The NDSP Nano Cortex…

[Progressive_disclosure]

No news so far.

I e-mailed support a couple weeks ago, and they just told me that they (support) don´t have information about developing roadmaps.

I imagine it’ll be awhile until we see it, if it shows up at all. It’ll be interesting to see if they add functionality into the desktop editor for the QC’s or if it’s going to be a totally separate app.

In my dream world we would be angle to use the phone app for doing V2 capturing, but I don’t think the hardware is capable of sending the recorded track to the phone wirelessly.

 

[Frankencat]

So besides the limited interface and slots, what are the gotchas with the Nano? I am seriously considering one to integrate into a lightweight pedalboard. Also how reliable is this little guy?

 

[Frankencat]

How effective are the tone knobs for eq'ing?

 

[Progressive_disclosure]

So besides the limited interface and slots, what are the gotchas with the Nano? I am seriously considering one to integrate into a lightweight pedalboard. Also how reliable is this little guy?

I’ve been thoroughly enjoying my Nano. No big gotchas yet. I’ve had a few small bugs in the app and one time I managed to somehow fuck up my presets (there’s a backup function in the app though, so use it!). If something is up with the app just killing it and restarting it has always solved it for me. During my time with the unit it has never locked up or glitched out.

I’m not running advanced fx chains so having two pre and three post FX is not even a limitation really. And having the Transpose option is very nice.

I would have liked a klon style OD or an SD-1 at least but the TS is okay for boosting. I usually bake in my boost in captures or run pedals in front. Compared to Helix hardware I haven’t had problems with pedals in front, even my Chthonic fuzz pedal worked fine.

Since you do captures with the HW my experience with finding captures has been better than Tonex since levels aren’t all over the place to the same extent. And there are multiple accounts sharing good caps.

If you need advanced switching the Airstep controller is available also. I’ve been using an exp pedal to control amount of wet FX and adding some gain and Mids from the EQ for leads. Doing that the limitation with having only four presets on the footswitches goes away. I only play at home though so no gig experience.

I’m powering my Nano using one 500mA port and it’s been solid there as well.

How effective are the tone knobs for eq'ing?

To me they are quite effective. I usually only adjust +-10 if needed and that makes a pretty big difference. There’s also different EQs available if you can sacrifice a slot.

I think the other owners here can give you some more nuance but in general it’s been one of the most fun gear purchases for me in general! Super handy being able to power it via usb-c as well. An iPad and the Nano is a portable mini guitar recording setup in itself.

 

[Sedaxel]

I´m happy with it too.

In a previous post (if you surf a little on the thread, You should find it) I listed what I consider pros/cons. But generaly speaking, I think it´s a great device.

One dangerous detail, though: I had a bad time in a gig when switching presets with MIDI. I was starting a solo, switched to my solo preset... no sound. Had to switch to another preset and switch back again to the solo one... and it worked fine. That same thing happened to me two more times at rehearsals... and some users in the official forum say they had similar issues. I contacted support and they weren´t able to replicate the issue. Me neither, since that gig. But there´s always the risk that it happens again, I´m afraid.

So maybe it´s still not the most rock solid unit for proffesional gigging if MIDI is needed.

 

[Frankencat]

Which midi controller were you using when this happened?

 

[Sedaxel]

Which midi controller were you using when this happened?

I use a Graviton M1 through its TRS midi port. Now I´m testing with the USB MIDI Host capabilities of the M1 (which only works with the Nano Cortex in new units, since the guy of Luminite fixed it recently with a prototype board that he sent to me for testing).

I´m not able to test very thoroughly these weeks, since I´m in the middle of acoustic gigs preparation and not grabbing my electric guitars too much.

 

[Frankencat]

If I get one I will probably use the Airstep.

 

[Sedaxel]

If I get one I will probably use the Airstep.

Well, people is reporting those issues relating MIDI with a variety of controllers, I think it´s safe to say the controller is not the issue. Even less when you are sending standard MIDI messages (all controllers will send the same signals).

No, the problem is in the Nano, not the controller.

Then, be aware of the gap when switching presets. After some firmware updates, they added a lot of features (great ones). But as a counter effect, now the device is not gapless. I don´t feel that gap (they say it´s aroung 60 ms) but honestly, I can perfectly live with it. I just point it out just in case you´re especially sensible to that things, it could be an issue for you.

 

[GTR37]

I am actually considering one of these but the loss of gapless switching is a bit of a pain not sure if they will be able to fix this
So do all QC captures work in this or can you only use specific nano ones ?

 

[NKP]

So do all QC captures work in this or can you only use specific nano ones

It can read them all , but only capture in « V1 quality », not V2 capture yet for what I know

 

[Progressive_disclosure]

I am actually considering one of these but the loss of gapless switching is a bit of a pain not sure if they will be able to fix this
So do all QC captures work in this or can you only use specific nano ones ?

Every capture works on it, so I’m running mainly now Rabeas V2 caps and my own V1 caps since V2 isn’t available for creating captures yet. I personally think the non-gapless switching issue is a bit overblown, especially when there are a few Exp/MIDI options and the Airstep that can mitigate it. And it’s about 60ms long as I’ve read.

If you know what you’re buying I think it’s a great unit.

 

[GTR37]

Every capture works on it, so I’m running mainly now Rabeas V2 caps and my own V1 caps since V2 isn’t available for creating captures yet. I personally think the non-gapless switching issue is a bit overblown, especially when there are a few Exp/MIDI options and the Airstep that can mitigate it. And it’s about 60ms long as I’ve read.

If you know what you’re buying I think it’s a great unit.

I might wait and see what they do in the next update last one was amazing
Hoping maybe they will get the Nordic Hall Verb in there or maybe option to have Mod FX pre / post

 

[Progressive_disclosure]

I might wait and see what they do in the next update last one was amazing
Hoping maybe they will get the Nordic Hall Verb in there or maybe option to have Mod FX pre / post

Yeah I’m hoping but not betting on an update with V2 capturing. The Nordic hall verb would be fantastic as well!

 

[Sedaxel]

Well, they especially said V2 capturing for the NC was under developing and would be added in future updates.

 

[Progressive_disclosure]

Well, they especially said V2 capturing for the NC was under developing and would be added in future updates.

Yes they have stated it, but since it involves sending training data to their servers it’s a lot of moving parts compared to the previous update, where everything was just inside the Nano and app. So I’m not expecting it anytime soon at least.

 

[Sedaxel]

Yes they have stated it, but since it involves sending training data to their servers it’s a lot of moving parts compared to the previous update, where everything was just inside the Nano and app. So I’m not expecting it anytime soon at least.

But can it be that complicated when it's already developed for the QC? I don't think so. It should be basically the same code, just adapted to the Nano app for sending the data. But I'm not skilled in software matters, anyway.

 

[Progressive_disclosure]

But can it be that complicated when it's already developed for the QC? I don't think so. It should be basically the same code, just adapted to the Nano app for sending the data. But I'm not skilled in software matters, anyway.

I might be a bit pessimistic, but I’m basing it on my gut feeling from working with digital design in R&D departments my whole career. Something that seems, and is planned, like a small thing quickly turns into a much bigger hassles than planned, especially between different hardware…

Do we have any specs on the hardware of the Nano? Would be interesting to know how it differs from the big brother.