Can The Quad Cortex Really CAPTURE A Pedal?

One of the coolest features is the Quad Cortex Pedal Capture using the Neural Capture function of the Quad Cortex. I have never tried capturing a pedal before, so in today's video I captured 4 different pedals to see how well the Quad Cortex can copy the sound of these pedals.
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---Pedals In This Video---
Neural DSP Quad Cortex (affiliate link)
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JHS Morning Glory (affiliate link)
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Timmy MXR Version (affiliate link)
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Vertex Ultraphonix (affiliate link)
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[@TeiscoCurlee]

If theres a Tone Bender in the thumbnail, I'M IN!

[@davedavem]

Same!

[@wideskyguitars]

Same

[@PanHoover]

!emaS

[@jordandangelo180]

Me too

[@philipbrister]

Yup.

[@woodyrussellsstillwilsonpr745]

Great stuff, Rhett, thank you for this one!

[@qwertymonsta]

That tone bender is gnarly. I love the compression and bloom!

[@joshlgrant]

Excellent lineup of pedals! I’ve been wondering about some of these pedals myself. Can’t wait to get a Quad Cortex!

[@AlbusBand]

Your tone Bender just brought a tear to my eye...that thing really is amazing sounding w/those P-90’s.

[@RC32Smiths01]

Truly interesting. Something that can closely mimic a pedal sounds like a lot of possibilities to happen!

[@misterknightowlandco]

Yeah, a lot more “buying” pedals off Reverb and returning them because they were “damaged in shipping” lol.

[@stevenbryan7586]

Thanks Rhett! I've never owned a modeler, but have decided that the quad cortex will be my jumping off point. The user interface was the tipping point, so hopefully it's not a huge leap. Anything I can learn while I wait is super helpful.

[@Martinez_productions]

it definitely sounds like the capture lacks a bit of the low mids but its very minimal and still amazing, I want one !

[@ront8270]

Excellent Rhett.. I do love tones....

[@Cluless02]

Rhett does another pro job of what the device can/can't do. He's got a nice even temperament for the video format that is quite refreshing! Also, Right On using HIWATT!!

[@chrisact9601]

You're right about the way it captured the Tone Bender. The dynamics of it were really different. On the bright side though, now you have an effect that you didn't have before which could inspire something else. I think that's one of the most exciting things about this unit. Not what you can copy but what new things you can create even if it's kinda by accident. Maybe next time, try deliberately screwing it up and see what comes out.

[@skallen59]

Someone, maybe it was Rabea said that the instructions was to set the pedal with a light breakup when you’re doing the capture. Of course it might vary depending on pedal. Great vid though, keep it up

[@frankgreco]

Geesus... that Tone Bender pedal sounds ungodly amazing! Forget the Quad Core capture review... man what a sound!

[@TyphonKrazilec]

I'm a fervent modeler user, when you have to move to rehearsal or on the road, nothing beats it (Yes, I hate heavy lifting...). This capture feature looks awesome, as long as it does not destroys pedal makers...

[@WarriorOfGhengisKhan]

Pretty sure Neural has said the Quad Core isn't able to capture fuzz pedals right now.

[@emersonfox3650]

You all prolly dont give a damn but does any of you know of a trick to get back into an Instagram account?? I was stupid forgot the login password. I appreciate any help you can offer me

[@rowanbraden8406]

@Emerson Fox instablaster ;)

[@victorcastrooficial]

The tone bender has a much lower input impedance them the other pedals, you should try it to adjust the input impedance on the QC. Not sure about tone benders, but if they are like fuzz faces the impedance should be set at around 10K. That most definitely would help.

[@134SASAKI]

I thought the same thing. Putting primitive fuzz in a loop switcher with a buffer circuit has a similar problem.

[@alextheguitarist7282]

Gotta love a MK1 Tone Bender! It's truly amazing how far digital technology has come. So tasty playing there.

