# Neural DSP - ARCHETYPE : NOLLY



## Lorcan Ward

They only started teasing this one recently. I know a lot of guys were looking for a Nolly Amp Suite from a few companies so its no surprise Neural DSP made one. 



https://neuraldsp.com/products/archetype-nolly/

Audio clip sounds great but it is Nolly. Having a hi-gain rhythm amp and a hi-gain lead amp is something I wish more companies would do. Two overdrives is another one. On paper this plugin ticks a lot of boxes for me. Demo should be available next week when its released to find out.


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## gunch

My skepticism towards the current internet marketing hype machine aside I’ve been a fan of Nollys for 10 years so if he’s got something to sell me man he’s one of the best to do it

That said I wish companies would put something out in iOS as a stand alone so you’d just need an iPad and an FRFR for a complete totally sick rig, which positive grid was trying to do but sucked at


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## Lorcan Ward

^Nobody else has done that yet? Wow. Thats a huge market.



From Ola's video is sounds and responds similar to the Misha Toneforge plugin. It has a lot of that really clear chords but with a blanket over the highs tone and cut bass for djent. Not really what I'd look for in a sim.


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## KnightBrolaire

Given Neural's track record I'd be more than willing to pick this up.


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## Kaura

I was checking my Instagram at work every 30 minutes today to see if they finally announced it. I was sure the plugin would have been an Alex Wade signature since he was the only person I saw teasing it aside from Neural DSP. But I'm honestly more excited about this. Glad they included a pre-delay this time. That feature would have made the Plini plugin absolutely flawless.


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## gunch

Lorcan Ward said:


> ^Nobody else has done that yet? Wow. Thats a huge market.


 I mean you do have stuff like amplitude and BIAS but I guess the super cutting edge needs time to trickle down to lower power devices.


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## Cheap

Man I've forgotten how wild Nolly's vibrato sounds!

I'm sad to say that I'm still hearing what I haven't gotten along with in the digital domain. The tones are objectively great, but entirely uninteresting. I think Nolly's *playing* is gonna sell a TON of licenses for these, but I'd be curious to see if we get anything unique as a result of it. Super smart of Nolly to use a song with so many soft/hard picking dynamics to showcase the range at least and the master volume thing is super cool. 

I see this immediately taking off and causing every modern metal project to sound even more similar. Can't say I necessarily hate that because it's really going to separate the good songwriting from the soullessly regurgitated. At least it'll be easier to convince your band to go for an idea if you're presenting a demo with these tones from the start--hard to say 'No' to Nolly..


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## AkiraSpectrum

This looks pretty cool. Really need to try some of this Neural DSP stuff.

Dang, Nolly has some cool PRS's there.


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## beavis2306

Cool tune too


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## Deadpool_25

Anyone else curious what amps they used as inspiration? Amp 3 is almost certainly some iteration of 5150. The looks of amp 4 definitely make me think of the MT15 but I’m not familiar enough with their sound to know either way. Not idea on amps 1 and 2.


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## Elric

One is a Diezel VH4 based on a picture they posted


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## Backsnack

Deadpool_25 said:


> Anyone else curious what amps they used as inspiration? Amp 3 is almost certainly some iteration of 5150. The looks of amp 4 definitely make me think of the MT15 but I’m not familiar enough with their sound to know either way. Not idea on amps 1 and 2.


On the promo page for the plugin, it shows a black and white photo of Nolly modifying a couple of amp heads. I recognize the 5150, but maybe if someone else is good at puzzles they might be able to figure the other one.


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## Lorcan Ward

A few people said a Diezel VH4 is most likely one of them. One is definitely a 5150.


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## ADADAD

Looks like 5150, vh4, be100 and some kind of marshall


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## youngthrasher9

I was surprised that I liked the tones Ola was getting from this in the video. Now I just gotta AB it with the Alex Wade one coming out...


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## Kaura

youngthrasher9 said:


> I was surprised that I liked the tones Ola was getting from this in the video. Now I just gotta AB it with the Alex Wade one coming out...



Wait, is that confirmed? I thought this is the plugin that Alex Wade was teasing.


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## Lorcan Ward

Alex was talking about the Nolly plugin.


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## youngthrasher9

Lorcan Ward said:


> Alex was talking about the Nolly plugin.


Really? That’s not what it seemed like when he was posting about it.

EDIT: Damn. Found it, you’re right.


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## Lorcan Ward

He did make it sound like it was his own plug-in from that post. Maybe he will get one too!


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## Doug Castro

Lorcan Ward said:


> He did make it sound like it was his own plug-in from that post. Maybe he will get one too!



Yeah, Alex was trying Nolly's, we have no plans but anything is possible!


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## Vyn

Doug Castro said:


> Yeah, Alex was trying Nolly's, we have no plans but anything is possible!



Any plans for making standalone iOS (iPad/iPad Pro/iPhone) ports of any of the plugins or is that not on the cards? All of the NDSP plugins rip by the way


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## Doug Castro

Vyn said:


> Any plans for making standalone iOS (iPad/iPad Pro/iPhone) ports of any of the plugins or is that not on the cards? All of the NDSP plugins rip by the way



Hi! Thanks for the kind words!

No plans on mobile at the time being.

Kind regards,
D.


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## Backsnack

Lorcan Ward said:


> ^Nobody else has done that yet? Wow. Thats a huge market.





gunch said:


> I mean you do have stuff like amplitude and BIAS but I guess the super cutting edge needs time to trickle down to lower power devices.





Doug Castro said:


> Hi! Thanks for the kind words!
> 
> No plans on mobile at the time being.
> 
> Kind regards,
> D.


I believe Apple is going to disrupt a lot of software developer’s plans if they go forward with their progress to convert all their laptops and desktops to ARM architecture by 2020.

https://www.tomshardware.com/news/apple-mac-arm-cpus-2020-intel,38668.html

And that’s not directed at Doug in a snarky manner at all. I hope that the “Project Marzipan” or whatever they call it will allow x86 apps to transition over to ARM easily. It’s going to change the game quite a bit with mobile crossover usage.

There are probably a lot of folks who would like to experiment with an iPad rig. Having some high quality alternatives to Bias FX for iPad would be welcome.


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## sharedEQ

Cheap said:


> I see this immediately taking off and causing every modern metal project to sound even more similar. *Can't say I necessarily hate that because it's really going to separate the good songwriting from the soullessly regurgitated.* At least it'll be easier to convince your band to go for an idea if you're presenting a demo with these tones from the start--hard to say 'No' to Nolly..



Making production/engineering easier has actually had the opposite effect. IMO, modern metal is a result of DFH and early drum plugins that let people create crushing arrangements that would never really work live. And people found it was easier to paint drum tracks with a mouse than try to communicate that with a drummer.

Then of course, seven strings became mainstream, guitarists were playing the bass frequencies, because.. why does anyone really need a bass player?

When it was more challenging, there was more creativity. Or perhaps more constraints which forced people to experiment and collaborate.

There are only a few modern players worth a damn, and all of them have first and last names.


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## Fred the Shred

sharedEQ said:


> Making production/engineering easier has actually had the opposite effect. IMO, modern metal is a result of DFH and early drum plugins that let people create crushing arrangements that would never really work live. And people found it was easier to paint drum tracks with a mouse than try to communicate that with a drummer.
> 
> Then of course, seven strings became mainstream, guitarists were playing the bass frequencies, because.. why does anyone really need a bass player?
> 
> When it was more challenging, there was more creativity. Or perhaps more constraints which forced people to experiment and collaborate.
> 
> There are only a few modern players worth a damn, and all of them have first and last names.



That is a very extreme, and even false in some parts, statement. People mostly use stuff like EZ Drummer / DFH to compose with, and there's nothing "challenging" about conveying what the part should feel like to a drummer, be it in the room or by sending a demo, especially if you both know what you're talking about. 

The crushing arrangement that will never work live is more often than not due to a band's budget constraints regarding the size of the entourage they can afford to take on the road more than the execution part of it in most cases, and those bands who resort to them in order to have an all disguising backing track supposed to mask the incompetence of their members typically fall flat on their asses sooner than later anyway, so while I'm not really into a backing track fest, I can understand why bands would resort to that.

As for the creativity bit, it's entirely subjective. I'm hearing about as many boring clones of popular acts as I did during the 80's and 90's, and I keep stumbling on interesting bands and musicians all the time in the most diverse genres. If anything, things being easier to produce and to actually put out there made the seemingly impossible task of being heard outside of a label distributing your work a non issue, as you have multiple ways of sharing and promoting your work.

The music industry and musicians face many challenges these days, and to be honest, the technological evolution we've been experiencing at least removes some of the early hurdles if nothing else, and it's most commendable in my book. As such, I can't possibly agree with you.

PS - The two names you are looking for are Adam Getgood. Downplaying the man's obvious playing abilities is really unnecessary, and he is quite an accomplished musician and producer whether one likes it of not.


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## sharedEQ

I don't know who andy getgood is.

I was basically referring to the fact that the neural dsp artists don't hold a candle to andy james, martin miller, or Tom Quayle. Then I realized that I couldn't think of a guitarist with a single word moniker who is the best at what they do. 

And communicating drum lines to drummers.. was not so easy before all the plugins.

Its a larger debate, but having record labels to curate talent was not such a bad thing in retrospect. There is 10,000x more garbage and imitators now. OTH, the level of imitation is at a higher level because its dead easy to see what everyone else is doing with video.


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## Deadpool_25

sharedEQ said:


> There are only a few modern players worth a damn, and all of them have first and last names.



Plini

IJS


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## Cheap

I don't know why I see so many musicians giving so much credence in finding the 'best' at something and discounting the rest. Seems dumb  

The amount of amazing new guitar players I've found outside of bands the last few years has everything to do with the quality of low cost tools provided by companies/people like @Doug Castro and that can't be a bad thing overall. 

No matter how saturated the market is, leveling the playing field with sounds like these does help give a fighting chance to something that should be heard. It contributes to lifting the industry as a whole and forces real creativity to shine through and stand out further. 

Plus let's face it: there are far worse things than hearing tones like these on every metal release for the next few years regardless of how big or small the band might be...


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## Fred the Shred

Nolly is but a nickname, and it eventually stuck. Adam Getgood is Nolly, basically. 

I don't see curating a band catalog as necessarily negative, but I definitely see it as such in a reality where music sales dwindle, there is an obvious disinvestment in growing a band's career or taking a risk because you see potential, and instead deliver a homogenized product, which is basically plaguing all genres of music with very few exceptions. The bigger the label the bigger the chance you are you are going to stumble upon the rehash of a rehashed rehash of a hit song, and now the procedure is to bleed the formula dry to unprecedented extents simply because there's a better chance of ROI. I don't think we can ever look back and expect the degree of risk taking there was in someone like Mike Oldfield, or the career shaping that took place in, say, Guns'n'Roses - the investment in something as ambitious as the Use Your Illusion project was quite sizable, especially considering the band had but 1 album and 1 EP. Thing is that this would likely be a suicidal move in today's market, so expecting record companies to somehow take chances is really down to the indy labels, which obviously do not have massive sums to invest in the first place.

