Real Amp Vs. Plugin: Neural DSP Soldano SLO-100

With Neural DSP releasing the Soldano SLO-100 plugin, I thought we could compare it to a real Soldano SLO-100!

Time Stamps:
0:00 - Intro
1:10 - Settings
2:09 - Neural Isolated
2:32 - SLO Setup
2:56 - SLO Isolated
3:24 - A/B Comparison
3:47 - Thoughts
4:21 - A/B In A Mix
4:46 - Final Thoughts & Comments

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[michaelpal]

I just downloaded this plugin and, moving to more of a digital amp work flow. After owning several Marshalls, Peavy, Fenders, Mesa etc. I have to say the digital process has caught up with amp modeling. As another person who posted "For me the mix is the What I walk away with is I can save roughly $3800.00".
Also, from a strictly financial point of view-I am not a touring musician-I have a small home studio. So I need sonically perfect (as close as I can purchase) plugins to replicate the hardware-without spending thousands of dollars. The end point is to record music. Happy with my choice.

[neverender]

pull a little out of 250 & 500hz and boost 8k on the included 9-band EQ and there ya go! Neural DSP rules great video as always!

[swatchcovers]

That intro riff was begging for the snare to be on 3 instead of 2 and 4.

[MrArkcen]

Sounds great the amp sim. I think the big difference its the harmonic distortion and the response to the sound

[Take-the-Ticket]

Completely NOT indiscernible in the mix, still a really obvious difference. However, I get the direction Neural is going, and I like it. I prefer Neural's version in the mix. Much like how I love your excited treblez in your stuff. Super cool that Neural and a couple of other companies are attempting to release mix-ready tones. They captured the Soldano and gave it a little boost to cut through, I'm cool with that. Also, I'm 47 years old and above 16k things get iffy :)

[progpogs]

I kinda enjoyed the plugin sound better, what you say as muddy is actually just less fizz to me, I like the slightly darker sound.

[OwentheRocker]

The real amp sounds better, but the difference is not $3000+ to my ears. Bit of EQ and all that mucky midrange will be sorted

[jomarthegreat]

Me: "Hmm, plugin sounds a little muddier"
Fluff: "the Neural is a little muddier"
Me: *screams*

[DingusMcBrungus]

Kinda odd he didn't include a third run-through with the plugin tweaked with more presence to see how close it can get

[andrewarnold]

It sounds close enough that I'd feel silly as fuck to pay 4k for the real thing.

[laaaliiiluuu]

Technically, both real and virtual amps are just processing electric signals. It's just a matter of time until the digital processing becomes as good as the analog processing.

[RÅNÇIÐ]

Yes, the plugin sounds a bit darker but the general character is still there. Nothing that can't be adjusted with the turn of a knob.

[whome]

4000$ vs 150$ I would rather have the plugin and 3850$ in my pocket

[tormentyt]

Make another video and try to get them as close as possible either with post-eq or just using amp's own eq. This sim like any other (nevermind the amp) on the market is muddier and less alive than the real thing.

[idiotburns]

SLO 100 is way better sounding, its way more alive sounding!!!

[metalmaniac]

You could really hear the difference in the palm mutes. The plug in when palm muted sound way scratchy where the real amp had that good plam muted low end thump

[Penberth]

I was excited to try this plugin last week as I too have the pleasure of the company of an SLO100. Was particularly looking forward to this one as I've never really given much thought to what the other NDSP plugins are based on, I enjoy just diving in and seeing what's what - but this time I could make a comparison with the real thing. Initially I was surprised at how different the settings need to be to get the same kind of sound - e.g. crunch mode in normal channel the gain needs to be higher on the sim to get the same level of gain as on the amp (I guess that could also be impacted by various other i/o factors/levels though). Overall they can be made to sound very comparable in isolation and I'm sure the differences in a mix get even smaller. But, 'in the room' it's night and day - as good as the NDSP stuff sounds, they don't touch the real thing. 4k worth of better? No - not if that's the only spare 4k you have. If you can afford it though, playing the SLO feels 'an experience', really is a fantastic amp which merits its status. The NDSP stuff absolutely will get the job done in a mix though, no doubt about it.

[ChristianMoses]

Damn, that's a tiny bit of EQ different. Incredible.

[cbrindle]

The real thing has more "air" and seems to be a tad "gainier." Even in the mix it is quite noticeable.

[rztricky]

So, if you add the 7 or 8k band to bring out that action on the Neural, you’ll get the sparkle but not the organic action.
The stock SLO has that 7-8k sparkle and then it closes the envelope with the bleed off naturally.
The EQ boosting on the Neural to match the snarl in the that range will work for the hits, but not for the recoil.
The analog SLO circuit opens and closes the high mids percussively, it was Mike Soldano’s AI