Your analogy of watching the sea at the beach vs watching it through a TV is exactly what modelers feel vs the real thing, and really good modelers is like watching the sea on an 8k ultra high definition TV but still not the same, this pedal feels like the real amp
That's a great perspective on realistic modelling, thank you for your thoughts! The urge to get to a finished song with good tools and the joy of not having to fiddle around too much... It all comes down to which musical choices are the right one for you - with the implied compromises you care less about.
This was very interesting for me. I've been trying to learn more about speaker emulation and impluse responses, and this video taught me a lot even though I'm no not looking to buy the pedal.
The point of the UA pedals isn’t to be a “modeler” (computer). It’s to be an authentic replacement for the actual amp. One that acknowledges the realities of the modern age….and how music is performed and recorded. Those of us who grew up playing amps are used to the way an amp behaves, and can dial in the sound we want from it faster than menu diving in a modeler. Especially if it needs to be done *quickly*. So the comparison isn’t to an HX Stomp or FM3. It’s to $3K tube amp.
@ I like the pedal more when it comes time to take my sound somewhere. Especially one that won’t let turn it up to 95 db. I’m at the point in my playing life where I don’t need 300 different amp sounds. I have about a half dozen sounds in my brain that I want hear…and I get frustrated when I can’t get them out. The UA pedals, imo, are the closest digital recreations of how an actual tube amp plays and sounds. In a package that weighs one pound instead of 40. I guess I’m saying that-to me-doing ONE amp extremely well is it’s own value…and worth more to me that doing 300 well. But 295 of those I’ll never use.
I like your comments about preferring things not being complicated. I use a Stomp, but honestly I barely do anything with it -- I use presets from creators I like, I make some minor changes for my setup, and then I never touch it again. It's the only way I can get along with it. I've got a Simplifier mkII en route to try out, I opted for that over the UA for a couple of reasons (fx loop, balanced outs, power consumption), so we'll see how it behaves.
Cool man! Just FYI You can run the stomp together with that simplifier pedal in four cable so that all the effects are on your stomp, but you can still get drives before the amp and wet effects after the amp, and you get the simplifier in the middle for the amp but also at the end of the signal chain so that you get those balanced outs, etc. ... I do a similar thing with an HX effects (FX) and an HX stomp (amp), I did a video of it a few weeks ago if you want to check it out.
Excellent review! I really wanna try this now. Production - I have some issues. You have a jump cut literally every 5 seconds. Kind of looks weird and gives me a headache. Set yourself apart from other youtubers and don't worry about this crazy trend. The electrician story was great and I felt your frustration! Subscribed.
This one was actually the third in a series I did on this product, so you might want to check out the other two before making a purchase decision. There's another one or two coming but I don't think I'll be covering any new ground with those.
I use my HX Stomp for 6 years extensively. I`m a little fed up with fiddeling menues on stage.... Ususaly just a simple Fender amp and a little reverb+slapback delay. Would you recomend me to get a Drem 65?
Ive actually noticed that the uad fender plugin sound apmost exactly like my fender amp but all the other stuff they have from plugin alliance and softube sound so bad compared to my axe fx and my real amps. I might really need to try out these pedals soon if they do the amp in the room sound they might be great for some clients while others will use my axe fx.
I haven't tried axe fx, I'm sure it sounds great. All the flagship modelers are so good now. This is probably the golden era of guitar gear: the algorithms are recently perfected, but tube amps are still around.
@@IntheDAW same here... Right now we can get modelers that are 95% as good as the tube amps, and we can also get the tube amps. ... Where does it go from here? I guess in 50 years they'll have modelers that are 97% as good as the tube amps, But the tube amps will be gone because the tubes stopped being produced. ... Right now is probably going to be considered the sweet spot by historians. These days we're living right now, these are the 'good ole days'.
I’m love the Dream 65. But, yes, it could be better. Would like more options for the switches (e.g., live on/off paired with tremolo on/off). Concentric knobs would also have been great so I could see what the trem settings were rather than having those knobs also responsible for other key functions. Still, it beats any other Fender blackface emulation I’ve tried.
@@ThatWhatIsNot for me on the dream 65, the reverb is always on if it's on, and I use a foot switch to toggle the tremolo on and off (But the settings stay the same)
Thanks Billy!! You just sold one more :)) I'm definitely the tube amp guy that loves playing live an loud but doesn't wanna workout carrying amps that could crash because of a bump.
