Dimehead NAM Player

[Mongillo19]

That's looking incredibly tiny. Not exactly made for live stomping...

Eh people use the HX stomp with no issue. Hard to say for certain until you actually use it I think.

 

[Sascha Franck]

Eh people use the HX stomp with no issue. Hard to say for certain until you actually use it I think.

It looks as if it'd be no wider than the Stomp. But there's 4 switches instead of 3.

 

[Mongillo19]

It looks as if it'd be no wider than the Stomp. But there's 4 switches instead of 3.

Honestly not sure. Looks slightly bigger to me than the stomp.

Again, I think we need to hold off until we learn more about the measurements of the unit before claiming it to be too cramped or small. We truly have no idea.

 

[Dom Mcsweeney]

That's looking incredibly tiny. Not exactly made for live stomping...

From one of the comments on their previous facebook posts:

7.4 inches x 4.72 inches x 2.16 inches (188 mm x 120 mm x 56 mm) ... *including knobs.
Also, midi input means a midi controller/switcher can be used if a better arrangement is required.

 

[Sascha Franck]

188 mm

That's around 2cm more than the Stomp. As said, these Footswitches are extremely close to each other.

Also, midi input means a midi controller/switcher can be used if a better arrangement is required.

Why not start with a decent size?

But then, well, as usual, ergonomic aspects are largely ignored anyway (similar with that St. Rock Amperium thing) Non-endless pots on digital units are making zero sense, either. Already told them on FB, they don't care.
And well, actually, that's a pity.

 

[Dom Mcsweeney]

That's around 2cm more than the Stomp. As said, these Footswitches are extremely close to each other.



Why not start with a decent size?

But then, well, as usual, ergonomic aspects are largely ignored anyway (similar with that St. Rock Amperium thing) Non-endless pots on digital units are making zero sense, either. Already told them on FB, they don't care.
And well, actually, that's a pity.

what is a decent size in your opinion?
and what are the pros and cons of 'non-endless' pots?

 

[Mongillo19]

Already told them on FB, they don't care

Cant please everyone, unfortunately. At the end of the day the maker of the unit has final say no matter how much you bring it up.

You need to decide if it's a deal breaker for you personally.

I'm sure they "care" but if they made it bigger some would be messaging them "why did you make the unit so big???".

 

[Sascha Franck]

what is a decent size in your opinion?

One that averagely sized feet can comfortably stomp on without much chances to hit the wrong switch or two switches at the same time.

and what are the pros and cons of 'non-endless' pots?

There's zero pros.
The cons are that the pots never represent the actual parameter value when you switch patches. And once you move them, there's either parameter jumps or parameter "catch ups", neither of them being desirable.
The solution is endless knobs with parameter readouts (ideally as nicely visible LED rings but on-screen such as on the Stomp is ok, too).

At the end of the day the maker of the unit has final say no matter how much you bring it up.

Sure. And at the end of the day, he will sell very little units. Such as St. Rock.

 

[Mongillo19]

Sure. And at the end of the day, he will sell very little units. Such as St. Rock.

I'll put out the memo that companies need to clear ideas and product specs by you before launch.

I've seen you do this before with any product that doesn't meet your "requirements". It's hilarious too because of all the reasons for this product to fail, I highly doubt the size is going to be the reason.

But you tend to choose weird hills to die on with products and expect companies to bend over backwards or treat your "suggestions" as gospel.

Anyway. Hope Dimehead succeeds and it seems to be a decent entry into the NAM player world. We will have to wait and see what happens.

 

[Sascha Franck]

I'll put out the memo that companies need to clear ideas and product specs by you before launch.

Great. I'm all in.

I've seen you do this before with any product that doesn't meet your "requirements". It's hilarious too because of all the reasons for this product to fail, I highly doubt the size is going to be the reason.

Which products exactly? And has the St. Rock thing been a great success?

 

[Dom Mcsweeney]

To be fair, most people opt for a midi switcher when needing more precise control and running pedal boards. They aren't too much extra, but they sure do save you time in conversations like this!

 

[Sascha Franck]

To be fair, most people opt for a midi switcher when needing more precise control and running pedal boards.

No. I do, but many people don't (in fact, my current board has a loop switcher but no MIDI - for my board proper onboard switches are still very important). Look into the "show your pedalboard" threads here and elsewhere (for example on Gearspace).
Besides, in that case, the switches go wasted, the space they need, too.