[@seanmalley]

Haven't watched the full video yet but the Morning Glory and Timmy are the exact pedals I plan on capturing when my QC arrives! They make an awesome combo for Worship Guitar tones :) Now to continue watching and see how well they turn out lol

[@fraenkiboii]

Wow the tonebender really woke the gary clark jr. in you, didn’t it? Love that sound. I’m currently waiting on my Quad Cortex. I’m kinda hoping that a community of captured will evolve over time, just like the kemper community. cheers.

[@wakjob961]

With the Kemper I used to own, I found that I liked the profile I made better than the real thing in some ways. There seemed to be less clutter and floor noise, and much better clarity in the profile. It's almost like it organizes and cleans up all the frequencies in the sound.

[@pierheadjump]

Thanks Rhett ⚓️

[@andyracksthecams]

Thank you for the Nashville Numbering System tuition. I am so lazy but I am ona roll and it has sunk in. I sort of understood anyway but there was a lot of information that has kicked me into approaching guitar like I did when I first picked it up. Top Tuition.

[@Jesse_Johnson]

You know, I will say that they were close ish. In detail on a KZbin video I hear definite differences. In a live mix nobody will tell a difference. They sound good on their own right I’d conclude with. Great video!

[@vintagecharlie5969]

Thanks for the demo Rhett! The Cortex seems to have a lot of potential, but your face speaks volumes compared to when i see you playing the real amps and pedals. Thanks a bunch for the honesty! I am sure the quad cortex will improve over time, but for now i don't see anything being able to replace the real amps/pedals yet. And then there's the feel thing that we watchers don't feel, but that is surely different on the real amps i assume.

[@boldstrike]

That Tone Bender is a Beast of a Fuzz, can't get any better than that. In fact that's a piece of art that produces a sound that makes you wanna play 24\7.

[@whitec59]

I am on a budget for sure so I always find it interesting on gear that allows you to "carry" more sounds in less space. Thanks Rhett for the vid

[@manuelonunez]

Man, I like your videos. You don't only know very well about music and production subjects but most of all (here is your biggest strength) you know very well how to communicate your knowledge in ways that even a beginner can understand. Congratulations on that!

[@gstvermilion]

i'm surprised how good the QC is right now and i'm sure it'll be better in the future with new software updates and stuff, but i'm even more surprised at the moment with how well it takes pedals, there were some delicious tones coming from that amp capture + those overdrives and the tone bender.

[@loveisrealdudes]

Good stuff man!

[@BigJohn95]

Can’t wait to get this thing. Hoping it comes next month!

[@johnfitzgerald1055]

Awesome vid as always Rhett! How well do you think the QC would accurately capture rack compressors and preamps? Having a collection of rack gear in a captured form for live performance sounds exciting.

[@santiagoperiotti]

Well done man

[@danmorrison8746]

That Tone Bender's tone is absolutely outrageous. Wow. The captured version of it isn't even close, but I'm not surprised - it doesn't seem to capture the glitches so well.

[@shakespeariancopy3053]

Not fault of Quad cortex though, they clearly stated that tone capture feature works for overdrive, boost and distortion pedals, that they are doing their best to be able to capture fuzz as good as overdrives soon

[@danmorrison8746]

@@shakespeariancopy3053 oh absolutely. It does a stunning job of capturing so much.

[@krisyoungsteadt9139]

I bet the Cortex is filtering out the glitches as errors.

[@HiredGoonage]

Pedal sounded great, QC not even close. Based on this video I would not spend the money on a QC, I'd buy the pedal

[@seanjohnson7367]

@@HiredGoonage Um, the QC isn't competing with the pedal -- it does a little more.

[@davidharvey8812]

12:29 That face ! 😁 pure joy . I feel you Bro ✌🏼

[@allyourbasearebelongtous2191]

The Timmy is the greatest pedal of all time. So, so good. And the fact that MXR and Paul made that deal just makes it even better. Makes it possible for folks who can't get one like Rhetts.

