Glossary
Weighted towards the words that mean something specific here and something else everywhere else. Those are the ones that quietly derail a search.
- The Grid
The routing canvas: four rows of eight slots, 32 in total, where you place device blocks.
Quad Cortex User Manual 4.0.0- Device block
One amp, cab, effect, capture or utility, occupying one slot on the Grid.
Neural call these “devices”, which collides with “device” meaning the unit itself. In this guide the hardware is the unit and the things on the Grid are blocks.
Quad Cortex User Manual 4.0.0- Path
A pair of rows. Rows 1 and 3 form Path A; rows 2 and 4 form Path B.
Worth learning, because processing limits are enforced per path rather than per preset.
Quad Cortex User Manual 4.0.0- Scene
One of eight saved states — A to H — inside a single preset. Same blocks, different settings.
Not a preset. Scenes switch instantly because nothing reloads; presets swap the whole rig and can leave a gap.
Quad Cortex User Manual 4.0.0- Preset
A complete rig: the Grid, its blocks, and all eight of its scenes.
Quad Cortex User Manual 4.0.0- Setlist
A collection of up to 256 presets. Ten user setlists, plus Factory and My Presets.
Quad Cortex User Manual 4.0.0- Mode
What the eight lettered footswitches currently do — PRESET, SCENE, STOMP or HYBRID.
Change it with BANK DOWN + TEMPO. The chassis prints this combo.
Quad Cortex User Manual 4.0.0 · Gridleak: read off the unit- Gig View
A stripped-back screen showing preset and scene names large enough to read from standing height.
Quad Cortex User Manual 4.0.0- Neural Capture
A model of a specific amp, cab or pedal made by the unit itself, rather than one of Neural's factory models.
The Quad Cortex can create these. The Nano Cortex can only load them.
Quad Cortex User Manual 4.0.0- Capture V2
The second-generation capture engine, introduced in CorOS 3.3.0.
Quad Cortex firmware updates- INST LEVEL
How hard the device being captured is driven, sent out of CAPTURE OUT.
It does not affect the capture itself. This is the most commonly confused control on the unit.
Quad Cortex Wiki: Capture Techniques- IN LEVEL
The signal returning from the device being captured. This is the level the capture is made from.
Quad Cortex Wiki: Capture Techniques- Global Bypass
A single switch that disables every cab sim, IR loader and capture block across all presets at once.
The right way to play through a real amp and cab.
Quad Cortex Wiki: FAQ- Cortex Control
The free desktop editor for macOS and Windows, connected over USB.
Cortex Control (Quad Cortex only)- Cortex Cloud
Neural's online library for sharing and downloading presets, captures and IRs.
Cortex Cloud- PCOM
Plugin compatibility — which Neural DSP plugins run on the hardware, and when.
Perpetual licences only; subscriptions and trials do not transfer.
Quad Cortex Wiki: FAQ · Quad Cortex product page- CorOS
The Quad Cortex's operating system.
From 4.0.0 it shares a version number with Cortex Control.
Quad Cortex firmware updates- FRFR
Full Range, Flat Response — a speaker that reproduces what you feed it without adding a voice of its own.
The point of an FRFR cab is that the modelled cab in your preset is the only cab you hear.
Quad Cortex Wiki: FAQ