Let's Talk About the Neural DSP Nano Cortex (Some People are Really Unhappy)

[@andres.igmendez]

I think the problem is not the product itself. It's the target audience. NDSP have 2 main audiences: QC owners (people that can afford it) and plugin users (those who cant afford a QC). The people that are in the plugin category are not so interested in captures because they are mostly hobbist player, bedroom guitarists, etc. They dont have a big rig/amps to capture or even big pedalboards. The QC owners have those things, but they already have a QC so they dont need anoter capture oriented device. So we were all expecting a NanoCortex that could serve as bridge between these two categories, so the plugin users that play with modelers could access to a hardware version of that but for a cheaper price, even if it comes with limited options. Maybe not all the amps of the QC, maybe a physical hub for plugins only to run them live or at least not always in the PC, etc.

[@Darknight3701_]

Bingo

[@eobrad7706]

The possibility to home recording with big quality for less price, for live shows with great tone, pocket concerts, for study.... Many applications, man.

[@daltonlouzada627]

Perfect!

[@Stereostupid]

Dude you can have unlimited captures of dumbles and plexi-esque amps by people like Pete Thorn for Free ! And you can capture Ndsp plugins and capture anything and distortion pedals

[@masterofreality230]

Hey now! Bedroom player here, my rig puts some famous guitarists rigs to shame! lol

[@derekjuliano1298]

Cuz it sounds like the villain from Crash Bandicoot

[@dornyoh]

Laughing cos that used to be my favourite game and I got this

[@LAVKAI]

😂

[@picksalot1]

For what it does, $349 would be a more appropriate price.

[@raynunez6027]

I’d say $450, tonex is $400 and this one comes with additional effects and the ability to capture directly from the box. I still think it would have been better received as an “x” plugin player instead.

[@wakinginfinity]

Completely agree. It’s the price point that throws me off.

[@rethinktone]

​@raynunez6027 don't forget tonex gives the software that is able to be run in a daw with it. That's pretty valuable. I think the two should be priced competitively. If they made it the same price that makes the most sense.

[@rejuvenator8966]

Funny thing is, if they wanted to justify the price, they could've just allowed free signal chain and all QC blocks with less DSP like HX stomp. It would've cost them zero dollars extra. Neural is incredibly good at shooting themselves in the foot.

[@a.v.pstudios8468]

@@raynunez6027the tonex doesn’t have fx or transpose. 550 is more than fair.

[@user-xy8gt3tp5d]

the only problem it has is the price tag. 550 is ridiculous since tonex one exists.

[@Harrysound]

Price is mental considering the other options out there.

[@Brixiomendoza]

All neural products are expensive... It's like apple productos jejeje

[@Jeydeegr]

Depends on the use actually. If you just want a unit to play and sound great, Tonex makes a lot of sense at its price point. If you want a unit that sounds great as well but that you can actually use it to capture your amps and pedals then the Nano Cortex makes more sense. The whole process of capturing with Tonex is incredibly difficult and it ends up costing more with all the extra things you need to have.

[@rethinktone]

​@@JeydeegrI'd have to agree with you there. Tonex is for most people who just want high quality captures from 3rd parties or maybe even decent ones off tonet. This thing is objectively a better capturing device. It really is a PC vs Mac comparison. And nam is Linux 🤣

[@JosePineda-jn8jk]

@@JeydeegrI mean to be fair though, most users are probably not going to capture. People who want to do all that plus more will go flagship, so I think neural just thought it would be a good feature at that price point but, I think a large segment of the community would have been fine without it and adding a drive into the front of the chain. That’s just what I keep hearing and reading at least.. me personally, I am still on an HX Stomp and continue to be happy enough to just watch these releases. 😂

[@Stephen_Lafferty]

I hadn't even heard about it until KDH posted his video of the comments sections of the Neural DSP channel! The lack of modelling and fixed signal chain seem to be big negatives for a $500 pedal.

[@BourbonCreamBiscuit]

KDH has integrity and honesty, I agree with his video, honestly for the price it's a rip off.

[@josuastangl7140]

You mean like the $500 Pod Go, but with essentially a Kemper in there? Seems fine to me.