[@maseratination]

I am old school, and when I love the nuances of a pedal like your fuzz, no modeler today will be able to replace it, and if I was recording a song I'd want to hear those nuances. However if you are a gigging musician, WOW what a power house 🏠 this unit is!

[@MrKiammi]

Hi @Rhett this is without a doubt the most exciting feature for me, to capture pedals on my quad cortex I have spend SO much time on pedals and do also love fuzz so much. So this video was very interesting. I cant wait to try your capture on my own Quad cortex. I am very curious though. did you adjust the level) just before the it clipped and you presses capture , i saw Rabea did this. Loved the video btw!! and hope you are making a part two or three of this pedal capture. I think both the timmy, morning glory was very close thank you for sharing!

[@apeeg86]

Great video, Rhett. I would love to see you run the captured pedals back into the real amp. I plan to sometimes use my QC in front of my tube amp (no cab or amp from the QC) and it would be great to see if the QCs captured amp and captured pedals compare to the captured pedals in front of the real amp (and indeed the real pedals into the real amp).

[@randalljax]

great video Rhett, Neural has mentioned at the present it struggles with Fuzz, something to do w impedance just for fun , try maybe changing that input impedance for that one preset with the fuzz capture and see if that feel and squishy compression comes back somewhat

[@dannyblau3850]

i am so excited for this feature for when mine shows up. only thing i'm not sure of at least in the video since you didn't show it is that maybe you were running your levels too hot? Watching some of the other videos like Rabea over on Anderton's, they set levels and consistently the pedals captured with slightly less gain and treble. But even running hot, with some minor tweaking you generally get them there. Just seems like goosing them a little less you can get even closer. Really looking forward to capturing my Lightspeed and my Petty John Predrive. Also gotta say, the tone bender caputre wasn't bad. For something they are flat out saying they can't really capture great at the moment, it already does a decent job so it's going to be interesting where they get down the line in regards to things like fuzzes. And it sounds like they want to eventually be able to capture other types of pedals like modulation and time based stuff in the future. For a straight out the gate, They are looking like they are coming out with a pretty good jumping off point as a product.

[@tattoofred]

Fantastic vídeo ;)

[@TomCouture]

Any chance of an updated demo of the built-in tones/effects with the latest firmware revision? (especially since some issues you pointed out have been fixed)

[@dakotahrivers6640]

Definitely amazing. That being said, the Quad Cortex definitely has that typical harsh digital distortion fizz. Nothing a little eq couldn't help though

[@shredgd5]

In any Quad Cortex capture demo video I've listened to so far, the capture always had more presence.

[@foxmeisteruk]

I think it works really well, and is great if you want a snapshot of a pedal at specific settings. However, a proper model should allow you to adjust virtual knobs as if you had the real pedal in front of you, and this probably works better for my workflow.

[@ksharpe10]

That tonebender is too Cool. For when it came out, it is just astonishing.

[@Lantertronics]

I haven't played with a Neural DSP myself, but I'd be intrigued to try in on things that it's not supposed to do a good job at modeling, just to see if something new and weird and interesting pops out.

[@MarsGuitarOfficial]

Great demo! Even with its limitations it does more then I would personally ever use. Thanks again Rhett:)

[@markh3645]

the amp in the box pedal sounded the best because it doesn't rely on the interplay between the first stage of the amp and the pedal like the others do. Not to mention that this was pedal -> modeled hiwatt. Except for the Mk1 fuzz, the others were convincing enough that you could only bring your quad cortex to a gig and no one would know the difference (except you! as other people have mentioned)

[@Goontone13]

Being a test engineer I would've preferred the pedals to be in the loop during the comparison. Not that this is apples to oranges test but it's a little red delicious to granny smith. Just saying variables could've been minimized a bit more. In my experience my fuzz face loves being before helix but hates being in the loop. Maybe the tone bender would sound the same in the loop as the capture? Who knows, I'm being picky. Great video.