It's quite complicated indeed, and it still isn't a reason to discount Nolly just because of Andy James' and the migthy Quayle's obviously superlative skills.


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## Smoked Porter

sharedEQ said:


> I don't know who andy getgood is.
> 
> I was basically referring to the fact that the neural dsp artists don't hold a candle to andy james, martin miller, or Tom Quayle. Then I realized that I couldn't think of a guitarist with a single word moniker who is the best at what they do.



Adam James, Marvin Miller, and Tom Kale don't hold a candle songwriting-wise to Eddie Van Halen. Hard to compete with his superior three word moniker.


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## sharedEQ

Smoked Porter said:


> Adam James, Marvin Miller, and Tom Kale don't hold a candle songwriting-wise to Eddie Van Halen. Hard to compete with his superior three word moniker.


And evh is a grubby amatuer compared to mozart.


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## vertibration

I could give a crap what artist has a sig plugin coming out, what matters most is how it sounds, and NDSP is killing it. They continue to grow, and their going to be releasing even better products in the near future. Frankly, their prices are fair, and less expensive than most. Not to mention.....Fortin


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## Dayn

I've had the full version of Archetype Plini for about a month. I was saving for an AxeFX, but this is cheap, easy to use, and sounds fucking fantastic.

I'm certainly not pre-ordering, but I can't wait to try the demo. Neural are coming out with some pretty damn good stuff.


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## Kaura

People in 2017: "Plugins sound like shit. Wah wah wah"
People in 2019: "Plugins sound so good that now everyone is using them and everyone sounds the same. Wah wah wah"

Same story with Axe Fx in the beginning of the decade.


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## Doug Castro

Between the Plini and Nolly Archetypes, there are seven different amps, and five different cabinet models, with ten different microphones (and almost 1000 Impulse response files).

Which is probably more brand options and possible combinations available worldwide up until the late 70's/early '80s.

I don't think all bands up until then risk sounding the same for being restricted to the same few, or even fewer choices.

A great plugin is simply an incredibly accurate digitized version of gear that already exists in a more convenient, and affordable medium.

But it's entirely up to, and possible for music creators to find their voice with them, or simply use the available presets for convenience. 

Just my 2 cents,
Doug.


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## Deadpool_25

Forgive me if it’s a noob question, but I’m a noob so I’m allowed to ask...

I have Archetype: Plini and love it. If I get Archetype: Nolly can I mix and match? Like a Plini amp with a delay in front and a Nolly cab?

Also @Doug Castro are there any plans for a blues/jazz plugin or is that outside your target demo?


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## GunpointMetal

Music being easier to make doesn't make music worse. Every time I hear someone say that I assume they're somehow frustrated that not everyone has to spend hours a week going "NO BOOM BOOM BAP BOOM BOOM" at a drummer to write a song, or they never had to "come up" through having to spend 1/3 of your first day in the studio watching the engineer assistant move microphones 1/4 of an inch at time for $40/hour. There's no reason a plugin has to sound any particular way (unless its a JST plugin, because those are just POD Farm ports, lol). Nolly isn't Misha, so he's not gonna stick his name on just anything if it doesn't sound good or suit a purpose.


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## rokket2005

Deadpool_25 said:


> Forgive me if it’s a noob question, but I’m a noob so I’m allowed to ask...
> 
> I have Archetype: Plini and love it. If I get Archetype: Nolly can I mix and match? Like a Plini amp with a delay in front and a Nolly cab?


Shouldn't be a problem as long as you can bypass certain blocks. Just turn off the cab block on the plini, have it in the insert chain before the Nolly and turn off the amp block on the Nolly.


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## sharedEQ

GunpointMetal said:


> Music being easier to make doesn't make music worse. Every time I hear someone say that I assume they're somehow frustrated that not everyone has to spend hours a week going "NO BOOM BOOM BAP BOOM BOOM" at a drummer to write a song, or they never had to "come up" through having to spend 1/3 of your first day in the studio watching the engineer assistant move microphones 1/4 of an inch at time for $40/hour. There's no reason a plugin has to sound any particular way (unless its a JST plugin, because those are just POD Farm ports, lol). Nolly isn't Misha, so he's not gonna stick his name on just anything if it doesn't sound good or suit a purpose.




Nothing against the tools, just an observation that they make imitation much easier. It lowers the bar. A case can be made that is a bad thing.

Look at metal. Its been stuck with the same sounds over the past.. 15 years now. Compared to 70s/80s/90s where it evolved and changed. It grew.

The only difference from 10-15 years ago is that metal artists look like hipsters now and their youtube videos look like Apple commercials.


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## GunpointMetal

sharedEQ said:


> Nothing against the tools, just an observation that they make imitation much easier. It lowers the bar. A case can be made that is a bad thing.
> 
> Look at metal. Its been stuck with the same sounds over the past.. 15 years now. Compared to 70s/80s/90s where it evolved and changed. It grew.
> 
> The only difference from 10-15 years ago is that metal artists look like hipsters now and their youtube videos look like Apple commercials.



The only difference is now those copycat bands can actually record. In the 90's there were literally hundreds of Pantera/Morbid Angel/Korn knock off bands rocking the same gear/tone/look/riffs just in my home state, but it cost a lot of money to go to a studio so they never released any music. Same thing with cock rock/thrash in the 80s. IMO having 10,000 bands in a genre isn't a bad thing, because you're no longer required to accept mediocrity as there are many more options if you don't like the songwriting or composition or whatever. I guess I've been recording myself for demos and projects since Cool Edit Pro and having to import my drums from Fruity Loops, so I see no downside in readily available quality tones.


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## sharedEQ

GunpointMetal said:


> The only difference is now those copycat bands can actually record. In the 90's there were literally hundreds of Pantera/Morbid Angel/Korn knock off bands rocking the same gear/tone/look/riffs just in my home state, but it cost a lot of money to go to a studio so they never released any music. Same thing with cock rock/thrash in the 80s. IMO having 10,000 bands in a genre isn't a bad thing, because you're no longer required to accept mediocrity as there are many more options if you don't like the songwriting or composition or whatever. I guess I've been recording myself for demos and projects since Cool Edit Pro and having to import my drums from Fruity Loops, so I see no downside in readily available quality tones.



I agree, the tools help me and I enjoy playing with them, but looking at the "meta" I don't think its a good thing giving all the power to the people. Strangely we aren't gettting 100x the creativity, we are getting 1/100th. Maybe creative "real estate" is like actual real estate and is harder for subsequent generations to get in. Maybe millenials have been crowded out of creative musicial pursuits by earlier generations? I would be willing to concede its harder to be creative now in music, but I also think it has alot to do with the mindset and tools.

Youtube guitar videos that trend, there is more focus on the video production than actual chops/musicianship. The music by aforementioned artists brings nothing new (they might have been lucky to get mention in GFTPM 25 years ago), the only thing they have done is make it look like an Apple commercial, imo.

That guy who *really* woodsheds, who has taken the instrument to the highest level is not going to get the views unless his vids look like an apple commercial and hes reviewing gear.


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## GunpointMetal

I don't know, most of the big names in "YouTube" guitarists (Stevie T, even if I hate him, Sithu Aye, Plini, Sara Longfield, etc etc etc) play circles around most people and are just as, if not more "creative" than a lot of woodshedder guys because they're spending all their time getting fast at shredding, which is like the most boring music there is. Having a look that sells has been a massive part of the music industry since it was an option to have an image. It's not any harder to be creative, IMO, its harder to stand out, which means people do have to focus on their presentation as much as their ability, just like any other genre of music outside guitar music. Being unique is something that exists on multiple levels, not just how you operate your instrument, and uniqueness isn't a determining factor in popularity/marketability, its one of many factors. Art isn't supposed to be something that's unavailable to the average person. Everyone that wants to make music should do so, and do so with the all of the tools available to them, just like visual art. Who cares if you can't paint with a brush and acrylics or if you never studied color theory or spend hours in a studio copying masterworks. Do a digital painting in photoshop if that's what you want to do, put it out there for the world to see if that's what you want to do.


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## sharedEQ

I dont like any of those artists. Longfield's songs sounds like shes randomly stringing sections of music together and her command of the instrument doesn't inspire me in any way. Meh.

Lots of really shitty music gets to hide behind stellar production.


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## Deadpool_25

Sarah Longfield bores me a bit after a while. I love Plini and Sithu Aye though.


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## Flappydoodle

Anyway, back on topic

I'll be happy to try out the demo. The video sounds good, but being mixed by Nolly, that's a given. 

I have Darkglass, Nameless and NTS and enjoy them all. Didn't buy the Plini. May check this out if it offers something really different.


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## Lorcan Ward

I know the cab section will be incredible with the amount of knowledge and experience Nolly has gained over the years plus the mountain of equipment he has access to. 

I tried the demo of the Plini suite and while I loved aspects of it I didn’t like others so I didn’t buy it after trialing twice but this could address those.


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## Xaios

GunpointMetal said:


> Nolly isn't Misha, so he's not gonna stick his name on just anything if it doesn't sound good or suit a purpose.


In no way is this meant as a commentary on Neural, but Nolly's track record for choosing endorsements is certainly not spotless. He was, after all, a ViK endorsee.


sharedEQ said:


> The only difference from 10-15 years ago is that metal artists look like hipsters now and their youtube videos look like Apple commercials.


15 years ago a bunch of what people referred to as successful "metal" bands (aside from the bands that were being grouped into NWOAHM like Lamb of God, Shadows Fall and Unearth) were just emo bands with a post-hardcore edge, bands like Silverstein and Senses Fail. Besides, is the greasy-haired "true metal" aesthetic actually any better than emo hair and nose piercings or tight jeans and square rimmed glasses? No, it really isn't.


sharedEQ said:


> Youtube guitar videos that trend, there is more focus on the video production than actual chops/musicianship.


When Youtube videos of guitarists focus solely on chops, all you inevitably end up with is some guy going to plaid on "Flight of the Bumblebee." Technically impressive, certainly, but not worth caring about in the slightest.


sharedEQ said:


> Lots of really shitty music gets to hide behind stellar production.


_Oh please_. This is a not new phenomenon in rock and metal. Tons of garbage was produced in every preceding decade, even stuff that had slick production owing to big label money behind it. It's simply not remembered now because it wasn't worth remembering then. Lowering the barrier for entry as far as the budget is concerned has not changed that one bit. The _only_ difference is that any and all music, good and bad, is easier to obtain because it's less expensive to produce and easier to distribute. Good and bad music benefits from this in equal measure.


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## sharedEQ

Xaios said:


> _Oh please_. This is a not new phenomenon in rock and metal. Tons of garbage was produced in every preceding decade, even stuff that had slick production owing to big label money behind it. It's simply not remembered now because it wasn't worth remembering then. Lowering the barrier for entry as far as the budget is concerned has not changed that one bit. The _only_ difference is that any and all music, good and bad, is easier to obtain because it's less expensive to produce and easier to distribute. Good and bad music benefits from this in equal measure.



IDK your age, but the longer you've been around, the more genres you've explored, the bar invariably gets set higher. For chops AND songwriting.

To the pantheon of guitar greats, the millenials have added a few, the rest are not worth caring about, imo.