[@BourbonCreamBiscuit]

@@josuastangl7140 You are kidding right?, or nuts?, How many effects are in the Pod Go compared with this Nano Cortex? - Fixed signal chain on the Cortex and being able to move blocks on the Pod Go. If a pedal with esentially 2 effects and the reverb isn't that great imho (A one trick pony) and a few amp models is "fine to you" go ahead and waste your cash, not me, I'll keep my cash and spend it on something more worth it, like a supply of picks.

[@MojoPenguin]

@@BourbonCreamBiscuit KDH is none of that.

[@tomjut9761]

The glitch that occurred there is one of my worst live fears…

[@w9co736]

Looks like he inadvertently twisted the knob with his foot when hitting the switch, changing banks. You can see the led change. I was thinking this might be an issue, but wasn't sure if it would be until now.

[@marcopesce5879]

@@w9co736 But if this is the case (twisted knob), why when he press again the led/bank is the correct one?

[@marcopesce5879]

I reply myself: probably when you switch again (without saving) you "reset" to the previous settings. You can also see that the "Save" button is blinking, so he actually made the change on the bank twisting the knob. IDK if is it possible to lock this function.

[@disistheway2010]

@@w9co736you can turn off the foot switch being able to turn (so that wouldn’t be a problem anymore)

[@johnnyringo8174]

I use a midi controller with my Nano so I dont ever step on the switches on the device, just use them for rotary selection.

[@thekramer1097]

I think if they had gotten the way of the hx stomp, with an fx loop, the ability to use captures and Cortex Control, even with no screen it would have been a MASSIVE hit. Maybe they over estimated their brand or the interest in captures

[@Missingnin69]

Agreed

[@hybridnoisebloom]

Hope you're feeling better John.

[@tonepilot]

If I didn’t already own the QC, I’d be all over this. When I started my digital journey, I used Amplitube software running on my iPhone attached to my mic stand. I had four or five basic tones and it worked well. This is light years ahead of that.

[@lebroucke]

HX Stomp run circles around this and if you want the capture thing run a Tonex one in the loop.

[@CharLessMajor7Music]

Best combo ever, cheaper, and has more to offer.

[@laurenceede6881]

Fixed signal chain is a big negative.

[@8Junio76]

XLR output on right side is a big negative too.

[@hartlee1160]

Yeah my pod go is fixed but still way more versatile 😂

[@racerx3065]

@@8Junio76 it's an input for capturing, there are no XLR outs

[@rejuvenator8966]

@@racerx3065 yeah but this thing is likely to be on a pedalboard end of chain with other stomps on the right side blocking the XLR. I think that's what he meant at least

[@AudacityWorks]

​@@hartlee1160 You mean POD Express? POD Go's blocks can be freely moved and its three FX blocks can be any model.

[@danmercuri1290]

I think where my frustration comes in, is that the QC is still lacking in so many ways. Releasing a new product when they haven't even filled out the preorder device list is kinda nuts.

[@Necca_UK]

Companies don’t work like that, you can run several projects together, have multiple teams.

[@mr.bluenotedoobop]

What do you find lacking at this point? I find the updates by Neural to be consistent and really good. I think Covid probably slowed a lot of the promises, but I’m glad they’re actually able update it still.

[@pedrofirmino1121]

Neural was beat by the ToneX by how early it was released, so the included capture hardware on the nanocortex is mostly their attempt to allow to grow the neural cloud. However the players who don't have expensive amps would never use this feature, so it's more aimed for players who do have good amps and just want the portability. It just seems that it is quite difficult to compete within the 500€ budget, as there are great units like the HxStomp, FriedmanIRX, ToneX, Kemper Profiler, Laney Loudpedal, etc It's an interesting product with great algorithms, in particular the pitch shifter and transpose, but in my opinion an FX loop would make it much more flexible against ToneX.

[@3mstudiospalmdesert]

I'm in my studios era and I like to have one at home and my Quad Cortex in the pro studio. You can still easily grab one or the other to gig or jam. You don't need a power supply when you use it as an interface into your computer which simplifies it even further. It's great at home, on your gig board, or in the studio. It seems much easier than Tonex or even the Quad Cortex in making amp Captures. I have a Quad Cortex and I'll likely get this as well since I know the eco-system already. At $550, it's a no-brainer for me.

