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 license chip at the top left (next to Options) → Load license file... → pick your `noamp.illsea-license` (from your purchase or free trial at illsea.com). It sticks forever, fully offline, and every future update to NoAMP and its modules is free with it. 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.
Options | Top-left chip: the Skin menu lives here, load a classic Winamp `.wsz` (the bottom scope becomes the skin's own EQ windows) or unload back to the Illthy look, plus links.
License chip | Right next to Options: shows LICENSED / TRIAL (days left) / DEMO time. Click it to load a 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.

## Updates, free, forever

Your license covers every future version of NoAMP and every module in the zip. When an update ships, grab the new zip from your permanent license-email links (or illsea.com), install over the old one, done, the same license file keeps working. Nothing more to buy, ever.

## 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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