If you're young and you haven't experienced the "expansion" of your ear, then you might think some of these artists have "great songwriting". All I hear is metal tropes and slick production.


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## GunpointMetal

Getting older doesn't necessarily, uh, sweeten your tastes. IME it usually just buries people in their preferences, hence the literally thousands of forum comments all over the internet along the lines of "WhY isN't TheRe GoOD MuSIc noW?!?!" when really what people mean is "Why doesn't music sound exactly like it did when I was first starting to get into it and it had a more visceral, emotional impact on me?".


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## Xaios

sharedEQ said:


> IDK your age, but the longer you've been around, the more genres you've explored, the bar invariably gets set higher. For chops AND songwriting.


I've been around long enough to know that this statement is hilariously untrue when applied to society as a whole. People may have the impression of themselves that they listen to better music once they're older than they did when they were young, but if that statement were at all axiomatic, then legacy bands like AC/DC and the Rolling Stones wouldn't make lifelong careers out of writing the exact same music for literally decades on end, because that's exactly what people who pay to listen to their music _actually_ want.

In fact, it was Angus Young who said "I'm sick and tired of people saying that we put out 11 albums that sound exactly the same. In fact, we've put out 12 albums that sound exactly the same." This quote still resonates now, but consider that he said this _20 years ago_ and it was just as relevant then.



sharedEQ said:


> To the pantheon of guitar greats, the millenials have added a few, the rest are not worth caring about, imo.


I'd counter that many guitarists who made it into "The Pantheon" did so at a time when they had to do less to stand out, and would get buried if they entered the game 25 years later than they did. The same applies to many bands that are considered classic. Just like any professional athlete who was considered great in their time, their accomplishments aren't as impressive when divorced from the context of what the industry was like when they were in their heyday.



sharedEQ said:


> If you're young and you haven't experienced the "expansion" of your ear, then you might think some of these artists have "great songwriting". *All I hear is metal tropes and slick production.*


To the highlighted, I'd say it's entirely possible that the problem isn't the music.



sharedEQ said:


> No, that's not what we mean.
> 
> We mean that music has gotten simpler, less interesting, and generally relies on production tricks. On the balance there is less creativity, and MUCH less talent.
> 
> Music is largely marketed to teenage girls and blacks now, they are the only ones who pay for it, and they are easier to market to. Quality of music has gone way down.


Oh good Lord, are you talking about _popular _music?!



Popular music has almost always been easily digestible but ultimately disposable trash. That's been the case for as long as music has been recorded, and will be for the rest of time. If you think that's changed in your lifetime, you're only fooling yourself.


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## GunpointMetal

sharedEQ said:


> No, that's not what we mean.
> 
> We mean that music has gotten simpler, less interesting, and generally relies on production tricks. On the balance there is less creativity, and MUCH less talent.
> 
> Music is largely marketed to teenage girls and blacks now, they are the only ones who pay for it, and they are easier to market to. Quality of music has gone way down.


Not that I care about keeping online conversations on topic, but you officially jumped the shark, so we might as well go back to the plugin.


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## sharedEQ

Xaios said:


> Popular music has almost always been easily digestible but ultimately disposable trash. That's been the case for as long as music has been recorded, and will be for the rest of time. If you think that's changed in your lifetime, you're only fooling yourself.



OK, you just showed your hand. Popular music has not always been disposable trash. And just because something is "metal" does not mean it is any more complex or interesting than pop, or any other genre.

I suspect you are younger than I first thought.


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## Lindmann

Aw come on.
That's just your personal preference
Don't make it a general rule.

I for one grew up with 80s metal, loved it back then, but now I am so fed up with this stuff and I am so glad that metal has evolved.

I you really try, you will get to know a lot of unique, talented and creative bands writing interesting songs. But you need to be open minded. If you hate everything that's not exactly 80s metal...well...then this is on you.


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## GunpointMetal

sharedEQ said:


> OK, you just showed your hand. Popular music has not always been disposable trash. And just because something is "metal" does not mean it is any more complex or interesting than pop, or any other genre.
> 
> I suspect you are younger than I first thought.


The stuff that gets remembered maybe isn't trash, but the rest sure as hell was derivative junk. Look at all the Beatles wannabes in the 60s, all the Zeppelin wannabes in the 70s, all the cock rock wannabes in the 80s, all the Madonna wannabes in the 80s/90s...
Pop music has literally been littered with copycat trash since the invention of pop music (critics even would use similar terms to describe composers as copies of other composers in the classical period), and only a handful of artists ever make long-lasting music.

TL;DR - being old doesn't mean you have better taste in music, or lived through some sort of golden era, it just means you're old and associate quality with your own personal preference, get over it.


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## Xaios

sharedEQ said:


> OK, you just showed your hand.


And you just showed that you're more interested in winning an argument than having an intellectually honest debate.



sharedEQ said:


> Popular music has not always been disposable trash.


Yeah, it really has been. You can point to _any_ era of music in the past sixty years and it'll be easy to find plenty of examples of artists who were popular at the time but that people have completely forgotten about now because they were popular for conforming to the trends of the era, not because they actually wrote songs worth remembering.



sharedEQ said:


> And just because something is "metal" does not mean it is any more complex or interesting than pop, or any other genre.


Tell me, where exactly did I imply any deference for metal in this discussion, or indicate that complexity was necessary for quality? As a matter of fact, you're the one who indicated that chops and musicianship were the aspects most tied to the quality of music.



sharedEQ said:


> I suspect you are younger than I first thought.


And I suspect you are incapable of seeing beyond your rose-tinted glasses of nostalgia.


----------



## Doug Castro

Deadpool_25 said:


> Forgive me if it’s a noob question, but I’m a noob so I’m allowed to ask...
> 
> I have Archetype: Plini and love it. If I get Archetype: Nolly can I mix and match? Like a Plini amp with a delay in front and a Nolly cab?
> 
> Also @Doug Castro are there any plans for a blues/jazz plugin or is that outside your target demo?



Sure, you can just connect them in series and bypass modules to mix and match.

Also, yeah, we are looking into covering different styles for sure!


----------



## Cynicanal

sharedEQ said:


> OK, you just showed your hand. Popular music has not always been disposable trash. And just because something is "metal" does not mean it is any more complex or interesting than pop, or any other genre.
> 
> I suspect you are younger than I first thought.


Oh look, either a Boomer who thinks his hippie-pop wasn't trash, or a Gen-Xer who thinks grunge as "alternative" in any meaningful way.

The Beatles and Pearl Jam were both just as bad as Nicki Minaj or Kreyshawn. The only difference is they were marketed to you because you were still a worthwhile demographic to sell to then.


----------



## sharedEQ

Cynicanal said:


> The Beatles and Pearl Jam were both just as bad as Nicki Minaj or Kreyshawn. The only difference is they were marketed to you because you were still a worthwhile demographic to sell to then.





GunpointMetal said:


> The stuff that gets remembered maybe isn't trash, but the rest sure as hell was derivative junk. Look at all the Beatles wannabes in the 60s, all the Zeppelin wannabes in the 70s, all the cock rock wannabes in the 80s, all the Madonna wannabes in the 80s/90s...
> Pop music has literally been littered with copycat trash since the invention of pop music (critics even would use similar terms to describe composers as copies of other composers in the classical period), and only a handful of artists ever make long-lasting music.
> 
> TL;DR - being old doesn't mean you have better taste in music, or lived through some sort of golden era, it just means you're old and associate quality with your own personal preference, get over it.



Today's top pop artist? Taylor Swift.

If you actually think Taylor Swift is anywhere near the Beatles in creativity, quality or talent, theres no way to have a well reasoned discussion about this.

Sorry this got derailed, the discussion of the plugin is more important. It sounds good to me!


----------



## Cynicanal

You're right. Taylor Swift is _far better_ than the Beatles in all three of those categories; I never should have compared them.


----------



## GunpointMetal

sharedEQ said:


> Today's top pop artist? Taylor Swift.
> 
> If you actually think Taylor Swift is anywhere near the Beatles in creativity, quality or talent, theres no way to have a well reasoned discussion about this.
> 
> Sorry this got derailed, the discussion of the plugin is more important. It sounds good to me!


And if you think the Beatles would have gotten a second look today with that "I wanna hold your hand" bullshit, you're delusional.


----------



## shpence

Gonna have to check this out. Liked the clean tones I got out of Plini's! But, I am mostly interested in the specs of Nolly's PRS(s)?.


----------



## sakeido

anyhoo

Nolly has such an enjoyable production style naturally a super-produced demo is going to sound great... Ola didn't do as well. Generally these curated VST amp sims are fantastic these days. It's the "model everything" stuff that doesn't quite make the grade.

Neural has better value for this kinda thing than most others. 120 euro for a few amp models, pedals and cabs while the same amount of money from somebody like Nembrini or brainworx only gets you one amp with a big collection of IRs and barebones extra features.

shootout between the Neural VH4 and the new brainworx VH4 model would be interesting. Been very very happy with brainworx stuff lately but I haven't given Neural a shake in months



Fred the Shred said:


> and those bands who resort to them in order to have an all disguising backing track supposed to mask the incompetence of their members typically fall flat on their asses sooner than later anyway



depends on the scene maybe, in synthwave literally no one in the audience cares if you're playing to backing tracks or not. hard to share a stage and come off well when you have to play a real instrument and the guys with a big stack of synths aren't even bothering to press their keys. oh well


----------



## Backsnack

Welp, I did the damn thing and utilized the stacking discounts. I bought Nolly AND Plini archetypes. Because why not?

At this point I think I'll have more plugin tones than I'll ever know what to do with. (I also have Blue Cat Axiom and Nameless).


----------



## Kaura

I'm just sitting here waiting that my salary transfers to my bank account so I can pre-order this plugin and go to bed.


----------



## Backsnack

Also, how did this thread go so far off the rails talking about the Beatles, pop, and who does or doesn't have talent?


----------



## Backsnack

sakeido said:


> anyhoo
> 
> Nolly has such an enjoyable production style naturally a super-produced demo is going to sound great... Ola didn't do as well. Generally these curated VST amp sims are fantastic these days. It's the "model everything" stuff that doesn't quite make the grade.
> 
> Neural has better value for this kinda thing than most others. 120 euro for a few amp models, pedals and cabs while the same amount of money from somebody like Nembrini or brainworx only gets you one amp with a big collection of IRs and barebones extra features.
> 
> shootout between the Neural VH4 and the new brainworx VH4 model would be interesting. Been very very happy with brainworx stuff lately but I haven't given Neural a shake in months
> 
> 
> 
> depends on the scene maybe, in synthwave literally no one in the audience cares if you're playing to backing tracks or not. hard to share a stage and come off well when you have to play a real instrument and the guys with a big stack of synths aren't even bothering to press their keys. oh well


A couple years ago, Line6 had Helix Native on sale during Christmas for $199. IMO that's an insane deal (50% off).


----------



## Smoked Porter

Doug Castro said:


> Also, yeah, we are looking into covering different styles for sure!


AC30 sim plz.


----------



## Xaios

Backsnack said:


> Also, how did this thread go so far off the rails talking about the Beatles, pop, and who does or doesn't have talent?