[@GearStuffandThings]

The reality of it is that guitar players can be really petty elitist dicks over just acknowledging that something may not be for them but others might find it a perfect solution. It’s such a great time to be a guitar player when it comes to gear and options. There is truly no excuse to complain.

[@w9co736]

The "glitch" you experienced was that the rotary footswitch got rotated inadvertently. You can see the bank led change from 1 to 2 as you hit the switch. Hopefully, Neural can either make this less sensitive or provide a way to disable it. I could see it causing problems in a live situation.

[@SporadicGuitarist]

The manual has a section on Parameter Lock: “It's possible to temporarily disable the rotary functionality of knobs and footswitches to avoid unwanted parameter switching when performing.”

[@w9co736]

@@SporadicGuitarist Awesome. Thanks for the info.

[@chrispygingerpie]

I don’t necessarily think it’s a bad product, but I don’t see me moving away from my HX stomp, I would be interested in seeing a comparison with the ToneX, if I was to add one of those to my signal chain.

[@jared_z28music42]

Its shortcoming for me is the inability to run two captures in parallel, but I have that solved with other products. Neural also solved that with the big box QC. What I’ve said most about it is “it’s not for me, but not everything has to be for me.”

[@jared_z28music42]

That said, I’ve had loads of gigs where my entire signal chain was no more complex than this.

[@nicdee316]

@@jared_z28music42 yeah exactly, the band I'm gigging with tonight, I could do the whole 1hr set with this easily. I'll use my QC as it's what I have, but for that gig the NC would be absolutely perfect.

[@Jurgen-po1ym]

you ´re absolutely right with your opinion. I have the nano cortex here on the floor now and I have a Boss GT 1000 core. The Boss device never made me so much fun to play like may 4 Ch. Steavens tube amp (even speakerless in "silent mode" with my two notes torpedo captor x) , but the nano cortex feels like a real tube amp and takes drive pedals really well. Absolutely gigable! In comparison to a Kemper profiler player it is the better product. In the next days I will capture my 4 ch Steavens tube amp. I love that amp so much and to get the sounds of the amp in a very small device which I can use live after my pedalboard is glorious! All in all the price is better than a kemper profiler player and I can capture my Steavens amp and my ´78 Vox ac 30 and also my music man 110 RD 50 combo if I want , that is really great!

[@rejuvenator8966]

Neural is overestimating the blind adoration from their fan base. Shit like this isn't gonna sell

[@FebbreDaChitarra]

Hi John! I think the matter is that if you have amps and you want/need to capture them, then the Nano Cortex is amazing. If you just need a good sounding amp in a box thing and you are going to download anyway the amps…then ToneX is just better all around, 3 switches, a screen and cost less

[@LucaMilierimusic]

We know you’re about to buying it anyway 😏

[@FebbreDaChitarra]

@@LucaMilierimusic of course

[@Scott__C]

One problem with this type of product is that OK, you have 4 presets, but what if you want to go from the first to the third, you have to step a bunch of times. I think these types of units would be best as one switch moves between a clean and dirty sound, and the other switch(es) to turn of effects/add lead boost. If I'm looking at something like this, POD express looks a lot better.

[@CharLessMajor7Music]

@@Scott__C they said it’s well thought out but I don’t think so. Yamaha/line6 is just years ahead of these other companies.

[@Scott__C]

@@CharLessMajor7Music I agree and I think that's really the only shortcoming if you will for POD express. Like I said, I'd want one switch to just do a cleaner/dirtier amp swap and the other switch to boost or turn off an effect.

[@KristopherCraig]

When you demo’d it yesterday I was blown away I didn’t think I’d be interested, but it sounds great and being able to load my captures from the cloud is brilliant. It looks like a great little tool I can use when I’m off the ship and don’t want to carry around my full pedal board. Nice player g btw as usual.

[@akaerik1]

Yo my guy I truly want to thank you for being on my TV every day with some lovely playing and some times great information almost always great humor. Can't thank you enough for the Monday lessons.

[@gustavomazonave8536]

For me this should be the following: You can play the Plugin you own in this unit. Done. If you dont own one, only captures. This would make me really happy because two or three plugins will suffice all my sound needs. At first i thought this product would be for me, but the Capture only with no compressor is pretty bad for me as a bass player...

[@martiboucat]

Cordy channeling his inner Thundercat between vomits. Nice!

