it seems absolutely crazy to me that people watch videos on products, to see if it's right for them, and then harass the people making videos calling them shills for making the videos they want to see. I feel like I must be missing something lol
Agreed...not every product a company releases is for everyone that has bought a product from the company before. This is about expanding their market BEYOND their current customers. Do you want to own every NDSP plug-in? I don't - some of them hold no interest for me based on the style of music I play and the way I play. However, I know there are people that love the ones I couldn't care less about - awesome? Different things for different people.
Interesting video. I have owned many different multi-effects pedals/modellers/amps etc over the years and have just bought the Nano Cortex. One of the biggest draws for me is the ability to download captures of amps I could never justify buying or afford! I also like that the built-in effects are fixed, which means no option paralysis.
If i didnt have a Quad, id grab a Nano, and just use it for the amb and cab captures. Put whatever OD and comp pedal in front, and whatever delay and verb i want afterwards, like a real pedal board. Thats ehere i think this really shinrs
Good vid as per usual, I like when you do a lot of talking, it’s not like you don’t have anything to say, it’s usually quite balanced and valuable imo 👍🏼
Without a screen, and with a delay and chorus, this is basically worth the same as a tonex (full) , especially with tonex coming with the max version software. At $399 this would have been a cool pick. $550, you are picking a fight with hx stomp and you are going to lose, neural.
I play one or two gigs a year as a guest guitarist. I would like a good portable amp solution, but a QC is too expensive for me right now and I don't work enough as a guitarist to really justify it. I am used to Neural DSP product quality and sounds due to using their plugins in my production. So QC quality sounds at basically a third of the price is pretty appealing.
@@pb25193 I think "better" than Neural DSP quality is subjective and very debatable, but even so, that is absolutely another strong option worthy of consideration! For the Nano Cortex, the ability to capture tones from plugins I already own and use in my own production is also a very powerful tool. Ultimately, it's only a good thing that there are multiple great pragmatic options for me to weigh up!
Re: "nothing to capture" -- lots of people have drive pedals! Capture the drive section of your pedalboard(all the combinations you actually use) and replace your "stock" delay and reverb with the Nano on board => shrink your pedalboard by a large margin.
With that god-awful marketing campaign Neural did, and almost every prominent guitar TH-camr coming out and saying nano Cotex is the new black! well that might have skewed some opinions, including probably my own. That being said, Keyan, get your money! And if you can do that by also being true to yourself, even better. Love your music, and as a sound teck in the metal world, that's not a genre that pays a lot.. So you do you 🤘
I’ve said this but I love that you can capture plugins. So if I have an in the box tone with a neural plugin I can take it and just run it through midi patching
Correct me if I’m wrong, but snapshots don’t allow to change tones completely i.e. changing the amp, type of cab or effects right? It’s only just the parameters within the blocks/signal chain you’ve already selected?
@@josuastangl7140Well, it struggles with a dual amp setups ( Dsp intensive Amps) and heavy effects but it is capable of dual amps and some effects, so if the effects are dailed back, you can have 3 amps even. I get that it's not a perfect comparison but I think you could cover all basis with what's available.
man, I am so glad that I recently bought a Fractal FM9 Mk2 Turbo to replace my old AX8 instead of switching to NDSP. I was so hoping that they would release a more powerful unit instead of moving into THIS direction.
My plan is to use it live and also record with it. Got a midi pedal hooked up to it and it works great. Got 4 presets up front. For another 4 press a-b and another 4 avail. Works great 👍 I have owned and Tonex and Pod and Strymon and Nux. In my opinion the Nano sounds authentic. None will ever be happy with anything that’s what makes the world go round. Great work Neural.
Same plan for me. Use it live with stock captures, or capture my Mini Rectifier & JMP100 with and without my OD1 pedal. I'm willing to bet in future updates, we'll be able to turn on separate effects, via MIDI.
I did my talky long vid on this unit a few days ago and I did so after doing research and watching other videos and knew exactly what the unit is and what it isn't specifically because I came out of pocket to buy it. Normally I never watch review videos of products I review but if it's something I'm paying for, I do my due diligence. I'm EXTREMELY particular about my drive pedals and even trying to capture a few sounds of them with our singer's quad cortex, none of them sounded or felt right and I didn't really love any others built into the QC so not having that on the nano doesn't bother me. I also have my own delay and reverb I greatly prefer from my UA Delverb and a couple chorus pedals I also like. I think that being able to switch delay and chorus on/off with a 2 button switch in the future will be nice but I don't HAVE to have that or a drive block. I bought the Nano for what it currently is and not based on what it COULD be in the future. It's an amp in a box. It serves the exact same function as my UA Lion or a Friedman IR-D/X but offers infinitely more options due to the capture abilities and 4 presets. The price is 100% justified in my opinion and it's exactly what I NEED. Our band is 100% cab-less on stage. We run DI into the board and use IEM's and typically will have FRFR's on stage behind us with that DI signal for some stage sound so getting the best sounding DI tone is paramount. Having the perfectly mic'd studio sound of my tube amps with my settings (which never change) in a tiny little pedal is like a god-send for me. I have an HX Stomp and the amp models are trash compared to good captures. It's exceptional as a small, flexible multi-effects unit and pairs up really well with the Nano as a companion device. I have an FM3 (used to have a rack AxeFX III) and although the models are good, none of them sound like MY amps and that's what I ultimately want on stage but without the hassle of hauling a tube half stack and fumbling with microphones. The consistency of having that perfectly dialed in studio tone EVERY TIME is worth $550 and I'm starting to feel like this Nano is going to be my gateway drug to a QC. BTW, I'd love your opinion/feedback on my SLO captures I just made. I think they rip pretty hard.
