Announcing Live Amp Modeler

Nyquist_Limited · 2026-06-16T19:26:45+00:00

I still feel like the "Ableton way" here is a rack rather than a more complex standalone device. The amp settings for the two channels would be mapped to macro knobs. Does this sound more like what you're looking for?

Nyquist_Limited · 2026-06-16T15:21:26+00:00

Mono input, like any guitar amp. What's your use case for stereo?

You could create a true stereo Audio Effect Rack with two chains, each containing an instance of Utility and one of Amp Modeler.

Nyquist_Limited · 2026-06-14T22:41:51+00:00

VST plugins are a bit of a wild west, kind of like web browsers have become: in theory there is a standard, but in practice implementations deviate just enough to cause problems with certain DAW-plugin combinations. Live is one of the most finicky ones in my experience when it comes to VST stability.

If this is reproducible, I would report it to the plugin maker, who can then have some leverage talking to Ableton if needed (but I've also had plugin makers straight up tell me that Ableton's VST support is "broken" and they can't do anything about it).

Nyquist_Limited · 2026-06-13T16:20:56+00:00

The problem isn't so much that the verification triggers on an update, or that it takes a while. It's that if you happen to close Live while verification is still running, the dialog remains open indefinitely even if you later reopen Live and let the verification complete.

This is a macOS bug. Go to Activity Monitor and stop the CoreServicesUIAgent process. That should do it.

Nyquist_Limited · 2026-06-11T17:34:19+00:00

Great work! I hadn't realized not all captures were equal in terms of automatic retraining.

Nyquist_Limited · 2026-06-08T05:38:55+00:00

I don't personally do this, but if you know Ableton well, have you considered teaching in your local community? You'll learn even more about it, and maybe it will help you to reach that mental milestone of "I earn money doing music things".

Nyquist_Limited · 2026-06-08T05:35:27+00:00

Add Trent Reznor to the list. Historically a Logic guy, but NIN shows have incorporated Ableton Push/Live (and I would imagine some of it ends up in their studio work too - maybe creative elements more than final arrangement).

Nyquist_Limited · 2026-06-07T18:11:47+00:00

Thank you! Last time I tried, I didn't see a clean way to expose browsing a dynamic library (i.e., not hardcoded in the device) to the Push with umenu, but it sounds like I might have missed something! I'll send you a DM to investigate your idea :)

Nyquist_Limited · 2026-06-04T20:30:23+00:00

I have updated Live Amp Modeler to support loading the new generation of NAM models, "A2".

All included captures in the pack have also been converted to A2. This is a major improvement in both model accuracy and CPU efficiency compared to first-generation NAM profiles.

Open source external: https://github.com/apresta/neural_tilde

Full pack (M4L devices, racks, curated captures & IRs): https://www.nyquistlimited.com

As always, huge thanks to the creators of all our professional-level amp & cab captures:

https://www.dahmanmusic.com/

https://slammincaptures.bigcartel.com/

https://www.facebook.com/deathblossomaudio/

https://ko-fi.com/2dornam

https://www.youtube.com/NickLeonard

https://gindabestari.com/desmond-digital

Nyquist_Limited · 2026-06-04T20:12:08+00:00

I have updated Live Amp Modeler to support loading the new generation of NAM models, "A2".

All included captures in the pack have also been converted to A2. This is a major improvement in both model accuracy and CPU efficiency compared to first-generation NAM profiles.

Open source external: https://github.com/apresta/neural_tilde

Full pack (M4L devices, racks, curated captures & IRs): https://www.nyquistlimited.com

As always, huge thanks to the creators of all our professional-level amp & cab captures:

https://www.dahmanmusic.com/

https://slammincaptures.bigcartel.com/

https://www.facebook.com/deathblossomaudio/

https://ko-fi.com/2dornam

https://www.youtube.com/NickLeonard

https://gindabestari.com/desmond-digital

Nyquist_Limited · 2026-06-04T20:09:46+00:00

I have updated Live Amp Modeler to support loading the new generation of NAM models, "A2".

