happens on the Helix (not on Kemper tho), but maybe one might expect of a 'new generation' of modelers to switch presets without any audio dropouts... Maybe not. I just think it's worth mentioning.
I would love to hear/see/read your thoughts! Would you ever consider getting one? Please share :)
I have always the same issue with these things.
I just get overwhelmed by the amount of options and possibilities.
Result is that I keep fussing instead of playing.
I appreciate your honest opinion and that it wasn't all roses although you probably recieved a review unit. I wouldn't buy one NOW anyway, as I'm currently in the process of setting up ALL my 50+ pedals, pre-amps etc, availible through old school patchbays. Like the 70s version of an Axe fx. Takes up half a room, four patchbays and seven shelves though... But I like to keep myself informed on more modern solutions. Not satisfied with how digital dirt sounds... yet. It lacks the danger.
Neural captured the amps better than the kemper for me. Particularly the Matchless.
Nope. This thing obviously is not ready to ship. I stay with my Fractal stuff 👍
Have you looked at something like the Mod Duo X? It veers off into synth territory, but maybe has some powerful features you could use.
Best review from the QC I’ve seen so far, you put hype out the equation and showed us a real opinion.
Massive respect for that.
Rhett Shull’s was quality too, if you haven’t seen it
Seconded! It's nice to hear about any limitations at all. First video I've seen voicing them.
Yes, this and Rhett Shull’s were both constructive criticism. I mean, how are Neural going to improve if they don’t get quality and meaningful feedback like this?
I actually already pre-ordered a quad Cortex because I have faith that it will continue to improve. But I agree with Paul that that is not necessarily the best way to purchase gear, and unlike most of the other videos on TH-cam, this gave me a more honest expectation of what I can expect to see once it finally arrives.
@@missinbrain 95% of the QC videos on TH-cam are clearly a massive marketing campaign. There's always some amazing new product or plug-in on the horizon to lust after. I feel I was bitten by all the BIAS hype a few years back. The Nolly plug-in is decent enough for a hobbyist like me so I'm definitely not buying the QC. But it's interesting to watch all the TH-cam channels I follow blow up about it! I'm going to stick to my existing toys to make tracks. I can see how this bit of kit might be essential for the professional guitarist though.
The review is misleading in places, especially regarding the drop out when changing presets.
Entered the video: I need a Quad Cortex
Left the video: I need a Tone King Imperial
true)))
It really is the best. It is a deluxe on roids. Then you can make it be a tweed all the way to almost plexi sounds. It does everything an amp needs to. I love it.
You are probably better off with a Sky King instead. There are two separate attenuator settings, one for each channel and you can better handle the volume on both channels when switching channels on same song. It also is a little more flexible and powerful. To me it sounded better than the Imperial, although a little more expensive. The Neural sound great though. Playing live on smaller places it probably actually sound better than the amp for the audience since you can dial it in better and feed it through the PA which disperses the sound better than your amp alone which is very directional. You could also dial in the sound at home on the Imperial/Sky King or any other amp or pedal and then store that response in the Neural when playing out live on smaller spaces. Beats bending over and fiddle with the pedal knobs and the amp knobs between songs when playing live.
No kidding!
Same here. In 20 years your real will worth money ;)
I can't wait to get one of these. As a home hobby player who just wants a bunch of extremely accurate tone profiles for tons of different artists and songs and the occasional cover recording there's nothing better. It's a no brainer this thing is worth every penny IMO.
Put Paul on the official neural team for the workflow. This man’s got all the troubleshooting done already!
Yea, he does a very fine job at this♡!
Wow! This video just made me realize how great real amps sound! The Matchless and Toneking were amazing.
Agreed and I've used the Kemper and Quad Cortex. In a live setting, there are similarities but when you move into specialized effects, and there are a ton of the, there is no comparison: Real amp + Effectcs(examples: Keeley Monterey, Catalinbread Echorec, Catalinbread Adineko, J. Rockett Blue Note, JHS Bonsai, Vertex SSS, Ventris, Strymon Blue Sky, Neunaber reverb units, etc.....). This is why the pedal market is as strong as ever.
