Neural DSP Quad Cortex or Fractal Audio Axe FX3 || Form, Features, User Interface Comparison

Its been 2 years since Neural DSP announced the Quad Cortex and 2 years later they still have not been deliver on the announcements promised. They seem to spend more on marketing and sending free units to reviewers to get good reviews than actually invest in development . Fractal on the other hand seem to be spending time on developing this instead of marketing and in 2 years when Neural DSP actually catch up on their promises I cannot imagine how far ahead fractal will be and everything is already awesome in the fractal. Great tones and great effects where as Quad cortex really lag behind in the effects.

I've never used or tried the Quead cortex, it honestly looks pretty cool! however having the Kemper for 9 years, I'm kind of done with profiling. Since getting the Axe FX III I've noticed flaws with the kempoer and probably profiling that I never knew I had. biggest thing with the kemper is the gain stage is not right. youcan profile an amp(I used to profile my BADCAT HOTCAt 30r) amazing amp. the profile whilst the profile sounded similar the gain was far off and if you deviate from it on the kemper by boosting or cuttign gain it falls appart from the amp. like the kemper has its own kemper ghain that makes every profile sound similar. the dynamic range is night and day from kemper to axe fx 3 I really do not want to use kemper anymore theres soem mid range gain that just is not real. the axe fx feels and sopunds ike then amp yuou have loaded. toi the point the kemper now sounds abysmal. and quad cortex whilkst more advanced than kemper is still not modeling the amps curcuitry. its a "snapshot" which only gets you so far if you have the amp in your studio to profile every needfs thyen its ok. the presets or even paid profile packs are just not usble or twekable campared to real amp modeling. the hot kitty on the axe fx III sounds wayyyy more like a haot cat than myu profiled hotcat 30R like just no comparison.
Kemper is dead to me. cant wait to sell it.

Working hands on with fractal units is painful as hell, the screen is always small and zoomed out, the buttons aren't tactile and the whole UI is a disaster in my eyes. You really need formal training to use them as trying to wing it will not end well for you haha. This makes them a nightmare to use reliably in a live situation unless you are really willing to put in the time. The PC editor is a must which means you WILL need a laptop if you are planning on travelling with one and making presets efficiently on the move.
The quad cortex is no where near as powerful but it really is an all in one solution and is super intuitive. It will get you 95% of the way there without tearing you hair out and resorting to forums or manuals for tweaking even the most basic parameters. If you just want to play guitar and spend a minimum amount of time setting things up, the QC is a more fun option. If you are diehard for sound, the axe fx is tweakable to within an inch of its life but this also comes with the option paralysis downside where you end up swapping power tubes and power supply sag settings for half an hour while strumming a chord. Not ideal for improving your playing, but somewhat enjoyable. The modelling on the QC is not as good but the neural captures almost make up for this because they sound really good, but of course as they are static tone captures they cannot be tweaked to the extent an amp model can. I own both and I am keeping both as to me they are both fantastic products and represent great value, particularly compared to a traditional amplifier. I hope someone found this useful.

can you tell me please how to make this sound preset? Thanks

johnnathan do you you think the will update the interface on the box on the axe fx cause it looks very old the plugin they have is very nice looking its just bit confusing when someone tweaking it i see not so much visual

what was used in the intro?

Thanks for no face melter ;D

QC seems like it has some catching up to do but now FM9 is out what do you think, is FM9 the QC killer?

You really have your own writing style! And what a great style! Without doing anything blatantly different, your voice is apparent. That intro really reminded me of the importance of the subtle aspects of writing music and how huge their effect can be. Thank you

Looking to get back into the game. I have a G-system linked to a JX3 that I paired with a GT-Pro [Yeah a split system]. It looks like I can split the signal path dry/wet/synth on the QC, sending 3 outs and having them all go to 3 different amps. One "brain" to control all my other gadgets. With all the power I only wish they provided more exp pedal inputs. 4 min - 6 max..... Maybe I need to get better with patch use. But I like the idea of swelling in layered sounds.

Since I have the QC I didn‘t touch the fxiii

Came for the comparison, stayed for the playing.

Yo dude I'm completely new to the guitar scene. Id love to learn guitar/record at home and maybe in some years play live after refining my sound. I'm not a gear head at all, don't even own my first amp yet. Would you recommend just shelling out for one of these Modelers to essentially future proof my guitar use forever? I want to make music of every genre from metalcore to nice cleans in chillstep ( no country). So more amps/tones/effects included the better. Whatever info you can depart with on an aspiring musician would be amazing. Thanks

Man your playing is incredible. Great content!

Obviously the price tag has alot to do with which machine youll end up with......I think if they were the same price, most people would choose the axe fx 3. But I think the CQ goes for like 1600? Which is still quite a bit of money, and for 1000 you could get the FM3, which sounds the same as the axe 3, especially after getting the Cygnus update. I personally think Fractal still sounds the best....But If my budget didnt allow for for something like that, I bet Id still be happy with some of the lower priced units. I dont think ANY of them sound bad at this point. My gripe with the CQ is ....and I could be wrong, because I havent played one.....But if it doesnt sound any better than the Neural plug ins you can buy, then why pay 1600? If I'm going to pay that kind of money, it needs to sound better than plugins....even tho Neurals plugins sound great. At that price point, it needs to be a step up "sound quality" wise than a plug in that I can get from a website.

Entering a mature hardware modelling/profiling market is incredibly difficult and releasing a product that can't compete toe to toe out the gate is foolish. They really should have held back until they had a full repertoire of effects and amps. They delayed it this long, they should have delayed it a bit further to nail that firmware.

fractal has better effects/amps and history. neural has to catch up

I'm very happy with my hx stomp as I limit my budget for digital stuff..they become obsolete no matter how much you pay..so the more you pay the more you lose in resale value. Stomp is a bit limited with a single dsp but it can change so fast presets that you can get away with that especially if you play in a dual guitarist band.

