Neural Amp Modeler (NAM)

[bnt]

I heard about this recently, and spent some time with it this morning. It's free amp & cab sim software, standalone or plugin, for Windows or Mac. Not to be confused with NeuralDSP or mod.audio, which have been discussed here before. (NAM code is used in the mod.audio amp & cab sims, I believe.)

The cab sim uses standard impulse responses (IRs), mono only, while the amp sim uses a custom capture format called NAM files. Lots of both types can be found for free on tonehunt.org.

I tried it on my M1 Mac Mini, as a plugin in Apple MainStage and GarageBand, with either my pedalboard first or with other effects in MainStage. (NAM itself has no other effects.)  These apps come with amp models too, though pretty limited e.g. for bass there only are a couple of Ampeg models and a generic "modern" amp and studio preamp. You can use the guitar amp models, of course e.g. virtually attach a 1x15" to a Vox AC30 if you like.

 

The whole field of amps and cabs is something I'm trying to learn more about and figure out what I want. While I have a hankering for the Bass Beast Of Terror tone that John Wetton got with King Crimson through HiWatt stacks, I get that it's not going to be appropriate in all situations. I didn't look for HiWatt specifically, but I did load up an Ampeg SVT model with a 8x10" cabinet (of course), Fender Bassman 50 amp, and tried various IRs including the DarkGlass 4x10" models I've had for a while that use different mics and miking techniques.

 

The first problem you notice when doing this is that you have no gain control within NAM itself: it's baked in to the loaded model, along with other settings. You can see this if you download other amp packs e.g. the Fender Bassman 50 pack contains 145 models covering the normal channel, deep channel and  jumpered configurations, Bright Switch on or off, and gain from 0 to 10 in 0.5 steps. Plenty of options as long as you know what you want! Other amp packs include multiple amp EQ settings, though NAM has a 3-band EQ.

 

Still, it's free, and there seems to be a decent-sized community behind it, taking captures of their real amps. It's great for someone like me who never gets the chance to feel my trousers flapping in the breeze from a SVT stack.

[Killerfridge]

I've heard that NAM can produce the most technically accurate models, even compared to Kemper and Neural DSP; it just suffers from the fact there is no dedicated hardware

Edited December 25, 2023 by Killerfridge
Keeper to kemper

[bnt]

Not from them directly, but they link to Poly Effects who make the Poly Beebo. So I suspect that NAM technology is used there. This pic shows the Amp selection screen with "AMP NAM":

 

 

PS: yep, in this recent video the reviewer shows us how NAM works in the Beebo.

PPS: the mod.audio Dwarf also uses NAM. It looks more like what I would want e.g. USB Host support, headphone output.

 

Edited December 25, 2023 by bnt

[MrDinsdale]

Mod supports NAM but the main technology it uses is AIDA-X which is a little more streamlined and tailored to lower power pedals vs laptop/desktops.

 

Worth noting the Dwarf only supports nano nam files presently.

[MrDinsdale]

Does the Beebo support upload of models yet or is it still locked to what’s provided?

[bnt]

2 hours ago, MrDinsdale said:

Does the Beebo support upload of models yet or is it still locked to what’s provided?

I’m still learning about this stuff myself, but from the descriptions on this thread, it sounds like neither the Beebo nor Dwarf has the raw CPU power to run the “full fat” NAM models. They run “nano” or “ feather” version i.e. lightweight.
PS I see there is an official amp capture website for capturing your amps and converting existing NAM files. The descriptions on firmware updates like this appear to confirm it’s NAM Nano models only on current hardware. 
 

That thread is about a proposed new pedal to run all NAM models - still some way off.
 

Edited December 26, 2023 by bnt

[MrDinsdale]

Aye that makes a lot of sense, nano models are a lot less intensive on cpu.

 

MOD have the AIDA Cloud site too for sharing although there’s a lot more on their forums. https://cloud.aida-x.cc/all
 

MOD Have a beta desktop version of their ecosystem to try too which is a great way to get a feel for what it can do.