Simple. Someone made the broad assertion that guitarists having access to recording tools that were easier to use (e.g. VSTs such as Neural DSP's products) has made the music overly similar and generally worse. That person then went on to denigrate guitarists with single-word aliases (for example, the artist behind this particular product), straight-up insult Youtube guitarists (a group with broad overlap with Neural's customers), and then attack the _perceived_ (and notably not _known_) age of one of people arguing against his claims in an attempt to discredit that person instead of putting forth a relevant counter-argument. I can't really connect that last one to Neural DSP aside from a broad assumption that most of their target market is also relatively young.

So yeah, not _that_ far off the rails, all things considered.


----------



## Backsnack

Xaios said:


> Simple. Someone made the broad assertion that guitarists having access to recording tools that were easier to use (e.g. VSTs such as Neural DSP's products) has made the music overly similar and generally worse. That person then went on to denigrate guitarists with single-word aliases (for example, the artist behind this particular product), straight-up insult Youtube guitarists (a group with broad overlap with Neural's customers), and then attack the _perceived_ (and notably not _known_) age of one of people arguing against his claims in an attempt to discredit that person instead of putting forth a relevant counter-argument. I can't really connect that last one to Neural DSP aside from a broad assumption that most of their target market is also relatively young.
> 
> So yeah, not _that_ far off the rails, all things considered.


Seems like there are always a few who will use the internet as a platform to be a hater and project their own inadequacies.


----------



## vertibration

I had the Nolly plugin in my cart, then stopped, watched Rabea's youtube video of the NTS, and changed my mind last second and got the NTS. I like Fortin. Not to say I wont get Nolly, I will, just wanted the NTS more I guess.


----------



## Metropolis

Backsnack said:


> Also, how did this thread go so far off the rails talking about the Beatles, pop, and who does or doesn't have talent?



Because stubborn people who are stuck in the past. One minute for demo to be available for download.


----------



## Sollipsist

Backsnack said:


> Also, how did this thread go so far off the rails talking about the Beatles, pop, and who does or doesn't have talent?


First day on the Internet? 

Gotta say I was really impressed by the Nolly demo... looking forward to hearing what other people can do with the suite. And me too, I guess, but I don't have a great track record of getting the best out of amp sims...


----------



## Lorcan Ward

It's up for download now. I'm just fiddling with the "Juice Chug" preset but I'm really impressed so far.


----------



## vertibration

Ran Nolly through its paces. Caught a few bugs, but other than that it runs really well in Live 10.1. I definitely dig the 3rd amp a lot, its really crunchy, and the cab IR's sound great. I cant seem to get that 4th amp to sound good for my ears though. First and second amps sound great for clean and crunch. Effects are good. Reverb sounds really good. Presets do the plugin justice. Good job on that. For my taste, I like the Fortins, and the Plini a bit better, but that is just a matter of taste.

I think the Nolly plugin kicks ass, and definitely sits well in a mix, and thats what is most important. Can it sit in a mix and sound good, and it definitely does.

Something to be said about the Neural plugins, compared to everything else. They always sound amazing. Responsive, and always give the user options to shape tone.

I definitely want to see what NDSP comes out with next, my fingers are crossed for more single amp models. I like the idea of loading up a favorite amp models like Fortins, rather than artist models. I guess it gives the user the feeling that their broke  can finally have a piece of the pie with expensive amps


----------



## Deadpool_25

Now I’m getting this plugin for sure.


----------



## VigilSerus

I picked it up yesterday and jammed around with it for a while. Its definitely the best sounding sim I've gotten to play around with, and now I'm really excited to throw this into mixes. If anyone's interested, Neural "confirmed" the amp models used for this suite. "1/ Bogner Shiva, 2/ Modded Marshall, 3/ Peavey 5150 block letter, 4/ Victory Kraken" (courtesy of Raoul Tchoï via YT comments section)

First impressions for a couple heads:
The clean is impeccable. I absolutely LOVE how much fullness and touch-sensitivity the first model has. Has that super delicate, detail driven clean that you'd expect to be perfect for all the "djenty clean" shit. Of course easily overdriven, but its such a lovely treat.

The third model is smashing. This may be my go to for rhythms, as Im sure was the intent. All the palm mutes and digging in really shines on this model, and I suspect its going to play really nice with low shit and marrying it with a full range bass in a mix is gonna be really fun.


----------



## Metropolis

I have played with this since yesterday. Fortins are just monsters, Plini and Nolly are more versatile. Effects and cabs are great in this one, overall great product as always.


----------



## Deadpool_25

Interesting. I’d never have guessed the Shiva but I do remember the Shiver Clean was a great crystal clean on my AxeFX. The middle 2 are kind of obvious I guess and the Kraken is an interesting fourth pick.


----------



## Lorcan Ward

Fourth amp is a heavily modded V30.


----------



## Deadpool_25

Lorcan Ward said:


> Fourth amp is a heavily modded V30.



This makes more sense. Thanks.


----------



## beavis2306

Anyone able to compare to the axe 3?


----------



## Sollipsist

I'm not feeling the love. I've only been messing with it for an hour or so, but I'm not in much danger of replacing my SS-11x yet. Everything has a little harshness to the high end and a flubby bottom. The cleans seem dead. I can get good Dimebag and Black Metal sounds...

Maybe it needs a drastically different input level than I'm used to? The noise gate is pretty severe on a lot of presets, but when I push it harder there's way too much gain.

Not too crazy about having to create an iLok account just for a trial, either. Not a big deal -- if I was getting crazy good results, I could learn to live with it...


----------



## Lorcan Ward

If anyone is having the problem where tracks are muted when duplicated, settings copy/pasted into a new track or re-opening a project just turn either of the two mics off and on. That will bring the sound back.









beavis2306 said:


> Anyone able to compare to the axe 3?



I can't say for the 3 but I was comparing it to some old tracks I had recorded with my Axe-Fx 2 on firmware 9(which I vastly preferred to any of the revisions after) and they were very similar. I was able to replicate the tone easily enough.


----------



## axxessdenied

This thread LMFAO

Just downloaded the trial. Plini was decent but overall I didn't feel it added anything to what I already have. Nameless is still probably my favourite from NDSP.


----------



## vertibration

axxessdenied said:


> This thread LMFAO
> 
> Just downloaded the trial. Plini was decent but overall I didn't feel it added anything to what I already have. Nameless is still probably my favourite from NDSP.



Yup agreed. Those Fortins are sick.


----------



## Metropolis

axxessdenied said:


> This thread LMFAO
> 
> Just downloaded the trial. Plini was decent but overall I didn't feel it added anything to what I already have. Nameless is still probably my favourite from NDSP.



Kind of felt the same way. Nameless has big low end without being flubby, and insane amount of bite and presence to cut through. Plini and Nolly are very versatile but I can't find "my kind of high gain sound" from these.


----------



## youngthrasher9

I spent about 45 minutes playing with settings on the trial today. 

The clean sounds great, that said, I was hoping for some gnarlier high gain tones. The third amp sounds good too- but boosting it for the traditional tubescreamer into 5150 sound just doesn’t seem to work that great. The controls on the OD don’t seem to do very much, IME. I did take the time comparing unboosted sounds from the nameless and the 5150 on Nolly, and they had a similar response which begs the question, why is there not a standalone Grind? Or at least a far more aggressive OD shipping with the Plini and the Nolly? Maybe it would have sounded better in a higher tuning. I’ve been playing in B standard.


----------



## VigilSerus

I've been using the HD Precision Drive into the plugin and its been a delight. I'd suggest trying out different pedals or pedal emulators into the Nolly. The stock OD's aren't quite my flavor either.


----------



## Vyn

Probably worth noting that working out what amps were used won't help a user trying to replicate the tones IRL. Considering how much Nolly likes to get in with a soldering iron I imagine all are tweaked quite a bit.


----------



## Elric

sharedEQ said:


> No, that's not what we mean.
> 
> We mean that music has gotten simpler, less interesting, and generally relies on production tricks. On the balance there is less creativity, and MUCH less talent.
> 
> Music is largely marketed to teenage girls and blacks now, they are the only ones who pay for it, and they are easier to market to. Quality of music has gone way down.


I have been hearing this sh*t for at least 40 years now. It was bullsh*t then and it is bullsh*t now. Popular music has always been targeted for a general audience, it has never been high art. The majority of music has always been derivative of the current trend at any given time.

If you think “music” is in a sorry state that should open the door for you, you’re a musician, right? Show everyone the light with your brilliance or is this just a rationalization for why the deck is stacked against you?


----------



## Kaura

Finally got to play around with the plugin since I took a sudden trip out of town during the weekend. Wasn't too fond of the presets but as soon as I started making some of my own I got excited. This thing is so versatile with so many things to tweak that it's almost overwhelming. Can't wait to try it in a mix since I think it's going to sound great that way. Money well spent.


----------



## shpence

youngthrasher9 said:


> I spent about 45 minutes playing with settings on the trial today.
> 
> The clean sounds great, that said, I was hoping for some gnarlier high gain tones. The third amp sounds good too- but boosting it for the traditional tubescreamer into 5150 sound just doesn’t seem to work that great. The controls on the OD don’t seem to do very much, IME.



Agreed on the clean tones and will take ShadowsfeaR's idea and try the Precision in front! Still might snag it for the good cleans as I haven't found cleans in the Putney or Misha ToneForge to be that great.


----------



## Ericjutsu

Here is a song I made and reamped through the Nolly plugin
https://soundcloud.com/ericjutsu/travelersnolly


----------



## axxessdenied

Cleans are okay. I think Fortin NTS sounds better for cleans.

low-gain to mid-gain type stuff is pretty great.

High-gain is a big, fat disappointment. nameless is much more satisfying in that regard.


----------



## axxessdenied

Put together a simple demo showing off a variety of tones with a lundgren m7 loaded guitar.


----------



## Flappydoodle

axxessdenied said:


> Cleans are okay. I think Fortin NTS sounds better for cleans.
> 
> low-gain to mid-gain type stuff is pretty great.
> 
> High-gain is a big, fat disappointment. nameless is much more satisfying in that regard.



Haha, and I totally disagree!

I'm really enjoying it. The 3rd amp (can only assume 5150) really FEELS like playing through a 5150 in terms of the response to picking, response to different guitars. I'm VERY familiar with the real block-letter version, and this is honestly a really good simulation.

I've used Guitar Rig, TSE X50, BIAS, Thermionik, Will Putney STL and this is the first one that sounds like a real 5150 in the studio. Something about the low end fatness and the attack. I think the cab impulses are actually a very large part of it. Disabling the build-in Nolly cabs and running an Ownhammer IR, it's far harder to distinguish it from TSE X50 or Thermionik. But each cab works very nicely and sounds great.

It's definitely very different to Nameless. Nameless has ONE sound really. It's quite good, but that sound is pretty tiring since you can't ever totally dial out that bright, clanky "djent" sound. If you love that, then there's nothing better. But that sound doesn't work for other styles of music IMO. 

