Neural Quad Cortex

  • In my opinion, it is not a well-done video. He did'n do profile refining(after Guido's video I think it is important step ) and set definition parameter without checking against AMP sound. I must admit that QC came out pretty close.

    I agree. He didn't refine the profile in the Kemper. That is one issue. However, I caught in what he was saying that he added a pedal in the signal chain of the QC. That is no longer an apples to apples comparison. That will change gain structure and EQ. I also agree that he shouldn't have just added definition without checking it against the amp sound. He wasn't doing the profile process correctly so how can you compare this?

  • Well I just got told by GuitarGuitar in the UK that I should have my QC either next week, or the week after. I'm quite up for re-profiling all of my amps and then neural capturing all of my amps and doing a/b comparisons.

  • One thing that I saw that the Quad Cortex does that is very interesting to me is that you can run two guitars into it at once and give them separate signal chains. I use some guitars that have Piezo pickups in them as well as magnetic pickups. I usually run these through a separate unit to add a little compression and reverb and sometimes a very light chorus on them to fatten them up before going to the board with the signal. From what I saw it may be possible to put one feed in from my magnetic pickups one one for the Piezo (assuming it will do acoustic guitar processing) and then send them out to the board through one line. That would help cut down on things I have to take to a gig even more. In like it in theory. Not sure how well it would work.

  • Source: https://unity.neuraldsp.com/t/…it-worth-the-wait/3800/47


    All these devices sound pretty good but feel is what interests me the most. I'm curious to see more reports about how the QC feels, in the coming weeks.

    Could work but take a look at this:

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  • Could work but take a look at this:

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    Just wait until they try to add complex effects... ?

  • As doug says in the comments:

    Quote

    A few things to keep in mind: using captures with mic’d cabs should free up a lot resources. But sure, we are also working on optimizing what’s currently there in terms of resources as well as adding lighter options as well. Another item that will free up a lot of resources for extreme presets is an IR loader block as well as a single cab. The current implementation loads and interpolates between hundreds of IRs in each instance. It’s important to keep in mind that the hardware has a lot of CPU available, and that as it matures, the platform will improve in how efficiently these available resources are used.

    Now unusually I'm not worried about this. Because it's so small I can put it on a board with all my Strymons. If we were talking Kemper or Helix or Axe FX, I'd be more worried because they are bulkier and so require a more standalone approach.


    But I do hope they improve the CPU usage anyway, that would be great!

  • in terms of processing power the QC should be slightly better than the Helix and quite better than the Kemper.

    The Axe FX3 is much better than all of them.

    Comparing cpu speeds is not the end of all though. CK is a genius who achieved everything using a 400mhz processor while Line6 has 20 years of experience in the business.

    Fractal has both the experience and the hardware.

    Remains to be seen how quickly can NDSP catch up.

  • in terms of processing power the QC should be slightly better than the Helix and quite better than the Kemper.

    The Axe FX3 is much better than all of them.

    Comparing cpu speeds is not the end of all though. CK is a genius who achieved everything using a 400mhz processor while Line6 has 20 years of experience in the business.

    Fractal has both the experience and the hardware.

    Remains to be seen how quickly can NDSP catch up.

    Yeah, to me the Kemper is a testament to the fact that nothing is as effective as really nailing the algorithm - no matter how much hardware specs improve on the competition, profiles still sound like the most realistic thing out there.

    Of course that doesn't mean that I wouldn't enjoy a KPA with even more power, cause I am pretty sure CK would do amazing things with it.

    Edited once, last by Laimon ().

  • The processing power is not a good metric at all IMO. If it were then the AxeIII Fx would be the UNDISPUTED leader in the digital amp business .... and it is far from it.


    Tone, Functionality (appropriate to the use case), speed, and reliability are all that matters.


    A maritime diesel has way more HP than the engine in a Vette. Which one is more fun to drive? ;)

  • yeah. Jarrod and I disagree on refining

    I love Jarrod and he's a great genuine guy. But unfortunately, we disagree on Refining too. When I asked him about it, his experience with Refining was the opposite of what I've heard from everyone else.

    In my opinion, it is not a well-done video. He did'n do profile refining(after Guido's video I think it is important step ) and set definition parameter without checking against AMP sound. I must admit that QC came out pretty close.

