Last updated: August 31, 2026. Beam Solo specs below come from Blackstar's own product page and TONE3000's announcement; all sources are listed at the end.
This comparison is a bit of a family reunion. The Blackstar Beam Solo made headlines as the first headphone amp in the world to run Neural Amp Modeler captures natively — powered by a partnership with TONE3000, the exact same open tone library the Stratus plugs into. So this isn't a battle of formats: both of these run NAM A2-Lite, both draw from the same half-million-capture well. What's actually different is the room each one was built for — the Beam Solo lives in your headphones, and the Stratus lives on your pedalboard. Here's the honest breakdown.
The short version
- Beam Solo is the cheapest, smallest way into real NAM tone — for silent practice. $129.99, credit-card sized, plugs straight into your guitar's jack, runs 5+ hours on a charge, and streams NAM captures from TONE3000 through the Beam app into your headphones. It has no amp or board output — by design. It's a practice bubble, and a brilliant one.
- Stratus is the same tone library, gig-shaped. Mono 1/4" out to any amp or FRFR, a full effects chain, a 5-minute looper, MIDI, and 14 hands-free presets — the sounds you find on TONE3000 go from your couch to the stage on the same box.
- Only one of them invents effects. Beam Solo's 35+ effects are a fixed (and generous) set. The Stratus AI FX Builder writes brand-new effects as DSP code from a description — something nothing in the headphone-amp world does.
Side by side
| Chaos Audio Stratus | Blackstar Beam Solo | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $299 | $129.99 |
| What it is | Multi-effects + NAM amp-modeling pedal with a generative AI effects builder | Headphone amp that plugs into your guitar jack, with app-based tones |
| NAM support | Native NAM A2-Lite — the pedal's core amp engine | Native NAM A2-Lite via free firmware — first headphone amp to run NAM |
| Tone library | TONE3000 in-app: 500,000+ free captures and IRs | TONE3000 via the Beam app (Blackstar cites 200,000+ community captures) |
| Onboard amp models | NAM captures are the amps | 8+ Ampton amps (component-modeled by Blackstar) + CabRig IR speaker sim with In The Room |
| Effects | 19 free, any order; premium from $14.90; unlimited AI-built effects | 35+ effects, adjustable via XpressFX and the app |
| Generative AI | AI FX Builder writes new FAUST DSP effects; 30 free builds/month | None |
| Looper | 5 minutes, unlimited overdubs | None |
| Output | Mono 1/4" — into any amp, FRFR, or interface | 3.5mm headphone jack (with headset-mic input) — headphones only |
| Vocals | No mic input | Headset mic input with studio-quality preamp and reverb |
| Bluetooth | App control (iOS/Android) | Music playback for jamming + Beam app control |
| Recording | Free VST/AU plugin versions of your effects (limited DAW support) | Multi-channel USB-C audio interface |
| Presets | 128 stored; 14 hands-free via footswitch color pairs | Patches saved and shared via app and online community |
| MIDI | Full USB-MIDI map: presets, per-effect bypass, looper, modes | None |
| Power | 9V DC 400 mA+ or USB-C | Rechargeable battery, 5+ hours per charge |
| Size & weight | 5.5" × 3.125" × 2.125", 11.6 oz | Credit-card footprint; folds into a pocket |
| Best for | The board and the stage — a full rig around the NAM library | Silent practice anywhere — the NAM library in your headphones |
The shared engine
Both of these run Neural Amp Modeler Architecture 2 — specifically A2-Lite, the variant built for compact hardware — and both pull from TONE3000's open library. That's not a coincidence; it's the open-format thesis playing out. When TONE3000 published A2's test results (39 tones quantitatively, 1,000+ blind-test participants, code and data open source), the format won on evidence — and now the same capture you dial in on a $129.99 headphone amp loads on a $299 stage pedal, because nobody's tone is locked in anybody's silo. We think that's exactly how it should work, and credit to Blackstar for joining the open side.
What Blackstar brings
The Beam Solo isn't just a NAM player — Blackstar's own Ampton amp models are component-level recreations built in their Northampton R&D lab, with fully interactive tone stacks (their argument: a static capture can't model how a real amp's knobs interact — a fair point, and having both approaches on one device is a genuinely nice place to be). Add CabRig's In The Room simulation, a headset-mic input with a real preamp for singing while you play, Bluetooth jam-along, a 5+ hour battery, and the whole thing folding into a pocket — for silent practice, it's about as complete as $129.99 gets.
What Stratus adds
Stratus takes the same library and builds the working rig around it: a free-order effects chain (19 included, more from the store, everything the community shares on Chaos Cloud), a 5-minute looper with unlimited overdubs, full USB-MIDI control, 128 presets with 14 reachable hands-free — and the AI FX Builder, which writes entirely new effects as FAUST DSP code from a description, tested through multiple rounds of compilation checks and audio verification (~95% of builds work; 30 free builds monthly; Advanced Mode shows the code). The Beam Solo plays sounds that exist; the Stratus also makes ones that don't.
Practice vs stage
The honest framing is that these two barely compete. The Beam Solo has no 1/4" output to an amp or board — it's headphones and USB, deliberately, because it's a practice bubble you carry in a jacket pocket. The Stratus makes no sound without an amp, FRFR, or interface — deliberately, because it's the rig itself. If your playing life is midnight practice and hotel rooms, the Beam Solo is the better-fitted tool and we'll say so plainly. If your playing life includes a board, a rehearsal room, or a stage, the Stratus is the one that comes along.
Cost of ownership
Beam Solo: $129.99, everything included, tones free from TONE3000 and the Beam community. Stratus: $299 with 19 effects free, premium effects from $14.90 (22-effect bundle $99), the same 500,000+ free captures, and 30 free AI builds a month. And here's the quiet truth: at $429 combined, the pair covers couch to stage with one shared tone library between them — plenty of players will justifiably end up with both.
Which should you buy?
Buy the Beam Solo if: you want real NAM tone in your headphones for $129.99 — silent practice, travel, late nights, singing along through the headset mic. It's the best version of that idea we've seen, and the NAM update made it dramatically more than a toy.
Buy the Stratus if: you want the same open tone library on a pedalboard — with the chain, the looper, the MIDI, and an AI that invents effects. That's the pedal we built.
Buy both if: you practice in headphones and gig through a rig — the capture you fall in love with on the couch loads straight onto the pedal. Open formats are fun like that.
Sources
- Blackstar — Beam Solo product page (price, specs, Ampton, CabRig, TONE3000 partnership, battery, I/O)
- TONE3000 — Beam Solo now supports NAM A2 natively (first-headphone-amp claim, firmware details, feature list)
- TONE3000 — NAM Architecture 2 (A2) (test methodology and results; code and data are open source)
- Chaos Audio — Stratus product page (Stratus specs and pricing)
Ready to take the library to the stage? The Stratus is $299 with free US shipping — and your first 30 AI builds are on us every month.