After hours of tweaking the controls to try and extract a decent sound in vain, I resold it. It has nothing, repeat nothing to do with the sound, let alone the feel of the real thing (I own an original ‘66 DR)
I bought the Tonemaster Pro, the Fender Models are superior, and i have the inspiring moments every evening, together with all the effects i want and could think of
i've had mine for a while too and I don't love it tbh. I think it's more of problem solver than a legit option I would pick first - like you need a direct solution that sounds pretty good, this is a great option. it's kind of unsatisfying to play vs an actual tube amp, but all modellers are like that. other negs for me are it has Marshall knobs (??) and I want to add my own IRs. Android app support is non-existant and I'd like an option to run a bypass out of one output. otherwise it's ok
Marshall knobs on a Fender 65 replication, it's just funny that after all the painstaking work that went into trying to make it sound just like the original, they go ahead and put Marshall knobs on it 😂@@BillySoundFarm
two ways... First way... You could just plug your guitar into the dream pedal and then plug your dream pedal right into the front of the amp. Run your amp pretty clean probably, or adjust to taste. I've had great results like this, and a friend of mine does it with this or the Ruby or Lion pedals and he loves it. Try it with or without the Cab emulator on the Dream pedal engaged to see what you like, I usually leave it on. Second way... You could bypass the preamp section of your tube amp by plugging the Dream pedal to the receive of your Tube amp (if it has an effects loop). There's also a cool way you can use the mobile app to select "4 cable method", in which case you use a 4 cable method with your amp so that it bypasses your amp's preamp section when the dream pedal is on, so that you can toggle between the Dream pedal as the preamp and the amps normal preamp. Again, try it with or without the cab emulation on the dream pedal to determine what you like. I have two amps that have effects loops that I've tried this on, and on one of them I can't really get the volume I want with this method even if I dime the 'level' parameter of the Dream pedal.
Blackface. If UA made the 65 a more generic bf pedal with the same trem and verb, but minus the “real” warts of a Deluxe I would have bought it already. I still may get it. Best thing about digital is you can keep the good and loose the bad but UA sort of missed that. Many of use love the simplicity of the one amp-one pedal deal like UA has done but loose the amp like drawbacks. Don’t make it more complicated though. I’d be happy with even less cab options if one is great sounding. Great video.
For what it's worth, as time goes by the "warts" are less and less prominent to my ear. For instance, when I shot this batch of videos there was like a 5-7 minute tirade that I had to cut out for length telling my most frustrating "warts" story with this thing. I cut it out and figured I'd post as its own video after all the others... So I went back and tried it get sound samples for that so that people could hear what I mean when I say that this thing is so realistic that it can sound like wet farts... I couldn't get the wet farts sound this time. So I've either learned how to use the things so well but I don't know how to use it wrong now, or my ear has gotten so used to warts that I don't hear them anymore, which is to say that my ear has become accustomed to speaker distortion. 🤷
You know what sounds more like a tube amp. A tube amp. There are many in this form factor, why would you got for this if you don't like modellers? Just get a tube amp. If you like modellers and the tactile feel of adjusting stuff. Get a gx-100 from boss. Then run it into a tube amp with the modelling turned off ;) because tube amp
If you're trying to convince me that I should buy myself a tube amp, then I like how you think. But really, I have tube amps. These kinds of products do things that tube amps can't do, like fit in my guitar case and send a signal to front house without stage volume. Lately, on stage, I'm using my kemper. And at home, I'm either using my kemper or one of my tube amps. The kemper does everything that a good full-featured modeler does, but it also has better knobs even than the dream 65. It sounds identical to my own tube amps... I don't think I'll ever get away from kemper now that I have one, even if I tried. The only thing the Kemper can't do is fit in my guitar case. But I still have the dream 65 if that became important.
lol not as many as you think... My editing philosophy is to try to waste not one second of the viewers time, so I cut out long breaths and "um" words, sometimes I even cut out legitimate conjunctions like "and" or "that"... So I could talk for 2 minutes and it be one smooth take but in post it'll turn into a dozen cuts. I probably overdo it, to be honest.