We're really spoiled for choice with all these plugins, haha


----------



## TonyFlyingSquirrel

For recording, I used Line 6's POD Farm with good results for several years, but when I switched to Mac, got Pro Tools and the subsequent upgraded interface, I lost POD Farm and have been recording with my POD HD500X, with good results, but I miss being able to just pull up a plugin on the computer and get going when I have tracks that don't need expression pedal active, i.e.; volume swells or was-pedal use.

I've been checking out 3 in particular recently.

The first is STL Tones. 2 particular bundles. One of them is the Howard Benson bundle, and the 2nd is the Will Putney Bundle. I like some of their productions and mixes, but I found the Will Putney bundle to be the most useful to my application, and it leans towards my favorite high gain amps, the Bogner Ubershaal and the Diesel VH-4. While I found the distortion pedals used in the front end of these amps a bit too hot for my taste, once I dialed them back a bit, I was able to get some very useful tones that felt like the real deal, as I have some experience with each of these amps and know how they react, and the ability to have 2 amps simultaneously for a truly stereo rig. The Will Putney bundle can be found here, and a 10 day free demo version is available for download, which is how I evaluated it. https://www.stltones.com/…/stl-tonality-will-putney-guitar-…

Next was the Positive Grid Bias Amp & FX bundle.
This is also a trial download and has some very extensive features such as the ability to custom build an amp by combining varying preamp, power amp, and power transformer combinations otherwise quite expensive and impractical outside of software. There are other features such as pre-eq and post-eq aside from the tone stack in the amp, the ability to move effects anywhere in the signal flow as desired, and the ability to have 2 amps simultaneously for a truly stereo rig. With a bit of tweaking, I was able to create some very usable tones that provided a great deal of flexibility.
Positive Grid's trial downloads can be found here:
https://www.positivegrid.com/demo/

Third, was Neural DSP Technologies: Nolly plugin. Nolly is the former bass player/engineer/producer of the Washington DC band Periphery, who spear headed the "Djent" sub-genre of Heavy Metal music a little over a decade ago. Nolly is well respected for amount of nuance that goes into his mixing and productions, and he is an expert in sound design on a variety of instruments. He is also quite handy with a soldering iron and has personally undertaken many very unique amp modifications over the years on his studio amps in order to get the kinds of tones out of his recording partners & clients. The GUI to the Nolly plugin is similarly simple in layout, but flexible enough to get a wide variety of sounds across multiple genre's, wether those tones are low, mid, or high gain in their application. This is one area where I think that the Nolly plugin stands out from among the other two plugins reviewed. With the Nolly plugin, I was actually able to grab about 5 presets directly from the library of some of my favorite amps and use them as my own. This is the very first time whether in a hardware device or software that I have been able to accomplish this result. The Nolly is far more nuanced in the attention to detail in the sound design in my observation of having experience with these amps modeled. It took a moment of scrolling through presets to find usable tones, and seconds in tweaking others to taste. The Post EQ (Graphic) is one of the more realistic graphics I've experienced in software. There is far less line noise in this plugin that the others, and the noise gate is far less quirky, reminiscent of an older Drawmer rack mount noise gate from the early 90's. The delays and reverbs on the Nolly are pure sweetness, so clean and pure, and the delay is especially flexible in its sync/mono/ping pong assignments. A 14 day trial version of the Nolly plugin can be found here: https://neuraldsp.com/products/archetype-nolly/

Of all three plugins reviewed, only the Positive Grid bears any modulation effects, but the STL and the Nolly more than make up for this omission by the quality of their tones.

Of the three plugins reviewed, my pick goes to the Nolly.
Simply the best quality, ready to use tones upon launch, simple GUI, and tones that not only serve heavy genres well, but a variety of them with just these 4 amps.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JV_1cQ3vfKw


----------



## Doug Castro

Flappydoodle said:


> Haha, and I totally disagree!
> 
> I'm really enjoying it. The 3rd amp (can only assume 5150) really FEELS like playing through a 5150 in terms of the response to picking, response to different guitars. I'm VERY familiar with the real block-letter version, and this is honestly a really good simulation.
> 
> I've used Guitar Rig, TSE X50, BIAS, Thermionik, Will Putney STL and this is the first one that sounds like a real 5150 in the studio. Something about the low end fatness and the attack. I think the cab impulses are actually a very large part of it. Disabling the build-in Nolly cabs and running an Ownhammer IR, it's far harder to distinguish it from TSE X50 or Thermionik. But each cab works very nicely and sounds great.
> 
> It's definitely very different to Nameless. Nameless has ONE sound really. It's quite good, but that sound is pretty tiring since you can't ever totally dial out that bright, clanky "djent" sound. If you love that, then there's nothing better. But that sound doesn't work for other styles of music IMO.
> 
> We're really spoiled for choice with all these plugins, haha



Thank you! We trully modelled this until no one in the team, Nolly included, could pass a blind test between the virtual and physical amps!

We truly pend 70% of the work on getting the last 2-3% of accuracy when it comes to the feel of the real amp, so it's very cool and reassuring to hear that it shows to discerning people who have experience playing the real thing!



TonyFlyingSquirrel said:


> For recording, I used Line 6's POD Farm with good results for several years, but when I switched to Mac, got Pro Tools and the subsequent upgraded interface, I lost POD Farm and have been recording with my POD HD500X, with good results, but I miss being able to just pull up a plugin on the computer and get going when I have tracks that don't need expression pedal active, i.e.; volume swells or was-pedal use.
> 
> I've been checking out 3 in particular recently.
> 
> The first is STL Tones. 2 particular bundles. One of them is the Howard Benson bundle, and the 2nd is the Will Putney Bundle. I like some of their productions and mixes, but I found the Will Putney bundle to be the most useful to my application, and it leans towards my favorite high gain amps, the Bogner Ubershaal and the Diesel VH-4. While I found the distortion pedals used in the front end of these amps a bit too hot for my taste, once I dialed them back a bit, I was able to get some very useful tones that felt like the real deal, as I have some experience with each of these amps and know how they react, and the ability to have 2 amps simultaneously for a truly stereo rig. The Will Putney bundle can be found here, and a 10 day free demo version is available for download, which is how I evaluated it. https://www.stltones.com/…/stl-tonality-will-putney-guitar-…
> 
> Next was the Positive Grid Bias Amp & FX bundle.
> This is also a trial download and has some very extensive features such as the ability to custom build an amp by combining varying preamp, power amp, and power transformer combinations otherwise quite expensive and impractical outside of software. There are other features such as pre-eq and post-eq aside from the tone stack in the amp, the ability to move effects anywhere in the signal flow as desired, and the ability to have 2 amps simultaneously for a truly stereo rig. With a bit of tweaking, I was able to create some very usable tones that provided a great deal of flexibility.
> Positive Grid's trial downloads can be found here:
> https://www.positivegrid.com/demo/
> 
> Third, was Neural DSP Technologies: Nolly plugin. Nolly is the former bass player/engineer/producer of the Washington DC band Periphery, who spear headed the "Djent" sub-genre of Heavy Metal music a little over a decade ago. Nolly is well respected for amount of nuance that goes into his mixing and productions, and he is an expert in sound design on a variety of instruments. He is also quite handy with a soldering iron and has personally undertaken many very unique amp modifications over the years on his studio amps in order to get the kinds of tones out of his recording partners & clients. The GUI to the Nolly plugin is similarly simple in layout, but flexible enough to get a wide variety of sounds across multiple genre's, wether those tones are low, mid, or high gain in their application. This is one area where I think that the Nolly plugin stands out from among the other two plugins reviewed. With the Nolly plugin, I was actually able to grab about 5 presets directly from the library of some of my favorite amps and use them as my own. This is the very first time whether in a hardware device or software that I have been able to accomplish this result. The Nolly is far more nuanced in the attention to detail in the sound design in my observation of having experience with these amps modeled. It took a moment of scrolling through presets to find usable tones, and seconds in tweaking others to taste. The Post EQ (Graphic) is one of the more realistic graphics I've experienced in software. There is far less line noise in this plugin that the others, and the noise gate is far less quirky, reminiscent of an older Drawmer rack mount noise gate from the early 90's. The delays and reverbs on the Nolly are pure sweetness, so clean and pure, and the delay is especially flexible in its sync/mono/ping pong assignments. A 14 day trial version of the Nolly plugin can be found here: https://neuraldsp.com/products/archetype-nolly/
> 
> Of all three plugins reviewed, only the Positive Grid bears any modulation effects, but the STL and the Nolly more than make up for this omission by the quality of their tones.
> 
> Of the three plugins reviewed, my pick goes to the Nolly.
> Simply the best quality, ready to use tones upon launch, simple GUI, and tones that not only serve heavy genres well, but a variety of them with just these 4 amps.
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JV_1cQ3vfKw



Thank you for the indepth account!


----------



## TonyFlyingSquirrel

Doug, do you work for Neural DSP?


----------



## Doug Castro

TonyFlyingSquirrel said:


> Doug, do you work for Neural DSP?



Yessir!


----------



## TonyFlyingSquirrel

I tell you what, if this Nolly Plugin were available in pedal board form akin to something like my HD500X, I would cross over in a heartbeat after 14 years with Line 6, 12 years prior to that with Digitech/Johnson Amplification, 7 years as a beta tester/endorsee with ADA amplification. No offense to them, but I've always felt like things got me closer & closer, but not this close!

That's how excited I am about this plugin!


----------



## Doug Castro

TonyFlyingSquirrel said:


> I tell you what, if this Nolly Plugin were available in pedal board form akin to something like my HD500X, I would cross over in a heartbeat after 14 years with Line 6, 12 years prior to that with Digitech/Johnson Amplification, 7 years as a beta tester/endorsee with ADA amplification. No offense to them, but I've always felt like things got me closer & closer, but not this close!
> 
> That's how excited I am about this plugin!



Oh thank you man, very nice of you!


----------



## Flappydoodle

Doug Castro said:


> Thank you! We trully modelled this until no one in the team, Nolly included, could pass a blind test between the virtual and physical amps!
> 
> We truly pend 70% of the work on getting the last 2-3% of accuracy when it comes to the feel of the real amp, so it's very cool and reassuring to hear that it shows to discerning people who have experience playing the real thing!



That's awesome.

In addition to feel, the biggest thing I've noticed is how it sounds different with different guitars that drive the amp to different amounts.

My Les Paul has vintage humbuckers, and through a real 5150 it's more like a "distorted clean" sound, and a ton of low end. But my Fishman-equipped Aristides pushes the real amp and sounds basically like having a TS engaged - mid boost, bass cut, and drives the amp into full-on saturation. That difference comes across perfectly in this plugin, which it doesn't with TSE, Will Putney or others. 

I suspect a lot of it has to do with the way input gain is handled? I always feel that other plugins are somehow "normalising" input gain, which does make sense from a user experience point of view (since people have different guitars, interfaces, and you want a standardised sound). But Neural stuff is really responsive to the pickups and input gain setting of the interface. 

Am I guessing correctly?

And again, I have to say how good these IRs are. Considering the 4 cabs and mic options, an IR pack of that size and quality with a nice loader would already justify the plugin asking price IMO. Congratulations guys!


