Sparkling clean
CleanCommunity-verifiedBell-like, headroom for days, no hair on the note.
Start from- US Prince 65
- US HRDLX ChA
- Watt Custom Clean
Cab212 US TWN C12Q 00s or 110 US PRN C10R
StepsCaptureNano Cortex
Pick a clean capture, then bring GAIN down further than feels necessary.
Community-verified: reducing GAIN cleans up most captures materially, and clean tones expose any grit immediately.
Pre-FX 1Nano Cortex
VCA Comp (M).
The specific compressor the clean-tones thread recommends for this.
IR LoaderNano Cortex
Move the microphone off-axis and back a position from the default.
The default 90°-on-cone position is the brightest and most aggressive. Backing off kills ice-pick without needing to dump treble.
IR LoaderGeneral
High-cut around 8–10 kHz, low-cut 50–80 Hz.
The universal modelling fix for digital fizz, and it tightens the bottom without EQ boosts.
Post-FX 3Nano Cortex
Room or Hall at a low mix.
A close-mic'd cab has no room in front of it. Even a little reverb replaces what the microphone didn't capture.
What gets in the way- Level-match here first. Clean tones expose volume mismatches between presets more than anything else.
Forum: lush clean presets · Nano Cortex User Manual 2.2.0Warm jazz clean
CleanOur starting pointRound, dark, woody. Nothing above 6 kHz needed.
Cab212 Match D30 Sig A, microphone further back and off-axis
StepsCaptureNano Cortex
A low-gain class-A style capture with GAIN near minimum.
Pre-FX 1Nano Cortex
Opto Comp (M).
Optical compression rounds the attack, which is most of the jazz feel.
IR LoaderGeneral
Roll high-cut down to around 5–6 kHz.
Jazz tone is defined more by what's removed above the fundamental than by anything added.
Tone stackGeneral
Cut upper-mid presence rather than boosting bass.
Boosting bass muddies; cutting presence darkens without losing definition.
Post-FX 3Nano Cortex
Room at a low mix.
What gets in the way- There is no Nano-specific jazz thread in the community — this is general knowledge applied to the device's blocks, and it's labelled that way.
Forum: lush clean presets · Nano Cortex User Manual 2.2.0Edge of breakup
Edge of breakupOur starting pointClean when you're gentle, growling when you dig in.
Start from- Comet 60
- NoMatch Chief
- US HRDLX ChA
Cab112 UK C15 Blue or 212 Match D30 Sig A
StepsCaptureNano Cortex
Choose a capture that is already at the edge. Do not try to get there from a clean one.
This is the single most important device-specific point in any recipe here. A capture is frozen at one setting, so a capture taken clean cannot break up like the real amp — the dynamic transition simply isn't in the snapshot.
GAINNano Cortex
Use GAIN to move around that edge rather than to create it.
Pre-FX 1Nano Cortex
Green 808 with drive low and level high, or Exotic Z Boost as a clean boost.
Pushes the capture harder without adding its own distortion character.
PlayingGeneral
Guitar volume at 7–8, and ride it.
Edge of breakup is mostly a playing technique. Roughly 70% of it is your hands and your volume knob.
Nano Cortex FAQ · Forum: lush clean presetsClassic rock crunch
CrunchOur starting pointMid-forward, chunky, hits like a wall of Marshall.
Start from- Brit 2555 Rhy
- Brit 2555 Lead
- Bogna X100B Ch1
Cab412 Brit TV GB75Hz '69 or 412 CA Trad S UKV30 90s
StepsCaptureNano Cortex
A Silver Jubilee or Ecstasy channel-1 style capture.
The community hunts Silver Jubilee captures specifically for AC/DC and Guns N' Roses territory.
Pre-FX 1Nano Cortex
Chief BD2 or Obsessive Drive for extra push.
Worth noting this was impossible before NanOS 2.0.0 — there were no drive devices at all.
Tone stackGeneral
Mids up, not down.
Scooped mids are for metal. Classic rock crunch lives in the 500 Hz–1 kHz region.
Post-FX 3Nano Cortex
Room, low mix. Keep it dry.
Forum: rock captures · Nano Cortex device listModern high gain
High gainCommunity-verifiedTight, percussive, scooped. Djent-adjacent.
Start from- PV 505Sig
- D-Cell H4 Ch3
- ENG Energy
Cab412 CA Stand OS A V30 '01
StepsCapture + cabNano Cortex
PV 505Sig into 412 CA Stand OS A V30 '01.