I have a Two Rock Studio Signature and a small pedalboard ( polytune , Tumnus , TS9 , Blues Driver ,Qtron , Aqua Puss and Flint Strymon ) , nothing can beat that . lol
@@ItsMeBarnaby Agreed but market competition reflects the enhancements to the circuitry of pedals and the dynamics of an expanding amp market. Players hear it and the healthy sales numbers reflect.....so healthy in fact the PRS has now put a foot in the pedal arena. Manufacturers make what the players like....and are buying. Not magic, but reality.
Just from the start, that lick sounded extremely tasteful across all the units. Very great and detailed showcase.
This is by far the best review on Quad Cortex in my opinion, without a pressure for mindlessly endorsing it. Thank you very much for your honest insight.
With all that praise, I've seen and heard yet, I was glad to see a review from you. Thank you, for your honest opinion!
The real game changer is twenty years of practice.
....and a decent valve amp! IMHO - just saying!
@@markdennis6464 what's a valve!?
@@markdennis6464 Damn is that what they did after HL2
Truth!!
@@adamdevo7179 I'm just an 'old guy - who loves the old tech' - or I'm just not converted yet!
At last a critical review. Everyone else is going goo goo ga ga over this thing and not pointing out it's weak spots. Great job Paul! (Edit - Thanks Matto for pointing out that Rhett Schull also has reservations. I hadn't seen his video when I made this comment.)
Rhett’s was similar to this.
A few say the effects aren't as top quality as they could be.
@@mattjns Rhett I find always does great honest gear reviews.
@@mattjns Yes fair play I hadn't caught up with that one when I made the comment, but I have now and he explicitly states that the QC trails Kemper and Helix when it comes to effects.
Seems like yet another multi effects geared towards the high gainers ( who don’t seem to have a bad word to say about it). But if your a ‘traditional’ tone chaser then it all seems a bit of a faff. Seems to be the same sketch with Line 6 ( I hated my HX Stomp), Factual and the likes. 🤷🏻♂️ What a refreshing overview. Makes a change from a lot of the other YT influencers 🤔
Killer review! Neural should be watching and making notes - nothing is ever perfect but this thing is pretty damn sweet regardless. Looking forward to receiving mine 🙌🏼
The sound quality of the cortex is amazing next to the Kemper. Thanks for the review Paul. For your information, you should use Scenes to switch between sound and not presets. The switch will be seemless.
By far the best review I have seen so far, honest and fair. Thank you.
I really appreciate that you addressed things that you liked and did not. I hope they are listening to some of your suggestions.
best video i’ve seen on this unit.... i’ve had a kemper for a few years and play it every sunday at church. sounds amazing but the interface def can’t hang w the neural. i like how you are straight forward and honest with your review! great job
an honest review - PD does a great job as usual ...
First review of QC that feels honest and not like a paid commercial. Big props
@@Vreth6 Yeah, very critic review with great points and even better recommandations for additional features
This is one of the best reviews i've seen of this product. Thank you Paul for your amazing work!
Best review yet..... with real opportunities discussed....
Opportunity to wish you hadn't spent $1600 bucks on this...
It's not worth it.
Sir, you must not have been very busy the day you did this review.. Because, frankly you could have turned on the unit, talked about the convenience of the control knobs, played a chord or two MENTIONED THE PRICE ,and ended the video... Anyone who would pay $1,600 for this thing has more money than talent.
You made the most honest review of this thing. Raised some really good points and not just praising your new toy
Man I feel like the “profiling” from the quad cortext sounds clearer and better to my ears than the kemper. But that may have been just the profiling. The kemper had more gain and more low mids, slightly woofy. It really stands out on the matchless sample.
*edit* just finished the video, and Paul says the same thing. Lol. I’m not taking crazy pills.
still sounds pretty boring and lifeless. the qc I mean
100% agree. The gain/clarity on the QC are much closer to the actual amp.
i mean the kemper literally has a parameter named Clarity :o) But im also surprised by the difference the profile had.. When I profiled stuff I could never tell any difference
I know this is a little unrelated, but that lick at the beginning was some absolutley heavenly
magic
Neural should have paid you to review the DSP QC earlier on in their design cycle. The way you approached is was methodical, yet practical, and very thorough. The “issues” you pointed out, some more egregious than others, were all legit and I am quite certain, if fixed, would be appreciated by 99.9% of users. Thank you for the through review and comparison.
