[mhan]

Looking to get some opinions of folks that have had experience with either or both. I've seen some reviews on YouTube, and they seem to be leaning more towards the Quad Cortex. Listening to both, they sound similar (I'm not the most nit-picky when it comes to tone.. yet at least), and they're definitely both good enough for me.

I was wondering which one you think is better in terms of usability. If we assume that it is used ~30% for recording, and the remaining 70% for practice and live settings, which one would you prefer?

 

[Starquasi]

I think you can’t go wrong with either. I’m a pretty heavy Helix user and find the Helix can get the tone/feel you want but you really have to understand the sound you’re going for and how to achieve it. I also like that you can buy/rent/return at L&M.

I have friends that have the Nueral. It sounds great and it is a bit easier to get tones right out of the gate but you’re still limited with the models available right now.

Four your use, you can’t go wrong with either and you’ll get out of them what you put in. I think it comes down to budget and learning curve. Check out John Nathan Cordy videos on YouTube. He’s done comparisons and is a pretty good source of relatively unbiased opinions of both.

 

[mhan]

I think you can’t go wrong with either. I’m a pretty heavy Helix user and find the Helix can get the tone/feel you want but you really have to understand the sound you’re going for and how to achieve it. I also like that you can buy/rent/return at L&M.

I have friends that have the Nueral. It sounds great and it is a bit easier to get tones right out of the gate but you’re still limited with the models available right now.

Four your use, you can’t go wrong with either and you’ll get out of them what you put in. I think it comes down to budget and learning curve. Check out John Nathan Cordy videos on YouTube. He’s done comparisons and is a pretty good source of relatively unbiased opinions of both.

Thanks for the suggestion! I never really thought about renting before, but I think that'd be a good starting point to figure out what fits my needs best. Will also check out the John Nathan Cordy on YouTube!

 

[Budda]

The qc isnt fully formed and is still missing features promised for launch. Fractal, line6 or kemper. L&m carries line6 and kemper for you to try. I had a helix lt, moved to an axefx 3 and will recommend fractal to anyone who listens lol.

 

[Derek_T]

To my knowledge they don't do exactly the same thing. The Neural does profiling whereas Helix is pure modelling. Depends if the profiling is something you're looking for.
I use Helix and I like it. The default pre-set can sound a bit sterile, but it's just a question of tweaking more than a flaw of the Helix, once you're set the tone and the feel are great.

I don't think it's worth loosing too much sleep over how good the model compare to the real stuff, because they all use different "real stuff" as a reference when they model the amp, so what's important for me is that it sounds/feels good.

 

[1SweetRide]

I’ve had Fractal, Boss and have used the Helix. I have the Quad Cortex and I love it. Can find the tones I want within minutes. The touchscreen makes it a breeze to adjust. There’s also a lot of great captures of amps and pedals in the cloud. But like others have said, you can get great tones from the Helix too.