[@lanceholland]

I think a BIG miss on the UI is the tiny little lights to tell you which of the four captures are active. There's no way those will be visible on a stage...especially outdoors. You're going to have to remember whatever was the last active capture on a switch for this to be workable. Given that, adding some MIDI switcher is almost a requirement unless you're planning on sticking to two captures....and now the price is more than [insert modeler here]

[@MichaelHenggeler-u6g]

I think the problem is that they wasted everyone's time with that 30-minute commercial that didn't even announce the product.

[@luisrios6687]

Hope and Pray you have speedy recovery! ❤️‍🩹

[@susanpato1223]

It just sounds better! Capture tech is a game changer and the modelers are now in catch up mode. The problem is for $179 you can get a Tonex one and upgrade your Helix, Fractal, etc

[@katzensprung7449]

Get well soon, John! Thank you for all your great work!!

[@np094]

The main problem is, imo, that the unit seems to be a very cut down version of the QC and insults the intelligence of the consumer, even more If you add the whole plugin compatibility debacle. NeuralDSP seems to be quite tone deaf and this product is proof.

[@Necca_UK]

Because this is more like advanced pedal, not a modeller.

[@nobodyimportant76467]

This does seem limited for the price. Essentially it’s a capture unit with a couple of extra added features to try and offset what it can’t do which is a lot

[@theprogguitarist]

I was skeptical at first but I’ve realised it’s a really cool solution for home recording with latency-free monitoring, especially for small spaces given its size (not everyone has space on their desk for a flagship unit and normal audio interfaces are not latency free). An fx-loop would have made it more flexible live since that would allow you to use your own modulation fx and still use the onboard reverb and delay. Yes it is limited, but from the demos so far it sounds super solid. The fact that there is no screen, yet it still seems like you can do quite a few things on the unit itself, sounds pretty refreshing tbh given we are already surrounded by screens.

[@Theliraan]

What's the problem to purchase different table-top processor for home recording? Quality-wise: HX Stomp (192 kHz, 123 dynamic range). Prices-wise: Hotone Ampero Mini or Pod Express (

[@parmeshgurung]

Every demo i have seen on youtube, it has sounded fantastic. Dunno why people are picking on it. Yeah it got flaws (many i guess) but at that price which product have capture features?

[@theprogguitarist]

@@Theliraanthere are indeed many alternatives. The GT-1000 core is about the same price as this and can do so much more, besides capturing. I still think it’s a cool product but I agree that there are so many great alternatives out there

[@Theliraan]

@@parmeshgurung ToneX One + ToneX Capture pack is more affordable than this. Also it's more compact cuz you don't need to have ToneX capture in board. You're happy now? People (and me) are picking on it because for this price you can get lot of other devices with much-much more features. Yes, without captures, but in modelling flow you usually can modify internal amp params like Sag or Bias, that can't been modified in captures - so modelling not just sound amazing, it offer much more tweakability.

[@parmeshgurung]

@@Theliraan problem with things like “bias, lagg..”” and all the stuff is the changes are minimal. You spent hours and hours tweaking for a bare minimum return. One of the main reasons I sold my hx stomp and send back fractal (it was loan from a fren) is i just tweaked. I hardly played, i was just messing around. Now i just play. One thing I love about NDSP products are you just open and play. Minimal tweaking, great tones from get go. I have 5 neural plugins and i just one (pink amp from tim henson ndsp which is based on JCM800). Boy they nailed that jcm 800 tones. It is more than enough and realistic for me. I play more. Practice is more important for sounding good than any “tweaks” you do. Just plugin and play what I search for. And NDSP gives me that. Do i like the product? Yes . Do i think this product has many flaws? Yes. Ofc. No product is perfect. For me the default tones are great and it takes pedal well which I am exactly looking for. I don’t want to down that rabbit hole of tweaking. Just plugin and play. It is my philosophy and pleasure. Yours maybe be different. Afterall we all are different in many ways.

[@wakinginfinity]

I was one of the complainers, but I’ll admit those effects do sound great 😎

[@briangradysyndrome]

Even though they followed through on the QC, it took them a long time after all the promises of running the plug ins. That and the awful Power Supply that kept me out. I don't care if it is the "latest and greatest". This new Nano seems like an over charge and under deliver. There needs to be a Fractal Mini that is done right. Yeah I am a Fractal Fan Boy because I use mine everyday and love the hell out of it.

