is more than decent plugins,Neural plugins are fucking awesome

 

ToneX V2 is a lot better.
NAM didn't changed at all. But PPL improved their capture methods, especially on the input trim side.
I still think NAM and ToneX input is too sensitive, and it is not the same as a real amp on this side.

When i use my fav profilers, sometimes i don't even touch the input signal at all.
Just set sound card gain beyond red, and run.

 

Right, the sensitivity was Off originally..

Lots of presets were too Dull,
but some other were too Sensitive.. the slightest touch will overload the simulation, and that reduces Headroom

And well, the Tone itself was a bit.. yuck, definately not my type.
Too much of that "digital tube" haze that plagued early PODs but in a different modern way..

I should try Tonex2 and see what's the current status tho,
if they managed to polish those details, and have more controlled result with curated presets.. the result could improve.

 

Yes they really improved with V2.
And third party followed too.
But i don't expect anything fixed about input trim so sensitive.
And i'm BORED curating hundreds and hundreds captures (in general).

So now, i abandoned ToneX and NAM ... to play guitar instead of loosing my time finding a gem in this stack of unusable high gain captures.

STL AmpHub and Helix all the way !
And Mooer MNRS for hardware : cheap and effective

 

You don't say. That (not) said, distortion has driven much of contemporary music since pretty much WWII.

What a market indeed. Or industry.

 

i've been a fan since they released the Nameless amp suite. it was a game changer. bought it the day i tried it and skipped the free trial. then i got the QC the month it launched and have been using it daily since. i own a few plugins, the QC, and could see myself getting the nano in the future. i love tube amps and acoustic drums. own 4 stacks a large acoustic kit. but it's just so quick and easy to jam/record with the digital stugg. I can play along with e drum kit/samples and can jam with all the tones i can imagine and or record. i rarely fire my tube amps up these days just because it's much more inconvenient. I dont see myself ever getting rid of them and would like to use them more but it's alot more effort and volume.

 

I've just tried John Mayer plugin and i have to say it dwarves all the other amp simulators I ve been using so far

 

and extraordinary amplifier 3D graphics

how about this? https://neuraldsp.com/plugins/parallax

 

Last edited: Dec 19, 2025 at 1:56 AM

I don't know either, but my bearded guitarist and bassist friends seems to make love with that stuff.

 

Yeah man! This right here. I think a lot of people either forgot or don't realize the significance of that plugin. Fortin Nameless Suite was the first amp sim that really nailed it. It changed the whole market. A good guitar player could use that plugin on a professional album and fool anyone into thinking it's the real deal.

We've come a long way since then but Neural DSP deserves all the praise they get.

 

BTW: I want a Brian My Neural DSP guitar amp modeler. Before Christmas.

Back on topic: They sound all fantastic. Even if I don't like some of them at all. But not because of a lack of quality. And you never know - at least I never know - when I will change my mind.

 

you didn't seen ppl collecting expansive "all tubes" amps ...

Like Sonic Drive Studio (more than 50 amps) :

 

I agree. I was looking forward to trying Soldano SLO-100 X, but I quickly realised that it's not in the same league as my current favourite: MLC S_Zero 100. Even when I cranked mids and presence, it sounded thin and lifeless in comparison.

 

I tried Bogren amps, and i found them lifeless. Sub zero ALWAYS need a boost to sound good.
STL AmpHub : no problem
NDSP : it depends

 

Has anyone run an A/B between Neural and Paradise Studio? I'm not a guitar player, so I tested Paradise Studio with a very die-hard old school guitar player and he was floored by the UA offering.

 

I simply listened to their demos, Paradise Studio sound like NI Guitar Rig : too old tech to impress me.
Sorry to rain on the parade

Even if NDSP is not perfect, it is FAR from Guitar Rig, Paradise Studio and other really dated / never updated sound engines.

 

I think it sounds great. Why are you saying that this is old tech ? It just released.

 

I might not be the best judge of NDSP plugins since I’m not a high gain player (their usual target audience). Surprisingly, the release I was most excited for was the John Mayer X, despite not being a fan of his music. He’s a brilliant player, but his songs aren't really my pint of stout. Plus, his move to PRS was a total deal breaker for me. dislike the headstock

As for the plugin itself... I honestly don't think I like it. There’s nothing technically wrong with it, but I’m not a fan of how this specific tone is captured by the NDSP engine. The character doesn't feel real to me. It’s hard to put into words, djent fans ask 'does it djent?' but in my case, it just doesn't twang. As someone already pointed out, some part of it feels a bit too clean and lacks the cool artifacts and noises. It would likely work well in a mix or a reamp where you can dirty it up with FX, but for actual playing, it feels too "stiff" like it didn't respect the guitar's neck character in a way. I had a similar experience with the Cory Wong suite. For these types of tones, Overloud THU and Tonex remain my goto.

Darkglass Ultra and Parallax have been my NDSP favorites for ages, for basses and Nolly is still great for hi-gain, distortion reamp work. I'm curious if the 'X' version of Parallax will sound any different, though I know the update is mainly about Quad Cortex compatibility.

 

Last edited: Dec 20, 2025 at 8:07 AM

No idea. Most plugins are for guitarists, I think. Since I'm a keyboard player, I don't find them much useful for my music. But everytime iLok is defeated, it's a happy day.

 

Although I'm more of a rock/metal player, to be honest I also expected more from this plugin. Among the other NDSP plugins, there are some that I would rather use for clean, bluesy, or slightly crunch tones than this.