I’m not recommending anything as it’s very personal, but do try Cali. Not sure it’s your sound but the 3 channels plus switches seem as versatile as the 3 amp Archetypes. The Archetypes are a complete package (wah/pitch, 10 band eq, delay, very nice reverb) but the core amps are just different, not better.
I’d forgotten about Audio Assault, they have a sale on too!
Cali is too much of a 80s thrash machine to my taste.
Nice chugs though, but I wanted something more… evil.
Anyways, I’ve heard rumours that Granophyre and AA Sigma were based off of the same amp, so should be quite similar. I decided to check if that’s true and do a test using the same IR. I did not use that IR before so I had no idea as to what expect, but besides that both amspims were set to all 12 o’clock:
So this is with a Flame LPIV in C#:
My old Vendetta in B
And last but not least, Blackjack:
I did not notice I was clipping hard on that last one until it was too late.
Sorry about that.
The test is blind of course.
Tell me what you think.
Just a quick note: I think they are slightly different Amps: I vaguely recall from the AA forum that Sigma is based on the (Obsydian? or similar name), which has a bit less gain.
For the record I own the Sigma and love it! But I lean more towards 80’s hard rock tones
Yup, you are correct. And I had the same feeling playing them both.
Sigma is Obsydian while Granophyre is Iridium (now renamed to Granophyre).
My point is - using external IR there is not much difference in the tone between them.
Granophyre has more than I will be using anyways, so one could easily just bump gain on Sigma and the diffence is negligible.
Granophyre is just a bit more alive, Sigma in comparison feels like it is under a blanket or something, bass response is not the same and the highs are slightly muffled, but it would hardly be noticeable in a mix, at least outside A-B comparison.
In my case, if I decided to go with Granophyre I would be in reality paying for slightly better version of the same tone + some IRs on top. Not a smart move. I mean I like Granophyre a lot and definitely see where my money would be going, but I liked the Nameless just as much and at least it would be a whole new kind of tone in my arsenal.
I am yet to test NTS, but after hearing some samples I can say it’s not my kind of pony. I will give it a try though.
At the moment I am leaning towards Nameless, it was always either this or Granophyre.
You know you want the Nameless.
For me the Archetypes are where its at though. Having multiple amp + cab + effects combos in an all-in-one plugin makes it so much more versatile.
But when you really need that gnarly 8-string rhythm sound, Nameless is hard to beat.
Yeah, I know Archetypes are better value for the money, but I just can’t afford them right now.
It’s really a matter of elimination.
Granophyre is too similar to Sigma to justify spending this much, Cali is too… hairy to my taste, NTS is completely not my kind of thing and I just don’t like it at all.
Gnarly is not the word I’d use but…
I noticed that most ampsims I tend to use are based on Marshall-y amps.
Also - Nameless is the first of NDSP plugins I’ve ever heard and immediately gave me Batushka vibes.
Admittedly, most people don’t use it for black metal, but I can see some potential here. It’s definitely more interesting than NTS and has more “roar” than Cali.
What I look for though is also versatility - which is not Nameless’ domain - but by versatility I don’t necessarily mean what many people mean.
If I can make the Nameless sit tidy in the mix when I want and cut through it like a butter when I want, if I can get it to sound brutal with lots of roar and then make it softer (not clean! more like a gain structure thingy) when I want, then the Nameless is my animal.
If not, then I guess I’m still more leaning towards it by default, through simple elimination.
EDIT:
Bought it.
Now someone please explain to me why do Americans always show prices NOT including VAT?
I was expecting to pay 50 EUR, paid over 60. To make things worse, in my bank’s exchange it would be 280 in my currency - Paypal was showing 290, so I used my actual card, which turned out to be even more (295).
So I basically paid more than 10 EUR / 60 PLN more than I was expecting.
Gues I’ll be eating mashed potatoes with bread for the next week or two (just kidding… only a little).
Probably for the very reason you bought it - sounds like a great price, you make your decision and by the tine you get to pay, its too late as your mind has already bought it… I have no idea really, but the above makes sense to me!
Well yeah, I mean such practices are illegal in whole Europe, but then again I already bought it and there is no reason to cry about it now.
The plugin is good. Maybe not as good as to justify the full price, even at 50% it seems too steep actually, but then again I have one of the best VST amspims on the market now, and there should be no reason to sound bad other than my skills anymore.
I guess I won’t be using free ones anymore as well, maybe except Emissary and Amped Roots, these are good too but I don’t think they could hold a candle to the Nameless, or any other stuff from Neural. They just sound different and I might be needing what they offer.
If there is another sale I’ll definitely get next plugin from Neural, as long as I have enough money. Maybe some Archetype next time.
Neural are in Finland I think, so maybe check with them.
Yeah, I did some diggin and it seems their HQ is in Helsinki so you are right on that one.
However the founder appears to actually come from Chile.
It’s not really relevant in any case.
My point is that I began as a hard sceptic, now I think there is something to Neural DSP’s plugins. I would never buy any of them at a regular price, especially since they are actually 20% more than they appear at first, but 50% off deal begins to make some sense. I only wish they were another 50% cheaper - at this price I wouldn’t even bat an eye, I’d just buy them all one by one, no questions asked.