[@joshpetermann]

For what it does and seeks to compete with (amp-on-a-board), it’s not nearly as good of a value as 2 ToneX Ones. At the very least it should’ve been able to run dual amps.

[@masterofreality230]

I think calling it the Nano Cortex was a mistake, its not a little QC, its something else, more like a profiler/profile loader.

[@DDPAV]

for me, I just want to effortlessly and quickly capture the actual amps I'm tracking in the studio incase I feel the need to play live. It's perfect for that- I'm not into heavy affects. Not current on ToneX but the stuff I did watch seemed like painful amount of time to do a capture. I want to capture right after I track and then move on, seems like Nano is perfect for that. I've got no interest in modeling so it's actually a huge savings over the Kemper toaster I was just putting in my cart.

[@jaysmoreymusic]

I think if this pedal was evaluated in a vacuum and apart from price point, it does some cool stuff and sounds good. However, when compared to what is already in the market and at their competitive price points, the Nano doesn't make sense to me.

[@AndreVieiraguitarist]

Beautifully put my friend, I've decided to give this a go, been a FM9 user but for church environment I believe this will sit well on my pedalboard, FM9 will most likely stay at home studio.

[@juliansedor7101]

You can also make captures of your FM9, the same way you would an amp. Just take the output from the FM9 instead of a microphone. Really you can capture anything, even DAW plugins if you set everything up right.

[@AndreVieiraguitarist]

@@juliansedor7101 Yep I am aware, however my point is really creating a smaller rig with this device. I feel as I grow older the FM9 gets heavier LOL...

[@MattJarz]

Not sure people know this but you don't have to buy it.

[@FEV369]

Feedback makes the world go round.

[@JeffStoeger]

Your next video can you try out the midi? I wonder if you can add a Morningstar and get more footswitch capability.

[@bryanclarke1927]

The thing is total nonsense. A mini quad cortex with basic features is what people want. Line 6 managed it with the helix

[@adriansoul7223]

That macmiller riff.. nice one.

[@Necca_UK]

Its a Pedal. Not a modeller, an audio interface, a tuner, many effect pedals together and plus many real amp camptures in the pack.

[@CJ_Wolesz]

I'm curious as to why they didn't go with endless encoders as opposed to the knobs. What's the point of a white line on a knob when the LED ring is telling you the true setting, especially when changing presets.

[@PlayGameOnMac]

Same here!! If you have a kid, it just makes no sense..!😢😢

[@Etienne.6329]

@@CJ_Wolesz cost saving

[@PersianRockstar21]

For those that have a ton of amps that they don’t know what to do with, this is for you. Otherwise you’re better off sticking with what you have.. this is simply a way to capture and have all your favorite tones and amps all in one place and on the go. I think people are mainly mad because of how Neural marketed this nanocortex as a “smaller quad cortex” when we know it’s not

[@Baneowo]

or maybe its for the exact opposite people people, people who dont have ANY amps, and wanna download qne try out the many captures already made by people who know what they are doing, thats the way i interpret the nano cortex, cuz its genuinely something id want

[@PersianRockstar21]

@@Baneowo that’s a good one too, but for the price point? You don’t think you’d get more use out of an actual modeler?

[@Baneowo]

@@PersianRockstar21 personally not really, i only rly tweak the dist, high, mid and low end on my amp sims anyways, and only ever use 4 presets, so being able to tweak all that on board, while having the capability to download all those captures without having to throw 1.6k euro on a quad cortex? i reckon thats pretty neat cuz for a intermediate bedroom guitarist like me a quad cortex is a little bit of a waste of money personally, sure it has its uses for which it is amazing, like doing live stuff, for recording genuine songs and not just small instrumental projects that i do. ofc i would absolutely love to have a quad, but me living in a country as bad financial state as croatia is, that sadly just isnt possible.

[@PersianRockstar21]

@@Baneowo I just picked up a HX stomp and I’ve been loving the tones I get from it. I just know a lot of people hate that you can’t dedicate a block for distortion or gain pedal… but other than that, I totally agree with you there.

