Quick Start Guide

Turning On/Off Global Features To turn Quad Cortex on, connect the power cable to the input on the back and wait for it to power up. To turn Quad Cortex off, tap and hold

Version 2.0

Quad Cortex User Manuals

Quad Cortex Quick Start Guide

User Manuals


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Quad Cortex Quick Start Guide 2.0
Quick Start Guide
We recommend you update your Quad Cortex to the latest version of CorOS before use.

Turning On/Off
To turn Quad Cortex on, connect the power cable to the input on the back and wait for it to power up.
To turn Quad Cortex off, tap and hold the power button for a second and release it.
After that, tap SHUT DOWN

I/O Settings
The I/O Settings gives you an overview of Quad Cortex's inputs and outputs. To access it, swipe down from the top of the screen.
Inactive inputs are grey; active inputs are white. Plug something in and see a grey input instantly change to white. Tapping any I/O device displays a menu that shows further information and allows you to control its parameters. Adjust parameters by using the multi-touch display or by rotating the corresponding footswitch for rotary controls.

You can independently adjust the gain of inputs & outputs as well as toggle between Instrument and Microphone settings. +48v Phantom Power is available. Input impedance can be set for each input and there is a Ground Lift option available too.
Headphone settings allow you to create a separate mix by controlling the levels from the outputs being used on The Grid. You can also calibrate and configure expression pedals via the I/O Settings.

Press

at the top-right to

close the I/O Settings.

Global Features
Dual Combo Inputs: TS, TRS, and XLR. Variable impedance and level controls. Built-in microphone preamps. +48v Phantom Power.
Dual Effects Loops: Ideal for embedding external mono or stereo effects into your signal chain. These double-up as additional input/output jacks.

1/4" Output Jacks: Two mono, balanced (TRS) outputs provide pristine sound quality and optimal noise performance.
XLR Output Jacks: Two mono, balanced XLR output jacks.
Headphone Output: Ideal for quiet practicing.
MIDI In, Out/Thru: Send and receive MIDI messages to automate switching and control of parameters in Quad Cortex and control other units.
Dual Expression Inputs: Connect up to two expression pedals.
USB: Ultra-low latency audio transmission, firmware updates, MIDI, and more.
Capture Out: Used for our biomimetic AI technology, Neural Capture.
WiFi: Used for cable-free firmware updates, backups, and Cortex Cloud functionality.

Modes
Quad Cortex features four modes to give ultimate control over virtual devices and footswitch customization:

STOMP

SCENE

PRESET

Switch between them by tapping the name of the mode currently active at the top-right of the display or press the furthest-right footswitches on the bottom two rows together.

Scene Mode allows you to specify a footswitch to activate and control the settings of any number of devices in a rig. Footswitch A could toggle an overdrive pedal through an amp & cabsim for a heavy rhythm tone; Footswitch B could toggle an additional overdrive as well as stereo reverb and delay for a beautifully saturated lead tone. Use the up & down footswitches to navigate through Presets.
Preset Mode gives you instant access to eight virtual rigs - one on each footswitch. While Scene Mode allows you to toggle the parameters of any number of devices in one rig, Preset Mode will enable you to have eight completely different rigs. Use the up & down footswitches to navigate through banks of Presets in your Setlist.

Hybrid Mode is ideal for people who want to quickly access new Presets while being able to have granular control within them, or for people who want to have both SCENE and STOMP control within their active Preset.

Stomp Mode allows you to assign any device to a footswitch so that you can toggle it on and off. Use the up & down footswitches to navigate through Presets.

Building a Rig
AMP
We call the screen where you can add devices to build a virtual rNigeu,ra"lTCahpeturGe rid". The Grid has four rows of eight device bClaobscimks.

Start by tapping

on The Grid to

add your first device; this will open the DeviceOCveartdergivoery list. Scroll down

by swiping with your finger and tap a

device category to display its devices.

Delay
Tap a device in the list to add it to The

Grid. You can also tap the icons on the

left to return to the Device Category list.

Build a virtual rig from left to right.

While it's important to remember

how you might approach building a

signal chain with analog components,

dragging-and-dropping a device after

GUITAR British 2203
British 900 Clean
British 900 Lead
British Plexi 100 Bright
British Plexi 100 Normal
British Plexi 100 Patch
BASS
you've added it to The Grid is effortless. If you add an amp and cab first but need to add an overdrive pedal in front after, repositioning everything is as simple as dragging-and-dropping the devices into the order you require.

In

Out

1

1/2

Once you have added a device to The Grid, tap it to open its menu.
From here, several controls are available to you. Footswitches will light up and correspond to any controls on the device you've added. Parameters such as gain can be controlled either by rotating the footswitch or interacting with the multitouch display. When a device menu is open, you can

tap

the icon to reveal further

options. From here, you can tap

"Change device" to replace the device with another. "Reset to defaults" to reset the device's parameters. "Set parameters as defaults" to always use these settings when you add this device to a rig, or "Remove device from the grid" to remove it from The Grid entirely. Expression pedal controls are also available here.

