Nux Cerberus

Since I am not a professional or gigging musician, did not want invest a lot in a pedalboard with individual pedals for all the effects I want. On the other hand, most of the multi-effects are rather complicated, with too many options, and when you want to change the parameters you need to enter mutiple menues - and I do not like that. I wanted something simple, with almost all the effects I want/need and with possibility to quickly change parameters in an analog way - via knobs.
And this is it - no-nonsense, easy to use, but again flexible multieffect which includes the most often used effects. You can change parameters of each effect easily, in a matter of seconds, but you can also make and store your own presets (combinations of effects). You have an "extra" footswitch which can be assigned to the effect or can be used as boost. What I really like is the possibility to change the order of overdrive and distortion - you can put drive before or after distortion or in parallel.
Not that I use it, but you can also put time/modulation based effects in effects loop (after the amp - but I just plug Cerberus directly before the amp).
PROs:
- compact size for multi-effect
- analog, easy and quick change/adjustment of parameters
- flexibility (presets or single effects, time based effect before or after the amp, order of overdrive and distortion)
- headphone output with cab simulation
- all the main/most often used effects by guitarists are here
- lots of connection options
CONs
- none really, especially at this price
- but one smaller remark - I really like the overdrive, but distortion sound just a bit muddy for my taste, lacking a bit of mid frequencies - so I often combine it with overdrive and then it just sounds great!

In total, a great buy, definitely a keeper for anyone that wants a simple, but powerful multi-effect.

Super stoked to have that great product in my hands! I play mostly metal with lots of clean guitars, also I like to play fast and riff-based music. So in my case, it's crucial to have the unit which can switch completely my sound by clicking one button. Also love the fact that Cerberus has fully analog distortion/overdrive block. I had the Line 6 HD300 once but the distortion modeling was really weak there, plastic sound and overall digital feel so I choose from the old TC-Electronics Nova System and Mooer Black Truck. I choose Cerberus because it has IR loader, it has MIDI (for future), and it has distortion (unlike the Nova System which has overdrive only and not suitable for metal at all).

As far as the user experience - it's very convenient while playing (no need to dance on the pedals), seems sturdy and robust (metal case), VERY compact - plan to carry it in my small 10 L Quechua backpack with 2 cables and 9v DC power adapter.

So I've toured with this thing twice.
The first time I was going into a Marshall (I think it was the JVM800).
The sound was ok, but not mindblowing, my guess is that the amp had some issues.
After 3 shows one footswitch broke. I could press it but it didn't come back up so it triggered edit mode and it was a bit of a pain, but I just moved the presets to the other 3 banks I had available and it worked just fine. I contacted Thomann after the tour about the 3-year warranty and they sent me a new one. No problems whatsoever.

The second Time I went on tour with this thing, it blew me away.
I was going into a Laney Ironheart 120W, the sound was just incredible. I was using the clean channel only, all the Dist and OD came from the cerberus (here's a live clip from that tour :
-the build quality could be better. It's built like a tank, but the knobs are a bit delicate.
-It's not plug-and-play, you have to study it first.

Pros:
-amazing and organic OD and Dist. The Effects are really good and once you know how to use it, it's really easy to control. It's the perfect touring equipment

Used with a couple of drive pedals before and timebased effects in effects loop into marshall Origin 50.

Sound quality is great. Very happy overall.

Only minus points are its a bit tricky to use one of the paired effects. E.G you want reverb but not delay then you want Chorus but not phaser. The far right switch can be set to control the selection of these but only one and then you have to bend down to toggle through to the next one.

Very minor point. The drive and distortion having dedicated switches are perfect. I guess it saves having another two switches………

You could program setting and save but thats time consuming then you are paging through patches…….

But please don't be put off. This is a great, natural sounding pedal. Overall easy to use because of simple rotary controls.

Only use through an amp but fairly confident straight to pa would work well too.

I have a Boss GT1. This is better sounding and easier to use and I love my Boss GT1.

I got the Cerberus few weeks back and I must say it's an amazing piece of equipment. I am new to the tube amp world as I have always been playing multieffect processors (the zoom g5) directly plugged in the PA. So I got a H&K Tubemeister but I didn't have any pedals and I couldn't control it with my Zoom G5. So I got the Nux Cerberus.
This little thing can use midi to change the amp watts and switch channels. This allows me to have multieffect experience with patches and banks of sounds, but using the distortion and clean tones of a real amp. The result is amazing.
Pros:
- It's small, well built and made of metal. The knobs are solid and it doesn't look like it's going to fall apart any time soon.
- Tons of options. You have midi control, pedal input, fx loop, headphones output and lots more.
- Can be used as normal pedal board or as a multieffect
- Can be updated with software and the recent update added a Shimmer
- Sounds really good
- It's very cheap
- Software is well made and easy to use
- It's small and lite, so it's easy to transprot
- Has a boost option

Cons:
- You have to get the power supply separately
- Doesn't have included pedal
- Can'y use it as a sound card (The usb is only for tinkering with the effects. You can't record with it)

Basically I'm very happy with this product. It does exactly what I need it to do and considering the price it's just amazing. You can connect other pedals to it and make it the center piece of your rig with ease. It's well made, cheap and easy to navigate. A no brainer piece of gear that will work perfectly.

Before this, I was using a Boss ME80 as a multi-effects unit. Although also offering a multitude of effects, I found it very heavy to carry to band rehearsal. This is where the Cerberus caught my eye.

All effects I ever use in a compact and especially lightweight package was a no doubt choice for me, along with its preset storage capability, a built-in tuner, cab simulation and the ability to both run your OD and DS in front of the amp and the modulation effects through the effects loop, the list goes on and on. It baffles.

Yet to discover any disadvantages, I heartily recommend the Nux Cerberus to any guitarist (and bassist, it works great for bass too) who is looking for a down-to-earth, versatile and lightweight multi-effect.

I was looking for an affordable multifx unit that can be program changed via midi.
The midi part is working great. Presets are easy to program and store.
When we come to sound, the story is a little more complicated. In my opinion the overdrive & distortion sounds are good but a little muddy.
Reverb and delay are pretty good.
The modulation part is the worst part of this unit. When used sparsely, just to colour the sound, are ok, but if you want some kind of surf or 80' chorus sound, i think that it can't be done.
The speaker simulator output is usable, but to be honest i didn't upload any impulse yet.
All in all, this is a good and cheap product that can come handy if you need a simple a quick setup, for rehearsing and of course for fun.