The BEST NAM Plugin? (Neural Amp Modeler, NAM Universal, Tonocracy, and Amp Locker)

[@Thetimrobertson]

Great stuff Steve. Simple, to the point, informative.

[@stevenkambach]

The LEGEND is here 🙏

[@needsLITHIUM]

I already bought ReAmp 2 and Drive Pack A for Amp Locker before I found out about NAM. Funny story, I found out about NAM right before going to a musician meetup in Seattle at El Corazon, and downloaded all the stuff, even getting the Linux version on my laptop, but didn't have a chance to mess with anything... AND THE HOST FOR THE MEETUP WAS STEVE ATKINSON LMAO. Anyway, I went all in on NAM after that, and seeing Audio Assault's stuff get NAM just makes me really happy. Shout out to Seattle Progressive Metal Association and Prog Dog Productions.

[@stevenkambach]

😄 🤣 😂 😆 that is a crazy story. What are the odds? Shout out 🙏

[@neutron_audio]

Great overview. Enjoyed this! Thanks Steven

[@stevenkambach]

Thank you 🙏 that Quantum Speaker is the future 🙌

[@TheMack]

I've come tho that stage where tinkering with amp sims takes more time than actually playing guitar. So I'm trying to get back to basics with a really simple setup. For that I think the "traditional" Amp Locker and the Prestige amp is my way forward. NAM universal seems like a reasonable middle ground as well. As long as I don't get stuck on Tonehunt, downloading hundreds of amps and IR's that never is put to use, I'm good :)

[@stevenkambach]

I feel this so much 👍 I actually use the St. James plugin most of the time. NAM is great, but all the options are too distracting for me most of the time

[@MikeArpeggio345]

Tonocracy may be exactly what I'm looking for. I had a bunch of rad Nam Profiles but I hated pulling up my DAW just to put an OD or Boost in front of my profiles.

[@simpsimpson5175]

Tonacracy is killer.. The cabinet profiules really enhance the NAM amp profiles I loaded in..

[@simpsimpson5175]

Im using tonacracy for a solo act using custom made drum grooves and bass/ I use Ableton- and can mix and master in real time.. CPU usage is about 30% - Cost of setup is ZOOM interface , Beelink server, portable screen - all up about 350$ - these IR response profiles are a game changer- the beauty is I can have many amp tones for the different material - ie coiuntry chicken pickin , blues fender tweed etc etc

[@stevenkambach]

That sounds like an awesome setup 👍 I think more rigs like that are the future. Imagine a whole tour just having their rigs on one laptop. Lots of potential

[@simpsimpson5175]

@@stevenkambach An interesting video to do would be showing how to set up a rig on a budget.. A zoom interface.. A beelink server PC and a portable 15" flat screen all up probably 350$.. Im using a 300 w amiya class D power amp. 120$ .. then a monitor.. lets call it at 650$ usd and one has access to every amp and configuration ever made. Its a game changer

[@stevenkambach]

I have done a video like that, but it is not my area of expertise. If there is enough demand I'd talk about it but others could do it better 👍

[@johndyer280]

So confused as to how our input in is meant to be. So are cranking interface input to just below clipping, finding out how much we increased in dB to get to just below clipping, then reduce that amount of db in the amp sim input, then roll back interface input to zero?

[@stevenkambach]

I'd recommend just using your ears and going with what sounds good 🙏 there are tons of opinions on that subject. I don't even think about it anymore

[@johndyer280]

@stevenkambach problem is I've never had the chance to play these amps. So using my ears to recreate something I don't know

[@stevenkambach]

I can't help you then. Good luck 👍

[@dillpereira250]

Tonocracy also allows you to use two profiles in parallel, I believe it is the only one that allows this with NAM profiles. I can only remember amplitube that allows you to use Tonex models in parallel

[@stevenkambach]

I believe you are correct. I never run my guitar in stereo or parallel, but I should have shown that 👍

[@BrunodeSouzaLino]

Genome can also do that.