Look at the samples above - Granophyre in direct comparison with Sigma (and please do ignore sloppy playing).
They sound almost exactly the same - to the point where if used in a mix, I doubt there would be any audible difference at all. One is 100€, the other one I paid 7$ - only a small fraction. I guess Granophyre sounds literally tiny bit better, but not so much as to justify huge price difference.
That is, as long as you’re using the same, external IRs.
Ultimately though, I admit - NDSP plugins are the best ones I ever tried or heard, period.
I have no idea on whether the price is good other than - if you use it every time, because there isn’t a better option in that type of technology, then its money well spent. If you can get better results from another method thats in your price range and practicalities criteria, then its a waste of cash.
I see your point.
And I can’t say I disagree. As I mentioned - I am yet to find anything better. Certainly my actual amp is not.
By the way, I know you have already made your decision for the time being, but another ampsim that I am greatly enjoying these days is Aurora DSP Rhino.
I used it for this song, sounds pretty heavy even with my strat with single coils
Perhaps I can help. I am from Finland.
I was sold on Neural Nameless plugin without even knowing they come from my country. Neural DSP was established by a Chilean metal enthusiast Douglas Castro. Finland attracts all kinds of metalheads, so no surprise there.
They started in 2018. First year made 500 k€ turnover and some losses, next year 2,3 M€ and some profits. They have not given public financial statements from 2020 yet, but that year Capman Growth became an investor in Neural. Investment director Heikki Juntti is a music enthusiast and knew the product and people already. Castro said 2020 turnover will be 10 million so I can see the interest to invest in the company.
Heikki looks even nerdier than Troy so I have to trust him completely, even though he is a venture capitalist.
Capman currently has over 3 billion Euros assets under management. They put 5 million to Neural and plan to keep investing for 2-5 years.
I think Neural is worth it.
Started our as a sceptic, turning into fanboy now.
Gotta say, Nameless plays nice with Granophyre:
Though there is some quackiness, and my playin was not my tightes ever.
But I gotta say, I slapped random presets, put rudimentary eq on bus and called it a day. I have never, ever achieved such massive tones before, with any plugins. If not for the playing this could be studio ready.
Ok, maybe I went too far with the last one, but not by much.
Another sample (sloppy playing, probably should not quad track this one, but whatever). Granophyre on rythm and Nameless on lead tracks:
Both have a metric ton of mids, they just express it differently - while it can be warm and very interesting when it wants to Granophyre can easily get muddy and quacky as well. The cab makes it somewhat fuzzy, but not “nails on a blackboard” kind of fuzzy. Nameless on the other hand is exactly what it is advertised as - precisely brutal AF. Easy to make it too glassy, but contrary to popular belief it is actually very versatile. While one should not expect it to do immaculate clean tones, it’s cleans actually are not bad. And it’s quite usable in all settings, it’s really hard to mess it up - even gain all the way up is fine if you need it. It can cut through the mix like a hot knife through butter. Loads of different tones too, and not just based on amount of gain.
I only wish they offered more in terms of cab speakers, like in Granophyre. Some reverb and delay would be a nice touch too. I don’t care about graphic EQ, I use external plugin anyways.
All in all, I don’t think I could have chosen better than the Nameless at the moment.
If I have some money to spare in the future I guess I could get Granophyre as well, since I like the tones I am getting, it’s just pointless at the moment as AA Sigma is so similar, apart from the cab section.
I’d also like something like a Mesa and maybe 5150 in the future - not that I am a fan of 5150 because I am not, it’d just be cool to have some more variety at my disposal.
Back to the sample - I stand by what I said previously, I have never before managed to sound so heavy, and so (semi) professional.
Also it’s so easy, I mean come on, I just laid some tracks, loaded couple of presets, and bam! Instant recording. It’s better quality than my previous mixes that I spent countless hours trying to fix and bring to life.
I could turn this into a decent cover in one evening, if only I was able to play the solo XD.
Nice work. Note a couple of the Dugout presets use custom IRs, and Cali has some too. If you’re on Windows they’re probably in C:\ProgramData\Neural DSP\Impulse Responses.
I’d previously dismissed them, but I think you’re right in that Nameless and Granophyre are the most gnarly and alive sounding.
Wait a few months and there’ll probably be something else to choose from!
Hi, is there some kind of trick if you want to mix Amps and effects? So say you want the overdrive pedal, reverb pedal and amp from different packs? I tried all the packs and it really frustrated me how some packs don’t even have reverb or an overdrive pedal?
Try running several plugins in line, one after the other, and disengage what you don’t need, that is if you have couple of NDSP plugins and want to combine them.
Say you have the Nameless and Gojira, and want to use Nameless head and cab with Gojira’s reverb.
I would try it as follows:
Nameless - disengage the cab section -> Gojira - disengage everything apart from reverb -> Nameless again, disengage everything apart from the cab.
If that does not work then I guess you’ll have to use 3rd party reverb, like the one built in in Repaer.
It would be fantastic if NDSP allowed you to basically consolidate all your plugins into one suite, but I guess it would not be the best business approach for them, as it may impact Quad Cortex’s sales.
