I finally got a chance to A/B the Neural DSP SLO against the AxeFX SLOs. They both sounded very good, and there was not that “one sounds like cardboard” thing that you usually hear when comparing two modelers (especially when one of them is Native’s Guitar Rig). However, there were some interesting differences. As before, I switched off the cabinet modeling in each one and used a third party (Melda) cabinet simulation so that neither had the advantage of a matched cab.

Here are the results of some listening tests that I did on some popular UAD tube preamp emulation plugins. I was curious which preamps would sound better on each source, so I did some science and the result wasn’t quite what I expected. Preamps on acoustic Guitar In order of preference Avalon (Magic) V76 (Instant Neil Young vibe) Helios (Classic) Century 610-B Manley 610-A Preamps for Vocals Manley (Polished) Avalon (Vibey) Helios Century 610-B V76 610-A