New UA pedals - Galaxy, Del-Verb, & Max Preamp

[Sascha Franck]

I think the main reason for UA to do their business the way they do it is their analog heritage. So things have to be "true".
Apparently that seems to work for some people, for myself, it defenitely doesn't. Technology moved on, so if you're going digital anyway, please give me as much of the advatages of digital as possible (ok, of course within the framework these pedals build upon, such as having no displays and what not).

 

[laxu]

I think the main reason for UA to do their business the way they do it is their analog heritage. So things have to be "true".
Apparently that seems to work for some people, for myself, it defenitely doesn't. Technology moved on, so if you're going digital anyway, please give me as much of the advatages of digital as possible (ok, of course within the framework these pedals build upon, such as having no displays and what not).

The thing is that with digital it's not one or the other. You can have e.g an amp model that only has a volume knob in the real amp and then provide EQ controls for it that the user can use at their convenience, even if it deviates from that authenticity. Turn them to a specific setting and they get disabled, giving you both the fixed "authentic" and the more variable behavior. To me digital is all about that extra flexibility and insisting on "authenticity" in every area is just stupid.

But stupid product design choices are pretty on brand for UA, which is why I don't own any. Whether it's leaving out things like MIDI/presets on the pedals, not having a line input on OX or having a fairly miserly set of I/O on the audio interfaces until you get to the pricy rack units.

 

[Whizzinby]

While I can agree with that, those three amps cover about 90% of sounds most people need, especially on boxes meant to be paired with other pedals. I can understand wanting something that is more dedicated to high gain models though as that's a category not very well covered by these sort of units. Strymon Riverside + Iridium + the right IR does do that stuff pretty well I reckon, but at that point it's basically a HX Stomp size thing.

If there isn’t a high gain model then I don’t think it covers 90% of players, and if you need to pair a Riverside with it to get the there, then it highlights the omission. IMO That said, I do realize those three amps/tones cover a lot of ground.

I think there is money to be made by a company that offers one of these that at least humors the high gain crowd. If the Iridium for example just added a 5150 variant and Dual Rec, on top of the Delixe/AC30/Plexi, it would be pretty damn compelling.

As for UAD, until they get their I/O and feature set squared away I don’t know how interested I’d be in anything, but following along their classic approach, I think an 800 pedal that also has Jose mod variants etc would be a pretty cool next amp pedal. (Though at some point how desirous is anyone going to be to drop the cash and pedalboard real estate on individual amp pedals, in that respect I think Strymon etc. get it right)

 

[laxu]

If there isn’t a high gain model then I don’t think it covers 90% of players, and if you need to pair a Riverside with it to get the there, then it highlights the omission. IMO That said, I do realize those three amps/tones cover a lot of ground.

I think there is money to be made by a company that offers one of these that at least humors the high gain crowd. If the Iridium for example just added a 5150 variant and Dual Rec, on top of the Delixe/AC30/Plexi, it would be pretty damn compelling.

That's why I did say just 90%. That last 10% will have particular needs potentially not served by the pedal - like high gain tones.

I don't disagree with you at all, ideally these simpler boxes would have 5-6 models. Fender, Vox, Marshall, 5150, Dual Rec and maybe a Hiwatt or something.

 

[Sascha Franck]

To me digital is all about that extra flexibility and insisting on "authenticity" in every area is just stupid.

All the way this!

 

[paisleywookiee]

Did they ever even hear of Strymon?

Apparently not. I've had the Golden Reverb. Blue Sky v.2 > UA GR.

 

[yeky83]

I think there is money to be made by a company that offers one of these that at least humors the high gain crowd. If the Iridium for example just added a 5150 variant and Dual Rec, on top of the Delixe/AC30/Plexi, it would be pretty damn compelling.

AmpliFirebox

 

[Sascha Franck]

AmpliFirebox

Owning one I can agree. Would think about buying it again, though. And likely resist. It's fine as is, but support is non existant, so in case anything breaks, you're on your own, the company most defenitely won't help you. Worst support of them all.

 

[MirrorProfiles]

copied from the UAD forums - https://trademarks.justia.com/980/24/lion-98024717.html

guessing that means a plexi pedal is on the way.

 

[Bruce]

Thoughts?

My thoughts are they should focus on being a pro audio higher end studio company they tout and stop with these 400 dollar money grabs. Where are the Avid guitar pedals? Antelope? Apogee? RME? They wont move along at reasonable development speeds and continue to spread themselves too thin. I have three X8, 3 octo cards and most of their plugins. They’re fantastic. I wish they’d tighten up on fixes and development for this platform.

 

[norminal]

copied from the UAD forums - https://trademarks.justia.com/980/24/lion-98024717.html

guessing that means a plexi pedal is on the way.

Hopefully we’ll see it in time for NAMM.

 

[Bruce]

Hopefully we’ll see it in time for NAMM.

Of course we will. Why would we see an X16 with all new console software, superior routing, converters and network audio? The big news will be the 9 millionth plexi sounding pedal on the market.
Actually, they didnt show at NAMM in April, not sure they’ll be back in January but a lot of people didn’t.

