N E U R ON - GAI N I NTELLI GE N CE
NEURON - GAIN INTELLIGENCE USER GUIDE Thank you for purchasing our product. We really mean it. We hope to earn your trust by delivering a quality product that inspires you to make great music. Neunaber products are designed and manufactured in Orange, California USA. Please visit www.neunaber.net for more information and support.
PREFACE Neuron is the culmination of years of research and development. We studied the gain circuits of pedals and amps — both tube and solid state — to learn not only how they sound good, but why. We developed new and unique algorithms to test our findings, then refined these algorithms based on what we learned. Our goal was never to emulate or mimic other gear. This would imply that there is no room for improvement — or at least, no room for unique greatness.
INTRODUCTION Neuron achieves a seamless array of incredible amp tones in a compact pedal — from sparkling clean to heavy distortion and everything in between. A multistage, dynamic gain architecture yields unparalleled control over the desired amount of distortion — effortlessly producing harmonic structures that range from subtle to dense and complex. One of its most salient features is its feel, which is almost hyper-realistic when compared to an amplifier.
CONNECTIONS Note — Tilt EQ settings are a suggested starting point. Adjust to taste.
To Amplifier clean channel input Tip: The small speaker in a practice amp may sound more full-range; therefore, try enabling the Speaker Simulator when running into the clean channel input or effects loop return of a practice amp. MIDI Adapter cables to convert from 2.5mm TRS to 5-pin DIN are included.
CONTROLS Setup Controls These controls are accessed by holding down the Engage footswitch while turning the knob. Speaker Simulator This control turns the internal speaker simulator on/off.
PRIMARY CONTROLS Gain The Gain control provides over 60 dB of gain, ranging from clean to heavy distortion. This control is level-compensated: increasing the gain increases distortion but only slightly affects the level. Comp The single-knob compressor ranges from none to heavy compression. Increasing this control simultaneously decreases the threshold and increases the ratio and level parameters of the compressor. As such, the compressor adds additional clean gain to your signal.
ALTERNATE CONTROLS These controls are accessed by holding down the Engage footswitch while turning the knob. Gate The Gate control adjusts the noise reduction threshold. Fully counter-clockwise is off. Set the Noise Gate as follows: 1. 2. 3. Press and hold the Engage switch. Start with the Gate knob fully counter-clockwise. Slowly turn the knob clockwise until the noise attenuates. Stop and release the switch. Tightness The Tightness control adjusts a pre-gain high-pass filter.
USING PRESETS Manual Mode: The Preset LED is off. All settings will be reflected by the knob positions. All alternate controls will retain the values last set when in Manual Mode. Preset Mode: The Preset LED is on. All Primary and Alternate controls are recalled from a stored preset. If a knob is changed, the value of this control will snap to the current position of the knob. This change is not saved until the preset is saved (see Saving Presets).
Footswitch Preset Number MIDI Program Number Default LED Color Manual 0 off 1 1 red 2 2 blue 3 3 green 4 4 yellow 5 5 magenta 6 6 cyan not available 7 - 24 colors 1-6 repeat Saving Presets Press and hold the Preset switch for 2 seconds to save a preset. The LED turns WHITE to indicate that the preset has been saved. When only one preset is accessible, this preset may be changed whether in Manual Mode or in the preset itself.
FACTORY RESET WARNING! A factory reset will reset all parameters to their default settings: • All preset and MIDI parameters • Manual-mode alternate controls • Tilt EQ and Speaker Simulator selection • Number of presets accessible via the footswitch A factory reset is initiated as follows: • Disconnect power • Hold down the Engage switch • Reconnect power • Turn the Gain knob fully counter-clockwise and wait at least 2 seconds • Turn the Gain knob fully clockwise and wait at least 2
MIDI Unless specified otherwise, the MIDI OUT functions as a soft THRU, echoing the MIDI IN. Channel The default MIDI channel is 1 but may be changed to any channel 1-16 via System Exclusive Command or as follows: • Disconnect power • Hold down the Engage switch and reconnect power • Send any MIDI command containing the channel number to which to set Neuron • Release the Engage switch Program Change Program Change numbers 0 - 24 are recognized; 25 - 127 are ignored.
Parameter Parameter Number Default CC# Value Gain 0 102 0 - 127 Compression 1 103 0 - 127 Level 2 104 0 - 127 Low 3 105 0 - 127 Mid 4 106 0 - 127 High 5 107 0 - 127 Low-Pass Filter 6 108 0 - 127 Gate Threshold 7 109 0 - 127 High-Pass Filter 8 110 0 - 127 Preset LED Color 9 111 0 = red 1 = blue 2 = green 3 = yellow 4 = magenta 5 = cyan Engage 10 112 0 = bypass 1 - 127 = engage Save Preset 11 113 any = save Speaker Simulator 12 114 0 = off 1 - 127 = on Til
SYSTEM EXCLUSIVE COMMANDS All numbers are shown in decimal format.
DETAILS Change MIDI Channel Replace “Channel # - 1” with the new MIDI Channel number minus 1. For example, to change the MIDI Channel number to 6, send the following bytes: 240, 0, 2, 40, 1, 1, 5, 247 Remap Control Change Number Replace “Parameter #” with the Parameter Number in the Control Change table. Replace “CC #” with the desired Control Change number.
Preset Dump Reply The reply from the MIDI OUT will consist of the following, where “…” is 10 bytes of preset data followed by the firmware version number: 240, 0, 2, 40, 1, 4, 6, …, 247 These bytes may be saved and retransmitted to the MIDI IN to restore the preset. Refer to the following Preset Write command for details. Preset Write Replace “Preset #” with the number of the preset you wish to overwrite. Preset Data are the 10 bytes corresponding to Parameter Numbers 0 - 9 in the Control Change table.
SPECIFICATIONS I/O Input unbalanced ¼” TS Nominal input level -10 dBV, instrument level Input impedance 1 MΩ Output unbalanced ¼” TS Output impedance 1 kΩ Output level 0 dB @ 50% level MIDI IN/OUT compliant with MIDI Specification CA-033 ELECTRICAL Sample rate Minimum latency Bypass 96 kHz 0.315 ms relay, true bypass POWER Input 9 - 12 V DC Current 70 mA Connector center-negative, 5.5 mm OD x 2.
At Neunaber, we love to see what you do with your ‘toys’. We encourage you to tag us in your posts, pictures & videos featuring your Neunaber gear. To stay connected, go ahead and follow us on the channels seen below. We can’t wait to see what you do! @NeunaberAudio Neunaber Audio This product contains no user-serviceable parts. This device complies with part 15 of the FCC Rules.
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