9:15 Considering you have an IT degree, you should be able to appreciate the following: the size of this unit has very little (maybe even nothing) to do with the amount of processing power available. The size of the NC is determined by the size of your fingers, feet and the I/O. If DSP limitations are the reason for fixed effects / signal chain, it's not related to unit size (except, maybe, cooling). It so funny how people have no idea about how powerful computers really are these days. Consider that your mobile phone, which is much smaller than the NC, could run this! You can fit 4+ iPhones in there. Take a step back and see your comments in that light. You're really giving Neural too much credit: it's been figured out, they've made design choices. Limiting the unit on release will give them a way to keep sprinkling updates every few months to keep you in the eco-system and have a regular stream of 'game changer' videos everytime Neural drop an update. Which is fine, that's how business works. But don't bullshit yourself into that it's anything else.
You're right, just look at what a Mac Mini can do. But that would make it more expensive. The biggest reason I think is that the competition also doesn’t have more processing power, so there’s not much incentive to far exeed what the market already offers.
@@josuastangl7140 accurate. We've crossed the point where more DSP doesn't make that much difference unless you have very high demands, maybe...most guitarists won't and thus the NC will probably sell like hot cakes. Consider that for computers, one of the most heavy duty tasks is generating output on the screen (hence, graphics cards). Audio processing is really not that intensive compared to video.
This is true, I guess I was just referring to the size of the unit in the moment while looking at it in my hands. In hindsight, what I was actually referring to in that moment rather than the physical size of the unit was the "size" of the processor in relation to its computing power. I'm fairly sure that the Nano like many other modellors and audio devices use the SHARC+ chips. Obviously due to cooling, pricing and logstical I/O limitations and the interference that they may cause, I suspect that the Nano is using only one of those SHARC+ chips rather than the two that are included in the Quad, which is reflected in the price amongst other things. So yes, you are right in saying that size doesn't matter, but the software and feature set within any modellor would obviously still be limited to overall power of single processor within the unit. Whether they release updates in the future is something we don't have answers to right now, but again like I said in the video, I don't think it will be any time soon due to the fact that it would most likely only be a case of running things more efficiently within the same bounds of the physical gear. If Neural could do that, they would put it on the Quad as well as it would only make the Quad even more powerful than it already is. Given what Kemper just did with the paid updates on their new floor player and the backlash its received in the past 24 hours, I can't imagine Neural doing something similar any time soon. You are right, iPhones are incredible pieces of technology, that are designed and made by a trillion dollar company and cost almost 3x the price of something like the Nano. While it's a good example to show how powerful technology can be in something small, it's a bit of case of apples and oranges.
@@KeyanHoushmandLive I do think Neural did some nice engineering here. I also really liked the QC design. I suspect a (free) software update within 6 months, maybe even Christmas (which would be 3 months dead on). We'll see ;)
18:45 just imagine being able to run the overdrive from Nameless, into the 3rd amp from Nolly into a cab from Gojira without having to use three different plugins in a DAW / VST host, but them just being in a single eco system...that would be a very welcome game changer. 😮
In regards to the Tonex, it's getting a firmware update next month that will give it extra effects blocks along with delays and modulation effects. I believe it will actually have more effects and blocks than the Nano. Still doesn't do captures on the unit, but it makes them much more similar.
This seems like an excellent purchase for someone who has tons of amps and wants to keep captures of them readily available. I just wish manufacturers would stop putting knobs on their products for EQ. I can just adjust my settings digitally especially if I am not adjusting it on the fly anyway. My own take anyway. Still a sweet product
@@thisguy2973so it‘s no product for you. I would even say, if your not a touring guitarist and more like a bedroom producer, i would not spend any money on modelers anyway. You can have digital tones that sound at least as good.
I would absolutely kill for something with the size of the nano cortex, even similar, but just build around loading/running presets from their amp sims, even if the only functionality was swapping between presets, foregoing controls for adjusting them aside from input gain/output level
the lack of overdrive block is a deal breaker for me. the tonex one is the way to go. 1/4 of the price and it has a compressor block in the pre section to boost the amp
The over drive left out is wild. Even if it’s just one….. well it’s better than nothing! I’d like to see them switch out the transpose feature for an overdrive. I was really looking forward to the transpose feature. I heard it was super realistic. Honestly, it’s one of the worst pitch shifter I’ve tried on a modeler lately. Maybe it just was my unit. I have a replacement coming tomorrow from sweetwater. It was incredibly noisy!
As far as my understanding, gapless switch and spillover, has more to do with having “only” four presets. Apparently all the four presets and all the blocks are fully loaded in to the brain (ram?) of the pedal at all times
I don't get all this big drama tbh...I'm enjoying my nanocortex big time. edit: if I have really to give a feedback it is about the possibility to use both midi pc and cc signals for example for using also exprenssion pedals at the same time instead having to pick either one or the other but apart for this i actually like there's not a overdrive slot... if u need to much more tweeking u should go for quadcortex i guess
In the manual you can run midi off the USB so that would free up the expression slot. I captured my amp/cab earlier and am pretty impressed with the results.
This is true, from what I've seen you would still be limited to the amount of overall amp tones, cab sounds and effects that you could fit into one preset. I don't own a Helix Stomp, but after seeing them around and seeing how they work, I could imagine that using two different amp models within the same preset would heavily restrict the amount of high DSP demanding processes like Delay and especially Reverb that you could have on the end of the preset, among all the other pre-fx blocks. For comparison, the Nano has the potential of 4 different amp sounds and 4 different cab sounds that are easily switchable within the same bank, all gapless. Again, I think it really just depends on your use case and what you value more
Who cares if you don't have any sic gear to capture. Soon as my NC came in, i downloaded some of Nollys Captures from the cloud. Being the tone genius he is, it sounded better than anything i was able to dial in myself on the hx stomp (i suck at dialing in tones tho 😅). If you're like me and just want a huge library of amazing captured setups and tones from people much better than yourself. The Nano Cortex is for you.