Neural is the Apple of modeling honestly. Shiny fancy enclosures, beautiful UI that’s pretty intuitive, but limited in what it has, and their advertisements are everywhere for both plug-ins and this quad cortex.

Interesting ,I think we are at the point where we can accept that modelling and captures are at a level where they are not going to significantly improve .The arguments over what sounds better are irrelevant as they can all be made to sound pretty identical and the determining factor is what your needs are and your budget.
The point about the number of amps is a bit misleading for the cortex as the cloud gives you access to hundreds of captures .
Also I’m not sure choice is such a great thing ,it can lead to spending too long choosing and not enough time playing .

Floor unit and touch screen? No thank you.

Very few people use the Axe screen to edit as you have.:Most use Axe edit on a computer which makes most screen editors clicky. FM3 is probably more comparable. The big thing about Axe is Cliff is updating it monthly and perfecting it at the detailed engine. I came from a 30 pedal board. I have fc6 plus 4 boss fsu for switching scenes and switching preset / stomp mode. It has a klon fractal model rather than a captured one. Leon Todd helped me decide to buy one. For a studio I think Axe is the top of the range. Money wise i saved £1600 from my pedal board.

Wait a minute…the AFX3 doesn’t have a Klon? What a piece of junk :)

THANK YOU for making this needed video. Your comments are spot on. I love Neurals plug-ins. The QC still needs more development to go head to head with the likes of the more expensive AFIII IMO. A more fair comparison would be to the FM3. Still I would go Fractal. Also, they absolutely should have included ALL their PI's in their flagship product. It seems like a missed opportunity to not include them. I suspect the next iteration of the AxeFX is going to be incredible and will catch up in terms of some of the latest UI designs and form factors.i

Your playing is also so effortless. I have to review some of your earlier videos that were more instructional in nature. Are there any videos in particular that you might recommend? I have some experience- can play most scales and top 3 modes. I want to sound more like you- very smooth, unhurried and complex.

Can you share, what is the main scale that gives you your signature tone? Is it the combination of the Pentatonic and D Major scale- from your earlier video? I whated your video about using the major and pentatonic scales together. Your point about SLIDING into the next box shape was very insightful. You also use very interesting chords and tunings...and top gear. Like the river we hiked next to this afternoon, your music seems to flow from one musical idea to another in a very unhurried and natural manner. It's quite beautiful.

While I like the interface for the Quad Cortex, I must choose a product that I know will work for my needs. It’s like buying a car that goes 40Miles per hour and you need to travel the highway. The promise is there that the car will eventually get up to speed, but that’s what the car salesman said. Will the dealership sell enough cars to fund the project or will they go flat and leave the world with slow cars.

As a previous Helix and Kemper user and now switched over to Fractal FM3. Fractal is way ahead of everything at the moment.. Cortex is a great unit but has a lot of work to catch up , And even by the time neural does catch up Fractal will be one step ahead 😆

Currently the Axefx rules ! I believe easily ! But it is version 2 with Lots of version updates and Axefx has been at it a lot longer if you want the all all singing all dancing now ! Axefx rules

In 12-18 months time the cortex will rule but what are fractal working on now ! It will be the next version more powerful more features ! I trust fractal as I’ve seen what they’ve done over the last 10 years ! Neural have to prove themselves and show what they can offer !

Feature rich and better effects better routing with a world class editor and genuine support and regular updates ? Only fractal offer this

Neural need to develop quickly

I know where currently one put my money - Axefx 😎

studio use, AX3. Live use, QC.for me. I'm not a fan of rack units. Price wise QC wins for me since the AX3 will also need another 500 bucks for the foot switch.

I think I know that road... if it’s the one near Henry’s bar then it’s a 50/50 chance of urine...

Opening tune’s in Gm?

To my opinion, the AxeFX3 is way ahead the other modeller on the marked, when it comes to amp modeling and effects, and manipulate them the way you want🎸😊
This is what amp modeling attempt to be.....
The offer of speaker emulation in the marked is huge, Celestion, and many others have a wide specter of very god alternatives.
So I think QC focusing on that point is overfocused.
The Axe and Axe editor is a very good solution, and a pleasure to work with.
And a bounch of speakers and cabinets to choose from, with a wide field to manipulate the way you want👏☕️

Excellent comparison, thank you

Man I love that Hot Rod Tele - there's one on Reverb right now for £1695 which is just a little too rich for me but if it was the white one like yours rather than the two tone 50's look I might pull the trigger.

Hey Jc, slightly off topic, but hoping you have seen this when downloading member presets that include neural captures off the cloud a number of the presets show yellow warning triangles and a message stating ‘ this neural capture no longer exists on the cloud, I downloaded the three presets that you had put up and one of them can’t remember the name but not the jazz preset or clean and clear... the other one...
This happened with a few presets I tried to copy onto my QC.... you can replace the offending blocks with other captures that you may have but obviously this is then not true to the preset the user had uploaded.. just wondered if you could shed any light. Cheers steve

Heh, and i was one of the persons that asked. Thanks for video :)

Appreciate the comparison, but, I think you’re downplaying the significance of the capture feature on the QC. It’s like having a stripped down Axe, with a Helix interface and Kemper profiling built in. Hopefully Neural will get behind this thing like Fractal, Line 6 and Kemper have with their units and constantly improve it. If they do that, it has the potential to be the most flexible and powerful unit out there. I know, I know, ifs and buts…

John's road...either urine or your out.

John’s Load of rubbish if you ask me.

I was just wondering on this debate. Really trying to figure out what to use with a full pedalboard.