BTW, I completely agree in both instances, the original amp was the hands down winner. Win I heard the Kemper’s version I thought the exact same thing...it added more gain than was naturally present. If I heard you correctly, you actually dialed it down some to make it more realistic which makes me wonder how much worse it was from the start. While I own a Kemper and think it is amazing, I wish they would have employed digital pots in the design so that it could be mated to an iPad or tablet to release more in-depth control. I wonder if Kemper has something like this in the works.
This is a perfect review telling neural dsp what to add in future updates. Most of these suggestions I hope to see in the future from ndsp.
Watched the whole video and have to agree 100%. Looks like it has good potential. It would also be great if it had a "Convolution Reverb" block that had preset reverbs and installable IR's for the Convolution engine. The tone matching really gives the other modeler manufacturers a feature they will have to think hard about.
Yea it could use some updating on some things, but for what it cost, it shouldn’t need anything done to it you know. Just chiming in, lol
Best QC review out there. Hands down. Appreciated.
I have been waiting for months for a real review. Keep it up. I had seen your videos many times, but after this you gained a subscriber
Awesome job as normal Paul! Love how you demonstrated this. You really balance the pro's and con's very well! You made my decision with buying this a lot easier, cheers!
Will you be buying one?
@@charlesfryer9127 at the moment, I do not think so. I think it is great, but for the things I’d use it for, it isn’t worth it for me! Hope that helps man
Very fair review. Appreciated hearing your opinion on the pluses and minuses of the Quad Cortex. With any of our gear there is always advantages and disadvantages and I feel you presented a god honest take for your situation.
You sound like an engineer adressing the problems. Good job
Paul, ik ben blij dat je deze review hebt gedaan. Heel eerlijk en oprecht. Dank daarvoor, het is iets wat ik vaak mis van andere reviewers. Helemaal top 👊🏻
Great balanced review, definitely a level headed assessment compared to other (paid promotion) reviews so far. This has helped me decide as I am mainly a bedroom player just starting to get my head around home recording and profilers etc. Cheers.
honestly, check out the UA Ox with a tube amp. After years of using digital tools, this was a revelation for me.
Ikr, how dare the paid youtubers play with the great reverbs and multiple fx of the Neural catalog when they could just put the one that does "boing"...
@@HeadbangoO Are you ok?
@@guizmobro Cheers I’ll check it out - but why is everything I look at it is over £1000! Ffs lol
@@rabbamonkey I know how you feel!!! The Ox cost more than my amp. But it was definitely worth it. And I dare say that the price of the digital tools is also justified when you consider everything you get.
Thanks!
by far the best QC review I've seen so far. Got really tired of all those wheedling salesmen... They all sound great, what's there to doubt, but UI and useability is what matters
I have a brainy buddy and you guys sound almost identical when explaining stuff. I love people who know their stuff and can convey their knowledge!
At least this was the first REAL review instead of "it's the greatest thing ever" kind of video.
Why are reviewers so worried about pointing out what they don’t like? Paul does a great job here suggesting options for making the experience better!
I think Rhett Shull did a pretty good job with an honest review, if you’re looking for more. I agree with you, and I want to know what it really is about before dropping major duckets
Rhett Schull's review was pretty in-depth and he said he was didn't think the effects part of it was up to par. He posted that a few days ago.
@@guitartube5822 this one almost perfect. Could detect a bit of annoyance at the manufacturer from how they responded to him. Other than that he points out a lot of issues, praises the best parts and points out a bunch of way to actually improve it. They should have sent it to him a year ago instead of yes men. To be fair, Kemper took 7 years or so to get good reverbs and delays.
@@wildmilne I’m admittedly still making my way through this review in between some work stuff haha. But Paul David’s is a good guy and will do a good job
Amazing review! Thank you.
Two years ago, I chose to invest in an amp and a pedalboard. There are limitations. It’s heavy. It’s more expensive. But with the time I’ve spent learning that one rig, I’m less into finding tones from eye glaringly endless options, a/b’ing endlessly, and tweaking presets all night, to instead using what my rig does best, creating a signature tone that nobody else has, and - most importantly - playing, practicing and writing more! Haven’t looked back since
Amen
Thats not what this is for. These are designed for pro touring musicians who cant carry 10 different amps every show. Now you dont need a rig from 3 albums ago to sound like that, you just load it up and play.