    Once he added the different ODs, and didn't Refine, the comparison was invalid unfortunately. Fun comparison concept but a few minor flaws in the way it was executed. He's a really nice guy and loves his Kemper so it was all unintentional on his part. But still-the different OD's, not Refining, and setting Definition without referencing the Amp's original tone-were too many unequal factors that added up to an unfair comparison.


    Its so surprising Jarrod doesn't Refine too, because his Profiles come out sounding Killer! Lol

  • Its so surprising Jarrod doesn't Refine too, because his Profiles come out sounding Killer! Lol

    I like his profiles, too. Which doesn't mean that they are close to the real thing - we just don't have a reference (and they probably are not even close if he's doing profiling like shown in this video). But it doesn't matter at all - his profiles sound great and are fun to play. However this video is a bit unfortunate - whatever Jarrod could do to screw up this comparison, he did (using different overdrives, lack of refining). Whoever will bumps into his video as a first movie comparing the two units will be under impression that QC is awesome (got the sound almost spot on) and Kemper sucks at profiling (was not even close to real amp). This is simply not true - both units excel at it, for what I can hear, but one requires more patience and work. Skipping refining / or insufficient refining seems to be the most common sin of youtubers. Guidorist showed exactly what to do to correctly profile an amp - there is absolutely no excuse at this point for not doing it.

  • I like his profiles, too. Which doesn't mean that they are close to the real thing - we just don't have a reference (and they probably are not even close if he's doing profiling like shown in this video). But it doesn't matter at all - his profiles sound great and are fun to play. However this video is a bit unfortunate - whatever Jarrod could do to screw up this comparison, he did (using different overdrives, lack of refining). Whoever will bumps into his video as a first movie comparing the two units will be under impression that QC is awesome (got the sound almost spot on) and Kemper sucks at profiling (was not even close to real amp). This is simply not true - both units excel at it, for what I can hear, but one requires more patience and work. Skipping refining / or insufficient refining seems to be the most common sin of youtubers. Guidorist showed exactly what to do to correctly profile an amp - there is absolutely no excuse at this point for not doing it.

    I never really thought about it like that but, the accuracy of the Profiles doesn't really matter as much as how good the tone is to begin with-in the context of buying 3rd party Profiles and not having heard the reference Amp.

    Accuracy matters a lot in the actual Profiling process though, and as you mentioned, not putting in the step of Refining to ensure the Kemper is getting as close to 100% accuracy as possible is leaving the Kemper shorthanded in the comparison and it's an unfortunate mis-representation of the Kemper's profiling accuracy.

    The guy loves his Kemper and is one of us so I don't see it being an intentional thing. He seems to really have had bad experiences with Refining in the past. I'm sure that just comes down to the method used for Refining.


    As you mentioned before - now that vid of Guido Refining a Profile to 100% accuracy gives people the info they need to Refine properly.

    Before, there wasn't really any official info available from Kemper about the proper way to go about Refining a Profile. The manual mentions Refining a little bit and briefly says a bit about what you can do when Refining. But it's kind of a "dark art" and was kind up for interpretation up until Guido's recent vid on the Kemper YouTube channel haha.


    But you're totally right, at this point when there's finally some solid info and a few videos on Refining, people should have all the info they need now :)

  • Something is seriously wrong. The frequency response of the Kemper profile was way off and it sounded a lot different before he even touched the Definition parameter. The profile almost sounds like a completely different amp.


    Yes.

    But it‘s not about refining here.


    Same situation as in that previous video.

    He left the Profiling Mode and recorded the A/B comparison afterwards.

    He has the Pure Cabinet feature active globally, which is bypassed in Profiling Mode.

    This smoothens the Cabinet towards an amp-in-the-room sound.

    Unnoticed by him, unfortunately.


    I suspect that the Profiler has too many options ... ?

  • In the situation in the video, I think Jarrod (from ToneWars video) didn't Refine. When I asked him, he said he get's bad results from Refining and his Profiles sound further from the source Amp when he Refines. I think in this situation, at least part of the audible difference is because of a lack of Refining the Profile properly.