I want to love the nano. I want to get excited about the cool features, how nice it would be to put on a pedalboard and let it make life more convenient but I just can't see it. The usability of the pedal and app looks awesome but I can't see a convincing reason to not get a line 6, or hell even the small tone x. The small inconveniences and limitations on the nano would piss me off more trying to get a workaround for it rather than just setting up and integrating a tone X from the start OR just get a stomp XL or a headrush that will do nearly everything the average player needs. The nano just feels way too niche
I like the form factor, technology, build quality, and sound quality. But for the price, it is (just barely) too limited for me. I'd grab one if there's a firmware update that adds a wah block and the ability to run one output with an IR and one output without an IR.
@@turbofabio I saw some forum posts mentioning that "solution" but some responses said that the stereo output of the Nanocortex is only after the delay/modulation, and that it sums all IR's to mono. So I don't think that will work.
Helix Stomp is not a competitor for this pedal. Helix can't capture amps, preamps and pedals. Nano Cortex isnt a modeler. It is not a "loaded up with options effects processor." These two devices are for two different applications for two different requirements. They are basically for people who have different needs. There is room for both in the guitar world depending on the individual preference.
Hey man! My only concern with the Nano is actually the Noise Gate, as well as the fact that it has only one Gate. What do you think of that and how well does it work? Were in simmilar genres so I'm interested it how well it works for Prog/Djent and how it fairs against the multiple gate options the QC has. Cheers! ❤
Maybe I didn't understand it well but don’t you have a library full of great captures, made by people who own great equipment, available to download and tweak to make em sound as you like? Can you just use it like downloading some presets and adjusting them to fit your needs and forget about the capturing stuff?
Doesn‘t have the boss gt1000 also have gapless switching but only when you have same dly/rev on same block an both presets you are switching between? So that could be the same trick here at the nano
What people forget is that everyone lives in a bubble. I thought that everyone knows just as much about gear as me or even more. Then I startet working in a music store. The average musician knows next to nothing about gear.
So you’re saying you like having to capture a very specific OD pedal with an amp that will only work for one guitar and not an other? Instead of being able to have drive block that you could use to customize the capture depending on what guitar you are using?!?! 🤨
To me this pedal only makes sense for people who already have and use a quad cortex. If the QC is your main guitar processor, and you want something smaller for small gigs/on the go, it makes sense. But if you don't have a QC, this pedal doesn't really make sense to me. It is also another big investment to make if you do have a qc, it is a very expensive pedal
Why does it matter if someone knows the nerdy stuff of their modeling gear? I missed the point. Of course a lot of people won’t know what ram, cpu or address bus are. Only people in tech like yourself and I are gonna care about that stuff or understand it. What matters is if it sounds good. Not the cpu architecture
Jack Gardiner told me in the Guitar Summit that he captured one of his friends amp on the gig, with the Nano. Nolly told us in the clinic that he uses the Archetype captures on Nano for his tones(he played some of his demos and Prayer Position). This thing has a target, it may not be me or any other bedroom guitarist who either has modelling options or not need a capture based device, but it's definitely a game changer for some people. And the small comparison part you mentioned made a lot of sense to me. Aside from marketing part of things, I think the device is pretty cool and even though I wouldn't consider getting anything like this for myself, I see good usecases. Especially considering what you mentioned about the signal chain that is not changing for live. Pretty good video man, I think these answers will satisfy people who have the genuine interest and questions. Cheers!
Keyan, appreciate your knowledge so much! Real question here…if I feel like all the presets and captures made by people smarter than I that are in the cortex cloud are all I need to have fun (understanding that my guitar and play style are factors) then doesn’t this totally fit the bill? Even if the signal chain is fixed on the nano, even if it doesn’t have plugin capabilities, etc…Any signal capture I’m stealing from a pro may or may not be that fixed signal chain, may have more bells and whistles than what the nano offers from scratch, right? Am I making sense? 😂
I love finding tones, and having a lush clean or a super tight rhythm tone, but I fall under the demon graphic of players who can’t be bothered to create a preset tone. I’d rather just use the built in presets, or buy a preset pack and go with that. I want a quad cortex for the ease of live playing, but I don’t think I would even try to understand it -00%. Just load my patch and go lol
The truth is just the Nano can't have all the things of the Quad or nobody will still buy the Quad. And stay tuned for a future product to fill the gap between the Nano and the Quad !
Can someone summarize pls? If I have money for QC, nano is not even an option for me? I want good quality effects, I need good pitch shifter effect (I've heard that is a problem for nano) I thought nano is qc, but without screen and million inputs/outputs that most home guitar players don't use
Let's recap: - After quite a few blunders and delays, Neural teases a new product. - Launches the worst marketing campaign ever. - Reveals a product that, while it might have its audience, is definitely not what many people were expecting (an HX Stomp alternative). - As always, you get the usual crowd of youtubers releasing their videos on launch, giving nothing but praise about it. - Said product has obvious flaws, limitations, and restricted use for most people. All those are brushed off by those youtubers. Obviously, peple are going to get pissed about it and reach to the same conclusion. That this is a flawed, overpriced product, and that those youtubers are paid off by Neural, or at least are not being honest about the product by fear of being left out of future product launches. I don't care much about the NC or the drama, but I have to admit it's soured me off of many gear youtubers.
