IRs and NAMs - making sense of it all

[Keith Parker]

For what it’s worth, I’m very new on the PSG tone journey. I am interested in trying to find a good(ish) sounding setup that doesn’t require a second mortgage or an Olympic weightlifter to move my gear. I haven’t purchased anything mentioned below yet. This is my research and I thought it might be beneficial to the community. Please feel free to correct me if I’m wrong!

Impulse Response (IR): a digital file that captures a snapshot of the way a microphone captures mainly the speaker cabinet response but can accurately capture an amp driving a cabinet. This can vary widely based on microphone type, placement, etc. Essentially, this is a picture of the entire signal chain including the mic and placement. (This is also really good at capturing combo amps)

Neural Amp Model (NAM): a digital file that uses AI to capture the essence of the amp (or signal chain). Essentially, this is creating a digital model of how the amp (or effects, or chain…) works (not how it sounds). This is really good at capturing amps, non-time based effects pedals, preamps, and so on. Once you capture the audio file, you have to “train” the model using special software before you can load it into your pedal. (www.tone3000.com)

ToneX specifically only works with IR’s. You can create a preset with an amp, cab, mic, and placement to get a very accurate sound of that specific set up.

GP-5, SONICAKE Pocket Master, and other NAM loaders – allow you to pick NAM models of preamps, amps, effects, and cabinets and create an entire signal chain.
Note: Hotone (of Amazon fame) is a parent company and owns SONICAKE (mainly entry level), Valeton (more mid-level), and Hotone (their higher end).
Most of these NAM/IR pedals will only let you use one model type at a time. Meaning you can’t use an NAM amp model, into an IR modeled cab in the same pedal. (you can use an amp and effects NAM in one pedal and then go to an IR cab in a different pedal – like the SONICAKE IR Pedal Speaker Cabinet Simulator…which also has a XLR out).

Steel specific models – Joe Rogers is the undisputed expert when it comes to steel-specific IR’s. Brian Spratt has a few on his website as well. (www.thepedalstop.net)
To my knowledge to date – there aren’t very many (if any) steel specific NAMs. There are a whole bunch of amp, amp+cab, and combo’s. so maybe one of these will work?
As I said earlier, I’m just getting started in this whole tone-chasing part of my journey. I don’t have a dog in the fight – so I’m not advocating for any company, platform, or ecosystem. But, I do think it’s pretty awesome that for a minimum investment (between $60-$200) you can have access to a whole bunch of virtual gear that would be unavailable to all but the most elite player or lottery winner (and it’ll fit in your steel seat!).

[Brad Sarno]

Joe Roger's Tonex captures are really well made. What's fun and funny for me is the past few months I've been using the little Tonex One loaded with two amp models. One is for pedal steel and it's Joe's capture of my Octal Revelation Tube Preamp that I built. It really sounds good and has proven to be quite gig-worthy. Then I toggle over to a guitar amp tone when I grab a 6-string electric.

I know he has a lot more amps that people rave about. Joe really knows how to properly capture, and it's tricky business. A Tonex with Joe's amp models make it a super viable option for us pedal steelers.

I also have the Valeton GP-5. Functionally it has some advantages as the phone app can live-control everything going on in there as you perform. It takes the NAM files easily (but won't separate cab from amp model in that case). It has good sounding preset amps and cabs. The effects are pretty good, and you can save a bunch of presets and scroll thru them as needed, nice digital readout screen on front. It's a cool solution and so cheap. But so far, to my ears, I'm feeling the Tonex a little bit more, something feels more natural and realistic with Tonex. It's not drastic, GP5 is impressive, but still I'm not sold on it regarding pure tone and feel.

I'm still new at these things, so I'm sure my take will morph over time.

B

[Keith Parker]

That is great information! Thank you!

[Tim Toberer]

I also have the Valeton GP-5. Functionally it has some advantages as the phone app can live-control everything going on in there as you perform. It takes the NAM files easily (but won't separate cab from amp model in that case). It has good sounding preset amps and cabs. The effects are pretty good, and you can save a bunch of presets and scroll thru them as needed, nice digital readout screen on front. It's a cool solution and so cheap. But so far, to my ears, I'm feeling the Tonex a little bit more, something feels more natural and realistic with Tonex. It's not drastic, GP5 is impressive, but still I'm not sold on it regarding pure tone and feel.



B

I am surprised there hasn't been more discussion of the GP-5. I really love this little unit, but completely agree with this review. I don't have a Tonex so I can't compare, but I watched a couple reviews and I think the biggest difference is latency. The ToneX is better not surprising cause it costs twice as much. I don't really notice the latency on steel, but I do notice it on guitar, especially when playing quietly by myself right next to my amp. It is not bad at all but still slightly noticeable.

Despite this, I highly recommend the GP-5 mostly because of the amazing app and incredibly small size. It is also cheap and seems to be very well built. As far as IR's and NAM's go, I don't really see them as necessary. I like the option I guess! I haven't used any yet, but the stock sounds of this unit are really good.

[Larry Dering]

Tim good review of the GP-5. I picked up the Pocket Master on a whim to try and it's pretty decent too. Makes a slick little headphone type practice tool and has a phone app that also works well. Since I have the big Tonex pedal I spend a lot of time with it.
Brad, I like the Tonex review and your testing the GP-5. I need to pick up some of Joes captures to enhance my Tonex experience. I might grab a GP-5 for a simpler tiny rig. I hope the steel guitar forum members continue to post their findings and use of the digital world of amp modeling.