Quad Cortex backup rig

Nano Cortex
1

Hey everyone,

I’ve been gigging with my Quad Cortex for almost 3 years and it has been super reliable overall, but lately I’ve been having a few issues. For peace of mind, I’m considering picking up a Nano Cortex (or another small backup) that I could bring to shows.

A few questions for anyone using the Nano Cortex live, without an external MIDI controller:

  1. How is preset switching during a gig? Is it quick and practical without MIDI?

  2. Can you go from any preset to another on the fly? For example, jumping from a clean preset to a solo tone, then back to a dirty rhythm tone mid-song

  3. If my QC went down mid-gig, I really only need 3–4 core sounds (clean, dirty rhythm, solo lead, maybe an acoustic/edge-of-breakup) plus a tuner to finish a show. Would the Nano Cortex realistically cover that use case?

Basically, I don’t need full QC functionality just a reliable safety net. Curious if others have gone this route, or if you recommend a different type of backup rig.

Thanks in advance for the insight!

2

I think it‘s a great backup, but you should invest in a small midi footswitch to toggle fx on and off, because it has (like the Quand, when not using scenes) a small 6ms gap, when switching between presets

  1. It‘s ok but you have to switch between the presets with just two buttons. So, if you have clean, edge on one footswitch and drive solo on the other one, you may have to press twice.
  2. If you have a small midi switch yes, without you may have to press twice and you would have to remember, what preset is on the switch and if you have to press twice. There is a LED indicator, but only if you press it. So you may forget, if it was A or B on the footswitch. Again, no problem witn a midi footswitch
  3. Is absolutely realistic. The tuner works well enough and it even has tap tempo now.

I bought it as a backup and built a small board with the luminite M1 and some analoge effects. It is now my main board, because I have learned that I don’t need all the power the QC has. But you have to be mindful of the limitations.

As a backup it works well and you are already used to the neural ecosystem. So if you use captures, its perfect as a backup, because it will sound identical.

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3

Thank you for the detailed response! I’m aiming to keep things simple by just having the nano in my gig bag for emergencies, hoping I never have to use it, haha. However, It seems good enough to get me through a gig if the QC were to fail, even with the tap dancing or audio gaps to access other presets.

PS: Nano is on the FedEx vehicle for delivery today! :sign_of_the_horns:

4

Best way to look at the NC is an amp in a box.

If you can play a set with a 2ch amp and a delay pedal, you can do a gig with the NC.

5

Yes! The Nano arrived today, I set up four presets, and played through some of my setlists without any issues, using mainly three presets and a louder solo preset. The 60ms preset switching gap isn’t a problem for me at all of course it would be nice if it were true gapless but again it doesn’t seem that bad. I’m really enjoying the Nano so far, and it seems to be the perfect solution for my backup rig.

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