[@Baneowo]

@@PersianRockstar21 mhm, thats valid, i personally will get the nano next month, along with a digitech whammy, and thats basically all i ever need, at least for the foreseeable future

[@marcpeiron_studio]

Honestly the only con I find with it is that you can only change to preset A of each side, so for exampe you can't go from 1b to 2b or from 2a to 1b.

[@MrBlank0907]

It’s not a bad product per say, but I don’t think it’s what most people were wanting from neural. Reminds me of when line 6 released the HX one

[@Jeedan]

When Line6 released the Pod Express a lot of people didnt like how simple it was, they wanted more deep dive 'pro' features and so on but seeing the reaction to the nano cortex I understand exactly what L6 were doing. There is a strong market for a beginner friendly, bonehead simple and cheap amp modeller pedal. The market for this is harder to pin down. And needing to use an app to mess with it is a failure in UI and narrows it further.

[@Bringyourownhammer]

I’m just wondering could this all be fixed with a couple of updates?

[@florenttenryu5011]

You can wait years for a update from Neural

[@mutzmusic5737]

Although I already own a ToneX, I'd be perfectly happy with a product like this. I guess I'm not into amp modelers or use a lot of effects. I prefer to keep things nice and simple. I prefer real amps 1st and captures 2nd. Yes, it's more money than a ToneX, but I like the idea that you don't need your computer and a reamp box to do a capture. Plus, it only takes about 5 minutes to make a capture, where as the ToneX can take 20 minutes or hrs depending on your settings and how fast your computer is. I think we're all becoming a bit spoiled lately. Twenty years ago, I would have died for a product like this. Does anyone still own a Line 6 POD?

[@EgorKrotov]

Tonex takes longer to capture, but its capture is much better (this is logical) and it costs less. Why buy nano cortex, which is worse in all respects and more expensive

[@MoreMeRecording]

This thing - and the ill-fated marketing leading up to release - is bollocks

[@guilhermearaujo1781]

Man … they could have developed a small plug in player, that you could install 2-3 plug ins that you buy from them 4 foot switches and that’s it. Ported the tech over to the quad which was an initial promise. 🤦🏻‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️

[@andypeacockmusic]

I think the thing everyone is missing is that whist the Tone X captures this box captures easily and without a bunch of other gear. I think time will show this is a winning product kind of in its own category. If you had an amps you love and can’t always use capture them, put your fav drive in front and capture that too…

[@Etienne.6329]

The main problem with this is like if they teased a 5150 nano but it ended up being only the clean channel. They chose to release the least interesting part of their product, that already has harsh competition, at a premium price. It’s a failed release

[@Niksounds]

Ehi John, says THANKS to Neural DSP for visualizations! ;-D

[@89digits59]

The future belongs to the processor with the biggest display - no one wants to see tiny writings on the processor - big and bright proper IPS display to see what's happening is a must moving forward - let that sink into the processor makers - and no - don't tell me to use for phone for screen editing 😜

[@Scott__C]

30" display, 2 buttons. 🤣

[@510SPINESPLITTA8]

I would have loved it if it had an FX Loop. I feel like that was a huge oversight and really limits how you can integrate it into your pedal board.

[@LuisJimenez-pb3ge]

Better? For who?

[@WutipongWongsakuldej]

I think ... If Neural just call this whatever instead of something Cortex something, people might give it an okay despite the price. When it share part of the name with its big brother, people would have exectations that it would be closely resemble the full-fledge version. On top of that, when there was a rumor about the unit, those KZbinrs start to add some weird expectation to the product even if they haven't seen the thing in person. The expectation is now building up. When the realthing is released and it doesnot meet the expectation, that's when everything is clashing down. Personally I think it's a fine product. Yes there's also ToneX, but that doesn't mean the Nano Cortex becomes invalid. PS. I've heard that ToneX capture is quite problematic. The capture sounds fine at the time it's being capture, but the playback on the unit itself sounds quite different. I don't have the unit so I don't know if this is true :).

[@digital360]

I believe there is only a very small segment of our community that actually has the desire to capture their amps, or anything for that matter. If you’re going to go digital for portability anyhow, why not just use a modeller? Honestly, Neural should spend some time revamping the QC form factor. While functional, it could be more ergonomically built, i.e. staggered foot buttons so you don’t accidentally hit the front row while stepping on the back row. Also it looks as bad as that new Tesla truck thing.

