Valeton GP-5: This NAM-playing Pedal Might Be the ToneX One Killer!
Less than 100 euros for a whole lot of features!
4,6 / 5,0 | 
This one caused quite a bit of buzz at NAMM, when Valeton showed it first. The Valeton GP-5 is the size of a ToneX One, includes a NAM loader, multi-effects, and a tuner, and it comes at a very affordable price.
From NAMM to NAM: Open-Source Amp Profiling for the Masses!
Every once in a while, new technologies sweep into music and music making and change the game. For guitars, it’s been amp profiling. But for years, it remained behind walled gardens of proprietary formats. Meaning, you can create a model for a Kemper or a Quad Core, but you can’t transfer it to any other amp modeler. In 2018, Steven Atkinson created NAM (neural amp modeler), an open-source plugin and profile format that changes exactly that.
In these seven years, the community behind NAM, which has created thousands of freely available profiles and supports Steven in further developing NAM, has grown dramatically. But it’s only been the last two years that NAM has made the jump from a free plugin in your DAW to actually working on dedicated hardware. The Dime Head was the first to offer a NAM loader in a pedal.
Then, just a short while ago, Darkglass followed with the Anagram. I predict that within the next 2–3 years, every major platform, from Kemper to Quad Core to ToneX to Line 6 Helix, will offer some form of support for the NAM format. If you’re curious about it all, the Valeton GP-5 might be the perfect starting point.
Valeton GP-5: NAM Loader, Multi-Effects Pedal, and Much More!
This tiny pedal offers a staggering amount of features, both for its size and its price. The Valeton GP-5 includes 100 (!) different effects. And you can load up to nine of them in a single preset. Then, of course, the GP-5 also supports loading NAM profiles. So, you can download any of the thousands of high-quality amp captures from Tone3000 for free and instantly play them in your rig (don’t forget to donate to both Steven and the Tone3000 community)!
The GP-5 also comes with 50 impulse responses that capture a huge variety of cabs. In addition, you can load up to 20 third-party IRs onto it as well. For NAM models, the GP-5 comes loaded with 50 profiles and you can add another 30 from your own selection to it.
All of this can be stored in 100 preset slots. This tiny pedal can be first-of-chain, end-of-chain, all-of-chain—you name it!
Tune, Audio Interface, Bluetooth Connectivity
But this is far from it. Changing and creating presets happens wirelessly through Valeton’s dedicated smartphone app (Android or iOS) or directly on your computer through USB-C (Mac and Windows). If you connect the Valeton GP-5 to your computer, it also functions as a 2-in-2-out audio interface.
So, you can hook it up, load up your DAW, and record your guitar parts directly (at 44.1 kHz, 16-bit)! The GP-5 also supports USB Audio, so you can re-amp anything in your DAW through the pedal. The pedal also supports Bluetooth audio, meaning you can wirelessly stream what you play into the pedal to your smartphone (with added latency).
The GP-5 also includes a dedicated tuner. If you’re practicing at home, you can plug your favorite headphones into the pedal’s output. If it’s on your board, the GP-5 comes with a mono input and unbalanced stereo output.
Its single footswitch works in four different ways, depending on the mode you’re in. You either change patches, activate the tuner, activate an effect in the chain, or activate a patch. There also seems to be built-in MIDI functionality, so it should be possible to access patches and parameters through a dedicated MIDI control pedal with a future firmware update.
How Much Does the Valeton GP-5 Cost?
Of course, as these things are, if one thing stops working, your whole virtual rig is gone. And sure, it might not sound as pristine as the higher-ups like Axe-FX or Quad Core. But for this price, at 79 euros at Thomann* the Valeton GP-5 gives you the perfect entrance into amp modeling. Or it might be the only pedal you need for practicing at home.
More on the New Pedal from Valeton
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2 responses to “Valeton GP-5: This NAM-playing Pedal Might Be the ToneX One Killer!”
AFAIK it doesn’t play original NAM profiles; it converts them to Valeton format. Not sure how much difference does it make, heard it lowers the quality a bit.
Also, Tonex One does 24-bit/44.1 kHz so 16-bit/44.1 on Valeton isn’t anything particulary special.
Well yes, but it’s half the price of ToneX. I bet you can’t hear the difference between 16 and 24 bit. And GP-5 has way more features and effects.