If that thing took you year to learn, not for me. Why don't you just buy a tube amp? Although there are some great pedals out there, I have never seen a pedal that can re-create the dynamics of a tube amp?
I have tube amps, but this does some things that tube amps can't do... 1. No stage volume... 2. Fits in my guitar case... 3. Fits in the arm of my chair... But this is no substitute for a tube amp, more like a "next best thing". Everyone should have a tube amp. IMO this is the closest digital product to a tube amp experience. ... Also, it took me longer to figure out how to use it well is because I tried to use it like I use a modeler. It's too realistic for that, its way closer to a tube amp in the way it acts than it is a modeler. If I started with acting like it was a tube amp, I'd have gotten there much faster.
I read this 5 minutes in. Thanks for saving me the rest of the time. Hey Tube Amp guy - - why waste everyone's time? At least say up front "I'm gonna yak my silly butt of but never play". That would be courteous. Sheesh...
@@DIGITAL7Media maybe some people did but I didn't. I really will try to stop saying that, but if I'm honest with myself, I'm probably not going to be able to change.
@@jayandgem not in this context. If you ask girls and women that play guitar if they’d consider themselves “tube amp guys” I don’t think they are saying yes.
@@jayandgem No need to get into assigning stereotypes to people. The original request was to speak with more gender inclusivity, in a field where women have historically been overlooked It’s a reasonable request, and something we should all be working on No one called anyone a villain. Let’s all just put some effort into including everyone And for the record, the term “guys” is not genderless in this context, not to mention that the presenter switches between “tube amp guys” and “tube amp guy” in the video
Y ou can't fatten a pig by weighing it. Come on, somebody baught it for you? Wasn't Universal Audio was it? This pedal cost me 300 dollars and, honestly, it sucks. No matter how I try, there is no satisfying sound in this box. Spend your hard earned cash elsewhere. Unless you are Jimmy Page, 400 bucks is a whole lot of money!
It wasn't universal audio. But I also felt really frustrated with this unit at times, so much so that I had to walk away from it for a month sometimes and come back fresh. I totally understand how you feel. ... here's some tips to try before you give up: - take a break from it if it's made you angry - don't use much gain/boost - start with bass and treble all the way down, bring each one off only if you need to and only as much as you need to - use the top green cab emulation, it's less temperamental than the others - try the setting in this video as a starting point, even if you're not playing church music these settings would be a good place to start ua-cam.com/video/GuKznxTq-Ek/v-deo.htmlsi=axRecm0GjC0bVmQK
Your analogy of watching the sea at the beach vs watching it through a TV is exactly what modelers feel vs the real thing, and really good modelers is like watching the sea on an 8k ultra high definition TV but still not the same, this pedal feels like the real amp
That's a great perspective on realistic modelling, thank you for your thoughts!
The urge to get to a finished song with good tools and the joy of not having to fiddle around too much... It all comes down to which musical choices are the right one for you - with the implied compromises you care less about.
This was very interesting for me. I've been trying to learn more about speaker emulation and impluse responses, and this video taught me a lot even though I'm no not looking to buy the pedal.
Hey Andre! It's super encouraging for me to see you here, glad you liked it!
Just released a video with more comprehensive sound samples, if you're interested: ua-cam.com/video/a5DMVOjfQQQ/v-deo.html
The point of the UA pedals isn’t to be a “modeler” (computer). It’s to be an authentic replacement for the actual amp. One that acknowledges the realities of the modern age….and how music is performed and recorded.
Those of us who grew up playing amps are used to the way an amp behaves, and can dial in the sound we want from it faster than menu diving in a modeler.
Especially if it needs to be done *quickly*. So the comparison isn’t to an HX Stomp or FM3. It’s to $3K tube amp.
Are you saying you like the UA dream pedal more than a $3,000 tube amp?
@ I like the pedal more when it comes time to take my sound somewhere. Especially one that won’t let turn it up to 95 db.
I’m at the point in my playing life where I don’t need 300 different amp sounds. I have about a half dozen sounds in my brain that I want hear…and I get frustrated when I can’t get them out.
The UA pedals, imo, are the closest digital recreations of how an actual tube amp plays and sounds. In a package that weighs one pound instead of 40.
