Interesting Modeling Video - Quad Cortex.

László

Too Many Notes
Joined
Apr 26, 2012
Messages
34,499
Location
Michigan
I was poking around on the web listening to gear demos while having my morning coffee on a Sunday, and watched and listened to this comparison of real amp, Kemper and Quad Cortex. I thought the Quad Cortex did a wonderful job capturing the host's amps:


I've said in the past that if I was currently playing out, I'd probably use a modeler because as a ridiculously ancient fellow, I would probably have no fun at all schlepping real amps and cabs.

But I'd want to profile my own amps! After all, I've carefully curated them, and I set them up certain ways. Even very good profiles that are commercially available would probably not work for me.

There's a texture thing the Kemper does profiling something starting to break up, and in the attack portion of the note, that bugs me. I can't really describe it in words. It has a sound. The sound isn't the amp's.

This Quad Cortex seems to be able to avoid that in this video. I'm impressed! :oops:
 
I have a Quad Cortex. It’s my main rig. I have both modeling and captures that I use. It’s a fabulous unit. I highly recommend it. I use it with 2 expression pedals on a pedalboard.
 
In thinking about it, if I were to look for a solution for recording/studio use I'd likely choose the Tonex at this point. Main reason being it is a supported platform. This would be if I were starting over again.
In a band situation I'm sticking with Kemper as I love having the Toaster behind me on top of my cab, and a single footswitch/controller that doesn't need power at my feet. Plus I get all the effects I'll ever need in that device.
Everybody's different, and all of the choices have merit.
Great times to be a guitar player!
 
I have a Quad Cortex. It’s my main rig. I have both modeling and captures that I use. It’s a fabulous unit. I highly recommend it. I use it with 2 expression pedals on a pedalboard.
As many here know, historically I've never been big on modelers. There are some good ones, but it's always felt iffy to me.

But this one sounds more dynamic and juicy, at least in this demo. I was pretty impressed.

In a band situation I'm sticking with Kemper as I love having the Toaster behind me on top of my cab, and a single footswitch/controller that doesn't need power at my feet. Plus I get all the effects I'll ever need in that device.
Everybody's different, and all of the choices have merit.
Great times to be a guitar player!
I've said in a live situation, I'd use a Kemper without much complaint. But now that I've seen how well this Quad Cortex profiles - and for me that'd be the kicker - it'd be a good choice.

Not that I actually have a current use for one, but yeah, it's impressive.

Granted, modeling has come a long way, and there's nothing wrong with any of the good units. I'll continue on with my tube amps, but in a band setting, it'd be great to carry excellent models of my own amps to a gig without breaking a sweat!
 
Oof! Those load times between presets is a non-starter for me. I had effect spillovers and instant patch changes in 1993, I would expect that’d be pretty standard 30 years later.
Wouldn't bother me, I just use one amp at a time in real life, and I'd bring my own pedalboard for effects.

Everyone's got their thing, right?
 
I've been using the Tonex pedal for a month. The software is glitchy, with some odd design decisions - but OMG some of the user captures are primo! Definitely feels better to play through than my Kemper, but it only does a fraction of what the Kemper does.

They already have 10K+ captures available since Sept! Mind boggling. Lots stink or aren't my thing but there's plenty of great ones and you get a lot more tweakability before the capture jumps the shark, unlike the Kemper.
 
I've been using the Tonex pedal for a month. The software is glitchy, with some odd design decisions - but OMG some of the user captures are primo! Definitely feels better to play through than my Kemper, but it only does a fraction of what the Kemper does.

They already have 10K+ captures available since Sept! Mind boggling. Lots stink or aren't my thing but there's plenty of great ones and you get a lot more tweakability before the capture jumps the shark, unlike the Kemper.
Good to know.
Would you gig it?
 
Again good to know!
I have both Kabinet and Camplifier, so it's nice to hear they can stand in.
There have been people that don't enjoy the workflow - both of auditioning captures online and then getting them on the device, but I think it simply comes down to forgetting your normal way and instead, learning their way, lol. They came out with the plugin software first, and so that sort of pigeonholed them into how things would have to work, at least initially.

Read the short manual, remember that you can't directly edit captures on the device, except FROM the device. It's easy to audition before you download to your computer and then it's even easier to copy them over via app and USB to the pedal.
 
I Am An Amp Guy Through And Through But The More Time I Spend With My Kempers The More I Like Them. Learning Curve For Me And They Can Deep Dive More Than Most People Realize Or Give Them Credit For. Definitely Nice Tools To Have Around When The Need Arises.
 
Absolutely, it's an amazing little box! I'm running mine into monitors and my Kabinet, via a Camplifier. Lots of peeps are using with an HX Stomp or HX Effects, as the Tonex only has a gate, compressor and reverb.

I'm embracing the Zeitgeist, and getting a Tonex to put on my grab-and-go board: it's getting a KOT, a Sunday Driver and an Ambi-Space for company.
 
Absolutely, it's an amazing little box! I'm running mine into monitors and my Kabinet, via a Camplifier. Lots of peeps are using with an HX Stomp or HX Effects, as the Tonex only has a gate, compressor and reverb.
So there's a use for my HX Stomp, which hasn't been getting much love since the FM9 arrived. Great to have better and better modelers/profilers coming out. The competition keeps the pressure on for all to keep improving.

And playing around with the Neural Amp Modeler sounds really interesting but potentially a huge time sink.
 
Last edited:
I'm a little late to this thread and in the spirit of full disclosure, I've been a Kemper user for the last 5'ish years now and I don't know that much about the QC but from what I've read, online and in other forums, there seems to be a growing frustration with QC over promises made but products not delivered.

I'm really happy with my Kemper and haven't seen anything yet that would make me switch but I'm sure something will eventually push me over the edge.

I am planning on looking in to Tonex for my Son. Price of entry is much less :)
 
I'm a little late to this thread and in the spirit of full disclosure, I've been a Kemper user for the last 5'ish years now and I don't know that much about the QC but from what I've read, online and in other forums, there seems to be a growing frustration with QC over promises made but products not delivered.

I'm really happy with my Kemper and haven't seen anything yet that would make me switch but I'm sure something will eventually push me over the edge.

I am planning on looking in to Tonex for my Son. Price of entry is much less :)
A little bird is chirping about some big news coming from Kemper in a few days...

See here around the 20 second mark...

 
Back
Top