I live in iran and as you might know, the economy is really bad and i really doubt that the nano will be sold here, but what i Really think this product is good for is for capturing your own plugins like you said, i never had any expensive gear but i do have the nerual plugins, and if this can just capture them for me to play live, i would gladly pay for it
I honestly would have just been content with a budget version of the cortex if it keep the overall electronics and feature and just ditch the screen and not have outputs more than 1 user and call it good. I feel like its way over engineered for something too simple
As an old guy who is already late to transition from real amps to digital, this whole talk of captures, capture players, presets, plugins, etc. can be confusing and exhausting. I just want to know what the best digital 5150III and digital mesa cab are the best representation of the real ones. Capturing my own shit sounds like a cool idea but is it ever going to compare to the captures of a studio engineer? Edit: Great video, just such an interesting landscape with the digital hardware.
I’m an old dude too without any digital that I really use. Basically, if you go onto the Neural site, you can download anything you need. I’m gonna get one, capture my good Triamp through the effects loop or the Red Box, so if it eventually dies, I’ll still have it. I’ll also try out different amps
It is kind of crucial to understand the difference. There are 3 types - captures, models and plugins. Captures are a snapshot of a signal chain, so could include a pedal, amp, cab or combination of all. The problem is the eq stack on top of it is superimposed i.e. you shouldn't really be touching the settings once it's captured. Models are digital recreations of an amp and include the knobs which are tweakable. Problem with this comes down to the accuracy of the model, some of the models on the QC are good, some aren't so good. Plugins are pretty much the same as models, they just run on a computer with fancy GUI, etc.
Most people don't know anything about anything and just live their lives. Maybe it's them, or maybe it's us being rabbit hole people... I've got two tube amps, but I could see a backup or travel tool like this or the smaller ToneX. I've got a Helix Stomp, but I've never been happy with the amp tones I've gotten out of it, and that's the most important aspect for me. Respect to Line6 for still supporting the product, though.
Great unbiased review. Can not agree more with everything you said. The nano is how I got into the neural world and the unit does not disappoint. People that complain just want something to complain about.
I feel like having an overdrive slot with regular algorithmic overdrive emulations wouldn't make it much better since they just don't sound and feel as good as profiles or real drive pedals. Having an additional capture/profile slot for loading drive pedal profiles wouldn't make much sense either since it would probably make it substantially more expensive because of the extra CPU usage, and considering that drive pedals are mostly always-on pedals you can simply use amp profiles that were captured with a drive pedal in front. If I didn't already have a QC I would definitely have bought the Nano Cortex instead. I use my own drive/distortion and fuzz pedals in front of it anyways, and I could definitely live with only the chorus, delay and reverb emulations in the Nano Cortex. The QC is ridiculously overpowered for how I use it!
I hope the title is a rhetorical question. Nobody needs this and nobody wanted it. This device is way too limited. I mean capturing "on the go" is nice, but who does that actually and if, how frequently? I really wished, this was a smaller version of the QC, but it really isn't.
@@tertozer3543 the truth of the matter is if you want a QC, buy a QC. I have both and they are vastly different use cases. My QC is a powerhouse that I use for gigs/recordings where I need everything and complex tones and maybe even a microphone. The Nano? I use it for a travel interface with really good tones and the same captures I use on my QC. Vastly different use cases. If you don’t like it, don’t buy it. Simple as that
![ร้อยพ่อพันแม่ - WanMai [Official MV]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/XY2pNYASEbg/mqdefault.jpg)
The Nano Cortex situation is crazy
I’m waiting for the moistcritical vid
@@KeyanHoushmandLive This is the Greatest Amp Capture Controversy of All Time
it seems absolutely crazy to me that people watch videos on products, to see if it's right for them, and then harass the people making videos calling them shills for making the videos they want to see. I feel like I must be missing something lol
Agreed...not every product a company releases is for everyone that has bought a product from the company before. This is about expanding their market BEYOND their current customers. Do you want to own every NDSP plug-in? I don't - some of them hold no interest for me based on the style of music I play and the way I play. However, I know there are people that love the ones I couldn't care less about - awesome? Different things for different people.
Interesting video. I have owned many different multi-effects pedals/modellers/amps etc over the years and have just bought the Nano Cortex. One of the biggest draws for me is the ability to download captures of amps I could never justify buying or afford! I also like that the built-in effects are fixed, which means no option paralysis.
yes.
bro the video came out 10 seconds ago
@@KeyanHoushmandLive Me when I sent a friend a meme and he says lmao 2 seconds after I sent it.
based and chad
If i didnt have a Quad, id grab a Nano, and just use it for the amb and cab captures. Put whatever OD and comp pedal in front, and whatever delay and verb i want afterwards, like a real pedal board. Thats ehere i think this really shinrs
Nano is going to be a backup for my quad! Cause I don’t wanna buy another QC lol
Good vid as per usual, I like when you do a lot of talking, it’s not like you don’t have anything to say, it’s usually quite balanced and valuable imo 👍🏼
Thanks dude, I appreciate that!
Without a screen, and with a delay and chorus, this is basically worth the same as a tonex (full) , especially with tonex coming with the max version software. At $399 this would have been a cool pick. $550, you are picking a fight with hx stomp and you are going to lose, neural.
but the Nano seems to sound way better
@@bluematrix5001 what are you comparing with? Did you try tonex captures from professionals?
This sounds way better than the HX stomp.
@@The_resurrected1887 what are you comparing on the hx, and which sound on this?
@@The_resurrected1887the o Lu thing I see this has over ToneX is the ability to capture directly from this device without an additional capture box.
This was the best video I've seen on this. Thank you so much for this!
I honestly never considered the idea of capturing plugins & crazy signal chains in the DAW. 🧐
I play one or two gigs a year as a guest guitarist. I would like a good portable amp solution, but a QC is too expensive for me right now and I don't work enough as a guitarist to really justify it. I am used to Neural DSP product quality and sounds due to using their plugins in my production. So QC quality sounds at basically a third of the price is pretty appealing.
