Introduction
Nembrini Audio have introduced the MP1 Pro programmable tube amplifier, based on the ADA MP1 pre-amp.
The Nembrini Audio MP1 Pro has a unique tri-state voicing option for choice of clean tube, distortion tube, or solid state circuit. It has two 12AX7 virtual tubes, three programmable gain controls and a four band programmable EQ including 16dB boost/cut for bass and treble.
MP1 Pro is available from Nembrini Audio in VST2, VST3 and AAX formats for Windows and macOS, typically priced at $137. Note that it is on sale during Black November 2024 for $29.99.
It is also available in AUv3 version for iOS from the app store, typically priced at $19.99 and is also on sale during Black November 2024 for $9.99
Background
The ADA MP1 is an iconic piece of gear, originally released in 1987. An all analog tube amp with digital controls, ADA also added programmable midi switching which at that time was only really popular for use with keyboards and computers. The MP1 was endorsed by the likes of Nuno Bettencourt, Kirk Hammet and Paul Gilbert and featured in a number of 80s and 90s records and is still sought after today.
Nembrini have extended the possibilities of the original hardware by adding a power amp section; 6 effects – delay, modulation (chorus or tremolo), reverb, noise gate, cleaner and compressor; 6 cabinet emulations; 4 mic emulations and impulse response loader.
GUI
The GUI has the classic look of the original, retaining this look for the added effects and cabinet/impulse options.
At the top there’s a toolbar where you can access the manual, scroll through presets, undo/redo buttons and handy A/B banks so that you can compare settings and copy from one bank to the other. You can also save and delete presets and bypass the effect.
In the top left is the pre-amp section, top right has effects. The main part of the display has the cabinet/impulse controls and on the right is the power amp and input/output levels.
Note that the GUI and functionality is slightly different on the ios version. The display has the preamp at the top and effect settings beneath. There is a separate tab to access the power amp and cab settings. On the ios version you don’t have separate cab and speaker combinations and you can’t load IR files. Instead, there is a list of cabinet and mic combinations (you can’t change the settings) although there are more cab types and additional IRs to the desktop version, 54 in total. If you have a favourite IR, you could bypass the cab and mic and use an IR loader app like Nembrini’s IR Loader.
In Use
What I really like about the MP1 Pro is that it great range of sounds from clean to full on tube overdrive with a huge amount of flexibility to shape your sound. It’s also cool how Nembrini have kept the same operating interface as the original hardware unit.
The pre-amp section has blue push buttons to select various parameters, the value is then displayed on the red led display and the up/down arrows are used to change settings.
Voicing button allows you to select between clean tube, distorted tube or solid state (shown as s.s. On the display). Overdrive 1 attenuates the pre-tube input signal, higher gain levels result in higher frequency harmonic saturation. Overdrive 2 attenuates the inter-tube signal. Higher levels result in fuller harmonic saturation and in solid state mode it sets the level of compression. Master gain then sets the post-tube, pre-eq gain.
Other controls allow you to adjust bass, mid, treble and presence and turn the effects section on and off.
The effects section is well featured with delay, reverb, modulation (chorus or tremolo), filter, noise gate and compressor.
As well as sync, time, feedback and mix settings, the delay has filter and offset controls. Similarly the reverb has high cut and low cut controls. These are great features that you don’t often see.
The filter effect is a brilliant addition. It has pre (beginning of signal chain) controls for tight to reduce low frequency content and harsh to reduce high frequency content. Post controls (end of signal chain) have similar controls, rumbling to reduce low frequencies and harsh to reduce high frequencies. It’s really useful to further shape and adjust your tone.
On the right hand side of the display you have the power amp settings, this comprises of four virtual EL34 tubes with presence, resonance, volume and a power switch. There are also controls for input and output levels and a handy control to fix the input level.
The main part of the display has the cabinet and impulse controls or you can bypass these. For the cabinet settings, you can choose between 6 cabinets and use 2 virtual microphones, selecting between 4 models. The mics can be on or off axis and you also have positions and distance controls. There’s also a mixer section with 3 fader controls for the volume of each microphone and the stereo ambience microphones as well as pan, solo, mute and phase inversion.
The impulse loader lets you load up to 3 impulse responses and blend between them.
I’ve recorded a few sound examples using the iPad version. I’ve used my Yamaha superstrat through a Joyo Momix cab interface into MP1 within AUM. I’ve not used any other software or effects, the only post processing was to check and adjust levels.
It really excels at a wide range of sounds from clean, subtle overdrive to tube distortion. One point to note is that MP1 Pro – like most amp sims – is sensitive to changes in gain so you need to adjust input / output levels accordingly. The Momix cab doesn’t have an input level unlike more fully featured interfaces so it’s something to bear in mind with this interface.
To highlight this point, when I recorded the ‘clipping’ example the levels looked about right but it was recorded too loud, you can hear the clipping and see why on the waveform below.
I’ve also created a video that I’ve embedded at the top of this post. This uses Riffler and Riffler Flow, guitar riff generators by Jonathan Bell. Riffler Flow is designed for heavy, scale based riffs whereas Riffler Flow is designed for more softer, clean arpeggio based riffs. I’ve started with a clean sound through to distorted tube sound and back to clean sound. You can see how levels increase as gain as increased and need to be adjusted accordingly. You can also hear a couple of different IRs and how the filter shapes the sound as well as a few of the effects.
