devices · Quad Cortex · reference · making captures
making captures
read this first
INST LEVEL and IN LEVEL do different jobs
INST LEVEL
Sets what leaves CAPTURE OUT and hits the amp or pedal. It controls how hard that device is driven—so it changes the tone you are capturing, but it is not the capture's level.
IN LEVEL
The return signal from the device being captured. This is the level that matters to the capture itself.
If your capture sounds right but sits at the wrong volume, you set IN LEVEL wrong. If it sits at the right volume but the drive response is wrong, you set INST LEVEL wrong while dialing the amp.
1. INST LEVEL · on the way OUT
Sets how hard the amp or pedal you're capturing gets driven. Leave it at 0 dB so the amp sees real guitar level and breaks up the way it would in the room. It changes what the amp does. It does NOT affect the capture.
2. the device being captured
Amp, cab and mic for an amp capture, or the pedal alone for a pedal capture. Get the tone right here first, monitoring through the Quad Cortex. A capture is a snapshot and cannot be improved afterwards.
3. IN LEVEL · on the way BACK
The return signal from the device. The capture is made from this level, and it sets how loud your capture ends up. Wrong volume means this control. Wrong feel means the one above.
4. set IN LEVEL by what the amp is doing
About −12 dB for clean amps, about −6 dB for distorted ones. Follow it and your captures sit at levels comparable to Neural's own models and to each other. Skip it and every capture needs its own trim before it's usable.
procedures
pedals and amps need different levels
Capturing a pedal
An overdrive, fuzz, boost or preamp pedal.
- 01Set the pedal's gain, tone and volume the way you want them in a realistic signal chain, not in isolation.
- 02Only then move the pedal into the capture loop.
- 03Run the capture.
- 04Do not use Auto-set. It produces inconsistent gain and volume on pedals.
- IN INSTR LEVEL
- 0 dB
Monitoring only—it does not affect the capture.
- IN LEVEL
- 0 dB
With both at 0 dB, the capture block's gain and volume match the original pedal in the chain. That is the whole point.
Capturing an amp
An amp, its cab and a mic, captured as one.
- 01Put the amp, cab and mic in the capture loop.
- 02Monitor the amp and cab through the Quad Cortex while you set mic position, and get the tone right before you capture anything.
- 03Set the levels as below—this is where amp captures differ from pedal captures.
- 04Run the capture, then document the signal chain in the capture's description. Placement changes how a capture behaves and future-you will not remember.
- IN INST LEVEL
- 0 dB
So the amp sees real guitar level and distorts the way it would in the room.
- IN LEVEL · clean amps
- ≈ −12 dB
Leaves the headroom a clean amp's peaks need.
- IN LEVEL · distorted amps
- ≈ −6 dB
Distorted amps are already compressed and need less room.
Capture clean amps at about −12 dB and distorted amps at about −6 dB.
Captures made this way sit at levels comparable to the Quad Cortex's own amp models, and comparable to each other. Skip it and every capture you make needs its own level trim before it is usable in a preset.
documented mistakes
- Using Auto-set for pedal captures
Inconsistent gain and volume between captures of the same pedal.
Quad Cortex Wiki: Capture Techniques- Leaving both levels at 0 dB when capturing an amp
No headroom. Use −12 dB for clean and −6 dB for distorted instead.
Quad Cortex Wiki: Capture Techniques- Adjusting instrument level while dialing in the amp
You change how hard the amp is driven, so you capture a different drive response from the one you were listening to.
Quad Cortex Wiki: Capture Techniques- Ignoring mic sensitivity and room volume
A hot mic on a loud cab needs a different input level from a quiet one. There is no single correct number that survives changing either.
Quad Cortex Wiki: Capture Techniques