NAD: Fryette Valvulator GPDI/IR

0XI0

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finally came in. so far just used the analog cab sim and IR out into a mixer, you can use both at the same time, but you have to hard pan them apart from each other, otherwise it's bad phase sound, IR is behind by a little.

what totally hooked me is the dual gain controls, gain ii is a saturation control that let's you add in the amount of upper order harmonic, basically a recto buzz dial. both gain knobs work in both more and less modes, so even in less mode with clean and crunch sounds you can tweak in the top end crackle just how you like it.

clean channel reminds me of JVM clean channel, in "less" mode it can* be clean, but in "more" mode (extra gain stage) with gain maxed it's palm mute heaven like DSL od1

idk how many tubes are preamp and how many tubes are power amp, there is a 1w tube power section with output tranny in there. 2 preamp, 1 pi and 1 power? it's mono. less/more switch is the 4th gain stage toggle on off.

the dynamics control i heard dude talking about it's actually a tube voltage modulation effect that reads off an envelope follower from the input jack. it's definitely a always on type knob. when you first crack it open from off (off up to 10 o'clock) it likes to do some really noticeable (concerning?) volume dips when you dig in and especially on sustained chords, where when the indicator light just barely ever lights up, it ducks really hard and a lot. it feels like the 'amp-about-to-blow sound' is right next to 'off'. it sounds like what a mesa does right before it starts red plating. but where you bring up the dynamics level more past 10 o clock there are no more noticeable volume dips, just sounds/feels like more of the squish of a loud power section.

notice the 3 xlr jacks on the back? you can just run those all to the interface, and record a DI, analog out, and an IR all at the same time lmao. fx loop is pre power amp. there's a jack and switch setup to insert it with 4cm into another amp fx loop as a footswitchable additional channel to the amp.

only thing that's got me confused is the clip light, it starts clipping into the IR hard at noon on the volume, but past noon is where the magic smoke is on the internal load... so no way to get load smoke into IR. sounds like IR is somehow after even the power section and load. maybe you could pad the preamp signal with the fx loop. idk. idc. I'm just chugging away on pitbull with mids scooped through analog cab sim for like 2 hours. I don't think it's the actual* deliverance and pitbull but JMP-1 only has two tubes and diodes and this is way more nuanced than JMP-1. in deliverance and pitbull mode it does the woofy/spitty/wooly thing a recto does where gain knob gets up past 1 o'clock. I need the bag. it says 36w on the back, no fan. it gets toasty. and it has the SMELL. no headphone out tho, u need a mixer. good thing about a mixer, this thing can has sounds like GOD when eq'ed at the mixer lol.
 
We need more demos of this thing doing high gain metal sounds. Even the previous versions, there's barely anything on YouTube. I want to know how it brings the heavies and if it can actually get crushing sounds like the Deliverance and Pitbull. This would be the perfect recording setup for me, but the lack of clips from any generation for anything other than classic rock is off putting. Glad you're digging it!
 
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I’ve been interested in this unit on and off, but there’s almost no interesting demos on YT, so I usually give up on the idea of a purchase.

Please do us the honour…
 
Any more thoughts to share?

Mine arrived Friday. Didn't have any free time until this afternoon to check it out.

It's Fryette, so it can't sound bad. A lot of fun here. Just used the IR Out for now direct,
and it sounds legit. :chef

Can also double as my 1 Watt Living Room Rig. :popcorn :banana
 
Any more thoughts to share?

1 watt is loud like a ninja 250 is fast. it's not 1000cc with 198bhp on 1 wheel, ok, but let's not pretend it's a kids toy. it will still kill u. through a 4x12 in the apartment u crack the master open with the same nervous reverence as a roadster, the volume onset is not "simulated" or "modeled" or "virtual" anything. it's a real tube head with myriad esoteric orifices
 
This thing look fantastic! How is it going with the unit?

i ordered through guitar center in case it was buggy i could easily drop it back off, but it's definitely a keeper. "clean" is kind of a token descriptor for what really is just the 'lowest gain' mode of 3. all 3 modes can be clean, very easily. while 'clean' can also do full on saturation, and very very quickly.