[@kcussrebutuemos4815]

Really? I’ve been putting an aggressive overdrive in the loop for better feel and sound. It would make it easier to just plug it in the front. I can’t see what I’m doing with the rack. I have to feel my way around the way I have it set up. If this feels better than the helix and Kemper I’m going to eventually get it. At the end of the day I love a great tube amp and real pedals and I play for hrs. With modelers I tweak for most of the time. Except the Yamaha 100hd double modeler. They bought line6 it’s simple. It feels and sounds great. Plug in and play.

[@Goontone13]

@@kcussrebutuemos4815 I have other overdrives that sound great in the loop but fuzz's are very fickle creatures.

[@JavierPwns]

Didn’t help that he changed guitars either

[@jcserrano1663]

I think that it sounds Amazing and the ability to capture beats my AX8 even though I am very happy with the realistic tones that I have in my AX8 the QC have more advantages. Awesome video RS 😂😂😂👍👍🤗🤗🤗🔥🔥🔥🎸🎸🎸

[@Edwarbr]

The reason that you were getting too much low end with your usual settings on the Timmy is a product of the Les Paul. I had the same experience. I switched to an SG and it solved the problem. Les Pauls, especially chambered models, have a lot of low end when recording.

[@TalleyWacker1000]

The pedals have some type of "width" in the midrange that I don't feel is captured by the QC. And more importantly, I would guess the actual feel isn't quite the same as having the pedal in front. But, pretty close! Great vid as always!

[@svenzia]

99% of your viewers are living their plan b (or c) every day. Great video as always.

[@jcisme]

I think I am somewhere in the middle of the alphabet myself..

[@sarova2000]

Yeah, the pick attack on the tone bender is completely different. On the pedal it almost has like a swell before hitting the note, and in the neural capture it breaks instantly

[@shakespeariancopy3053]

Guys at Quad Cortex stated that fuzz capture was not ready yet

[@HeadbangoO]

He should have tried a compressor in the front, fast attack medium release, might do the trick.

[@amritjanardhanan]

I liked the quad's morning glory capture more than the the actual one lol. The timmy was really really close. The tonebender capture sounded great, but it didn't have the bloom of the pedal. I liked the extra brightness though.

[@moyano6197]

So..., Rhett, I can conclude that with your latest IG Stories and that Moog shirt, that there is going to be a Synth video soon. WOOHOOOOOOO!! YESSSSS! SYNTHSSSS!

[@attillal4821]

Oh Lordy lord pleaseeee!

[@jimamsden]

Rhett, can you explain the Quad Cortex capture controls? Are they essentially adding a 3-band eq and gain/clipping block as a way to adjust the captured snapshot? Can you move the EQ before or after the capture? How does adjusting these controls compare to adjusting similar drive/tone controls on the actual pedals? Are they similar?

[@HLBmusix]

The reason for the higher output and saturation on the capture might be that the pinknoise while capturing has a very high output. If that's true you could try to compensate for that by dialing in a tone on the amp you want to capture, then roll of the preamp or poweramp gain (however it's called on the amp and depending on what kind of distortion you want) a little bit and then capture it. Same could work with pedals. I don't know if i am right or not, but i would be interested in finding out.

[@eflizotte]

Rhett, is there a metering option you can employ to evaluate levels? Once you have a sound you like on the analog pedal when going thru your amp, remove the amp or all other FX and see where it’s level is metering without anything else in the chain. Then you can compare with the captured sound to ensure the two are metering at the same overall level. Then, reset the chain with the amps and such and you should have a more apples to apples comparison. Hope that makes sense.

[@nankleflank5645]

Great video dude, just out of interest....can the QC capture synth pedals, like the Boss SY-200?

[@kegnvenegas3681]

Great vid! Can you please do the same but with a big sky or some lush verbs?

[@TheChadPad]

That Tone Bender is glorious

[@bighornsoundsystem1868]

Great shirt!