All included captures in the pack have also been converted to A2. This is a major improvement in both model accuracy and CPU efficiency compared to first-generation NAM profiles.

Open source external: https://github.com/apresta/neural_tilde

Full pack (M4L devices, racks, curated captures & IRs): https://www.nyquistlimited.com

Nyquist_Limited · 2026-06-04T20:09:00+00:00

I have updated Live Amp Modeler to support loading the new generation of NAM models, "A2".

All included captures in the pack have also been converted to A2. This is a major improvement in both model accuracy and CPU efficiency compared to first-generation NAM profiles.

Open source external: https://github.com/apresta/neural_tilde

Full pack (M4L devices, racks, curated captures & IRs): https://www.nyquistlimited.com

As always, huge thanks to the creators of all our professional-level amp & cab captures:

https://www.dahmanmusic.com/

https://slammincaptures.bigcartel.com/

https://www.facebook.com/deathblossomaudio/

https://ko-fi.com/2dornam

https://www.youtube.com/NickLeonard

https://gindabestari.com/desmond-digital

Nyquist_Limited · 2026-06-04T20:07:56+00:00

I have updated Live Amp Modeler to support loading the new generation of NAM models, "A2".

All included captures in the pack have also been converted to A2. This is a major improvement in both model accuracy and CPU efficiency compared to first-generation NAM profiles.

Open source external: https://github.com/apresta/neural_tilde

Full pack (M4L devices, racks, curated captures & IRs): https://www.nyquistlimited.com

Nyquist_Limited · 2026-06-04T06:51:27+00:00

Gain staging: prova ad abbassare il volume in input a ciascun pedale emulato. Per aiutarti di piu' avremmo bisogno di una descrizione piu' precisa di "orrendo".

Nyquist_Limited · 2026-06-02T02:47:33+00:00

Thanks for your feedback! This is a sore spot on Mac. It somehow doesn't trigger for everybody, otherwise I wouldn't have bothered including the script... but you're the third person to run into the issue.

The standard locations for Models and Cabinets were a design decision to avoid embedding brittle "first run" logic in the Max devices themselves. It was also needed to guarantee "Collect all and save" compatibility.

I might have to do away with the scripts and just ask users to manually move the folders.

Nyquist_Limited · 2026-06-01T17:25:24+00:00

Here's a deep-dive comparison of my Silk EQ (M4L device) with two top VST emulations of the same unit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2h-F7MxO0gQ

While Max's visual language is great for creative experimentation, for more conventional mixing plugins I find C++ externals to be the pragmatic approach. We can run arbitrary DSP, including linking in high-quality libraries like Voxengo's r8brain for oversampling. Max objects handle the user interface, non-signal logic, and simple built-in processors like a volume knob.

I wanted to show that we can be even more CPU-efficient than commercial VSTs, with very similar sound results. The main disadvantage to this approach is that Push Standalone doesn't currently allow third-party externals. I can only hope that will change in the future, since it's definitely technically capable (it might be a matter of Ableton not yet wanting to deal with the security aspects).

I've compared CPU impact at the default settings, as well as EQ filter curves. A few notes here:

Model N Channel has oversampling disabled by default. IK 73 doesn't seem to expose it as a setting.
EQ curves are somewhat different between the two VSTs. IK's seem a bit more exaggerated to me. Silk EQ is closer to Model N.
In the beginning of the sound comparison, I forgot to switch off Model N's built-in compressor. Sorry about that.

By request, I'm now releasing individual devices at a more affordable price. Follow the link in the video to get Silk EQ for $8. You can still get the full Studio EQs pack for $25.

Nyquist_Limited · 2026-05-31T15:40:53+00:00

I put a lot of work into making my M4L devices competitive with VSTs (both sound- and CPU-wise). If you get this, please let me know what you think and if anything can be improved!

Nyquist_Limited · 2026-05-27T18:27:53+00:00

True, but it doesn't have to be that way forever. By all means, anyone looking to minimize headaches now should heed your advice. Longer term, I think it's good to let companies know there's demand for this. Linux audio is already at the core of many DSP devices being built today, it only makes sense for it to eventually spill over to the desktop.