[@dillpereira250]

@@BrunodeSouzaLino I didn't know that. Good to know and thanks for the info!

[@dillpereira250]

@@stevenkambach In stereo can be good for solos or guitar streams, but even mono guitar can benefit from paralel setups because you can blend different amps to get huge tones. Sometimes it can sound phasy but when works it's really cool

[@hardddie]

nam isn't working for me. i tried using asio and selecting my behringer audio interface, no sound. i tried using voicemeeter inputs, no sound again. tried with directsound again, and no sound. it's not even that there's no loopback/i'm not able to hear it but in the graphs it doesn't detect the audio at all. but the thing is that i do hear the sound and see volume graphs in voicemeeter when i monitor from there. i tried different softwares (nam, guitar rig 7, tonacracy) i don't know why but NONE of them picks up the sound from behringer or voicemeeter. audacity picks it up, voicemeeter picks it up but these programs don't. i feel so stuck and have no idea what to do like i literally just want to set up some fx's pedals whatever and just play but no amp simulators ever work. edit: reaper also doesn't pick it up. forgot to mention that one.

[@stevenkambach]

Do you have the correct driver for the interface? If you are not getting signal to your computer, then it doesn't matter what plugin it is. I'd look into setting the interface up and if you get stuck, reach out to the tech support for the interface. Good luck 🙏

[@Gefus]

quick question, i’m fairly new to this and was wondering if i would be able to use these plugins and some of their profiles (and my own custom presets) in songs that i would put on music platforms such as spotify, apple music, etc. I’m not really sure of all the constraints with this when it comes to releasing music since i can use these profiles for free 😅

[@stevenkambach]

Yep. No copyright on tones 👍

[@MaximusAdonicus]

Cool quick overview! But I wish u got a better mic 'cos it sounds like one of those grey pc-mics from the 90's! 😄😭

[@stevenkambach]

My bad 🙏

[@azschrreff]

1ST 🎉❤

[@stevenkambach]

BRO YOU ARE THE BEST 🏆 🏆 🏆 🏆 🏆 🏆

[@azschrreff]

​@@stevenkambachI APPRECIATE IT MORE COMING FROM U TEACHER ❤

[@stevenkambach]

🙏

[@gffg387]

Genome is the best one

[@farko63]

NAM Universal : for me the plugin amp destroyer

[@stevenkambach]

Done 👍

[@yoadmaimon2007]

you forgot to mention that you can do capturing with tononcracy like the process of capturing with tonex, only a lot better, almost as better as profiling with NAM

[@stevenkambach]

👍

[@romanwestenholtz4396]

Genome is or was free if you have purchased anything from Two Notes and is an awesome way to go- great vid but I was expecting your opinion now you left it all up to my ears...damn you! lol

[@BrunodeSouzaLino]

Genome can also load AIDA-X and Proteus profiles.

[@stevenkambach]

Oh snap! That is cool. Any real differences between the profile types?

[@lostinpa-dadenduro7555]

I have Genome. I like it a lot. They keep making updates and have optional amps and effects you can buy if you want. But the original package with ability to load NAM profiles and IRs easily is sweet, plus a lot of built in effects.

[@BrunodeSouzaLino]

@@stevenkambach There are some technical differences but nothing too major imo. Some of the bundled impulses that comes with Genome are nam profiles while others are aida-x.

[@fasgamboa]

Could you talk about profile X IR roles?

[@stevenkambach]

Do you mean what are profiles and what are IRs? A profile is basically a snapshot of an amp at a moment in time with whatever settings it was captured with. An IR is basically the snapshot of the cab, speaker, mic, and post processing part of the signal chain. Did that answer your question?

[@fasgamboa]

@@stevenkambach I guess id did, so the profile is not the amp in general. Meaning, if it was recorded with bass 3 mid 6 treble 8, thats it? So I am changing the bass of whatever bass is left of that 3, and not "from 0"?