I guess I’m saying that-to me-doing ONE amp extremely well is it’s own value…and worth more to me that doing 300 well. But 295 of those I’ll never use.
Nothing like connect a tube amp direcly to the guitar and use volumen and your hand dynamic to make it clean or crunch.
I like your comments about preferring things not being complicated. I use a Stomp, but honestly I barely do anything with it -- I use presets from creators I like, I make some minor changes for my setup, and then I never touch it again. It's the only way I can get along with it. I've got a Simplifier mkII en route to try out, I opted for that over the UA for a couple of reasons (fx loop, balanced outs, power consumption), so we'll see how it behaves.
Cool man! Just FYI You can run the stomp together with that simplifier pedal in four cable so that all the effects are on your stomp, but you can still get drives before the amp and wet effects after the amp, and you get the simplifier in the middle for the amp but also at the end of the signal chain so that you get those balanced outs, etc. ... I do a similar thing with an HX effects (FX) and an HX stomp (amp), I did a video of it a few weeks ago if you want to check it out.
This is the video ua-cam.com/video/5voZsQAZ6ow/v-deo.html
No, sorry, not that one... This one ua-cam.com/video/aL-p3J3U75Y/v-deo.html
Excellent review! I really wanna try this now. Production - I have some issues. You have a jump cut literally every 5 seconds. Kind of looks weird and gives me a headache. Set yourself apart from other youtubers and don't worry about this crazy trend. The electrician story was great and I felt your frustration! Subscribed.
Thanks!
This one was actually the third in a series I did on this product, so you might want to check out the other two before making a purchase decision. There's another one or two coming but I don't think I'll be covering any new ground with those.
Just released a video with more comprehensive sound samples, if you're interested: ua-cam.com/video/a5DMVOjfQQQ/v-deo.html
I use my HX Stomp for 6 years extensively. I`m a little fed up with fiddeling menues on stage.... Ususaly just a simple Fender amp and a little reverb+slapback delay. Would you recomend me to get a Drem 65?
Yeah you'll probably like it
Ive actually noticed that the uad fender plugin sound apmost exactly like my fender amp but all the other stuff they have from plugin alliance and softube sound so bad compared to my axe fx and my real amps. I might really need to try out these pedals soon if they do the amp in the room sound they might be great for some clients while others will use my axe fx.
I haven't tried axe fx, I'm sure it sounds great. All the flagship modelers are so good now. This is probably the golden era of guitar gear: the algorithms are recently perfected, but tube amps are still around.
@BillySoundFarm almost all modelers sound amazing nowadays. But I still love using a real tube amp.
@@IntheDAW same here... Right now we can get modelers that are 95% as good as the tube amps, and we can also get the tube amps.
... Where does it go from here? I guess in 50 years they'll have modelers that are 97% as good as the tube amps, But the tube amps will be gone because the tubes stopped being produced.
... Right now is probably going to be considered the sweet spot by historians. These days we're living right now, these are the 'good ole days'.
I’m love the Dream 65. But, yes, it could be better. Would like more options for the switches (e.g., live on/off paired with tremolo on/off). Concentric knobs would also have been great so I could see what the trem settings were rather than having those knobs also responsible for other key functions. Still, it beats any other Fender blackface emulation I’ve tried.
don't mess with the knobs! These knobs are perfect!
Ha. For me, it means I rarely use the onboard verb and trem and instead use a pedal for those effects.
@@ThatWhatIsNot for me on the dream 65, the reverb is always on if it's on, and I use a foot switch to toggle the tremolo on and off (But the settings stay the same)
Thanks Billy!! You just sold one more :)) I'm definitely the tube amp guy that loves playing live an loud but doesn't wanna workout carrying amps that could crash because of a bump.
Cool, let me know how you like it!
thanks Christian Bale, that was a wonderful review. Sometimes we need in-depth opinions so pls don't mind people ranting about the lack of sounds
Thanks! I did a follow up sound demo afterwards, it's here if you're interested ua-cam.com/video/a5DMVOjfQQQ/v-deo.html
After hours of tweaking the controls to try and extract a decent sound in vain, I resold it.
It has nothing, repeat nothing to do with the sound, let alone the feel of the real thing (I own an original ‘66 DR)
I'm surprised, what kind of tone do you usually go for?
