Neural Quad Cortex

  • It seems the QC has four advantages being pushed in marketing against the competition - the GUI (which is subjective), capturing pedals, dual (or more) amps, and the price.


    Has somebody here watched and listened carefully to the Andertons pedal capture video that I have posted here today?

    I found it quite interesting.

  • Has somebody here watched and listened carefully to the Andertons pedal capture video that I have posted here today?

    I found it quite interesting.

    The captured pedals seem to have more HF content, but this could also be because they retweaked the captures I think.

    In the end the results were quite close, no?

    Except for the Field Marshall, of course. Here the result was unsatisfactory to me.

  • The captured pedals seem to have more HF content,

    Pete Thorn mentioned it also..the captures have less gain.And also less HF.


    I also wonder why this hasn't been mentioned/emphasized more here and in other forums.It is very obvious.


    And yes..with some tweaking.. it sounds good..but I guess this is not the issue if we want to talk about the quality of the capture feature.The capture should have same gain,same hf as the original source.

  • People talk about there not being an editor for the QC. Based on the videos I've seen, I hadn't thought about using an editor on the PC. It seems easy enough to use without one. Pete Thorn did mention there was going to be a mobile app available but not sure what it will do.

  • Agreed the wall wart is the one big thing that disappointed me. There is always a spare euro socket at a venue, but I'd feel compelled to carry a spare psu in this case. Maybe there might be a different format in the future with kettle lead.

    Yes, it was such an oversight. I thought for the price they are charging, it was such a strange omission.


    Wall warts can also easily come loose in transit and do loads of damage to the rest of the gear that they are in the same case with.

    Hate the damn things. ???

  • Going with a wall wart takes noisy and potentially hot elements of the power supply out of the box which saves space and allows electronics to be situated anywhere inside the case. The more robust solution of the IEC cable bringing AC straight in to the case is my preference but it definitely adds to the likely size and weight of the unit.


    As far as noise goes, some parts of the signal chain need spatial separation and shielding from AC hum/RFI emitted by power supply. In a tube amp the input jack and early gain stages are often at the opposite end of the chassis from the transformers and PS due to these reasons. A unit like this would have a switching power supply of course.

  • To me the pedal capture is less impressive. I mean maybe my ears are just atrophied but honestly they just sounded like a single pedal with a match eq slapped on it and a guesstimate at the gain level. Otoh the source pedals themselves have this tendency to all sound kinda similar.

  • 'went over to the gearpage to watch several of today's reviews..and some lads over there try to blame this @Fluff guy for the quad reviews till yet sounding not to good..but it is not his fault..


    Still wait for the Thorn review.Till yet..not impressed at all..

    The bad sound was 100% user error on Fluff’s part.

  • I’ll say this...I have a QC on order and I’m really looking forward to it.


    I have been in love with my KPA for 7 years now. I am not a fanboy but it is the greatest and most useful piece of guitar gear I have ever purchased.


    That said, a few things have begun to wear on me. No need to list them, but the QC seems to correct some of them, mostly related to the UI.


    If Kemper decides it wants to compete then I will be very, very interested in what they have to offer.

    I think the KPA, as good as it is, needs an update. In both the UI area as well as the profiling area.


    This company can innovate. We know this.


    And if they bring something new to the game like they did by releasing the KPA, they will have my money.

  • No, not for me but for me this is some advantages over the Kemper - smaller, less than half the weight of the Stage. a design that is more intuitive and easier to navigate the menu. If the tone is acceptable and price range is close some user will prefer this over the KPA. I am happy with the Kemper but i hope they consider some of this features for the Kemper 2.

    I can definitely see the appeal of the QC. It has some potential for sure! :)


    I think the QC has some advantages as far as UI and user features go. One thing that not everyone has gotten on with, is the KPA's UI and work flow. So I totally see how an easy to use UI is really appealing! But unfortunately, the advantages don't extend to the important aspects such as tone. And those are the aspects that make a bigger difference to me. But everyone is different!


    I agree with you about the KPA 2! I really hope that some of these features get considered for a Kemper 2 in the future. A lot of the things implemented in the QC are features that KPA users have been asking (begging!) for, for a long time now haha. I think, if a lot of those features were put into a new KPA 2, and the Profiling process was updated (although it's great where it is), then the KPA 2 would be at its best and it would literally be in an untouchable position at the top of the gear food chain! Haha


    By the way Vinny , didn't mean to call you out or anything with the comment about the Headrush. I legit was trying to save you some money if the UI and touchscreen was the selling point for you haha :) because I used to have a Headrush and those pedalboards have amazingly fun and easy to use UI. I ended up liking the tones from my KPA much more but, I still miss the touch screen and how fun it was to make a rig! Lol. 8o

  • The captured pedals seem to have more HF content, but this could also be because they retweaked the captures I think.