Nah, eventually you have to go back to the pedal board.
You are totally right!!!
Paul, I love the atmosphere in your videos! Thank you for that you're doing
I was torn between a Kemper and The Quad Cortex. Nice you are showing us how it works right away rather then all the great tones. Rather have less the hassle right now and looks like i will be ordering my kemper.
I'll be selling my 3 month old stage. Are you interested?
@@Noodleboy56 I want to get the Rack not the stage sorry.
Kemper has a better ecosystem....the Kone/Kabinet, inbuilt power amps, larger selection of profiles, etc
Headrush Gigboard is my board of choice. Great video.
So after watching this video, and others, I decided to pre-order one. I got it about a month ago and I am actually blown away by it. I see what people complain about, lack of effects, ui oddities, etc etc, but even with the flaws it is a ridiculously good sounding unit.
You can either spend 2 minutes loading up an amazing sounding preset, or spend an hour tweaking it and routing eq's and effects in cool ways and it will sound even better.
IMO it is the no question the best out there compared to earlier releases of fractal or line6 or kempers. And comparing to their current firmware's, the QC holds its own with more pro's than con's.
Can't wait to see how this thing develops over the years!
This is the absolute best review video I've ever seen of any piece of gear
This just made me wanna get a Tone King, lol...
And Tone Kings don't have a maze of menus to piss your way through.
Love this objective review. Gonna be waiting a while to see how the QC updates as time goes on. Appreciate it, Paul!
The QC definitely needs some refining on the interface but the Capture on it is incredible!
Thank you for going A B C - B A C. Usually A is the control and it's easier to compare the variables on the riff change.
I thought the amps sounded best, then the QC then the Kemper. The QC profiles were amazingly close. Thanks for making this video. I hope Neural implements some of your suggestions.
Thanks Paul, that was a very informative video. I use Helix but never use the distortions as my ears tell me that real pedals into the front are more responsive and clearer, maybe placebo but to me the most important feature of these units is the quality of their amp simulation and IR capabilities, seems like they all throw in loads of FX blocks to make it an all-in one solution but the distortions, reverbs and delays fall short. Any comparison you do always leaves me feeling that the real amp has the edge. Have a great day!
with high gain the differences dissapear, but i'm shocked how much better the "real amp" sounded in the lower "edge of breakup" gain setting
This is why tubes.
You get a modeling amp and it fools you until you put it next to a real tube amp and you hear the truth.
Modelers have been great at high gain (for the most part), and clean, but something about that transition to overdrive is just so hard to model. nothing sounds quite like the real thing
Yeah same. Tech companies are destroying the world.
Ah, yes, the good and old “modeling amps are good with some tones, but where they really fail is *insert tone I’m most familiar with*”.
The metal community is plagued by the same kind of thinking, but with high gain being where you really hear the difference. Really makes you think, uh?
A fantastic and honest review, from someone who knows what they're talking about and how gear should sound. Thank you so much!
This is the first time I have ever listened to a digital unit and not been able to tell that it's digital. It sounds SO freaking natural. That said, though, some of the bugs here are just unacceptable for something at this price point. I'll wait to see if they patch them out before I consider saving up for something like this. Killer review!
Thank you Paul. Easily the most informative review I've seen on the Quad Cortex. Great work.
Eyhh... you had the noise gate activated on the Kemper when you demonstrated rolled back volume on the guitar! That creates a somewhat peculiar attack :-P
Hmm I roll back on the Kemper and helix no noise gate and they just don’t react like an amp when I’m using high gain.
Thank you so much for your sincere comments Paul. Your are completely right about all of interface issues man. Your were spot on. I hope they use your tips to fix up that stuff
I remember your first test comparing Kemper to a real amp and the tones were extremely close, I'm a bit confused here because your Matchless Kemper profile sounded way too gainy compared to the real amp
because now, he is sponsored by QC... it's a matter of business :(
I mean, QC sounds awesome but you know, you can say that it sounds awesome without starting to consider kemper an useless piece of garbage
@@PH-Oliveira Sponsored? Maybe a comp.