Plus you can always capture your favorite plugin presets using your audio interface
Use a tonex one. It's 180$ and has better than "neural quality". Pair it with HXFX if you need effects.
@@pb25193 can’t capture his plugins without extra hardware tho plus it’s also more difficult to make captures with
@@pb25193 I think "better" than Neural DSP quality is subjective and very debatable, but even so, that is absolutely another strong option worthy of consideration!
For the Nano Cortex, the ability to capture tones from plugins I already own and use in my own production is also a very powerful tool.
Ultimately, it's only a good thing that there are multiple great pragmatic options for me to weigh up!
Re: "nothing to capture" -- lots of people have drive pedals! Capture the drive section of your pedalboard(all the combinations you actually use) and replace your "stock" delay and reverb with the Nano on board => shrink your pedalboard by a large margin.
With that god-awful marketing campaign Neural did, and almost every prominent guitar TH-camr coming out and saying nano Cotex is the new black! well that might have skewed some opinions, including probably my own.
That being said, Keyan, get your money! And if you can do that by also being true to yourself, even better.
Love your music, and as a sound teck in the metal world, that's not a genre that pays a lot.. So you do you 🤘
This type of video is awesome Keyan!!
I’ve said this but I love that you can capture plugins. So if I have an in the box tone with a neural plugin I can take it and just run it through midi patching
Hey Keyan, if you use Snapshots, the helix Stomp does allow for gapless switching.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but snapshots don’t allow to change tones completely i.e. changing the amp, type of cab or effects right? It’s only just the parameters within the blocks/signal chain you’ve already selected?
@@KeyanHoushmandLive you're right , but you could have multiple amps and effects that turn on or off and change parameters for all of them.
@@Zualrathat is exactly what the nano cortex does too
@@Zualradoes the HX Stomp really have enough processing power to run multiple amps?
I don’t think so and the Nano can switch between 4
@@josuastangl7140Well, it struggles with a dual amp setups ( Dsp intensive Amps) and heavy effects but it is capable of dual amps and some effects, so if the effects are dailed back, you can have 3 amps even. I get that it's not a perfect comparison but I think you could cover all basis with what's available.
man, I am so glad that I recently bought a Fractal FM9 Mk2 Turbo to replace my old AX8 instead of switching to NDSP. I was so hoping that they would release a more powerful unit instead of moving into THIS direction.
My plan is to use it live and also record with it.
Got a midi pedal hooked up to it and it works great.
Got 4 presets up front.
For another 4 press a-b and another 4 avail.
Works great 👍
I have owned and Tonex and Pod and Strymon and Nux. In my opinion the Nano sounds authentic.
None will ever be happy with anything that’s what makes the world go round.
Great work Neural.
Same plan for me. Use it live with stock captures, or capture my Mini Rectifier & JMP100 with and without my OD1 pedal. I'm willing to bet in future updates, we'll be able to turn on separate effects, via MIDI.
I did my talky long vid on this unit a few days ago and I did so after doing research and watching other videos and knew exactly what the unit is and what it isn't specifically because I came out of pocket to buy it. Normally I never watch review videos of products I review but if it's something I'm paying for, I do my due diligence.
I'm EXTREMELY particular about my drive pedals and even trying to capture a few sounds of them with our singer's quad cortex, none of them sounded or felt right and I didn't really love any others built into the QC so not having that on the nano doesn't bother me.
I also have my own delay and reverb I greatly prefer from my UA Delverb and a couple chorus pedals I also like.
I think that being able to switch delay and chorus on/off with a 2 button switch in the future will be nice but I don't HAVE to have that or a drive block. I bought the Nano for what it currently is and not based on what it COULD be in the future.
It's an amp in a box. It serves the exact same function as my UA Lion or a Friedman IR-D/X but offers infinitely more options due to the capture abilities and 4 presets. The price is 100% justified in my opinion and it's exactly what I NEED. Our band is 100% cab-less on stage. We run DI into the board and use IEM's and typically will have FRFR's on stage behind us with that DI signal for some stage sound so getting the best sounding DI tone is paramount. Having the perfectly mic'd studio sound of my tube amps with my settings (which never change) in a tiny little pedal is like a god-send for me.
I have an HX Stomp and the amp models are trash compared to good captures. It's exceptional as a small, flexible multi-effects unit and pairs up really well with the Nano as a companion device.
I have an FM3 (used to have a rack AxeFX III) and although the models are good, none of them sound like MY amps and that's what I ultimately want on stage but without the hassle of hauling a tube half stack and fumbling with microphones. The consistency of having that perfectly dialed in studio tone EVERY TIME is worth $550 and I'm starting to feel like this Nano is going to be my gateway drug to a QC.
BTW, I'd love your opinion/feedback on my SLO captures I just made. I think they rip pretty hard.
Also, I definitely dig this style of content. Please do more if you want to :D.
Thank you for watching!
9:15 Considering you have an IT degree, you should be able to appreciate the following: the size of this unit has very little (maybe even nothing) to do with the amount of processing power available. The size of the NC is determined by the size of your fingers, feet and the I/O. If DSP limitations are the reason for fixed effects / signal chain, it's not related to unit size (except, maybe, cooling). It so funny how people have no idea about how powerful computers really are these days. Consider that your mobile phone, which is much smaller than the NC, could run this! You can fit 4+ iPhones in there. Take a step back and see your comments in that light. You're really giving Neural too much credit: it's been figured out, they've made design choices. Limiting the unit on release will give them a way to keep sprinkling updates every few months to keep you in the eco-system and have a regular stream of 'game changer' videos everytime Neural drop an update. Which is fine, that's how business works. But don't bullshit yourself into that it's anything else.
You're right, just look at what a Mac Mini can do.
But that would make it more expensive.
