Neural DSP Quad Cortex

• 50+ amp models
• 70+ effects
• 1000+ Impulse
Responses
• 7” display with
multi-touch sensors
• AI-powered Neural
Capture™
• Proprietary stainless
steel stomp+rotary
actuators
• 2GHz Quad-Core
SHARC® architecture
• Anodized aluminum
unibody
• WIFI for wireless
preset sharing, cloud
backups and firmware
updates
• Extra control via the
Cortex app
• Dual combo inputs
• Dual effects-loops
• 2x 1/4” output jacks
• 2x XLR output jacks
• Headphone output
• MIDI in, out/thru
• Dual expression
inputs
• USB audio interface
with Cirrus Logic
codecs
AT A GLANCE
N
eural DSP is no stranger
to delivering high quality
amp modelling, you just
need to check out its
stellar roster of plugins
to see that. So when the Helsinki-
based fi rm showed up to last
year’s NAMM with the Quad
Cortex fl oor modeller, you’ll
understand we got pretty excited
about it, in fact, the whole
guitar-playing world seemed to
get quite giddy over the prospect.
Not just because a revered
software company had released its
fi rst hardware product, but what
lay within its aluminium unibody.
From the off , the Quad Cortex
promises unrivaled power in such
a small footprint that Neural DSP
calls it “the most powerful fl oor
modeller on the planet”, stuff ed
with 2GHz of dedicated DSP power
straight out of its Quad-Core
SHARC processor.
All that power doesn’t mean
a thing if it can’t deliver sonically
and you can be rest assured that it
can, in spades. But that’s not all,
one of the biggest surprises on
using the Quad Cortex for the
fi rst time was how intuitive the
interface layout is. As soon as we’d
plugged in, we were instantly
surfi ng the huge number of
presets, cycling through and
adding various eff ects as if we’d
been using it for years. With the 7”
screen, there is plenty of screen
real estate to fi t the whole signal
chains, without the need for
diff erent menus dedicated to just
eff ects, or amp models, etc.
For live performance, there are
three main operation modes to the
Quad Cortex, you can select either
Preset, Stomp, or Scene. Preset
mode allows you to use the eight
stomp buttons to select one of
eight presets per Bank and with
the up and down stomp buttons
cycle through those Banks, with
a total of 32 available, meaning
you have 256 presets to play with
before you even need to start
creating your own. Scene mode
allows for eight snapshots of one
preset, so you can bypass eff ects
and tweak settings for eight
diff erent versions of the same
preset, which eff ectively gives you
over 2000 factory presets alone.
Stomp mode drills down into a
preset even further by allowing
you to assign individual eff ects,
amp models, Neural Captures and
IRs to one of the eight stomp
buttons. Once the individual
module is selected then the eight
stomp buttons can be used as
rotary encoders for settings
within that eff ect - genius!
The architecture for each preset
is fl exible as it comes and allows
you to experiment to your heart’s
content. The individual models
within a preset are laid out in a grid
and when building your own, you
can build up to four individual
signal routings with an amp
model, plus eff ects on each one,
NEURAL DSP QUAD CORTEX
One of the most hotly-anticipated floor modelling
units is here to make you rethink your rig
WE’RE CONVINCED THIS IS THE
ONE PEDAL TO RULE THEM ALL
Photography Olly Curtis
£1449
1
STOMP+ROTARY
ACTUATORS
That’s ‘twisty stomp
buttons’ to you and
us! A crazy amount of
development has
gone into the whole
board, but the rotary
actuators feel like the
cherry on the cake.
2
INTERFACE
While all the
functions are
accessible via the
touchscreen, the
Quad Cortex also
excels at giving much
of this control over
to the footswitches
– perfect for gigging.
3
MORE HOLES
THAN A SLICE
OF LEERDAMMER
There’s enough I/O to
sate any guitarist’s
setup needs, be it in
the studio, or on the
road. With effects
loops, multiple
outputs and inputs,
USB, plus MIDI and
dual expression pedal
ports at your disposal.
1
2
3
REVIEW
87
JULY 2021 TOTAL GUITAR
TGR346.gear_lead.indd 87TGR346.gear_lead.indd 87 19/05/2021 15:2519/05/2021 15:25