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Reference
Reference

Specifications

Every number anyone publishes, with the source attached. Where Neural DSP's own documents disagree with each other, both readings are noted rather than averaged.

Product
Released
18 September 2024
Nano Cortex launch announcement
Launch price
$549 USD / €569 EUR
Nano Cortex launch announcement
Latest firmware
NanOS 2.2.1, released 10 December 2025
NanOS 2.2.1 release notes · Nano Cortex firmware updates
Physical
Dimensions
14.4 × 10.3 × 6.2 cm (5.6 × 4.0 × 2.4 in)
Nano Cortex User Manual 2.2.0 · Nano Cortex launch announcement
Weight
620 g (1.36 lb)
Nano Cortex User Manual 2.2.0
Display
None. LED rings plus four rows of five indicators.
Sound On Sound review
Controls
6 knobs, 5 buttons, 2 footswitches that are also rotary encoders
Nano Cortex User Manual 2.2.0 · Sound On Sound review
Capacity
Footswitch-reachable presets
4 (IA, IB, IIA, IIB) by default, or 2 plus a global bypass

4-Preset Mode is the factory default — “In the default 4-Preset Mode, Nano Cortex offers quick access to four Presets.”

Nano Cortex User Manual 2.2.0 · Creating and managing presets
Program Change range
PC 0–63, mapped automatically
Nano Cortex User Manual 2.2.0 · Using MIDI on Nano Cortex
Factory captures
25 — 20 guitar, 4 bass amps, 1 bass overdrive

The FAQ's “20 guitar plus 5 bass” and the device list's “4 bass amps” are the same five: counting the Anima Fuzz bass overdrive reconciles them exactly.

Nano Cortex FAQ · Nano Cortex device list
User capture slots
256
Nano Cortex FAQ
Capture banks
5 banks of 5, plus a User Library
Nano Cortex User Manual 2.2.0 · Creating Neural Captures on Nano Cortex
IR slots on the device
5, plus a bypass position
Nano Cortex User Manual 2.2.0
Factory cabinets
10 — 8 guitar, 2 bass
Nano Cortex device list · Nano Cortex FAQ
Factory IRs
300 — 10 cabinets × 5 microphones × 6 positions
Nano Cortex FAQ · Nano Cortex User Manual 2.2.0
User IR slots
256, uploaded through the Cortex Cloud website rather than the app
Nano Cortex FAQ · Nano Cortex User Manual 2.2.0
Effect slots
5 loadable (2 pre, 3 post) plus one fixed Input Gate
Nano Cortex device list · NanOS 2.0.0 release notes
Cloud backups
Up to 5
NanOS 2.2.0 release notes
Audio and signal
Signal flow
Mono in, stereo out. Stereo begins at the IR Loader.
Nano Cortex FAQ
Instrument input
1 MΩ, +10 dBu maximum
Andertons spec sheet
Main outputs
560 Ω, +10 dBu unbalanced / +16 dBu balanced maximum
Andertons spec sheet
Capture input
1 MΩ (TS) / 45 kΩ (XLR), +10 dBu maximum, +26 dB boost available
Andertons spec sheet
Headphone output
55 mW into 20 Ω
Andertons spec sheet
Capture time
About 5 minutes, on the device, no computer or internet needed
Nano Cortex FAQ · Creating Neural Captures on Nano Cortex
Preset switch gap
About 60 ms. Delay and reverb trails do continue across the change.
Nano Cortex FAQ
Tuner reference
400–480 Hz, default 440 Hz
Nano Cortex User Manual 2.2.0
Computer interface
Protocol
USB Audio Class 2.0 over USB-C
Using Nano Cortex as an audio interface · Andertons spec sheet
Format
24-bit / 48 kHz, fixed. No other sample rate is available.
Using Nano Cortex as an audio interface
Round-trip latency
9.1 ms at 48 kHz with a 64-sample buffer

Neural DSP publishes no latency figure. This is a single owner's measurement, not a specification.

Forum: Nano Cortex as an audio interface
Drivers
macOS and iOS class-compliant. Windows requires the Nano Cortex ASIO driver.
Using Nano Cortex as an audio interface · Sound On Sound review
Power
DC
9–12 V DC, 600 mA minimum, centre-negative, 2.1/5.5 mm
Nano Cortex power sources
USB-C
5 V, 1.5 A minimum. USB-A cannot power the device.
Nano Cortex power sources
Never published

Numbers that don't exist

These aren't omissions from this page. Neural DSP has never published them, and a blank in a spec table is an invitation to invent a figure — a few invented ones are circulating as fact.

  • DSP chip, core count and clock speed
  • Signal-to-noise ratio
  • Total harmonic distortion
  • Dynamic range
  • Frequency response
  • Bluetooth version and profile
  • What USB input channel 2 carries
  • Country of manufacture
  • The NanOS 1.1.0 changelog
  • Maximum length and sample rate for user IR files
  • Centre frequencies and unity positions of the BASS, MID and TREBLE controls
  • Whether a saved capture can be re-trained or re-calibrated
Watch out

These are not omissions from this page — they are things Neural DSP has never published. The tone-control frequencies are the most consequential absence: owners have explicitly asked for that documentation, because without it you're tweaking a three-band EQ whose behaviour you can only learn by ear.

Forum: clarification on the capture tone/EQ block · MusicRadar review
How to read the labels
Official
From Neural DSP's manual, FAQ, guides or release notes.
Community
Reported by owners. Corroboration, not a primary spec.
Our reading
Our interpretation, not something Neural DSP states.
Unverified
We could not confirm this, or sources disagree.