This exact pairing is a verbatim community recommendation from the metal thread — one of only two genuinely verified recipes for this device.
Pre-FX 1Nano Cortex
Green 808 with drive at zero, tone up, level up.
Classic Tube-Screamer-as-filter rather than as distortion. It tightens the low end and adds attack without adding gain.
Input GateNano Cortex
Use the fixed Input Gate, set on AMOUNT in the Capture Volume view.
Added in NanOS 2.0.0 specifically as a permanent gate ahead of everything.
IR LoaderGeneral
High-cut 8–10 kHz aggressively, low-cut 80–100 Hz.
High-cut kills the digital fizz that makes high gain sound cheap. Low-cut keeps palm mutes tight.
GAINGeneral
Less than you think.
What gets in the way- Sound On Sound notes the adaptive gate may lack the speed djent players want.
- If you're running into an amp's FX return you have no boost in front of the capture in the usual sense — the community's advice is to pick a capture that was already boosted.
Forum: rock captures · Nano Cortex device list · Sound On Sound reviewBlues lead
LeadOur starting pointSinging, vocal, enough compression to sustain.
Start from- US HRDLX ChA
- Comet 60
- Bogna Fish+290
Cab212 US TWN C12Q 00s or 412 Brit TV GB75Hz '69
StepsCaptureNano Cortex
Moderate-gain capture; use the three tone knobs as your quick adjustment.
EQGeneral
A mid boost around 800 Hz to 1 kHz.
That's the band that cuts through a band mix without getting shrill.
Post-FX 2Nano Cortex
Tape Delay or Analog Delay, short time, low mix.
Post-FX 3Nano Cortex
Room.
Solo boostNano Cortex
Map capture volume to an expression pedal rather than switching preset.
Expression changes aren't preset changes, so they avoid the ~60 ms switching gap entirely. This is the community's clearest answer to boosting on this device.
What gets in the way- Solo boosting is a genuine weak point here — there's no dedicated boost, so it's either an expression pedal or a duplicate preset with higher capture volume.
Forum: solo boost strategies · Nano Cortex device listAmbient and post-rock
AmbientOur starting pointWashed out, endless, more texture than notes.
Start from- US Prince 65
- Watt Custom Clean
StepsCaptureNano Cortex
Clean capture, GAIN low.
Post-FX 1Nano Cortex
Dream Chorus (ST) or MX Vibes.
Post-FX 2Nano Cortex
Circular Delay or Dual Reverse Delay.
Post-FX 3Nano Cortex
Mind Hall or Cave.
Mind Hall is the reverb the clean-tones thread singles out, and reads as a Lexicon 224.
StereoNano Cortex
Use the (ST) stereo variants if you're on headphones or FRFR.
Guitar.com's own tip. The mono variants throw away half the point.
TechniqueGeneral
Volume swells, high-cut on the repeats, reverb pre-delay for definition.
What gets in the way- The post chain is locked modulation → delay → reverb, so you cannot put chorus after delay. Guitar.com calls this out by name as the remaining rigidity.
- One delay and one reverb per preset. No dual-delay ambient stacks.
Forum: lush clean presets · Guitar.com review · Nano Cortex device listFunk
FunkOur starting pointSnappy, glassy, percussive. All attack.
StepsPre-FX 1Nano Cortex
Envelope Filter or Love Meat.
Both are pre-only, so this is the one slot they can occupy.
Pre-FX 2Nano Cortex
Solid State Comp (M) or VCA Comp (M), fast attack.
IR LoaderGeneral
A 2×12 American cab for glassiness.
TechniqueGeneral
Bridge or middle pickup, minimal reverb, GAIN low.
Nano Cortex device list · Forum: lush clean presetsClean bass DI
BassOur starting pointFull, even, ready for a mix.
Cab810 Amped VT Aln 70s or 115 Amped Modern
StepsCaptureNano Cortex
A clean bass amp capture, GAIN low.
Pre-FX 1Nano Cortex
Opto Comp (M) or VCA Comp (M).
IR LoaderGeneral
Low-cut around 30–40 Hz.
Removes subsonic content that eats headroom without contributing anything audible.
Pre-FX 2Nano Cortex
Microtubes B3K for grit, blended low.
What gets in the way- Bass coverage for this device is thin everywhere — one first-party video, one demo, one blog post. This leans on general bass practice more than most recipes here.
Nano Cortex device list · Nano Cortex FAQ