ILL SEA MANUALS / noamp

# NoAMPthe No Amp NAM Loader · look ma, NoAMP!

Windows 64-bit VST3 + standalone offline license

Your whole rig in one window — everything but the amp. NoAMP loads NAM captures (and cab IRs) into a full pedalboard: tuner, compressor, wah, chorus, phaser, delay, spring reverb, looper. Simple knobs (NORM) or every screw exposed (NERD) on each module.

## Quick start

1. Install. Close your DAW. Copy `NoAMP.vst3` (and any `Modules\` VST3s you want) into `C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3`. Put `NoAMP.exe` anywhere and double-click it to play without a DAW — first run, pick your audio device and input. Rescan plugins in your DAW.
2. Get amps — the whole point. NoAMP plays `.nam` files: amp captures made with Neural Amp Modeler, the open-source project by Steven Atkinson. Thousands are free: tone3000.com (huge library — filter by amp type and gain) and tonehunt.org (community captures). Make a folder like `Documents\NAMs` and download a few.
3. Load an amp. Click Choose .nam on amp slot A and pick a capture. The ◀ ▶ arrows step through every .nam in that folder — audition a whole pack hands-free (they're MIDI-learnable). Load a second capture on slot B and pan the pair wide if you want a doubled rig.
4. Load dirt the same way. Each amp's Color slot takes a drive/fuzz/boost capture IN FRONT of that amp — click its Choose .nam, pick an overdrive or fuzz capture from the same sites (tone3000 has categories for pedals too). Color + amp captures stack exactly like a pedal into an amp.
5. Optional cab. Click IR and load a cabinet impulse response (`.wav`) — many capture packs include them. Skip it if your capture is a full-rig (amp+cab) capture.
6. License. Click the amber LICENSE banner in the header → Load license file... → pick your `noamp.illsea-license` (from your purchase or free trial at illsea.com). It sticks forever, fully offline. Unlicensed, NoAMP still plays 10 minutes of full audio per session.

## The signal chain

`TUNER › SQUATCH › WAH › CHORUS › HAZE › YOUR .NAM A ‖ YOUR .NAM B › ELECTRONICS › LAYERZ › SPRING › LOOPER › OUT`

Every module has its own page: tuner, compressor, wah, chorus, phaser, delay, reverb, looper.

## The header

Control | What it does
--- | ---
IN knob + meter | Input trim (−24..+24 dB) — the very first stage. Aim the IN meter comfortably below the top.
OUT knob + meter | Master volume; the meter reads AFTER the safety limiter. A solid RED CAP growing down from the top = the limiter is working — back off OUT (or amp Levels) until it disappears.
ENGINE | CPU/quality tier, global (default High). Remembered across sessions; presets never change it.
BPM + SYNC | One global tempo for everything synced (delay, phaser, freeze windows, looper grid). SYNC on = follow the DAW when one is rolling; otherwise the BPM knob rules. The knob greys only while a DAW is actually supplying tempo.
PRESET bar | Browse folders, ◀ ▶ step (MIDI-learnable), Save, Export/Import. NoAMP ships no factory presets — no amps, no pretending. Park your own.
SKIN | Load a classic Winamp `.wsz` skin (yours — none bundled). The bottom scope becomes the skin's own EQ windows.
LICENSE | License status + Load license file. See Quick start step 6.

## NORM vs NERD

Every module has two faces; the little mode button shows the one you're ON — NORM = the simple view, NERD = every screw exposed. Click to flip. ELECTRONICS in NORM is just four knobs (Grit = transformer iron + supply sag, Air = presence + sheen + glow, Depth, Shush = noise filter); NERD opens the discrete six, amp coupling, gate Key-HPF, Couple Bite and the Raw Lvls switch.

## Capture leveling (why nothing clips)

Every capture you load is leveled to a common loudness AND capped so its peaks stay clear of the output limiter; dual-amp patches auto-duck −3 dB per amp so their sum stays clean. Prefer raw, untouched capture levels? Flip ELECTRONICS to NERD and hit Raw Lvls — global, remembered, never changed by presets. Fair warning: raw capture levels vary wildly (up to ~29 dB between files).

## Private FX — they're exclusive

Checking an effect (Verb/Dly/Cho/Phs/Wah) private on an amp CLAIMS it: that amp gets the effect and the other path loses it entirely — one engine runs, so private costs no extra CPU. Claim the same effect on both amps and each gets its own.

## Loading + clearing

Any Choose .nam button (amp or Color) and the IR button become a menu once something is loaded: Load new... replaces it, Clear fully unloads it.

## Memory

The standalone reopens at the exact window size + position you left it. Every file chooser (NAM, IR, skin, preset) starts in the folder it last loaded from. Your MIDI map persists machine-wide.

## MIDI

Right-click ANY knob, fader, module switch, preset ◀ ▶, Freeze, or SYNC → MIDI Learn, then move a controller — the next CC binds. Clear mapping / Clear ALL mappings undo it. Where learn works (and the Ableton way): see tips. If your MIDI stomp device randomly stops responding until you replug it, that's Windows putting USB to sleep — fix in tips.

## Specs, tersely

Amps | 2 × NAM capture slots (WaveNet/LSTM .nam files), folder stepping, click-free swaps mid-note
Dirt | 2 × Color capture slots (pre-amp), physically-motivated dirt↔amp coupling stage w/ ADAA
Cabs | 2 × IR loaders (.wav, any length), partitioned convolution
Leveling | −18 dBFS average target, peak-capped ≤ −8 dBFS, dual-amp −3 dB comp, defeatable
Output | always-on transparent brick-wall safety limiter, post-limiter metering w/ GR readout
Tempo | one global BPM: host-sync or manual; drives delay, phaser, freeze windows, looper grid
License | offline Ed25519-signed file; zero network code in the plugin, ever
Formats | VST3 + standalone exe, Windows 64-bit, 44.1/48 kHz tested, signed by ILL SEA LLC

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