[@stevenkambach]

You are not adjusting the amps eq at all. The profile is just that moment in time settings wise. Any eq is before or after the profile.

[@DaemonPredator]

The problem of Tonocrasy is the output is mono. The Audio Assault's option is far better, better if you have cab collections and pedals, also has a bunch for free, and is stereo output.

[@stevenkambach]

You can do stereo out on Tonocracy. You can do whole stereo signal chains in there 👍

[@DaemonPredator]

@@stevenkambach I'm lazy and never read the help, I've only toyed with it, thanks for the tip. Still, I think Amploker is better and worth it the 5 bucks.

[@stevenkambach]

You do you 👍 there is no wrong way

[@Hexspa]

MXXX and MGuitarArchitect have nam too

[@stevenkambach]

Oh snap! Thanks for sharing 🙏

[@zakklee2556]

Your HP with 16g ram runs all these NAM plug-ins at what CPU usage ? I have an HP i5 processor 8gig ram solid state drive. Inorder to run NAM in stereo out with max 3 effects at once, a stereo audio track in 16bit 48khz and a MIDI track to automate different NAM profiles would it need 16 gig ram? thanks in advance.

[@stevenkambach]

I have no idea, I'd have to actually check. I usually have OBS running and recording as well. It can get choppy sometimes

[@jaylee1902]

Hello steven, i watch your videos anytime you post something new and i appreciate your help, so i wonder if you can help me cause im struggling a lot with my cpu on my mac mini late 14. I used the NAM and the NAM universal and i still have always the same problem with cpu overload on logic pro x. how can i do it? thanks in advance also cheers from italy!

[@stevenkambach]

Cpu overload means you have too much running for your computer. So you either have to lighten the load, or use something else. If you have a lot of plugins running in your project, I'd recommend freezing all of the tracks except for the one you are recording on so it deactivates all those plugins and frees up some cpu. Not much else to do really. If you have background stuff running, turn that off. Anything to lighten the cpu load is really the only way to help without upgrading

[@jaylee1902]

@@stevenkambach thank you so much, i've also audio assault as guitar plugin, and when i use it, it never give me the system overload alert, i wish that i could use that as an alternative to nam etc... but i don't know if it can give me the same problems and waste some dollars...

[@stevenkambach]

If Amp Locker runs fine in demo mode, it should be good after buying the NAM Player. It's the same thing, except without the audio cutting out every 45 ish seconds

[@TheSPY1997]

Amp locker is great even just for the free Prestige model. One of the most fun to play Plexi type amp sims I've tried. Their other amp sims I've tried are mostly very good too

[@stevenkambach]

Yes! Everything I've tried by AA is great. The Klank bass preamp (not in amp locker yet) is my go-to for heavy bass tones 👍

[@TheMack]

Totally agree. The Prestige has a great feel and is very responsive. Slap in an OD pedal in front and it can rock hard as well :)

[@klotzamplification9142]

Thats correct, the free Prestige amp sounds good at it self but with any of the Klotz pedals it sounds amazing :D

[@garethde-witt6433]

None of them work for me, yes they sound close but nothing is better than a real amp and speaker combination

[@stevenkambach]

Then don't use them 👍

[@simpsimpson5175]

Incorrect - these profiles are indistinguishable from the real thing.. you probably have a garbage PA -

[@alvarogvdltgarcia52]

The sound isnt close, is EXACTLY the same

[@juanrogelrodriguez8285]

Me gustan los videos que tengan buen ritmo,pero tu hablas demasiado demasiado rapido.Por supuesto gracias por tu trabajo e interesante contenido

[@stevenkambach]

Kk. Feel free to not watch 👍

[@juanrogelrodriguez8285]

@@stevenkambach jajajajaj Genial!.Lo hare 😉,seguire mirando,me interesa tu trabajo