Very good real world review. Wow, the Kemper really is 10 years old now! Man, I was on the original Beta tester program and owned one for a year or so.
Good review. I was really excited by this but it looks like it’s still in beta mode for now.
Think I’ll stick with Helix for another year or so and see how it progresses...
Thank you for being honest about some features you didn't like. Great work on showcasing the differences as well. Oh, and your playing is always tasteful no matter what you run that guitar through! Cheers!
I'm keeping my Kemper, but want to try Quad Cortex for sure.
Keep the Kemper 100%. It still sounds more real. This small form factor is neat, but if you record regularly and need it to sound pro, stick with your Kemper for sure.
@@remy333 I'm personally going for QC for the same reason (and other reasons too), it sounds a bit more real to me. But it seems both unit have theirs own strengths really. If I already owned a Kemper I'd probably just keep it
Such a helpful review - others go through features and options, but this really demonstrates the most important aspect: TONE! The amp/QC/Kemper comparison was really the clincher: With lower gain sounds - like with the beautiful Tone King amp - the QC falls completely flat IMO. It lacks a complexity in harmonics - the Kemper does a fair job to its credit. Because of this, there's no sense of chimy/resistance in any of the QC amp models: it's like the sound is being being filtered through a spongy piece of Wonder Bread... Like the original amp tones, there should be shimmering harmonics at the attack of the notes (a metaphor is the crispy crust of artisan bread) that gradually falls away, but the QC has the same flat harmonics all the way through. I don't think any amount of EQ will fix this: the lack of complex harmonics was evident in all the comparisons. So glad I saw this before making a purchase that I would regret!
As a poor person, I'm looking forward to seeing a plethora of Kempers flood the s/h market over the next couple of years as the Quadcortex improves & gains traction. Might actually get a chance at owning one.
I hoped for 7 years for a cheap used Kemper... it was never there! Final I bought a new unit.
Still good luck for you!
I'd personally not drop my Kemper for this. I don't think you'll see others dropping them either - not at a bargain price anyway.
Well, if it gets flooded, I'll buy a second unit!
To be honest: I think the very cheap modelers are already there. Of course they are nowhere near a Kemper or a Line6 Helix, but the Ampero and Mooer GE250 are a godsend for budget-constrained people who just want to record.
Imo they get 80-90% close to the "big" modelers and in a mix that's definitely close enough. To think of the features and different tones you can get for under $400 right now is insane when compared to 20 years ago.
@@fretboardrunner Also with the Pod Go you are already in a budget domain and get the Helix modelling...
I really trust your ear, I have a kemper and see no reason at this point to look at a Neural DSP. Thanks for your honest and extensive demo. It made me love my kemper more. Big Thanks!
This might be better than my Kemper (and probably is). But that does not make my Kemper worse. Still love it and I hope that every next piece of gear means progression. Not Quad Core, not Kemper, but progression and still being able to enjoy what you've got. As for your review. Honest and great! Thanks! Useful for the Neural team too.
Kemper has a better ecosystem....the Kone/Kabinet, inbuilt power amps, larger selection of profiles, better effects, etc.
Thanks for the video Paul, really enjoyed the walk-through; I especially appreciated the highlights on the missing points, which are quite useful in my opinion to whoever is watching the video within the idea of getting one of these.
It reminded me of when I started comparing the AXE-FX and the Helix, almost 3 years ago. The Helix was relatively young at the time and the AXE-FX III was in pre-order, if I'm not wrong.
Anyway, finally last year I pulled the trigger and went for Helix: honestly, I couldn't be happier. In the meanwhile, Line6 addressed a lot of issues Helix had when I started looking at it.
So, TL:DR; maybe the QC is the new outsider, we'll see. For now, considering your review and few other things I've read around, to me still looks like a promising project, but we're not 'just there'... yet.
Best!
Basically, the amp sounds like the amp, the QC has slightly more high frequencies, while the Kemper has a bit more bottom end. Honestly, I feel this is so close that a bit of EQ on any unit will make it sounds like the other one and vice versa.
