UAD Dream 65 ... cant believe I'm asking this !!!

[ragingplatypi]

I sooooooo wanted to hate this pedal - I almost pulled the plug on the swap-deal as I thought I would be getting a paperweight

Thanks for documenting your experience!
I’ve heard similar things about this pedal from less reliable narrators, so it helps to have confirmation.
Inspiring modeled clean tones are elusive.

 

[Jarick]

I always thought UAD interfaces were overpriced but picked one up late last year and pretty dang happy with it. Good quality and I like the software and integration.

Haven't tried the UAD Dream but I did mess around with the plugin version and it was fine. I'm a little tempted by the sale to get all of the new amp plugins for $99 (currently includes the Dream, Ruby, Lion, and Woodrow).

If you're in the market for an interface, apparently if you buy a Volt you get plugin versions of all the amps free this month.

 

[dbagchee]

That deal is tempting, I’ve been debating buying the Luna upgrades and the interface is bundled with a bunch of other UAD software too….

 

[Jarick]

That deal is tempting, I’ve been debating buying the Luna upgrades and the interface is bundled with a bunch of other UAD software too….

I tried Luna as well, it’s okay but more latency than Logic and can’t go mono input to stereo plugins.

 

[Funk Soul Brother]

One thing I -can- say for sure is my favourite pedal in the FM3 [Marshall Bluesbreaker] and the Helix [Tone Sovereign] sound -much- clearer and less murky when run into the Dream than the FM3 or Helix.

Interesting ...

 

[BenIfin]

View attachment 42356

Well .... one actually :) .... and for reasons I have absolutely no idea about, yes, the inbuilt virtual drives are -much- clearer, less murky and way more dynamic when run into the Dream than the FM3 or Helix - not using or running any real pedals.

I've written a lot of posts here and on T.O.P bagging anything UA [for good reason] and the "claims" about this pedal ... simple truth - I was wrong .. period.

B.t.w ... excellent meme !

 

[laxu]

So I noticed I hadn't tried the UA Dream plugin version, so I took the trial.

Here's two clips, one using a stock cab, and another using a different cab sim. Which do you think is the UA Dream stock cab?



Note that these are not identical, the other cab sim was dialed entirely by ear to try to match the UA cab, and they do sound a bit different. But maybe not worlds apart.

I will readily agree that the UA stock cabs are really good and straightforward, and the amp sim sounds good...I'm still not finding anything magic in them that you can't get out of other cab sims, modelers in terms of sound and feel.

For $99 the current UA 4 amp plugin bundle deal isn't a bad deal.

 

[BenIfin]

So I noticed I hadn't tried the UA Dream plugin version, so I took the trial.

Here's two clips, one using a stock cab, and another using a different cab sim. Which do you think is the UA Dream stock cab?



Note that these are not identical, the other cab sim was dialed entirely by ear to try to match the UA cab, and they do sound a bit different. But maybe not worlds apart.

I will readily agree that the UA stock cabs are really good and straightforward, and the amp sim sounds good...I'm still not finding anything magic in them that you can't get out of other cab sims, modelers in terms of sound and feel.

For $99 the current UA 4 amp plugin bundle deal isn't a bad deal.

Cant pick it :)

Show me the recorded .wav images and let me play either and I reckon I could tell

 

[laxu]

If you like the UA Dream, and want to try to get Helix Native closer to that, then try raising the Sag parameter a lot on Helix Deluxe Vib model, to like 7 or more. Then mess with the mids, where interestingly more mids seems to be closer to the UA Dream, when I thought the UA Dream sounds quite scooped in some cases.

I think that makes the biggest difference in terms of feel between the two. There's still differences for sure but if you use the same cab sim they tend to shrink a good bit.

 

[BenIfin]

So I noticed I hadn't tried the UA Dream plugin version, so I took the trial.

Here's two clips, one using a stock cab, and another using a different cab sim. Which do you think is the UA Dream stock cab?



Note that these are not identical, the other cab sim was dialed entirely by ear to try to match the UA cab, and they do sound a bit different. But maybe not worlds apart.

I will readily agree that the UA stock cabs are really good and straightforward, and the amp sim sounds good...I'm still not finding anything magic in them that you can't get out of other cab sims, modelers in terms of sound and feel.

For $99 the current UA 4 amp plugin bundle deal isn't a bad deal.

Just a bit of an interesting side note. Leo - and others - did some A/B's of the plugins vs the pedals and in pretty much all cases, the plugins sounded not that close to the pedals ... why ? ... I have no idea ... I'd guess the algorithms are the same, so maybe it was/is the perennial gain-staging issue when running plugins ?

And yeah I agree ... gain-staging aside - $99 the current UA 4 x amp plugin bundle deal is a pretty amazing deal - those 4 plugs cover an awful lot of ground.

 

[laxu]

I'd guess the algorithms are the same, so maybe it was/is the perennial gain-staging issue when running plugins ?

Most likely.

 

[Ed DeGenaro]

Just a bit of an interesting side note. Leo - and others - did some A/B's of the plugins vs the pedals and in pretty much all cases, the plugins sounded not that close to the pedals ... why ? ... I have no idea ... I'd guess the algorithms are the same, so maybe it was/is the perennial gain-staging issue when running plugins ?

And yeah I agree ... gain-staging aside - $99 the current UA 4 x amp plugin bundle deal is a pretty amazing deal - those 4 plugs cover an awful lot of ground.

I feel the same way and assumed the reason being less gain staging than what interface is used.

 

[Jarick]

Ended up buying the plugin bundle which has all four of the UAD amps for $99. I have to say they're excellent plug and play representations of the amps. The Tweed isn't as much my thing but the Deluxe, AC30, and Plexi all sound just like you'd expect and take almost no effort to dial in. Excellent playing and recording tools.

 

[laxu]

Ended up buying the plugin bundle which has all four of the UAD amps for $99. I have to say they're excellent plug and play representations of the amps. The Tweed isn't as much my thing but the Deluxe, AC30, and Plexi all sound just like you'd expect and take almost no effort to dial in. Excellent playing and recording tools.

Yeah they sound good, but I think the cab sims can be a mixed bag. I like the ones on the Dream but the ones on the Lion are just ok. I also loathe the way the UA Ruby works where the tone controls only work in one specific mode. That's just so stupid on a digital model...