Neural Quad Cortex

  • The idea to construct a super stable floor modeler with super stable buttons and no other knobs made of plastic is a great concept.But I still don't understand how this big,unprotected touchscreen fits into this concept.

    I think it'll be a god-sent for UI. This product being considerably more "modern" than most others, they want to take advantage of touch screen tech.


    I just don't know how durable it is. I do remember them at some point mentioning they've switched to some more durable material than originally, but don't know how good the end result is.

    The bonanza

  • The idea to construct a super stable floor modeler with super stable buttons and no other knobs made of plastic is a great concept.But I still don't understand how this big,unprotected touchscreen fits into this concept.

    From the page FAQ:


    The glass screen is right by the footswitches, isn’t that a risk?

    Although the same is true for any foot-controlled device with a screen, we’ve gone the extra mile to minimize the likelihood of accidental damage.


    Soooo, they say they went "the extra mile" but didnt say how, cause that might have some legal repercutions on warranty. I bet you broken screens will be frequent. Thats what bothers me a lot about this, just marketing shenanigans.

    The answer is 42

  • Oh and also:


    How afraid should I be of damaging the stomp-knobs?

    Not at all. The metal casing is made of stainless steel, making them borderline indestructible, and the inner mechanism is made of extremely durable ABS. More than seeing it as a knob you can stomp on, think of it as the most durable footswitch ever that you can also turn to adjust controls.


    The deeper you read, the more funny the answer sound. "Extremely durable ABS" and "Most durable footswitch ever" are really riculous claims, but here is me hoping is not just BS marketing, and they actually will have a reliable unit.

    The answer is 42

  • The glass screen is right by the footswitches, isn’t that a risk?

    Not knowing how big the difference is between a touch sensitive screen and a standard LCD panel is when it comes to durability, I just want to add that I´ve actually never heard about broken screens with a Helix, Headrush, AXE/FM3 etc. Is there a reason to assume that´ll be different here?

  • Not knowing how big the difference is between a touch sensitive screen and a standard LCD panel is when it comes to durability, I just want to add that I´ve actually never heard about broken screens with a Helix, Headrush, AXE/FM3 etc. Is there a reason to assume that´ll be different here?

    You said it yourself, a touch sensitive display has a different thickness, the bigger size of the screen, and how near it is to the stomps without a protection bar or someting to prevent your heavy duty boots to crash it, all of those are a formula for broken screen. And about headrush, I know of several cases of broken screens, there are also videos about it. We will see, but so far it is just marketing.

    The answer is 42

  • Not knowing how big the difference is between a touch sensitive screen and a standard LCD panel is when it comes to durability, I just want to add that I´ve actually never heard about broken screens with a Helix, Headrush, AXE/FM3 etc. Is there a reason to assume that´ll be different here?

    Huge difference.


    The screens you see on foot controllers are ALWAYS covered by a window. The window material is generally something like polycarbonate .... which is really tough and scratch resistant (nearly all eyeglasses today use this material btw).


    A touch screen by contrast must actually have its glass "touchable" in order for the capacitive screen to work. Imagine having your phone screen on your foot controller.


    The claims of "most durable foot switch ever" are absurd. The standard momentary switches used on most foot controllers are all metal (the physical button part). From here: https://guitarpedalparts.com/p…NygXy9iFjDbRoCns8QAvD_BwE


    Cheep too ;).


    As I said, I am really looking forward to having some people play these out in the wild. I really hope they are all that. The industry needs good competition.

  • I´ve actually never heard about broken screens with a Helix, Headrush, AXE/FM3 etc.

    I have.Actually quite a lot.


    And don't let me even start about older floorboard stuff.All the gear you mentioned is rather new and a few years old.And most owners will not care much in a few years about a broken screen or bonkers electronics because they "upgrade" to the next hype every few years anyway.


    Sadly most musicians I know are not in this favourable position..everything above 1500 bucks (which is in my experience the working musicians pain limit) just hurts a lot.

  • I might put mine in a mixer rack case and use a midi controller

    That would certainly work; however, I wonder how complete of a MIDI implementation it will have. Someone made a UnoForKemper ROM for the inexpensive behringer foot controller that very nicely mimicked the functions on the KPA so individuals didn't have to become MIDI experts. I wonder if someone will do the same for this new pedal? I used that FCB for a couple of years before Kemper released their own foot controller.

