A free amp sim that plays any amp — with the amp's own knobs.
Captures freeze one setting and bolt a generic tone stack on top. Modeled sims give you the amps somebody else decided to build. Cathode loads any amp the community designs, and every knob on it is the real circuit, so sweep it and the whole amp moves.
What makes a free amp sim worth keeping
Real knobs, not presets
Sweep the volume while you play and hear the amp change continuously: no stepping between saved settings, no crossfades.
A growing library of shared amps
Player loads anything the community shares: tweed-style combos, modern high-gain heads, amps that only ever existed as a sketch.
Plays nice with NAM
Already deep into captures? Keep them. Cathode exports NAM profiles and treats the capture world as a neighbor, not a rival.
In your DAW or on its own
Track with the VST3/AU plugin (every knob automatable) or open the standalone app and just play. Low latency either way.
How is this different from a capture player?
Capture tools like Neural Amp Modeler are brilliant at what they do: a capture is a very accurate photograph of one amp at one knob setting. If you want that exact sound, use it. I mean that.
Cathode Player is for the moment the photograph isn't enough: when you want to ride the volume knob, hear the tone controls fight each other, feel the amp compress under your pick. A Cathode design behaves like the amp itself, alive at every knob position. Modeled amps are alive too — the difference there is that a Cathode amp is a design you can open and change, not a finished product somebody sealed.
Not more accurate — more alive, more control. Questions about formats, latency, or what "free" hides (nothing)? Read the FAQ.
Be first in line.
Player is free at launch. Get the email the moment it ships.