----------



## TonyFlyingSquirrel

In the vid where Nolly is working on developing this, I see a Diezel VH4 and a block 5150, along with what appears to be a Marshall Plexi.
In order of how they appear in the plugin, from left to right, which amp is which?


----------



## vertibration

Doug Castro said:


> Oh thank you man, very nice of you!



Thats actually not a bad idea at all, if Darkglass wanted to venture in that direction to offer a form factor pedal that incorporates the current technology from Neural DSP.


----------



## Ericjutsu

TonyFlyingSquirrel said:


> In the vid where Nolly is working on developing this, I see a Diezel VH4 and a block 5150, along with what appears to be a Marshall Plexi.
> In order of how they appear in the plugin, from left to right, which amp is which?


There is no Diezel in the plugin. Maybe it was just showed to throw us off.
The clean amp is a Bogner Shiva
The crunch amp is a modded plexi or JCM
The metal amp is a 5150
The lead metal amp is a Victory Kraken


----------



## TonyFlyingSquirrel

Ericjutsu said:


> There is no Diezel in the plugin. Maybe it was just showed to throw us off.
> The clean amp is a Bogner Shiva
> The crunch amp is a modded plexi or JCM
> The metal amp is a 5150
> The lead metal amp is a Victory Kraken



Source?


----------



## Deadpool_25

I'm waiting for some company to make a floorboard plugin loader. I think that would be really cool. Being able to have a few amp spots, few pre FX spots, a few post FX spots and an IR spot would be awesome. I mean that's basically an AX8/Helix/etc., but being able to load up the pre FX from the Nolly, a mixture of channels (amps) from the Nolly/Plini/Namless/etc, the delay from the Plini with the reverb from the Nolly, with your choice of an IR (or no IR)...and then be able to select using a floorboard...seems like something I'd buy.


----------



## Lorcan Ward

Lead amp is a heavily modified V30 and I think the second is a plexi, need to check again.


----------



## TonyFlyingSquirrel

Sources? Links?
Anything official, or are these presumptions?
Doug Castro, care to comment officially?


----------



## Ericjutsu

TonyFlyingSquirrel said:


> Sources? Links?
> Anything official, or are these presumptions?
> Doug Castro, care to comment officially?




someone under the comments section lists them and Neural DSP replied and implied they were correct. Also people have seen the Shiva on Nolly's instagram posts and it's known to be his favorite clean amp. He is also known to have the other amps listed.


----------



## TonyFlyingSquirrel

I see that now, thank you.


----------



## Albake21

I'm in love with this plugin! As someone who never liked any plugins in the past, this one grips my exact needs. Funny enough the cleans are my favorite part. I'm genuinely thinking about ditching my AX8 for this plug. I'm going to be doing a bunch of testing this week with full mixes and see what the results will be. As for just jamming around, it's perfect for the tone that I enjoy.


----------



## Xaios

Deadpool_25 said:


> I'm waiting for some company to make a floorboard plugin loader. I think that would be really cool. Being able to have a few amp spots, few pre FX spots, a few post FX spots and an IR spot would be awesome. I mean that's basically an AX8/Helix/etc., but being able to load up the pre FX from the Nolly, a mixture of channels (amps) from the Nolly/Plini/Namless/etc, the delay from the Plini with the reverb from the Nolly, with your choice of an IR (or no IR)...and then be able to select using a floorboard...seems like something I'd buy.


There's this: https://www.moddevices.com/products/mod-duo

While I doubt you can run anything proprietary on it (so no Neural DSP stuff), it does allow a sort of app-like approach where you can download compatible plugins and then load them onto the device, and route them however you want.


----------



## Doug Castro

Flappydoodle said:


> That's awesome.
> 
> In addition to feel, the biggest thing I've noticed is how it sounds different with different guitars that drive the amp to different amounts.
> 
> My Les Paul has vintage humbuckers, and through a real 5150 it's more like a "distorted clean" sound, and a ton of low end. But my Fishman-equipped Aristides pushes the real amp and sounds basically like having a TS engaged - mid boost, bass cut, and drives the amp into full-on saturation. That difference comes across perfectly in this plugin, which it doesn't with TSE, Will Putney or others.
> 
> I suspect a lot of it has to do with the way input gain is handled? I always feel that other plugins are somehow "normalising" input gain, which does make sense from a user experience point of view (since people have different guitars, interfaces, and you want a standardised sound). But Neural stuff is really responsive to the pickups and input gain setting of the interface.
> 
> Am I guessing correctly?
> 
> And again, I have to say how good these IRs are. Considering the 4 cabs and mic options, an IR pack of that size and quality with a nice loader would already justify the plugin asking price IMO. Congratulations guys!



Hi!

Your experience mirrors ours almost exactly.

I can't speak for anyone else's emulation approaches and techniques.

What I can say about ours is that we develop extremely accurate (and complex) mathematical models of every part of the physical circuit, which is why ours aren't the most CPU friendly (the more accurate a model, the larger the number of calculations the processors need to perform in real-time).

Anyone who's A/B'd an AX8 with a Helix can probably find an inverse correlation between CPU "friendliness" and modeling accuracy.

We even have portions of code for output transformer substrate (copper wire and iron core) characteristics.

Some of our methods are built around proprietary machine learning techniques, which is why I cannot go much into much further detail.

But it is very great to hear that the, at times seemingly unreasonable, lengths we've gone to when it comes to accuracy are noticed.


----------



## vertibration

Doug Castro said:


> Hi!
> 
> Your experience mirrors ours almost exactly.
> 
> I can't speak for anyone else's emulation approaches and techniques.
> 
> What I can say about ours is that we develop extremely accurate (and complex) mathematical models of every part of the physical circuit, which is why ours aren't the most CPU friendly (the more accurate a model, the larger the number of calculations the processors need to perform in real-time).
> 
> Anyone who's A/B'd an AX8 with a Helix can probably find an inverse correlation between CPU "friendliness" and modeling accuracy.
> 
> We even have portions of code for output transformer substrate (copper wire and iron core) characteristics.
> 
> Some of our methods are built around proprietary machine learning techniques, which is why I cannot go much into much further detail.
> 
> But it is very great to hear that the, at times seemingly unreasonable, lengths we've gone to when it comes to accuracy are noticed.



Any plans to work with pedal companies? It would be cool to see things like Strymons or Walrus Audio in some of your amps


----------



## Backsnack

TonyFlyingSquirrel said:


> I tell you what, if this Nolly Plugin were available in pedal board form akin to something like my HD500X, I would cross over in a heartbeat after 14 years with Line 6, 12 years prior to that with Digitech/Johnson Amplification, 7 years as a beta tester/endorsee with ADA amplification. No offense to them, but I've always felt like things got me closer & closer, but not this close!
> 
> That's how excited I am about this plugin!


I know it’s not what you’re asking for, but a small MIDI controller and a laptop wouldn’t be that hard to set up and gig with. David Maxim Micic has done it with Helix Native.





Xaios said:


> There's this: https://www.moddevices.com/products/mod-duo
> 
> While I doubt you can run anything proprietary on it (so no Neural DSP stuff), it does allow a sort of app-like approach where you can download compatible plugins and then load them onto the device, and route them however you want.



Mod DUO is an incredible device, and my inner nerd loves the open-source, roll your own approach in the community. I just wish it could run IRs. Maybe down the road ...


----------



## Doug Castro

vertibration said:


> Any plans to work with pedal companies? It would be cool to see things like Strymons or Walrus Audio in some of your amps





Backsnack said:


> I know it’s not what you’re asking for, but a small MIDI controller and a laptop wouldn’t be that hard to set up and gig with. David Maxim Micic has done it with Helix Native.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Mod DUO is an incredible device, and my inner nerd loves the open-source, roll your own approach in the community. I just wish it could run IRs. Maybe down the road ...




Nolly already has MIDI learn capabilities so you can easily control parameters and switch presets with an external controller!

Especially if you run it in Standalone, not even a DAW would be required. All you'd need is an interface, laptop, and a MIDI switching system.

We are working to add this fetaure on the other products as well.


----------



## Doug Castro

vertibration said:


> Any plans to work with pedal companies? It would be cool to see things like Strymons or Walrus Audio in some of your amps



Nothing as of yet, we've gotten quite a few requests from several artists and brands recently, but we have been forced to decline many of them so we can stay focused.

But I will keep that in mind, I have no contact with Strymon but the Walrus guys had been Darkglass' neighbours at NAMM many years and good dudes! Same goes for Earthquaker, great pedal company and awesome people running it.


----------



## TonyFlyingSquirrel

Still gassing for a Bogner Uberschaal & Diesel VH 4 model, but loving the Nolly!


----------



## Doug Castro

TonyFlyingSquirrel said:


> Still gassing for a Bogner Uberschaal & Diesel VH 4 model, but loving the Nolly!



I guess we'll inevatbly get to those sooner or later .


----------



## vertibration

Doug Castro said:


> I guess we'll inevatbly get to those sooner or later .



Yea, so far other companies have fallen pretty short on authenticity. A few Diesel, and Bogners have released lately, and they haven't been too great. Im sure Neural can nail those just as well as the Fortins


----------



## TonyFlyingSquirrel

The STL Will Putney nails them quite well.


----------



## Backsnack

Doug Castro said:


> Nolly already has MIDI learn capabilities so you can easily control parameters and switch presets with an external controller!
> 
> Especially if you run it in Standalone, not even a DAW would be required. All you'd need is an interface, laptop, and a MIDI switching system.
> 
> We are working to add this fetaure on the other products as well.



That will definitely be a welcome feature, as well as including a tuner at some point as you mentioned earlier. 

One more feature for consideration: I don't find the meters as they are right now to be all that useful without a numeric scale for reference as to where 0 dB lies. Maybe consider replacing them with a pop-out VU meter to assist with setting input levels? As I've learned over time, just because my interface is showing "green" on the input indicator doesn't always mean that it's not within clipping range in my DAW or elsewhere.



Doug Castro said:


> Nothing as of yet, we've gotten quite a few requests from several artists and brands recently, but we have been forced to decline many of them so we can stay focused.
> 
> But I will keep that in mind, I have no contact with Strymon but the Walrus guys had been Darkglass' neighbours at NAMM many years and good dudes! Same goes for Earthquaker, great pedal company and awesome people running it.



A small digital modeling pedal sounds like it would be an adventurous task for most of those companies you mentioned, save maybe for Strymon. I wonder if companies who are making multifunction modelers like Line 6, Mooer, Headrush, etc. might be more well-equipped to put together something user friendly and not totally outside of their wheelhouse.


----------



## Backsnack

Doug Castro said:


> I guess we'll inevatbly get to those sooner or later .


Please PLEASE add a Super Kraken to that list, with the matching Victory 2x12 cab. Or do a Rabea Massad Archetype signature, whichever.

I'd click instabuy as soon as the Instagram promo video started.


----------



## ChugThisBoy

Hey guys. Since the Nolly plugin is getting all the love, do you think it will be enough just for home recording? Here's my idea:

- selling my Helix LT and getting the HX Stomp only for live playing. But it doesn't have the XLR to go directly to PA, right? If so this is the only thing that's bugging me
- getting the Nolly plugin for home recording and playing. I record my own stuff and I'm wondering if it'll deliver sounds that fit my needs. I'll try it over the weekend and see if it sounds good enough.

