Universal Audio effects pedals

These were announced a few days ago. Look pretty nice (stereo ins/outs). They dropped the ball not including midi on these though.

Judging by the demo vids they sound very nice, but the lack of midi is enough for me to not even consider buying one.

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Agreed. $400 and no midi is a deal breaker unless itā€™s something extremely unique. These are in the vein of what UA does best in plug-insā€¦ quality sound, Iā€™m sure, but nothing wholly inspiring compared to what a lot of pedal companies are doing in the past few years. Quality ā€œcore effectsā€ like this need midi to make them versatile - the H9 is a good example, though that one goes beyond simple standards.

All this is my opinion, donā€™t roast me.

I wish UA would tell which algorithms they put into the pedals, so far it is just marketing speech (ā€œPowerful UAFX engine delivers the most sonically authentic classic reverb, delay, and modulation effects ever produced by a pedalā€). I like the Lexicon 224 Reverb and EP-34 Tape Delay a lot and would be interested in a stand-alone version of these. But given the recent frustration that I had with UA itĀ“s unlikeley that I will concider to buy one of the pedals.

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Supposedly theyā€™re all new algorithms and modified existing algorithms.

Thereā€™s a growing thread about these on TGP

Iā€™d say going by the naming of algos for the reverb pedal theyā€™ve probably built on their AKG BX20, the EMT 140 and the Lexicon 224 pluginsā€¦which also happen to be their best sounding reverb plugins in my book.

I find UADā€™s reverbs amongst the best in the software department and certainly capable of holding their own / surpassing lots of the pedals out there. And the demos so far sound really good.

For the delay pedal Iā€™d assume they must have built on their EP-34 and Korg SDD-3000, given the way theyā€™re advertising the algos here.

the Modulation pedalā€™s algo names also match up pretty well with their vsts (Chorus Brigade, MXR Flanger/Doubler) except the trem65.

EDIT: itā€™s a little funny to me how UAD made these pedals to look hyper vintage, even the colour scheme suggests some expensive desert dream from the 60s :joy: few companies milk that ā€œvintage vibeā€, ā€œsound like your favourite band from the 60s/70s with THAT warm soundā€-thing like UAD do.

Expertly handcrafted algorithms made locally in accordance with traditional, artisanal techniques based on only the highest quality variables and allā€¦

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Hi there, hereā€™s a demo of the Golden Reverberator together with a Synthesizer. Maybe you find it useful.

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And hereā€™s the next one: The fantastic UA FX Starlight Echo Station. A pity that I had to return the loaners. I really liked this one.

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I just got a Golden a couple of weeks ago to use with my 2600 / eurorack rig, as I fancied soemthing a bit more ā€˜classicā€™ sounding, rather than modern shimmer / huge spaces etc like I tend to dial in on stuff like my SPACE pedal.

In short - it sounds incredible. All the algos are really fantasic on synth sounds - especially the bonus model you get when registering - the Lexicon 224 setting is, of course, to die for.

Yeah - itā€™s not cheap, but it is a true studio quality reverb & a keeper - the build quality & the way the thing feels when you use it is just superb.

And although it looks pretty basic I was surprised the the variation of reverbs you can dial in with such a small set of algos & controls. Iā€™d 100% recommend to anyone wanting a really simple, high quality reverb for synths.

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What algorithm is that? So you can update the pedal with more algorithms than the tree marked on the pedals?

yeah - you get an extra algo on registering - three additional reverbs from the 224: Percussion Plate A, Constant Density Plate A, and Acoustic Chamber. Theyā€™re amongst my fave sounds so far actually. The Constant density plate is gorgeous.

As this only lights up the top light green ( rather than yellow ) I suspect youā€™ll be able to buy more in the future, as the two yellow lights below could also be switched to green too.
So I think UA will annouce a couple of new algos at some point.

Is the delay full stereo? Can you do ping-pong or kind of ā€žmono to stereoā€œ like on the soundtoys echoboy? If I remember correctly when testing the Uad Space Echo, it was mono only. Like the original Space Echo ofcourse.

Agree that Akg und Emt240 plugins are sounding fantastic!!! Just wondering if the pedals are the same algos. So you can take your uad plugins from the studio computer on the road / live show / concert

According to my ears, the delay in the above video is indeed spread across the stereo. Hard for me to tell if you have any control over the spread.

Itā€™s basically two delays (with the same algo) at the same time. so yes, itā€™s true stereo.

checked the delay in store, it sounds truly beautiful, hi end, pristineā€¦ but perhaps a bit too sterile, so itā€™s a matter or taste and task.

Also mod and delay times arenā€™t extreme an just work in a ā€œsafe rangeā€.

Nice choice for someone who want hi quality and more or less traditional sound.

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I think it sums it up pretty well, although you can add quite a lot of dirt into it by using the tape ageing options, for example.

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How do you sync the starlight echo? Tap tempo only?

Tap tempo or the knob. It doesnā€™t have midi (unfortunately).

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I really like Golden a lot. I donā€™t think Iā€™ve ever enjoyed a plate reverb this much, honestly. The other algorithms on it are fine, too, but the plate really has me in love.

The Starlight seems OK. I like the stereo modulation but I do wish there were more standard options for stereo delays. Still, some really nice tones out of it.

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