Where is the Quad Cortex???

fcs101

fcs101

Axe-Master
Has anyone else noticed that the QC hype has dried up? I'm not here to be a hater, because I was genuinely curious when it came out, but it really seems like there was a big PR push and then just nothing. Am I missing something?
 
I have one, and it is collecting dust. I think it is not ready yet, same as the FM3 when it was released. So I might give it some time...or I might sell it. Did not invest much time yet, I think it is ok sounding, not more.
 
gitfruit said:
I have one, and it is collecting dust. I think it is not ready yet, same as the FM3 when it was released. So I might give it some time...or I might sell it. Did not invest much time yet, I think it is ok sounding, not more.
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A lot of people reviewed it and would always try and give it a positive spin. No matter what people may say in a video you can tell the truth by what they actually use. I keep an eye on the guys at Worship Tutorials; they received a QC four months ago, reviewed it three months ago, and have yet to post a single preset for use. That's what spurred my OP because they crossed my mind so I went to look at what they'd done with it in that time and apparently not much (despite producing content for Fractal and Line 6). Then I got to noticing the QC videos in general had dried up.
 
I actually had pre-ordered the QC and was in "Tier 1." As it was being released and reviewed I decided to cancel the pre-order for several reasons: 1. Concern about its durability (fine for desktop use, but not for gigging): It has a wall wart power supply with a barrel-type connector. It has a flat metal bottom -- Neural supply four inexpensive peel and stick rubber pads to protect it. 2. Lack of FX, especially delays and reverbs. 3. Nothing I heard on the QC was better than the FM3. 4. Price -- $600 US (now $850 US) more than the FM3. I agree with the comments above that Neural did a great job marketing the product, but it does not live up to the hype.
 
As a result of boring Zoom meetings, I ended up following the QC launch pretty closely at another, more snarky forum.

I think there was a lot of cart-before-the-horse action going on and it eventually caught up with them as their own user base started to doubt their capabilities. I don’t want to sling any mud in theIr direction and respect anyone who tries doing something big like that; it just creates a healthy competition which benefits us all, but it seems like someone just took everything people wanted in a floor unit, wrote it down on a cocktail napkin then handed it off to a team of developers and said “Make it so.”, without really knowing what was possible or how long it would take to do it.

They definitely did not go the underpromise/overdeliver route and that’s biting them in the ass and will until they get the thing up to it’s advertised state. I had interest in one as it’d be cool to have something I can throw in a backpack or suitcase when I travel and capture my friend’s amps as I’ve got a particular group of friends with some more rare/cool amps that are one-offs or modded that I would LOVE to have use of. But I’d also want to use it for jamming with those same friends and while I really only need an amp and some delay for a one-off jam, I’m not dishing out $2K for a unit that’s half completed with so many questions in the air about grounding issues, buzzes and hums.

After the last update it’s been radio silence from NDSP and I don’t think that’s unintentional, I think it was realized that the more they said, the worse off they were. For a while, people were making requests for this and that and they’d get a reply ”I’ll forward this to my team and see what we can do!”, or “In the works!”, “I think we can make that happen”, but get the thing up to it’s advertised state before making any other promises or expectations. The reports of people who had PSU issues and were told they were going to receive a new one within a couple weeks, but have not gotten replies from their emails when asking for an update isn’t the most confidence building situation. Supposedly they had it figured it out and had a suitable replacement, but it’s been months since that was stated and no update on the matter.
 
Our other guitarist has one and hasn't sold it yet. That's a pretty big bellwether for me as he is very finicky. Each week he shows up to practice with it and it sounds great. The capture functionality is as good as it advertises too. He doesn't have any buzz or humming issues when we play and his presets can hang with my FM3.

With all that said, I don't see anything that would motivate me to grab one over my FM3.
 
MicroMort said:
Our other guitarist has one and hasn't sold it yet. That's a pretty big bellwether for me as he is very finicky. Each week he shows up to practice with it and it sounds great. The capture functionality is as good as it advertises too. He doesn't have any buzz or humming issues when we play and his presets can hang with my FM3.

With all that said, I don't see anything that would motivate me to grab one over my FM3.
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Yeah the capture ability is reportedly great. In fact it should probably derail the Kemper from what I've seen in reviews. I think the rub is with effects.
 
It looks like a pretty good alternative to the Kemper, and if I was in the market for a profiler or “capturing” device, it could definitely fit the bill. However, it really lacks in the modeling department and is severely anemic compared to other offerings at that price point.
 
yek said:
Never a good idea to discuss the challenges and pitfalls of products of other manufacturers on this forum.
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Not so sure about that. I think what Fractal corp can gain from discussions on this forum is obtaining the thoughts of their own user base, some who actually have the competitor product. If you looked on the QC forum, you get the usual fan bois statements, so those opinions are not that valuable. I'm sure Fractal also has the product themselves, so they can objectively judge sound quality and to a certain degree (of being objective) assess the usability. Fractal product users voicing their opinion about pros of the competitor product have got to have a certain weight and value for Fractal.

I was on the SW list for the QC too but cancelled it after the first user reports came in. I was enticed by the ease-of-use which has been confirmed by many reports I think, form factor, processing power (I know, this could be subjective and not a real issue), and the wireless and cloud abilities. Don't care about the capture. I was disappointed at the lack of customizability (modifiers mostly, if I remember right) and just not be ready yet.

My ideal next-gen Fractal floor unit would have similar form factor, usability and processing power of the QC and the Fractal firmware and algorithms we love! ;)
 
And actually I do agree with @yek on not discussing the pitfalls. I read your statement again and do agree with that!
 
yek said:
Never a good idea to discuss the challenges and pitfalls of products of other manufacturers on this forum.
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I agree with you to a point, which is why I stated in the OP that I wasn't out be a hater. However, it's not practical to expect no mention of competitors' products. I'm sure that Fractal comes up on other message boards. I think honest discussion is valuable.
 
I’ve got one (as well as a kemper and multiple fractal units...... OMG ITS THE END OF THE WORLD!!! )

I love it, it’s the most intuitive easy to pick up piece of modelling gear I’ve used so far. I’d say I play it more than all the others, no issues with ground hum at least for me.

The big thing I miss is the complex controlling you can do with the fractal gear as well as some routing I found out after.

I luckily got it before the price hike too.

I remember the days of hauling heads and 4x12’s prior to firmware releases etc so I have a bit more patience that most gear players these days it seems.

This thread will probably be nuked like all the rest though...
 
Honestly, the rack form factor is a requirement for me, so I never had any real interest in the QC. Now that I have had the AxeFX III Mk2 for about 6 months, I stopped watching the fanboi trainwreck threads elsewhere on the 'net. No plans to change from Fractal anytime soon, except to maybe pull out the tubes occasionally.
 
axl-fx said:
I’ve got one (as well as a kemper and multiple fractal units...... OMG ITS THE END OF THE WORLD!!! )

I love it, it’s the most intuitive easy to pick up piece of modelling gear I’ve used so far. I’d say I play it more than all the others, no issues with ground hum at least for me.

The big thing I miss is the complex controlling you can do with the fractal gear as well as some routing I found out after.

I luckily got it before the price hike too.

I remember the days of hauling heads and 4x12’s prior to firmware releases etc so I have a bit more patience that most gear players these days it seems.

This thread will probably be nuked like all the rest though...
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Are you using it mostly for capture/profile? Do you feel the effects are on par with Fractal, b/c that's not at all what I'm getting (especially refer to Rhett Shull and Leon Todd's reviews)? I understand the UI is probably better; I'm more interested in quality of effects.
 
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