In Stomp Mode, devices get assigned to footswitches in the order they were added to The Grid. You can assign a device to any footswitch by opening its menu and

tapping the

button.

In Scene Mode, you can change parameters or bypass settings for any device added to your rig. Open a device's settings and set the parameters how you'd like them in Scene A. Then move to Scene B by tapping the arrow to the right of "Scene A".

Change the parameters, then press
Repeat this for any of the devices in your rig. Now when you press Footswitch A or Footswitch B, Quad Cortex will navigate between these two scenes.
To remove a parameter from all Scenes, tap the Scene icon next to the parameter and confirm the changes in the popup.
GAIN

0.33

Saving Presets
To save a rig as a Preset, click the icon at the top-right corner. You can also use the contextual menu at the top-right and tap "Save as..." to save a rig as a new Preset.
Save as ...
"Save as..." is helpful if you have modified a Preset and want to save your changes as a new Preset, as tapping the save icon will overwrite the active Preset with your modifications.

Then tap

.

Give your Setlist a name, then tap at the top-right corner.

By default, Presets will save in the "My Presets" Setlist. To change the active Setlist, open the Directory, navigate to the Setlist you'd like to activate, choose a bank number, then tap one of the Preset names on the right.

Gig View

In the save menu, you can name your Preset as well as assign it tags. You can use tags to filter Presets on Cortex Cloud. You can also choose the Setlist in which the Preset is saved.
Setlists
Setlists are Quad Cortex's way of making Presets incredibly easy to use and navigate. A Setlist can contain 32 banks of eight Presets. Setlists allow users to categorize their Presets by band, project, album, or anything else!
To create a new Setlist, tap the active Preset's name at the top of The Grid to open the Directory.

Gig View allows you to visualize what the footswitches are assigned to instantly. This visualization utilizes the entire screen.
Stomp Mode: Gig View shows you the device assigned to each footswitch.
Scene Mode: Gig View shows you the Scene assigned to each footswitch. You can change the names of your scenes.
Preset Mode: Gig View shows you the Preset assigned to each footswitch. Tap the active footswitch a second time to show an enlarged view of the current Preset.

Access Gig View by swiping up from the bottom of the screen on The Grid.

STOMP
C
British Governor

SCENE
C
A little bit more reverb

PRESET
C
Nice Machine Riff

Routing inputs &

you might want to switch from using

a stereo out on Out 1/2 to a mono out

In

Out

outputs

using Out 3.

1

1/2

Quad Cortex gives you complete

Splitting & mixing

Out

control over the routing of your inputs & outputs. You can even repurpose

signal chains

3

the two effects loops as additional inputs/outputs to allow for rigs with four instruments and various output

You can use splitters and mixers for more advanced

customizations.

routing options. For example,

In

MONO

1

Input 1

Input 2

STEREO Input 1/2
Return 1/2

you might want to send a stereo signal with a cabsim to

Return 1 Return 2 USB Input 5

USB Input 5/6 USB Input 7/8 Not in use

a front of house engineer, but a separate signal without a

USB Input 6 USB Input 7

cabsim to a cabinet on stage.

USB Input 8

STEREO Multiple Outputs 1/2 + 3/4 + USB 3/4 Output 1/2
Output 3/4
Send 1/2
USB Output 5/6
USB Output 7/8 MONO
Output 1

Output 2 Output 3 Output 4 Send 1 Send 2 USB Output 5 USB Output 6 USB Output 7

USB Output 8 OTHER

Out
3 First, tap the + button beneath "Out 1/2"

Row 3

on The Grid and select Out 3.

Row 4
Then press and hold on The Grid to
Row 3/4
bring up the Splitter menu. Drag-and-
Not in use

drop the Splitter to before the Cab

block and press .

By default, The Grid will build a signal

Your rig's signal now splits before the

In

Out

chain that processes the instrument

cabsim, and Out 3 will send a mono

1

1/2

connected to In 1 and route it out of Out signal through Output 3.

1 & Out 2. You can tap "In 1" on the left

and "Out 1/2" on the right to change

Out

the inputs & outputs used. For example,

3

WiFi updates
Quad Cortex downloads updates wirelessly, negating the need to connect it to a computer with a USB cable.

To connect to WiFi, tap the contextual menu at the top-right of The Grid, then tap "Settings".

Settings

From the Settings menu, tap "WiFi".

Wi-Fi

Give Quad Cortex a few seconds to scan the available networks, tap the one you want to join, then enter its password using the on-screen keyboard.
Once you're connected to WiFi, tap "Device Options" in the Settings menu, then "Device updates".

Device Options

Device updates

Tap CHECK FOR UPDATES to search for the most recent version of CorOS. You will need to reboot Quad Cortex to finish applying the updates.

Assigning expression pedals
You can assign an expression pedal to any device, and it can control multiple parameters at once.

It's important to remember to calibrate your expression pedal via the I/O Settings menu.