  • Thomas Blug will give his ampx floorboard a nice protection shield which opens up "magically" if you want to tweak on stage.And then closes down.Nice.


    And I really don't get why this guy is the only one who understands it.Some will say because he is also a hard gigging musician who took his lessons in Nashville.. ok..good reason..


    His amp1 does not have such a protection.Again.Lessons learned.Good job.

  • Whats gonna the the best speaker to use with Cortex? any guitar amp? im assuming its powered?

    Are they going to have the 'amp in the room' issue?

    'You can lead a horse to water, but a pencil must be lead' - Stan Laurel

  • Fears of placing gear on the floor are over exaggerated. (Granted I say that as a primarily church musician who doesn't have to worry about people spilling beer on my Stage.) You can look at the Kpa stage, Quad, Helix in a similar way. All three put something expensive at your feet. All three (probably) if damaged, could be fixed for a few hundred dollars. And that's a big IF. So if you want to minimize risk to these units themselves, you'd place these somewhere behind you and spend additional money on some sort of foot controller, probably in the $300-600 range. In other words to minimize the risk of breaking them, you spend more money than it would cost to fix them for a midi controller, remote, or on the more expensive purchase of a head/rack version + the cost of the dedicated controller. this foot controller itself also being at risk.

    And of course, this doesn't eliminate ALL risk, as your pricey gear can get damaged when someone, including yourself, trip over the cable running between IT and the foot controller in front of you.

  • Fears of placing gear on the floor are over exaggerated. (Granted I say that as a primarily church musician who doesn't have to worry about people spilling beer on my Stage.) You can look at the Kpa stage, Quad, Helix in a similar way. All three put something expensive at your feet. All three (probably) if damaged, could be fixed for a few hundred dollars. And that's a big IF. So if you want to minimize risk to these units themselves, you'd place these somewhere behind you and spend additional money on some sort of foot controller, probably in the $300-600 range. In other words to minimize the risk of breaking them, you spend more money than it would cost to fix them for a midi controller, remote, or on the more expensive purchase of a head/rack version + the cost of the dedicated controller. this foot controller itself also being at risk.

    And of course, this doesn't eliminate ALL risk, as your pricey gear can get damaged when someone, including yourself, trip over the cable running between IT and the foot controller in front of you.

    There are reasons why pedals and floor stuff in general have always been "cheap and affordable" tools.Under 1000$ in any case.Much less until the 90s.For decades.Now this may have changed.As have venues and frequency of having live gigs.Thats for sure.


    I never played in a church.I really envy you for this nice (and clean) environment to make your music and earn a few bucks(?)..you are a lucky guy.


    As for me personally.. recalling how often I played in places which you can describe as "the opposite of a church" and also all these rainy(in the past) and hot,dusty,sandy(last years) outdoor venues,festivals I played I can't exactly agree on the "over exaggerated" part of things.


    You really want to put a 1500$ tool on a festival stage where rain is puring on the floor all around you?Be my guest.I won't do this.

  • If you worry unduly about putting the unit on the floor, just buy a cheap midi pedalboard. Personally my band use remote switching from the keyboard players laptop, but I have an old Boss FC-50.

    Karl


    Kemper Rack OS 9.0.5 - Mac OS X 12.6.7

  • I am perfectly fine with my KPA head and the remote.Plus one ev pedal.This for any "more serious" gig.


    I am looking for something small,affordable to put in my backpack for jams and freakin dirty grab & go gigs ..that's all.


    And I know I am not the only one.Most lads I know already have the l6 stomp.For me..I dont like how this stuff sounds.

  • I doubt that there will ever be a "one size fits all" device. It´s always a balance act between size, weight, functions (I/Os), features etc.


    If someone wants/needs a super robust floorboard for gigs in purgatory, I don´t think that a floor profiler (!) is the perfect device to go with. I guess that the idea behind the QC is much more to provide a super portable & lightweight device which enables musicians and studio professionals to recreate AND create sounds with ease everywhere they go (1.6KG vs 5 KG (Kemper)). At the same time it wants to be a device for home & studio usage which even can be used in live environments as well if needed.