The biggest reason I think is that the competition also doesn’t have more processing power, so there’s not much incentive to far exeed what the market already offers.
@@josuastangl7140 accurate. We've crossed the point where more DSP doesn't make that much difference unless you have very high demands, maybe...most guitarists won't and thus the NC will probably sell like hot cakes. Consider that for computers, one of the most heavy duty tasks is generating output on the screen (hence, graphics cards). Audio processing is really not that intensive compared to video.
@@rutger4131 I agree, processing power isn’t the bottleneck anymore.
It’s really about what they choose to do with the software
This is true, I guess I was just referring to the size of the unit in the moment while looking at it in my hands. In hindsight, what I was actually referring to in that moment rather than the physical size of the unit was the "size" of the processor in relation to its computing power. I'm fairly sure that the Nano like many other modellors and audio devices use the SHARC+ chips. Obviously due to cooling, pricing and logstical I/O limitations and the interference that they may cause, I suspect that the Nano is using only one of those SHARC+ chips rather than the two that are included in the Quad, which is reflected in the price amongst other things. So yes, you are right in saying that size doesn't matter, but the software and feature set within any modellor would obviously still be limited to overall power of single processor within the unit. Whether they release updates in the future is something we don't have answers to right now, but again like I said in the video, I don't think it will be any time soon due to the fact that it would most likely only be a case of running things more efficiently within the same bounds of the physical gear. If Neural could do that, they would put it on the Quad as well as it would only make the Quad even more powerful than it already is. Given what Kemper just did with the paid updates on their new floor player and the backlash its received in the past 24 hours, I can't imagine Neural doing something similar any time soon. You are right, iPhones are incredible pieces of technology, that are designed and made by a trillion dollar company and cost almost 3x the price of something like the Nano. While it's a good example to show how powerful technology can be in something small, it's a bit of case of apples and oranges.
@@KeyanHoushmandLive I do think Neural did some nice engineering here. I also really liked the QC design.
I suspect a (free) software update within 6 months, maybe even Christmas (which would be 3 months dead on). We'll see ;)
18:45 just imagine being able to run the overdrive from Nameless, into the 3rd amp from Nolly into a cab from Gojira without having to use three different plugins in a DAW / VST host, but them just being in a single eco system...that would be a very welcome game changer. 😮
I may have made negative comments about the nano cortex but at least Neural DSP isn’t charging money for software updates.
In regards to the Tonex, it's getting a firmware update next month that will give it extra effects blocks along with delays and modulation effects. I believe it will actually have more effects and blocks than the Nano. Still doesn't do captures on the unit, but it makes them much more similar.
I skipped most of the Nano talk because I'm not particularly interested, but your insight about paid demos was good to know, thanks!
This seems like an excellent purchase for someone who has tons of amps and wants to keep captures of them readily available. I just wish manufacturers would stop putting knobs on their products for EQ. I can just adjust my settings digitally especially if I am not adjusting it on the fly anyway. My own take anyway. Still a sweet product
Products like these frustrate me because I have nothing to capture.
@@thisguy2973plugins?
@@thisguy2973so it‘s no product for you.
I would even say, if your not a touring guitarist and more like a bedroom producer, i would not spend any money on modelers anyway. You can have digital tones that sound at least as good.
I would absolutely kill for something with the size of the nano cortex, even similar, but just build around loading/running presets from their amp sims, even if the only functionality was swapping between presets, foregoing controls for adjusting them aside from input gain/output level
I appreciate the effort at clarifying the situation
Good video discussion, definitely would love to see more of these
the lack of overdrive block is a deal breaker for me. the tonex one is the way to go. 1/4 of the price and it has a compressor block in the pre section to boost the amp
The over drive left out is wild. Even if it’s just one….. well it’s better than nothing!
I’d like to see them switch out the transpose feature for an overdrive.
I was really looking forward to the transpose feature. I heard it was super realistic. Honestly, it’s one of the worst pitch shifter I’ve tried on a modeler lately. Maybe it just was my unit.
I have a replacement coming tomorrow from sweetwater. It was incredibly noisy!
As far as my understanding, gapless switch and spillover, has more to do with having “only” four presets. Apparently all the four presets and all the blocks are fully loaded in to the brain (ram?) of the pedal at all times
I don't get all this big drama tbh...I'm enjoying my nanocortex big time. edit: if I have really to give a feedback it is about the possibility to use both midi pc and cc signals for example for using also exprenssion pedals at the same time instead having to pick either one or the other but apart for this i actually like there's not a overdrive slot... if u need to much more tweeking u should go for quadcortex i guess
In the manual you can run midi off the USB so that would free up the expression slot. I captured my amp/cab earlier and am pretty impressed with the results.
The Helix Stomp does have gapless switching between snapshots. You can have multiple amps in a single chain that turn off and on.
This is true, from what I've seen you would still be limited to the amount of overall amp tones, cab sounds and effects that you could fit into one preset. I don't own a Helix Stomp, but after seeing them around and seeing how they work, I could imagine that using two different amp models within the same preset would heavily restrict the amount of high DSP demanding processes like Delay and especially Reverb that you could have on the end of the preset, among all the other pre-fx blocks. For comparison, the Nano has the potential of 4 different amp sounds and 4 different cab sounds that are easily switchable within the same bank, all gapless. Again, I think it really just depends on your use case and what you value more
So in a nutshell, you can get a good use out of it? Good for you, man
Appreciate this addition.
I appreciate you tuning in!
Thanks for this video man!
HX Stomp (XL) + Nano Cortex is a really robust and flexible, and cheaper, alternative to a Quad Cortex.