[@justaddguitar]

I would love to have QC in kemper power rack format. Very impressive

[@MrKiammi]

Hi @Rhett i have the quad cortex and I am following you, but I cant see you share Any presets or captures, can you please upload them. :)

hello rhett, is it the same tone bender that you bought at Macaris, is it an original or a reissue ? i'm looking to buy it but i want to be sure that the reissu is as good as the original :)

[@basselmtaweh3103]

Best demo.

[@broski500real9]

That tone bender is god dude.

[@hughellisATL]

Super helpful, could the Quad Cortex capture my 1966 Ampeg FlipTop, 1971 Acosutic 360/361 and 1968 Drip Edge Bassman? (and emulate the cabinets?

[@MrTelecosta]

From all the videos I have seen about the pedal capture abilities of the units, it seems like a great concept that still needs some firmware updates for improvement. It’s on the ballpark, but it’s still a bit (to the point it’s easily noticeable) off in regards to the original pedal sound signature. Cool concept, it just needs more development.

[@geoffreymerrifield5666]

Appreciate the factual, non-hyped info.

[@lance134679]

Profiling is definitely getting better all the time.

[@ericjenkins2737]

Why didn’t you mess with the gain setting once instead of only using the volume knob?

[@ian2lorimer]

Yeah thats what I was thinking.....I was shouting at the telly...."the gain isn't matching the pedal" there's a gain knob on the QC. And why try and capture a fuzz when Nueral have said it doesn't do fuzz. Love Rhett but this video just didn't sit right.

[@Amish_Trivedi]

My sense with this is like much of the other modelling stuff: what we might hear in person or in a “shootout,” no one in a recorded or even live setting will be able to tell the difference. That said, most of us are playing for ourselves so...that’s who to please! Edit: saw typo, tried to fight it

[@sacredgeometry]

Fuzzes are pretty hard to model. They are one of the last real problems but some companies do a lot better than others. The axe fxs are really good. But yeah, judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree. They literally state that fuzzes dont work yet with the profiling. So why do it and then complain that it isnt close? They know, its not implemented. Thats like complaining that a car doesnt go very fast before you have put the wheels on it.

[@ricardogdnb]

that's basically it, no one needs amp+cab+mics+expensive pedalboards or wtv for a live setup, no one will notice the difference, and the logistics are a lot better

[@Amish_Trivedi]

@@ricardogdnb No, but it is fun! And fun's the main thing, right?

[@ricardogdnb]

@@Amish_Trivedi it depends. for some it's about making money and less overhead costs with gear means more profit at the end of the gig

[@Amish_Trivedi]

@@ricardogdnb Completely fair!

[@michaelmagee6428]

Love the argyle socks.....

[@TomCouture]

Neural: Capture doesn’t support fuzzes at this point. Rhett: Captures fuzz and spends more time talking about how it didn’t work so well than talking about pedals that are supported. 😆

[@hairlab_dc4417]

Exactly. No capture something that might let us see what the thing can actually do ( my choice would be a Conspiracy Theory which I'd be impressed if Neural captured accurately). For click's sake we get a fail/gripe about about something the company says it can't do.

[@ian2lorimer]

Yeah thought that was a bit of a waste of time trying to capture a fuzz

[@Lantertronics]

@@ian2lorimer There's value in probing the limits of a system.

[@MrDickPancakes]

I'd really like to see how this handles pedals other than overdrive / distortion / fuzz. Any chance we might see how it handles Reverb, Delay, Modulation, etc?

[@johnnewton1830]

At the moment it doesn't.

[@richp67]

Hey @RhettShull any advise on a power amp to use with the QC? I have powered monitors, but I don't really like 'feel' I get from them. Looking for a power amp to a 'real' guitar cab. Any one?

