NAM: Neural Amp Modeler

[2dor]

To capture a J Rockett Archer I’ve had to capture it at 20.4dBu.

I have the "Jeff Beck" one & I absolutely love it but man... with the Treble cranked, Gain at 2 and Output higher than 2 o'clock it can clip a 19 dBu input. That pedal's insane - so is the Fortin Grind.

 

[MirrorProfiles]

I have the "Jeff Beck" one & I absolutely love it but man... with the Treble cranked, Gain at 2 and Output higher than 2 o'clock it can clip a 19 dBu input. That pedal's insane - so is the Fortin Grind.

Ha yeah; there’s some pedals that definitely benefit from a pad and a lot of headroom to capture! Or you could measure how much level they add at max, and then factor in the difference with your return metadata. Any of the TC Integrated Preamp circuit based pedals are another level of insane, must be more level than you can get out of a single 12ax7

 

[bikescene]

A calibrated set of captures for a TC Integrated Preamp would be a worthwhile application for NAM.

 

[Chocol8]

it can clip a 19 dBu input. That pedal's insane

That's not insane in an analog tube world where an amp input can handle a huge range of levels that no A to D conversion can. That's the problem with trying to port gain and boost pedals into a digital world.

 

[MirrorProfiles]

That's not insane in an analog tube world where an amp input can handle a huge range of levels that no A to D conversion can. That's the problem with trying to port gain and boost pedals into a digital world.

Handle is a kind of loose term, it’s more that we like the result of how it craps itself when tons of level is driven through it. If we were to make them equal, you’d only count the range of the amp where it stays linear.

A/D can handle it but you just have to pad/attenuate accordingly before.

 

[Chocol8]

Handle is a kind of loose term, it’s more that we like the result of how it craps itself when tons of level is driven through it. If we were to make them equal, you’d only count the range of the amp where it stays linear.

A/D can handle it but you just have to pad/attenuate accordingly before.

Yes, obviously a tube input stage can "handle" a tremendous amount of voltage without the magic smoke being released and this is only relevant because many of us don't mind or even like the sound of it clipping. We mostly don't like the sound of a digital converter clipping.

Padding and attention is problematic if you are trying to model the behavior of a system with and without the boost dynamically. Sure you could set up a rig where kicking on a boost also engages a pad, then adjusts the digital level of the amp so it sees the input get relatively stronger despite the pad, and also adds some boost at the output to correct for the change to the amp block level...etc.

We need more bits!

 

[MirrorProfiles]

Sure you could set up a rig where kicking on a boost also engages a pad, then adjusts the digital level of the amp so it sees the input get relatively stronger despite the pad, and also adds some boost at the output to correct for the change to the amp block level...etc.

Or you could just use 2 input channels….

IMO things like the TC integrated preamp are kind of an edge case - it’s an actual preamp+eq which was never really intended to go before an A/D. Situations where you’d have to record the output of it, while being able to switch to a DI on a single channel are even more fringe. Easy enough to solve without being plug in and go situations. I’m not even sure that circuit is really adding much grit itself - it’s just a powerful eq and a lot of level from what I remember.

I suppose it could be fun to do some models using mic preamps with calibration and we could have 80dB of Neve gain in a plugin. TC IP has made a bit of a reputation for something you’d run into a guitar amp but I’d imagine most cases of using preamp, the preamp itself would be where the sound is made (rather than a shaping tool). Like Beatles Revolution etc