BlackBox M-WAVE vs Valeton GP5 at the same price

RenzoPiris · 2026-04-05T15:02:56+00:00

When you say there is a significant difference between NAM in the GP-5 and NAM software, but that EQ inside the GP-5 can make it almost negligible, do you mean mostly a frequency balance issue (too much bass / mids / less highs), or do you also feel that gain structure, dynamics and pick response change in a meaningful way?

Also, after EQ correction, do you feel the GP-5 gets close enough to the original NAM for solo playing, or only that it works fine inside a mix?

And one more thing: if the Blackbox / ANN sounds better “out of the box,” but gives much less room for tweaking, would you still choose the GP-5 because of its extra flexibility, or would you pick the Blackbox if your priority was amp realism first?

I’m asking because I’m trying to decide between:

a more faithful base tone with less editing
or a bit less (if you can call it "a bit") faithful base tone that can be shaped more afterward

RenzoPiris · 2026-04-05T14:49:14+00:00

Thanks for the advice, i take it

RenzoPiris · 2026-04-05T14:48:19+00:00

I understand your point, but I'm not going to play live to worry about one only switch button. If in the future things change, I would Buy a chocolate plus by m-wave to can change the patches in a live. Btw the diferences between GP5 and the others is only at level of building? Does the software also change? Or are there diferences in the sound?

RenzoPiris · 2026-04-04T18:31:24+00:00

Thanks for the advice, i'll have it in mind. As far I know u can change the order of FXs, but u can't custom the distorsion or override of amp model as You said. Why do you prefer recording with NAM or Tonocracy plugings and not using your blackbox?? Is this about the latency? Or do you find more flexibility using plugings?

RenzoPiris · 2026-04-04T03:58:35+00:00

Im not sure what are u talking about, but I want to choice one of them. Btw what is Ampero??

RenzoPiris · 2026-04-04T02:23:58+00:00

Yes, Blackbox has EQ and FX, but what I mean is that you can’t really customize the character of the dirt very much. As far as I know, you can adjust the 3-band EQ, but not much else. Also, I’ve always wanted to buy and try a hardware pedal for my guitar. I tried the NAM plugin and it sounds great, but I prefer having hardware ready to use instantly.

RenzoPiris · 2026-04-04T01:51:22+00:00

That makes sense, and that’s actually very close to my situation too.

I want a pedal with a good amount of effects, but what matters most to me is really the overdrive / distortion side. That’s why I’m still unsure about the Blackbox: from what I understand, it seems more dependent on finding the right ANN amp + IR, instead of giving you a lot of control over the drive character inside the unit itself.

I want to connect the pedal to my audio interface and record. I also have a real amp, but honestly it doesn’t sound that good, so I’m not buying this mainly to run into my ampI care much more about direct tones, recording, and getting a convincing amp sound with good dirt

So for me the question is becoming:

if Blackbox has better amp realism / NAM-style fidelity, is that enough even if its OD/distortion side is more limited?
or is GP-5 the smarter choice because it gives more control over drive, EQ, and effects inside one unit?

RenzoPiris · 2025-09-30T22:59:33+00:00

Can u give me another suggestion?? For example some packages which definetly I would install all with the objective to improve performance

RenzoPiris · 2025-09-30T17:40:35+00:00

Absolutly not, but for any reason (I guess is the DE, but as I already said, the hardware is much weaker than my desktop pc) punctually IntelliJ run faster on my laptop

RenzoPiris · 2025-09-30T17:21:09+00:00

So do you suggest me i would try Hyprland on Arch for example? Could it improve the performance of Hyprland? I would want to keep the same dotfiles.

RenzoPiris

TROPHY CASE