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Darkglass / NeuralDSP moving into hardware???? UPDATE: The Quad Cortex


fretmeister

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51 minutes ago, Davebassics said:

So it's not a helix stomp competitor then :(

No, it looks a bit like a full Helix competitor with similar-ish I/O to a Helix LT and dimensions very similar to an HX Effects. To be fair, over the last couple of years I’ve read loads of posts online from Helix users dreaming of a Helix without the expression pedal attached, since it seems a lot of folk rarely use it. Line 6 would never make it as it would potentially confuse an already well-populated product line. 
 

Re: price, check out the below from Neural’s website:

17F62155-2C6B-4741-8F62-33D86D965BB4.thumb.png.b4c0415ce2476e795719f647266f235a.png
 

€1599 total! 

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Question I’d like to know or find out.

It can have 2 to 4 rigs.

Can each instrument have their own footswitch/midi switch so they can do their own thing away from the central unit.

I can see how this works on big gigs with all gear off stage and nothing on stage everything timelined and midi switched, but if a band wants to share and have their own switches is that possible?

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There's one glaring omission there... When are they available? I'd want to know that before parting with anything... 

Edit: September 2020 shipping. Hmm... I think I'll pass in the meantime, but it looks like a helix killer to me! 

Edited by Bigwan
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I was guessing earlier in this thread that the step up in processing power from the Stomp to the QC would be equivalent to going from a Zoom MS-60B to a Stomp.

That's actually not going to be far off: Doug from DG has confirmed that the QC has "twice the CPU of a Helix Floor/Rack/Fractal AX8/FM3" in a Helix HX sized package. In other words 4x the processing power of the Stomp. 

Add in touch screen UI, profiling like AxeFx, Kemper and live usability of 10 stomp switches and there's a LOT to like about this!

It's going to be one to keep an eye out for as will NAMM 2021 when the competition, whom I suspect will have been a little blindsided by this, will have had time to react. Never been a better time to be into multifx - amazing just how much mulits have developed over just the past 3 years since the launch of the Zoom B3n and Helix was still in development in Line6's labs.

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I've been itching to tell people about this for so long!

Doug has dedicated his life to this for two years, it looks incredible.  The idea of going full digital is scary, but this just looks fantastic and the price is fantastic.

Who knew i'd be a fan, eh?  It's only usually Darkglass stuff I like..... 😉

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I see the stats on its processing power and how it’s more powerful than most things out there, but one thing it didn’t say is how it stacks up against the Fractal Axe FX III. That has a 2Ghz chip as well and I think 4Gb RAM, but I can’t find anything to side by side them.

Also I can’t find the actual head to head specs on the FM3, but I am aware that has the guts of the AxeFXIII to all intensive purposes and 4x12 blocks so 48 scenes.

@Kev you have any knowledge on this for a shoot out?

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3 hours ago, HazBeen said:

Whilst I love my LT, it doesn’t fully fulfill my amp/fx needs, so I use a number of pedals as well. This will be the same, great at some sounds but not all.

Helix is a step up from Zoom, though, and processing power IMO plays a big factor in the realism of the sims and how almost indistinguishable from dedicated pedals they become.

For me - if this nails synth and octave up with no latency, then we will be getting close to a multifx that does everything. If it doesn't, my much(!) cheaper Helix won't be making way.

I do love the UI on this as per bjelkeman's YouTube clip above - that really is a killer feature in making this very usable. 

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21 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

Helix is a step up from Zoom, though, and processing power IMO plays a big factor in the realism of the sims and how almost indistinguishable from dedicated pedals they become.

For me - if this nails synth and octave up with no latency, then we will be getting close to a multifx that does everything. If it doesn't, my much(!) cheaper Helix won't be making way.

I do love the UI on this as per bjelkeman's YouTube clip above - that really is a killer feature in making this very usable. 

I will let others buy it first and then see. Personally I am starting to think that an all-in-one solution actually is not possible, at least re the synth and octave sounds I am looking for.

But, open to being surprised and amazed..

Edited by HazBeen
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36 minutes ago, HazBeen said:

I will let others buy it first and then see. Personally I am starting to think that an all-in-one solution actually is not possible, at least re the synth and octave sounds I am looking for.

But, open to being surprised and amazed..

Yup, when a multifx nails an OC2 and an FI, the game will have changed. 

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I’d be surprised if there weren’t at least a couple of decent monophonic octavers (and maybe even a poly) in the unit but as we know, tastes in octavers can be very subjective/personal.

I personally doubt there will be a ground breaking synth engine in the Quad Cortex. Look at Darkglass/Neural products thus far: distortions, compressors, amps/cabs etc. but zero synth stuff.

The fact is, synth effects for guitar and bass are still a small niche area of the market and there’s a good chance that for Doug Castro and his team, building a comprehensive software synth engine to compete with the likes of Source Audio C4 and Future Impact simply isn’t worth the time and effort given the realistic impact on Quad Cortex sales at present. 

Not saying it’s impossible but precedent tells me it’s very very unlikely, especially at launch. Quad Cortex has serious processing power under the hood though, so one can argue it would be foolish for the Neural folks not spend time creating some more ambitious effect types for the platform. Time will tell!

In the meantime, I’d happily stick a Source Audio C4 into one of the FX loops.

Edited by CameronJ
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