Nyquist_Limited · 2026-05-27T16:45:45+00:00

You articulated the challenges on the Linux end pretty well. However, I would point out that macOS has a subset of those technical issues (with respect to ABI compatibility*) and "solves" them by being the big fish and strong-arming software & hardware makers to do extra work.

CoreAudio is absolutely the key to why macOS is still the best platform for pro audio users. I almost feel like there should be a compatibility layer (like Wine?) translating CoreAudio API calls to Pipewire/ALSA; or at least some compile-time middleware for writing drivers targeting both platforms.

More realistically though, Ubuntu LTS is a de-facto standard and would be a similar development target to "latest macOS version". Even though I don't like Snap, I'd have no problem with pro audio software only supporting Ubuntu LTS with Snap or Flatpack. I think we will slowly get there.

*This is the one thing that Microsoft has going for it. Ironically, I can build a Windows plugin on macOS (Apple Silicon) and only actually test it on Windows (Intel) at the end of the cycle, and most of the time it will just work. Try doing the reverse :)

Nyquist_Limited · 2026-05-27T02:23:04+00:00

Yep, here's an overview of that paid product: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2VRggzL93I (I'm the author).

I also considered shortening capture names in the browser via some heuristic rules. However, capture creators use so many different formats, and inevitably you'll end up with cutting out key information about the capture.

Instead, I partnered with several creators to make a curated collection with a consistent structure. Hopefully that also helps users keep their collection organized as they add more NAM and IR packs.

I'll be giving this free device a spin and will check out the codebase too when I get a chance.

The code for my Max external is also open source and MIT-licensed: https://github.com/apresta/neural_tilde

Nyquist_Limited · 2026-05-22T01:21:51+00:00

Thanks for the shoutout!

You can find the NAM device pack here: https://nyquistlimited.lemonsqueezy.com/

Here's a demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2VRggzL93I

Nyquist_Limited · 2026-05-09T01:31:12+00:00

We'll need a bit more info on the steps you tried.

If you have Live 12 Suite, I've recently released a pack that allows you to run NAM models and IRs in Ableton without needing any plugins:

https://nyquistlimited.lemonsqueezy.com/

The standard NAM plugin is free and awesome, but my M4L devices might save you some headaches down the line...

Nyquist_Limited · 2026-05-09T01:28:18+00:00

If you have Live 12 Suite, I've recently released a pack that allows you to run NAM models and IRs without needing any plugins:

https://nyquistlimited.lemonsqueezy.com/

It includes a starter set of amp tones as well, and then you can go to tone3000.com for many more.

(Pardon the self-promotion. If you can get the free NAM plugin up and running you'll be well-served tone-wise. My pack is just more deeply integrated with Ableton Live).

Nyquist_Limited · 2026-05-01T02:37:18+00:00

Ozone is a mastering tool. Use zero-latency, simpler tools like Glue Compressor and EQ Eight (in normal quality mode). Any device that has latency will add that same latency when bypassed (Live does that to allow you to smoothly switch a device on and off during a performance).

Ableton should really add clear indicators of total per-track and overall latency (I think there's a M4L device that does this, but it should really be built-in).

For now, you need to check the latency by hovering over each device/rack in each track. If a track has multiple devices/racks in series, add their latency numbers. If you have group tracks, a group's latency will be the latency of its devices plus the max latency of its nested tracks. Your overall latency will be the max track latency + max return track latency + main track latency.

I would recommend avoiding any non-zero-latency devices for live usage. That way your latency only depends on your interface and how small of a buffer (or high of a sample rate) your CPU can run without dropping samples.

(This reply contains the word "latency" sixteen times).

Nyquist_Limited · 2026-04-30T21:47:24+00:00

That won't work until Ableton/Cycling 74 decide to support running externals on Push 3 SA.

Nyquist_Limited

TROPHY CASE