Steven Atkinson released Neural Amp Modeler, a free amp profiler based on the Neural network emulator for guitar amplifiers, available in VST3 and AU plugin formats.
Guitarists have been eating well in recent years with the advances in tech from audio plugin developers. Amp plugins like TONEX, NeuralDSP’s entire line, and Metallurgy have been personal favorites.
How would you react if I told you that you could have something akin to TONEX or the Kemper amp profilers for the low, low cost of nothing? Probably pretty stoked, right?
Well, dear reader, prepare yourself to be stoked.
Neural Amp Modeler is a freeware amp profiler developed by Steve Atkinson and has been making quite a splash. Users can profile their own amps, stomp boxes, and any other gear they might see fit. You can also download a plethora of these profiles and models for your own productions.
At its core, it works similarly to the Kemper, Quad Cortex, and any other modeler using amp profiles compared to algorithmic processing. You get the benefit of superb response, which is often lacking in amp sims.
The community around NAM has built an impressive collection of models, which can be found in this handy repository on GitHub.
There very well could be some paid packs in the future, but in the meantime, you have options like the Peavey 5150, a smattering of ENGL amps, and a bunch of stuff you typically don’t see in most amp suites like Sovtek or Ceriatone.
NAM’s sound quality is absolutely killer, and the latest version brought a much-needed noise gate. There are some occasional issues with the included IR loader, but something like NadIR from STL Tones more than suffices.
System requirements for NAM are fairly light. You’ll need to run your host at 44.1 or 48KHz, and it needs to be a 64-bit host.
Supported operating systems are VST3 and AU, with potential support for VST and AAX coming in the future. There is no explicit mention of an Apple Silicon native version, so you’ll definitely have to try it yourself.
Download: Neuron Amp Modeler / Models
21 Comments
Angie
onI don’t know why, but this does not make any sound at all, no matter which model loaded…
creative
onsame here. on’t know how to download models or IR from GitHub as well. I’m not a tech wizard, I’m a creative. glad to pay for brainwork neural dsp and other amp sim that, well, simply work :)
Brandon
onSame………………. The juice ain’t worth the squeeze I uninstalled this nonsense of an amp sim and was happy I did.
Pascal
onNo mac osx Sierra version…
Angie
onokay, found out it’s an already known issue
MRG
onIt’s the neural part… It’s all in your head. :-D
MRG
onI had a thought a long time ago, it just came back to me. Would it be possible to make IRs, or neural models, of the signal paths of some classic analog synths and old samplers to color the sound of, well anything really but I was thinking softsynths back then.
Not talking oscillator and filters here, but whatever is after those. Converters, EQ, preamps, yada-yada, etc…
Actually now that I think of it, even a ‘fully open’ lowpass filter would color the sound, depending on the tolerances.
Jon B
onThat’s pretty much what NAM is doing. It can’t do compression, but it does saturation and static filtering (basically like an IR).
There are some people who have started doing models of mic preamps as well as the saturation and frequency response of very colorful compressors etc. You can find them in the FB group if you want to give them a try.
Johannes
onUpdate one year later: Yes, it CAN do compression, and it works like a charm, the sound is fantastic! I first tested the model of an RCA compressor and after hearing the sound quality, I got the Telefunken TAB U373, the V376 preamp, the Fairchild 660 with all 5 releases, an EMT compressor, an Ampex tape machine… oh god it is so wonderful! I tell you guys, this must be the future of DSP.
Ron C
onYou say that the host can run at either 44.1 or at 48kHz. Various online chats seem to suggest that NAM will only work if the host is at 48.
Johannes
onI can confirm it also works at 44.1.
Don’t focus on chats. Try it on your own machine. On mine I had zero issues.
Ron C
onSo, presumably, you were loading IRs recorded at 44.1 kHz and not 48 kHz. If they were recorded at 48 kHz they would play back at a different pitch in a project set at 44.1 kHz.
Johannes
onNo, they were recorded in 48K. Every DAW is capable of automatic resampling. That’s a quite ordinary task nowadays. I guess the plugin do it as well. To be honest, it is so trivial that I never ever wasted a millisecond thinking about the sampling rate the IR was recorded with. For instance, I use 96K reverb impulses in 48K sessions. No pitch shifting, no issue whatsoever. Same goes for NAM. Used 48K in a 44.1K session. Worked as expected🤷
Ron C
onOk, thanks, that’s really helpful.
Brandon
onIt’s not worth it, maybe it could run in Discord to combine the useless abstract programming with one another.
DRMR
onThis is not “freeware”, it’s free and opensource software.
Johannes
onOkay, I came back here to leave an honest comment:
I downloaded it, I scrolled through the library of already “sampled” (I know, they aren’t sampled, rather analyzed) amps, downloaded some high gain amps and replaced my used amp sims in a session with this gem.
DAMN! This thing is AWESOME!
I really believe this makes all amp sims obsolete. A real revolution, and I’m not sure if everyone understands what this thing stands for. This is a tool that can capture all existing amps, it is open source software, free for everyone to download and gets bigger and bigger with every single guitarist who contributes to the growing library. I see big names like Amplitube or Guitar Rig in big troubles.This is actually what those brands demand money for – and it is open source – and most importantly, it delivers a sound that reminds me INSTANTLY of a real amp! Of course, you need a good cabinet IR library (which I have. I highly recommend Redwirez. One investment that stays yours forever. IRs don’t have compatibility issues ;-)) If you are equipped with a nice cabinet collection I promise you will never ever need another amp plugin. It is that good.
Dany
onHola que tal, lo he instalado en la carpeta vst 3, y se puede ejecutar, pero a la hora de buscar los preset la carpeta NAM profile no aparece.
Alguien podría ayudarme?
Gracias.
Chris M
onGood lord this is hard to use. IR’s wouldn’t load, don’t see where the captures are, bypass security to install. It probably sounds great if you can get to loading something, but please work on making it user friendly as well.
Simon M
onI wasn’t expecting it be this good. I couldn’t work out IR thing so I just stuck guitar rig after it with cab emulation and it’s really great.
Sendo
onSuena fatal y lo que he descargado sobresaturado y sonido muy sucio.
Los clean suenan muy flojos y muy secos.
No vale la pena