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. Both shared the same dry input track. Both were level matched and the A/B test used Hofa’s blind comparison plugin so I didn’t know which was witch until after I commented on each one. That was hardly necessary though because I could always tell which was which from listening.

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