Sonicake Matribox II Pro Update – Now with NAM Profiling
The latest update to the Sonicake Matribox II Pro has quietly turned an already capable unit into something much more powerful. The big news is that it can now load .nam profiles, which puts it into the same conversation as some very high-end amp modelling units.
For those not familiar, nam profiling is similar in concept to Kemper modelling. You can capture a “snapshot” of an amp and turn it into a digital file. That snapshot can be just the preamp, the preamp and power amp together, or even a full rig including cab. Better still, you can profile an amp with your favourite drive pedal in front of it, meaning you can bake in that pushed high-gain sound as a single file. Once loaded into the Matribox II Pro, you can still adjust the amp’s EQ, gain, and volume, and—most importantly—it reacts dynamically to your playing. Just like with a real amp, rolling back your guitar’s volume or changing your pick attack gives you different tonal responses.
Nam profiling is still relatively young compared to Kemper or Neural DSP’s Quad Cortex, but it’s evolving fast. The community around it is growing, meaning more and more free profiles are available every week, and the tech itself is constantly being refined by a few dedicated developers. That makes this update a very exciting development for the Matribox II Pro, especially for players who want to get in on the ground floor of something new.
Why Now?
The timing of this update is interesting. Sonicake recently released the Pocket Master, a portable multi-FX unit in a mini format, and one of the first compact devices to offer nam profiling. Not long after, Valeton launched the GP-5, another portable modeller with similar functionality. In response, Sonicake pushed an update to the Matribox II to include a nam loader. What they didn’t make especially clear was that the update also applies to the Matribox II Pro—and that’s where things get very exciting.
The Matribox II Pro Was Already Strong
Even before this update, the Matribox II Pro was punching above its weight. One of its best features is the fully customisable signal chain. With many budget multi-FX units (including earlier versions of the Matribox), you’re stuck with a semi-fixed path: an amp block is always an amp, the EQ is always an EQ, and so on. You might get a handful of free-floating effects you can position pre or post amp, but flexibility is limited.
Higher-end units, like the Line 6 Helix, give you the freedom to build your signal chain however you want. You can load blocks in any order, experiment with strange placements, and really shape your sound. The Matribox II Pro gives you that same kind of flexibility. The only real limitation is DSP power, and that’s a fair trade for the price point.
For example, in the sound demos I put together, I used a cleaner Fender-style nam profile paired with one of the built-in drive pedals, a spring reverb up front, and then finished the chain with a studio compressor and subtle room reverb. That last touch adds a polish that feels like a “recorded” guitar tone, and it’s a trick I picked up from Mr Lamby over on YouTube. The end result was dynamic, characterful, and surprisingly refined.
Final Thoughts
The Matribox II Pro was already a hit here at Budget Pedal Chap. It offered flexibility, solid tones, and features you’d normally expect from pricier units. With the addition of nam profiling, Sonicake have taken things to another level.
This wasn’t an update anyone was clamouring for, but now that it’s here, it feels like an upgrade we didn’t even know we needed. Whether you’re already a Matribox II Pro owner or just looking for a budget-friendly way into the world of amp profiling, this update makes the unit far more appealing.
It’s another sign that Sonicake aren’t just keeping pace with the competition—they’re quietly raising the bar in the budget multi-FX world.
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