Sonicake Pocketmaster Review: Best Starting Point for NAM Hardware Rigs?

Headphone amps for guitars have been a thing basically my whole life, and they've always felt fundamentally flawed. Sure you can use them for warming up or silent practice, but do you really want to warm up or practice with a tone that will never leave your headphones?

With Neural Amp Modeler (NAM) support added via firmware update, the Pocket Master is even more compelling than ever. And there is a real need because a well-executed product would solve the problems above. Since I think budget NAM hardware is high-leverage for a lot of people, this is surely worth a review.

Sonicake calls the Pocket Master a "Multi-Effects Processor," but I think it is it best understood as something in between a digital pedal, an audio interface, and a headphone amp. If you want a repairable, tour-grade device with balanced outputs, this isn’t it. At ~$60 at the time of writing, you shouldn't expect a pro-level touring or studio solution, but this does a lot of things surprisingly well.

Overview

Even though it is priced almost like a toy, the Pocket Master has serious software behind it. It offers an accessible entry point for guitarists and bassists looking for affordable hardware for dabbling in digital rigs and Neural Amp Modeler without spending a ton of cash or getting too locked in to an ecosystem.

Pros

• Good value overall

• Neural Amp Modeler support: Load full rig captures for free from Tone3000 through your computer and use nam files of your own gear

• Includes a variety of amp models that sound great! (I like the JC-120-based one)

• Models of many famous effects, amps, and cabinets

• Easy to update firmware through Mac or Windows computer

• Mobile app makes it easier to create presets

• 24-bit 44.1kHz (good or at least perfectly fine for this unit's price imo)

• Built-in reverb sounds good!

• Can be used as an audio interface to record guitar/bass

• Midi control support

• Very small!

• Comes in a variety of colors

Cons

• Rechargeable battery not replaceable (the device is not made to be opened by consumers); no 9V connector for pedalboard power supplies

• Had to give location permission to mobile app to get it to work (yuck)

• Can't run NAM models and IRs separately (must use rull rig captures); slightly lower quality than running NAM models natively due to conversion that happens in the Pocket Master

• Can't do combinations of multiple amps at the same time (for example: wet-dry rigs)

• Built-in noise gate sounds crunchy

• Limited I/O (single 1/4 inch headphone out, no XLR)

• Not a solution for creating "captures" or "models" (doesn't pretend to be)

About different types of "modeling"

Modeling can mean a couple different things in different contexts, and it's worth disambiguating this before I I get further into the review. Sonicake refers to the built-in amp models as using "white box" technology. This basically implies that they are replicating the actual circuit in software with explicitly-coded behavior.

The opposite of that is "black-box" modeling, which doesn't care how the circuit transforms the input into sound but learning some function that approximates it. This is where ML-based "capture/profiling" falls, including NAM.

I'm evaluating the Pocket Master more as a black-box capable modeling platform rather than getting into the accuracy of the included models, which isn't really my expertise. That being said, I think a lot of the included models sound really good, including the JC-120 inspired one.

Firmware and apps

Devices like this aren't sold as isolated units. They are sold as parts of a software ecosystem where digital connectivity is the point of owning these devices. If something is a fail here, it is an easy path to a 1 star review and the trashbin.

Luckily, I found it very easy to install the software on my mac, update the firmware and load some nam files and IRs. The desktop software isn't responsible for more than it needs to be: it is simply in charge of updating firmware and letting you load .nam models and IRs.

Firmware updates can be a little intimidating sometimes if the company doesn't do a good job supporting and testing the process (not gonna point any fingers today lol), but this one was pretty easy. I initiated it on my Macbook from their desktop app, and it completed relatively quickly.

The mobile app makes it easy to adjust parameters for the effects without having to dive through the settings. It communicates with the pedal via bluetooth, and you can toggle this off to save battery when not in use. One of my biggest complaints comes here: the Android app forced me to give it location access to function properly. To me, this is one of the few gotchas with this product. I don't think this is a dealbreaker though. If you want to be paranoid about it, then don't use the app. You don't need it, it just helps to be able to set parameters through your phone instead of fumbling through the on-device menus.

The mobile app also lets you export presets, but the nam file isn't included if the amp is a clone.

Overall, I found it easy to use Sonicake's Mac and Android apps to get set up with some NAM captures and commercial IRs (which don't work with NAM here BTW) and make some presets I like.

UI/UX

It's a good thing the Pocket Master has a decent app for editing presets (aside from my complaint about location permissions) because the unit itself was always going to be a compromise without as many physical knobs as larger units.

Pressing both buttons at the bottom at the same time from the main screen takes you to a tuner, and from all other screens doing the same takes you back to the main screen. Not too bad there. Clicking the "Value/Vol" knob brings you to a menu that lets you select "effects" (which is where you edit the presets), "Settings", "Drum", and "Shutdown."

Even once you are into the "effects" part of the menu, you can still only edit 1 pedal's parameters at a time. This makes it a little cumbersome without the app.

Tone examples

The first amp in this first example is a full NAM capture of a Peavey 5150 + a Mesa 4x12 cab. The 2nd amp is Sonicake's "Calif DualM" which I paired with Mick Thompson's signature speaker IR . I used my ESP-LTD Snakebyte, so this also shows how this Pocket Master handles a guitar with active pickups.

I think something like this is usable for recording death metal, nu metal, and more.

I also recorded some playing through a NAM model of a Marshall Plexi with the bridge pickup (single coil) of my HSS Charvel:

I like these tones, and I think the Pocket Master is capable of sounding really good. I encourage you to check out other creators on social media too (who will have different ways of using it).

Of course, if you use bad NAM models or IRs or play poorly, nothing will save you. Garbage in, garbage out is one of the most basic computing cliches, but it exists for a reason. However, I think the Pocket Master gives you a lot to work with for crafting guitar tones.

Conclusion

I highly recommend the Pocket Master for players looking for an affordable way to try out the worlds of digital multi-effects modelers or Neural Amp Modeler. I think it's great as a mobile "silent practice" solution that I can integrate with my own recording and writing processes by using it as interface.

I arrived at my score of 4.5 by considering the overall strong execution of this product for its price point and deducting a half point for the need to grant location permission in the mobile app (if you want to install/use it) and the non-repairable nature of the battery and unit in general. But overall, this unit really is a bargain!

I think this would have been really cool to have back when I lived in a university dorm! The equation is totally changing for how little money it takes to get into recording guitar.

If you are looking into using this for gigging, it seems viable to a point, but I think you would want to think about combining it with midi hardware to make it easier to switch presets and toggle pedals on the fly. I think it could also play a role as a warmup or backup unit even if you are using something else for your gig.

I hope this review has been helpful! I think this technology is really cool and I am glad this unit ended up being relatively easy to use. Have any thoughts or questions about the tones from this article? I'd love to hear your thoughts on Bluesky! (this site integrates with bluesky as a comment system)

(edit: since initially writing this article, I applied to and was approved for Sonicake's affiliate program. If you buy through the link below, I may earn a commission. Their product line is aligned with my goal of promoting Neural Amp Modeler's open-source technology and community)

Buy the Pocket Master from Sonicake (save money with coupon code: TUBESANDCODE)

Thank you for reading!