You'll propably say "why you don't use the Helix for all that?" Well, it only sounds good when playing live in my situation. Maybe it's the monitors fault but it just doesn't sound so good while playing at home and it slays at rehealsals. 
Nolly plugin is made stricte for playing at home through monitors and that's why this idea pierced my tiny mind.

Thanks in advance for the tips and pros/cons and sorry for the offtop.


----------



## ATRguitar91

ChugThisBoy said:


> - selling my Helix LT and getting the HX Stomp only for live playing. But it doesn't have the XLR to go directly to PA, right? If so this is the only thing that's bugging me
> - getting the Nolly plugin for home recording and playing. I record my own stuff and I'm wondering if it'll deliver sounds that fit my needs. I'll try it over the weekend and see if it sounds good enough.
> 
> You'll propably say "why you don't use the Helix for all that?" Well, it only sounds good when playing live in my situation. Maybe it's the monitors fault but it just doesn't sound so good while playing at home and it slays at rehealsals.


First off, the HX Stomp does have balanced output. You would just need a balanced TRS cable that has an XLR at one end.

What setup are you using live? If you're using a poweramp into a cab, it may just be that you don't like playing through monitors. I don't personally. That means it doesn't matter whether you get the best amp sim in the world, you'll still be limited because you're playing through monitors.


----------



## vertibration

ChugThisBoy said:


> Hey guys. Since the Nolly plugin is getting all the love, do you think it will be enough just for home recording? Here's my idea:
> 
> - selling my Helix LT and getting the HX Stomp only for live playing. But it doesn't have the XLR to go directly to PA, right? If so this is the only thing that's bugging me
> - getting the Nolly plugin for home recording and playing. I record my own stuff and I'm wondering if it'll deliver sounds that fit my needs. I'll try it over the weekend and see if it sounds good enough.
> 
> You'll propably say "why you don't use the Helix for all that?" Well, it only sounds good when playing live in my situation. Maybe it's the monitors fault but it just doesn't sound so good while playing at home and it slays at rehealsals.
> Nolly plugin is made stricte for playing at home through monitors and that's why this idea pierced my tiny mind.
> 
> Thanks in advance for the tips and pros/cons and sorry for the offtop.



Do you use 3rd party IR's for Helix? I would have to say the Nolly plugin, or any of the plugins from Neural for me sound better than Helix. 

What I am waiting for is a proper EVH 5150 III from Neural. I used to have that head, and miss it terribly. I'd love to see that head emulated.


----------



## ChugThisBoy

ATRguitar91 said:


> First off, the HX Stomp does have balanced output. You would just need a balanced TRS cable that has an XLR at one end.
> 
> What setup are you using live? If you're using a poweramp into a cab, it may just be that you don't like playing through monitors. I don't personally. That means it doesn't matter whether you get the best amp sim in the world, you'll still be limited because you're playing through monitors.



Yes, live I use the LT -> poweramp -> cab. I've had Pod HD some years ago and actually it sounded much better with cheaper speakers so I'm just confused at the moment.




vertibration said:


> Do you use 3rd party IR's for Helix? I would have to say the Nolly plugin, or any of the plugins from Neural for me sound better than Helix.
> 
> What I am waiting for is a proper EVH 5150 III from Neural. I used to have that head, and miss it terribly. I'd love to see that head emulated.



I normally use the stock cabs because I never found good souding 3rd party. I've never bought any because they can be expensive (sad reactions only) so that's may be the problem - the free ones maybe just suck.


----------



## brandon7s

ChugThisBoy said:


> I normally use the stock cabs because I never found good souding 3rd party. I've never bought any because they can be expensive (sad reactions only) so that's may be the problem - the free ones maybe just suck.



I've tried packs from most of the well known IR brands. My recommendation is to buy a Heavy Hitter pack from OwnHammer and call it a day. They are incredibly high quality and offer a good amount of variety and their IR mixes are pretty dang good so you don't have to go through the trouble of mixing them yourself unless you want something very, very specific.


----------



## ChugThisBoy

brandon7s said:


> I've tried packs from most of the well known IR brands. My recommendation is to buy a Heavy Hitter pack from OwnHammer and call it a day. They are incredibly high quality and offer a good amount of variety and their IR mixes are pretty dang good so you don't have to go through the trouble of mixing them yourself unless you want something very, very specific.



Mainly high gain tones and ambient cleans


----------



## Kaura

brandon7s said:


> I've tried packs from most of the well known IR brands. My recommendation is to buy a Heavy Hitter pack from OwnHammer and call it a day. They are incredibly high quality and offer a good amount of variety and their IR mixes are pretty dang good so you don't have to go through the trouble of mixing them yourself unless you want something very, very specific.



I just bought the Heavy Hitter pack solely because of your post (well, also because a ton of people have praised it over the years). Hope I won't be disappointed. 

Edit: I wasn't disappointed.


----------



## TonyFlyingSquirrel

I recorded with it in demo mode yesterday, then committed the tracks.
I have just a touch more to do, then I'll post a clip of it.
This plugin is the only instantiation on these tracks, no others, ie; no other eq's, comps, delays/reverbs, etc...
Looking forward to posting these, and providing a related review of my experience with it.

Nolly for the win!


----------



## brandon7s

ChugThisBoy said:


> Mainly high gain tones and ambient cleans


If you have a particular fondness of Fender or Vox cleans and also like Mesa's cabs then I'd go with their Core Tone Bundle. There's a nice Marshall cab in there too which I use for a lot of things, though it doesn't really do metal all that well. I do like the Recto cab in there though and that does high gain tones very well. The pack is 20 bucks less than either of the two Heavy Hitter packs but obviously doesn't include as many high-gain focused cabs as either of those two, but it does have more variety. If you're not a big Fender or Vox tone lover then I'd go with Heavy Hitter II. It has two 2x12 and two 4x12 and includes more variety than volume one which has four different 4x12s. Personally I like using 2x12s for cleans.



Kaura said:


> I just bought the Heavy Hitter pack solely because of your post (well, also because a ton of people have praised it over the years). Hope I won't be disappointed.
> 
> Edit: I wasn't disappointed.


 Glad to hear it! I'm also a big fan of their Massively-Multi Mic'd cab libraries, too, particularly the 412 MRBW GNR one; it's by far the most versatile single-cab collection I've ever seen and there's not a bad sound to be had in there.


----------



## ChugThisBoy

Okay, I just downloaded the trial like 30 minutes ago and I can't stop playing. This thing sounds sooo good and I thought they can't top their game after the Plini VST. This is something awesome, truly.


----------



## Cheap

Yeah, I'm gonna have to eat my words a bit here.. I always see a huge lack of content for the cleaner side of any new guitar plugins these days so when they uploaded that mix walkthrough I got super intrigued.

I ended up putting together a quick video using a lot of those same stock presets: 

I'd love to see this company make dedicated lower gain plugins with the same intent they put into the higher gain market


----------



## Nik_Left_RG

Facing problems loading the plugin in Garageband . It gives me a pace service not running message. I have contacted ok n apparently it is a known issue with dsp neural products. Is anyone using Garageband?


----------



## Nik_Left_RG

Nik_Left_RG said:


> Facing problems loading the plugin in Garageband . It gives me a pace service not running message. I have contacted ok n apparently it is a known issue with dsp neural products. Is anyone using Garageband?


meant iLok .. auto correct is stupid


----------



## Controsol

Hi

I need help, I'm use a apogee ensemble thunderbolt and not problem with archetype plug neural, but with nolly I can't listening anything. I have signal in apogee, but nolly look disconnect, not signal 

Anyone can help?

Thanks


----------



## ChugThisBoy

Hard to guess what is your problem actually but the lack of sound usually comes from wrong Asio settings. Try to check on that first. If you use it as standalone, there's dedicated button for audio settings.


----------



## Doug Castro

Controsol said:


> Hi
> 
> I need help, I'm use a apogee ensemble thunderbolt and not problem with archetype plug neural, but with nolly I can't listening anything. I have signal in apogee, but nolly look disconnect, not signal
> 
> Anyone can help?
> 
> Thanks



Hi! please make sure you download the latest version 1.0.1: https://neuraldsp.com/downloads/

If the problem persists, my ninjas at [email protected] will get you running in no time.

Kind regards,
D.


----------



## Nik_Left_RG

Just curious on which interface , OS and monitor you guys are running when going full software ..


----------



## ChugThisBoy

In my case, I'm using the cheapo Lexicon Alpha interface with gaming PC, 3.4ghz i5, 16gbs ddr4 RAM and some iiyama 24" monitor (or M Audio M42 monitors if that's what you're reffering to).


----------



## Nik_Left_RG

ChugThisBoy said:


> In my case, I'm using the cheapo Lexicon Alpha interface with gaming PC, 3.4ghz i5, 16gbs ddr4 RAM and some iiyama 24" monitor (or M Audio M42 monitors if that's what you're reffering to).



Thanks Chug. That is exactly what I was referring to.. excluding the visual monitor


----------



## ChugThisBoy

Nik_Left_RG said:


> Thanks Chug. That is exactly what I was referring to.. excluding the visual monitor



Yeah, I know. I just did it for the lolz. Strong CPU is a must-have for these plugins. Mine is pretty good for gaming but it's struggling with VST's sometimes if there's too much going on.


----------



## Kaura

Nik_Left_RG said:


> Just curious on which interface , OS and monitor you guys are running when going full software ..



Focusrite Scarlett 2i4 (2nd gen), W7, Beyerdynamic DT770.

PC specs (or at least all that matters, lol):
-Intel i5-2500K
-16GB DDR3 RAM

I really want to upgrade my shit. I built this pc back in 2011 so using it is like playing russian roulette. I'm just nervously waiting for the day it suddenly dies on me. I don't mind the Scarlett, it's decent enough, might get a DI box down the road. I really want to get monitors but for the moment I can get a pretty good idea how my mixes sound when I'm listening to them on my stereo system from like 2006. The biggest problem with using just headphones is the low end, especially with the Beyerdynamics since they're pretty flat.

Also, @Doug Castro

I got an email from you saying that my trial on the Nolly plugin is about to end. Even though I pre-ordered it. Shouldn't be a problem because I've bought the plugin but still a bit weird...


----------



## Xaios

Kaura said:


> Focusrite Scarlett 2i4 (2nd gen), W7, Beyerdynamic DT770.
> 
> PC specs (or at least all that matters, lol):
> -Intel i5-2500K
> -16GB DDR3 RAM


Heh, I have the same processor, RAM and headphones.


----------



## Mullet

I have the Nameless suite already.... should I pull the trigger on Nolly or Plini?


----------



## Albake21

Mullet said:


> I have the Nameless suite already.... should I pull the trigger on Nolly or Plini?


Why not just do the trial and decide for yourself? It's very different from the Nameless. If I had to choose between Nolly and Plini it would be Nolly all day. It's by far their best plugin because of how versatile it is. Most of the other ones are one trick ponies.


----------



## Mullet

Albake21 said:


> Why not just do the trial and decide for yourself? It's very different from the Nameless. If I had to choose between Nolly and Plini it would be Nolly all day. It's by far their best plugin because of how versatile it is. Most of the other ones are one trick ponies.



