Gain staging and levels
Input headroom, where clipping actually happens, and how to level-match presets so they hold up live.
LEVEL is a global master. Per-preset volume lives behind a two-second hold on CAPTURE, and that’s the control you level-match with.
Why this lesson exists
There is no Nano-specific gain-staging guidance anywhere. Searching for it returns a Quad Cortex video, the manual, and a forum thread where an owner is asking for help and not getting it. This is the biggest genuine gap in coverage of this device, so it gets a full lesson.
The input, and what you can’t control
The instrument input takes up to +10 dBu into 1 MΩ. There is no global input level and no pad, which is a real limitation — a guitar with hot pickups cannot be compensated for once for the whole device.
What you do get is a warning: the GAIN ring blinks three times when the input clips. Watch for it while playing hard, because input clipping happens before anything else in the chain and nothing downstream will fix it.
The practical workaround owners settle on is duplicate presets for a hot guitar. It’s inelegant and it’s the only option.
Where clipping actually happens
Three distinct places, with three distinct symptoms:
- The input, before the chain. GAIN ring blinks three times. Play softer or turn down your guitar — nothing in the pedal helps.
- The outputs. LEVEL ring blinks three times. Lower LEVEL, or lower per-preset capture volume.
- Inside the chain, when the IR is bypassed. Not signalled by any indicator, because it isn’t clipping the converters — but it sounds harsh and gritty and is the commonest complaint from people running into a real amp.
The two volume controls, and why people get this wrong
LEVEL on the top panel is a global master output for the 1L and 2R jacks. It applies to everything.
Per-preset level is somewhere else entirely: hold CAPTURE for two seconds to open the Capture Volume view. LEVEL then sets that preset’s own level, from −24 dB to +12 dB, defaulting to 0.0. AMOUNT in the same view sets the Input Gate.
This is the highest-recurrence volume complaint on the device — people set LEVEL per preset, save, and find it hasn’t held, because it was never a per-preset control.
The IR Loader’s own level is a useful second lever. It’s per-preset and doesn’t affect other presets using the same IR.
Forum: volume levels not saving between presetsHow to level-match four presets
Do this once, properly, and it stops being a problem. Do it at playing volume — quiet level-matching does not survive a band.
- 01Pick one factory preset as your reference and leave it alone.
- 02Set the global LEVEL knob where you want it overall, then don’t touch it again during this process.
- 03For each of your four presets, hold CAPTURE for two seconds and adjust capture volume until it sits level with the reference. Save each one.
- 04Check with your guitar volume at playing position, not full.
- 05Re-check your cleanest and your highest-gain preset against each other last. They’re the pair most likely to be mismatched.
Why cloud captures are never level
Two reasons, and both are worth understanding rather than fighting.
First, uploaders gain-stage differently. There’s no normalisation on Cortex Cloud.
Second, perceived loudness tracks spectral density rather than peak level. A clean capture and a saturated high-gain capture can measure identically and sound nothing alike, because the high-gain one is far denser. Matching by meter will not match by ear — trust your ears here.
Output level for the destination
There is no output-mode switch on this device, so there’s no instrument-versus-line setting to get right. Everything is done with LEVEL plus per-preset capture volume.
For front of house, ask for line level and set LEVEL so your loudest preset sits below clipping with headroom. For a DAW, leave a good margin — you’re recording at 24-bit and have nothing to gain from a hot signal.
One thing that is easy to miss: the outputs are balanced TRS. Using a plain TS instrument cable costs you around 6 dB and some clarity. An entire forum thread about this device’s audio quality resolved to exactly that.