Who cares if you don't have any sic gear to capture. Soon as my NC came in, i downloaded some of Nollys Captures from the cloud. Being the tone genius he is, it sounded better than anything i was able to dial in myself on the hx stomp (i suck at dialing in tones tho 😅). If you're like me and just want a huge library of amazing captured setups and tones from people much better than yourself. The Nano Cortex is for you.
The TH-cam content creator part was great. A lot of people do forget you do have to get paid for your time.
I want to love the nano. I want to get excited about the cool features, how nice it would be to put on a pedalboard and let it make life more convenient but I just can't see it. The usability of the pedal and app looks awesome but I can't see a convincing reason to not get a line 6, or hell even the small tone x.
The small inconveniences and limitations on the nano would piss me off more trying to get a workaround for it rather than just setting up and integrating a tone X from the start OR just get a stomp XL or a headrush that will do nearly everything the average player needs.
The nano just feels way too niche
I like the form factor, technology, build quality, and sound quality. But for the price, it is (just barely) too limited for me. I'd grab one if there's a firmware update that adds a wah block and the ability to run one output with an IR and one output without an IR.
I'm going to be getting one, but that's exactly what I'd hope to have too. Fingers crossed
Can you not make your stereo IR with one channel with a flat response?
@@turbofabio I saw some forum posts mentioning that "solution" but some responses said that the stereo output of the Nanocortex is only after the delay/modulation, and that it sums all IR's to mono. So I don't think that will work.
Helix Stomp is not a competitor for this pedal. Helix can't capture amps, preamps and pedals.
Nano Cortex isnt a modeler. It is not a "loaded up with options effects processor."
These two devices are for two different applications for two different requirements.
They are basically for people who have different needs.
There is room for both in the guitar world depending on the individual preference.
Hey man! My only concern with the Nano is actually the Noise Gate, as well as the fact that it has only one Gate.
What do you think of that and how well does it work? Were in simmilar genres so I'm interested it how well it works for Prog/Djent and how it fairs against the multiple gate options the QC has.
Cheers! ❤
Maybe I didn't understand it well but don’t you have a library full of great captures, made by people who own great equipment, available to download and tweak to make em sound as you like? Can you just use it like downloading some presets and adjusting them to fit your needs and forget about the capturing stuff?
Doesn‘t have the boss gt1000 also have gapless switching but only when you have same dly/rev on same block an both presets you are switching between? So that could be the same trick here at the nano
Yeah, make more videos like this for the future. Are you A/B testing beards?
So, I can load captures from the cloud, but can I load presets with more effects ?
What people forget is that everyone lives in a bubble. I thought that everyone knows just as much about gear as me or even more. Then I startet working in a music store. The average musician knows next to nothing about gear.
I am interested in this kind of content
I have an fm3. So this is completely unnecessary. But thinking back to my first modeler. This wouldn't do it for me.
Someone needs to start capturing all the nolly x presets. I don't have this unit yet but I may get one some day.
So you’re saying you like having to capture a very specific OD pedal with an amp that will only work for one guitar and not an other? Instead of being able to have drive block that you could use to customize the capture depending on what guitar you are using?!?! 🤨
Hey man. Could you show how to navigate the app and creating presets from scratch?
To me this pedal only makes sense for people who already have and use a quad cortex. If the QC is your main guitar processor, and you want something smaller for small gigs/on the go, it makes sense. But if you don't have a QC, this pedal doesn't really make sense to me. It is also another big investment to make if you do have a qc, it is a very expensive pedal
whats your pickup height on the bkp Juggernauts if i may ask ? Need to fix my OCD
Why does it matter if someone knows the nerdy stuff of their modeling gear? I missed the point.
Of course a lot of people won’t know what ram, cpu or address bus are. Only people in tech like yourself and I are gonna care about that stuff or understand it.
What matters is if it sounds good. Not the cpu architecture
Jack Gardiner told me in the Guitar Summit that he captured one of his friends amp on the gig, with the Nano. Nolly told us in the clinic that he uses the Archetype captures on Nano for his tones(he played some of his demos and Prayer Position). This thing has a target, it may not be me or any other bedroom guitarist who either has modelling options or not need a capture based device, but it's definitely a game changer for some people. And the small comparison part you mentioned made a lot of sense to me. Aside from marketing part of things, I think the device is pretty cool and even though I wouldn't consider getting anything like this for myself, I see good usecases. Especially considering what you mentioned about the signal chain that is not changing for live. Pretty good video man, I think these answers will satisfy people who have the genuine interest and questions. Cheers!
Keyan, appreciate your knowledge so much! Real question here…if I feel like all the presets and captures made by people smarter than I that are in the cortex cloud are all I need to have fun (understanding that my guitar and play style are factors) then doesn’t this totally fit the bill? Even if the signal chain is fixed on the nano, even if it doesn’t have plugin capabilities, etc…Any signal capture I’m stealing from a pro may or may not be that fixed signal chain, may have more bells and whistles than what the nano offers from scratch, right? Am I making sense? 😂
I love finding tones, and having a lush clean or a super tight rhythm tone, but I fall under the demon graphic of players who can’t be bothered to create a preset tone. I’d rather just use the built in presets, or buy a preset pack and go with that.
I want a quad cortex for the ease of live playing, but I don’t think I would even try to understand it -00%. Just load my patch and go lol
Can you make a video showing how you capture your plugin chains?
The truth is just the Nano can't have all the things of the Quad or nobody will still buy the Quad. And stay tuned for a future product to fill the gap between the Nano and the Quad !
The Neural Middle Cortex?
@@DerSilvano Malcomtex
Can someone summarize pls? If I have money for QC, nano is not even an option for me?
I want good quality effects, I need good pitch shifter effect (I've heard that is a problem for nano)
I thought nano is qc, but without screen and million inputs/outputs that most home guitar players don't use
Let's recap:
- After quite a few blunders and delays, Neural teases a new product.