That’s a good shout @Albake21 will have a crack this weekend. Nameless does most of what I need for down tuned 7 string stuff. Was looking for something that can do cleans... hope you’re well bud.


----------



## Albake21

Mullet said:


> That’s a good shout @Albake21 will have a crack this weekend. Nameless does most of what I need for down tuned 7 string stuff. Was looking for something that can do cleans... hope you’re well bud.


If you're only looking for cleans then Plini might be the better option, but that's not to say the Nolly one doesn't have amazing cleans. I guess just give them both a good trial run and figure out which one you need. I'm just very biased with the Nolly one at this point since it has everything I personally need/want in one package. The Plini one was really nice, but only if you like Plini's sound. You can't really do too much else with it. Good luck!


----------



## Cryovillain

How the boosted 5150 style amp tone, anyone try it?


----------



## @zwen

Cryovillain said:


> How the boosted 5150 style amp tone, anyone try it?


I’ve tried it and I quite like it. Nolly has created a set of tones that you can use for a wide variety of music, not just metal.


----------



## TonyFlyingSquirrel

So far, I've demo'ed the Nolly, Nameless, and Plini, and the most useful overall to me is the Nolly. Nameless is amp + comp/disto boxes only, no reverb/delay. The Plini has some wonderful cleans, and some very beautiful atmospheric delay/reverb driven tones, really nice leads, but it is not intended for aggressive music as the Nolly is. The Nolly serves the hard rock/metal/djent genre well, while also making itself useful to other genre's just by dialing back the gain.

I just finished recording everything but vocals on a song and I did not use any eq/comp from any additional plugins within Pro Tools. The tones that I'll post soon have all the guitar tones direct from the plugin, and if any of the eq treatment was provided, it was done from within the Nolly plugin as part of the preset that I created. Even that was very subtle, most of what I accomplished to get the tones to sit in the mix were done by simple knob tweaks on the amp and maybe the drive box in front of it in the preset.


----------



## Boofchuck

I downloaded the trial today and re-amped a song. I also recorded a quick clean song because I was very inspired by one of the clean presets. I really like this plug in! I'll definitely be buying this as soon as I can. 

Here's the heavy song: 
https://soundcloud.com/pascal-faurie/wildlands-nolly

And here's the clean one:
https://soundcloud.com/pascal-faurie/white-skies


----------



## NosralTserrof

Just bought it a few days ago. The 5150 sim is my favorite 5150 sim I've played through.

Amp #2 also gets some sick melodic hardcore tones in the vein of Rise Against, and a really convincing Green Day tone. 

It's super inspiring to play through, tbh.


----------



## BlackFalcon17

I'm really enjoying this plugin. This feels like a huge upgrade for me, as I have been using a POD HD for the past few years. Mostly using the 5150 sim but the other amps sound great too, even without 3rd part IRs. One thing I noticed though, during playback the very beginning of the track (~.1 seconds) will kind of fade unless the marker is behind the take. I noticed the same thing with the Nameless, but I've also been using the Parallax for bass and haven't had that issue. This is in Reaper, 44.1kHz 24bit. Anyone else had a similar issue? It's not a deal breaker, but it is kind of annoying.

Anyway, here's a short demo I did with it: https://soundcloud.com/chukwu-uduka/amos


----------



## Doug Castro

BlackFalcon17 said:


> I'm really enjoying this plugin. This feels like a huge upgrade for me, as I have been using a POD HD for the past few years. Mostly using the 5150 sim but the other amps sound great too, even without 3rd part IRs. One thing I noticed though, during playback the very beginning of the track (~.1 seconds) will kind of fade unless the marker is behind the take. I noticed the same thing with the Nameless, but I've also been using the Parallax for bass and haven't had that issue. This is in Reaper, 44.1kHz 24bit. Anyone else had a similar issue? It's not a deal breaker, but it is kind of annoying.
> 
> Anyway, here's a short demo I did with it: https://soundcloud.com/chukwu-uduka/amos



Thanks for the kind words.

Did you reach out to [email protected]? 

Kind regards,
D.


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## KnightBrolaire

I'm a bit late to the game but here's a quick noodly clip of the 5150 amp model. Guitar was my dc600 with a bkp holy diver in the bridge. I really like this vst (especially the 5150 model), even moreso than the fortin stuff (which is great)
https://www.mediafire.com/file/o9s502567mciiml/holydiver_neural-nolly_wankery.flac/file


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## Politics of Ecstasy

Lorcan Ward said:


> They only started teasing this one recently. I know a lot of guys were looking for a Nolly Amp Suite from a few companies so its no surprise Neural DSP made one.
> 
> 
> 
> https://neuraldsp.com/products/archetype-nolly/
> 
> Audio clip sounds great but it is Nolly. Having a hi-gain rhythm amp and a hi-gain lead amp is something I wish more companies would do. Two overdrives is another one. On paper this plugin ticks a lot of boxes for me. Demo should be available next week when its released to find out.



What exactly is the product? Like where/what is the item they are selling?


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## TonyFlyingSquirrel

Politics of Ecstasy said:


> What exactly is the product? Like where/what is the item they are selling?



It is an amp/effects sim for standalone or for use as a plugin in your DAW. You can purchase the download directly from their website.


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## KnightBrolaire

some 7 string wankery with my viper 7 and aristides:
https://www.mediafire.com/file/f7zozfnhbxc3nld/7_stringwankery_archetypenolly.zip/file


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## Metropolis

Jari Mäenpää from Wintersun demoing Achetype: Nolly. At 10:50 first time I see him djenting a 7-string


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## KnightBrolaire

If anyone's interested here's a clip I did with my mushok and the elysian trident II set. Also threw in the DIs if anyone wants to mess with them
https://www.mediafire.com/file/yg6t00t3j38i7el/Elysian_Hades_Trident_II_DIs.zip/file


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## Flappydoodle

Cryovillain said:


> How the boosted 5150 style amp tone, anyone try it?



Its fuck yeah awesome

This plugin really nails the 5150, especially the low end. The master volume is also super realistic, where the tightest sound is around 3-4, and anything beyond that gets fuzzier and looser. I’m using the classic ‘Sneap 5150’ settings and it sounds amazing. 

Responds really well to boosting too.


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## DropTheSun

Archetype Nolly has the best 5150 tone vs any other modeler/plugin out there. Feels and sounds so realistic!


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## TonyFlyingSquirrel

Nolly & the STL/Will Putney are the only sims out there that come close to a real 5150, regardless of the Peavey or FMIC/EVH versions. The old POD Farm does ok, but even the HD500X doesn't even come close.


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## soul_lip_mike

Me every time I try one of these plugins I see in a video: sounds just like my shitty POD I had in 2006. FeelsBadMan.


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## fgmirra

Archetype: Nolly 2.0.0 is now available!⁠
https://neuraldsp.com/pages/downloads

Great changes 

macOS users: Read important information below regarding AU formats before updating.⁠
CHANGELOG⁠
### Added⁠
- BUILT-IN TUNER is now available in all versions, plugin and standalone.⁠
- All versions received MIDI SUPPORT. Now you can assign MIDI commands to control plug-in parameters, UI components, and presets files.⁠
- New preset files.⁠
### Changed⁠
- The noise gate was updated with adaptive release.⁠
- New high-resolution renders for all elements on the screen.⁠
- CPU usage improvements.⁠
- STEREO MODE: Stereo Switch pans the microphones internally as dual instance.⁠
### Fixed⁠
- Crashes during bounces in Logic Pro X & Cubase.⁠
- GarageBand compatibility.⁠
- Reverb and Compressor settings don’t recall between sessions.⁠
- “Fading Out” signal bug.⁠
- Multiple bugs are now fixed to improve stability, graphic performance, and audio issues.⁠
⁠
:warning: Important information regarding AU (Audio Unit) formats: :warning:⁠
Version 2.0.0 of Archetype: Nolly is recognised as a new plugin by any programs using the AU (Audio Unit) version of the plugin. This means that your sessions will not recognise the updated version, and you will receive an error like "The Audio Unit Archetype: Nolly does not exist". You can replace the missing instances with Archetype: Nolly 2.0.0, but your settings won't be recalled.⁠
⁠
Please be aware of this before you update, and make every effort to preserve your sessions and settings. You can save all your settings as presets before you update, and then load them in the new version of the plugin after updating.⁠
⁠
This issue occurs because version 2.0.0 introduces MIDI capabilities, and this results in the AU format of the plugin being recognised as a different type of audio effect. Other plugin formats are unaffected by this issue.⁠
Not sure which plugin format you're using? AU formats are used by DAWs running on macOS computers


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## Nik_Left_RG

Updated. Got excited seeing a 'Metronome' like image at the bottom of the AU page but it turned out to be tempo sync.

Could someone please elaborate on what 'Tempo Sync' does ? I am new to this.

And, it would have been nice to see an actual metronome in the AU.


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## Flappydoodle

Nik_Left_RG said:


> Updated. Got excited seeing a 'Metronome' like image at the bottom of the AU page but it turned out to be tempo sync.
> 
> Could someone please elaborate on what 'Tempo Sync' does ? I am new to this.
> 
> And, it would have been nice to see an actual metronome in the AU.



For the inbuilt delay pedals. It will sync the delay timing with your project tempo (if the plugin in loaded inside a DAW)


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## Nik_Left_RG

Flappydoodle said:


> For the inbuilt delay pedals. It will sync the delay timing with your project tempo (if the plugin in loaded inside a DAW)


Thanks for the reply. Didn't expect it to be that simple


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## rexbinary

Nolly 2.0.0 track Lightfall, what a great riff


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## Backsnack

Finally having a tuner and midi features is great. Now I can program preset changes to either my little desktop keyboard or Morningstar controller.


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## DeathByButterslax

rexbinary said:


> Nolly 2.0.0 track Lightfall, what a great riff




This just makes me GAS for a Friedman Cali more than the Plug-in


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## sakeido

rexbinary said:


> Nolly 2.0.0 track Lightfall, what a great riff




oooooh he still has the ol' quilt B2! but it has giant pickup rings now..?


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## Albake21

sakeido said:


> oooooh he still has the ol' quilt B2! but it has giant pickup rings now..?


Yeah he made a post on his IG about correcting the pickup positions. I think it was to move the bridge pickup either close or further from the bridge. Was it worth ruining the look of the guitar with really ugly pickup rings? In my opinion, probably not.


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## Lorcan Ward

He wasn’t happy with the tone because the bridge pickup was further away from the bridge than usual. He said he tried everything so the last option was to move it 1-2mm closer to the bridge. A little extreme but if you are at that level of tone chasing where you have tried the entire BKP range and dismantle + rebuild amps, pedals, cabs etc then I’m sure you know what you’re doing. Lasse Lammert says he doesn’t like BMs for this reason.


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## makesexnotwar

Is it just me or sound was slightly improved after update?


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## Metropolis

makesexnotwar said:


> Is it just me or sound was slightly improved after update?



You're just having new set of strings  Just kidding... noise gate had some improvements, but anything else from models it has did not.


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