You can assign an expression pedal to any device, and it can control multiple parameters at once. To assign an expression pedal, tap a device on The Grid, tap the contextual menu, then tap Assign Expression Pedal.
Change Device

Reset to default

Guitar ASMePt pAarGamTehtoerr'ssaHsadmefmaueltr 500

GAIN

DRIVE

BASS

Assign Expression Pedal

0.71 TREBLE

+10 Remove
MASTER

0.71

0.71

0.71

Select the expression pedal you want to use to control the device's parameters.

Use the

ASSIGN

button to

assign parameters to the expression

pedal, and use the

button to

modify the minimum and maximum

values accessible in the pedal's sweep.

Press the

button at the top-

right corner when you're finished.

Assign Expression Pedal
Please choose which parameters you wish to control. You can assign more than one at once.

Done

DRIVE

MIN RANGE

MAX RANGE

0.71 GAIN
ASSIGN

0% DRIVE
ASSIGNED

100% BASS
ASSIGN

MIDDLE
ASSIGNED

MID FREQ
ASSIGN

TREBLE

MASTER

BYPASS

ASSIGN

ASSIGN
Bypass

ASSIGN
Done

MIDDLE

MID FREQ

Guitar AMP AG Thor's Hammer 500

0.71 GAIN

0.71 DRIVE

BASS

0.71 TREBLE

0.71

X1

MASTER

0.71

MIDDLE

Bypass

Done

MID FREQ

0.71

X1

0.71

0.71

0.71

Creating a Neural Capture
Neural Capture is Quad Cortex's flagship feature. Built using our proprietary biomimetic AI, it can learn and replicate the sonic characteristics of any physical amplifier, cabinet, and overdrive pedal with unprecedented accuracy.
To create a Neural Capture you need to be able to mic up a cabinet or use an amplifier with a load box or D.I. Out.

Follow the on-screen instructions regarding how to connect your instrument and your microphone(s)/ amplifier D.I. The entire process takes less than five minutes, after which your Capture will be ready to save to your device.
Captures that you have created as well as Captures downloaded from Cortex Cloud are available as virtual devices you can add to The Grid under "Neural Capture".
It is possible to Capture overdrive pedals independently, as well as part of a signal chain.

Start by tapping the contextual menu

at the top-right corner of The Grid, then

tap "New Neural Capture"

AMP

Add to favorites

et

Delete preset
name B QUAD CORTEX New Neural Capture PRESET

Tempo

Out

1/2 CPU monitor

Check for files

Settings

Neural Capture Cabsim Overdrive Delay

Cortex Cloud
Once you create a Neural DSP account, your Quad Cortex is ready to send and receive Presets, Neural Captures, and Impulse Responses. You can also use Cloud Backups.
Your Quad Cortex needs to be connected to the Internet via Wi-Fi to use Cortex Cloud features

Uploading Impulse Responses
1. To add IRs to your Quad Cortex you need to login into Cortex Cloud on our website.
2. Login to your Neural DSP account. 3. Click on Cortex Cloud. 4. Click on My Profile then check the
Impulse Response section.

Adding a Preset or Neural Capture to Cortex Cloud

Open the Directory and tap

at

the top-left to toggle Upload Mode. Tap

next to each item and they will

upload in the background.

Tap

again to exit.

When you upload a Preset or Neural Capture to Cortex Cloud its privacy status is made Private by default. To change it so that it is available to the public, edit it in the Cortex Mobile app.

Sharing Presets or Neural Captures with a friend To share a Preset or Neural Capture, you first have to upload it to Cortex Cloud. Once uploaded, use the Cortex Mobile app for sharing.
To share items with a friend, you both need to follow each other on Cortex Cloud

5. Drag-and-drop impulse response files from your computer to the upload area. Alternatively, use the "Browse" button.
6. Click on Save to finish.

Cortex Cloud App

Discover Users, Presets, and Neural Captures using Cortex Cloud.
The web version of Cortex Cloud is now available at neuraldsp.com/cloud.

Adding friends
In the Cortex ecosystem, friends can share items with each other even if they are private. To become friends with somebody, you both have to follow each other.

Importing Impulse Responses
1. On your Quad Cortex, open the Directory and navigate to the Impulse Responses folder beneath Cloud Directories.
2. Tap the "Download" button on the IRs you'd like to use, or tap the "Download all" button at the top to download all available IRs to your Quad Cortex.
3. IRs will be downloaded to the Impulse Responses folder beneath Device Directories and will fill any available slots. You can rearrange them by dragging-and-dropping.

Using Impulse Responses

1. Add a Cabsim block to The Grid and open its settings.

2. Open the Impulse selector box and

tap

.

3. Choose the IR you'd like to use.

The IR Loader Block makes much easier to use your own or third-party IRs.

1. Use the search function on the Discovery page to search for another user.
2. Tap the "Follow" button next to the user you wish to follow. The status will change to "Following".
3. When they follow you back, you will be friends, and will see each other on your friends lists.
4. You can share items with each other from Quad Cortex or Cortex Cloud, even if they are private.
5. Shared items will be available to download on Quad Cortex in Directory > Shared with me.

The full version of the Quad Cortex User Manual can be found here
support.neuraldsp.com
neuraldsp.com Rev 2.0



References

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