[@Realroyrogers]

They apparently forgot new products need to fill a need.

[@radoza108]

I really don't understand this product. Less flexibility and higher price than HX stomp...

[@-jk-2580]

I bought it and love it. I think people have misunderstood it. It’s a competitor for Tonex and Kemper Player, but better 😊

[@RiffageRyan]

I have been playing with the Nano Cortex for the past couple of days and it is very cool. The captures I've downloaded sound like the real deal. Having delay and chorus built into the Cortex means I can lose a couple of pedals from my board to make room for others. I really don't care if it only has a phone app, or no drives etc, as I have all the pedals I want on my board so the Cortex is only acting as an amp, not a multi effects unit. The only thing it's missing, in my opinion, is an effects loop. Other than that it is a quality piece of gear.

[@markjohnson1020]

The entire world would’ve liked it if it was a smaller version of the Quad Cortex. That’s it. Way to go Neural DSP.

[@hannesganahl6384]

Just one reveb and one delay? No spring reverb, no plate? No analog delay, no ping pong? Just chorus, no flanger, no vibrato? Like this it seems useless to me. I understand, that for that price they don't put all the effects in it, but at least 3 reverbs, delays and modulation effects would make that thing useable, 5 reverbs, delays an modulation effects to choose from would make it perfekt.

[@zhiguli8]

Companies like IK Multimedia and NDSP should develop a quick way to take a patch in one of their plugins and export it to a something like this product or Tonex. It would be even nicer if it was possible, within a DAW say, to capture and export signal chains. Maybe this is possible now, but I haven't delved too deeply into what Tonex can do yet I understand maybe you might not want using delay, reverb or modulation, but I was having a blast using Arturia Coldfire in front of an amp. It could make some great, and also very strange, sounding fuzzes, overdrives and distortions. Even Logic's Clip Distortion sounded good and was fun to experiment with. I also really like my Brainworx amp plugins and it would be nice to quickly export those to a pedal.

[@MarcusFHurt]

Feel better !! Amazing playing as always.

[@tonedowne]

I think it’s a very sensible product, it’s just that the Neural audience is desperate for a plug-in player

[@EePingLiang]

You can also power Nano Cortex via a USB-C compliant power source, this is what I wanted most on QC

[@NedJeffery]

For the life of me I can't understand why the big push for captures. 99% of guitarists do not have the skill or the gear to capture anything of value. I'd prefer just a list of 50 or so amp models.

[@TheBluesyPea]

Looking forward to the gig report. Most interesting thing about the Nano Cortex for me so far is the ongoing hate fest on TGP, the douche lords over there are having a hard time coping.

[@doomymcdoom1498]

I don't understand what everyone is going on about. It's not a small quad cortex. Pretty sure that's obvious.I think for someone like me who gets overwhelmed with modulars this is great. It's compact I can get any amp I want has the basic effects and I can just plug and play its portable and don't have to worry about a laptop for editing just have to capture a rig with a overdrive. Simple and easy to use. for metal or players that don't use a lot of effects this is perfect does the job.

[@amckaymusic8957]

Not sure I get the issue with fixed signal chain, that’s kind of what you have in a traditional amp and pedal board set up unless you employ a high end loop switching system. And most signal chains are pretty much the same for the majority of applications. I do think the price is a little high for this though.

[@trunks828]

All I know is bass players definitely should try this. It’s literally perfect for a normal setup.

[@PaoloC.]

I think it's not a very focused product. they claim of course that it's for every guitar or bass player, but it has limitations to be an "iridium" (too much stuff) or even tonex substitute (the price), as well as helix stomp substitute (lacking features).

[@AlanW]

Sorry you are feeling so bad, hope it clears up soon!

[@raynunez6027]

If this had a drive/compressor block and other effects then it would be a pretty killer unit. Until then it’s a fail in my opinion. If you’re going to place this on a pedal board with other effects then go tonex and save some cash they essentially do the same thing. The only reason I could see someone justifying this is if they have a good collection of amps, which is probably not the case for most of us. But to each their own

[@Viaductor]

Word is compressor is coming. When and how, I do not know. But it's coming.

[@raynunez6027]

@@Viaductor knowing neural gta6 we’ll get gta 6 before that lol but that would be good and for a drive I guess they figured people would capture a drive and amp together so there’s that.