[@trbone64]

Guess I'm keeping my fuzz and delay/reverb. everything thing else goes to the studio closet. Thanks again for these videos

[@iurigrang]

Did you auto-set the levels? It feels like the level was off by a lot more than other videos where capture was demonstrated.

[@jamesc178]

Kinda seems like hes got no idea what hes doing.. not a great video. Would love to see some videos with somebody that puts a little thought process into what they are doing

[@ian2lorimer]

@@jamesc178 agree....the gain knob is there to compensate. No use saying the gain doesn't match the pedal and then never ajusting the gain knob on the QC. I'd be pissed if I was Neural. Not offence to Rhett but this video seemed like he didn't really follow the best way to get the best capture out of the pedal. All a bit half arsed.

[@ricardopena3995]

Man that is a sweeeeet Les Paul!

[@jeffh7348]

the neural stuff is great .I think it the best plug in out there.

[@DreidMusicalX]

I have a question. I heard in that first pedal the MG4, a lot of noise in the pedal, Does that not also get captured or would it be best to use a noisegate? Or is that the amp/guitar making all that noise?

[@louisfear9638]

first time being early, feels good.

[@leonbrownmusic]

I think the captures sound better in most examples. Less muss more crisp but no ice pick in the ear effect!

[@jimmyr1888]

Neural have already said that it doesn’t do fuzzes well... yet. I think all the other pedals were great. Think about it from the point of view of someone who doesn’t own all this gear and cannot compare it side to side.... you’d never know which is the real pedal. I think this is a great tool for the home studio guy. The only thing I’m concerned about is your comments on the last vid about the delays and verbs being ordinary; that sucks. Hopefully they’ll improve over time. Still, I’m looking forward to getting mine even for the amp, pedal tones and captures.

[@ronclauw]

My dream ? A Quad Cortex, two Headrush monitors, and one month time for capturing the very best boost, overdrive and distortion pedals.

[@danielschenker9874]

The recently added "MK3 Silicon Fuzz" is a really great sounding fuzz! Leagues ahead of any other fuzz tone on the QC imo.

[@daviddowns16]

Lower the input impedance on the QC for the tonebender capture.

[@danielkim9999]

Is the use of quad cortex itself without having other pedals, cabs or amps to capture worth it? Would you just use other multieffects pedals rather than QC? What do you recommend? -> QC without adding anything else VS. Pod Go without using anything else

[@ryanspencerlauderdale687]

Fun fact: the Timmy is called that because of Monty Python.

[@Pauld62]

Tis merely a scratch

[@RobertNolan]

There are some who call me... Tim?

[@mariowillaert734]

Haha, the black knight?

[@johnheath970]

Fake News😊

[@mariowillaert734]

The Timmy Williams interview! Brilliant!

[@MrHeshersNeighborhood]

Seems like the same kind of issue I had with the Boss OD-200. An amazing tool but definitely too shrill on the high end (because of digital hifi) and would benefit from a high and low pass filter/eq at the end of the patch chain.

[@JonNewquist]

I'm at ten minutes in, (Timmy capture adjustments) and so far Analog is winning.

[@frankgreco]

No contest. I'm at 11 min, and to my ears the Quad Core isn't even on my radar.

[@PaulOuzounov]

I wonder if the more gain is because of the level / because of the pickups of your guitar too? Weird. Cool vid, thanks!

[@dennisflock3958]

Hey, Rhett!

[@robojim4000]

Hey rhett, what would you say the closest you’ve tried to this tone bender fuzz (that isn’t this extremely rare one?)

[@abbigomez475]

Holy cow that tone bender caught me off guard 😩😩

[@Lantertronics]

I think it would be really interesting if Neural DSP provided a way to blend the internal parameter sets created for different models, to create entirely new kind of sounds.

[@stephanschmitt816]

Could this blooming of the Fuzz be simulated with an expander or maybe (if I am thinking the wrong way around now) with a compressor? I have the feeling these profilers do copy the sound but not always the behavior in time as the tone fades (I might be wrong)