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Neural DSP Nano Cortex

Neural DSP Nano Cortex

Want to take your valve amp sounds on stage without breaking your back? The Nano Cortex makes capturing and delivering those tones quick and easy.

Founded in Finland in 2017, Neural DSP offer a range of software and hardware emulations of guitar‑related hardware, including amps, speakers and effects. Their debut hardware product, the groundbreaking Quad Cortex, catapulted them into the limelight in 2021. We’ve since reviewed and been impressed by a number of their machine‑learning‑based plug‑ins, not least the Archetype series, which emulate the signal chains of specific artists.

They’ve now released a new hardware device, called the Nano Cortex, and it’s both more compact and more affordable than the Quad Cortex. As well as offering access to a range of machine‑learning‑based amp and effects emulations, it features the company’s proprietary Neural Capture technology, which uses neural networks to learn (capture) and digitally replicate the sounds of amps, drive pedals and any combination of drive pedal, amplifier, loudspeaker and microphone.

Hardware & Software

The Nano Cortex is housed in a stylish, compact enclosure. One of the first things you’ll notice is that there’s no screen here, with visual feedback instead provided by four rows of five LEDs on the top panel, but it’s also very much designed to be used with the associated control app, of which more below. The top panel carries two momentary buttons, rotary gain and EQ controls, and twin footswitches, all of which feature LED indicators, and, as on the Quad Cortex, each footswitch also incorporates a continuous rotary encoder.

The sounds are based on ‘captures’ and these are stored, along with any effects, as presets. When a preset is recalled the two LED rows above footswitch 1 display its bank and slot position. Above footswitch 2, the upper row of LEDs indicates the active effect slots, with the LEDs of the pre‑capture effects glowing orange and those of the post‑IR effects blue. A blinking FX LED indicates that the Amount control is active on that effect. Footswitch 2’s lower LED row displays the active IR slot, and that’s selected using that footswitch’s encoder.

Each of the front‑panel control knobs is surrounded by a segmented LED ring displaying its settings within the recalled preset. Of course, since these are pots rather than continuous rotary encoders, those settings may or may not coincide with the knobs’ current physical positions when you recall a preset. By default, the LED ring jumps to the position of a control as soon as its knob is moved, but you can change this using the app to require the knob to pass through the current setting before a change is made.

The Nano Cortex can function as a USB audio and MIDI interface — and even allows you to capture the sound of your DAW’s virtual amps to take on stage.The Nano Cortex can function as a USB audio and MIDI interface — and even allows you to capture the sound of your DAW’s virtual amps to take on stage.

The rear panel carries a series of quarter‑inch balanced TRS jacks, one for the mono instrument input, two for the mono/stereo output, and one for an expression pedal that doubles up as a MIDI I/O port. There’s also a ground‑lift switch, a mini‑jack headphone output with a volume control, and a USB‑C port. The USB port serves several functions. First, it allows the Nano Cortex to function as a 4‑in/3‑out 24‑bit/48kHz USB 2 audio and MIDI interface for Mac, Windows, iOS or iPadOS devices, which means you can record straight from this box into your DAW. If connected to a computer, the Nano Cortex can also be programmed to send, over USB‑C, up to 12 Program Change and/or continuous controller messages per footswitch press and per preset on recall, which could prove very interesting for some users. And when connected to a Mac or Windows machine’s USB‑C port the Nano Cortex can draw its power from the computer, though it’s worth noting that it cannot be powered from older USB A ports; if connecting that way, you’ll need an external 600mA, 9‑12 V DC power supply. When not connected to a computer, you can use such a pedal‑style PSU, or a 5V/2A USB‑C charger or power bank.

The side‑panel Capture input can accept instrument or mic signals.The side‑panel Capture input can accept instrument or mic signals.On the right‑hand panel, you’ll find a dedicated combi XLR/TRS Capture Input socket, along with an adjacent switch to apply a 26dB boost. This is used during the amp or drive‑pedal capture process to receive the output from the mic/amplifier or drive pedal being captured; the second (right) output on the rear serves as the send from the Nano Cortex to the device you’re capturing.

While you can obviously select the loaded presets using the hardware controls, there’s also Neural DSP’s Cortex Cloud app for Android and iOS devices. This app, which communicates with the hardware over Bluetooth, really is essential. Not only does it let you download firmware updates, captures and cabinet IRs, but it also lets you upload your own captures to the Cortex Cloud, and manage the onboard preset, capture and IR libraries. What’s more, it gives you remote access to the Nano Cortex’s settings, including the front‑panel controls and the parameters for all the effects slots. You can also use it to adjust the volume of an active capture (‑24dB to +12dB) and save the result in a preset. For loaded IRs, the app offers comprehensive manipulation, allowing you to select (for factory IRs only) from one of five mics and six centre to edge‑of‑cone positions, and (for both user and...

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