They aren't too much extra, but they sure do save you time in conversations like this!

I'm a very experienced live player. So I'm pointing out things relevant for live playing. People making these pedals could take live players' advices (I mean, it's not as if I was the only one noticing several things) to improve their products.

 

[pipelineaudio]

Just give me a tiny box with midi in please! I don’t need a bunch of switches. It’ll be run with my helix

 

[Sascha Franck]

In my mind one day (soon) there will be an industry standard for ampcaptures, like there is for cabs

Yeah, I'd pretty much place a bet on that as well. Whether people really need it, they just want it, so they won't stop asking their favourite brand's developers to add it. Especially the biggest market, namely home dwellers (maybe playing out 1-2 times a year, if at all), traditionally is full of people who can't have enough amps - just look at the most common feature requests. It's amps, amps and amps. Then maybe a dirt pedal and then amps. IMO also one of the reasons the Boss units see so little love, there's just not enough amps for home noodling.
I'd actually love all companies to add capture support. Maybe they could free up some manpower to focus on other things.

 

[laxu]

I fear they have a big challenge to make this a succes.

At this pricepoint they may offer the best digital amp capture (to some)…but the competition has good enough” / ”don’t hear no difference” versions (to many)…in matured eco systems with efx/utilities/bladibladibla..

I think this is true for amp modeling in general. I'm sure many in the future will opt for something cheap because captures sound good enough and if you don't like what you get, instead of learning how to adjust an amp you just pick another capture.

Which is IMO an unfortunate direction, but most people are not amp experts and just want "sounds like <my favorite band>" type sounds.

And…I expect the big boys to be very aware of the potential of nam to become the industry standard across brands…and i wouldnt be surprised they have code on the shelf already…ready to integrate that into their platform as soon as that boat sails. I’d give nam the best cards atm, cause integrating something open source…is much more appealing then integrating a competitors format.
Then we are looking at GT cores/l6stomps/ampero/kemper player with nam player capabilities ..at simular price.

As a counterpoint, companies like being in control. They don't want to have to support NAM 1.2.3 changing something so that new captures are no longer compatible with the hardware for some reason.

I do agree that a standard format would be good because it takes a lot of development effort away because you no longer have to grow your library as people make more captures, but can just tap into a vast existing one. The drawback is that you have to sell your device on something other than how it sounds because it will be the same as device X from competitor Y.

 

[JCW308]

Who ever did that has BBC documentary voice over qualities !

I believe it's text to speech AI.

 

[Sascha Franck]

then text to speech has come a long way

Most defenitely. All things AI have. A scaringly long way even. Skynet is almost reality - and in case you have some years on earth left (which I hope for all of us), you'll be witnessing it. Maybe not as a literal copy from Terminator but along the lines.

 

[Antipodes]

Hahaha, if that was me it would probably sound very different, and definitely more human...
I think that's an Australian style A.I. voice?

Nope. Very plummy pomglish with a few stray americanisms.

 

[Sedaxel]

I love the idea behind this hardware, seriously.

But I just can't see it succeeding. In my opinion, this is obsolete even before it's born.

I can't see utility for an amp in a box pedal (which this is) in a size larger than a mini pedal.

And then the price... Well, obviously it's really difficult (or impossible, maybe) to make a pedal like that for cheap, being such a small company.

In no time, capturing will be on every multifx unit. Maybe not the full NAM accuracy, yeah. At least for now. In a couple years, this pedal will be unused. Atomic will come with a multifx with their capturing, IK is about to launch a mini ToneX, kemper has the player (yeah, accuracy is shit and blabla... But you can gig with just that box, effects and whatnot), a DualCortex is said to be coming too, Line6 will do something (they better do), I bet Boss or Zoom too, Mooer have their own capturing in pedals from €100 up...

Love the idea of sharing fantastic free technology and selling a good unit for playing it, and I wish they have a great time with their adventure... But it just can't succeed. Too many pro companies making great and cheap alternatives, with mature platforms and no (or just a few) youth issues.

 

[Sascha Franck]

Fwiw, with a latency of 0.5ms (which is incredible) and an onboard IR loader suitable even for really long IRs, they should've added an FX loop.
Also, in case the IR reverb is working smoothly, they could build a dedicated unit around that functionality.