Neural DSP Quad Cortex Mini

My journey into amp modelers began recently, driven by a desire to explore a wider range of tones especially with my American Stratocaster equipped with single coils. My home setup consists of an Engl Fireball 25 (KT77) paired with a Victory 2x12 closed-back cabinet, which is a perfect match for my primary use case: playing metal. I run only a reverb pedal.
However, a high-gain amp like the Fireball isn’t well suited for SRV-style Strat playing unless supplemented with multiple pedals and effects. I play at home at moderate volume through a real cabinet and have never considered headphones or studio monitors - the feel of a real amp and cab is irreplaceable to me. At the same time, I wasn’t interested in investing in additional amps or a large pedalboard just to gain tonal versatility and that’s why I went trough modelers journey.
Starting with Nano Cortex, which was an absolute failure and is not really suited for this use case (only captures and not models, which translates into low end boomy sound (despite global CAB/IR bypass) when played via amp return and cab), followed by Hotone Ampero II Stage (very nice unit, but sound wise all models sound quite the same, DSP is extremely underpowered, and no customer support available at all) and now it is Neural Quad Cortex mini. Placed an order I think within first 5 minutes when it popped up on Thomann. Price could have been another 100 EUR lower, but still look at the demand.

First impressions – wow!

What a variety of tones, routing capabilities, DSP power (you can blend in four amps and it still handles) and the sense of real tube amp (same dynamic response and openness). User interface could have been better (the of one of Hotone is definitely), but it looks like its main purpose to be controlled by foot, so a lot of stuff makes sense – like dual footswitch operation, still getting used to. Reverbs are simply mid blowing. I also tried 4 cable method and that's incredible by having a possibility to switch back and forth between tube amplifier's preamp and models.

Despite power brick is mentioned as not included it comes in a box.

P.S. I had some issues with gain staging (boomy sound), but with the help of Neural community and feedback from Thomann it was sorted out.

I waited approximately two months for my Neural DSP Quad Cortex, so expectations were understandably high. Unfortunately, the unit arrived completely non-functional straight out of the box.

There is no response at all — no screen, no LEDs, nothing. I have verified the original power supply separately and confirmed that it is working, which indicates the unit itself is faulty. I have also documented the issue here:
is very disappointing, especially after such a long waiting period. A product in this price range should work perfectly upon arrival, so receiving a completely non-working unit from first unboxing is a major letdown.

To be fair, Thomann’s ordering and delivery process itself was acceptable. However, the information provided in my account regarding restock timing and dispatch was not clear enough and did not inspire confidence. These are products intended for live use, and without more precise delivery estimates it is difficult to plan their use for concerts.

Receiving a dead-on-arrival unit has significantly damaged the overall experience. I have initiated a return and replacement and expect this to be handled quickly and professionally, ideally with expedited shipping and appropriate compensation given the circumstances.

Fazit vorweg: das Teil ist der Hammer und sein Geld Wert. Selten so viel Spaß gehabt beim Spielen!

Ich habe alles an Modellern durch von günstig bis teuer (Boss, Line6 (das Stadium nicht), Fractal, Kemper, Sonicake, Hotone und co., nur Headrush nicht) und keins der anderen Geräte kommt an die Bedienung vom QC ran. Der Kemper Player war mein Favorit bislang und wird auch bleiben weil Form und Sound super sind, aber für schnelle Änderungen an Effekten und der Signal Chain ist es auch mit der mobile App schwierig (instabile Verbindung und mangelnde Dokumentation der WiFi Modi im Handbuch). Das Morphing vom Kemper ist hingegen dem „Pendant“ des QC aufgrund der Einfachheit überlegen. Mit allem an Effekten ist man hier halt auch bei 1000€.

Nun aber zum QCMini - es passt perfekt auf den Schreibtisch, ist ein solider, massiver Block der nur an dem Hochglanzmetall am Rand empfindlich ist und hat einfach alles an I/Os die man braucht.

Was für mich das Gerät aber zum Standard macht, ist die Standalone-Nutzung. Kein pc, keine App, nix! Und dann sogar noch ein brauchbares Metronom und einen klasse Looper mit dabei. Da brauche ich auch kein Bluetooth oder so für backing tracks.

Der Sound löst bekanntlich nichts an Wünschen übrig, das sollte aber mittlerweile jeder wissen.

Also: auch wenn es viel Geld ist, verkauft altes Gear und den Opel Corsa und holt es euch!