Being a Kemper owner, I can't say that soundwise the QC is any better or worse. It is a matter of EQ and taste. The QC interface is million years ahead of the Kemper; but that's not really important for me. I wouldn't sell the Kemper for it, but if I didn't have the Kemper I would surely put the QC into the equation.
Something is missing in the video though, which to me made the biggest difference when I compared the Helix to the Kemper: how does it feel, in the hands?
@Bruno Weber yes, how did it feel-great question.
He said it felt great. Good quality aluminium etc
@@caprise-music6722 not the physical things, more "how does your guitar feeling through it"
Basically, when the AxeFxII, Helix, and Kemper came out we reached the point where there are marginal differences between high-end modeling units. Additionally, once they're in a mix it's nearly impossible to tell a difference. Finally, put all the units through the same IR and there's almost no chance a listener can tell any difference.
Buy a proper modeler and just play!
Those QC higher frequencies makes it sound less thicker than what the original is.
Paul by far the best review of a piece of gear ever on TH-cam!
Finely a real and honest review - think i'll hold off purchasing and wait and see if they work on your negative points.
Sounds great coming out of both. That’s because you’re a phenomenal player, and an inspiration for us all. Keep up the good work dude
I'll keep my kemper however I was thinking about buying one of these for my dog...
thanks for your review with pros and cons! it is not an sellout vid
I’m a product manager and your review gives me goosebumps. You define the pain points really well, relate with real life scenarios and also recommend user experience solutions with easy workarounds. Anybody in the music industry should hire you as a consultant. Brilliant! Great playin and hearing as well. Best guitar channel🤘🏽
Really good Paul. I have been watching non-stop videos and reviews on the Cortex and I love that you picked out things to improve on. Constructive criticism and you did it very well. Thanks for this. Hopefully the guys from Neural will pick up on this.
This is the most rounded, deepest review of the Quad Cortex I've seen yet...great job, Paul.
What's the song at 16:45, please? Sounds familiar but I've gone blank. Thanks.
I wanted to know the song too!
@@HomeWreckerPickups It's one of those pieces that sounds so familiar but you can't place it! I wonder if it's on the upcoming acoustic course?
Did you find out?? Please tell!
@@StarOfStar never got the answer, sorry bud.
@@vinski19 outrageous!! :(
Dang- you got the yellow one!! (I was wondering who was the lucky owner!) Perfection. Love that Novo guitar ;-) Oh yeah- good review of the Quad also
I just can’t see myself playing with this live as an effects unit. Maybe if you have a couple guitarists with their own pedal boards you could do 2 inputs in and have their own outputs. 1 amp model setup for 2 guitarists would be sweet.
this is the first reviw of this device i have seen and i guess everybody and their parents in the guitar influencer world got one and is creating content like this. which of course isn't a bad thing! I just really think people should take note (in general) how this was presented.
Reviews are never 100% objective, they are affected by the taste of the reviewer. Reviews are calibrated against existing things that have been used and proven for years. A new product most likely will have flaws at launch but some of that come down to your personal preference, some will be fixed in the future.
This seemed very honest and i think the advice NEURAL will have gained from this will make this a much better product. I guess many people that receive a sponsorship like this will try to mitigate the flaws to look better to the advertisers by telling their audience what a great piece of equipment they are advertising.
But in the end - this is much more helpful both to the consumer and to the company.
So hat off, well done!
This isn't a sponsorship, they did not give me the device.
"Never buy something based on promised software updates" - I guess you don't have the Cyberpunk 2077 (yet)? :D
You mean, never buy based on promised release features if you are using CyberPunk as an example as you simply have no idea of the level and quality of updates that they will eventually provide at this point and if Witcher is an indicator, your example will make your point look dumb.
I sold my Kemper after waiting patiently for 6 years for them to release the editor, only to find it was not worth the wait.
Never again.....
@@digitalchris6681 the one thing which is too late to update is the tiny window. And as I said all of them need help from real pedals. Except 2. The Yamaha 100hd double modeler and the Iridium.
@@jklmopqtstuvwxyz5349 that tiny mono screen was useless - hence why I was so desperate for the computer-based editor.
Lol! This hits hard fam. “F”
I’m curious to see where the QC is at when it’s time to replace my beloved Helix.