[@ScottGailor]

Two issues for me. They haven’t fulfill the promises on the original quad yet. Price is too high for what it does. Right now I’ll stick with my TONEX

[@Mixa_742]

No comp no od. Deal breaker i guess

[@franknguitars7671]

I can’t wrap my head around the super limited effects section and signal path.

[@mehAudio]

So basically, what you‘re saying is: I have to throw up 6 times in 24 hours to improve my playing, is it?

[@bigjoeisgood]

we have to face the truth. There's a lot of jealousy surrounding Neural DSP. The Tonex community is bitter and spits on everything else. Most of the people criticising are those who have products from other brands, as usual, typical of those trying to convince themselves they've made the right choice elsewhere. And those who already have the QC, haven't understood that it's not a mini QC but an extension for a different use. In all honesty, having tried every product on the market and not being a fanboy of any brand in general, it's typical bad faith to hate this product. It's a killer. The problem with YT and social networks in general is that you give a lot of immature and often incompetent people a voice. You've got to sort it out as best you can ;) PS: the absence of an overdrive block or not being able to use the plugins totally superficial! Already on the QC, this didn't add anything to what the device could already do. There will of course be things to add later, but these two arguments are completely irrelevant.

[@tonepilot]

Despite all the naysayers, I do believe this will be a popular product for NDSP. Maybe even a gateway product to the Quad Cortex.

[@sacasticus]

No screen, no distortion, limited effects and no modeling. Being able to capture isn’t a huge feature for me, I don’t have a large vintage amp collection to capture and take with me. This product would most likely be part of a pedalboard. If I go back to using a pedalboard I could put a tonex one at the end of my chain.I think they missed an opportunity to compete with the HX stomp.

[@marcusmillermusic]

“What i like about the nano cortex is actually not really like anything out there” -JNC

[@Sascha_Franck]

Fwiw, many of the complaints aren't about this being a bad device. It's rather about how this could be a *much* better device in case some things were done somewhat differently. Possibly wouldn't even cost NDSP any money. I could easily name a handful of examples in case anyone's interested.

[@sdw1979]

Hey John, most importantly, get better asap! Best wishes, Sam 🎸🎶

[@EePingLiang]

You are spot ON!

[@KaddysJamKave]

Next product... micro quad cortex for $500 more with the missing features expected from the nano? 😂

[@milesholmwood]

Would have rather had an HX sized Cortex with just Modelling and Plug in loading W/FX Loop. The market for Amp Capturing and profiling is shrinking. People under 35 don’t often have collections of amps to capture so the feature is less appealing. No overdrive and a fixed chain is a huge negative. Having to use a phone app is a massive negative too. As a professional musician I can’t figure out who this is really for in the current climate.

[@chrispygingerpie]

Haha genius use of track, on point with the subject of the video… What’s the use?

[@okimotdm]

Competing in a crowded space - limited differentiation - may have been better to focus on enhancing quad and plugins - focus on high quality - competing w masses at lower price point means much more needed support and will stretch the company - it’s a big risk. I really want neural to be around a long time

[@psc502]

HEY JOHN, for about the same price you can get the Pod Express and ToneX pedal. Thats kind of the all in one combo Ide like see in the next HX stomp. Captures and a few more effects in a small form factor. Line 6 take notes.

[@scottbecker3485]

Too expensive for a „let‘s finally try the Neural stuff and see“ guy. A couple hundred less would have made me more inclined to try this alongside my many other units. However, the most glaring omission for me as a singer who also plays guitar (solo performances!) is any kind of send or effects loop so I could get the guitar signal out of the unit and route it to my vocal harmony pedal, for harmonies in the proper key. And given the (welcome) fact that there‘s a drop function built in, that means the dropped signal would need to be sent out to the vocal harmony pedal. No way that seems possible. All in all, why not some kind of effects loop? Grabbing the output signal and routing it to the harmony pedal is, by the way, not an option, since that would be muddied by amps and effects.

[@zedkent4287]

Hopefully they will add more FX, the cortex caps are the most convinient and sound the best after tone X

[@davidcjupp]

Am I right in thinking that you can't output to FOH and powercab on stage at the same time with this? Because you can't disable the cab for one output and not the other? Sorry just saw you covered that John. I'm a berk.