    Also, in the past he's been vocal about disliking Pure Cabinet for high gain tones and like many high gain Profile users-he prefers Pure Cabinet off for anything high gain and he always has it off globally. I doubt he would have had it on in the video but I'll ask him and update this post later :)


    But I have seen a lot of other people accidentally mess up comparisons by unknowingly leaving on Pure Cabinet. I've also unfortunately seen a ton of people make negative comments about the KPA's sound because they didn't know about Pure Cabinet or didn't know to disable it.


    I think the KPA's factory settings should have the Pure Cabinet parameters off in both the Output and Cab block. So many people don't know about it and many users don't take the time to read the manual (although they should! lol ?).

    Pure Cabinet is such a polarizing effect, because people either love it or really dislike what it does. And when people dislike what it's doing to the tone but don't know about it to begin with, it makes them think they just dislike how the KPA sounds and it gives a negative impression of the KPA's sonic qualities. I've even seen it turn people off of the KPA and ruin their experience with it, quite a few times.


    It tends to give high gain tones a kind of "sameness" in the high end and that effect being on from the factory settings can lead to a warped representation of how great the KPA can sound when they first turn it on. Having the option to control it globally is great but it's an effect that really should be set per rig after knowing about it to begin with, and most people don't read the manual right away.


    Since it's an effect that people either really like or dislike, and it isn't a very obvious setting, it would make sense for the factory settings to have Pure Cabinet off. Having it as an option that's not already on would not only avoid a ton of misunderstandings and mix-ups, but it would also be beneficial because the people who are using it at that point are consciously and knowingly turning it on.


    Anyways, just my 2 cents. I mean no disrespect and I'm only trying to make what I think is a truly helpful suggestion:) It would help keep these sort of mix-ups and not very great representations of the Kemper from happening so unfortunately often.

    I love my KPA and it's a shame to see misrepresentations and unfair comparisons when I personally know that 100% accuracy is possible with the KPA and I know it sounds amazing. I'm just as frustrated as you CK! The lack of proper representation for the KPA, and all of the unfair comparisons are getting to be incredibly frustrating lol

  • Indeed, Christoph.


    The amount of misrepresentation that's been going on in YouTube clips is starting to get annoying.


    I mean, we've seen it in political contexts and other agenda-driven areas, but I'd never have guessed that this sort of thing would rear its ugly head with regards to our beloved Kemper. Big thumbs-down to this from lil' ol' me, brother. :rolleyes::thumbdown:

  • If you are thinking of limiting the options in regards profiling (which might help level the playing field with these kinds of unscientific videos), can you make it a choice so the original options remain?

    I agree!:)

    If automatic-Refinement is added into the Profiling algorithm or something, that would be awesome and it would make the KPA's overall accuracy much higher with less work! But it would still be extremely beneficial to have the option to Refine further, just in case it's still needed.


    I think the lack of an option to Refine with the QC is a drawback because there's no way to improve the accuracy of a Capture after it's taken. But when making Profiles, you can Refine as much as needed and that's where the KPA has a huge leg up in that area! Best to keep another one of the best features of the KPA!

  • If you are thinking of limiting the options in regards profiling (which might help level the playing field with these kinds of unscientific videos), can you make it a choice so the original options remain?

    if it aint broke..... don't fix it ?????????? Kemper is jus fine,,Leave all the options,,,its what makes it great and a cut above all others,

    ,,if you want something else, go get it, Kemper is just like the telecaster, everyones' been trying to improve it for 50 years, but you cant, because Leo got it right the first time,, just like CK,got his unit,,RIGHT,,, I know it pisses a lot of gear chases off, but you will just have to deal with it,they have all been chasing CK and always will,, sorry,, but facts are facts,remember, most of these folks yakin are GEAR CHASERS,( you must admit your problem before you can get better) and as soon as the next wiz bang unit comes out,,with the special Moon chips,, they will jump on that train as well,

    "Oh LOOK,, 9 amps at once,,,,,,..." I prefer to write tunes, record, and play music with my Kemper,, what a concept,,,rather then sit in a room to see how many delays I can stack up before it craps out,,, Lets see in a year from now just how many Quads are on the road with super stars, gig after gig,,I see Rack fulls, of Kempers on stages around the world in every type of music,,the rest is just noise from endorsers and gear chasers, who will move on soon enough,,its what they do,I may try other gear,,The Quad may be cool,,,or not,, time will tell,,not UTUBE,, but I will never sell my Kemper,,

    And,, I sure hope he( CK) has something cool in the works,,,