Its already there
Seems like the helix 3.0 update keeps it interesting and pretty close. If you play metal, neural is pulling away.
Agree, Helix seems more reliable so far.
From reading the comments I expected you to tear this thing apart but after watching the video you pretty much share the same opinions as some of the other reviews. I’m super stoked for this thing, especially at this price.
Drop out is massive no no! But the captured tones did sound very good! I do love the plugins from Neural so will see how this develops over time! Cheers Paul 🙌
Dropout happens on all current existing units like helix and axefx though. That's why scènes are used
Dropout happens with every unit, not just Neural's.
This is old beta firmware. Check out new Dave Navarro vid to see how preset change sounds mid song now. No audible gap at all.
Amazing review, being a Neural DSP plugin-user I'm strongly considering the Quad Cortex, but now you've given me things to think about regarding the kemper. But your final point about the cortex being more "future proof" is I think why I might buy it over the kemper bc idk what the kepmer's going to be like compare to the cortes in 5 years when DAWs get updated as well..
I'm switching to the quad cortex, great demo, this backed up what I had already thought and I have already listed my Kemper and remote.
Well it’s been delayed again so you may want to wait.
@@kcussrebutuemos4815 Decision already made, the Kemper is listed and will go when it sells. Delays are what we deal with in the time of covid.
A very honest review! Thanks for pros and cons!
Guitar rolled back ay 18 minutes, reason I will continue to use a tube amp. I have never used a modeling device that is able to mimic those dynamics.
Nicely done. I especially loved the tune and tone from 17:15 to 17:47...beautiful.
There's only a winner: the Tone King 😍
Totally Agree
I think it's a tie between the Tone King and the Matchless :)
@@archiviloria you're right !!!
you are right and i own a kemper
If you ask my neighbours I am not sure they would agree... 🤣
Nice!! Your playing is waaaayyy better than i remember.. glad to hear you doin' it!!
Your review made me hold muy bucks for a little longer... I´ll go broke later. Thanks, best honest review so far.
im 13 mins in, and as someone who builds products for startups ... they should be paying you for this lol. You are an amazing customer.
The audio dropouts and clicking when changing presets and scenes is something that needs attention. Thanks for the in-depth review!
Big time right ? Having seamless transitions is a must.
Your fingers and your guitar are magical. Thanks for your videos,
Love the profiling, modeling, and routing capabilities...but the menu-diving interface and no software control is a deal-breaker for me...
I love how that there is no need to rebuild your factory of production line in order to accommodate changes and tweaks based on the users' requests. It's a matter of changing the code, even if it is quite sophisticated. Good times.
Noice! I got your Next Level Playing course! Really helping!
Most informative review I've seen thus far - Great Job !
Maybe I'm just getting older, but this seems so complicated. My brain can't handle too much other than turning something on and off and maybe fiddling with a couple of knobs.
The Kemper, the Helix and Fractal are all way more complicated.
Im the same...but FORCED MYSELF to learn when I bought a Helix LT. I am SO GLAD I DID! Bottom line: We can still learn, it just takes more time and patience than when we were younger. On a positive note, when we do force learn as I like to call it, I feel like the content is more truly absorbed because of the forced focus inherently involved with learning complicated things post age 50. ugh lol
I'll stick with my gt1000
Sounds like the Iridium would be perfect for you.
Man, the Kemper in this comparison REALLY has that added compression into it. Thanks for the comparision
With digital it's always "the next best, revolutionary" device. Still, I prefer your Matchless.
The Matchless will still be sitting there in 5 years and the Neural DSP will be used to hold open the door. DSP stands for 'Door Stop Product.'
Probably the best review so far. Good job!
The kemper has years to develop it's effects, they weren't as good in the beginning, quad cortex just starts (and it's not really available since now!), so I'm sure that the quality will increase in time. I'll change my kemper stage for the quad cortex, because of the stunning operation and controls on it, it's much more intuitive! And the format of the device for me is also a reason, I use it in studio, were the Toaster is nice, but the stage really not - the quad cortex can easily fit on my desk and also under my feet, that's amazing.
At the end it's unbelievable that the kemper in it's way has no competitor (for me) in all the years of conquer the market, so I think a little bit competition might be good for the users ;-)