the modes kind of describe the distortion character. in terms of analogy, like the 3 modes of one dual rec orange or red channel, kind of 3 levels of distortion texture. clean like 'raw', flat and neutral, no peaks, pedal canvas type. deliverance like 'vintage', kicks up the clipping in the middle band, adds some bass, furry and smooth and rich. pitbull like 'modern', brings the clipping up from the background in the low mids to the forefront upper mids, where the pick becomes the prominent consonant, scoops the clipping in the lower mids, and opens up all the sub bass.

the tonestack is like a golf cart, all fun and only dangerous if you act retarded with it, but even if you do it's really really hard to do anything actually dangerous with it. there's no presence so I keep ending up with the treble maxed out, but I think that's why there's an fx loop. the mids you can scoop into korn, or boost into marshall. the bass shelf is located low enough and smooth enough you can turn off completely and it sounds naturally just like any other rack pre distortion, or you can max it out on deep and it breathes life into the sub 90Hz realm you can feel. I've never heard low end so deep through a V30 4x12 from anything that wasn't 50lbs of transformers. but it's 1 watt, so the bass will go soft pretty quick. but it's stable bass up to the point you can piss a lot of nearby people off. on tight bass it cuts out the sub bass to let you get a lot louder before you run out of headroom.

I was most stoked about the two gain controls, gain 2 adds so much versatility into the kinds of sounds you can get out of it, where deliverance mode it thickens up the meat in the middle, and in pitbull mode it adds a jagged edge. but there's no treble peaker on gain 1, or if there is it's really really subtle, so it doesn't do the Mark style jangly sound with gain 1 really low.

what sets it apart from anything else that exists in the desktop device world is the dynamics knob, it's a tube voltage modulation circuit that reads off an envelope follower triggered by the guitar input. innovative af huh. so that "warm tube amp" swirl you get after things heat up, where you can feel the power sagging and the bias shifting in a dynamic way as you dig in hard or back off, with pick attack, or the volume knob, and register dependant... it does that, but even at whisper volume. it squishes as if you had big iron cranked at a rehearsal space, just scaled down to 12Ax7 level. that's the thing that keeps you playing it and playing it and playing it and playing it and playing it, and coming back to turn it back on all day :rawk
 
Not to sound like a dumbass but I'm still unsure what this thing actually is 😂

Is it a small wattage tube amp? Is it a modeler companion? Is it for recording?

IS IT ALL OF THE ABOVE?
 
I'm still unsure what this thing actually is

it is concurrently:

standalone 1 watt all-tube guitar head
(with integrated reactive load)
standalone 3 voice all tube fryette preamp
standalone all-tube 1 watt power amp

..."extra-channel-&-FXloop-to-your-amp" footswitchable 4-cable-method-mode

DI box
IR loader
analog cab simulator
dedicated reamping unit
no fan having ahh silent space heater

but not an attentuator
 
it is concurrently:

standalone 1 watt all-tube guitar head
(with integrated reactive load)
standalone 3 voice all tube fryette preamp
standalone all-tube 1 watt power amp

..."extra-channel-&-FXloop-to-your-amp" footswitchable 4-cable-method-mode

DI box
IR loader
analog cab simulator
dedicated reamping unit
no fan having ahh silent space heater

but not an attentuator
Sweet. I am scared to ask how much all of that awesomeness cost. Is it still in production?

***Why yes it is, Jason. About 1K on the street.***
 
I remember when they did they did the Kickstarter for that thing way back when. The thing looks gnarly and I'm definitely gonna get one sometime. One thing I've always wondered about it though... What kind of power section is it running? I don't think I could ever find what kind of tubes it had in there.
 
I remember when they did they did the Kickstarter for that thing way back when. The thing looks gnarly and I'm definitely gonna get one sometime. One thing I've always wondered about it though... What kind of power section is it running? I don't think I could ever find what kind of tubes it had in there.

The power tube is the 12DW7 and the rest are 12AX7s.

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I still for no real reason or purpose want this thing :bag

I sent mine back. Cool little unit.... but I get so much more out of the Fractal and my Amps.

The Hi Mid Lo Mid split controls was nice as hell. Why doesn't EVERY amp have those? Why
don't Engl Amps modeled in the Fractal have those. Why? Why? Why? :LOL:
 
It's a cool and neat little feature on a loaded and feature rich unit. If you know what
great tones and feel are like, though, from other gear, that 1watt thing is not going
to move the needle much. Or maybe my needle is a bit stuck. :LOL:
 
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