@@BillySoundFarm Everything except ambient and high gain: clean, jazz, edge of breakup, classic rock, using the usual F and G suspects
I bought the Tonemaster Pro, the Fender Models are superior, and i have the inspiring moments every evening, together with all the effects i want and could think of
i've had mine for a while too and I don't love it tbh. I think it's more of problem solver than a legit option I would pick first - like you need a direct solution that sounds pretty good, this is a great option. it's kind of unsatisfying to play vs an actual tube amp, but all modellers are like that. other negs for me are it has Marshall knobs (??) and I want to add my own IRs. Android app support is non-existant and I'd like an option to run a bypass out of one output. otherwise it's ok
You mean that the knobs look like Marshall knobs? Lol that's a weird complaint 😂
Marshall knobs on a Fender 65 replication, it's just funny that after all the painstaking work that went into trying to make it sound just like the original, they go ahead and put Marshall knobs on it 😂@@BillySoundFarm
If I’m a tube amp guy how can I use this with my tube amp?
two ways...
First way...
You could just plug your guitar into the dream pedal and then plug your dream pedal right into the front of the amp. Run your amp pretty clean probably, or adjust to taste. I've had great results like this, and a friend of mine does it with this or the Ruby or Lion pedals and he loves it. Try it with or without the Cab emulator on the Dream pedal engaged to see what you like, I usually leave it on.
Second way...
You could bypass the preamp section of your tube amp by plugging the Dream pedal to the receive of your Tube amp (if it has an effects loop). There's also a cool way you can use the mobile app to select "4 cable method", in which case you use a 4 cable method with your amp so that it bypasses your amp's preamp section when the dream pedal is on, so that you can toggle between the Dream pedal as the preamp and the amps normal preamp. Again, try it with or without the cab emulation on the dream pedal to determine what you like. I have two amps that have effects loops that I've tried this on, and on one of them I can't really get the volume I want with this method even if I dime the 'level' parameter of the Dream pedal.
This is a very thoughtful review thanks! I'll stick with my HX stomp
Can't go wrong with a stomp... Did you see the video I did on Dream 65 v HX Stomp?
Just released a video with more comprehensive sound samples, if you're interested: ua-cam.com/video/a5DMVOjfQQQ/v-deo.html
Blackface. If UA made the 65 a more generic bf pedal with the same trem and verb, but minus the “real” warts of a Deluxe I would have bought it already. I still may get it. Best thing about digital is you can keep the good and loose the bad but UA sort of missed that. Many of use love the simplicity of the one amp-one pedal deal like UA has done but loose the amp like drawbacks. Don’t make it more complicated though. I’d be happy with even less cab options if one is great sounding. Great video.
For what it's worth, as time goes by the "warts" are less and less prominent to my ear. For instance, when I shot this batch of videos there was like a 5-7 minute tirade that I had to cut out for length telling my most frustrating "warts" story with this thing. I cut it out and figured I'd post as its own video after all the others... So I went back and tried it get sound samples for that so that people could hear what I mean when I say that this thing is so realistic that it can sound like wet farts... I couldn't get the wet farts sound this time. So I've either learned how to use the things so well but I don't know how to use it wrong now, or my ear has gotten so used to warts that I don't hear them anymore, which is to say that my ear has become accustomed to speaker distortion. 🤷
If you get an adapter you can use headphones. I use them when I relax in my chair and play late at night.
Really!?! Which adapter?... I tried plugging studio headphones in there but the signal wasn't strong enough
@@BillySoundFarm Hosa YPP-308 Y Cable - 1/4 inch TRS Female to Dual 1/4 inch TRS Male
You know what sounds more like a tube amp. A tube amp. There are many in this form factor, why would you got for this if you don't like modellers?
Just get a tube amp.
If you like modellers and the tactile feel of adjusting stuff. Get a gx-100 from boss. Then run it into a tube amp with the modelling turned off ;) because tube amp
If you're trying to convince me that I should buy myself a tube amp, then I like how you think. But really, I have tube amps. These kinds of products do things that tube amps can't do, like fit in my guitar case and send a signal to front house without stage volume.
Lately, on stage, I'm using my kemper. And at home, I'm either using my kemper or one of my tube amps. The kemper does everything that a good full-featured modeler does, but it also has better knobs even than the dream 65. It sounds identical to my own tube amps... I don't think I'll ever get away from kemper now that I have one, even if I tried.