- Launches the worst marketing campaign ever.
- Reveals a product that, while it might have its audience, is definitely not what many people were expecting (an HX Stomp alternative).
- As always, you get the usual crowd of youtubers releasing their videos on launch, giving nothing but praise about it.
- Said product has obvious flaws, limitations, and restricted use for most people. All those are brushed off by those youtubers.
Obviously, peple are going to get pissed about it and reach to the same conclusion. That this is a flawed, overpriced product, and that those youtubers are paid off by Neural, or at least are not being honest about the product by fear of being left out of future product launches.
I don't care much about the NC or the drama, but I have to admit it's soured me off of many gear youtubers.
I live in iran and as you might know, the economy is really bad and i really doubt that the nano will be sold here, but what i Really think this product is good for is for capturing your own plugins like you said, i never had any expensive gear but i do have the nerual plugins, and if this can just capture them for me to play live, i would gladly pay for it
I honestly would have just been content with a budget version of the cortex if it keep the overall electronics and feature and just ditch the screen and not have outputs more than 1 user and call it good. I feel like its way over engineered for something too simple
Respect dude 🤘🤘
can you add a MIDI footswitch and have your presets change with it??
Yea
this is some long ahh shill
Well said!
Jst dont say "game changer" like some others
As an old guy who is already late to transition from real amps to digital, this whole talk of captures, capture players, presets, plugins, etc. can be confusing and exhausting. I just want to know what the best digital 5150III and digital mesa cab are the best representation of the real ones. Capturing my own shit sounds like a cool idea but is it ever going to compare to the captures of a studio engineer?
Edit: Great video, just such an interesting landscape with the digital hardware.
I’m an old dude too without any digital that I really use.
Basically, if you go onto the Neural site, you can download anything you need.
I’m gonna get one, capture my good Triamp through the effects loop or the Red Box, so if it eventually dies, I’ll still have it.
I’ll also try out different amps
It is kind of crucial to understand the difference. There are 3 types - captures, models and plugins. Captures are a snapshot of a signal chain, so could include a pedal, amp, cab or combination of all. The problem is the eq stack on top of it is superimposed i.e. you shouldn't really be touching the settings once it's captured. Models are digital recreations of an amp and include the knobs which are tweakable. Problem with this comes down to the accuracy of the model, some of the models on the QC are good, some aren't so good. Plugins are pretty much the same as models, they just run on a computer with fancy GUI, etc.
@@teatime6414 yo wtf thanks for all of this information in one simple reply!!
Most people don't know anything about anything and just live their lives. Maybe it's them, or maybe it's us being rabbit hole people... I've got two tube amps, but I could see a backup or travel tool like this or the smaller ToneX. I've got a Helix Stomp, but I've never been happy with the amp tones I've gotten out of it, and that's the most important aspect for me. Respect to Line6 for still supporting the product, though.
Great unbiased review. Can not agree more with everything you said. The nano is how I got into the neural world and the unit does not disappoint. People that complain just want something to complain about.
sick sweater
I feel like having an overdrive slot with regular algorithmic overdrive emulations wouldn't make it much better since they just don't sound and feel as good as profiles or real drive pedals. Having an additional capture/profile slot for loading drive pedal profiles wouldn't make much sense either since it would probably make it substantially more expensive because of the extra CPU usage, and considering that drive pedals are mostly always-on pedals you can simply use amp profiles that were captured with a drive pedal in front. If I didn't already have a QC I would definitely have bought the Nano Cortex instead. I use my own drive/distortion and fuzz pedals in front of it anyways, and I could definitely live with only the chorus, delay and reverb emulations in the Nano Cortex. The QC is ridiculously overpowered for how I use it!
At 10:32 you can see that Keyan left mexico. Also really fun to talk more about gear😁
Watching the sunset happen and fluctuate as the video goes on gives a good insight into how long this took me to get through hahahaha
Real name "Clone Cortex", I'm waiting for the "Dual Cortex" or "Cortex voyage" 😂
👏🏻
If my tonex breaks I can see myself buying a nano cortex. the tonex also has the same overdrive block issue.
30 minutes of incoherent Keyan ranting is the best 30 minutes of my day :P
I think there is no problem with Nano Cortex. The features are a bit lacking, but it's okay because it will be a paid update later anyway.
I doubt there will be any paid updates. More likely to have something released between a QC and NC.
INDEED
You had to get payed.
Love all these you toobers back tracking on the nano cortex
yap yap yap yap yap
I was doing my best Joseph Anidjar guitar playing impression but with speech instead
No paid reviewer has been clear about the cons of this device in their demos. That's our real grief.
You mean how you shilled nonchalantly about this mediocre product?
You may not take bribes, but you definitely can't say the same for anyone else or any other industry.
We see it all too much now.
I hope the title is a rhetorical question.
Nobody needs this and nobody wanted it.
This device is way too limited. I mean capturing "on the go" is nice, but who does that actually and if, how frequently?
I really wished, this was a smaller version of the QC, but it really isn't.
Tell me you didn’t watch the video without telling me you didn’t watch the video
I did watch it. But half the way though, I stopped. Just not worth my time. I don’t really care, how he uses this device.
I'm not sure you're quite catching on to the full potential of this device
@@masoneismonstudios3016i bet the average watch time on this video is like 5min
@@tertozer3543 the truth of the matter is if you want a QC, buy a QC. I have both and they are vastly different use cases. My QC is a powerhouse that I use for gigs/recordings where I need everything and complex tones and maybe even a microphone. The Nano? I use it for a travel interface with really good tones and the same captures I use on my QC. Vastly different use cases. If you don’t like it, don’t buy it. Simple as that
If you don’t want it no more you can give it to me I’ll take it off ya hands🫶🏽