    In the end the results were quite close, no?

    Except for the Field Marshall, of course. Here the result was unsatisfactory to me.

    Personally I would not be happy with the results. But maybe a mishap happened in the test.


    The Dane capture needed some tweaks in gain and EQ after capturing.

    The 808 capture had way too much bass. (A no-go when boosting your amp. Even one dB more or less bass matters, as you all know).

    The Field Marshall capture had a matching overall coloration, but didn't do the final trick.

    Rabea mentioned that Fuzz in general is still an issue for capturing.

    The BOSS Metal Zone was spot on. (Andertons might have named the video after it for that reason)


    A similar test with the Profiler would create similar result, including the Metal Zone being spot-on.


    In the past I have decided not to promote distortion pedal profiling because you guys would have killed me for the poor yield shown above, especially for such relevant distortions.

    And you have killed me in the past for much smaller inaccuracies than that :)


    We encourage users to profile distortion pedals along with their amps and decide by the result, as as good number of pedals work perfect.


    However, if the guitar world has moved that far to the forgiving side since then, we could easily publish distortion pedal profiling on said quality level and yield. Still this would not be consistent with my business ethics.


    The technical background of the "mismatches" IMHO is that the variety of the cruical circuit topologies of distortion pedals is much wider and more complex than those of tube amps.

    I believe there will be advances in capturing this variety in the future, but I cannot see them today.

    Tell me if I have overlooked something.

  • Well... after watching all the vids I seriously feel that my wallet is safe.

    I'd take whatever a Kemper II offered, but I see no reason to jump ship.

    Jumping ship would mean I'd have to go through the whole FRFR thing again, and just when I got the pant flapping back with the Kabinet.

    Nope... I'm good.

  • By the way Vinny, didn't mean to call you out or anything with the comment about the Headrush. I legit was trying to save you some money if the UI and touchscreen was the selling point for you haha :) because I used to have a Headrush and those pedalboards have amazingly fun and easy to use UI. I ended up liking the tones from my KPA much more but, I still miss the touch screen and how fun it was to make a rig! Lol. 8o

    All good mate. Happy with the Kemper and not looking for a Headrush or QC for that matter. But looking forward to the K2! Please, ckemper this will be the best!


    Most benefit for me with QC is the light weight. But i cannot see to spend $1600 USD to save 5 lbs/2.3kg. Touch screen is nice but for a floorboard this is less interesting.


    Still the QC is only beginning and much upside to improve the software. We will see with future versions.

  • all things considered, I think Herr Kemper is somewhat right. but the QC does offer some interesting possibilities

    When I think about playing live and putting 2Guitar players and maybe even bass through one unit live it’s pretty damn cool

    I vote for a Kemper 2 with more options

  • Well... after watching all the vids I seriously feel that my wallet is safe.

    I'd take whatever a Kemper II offered, but I see no reason to jump ship.

    Jumping ship would mean I'd have to go through the whole FRFR thing again, and just when I got the pant flapping back with the Kabinet.

    Nope... I'm good.

    The Kone is THE game changer for achieving true amp tone live. Neither Fractal nor the QC have it. I don't see them as competition anymore. (Not that Fractal ever was.)

    The key to everything is patience.
    You get the chicken by hatching the egg, not by smashing it.
    -- Arnold H. Glasow


    If it doesn't produce results, don't do it.

    -- Me

  • I'd have to go through the whole FRFR thing again, and just when I got the pant flapping back with the Kabinet.

    Nope... I'm good.

    Actually a lot of producers and ofcourse guitar players have built up their own biotope/habitat with the profiler and its periphery.Most have spent to much time on "getting it right" when they left their beloved tube rigs to give the profiling solution a try.

    And we dont even have to talk about the RE,community,a decade long know how,proven service,free upgrades etc..


    In my opinion L6 and fractal have much more reason to be concerned about any new kid in town which comes along with more CPU,xxl everything,multi path and what ever modeler nerd stuff.


    But thus is just my opinion.


    In any case the form factor is great.But this to come was predicted a long time ago.

  • Emotion over science and accuracy:


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