The only thing the Kemper can't do is fit in my guitar case. But I still have the dream 65 if that became important.
@BillySoundFarm i think it is you convincing me to buy the kemper haha. It is always fun to have options. Goodluck dude
The knobs on it are so satisfying. 🤤
Every statement is it's own cut scene. I just wonder how many takes you did.
lol not as many as you think... My editing philosophy is to try to waste not one second of the viewers time, so I cut out long breaths and "um" words, sometimes I even cut out legitimate conjunctions like "and" or "that"... So I could talk for 2 minutes and it be one smooth take but in post it'll turn into a dozen cuts. I probably overdo it, to be honest.
Great video! Thanks.
Glad i watched this. Thank you.
Why do i feel STUPID now after watching for 2:36 why?
If that thing took you year to learn, not for me.
Why don't you just buy a tube amp?
Although there are some great pedals out there, I have never seen a pedal that can re-create the dynamics of a tube amp?
I have tube amps, but this does some things that tube amps can't do... 1. No stage volume... 2. Fits in my guitar case... 3. Fits in the arm of my chair...
But this is no substitute for a tube amp, more like a "next best thing". Everyone should have a tube amp. IMO this is the closest digital product to a tube amp experience.
... Also, it took me longer to figure out how to use it well is because I tried to use it like I use a modeler. It's too realistic for that, its way closer to a tube amp in the way it acts than it is a modeler. If I started with acting like it was a tube amp, I'd have gotten there much faster.
@@BillySoundFarm Thanks for the reply.
I forgot about when I always had solid state amps.
To have one of those back then would have been way cool!
@@BillySoundFarm100% agree
uhh cuz modelers are all digital, digital will always sound better than analog....
Talks about a pedal but doesn't even demo the sound.
You got it, bro!
Just released a video with more comprehensive sound samples, if you're interested: ua-cam.com/video/a5DMVOjfQQQ/v-deo.html
I read this 5 minutes in. Thanks for saving me the rest of the time.
Hey Tube Amp guy - - why waste everyone's time? At least say up front "I'm gonna yak my silly butt of but never play". That would be courteous.
Sheesh...
Your funny...but also very right.
F what tune guys think.
lol
10 minutes talking, zero seconds of sound.
This is the one with the sounds: ua-cam.com/video/a5DMVOjfQQQ/v-deo.html
Great video. But it’s 2023 and I’d encourage you to shed the term “tube amp guys”. There are tube amp gals out there too.
lol fair enough, I'll try
Im pretty sure everyone who read that comment eye-rolled.
@@DIGITAL7Media maybe some people did but I didn't. I really will try to stop saying that, but if I'm honest with myself, I'm probably not going to be able to change.
@@jayandgem not in this context. If you ask girls and women that play guitar if they’d consider themselves “tube amp guys” I don’t think they are saying yes.
@@jayandgem No need to get into assigning stereotypes to people. The original request was to speak with more gender inclusivity, in a field where women have historically been overlooked
It’s a reasonable request, and something we should all be working on
No one called anyone a villain. Let’s all just put some effort into including everyone
And for the record, the term “guys” is not genderless in this context, not to mention that the presenter switches between “tube amp guys” and “tube amp guy” in the video
Y ou can't fatten a pig by weighing it. Come on, somebody baught it for you? Wasn't Universal Audio was it? This pedal cost me 300 dollars and, honestly, it sucks. No matter how I try, there is no satisfying sound in this box. Spend your hard earned cash elsewhere. Unless you are Jimmy Page, 400 bucks is a whole lot of money!
It wasn't universal audio. But I also felt really frustrated with this unit at times, so much so that I had to walk away from it for a month sometimes and come back fresh. I totally understand how you feel.
... here's some tips to try before you give up:
- take a break from it if it's made you angry
- don't use much gain/boost
- start with bass and treble all the way down, bring each one off only if you need to and only as much as you need to
- use the top green cab emulation, it's less temperamental than the others
- try the setting in this video as a starting point, even if you're not playing church music these settings would be a good place to start ua-cam.com/video/GuKznxTq-Ek/v-deo.htmlsi=axRecm0GjC0bVmQK