 

[MirrorProfiles]

My thoughts are they should focus on being a pro audio higher end studio company they tout and stop with these 400 dollar money grabs. Where are the Avid guitar pedals? Antelope? Apogee? RME? They wont move along at reasonable development speeds and continue to spread themselves too thin. I have three X8, 3 octo cards and most of their plugins. They’re fantastic. I wish they’d tighten up on fixes and development for this platform.

genuinely curious what you think they should be doing instead.

I also preferred when they were more focussed on studio gear, but IMO in order to survive, it makes sense for them to transition to a more “prosumer” company.

They can repackage their existing tech into a wider range of products, sell to a MUCH wider audience, they can cater to the podcast/video/livestream crowd.

There’s very little studio gear left to model that anyone actually needs, DSP is more and more redundant and converters are getting better and better (and cheaper). I don’t really like how the company has changed but on the whole it was the correct decision.

LUNA seems like such a bad decision to me though, and must have tanked SO much money.

 

[Boudoir Guitar]

Of course we will. Why would we see an X16 with all new console software, superior routing, converters and network audio? The big news will be the 9 millionth plexi sounding pedal on the market.
Actually, they didnt show at NAMM in April, not sure they’ll be back in January but a lot of people didn’t.

I mean, the development of this plexi pedal is minimal -- the insides of all of these pedals are pretty much exactly the same. They change the code they load on the chip inside. Don't they already have a plexi plugin of some sort? Port that to the pedal, sell loads of the 9 millionth plexi sounding pedal at pretty big profit margin and they've got more money which is a good thing.

Basically, once they've gone down the pedal path, might as well pull as much profit out of that whole R&D investment as possible.

 

[Bruce]

genuinely curious what you think they should be doing instead.

I also preferred when they were more focussed on studio gear, but IMO in order to survive, it makes sense for them to transition to a more “prosumer” company.

They can repackage their existing tech into a wider range of products, sell to a MUCH wider audience, they can cater to the podcast/video/livestream crowd.

There’s very little studio gear left to model that anyone actually needs, DSP is more and more redundant and converters are getting better and better (and cheaper). I don’t really like how the company has changed but on the whole it was the correct decision.

LUNA seems like such a bad decision to me though, and must have tanked SO much money.

Luna may have been a better idea if they were more focused on the UAD studio experience and not guitar pedals. Luna has now been out for years and still lacks basic functionality. I don’t fault them for the volt line. That at least makes some sense.
Next will be a UA guitar amp, a UA powered cab and maybe an OX Box II with all ports on it serving an actual function.
I’d like them to simply focus on the studio audio production community. Make some active monitors, ok. A new preamp, ok. How about a 2A that isn’t 4000 dollars? Ok. There’s a world of 500 series stuff they can do. Guitar pedals? Again, I cam’t think of another premium audio interface company making guitar pedals.

 

[MirrorProfiles]

Luna may have been a better idea if they were more focused on the UAD studio experience and not guitar pedals. Luna has now been out for years and still lacks basic functionality. I don’t fault them for the volt line. That at least makes some sense.
Next will be a UA guitar amp, a UA powered cab and maybe an OX Box II with all ports on it serving an actual function.
I’d like them to simply focus on the studio audio production community. Make some active monitors, ok. A new preamp, ok. How about a 2A that isn’t 4000 dollars? Ok. There’s a world of 500 series stuff they can do. Guitar pedals? Again, I cam’t think of another premium audio interface company making guitar pedals.

Tbf, I get your point, and I’d prefer it too. It’s hard not to feel like the brand is being cheapened when they’re reaching out to a massively wider customer base.

But it’s probably easier to compare UA to TC Electronic, or even Eventide to a degree.

They’re sat on tons of digital code that has potential in a range of products. They’d be mad not to use it in products outside of the recording studio.

 

[2112]

Didn't Tore from TC join UA specifically to help them develop their pedals?

 

[Bruce]

Didn't Tore from TC join UA specifically to help them develop their pedals?

Why doesn’t someone from RME join UA to help them develop better functioning windows drivers and installers that don’t take 20 times to install?
I mean, I’m pretty sure Lee Iacocca can join UA and in a few short years we can have a UA automobile, but it would only make sense if development wasn’t needed on their core product line.
As far as TC, they’re a shell of what they once were. They make zero competitive products in the higher end rack mount effects market. They made some great products in the past, but I have zero interest in their current product line.

 

[Boudoir Guitar]

Why doesn’t someone from RME join UA to help them develop better functioning windows drivers and installers that don’t take 20 times to install?
I mean, I’m pretty sure Lee Iacocca can join UA and in a few short years we can have a UA automobile, but it would only make sense if development wasn’t needed on their core product line.
As far as TC, they’re a shell of what they once were. They make zero competitive products in the higher end rack mount effects market. They made some great products in the past, but I have zero interest in their current product line.

Not to be rude, but you are the #1 case study for why they have t done what you suggest: you have invested 5 figures in the Apollo platform without them making those fixes.

 

[Bruce]

Not to be rude, but you are the #1 case study for why they have t done what you suggest: you have invested 5 figures in the Apollo platform without them making those fixes.

You are 110% correct. In my defense, they do market to a huge segment of the population and do not warn us things are 3/4 baked. To my credit, as much as I bitch I also feel their stuff sounds stellar and I love my UA stuff. Thats why I’m invested.