Collection: Neural DSP

Neural DSP rewrote what a guitar rig looks like, and a lot of pedalboards have been quietly retired ever since.

Founded in Helsinki in 2017 by Doug Castro and Francisco Cresp, the same Doug Castro behind Darkglass Electronics, the company spent years building plugins that players actually kept using, then dropped the same algorithms into a 7-inch touchscreen floor unit. The Quad Cortex shipped in 2021 and the argument mostly ended there.

Guitar Freaks is an authorised Neural DSP dealer. Real boutique in Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium, run by the team behind Bass Freaks, shipping worldwide. And no, we are not the Konami arcade cabinet. We only sell the instruments.

The Neural DSP range at Guitar Freaks

Neural DSP questions we actually get asked

What is the difference between the Quad Cortex Mini and the Quad Cortex?

Not the sound. The mini runs the same processing power and the same 7-inch screen as its bigger brother, so nothing is downgraded on the tone side. What you give up is physical: four footswitches instead of eleven, one combo input instead of two, one shared TRS effects loop instead of two independent ones, one expression input instead of two, and no momentary footswitch support. In exchange it is 22.8 cm wide, 1.5 kg, and machined from anodised aluminium. If you build presets rather than stomping through eight scenes a song, the mini is the same unit in a smaller box.

Nano Cortex or Quad Cortex Mini?

The Nano Cortex is a capture machine first. It creates Neural Captures on the device at the same quality as a Quad Cortex, and those captures are cross-compatible between the two. What it does not do is model amps: it plays back captures only, holds one capture slot at a time, and its signal chain is fixed and not reorderable. It also has no screen, so you edit from your phone. Quad Cortex presets do not transfer to it. Buy a Nano Cortex to capture an amp you already love. Buy a QC mini if you want a whole rig in one box.

How much is the Quad Cortex Mini?

Current pricing sits on the product page above, and it lands a solid chunk under the full Quad Cortex. We are an authorised dealer, so what you see is the real European price with the warranty attached, not a grey import with a customs surprise at the end.

Is the Quad Cortex Mini in stock?

Neural DSP has started shipping the mini but European supply is still tight, so we are taking it as a pre-order. Your unit gets reserved against our allocation rather than sitting on a shelf. We would rather say that plainly than take your money and go quiet, and we will tell you where the queue actually is when you ask.

What is Cortex Control?

Free desktop editor software from Neural DSP, for Windows 10 and up and macOS 11 and up, connecting over USB. It works with the Quad Cortex and the Quad Cortex Mini. It is not a remote and there is no hardware version: release 4.0.0 in January 2026 is what added mini support. Download it, plug in, build presets with a mouse instead of a fingertip.

Do the Neural DSP plugins come with the hardware?

No. Plugin licences are sold separately. The useful part runs the other direction: since CorOS 3.0.0, plugins you have bought can run on Quad Cortex and QC mini hardware, so the Archetype you already know from the DAW follows you onto the floor.

Quad Cortex or Helix?

Different philosophies. The Quad Cortex leads with Neural Capture, the ability to profile the amp in front of you and carry it, plus a touchscreen workflow that is faster to learn. The Helix line leads with routing depth and a very mature effects library. We sell Neural DSP because the capture side is where the last five years of progress happened. Anyone telling you one of the two is objectively wrong has not used both.

Is there a case for the Quad Cortex?

The Quad Cortex GigCase is the only official one, and it fits the full-size unit. There is no official case for the mini or the Nano yet. Ask us and we will point you at what actually fits, without turning your pedalboard into a suitcase.

Will a Quad Cortex fit on a pedalboard?

The full unit is 29.0 by 19.5 cm and 1.95 kg, which eats most of a medium board on its own. That is exactly the gap the mini fills at 22.8 by 11.8 cm and 1.5 kg. If your board is already crowded and you are adding a modeller rather than replacing one, the mini is the honest answer.

Should I buy a used Quad Cortex?

You can, and plenty of people do. What you do not get is the warranty, the dealer relationship when a CorOS update misbehaves, or anyone to call. New from an authorised dealer costs more on day one and costs less on the day something goes wrong.

If you are also looking at

A modeller is only half of the rig. If the guitar is the other half, the Suhr Classic S and the Duesenberg Starplayer TV are what most Quad Cortex owners here end up plugging in, and Mayones guitars or Legator guitars if you are chasing low tunings. Full catalogue on the electric guitars page.

Buying Neural DSP from Guitar Freaks

We are an authorised Neural DSP dealer with a physical boutique in Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium, and we ship worldwide. Come and put your hands on a Quad Cortex before you commit, or mail us and get an actual person who has used the thing. Both work.