Getting an Ultra

    I was looking for a more complete effects package. I have nice pedals, but I'm looking for something more tidy. A rack effect perhaps.


    I looked into special pedals like the Pitchfactor, then the Eventide Eclipse, but kept coming back to the Ultra, which if you are savvy can be had for the same price as a used Eclipse.


    I found one for $1200 so I bought it. I'm thinking of putting the Kemper in as a loop, so I can do pre and/or post effects.


    The only drawback is the Ultra doesn't have a headphone out, but I have alternatives for that.


    Plus, sometimes you want a more digital effect for certain songs that the Kemper doesn't deliver, HA! ;)


    No, I was looking for pitch, harmonizer and arpeggiator effects and good routing that the Ultra seems to provide well. I'm hearing that the Axe II's effects aren't really much a step forwards, only it's amp/cab sims. So it seems to make sense to get an older unit if I'm looking primarily for the effects.


    I welcome your thoughts.

    From the clips i heard so far, the Axe can really some very special FX stuff that i haven´t heard before. Especially all those tricky pitch FX sound awesome. I was tempted for very long time getting on of those. But on the other hand, how often can you really use this stuff in a recording or live situation? Perhaps if i was more into experimental music this would be awesome but for my stuff, it just would be overkill.


    Apart from those very special effects, the T.C. G-Major is still the bang for the bucks. I have been using the first version of it for my real amp setup for 10 years. The quality of the digital converters and the low latency are just awesome. It also has a pitch shifter, but only with limited functions. 2 Voices, and no "intelligent" mode.

    My experience with the ultra is very very positive.
    I owned the old g major, a replifex, an intellifex, a quadraverb, a midiverb, a lexicon G2 and all the pods.
    The ultra is just in another league, for its flexibility and sound quality.
    Last, but not the least, the editor makes your work smarter and creative.
    If I went back to racks, I'd take it as my primary choice as an fx unit.

    I have my old or "vintage" Boss SE-70 that I use if I need effects the Kemper can't provide. I also thought about getting a used Eventide H3000 for even more complex effects. The first generation of those is slowly getting cheap on the used market. After all, Enventide is the original of some effects like "crystal echoes", that other devices like the Ultra only copying.


    If I get an Eventide I will put it in the loop of the Kemper though.

    In my two live rigs I use a Line6 M9 in front of the amp mainly for modulation FX, an Eventide Time Factor in one rig and a Line 6 Delay Pro unit in the other one for advanced delay stuff and a Rocktron Replifex for simple delays, reverbs and noise gate.


    The axeFX would be my first choice if I ever built a new rig.


    PS: I still have a Boss SE70 here, which I retired some years ago. Even after almost 20 years an awesome unit!

    Quote from r_u_sirius

    PS: I still have a Boss SE70 here, which I retired some years ago. Even after almost 20 years an awesome unit!


    It's a secret weapon in some studios. I know one producer from Berlin who would never part with it.


    The step-flanger and step-phaser are very unique and one of the chorus algorithms was the only way of getting that famous Dimension D sound apart from the real thing. Nowadays we have more choices for DimD sounds (and the Air chorus in the Kemper being one of the best), but back then the SE-70 was the only affordable way of getting that sound.


    I also love the 40-stage phaser and the 32-voice chorus. Most of the time it's too much but in the rare occasions where I need it, it's the only choice I have.


    I always found it odd that in times when we even have the original Lexicon algorithms in our DAW and of every devices known to mankind available there is still no plugin that does what the SE-70 did in the mod-fx area. The amp-sim of the box wasn't that great and the reverb is pretty much dated as well. But the mod-fx.... still very nice.

    Quote from viabcroce

    Interestingly enough, the SE70 goes for as low as 170 € second hand here in Italy :)


    For 170 bucks I would get one ;)


    But yeah, they have been falling out of favor some years ago. And honestly, many effects are not that good by todays standard. Specially the mutli-FX-chains are not really good as they are running on 32k only and the ampsim is a joke compared to even a first generation POD. So people went to look elsewhere for guitar effects.


    It's the single effects and specifically the modulation effects where it's at. But when using single algorithms at 44.1kHz you can't chain them together with other algorithms and that's what people wanted. That and the fact people seem to come back to using pedals again. I mean it's crazy even Mr. 19" himself - Steve Lukather - is using pedals again these days.


    So the SE-70 became more of a studio device for general use and when you couldn't afford an Eventide.


    The SE-70 harmonizer is pretty good as well and it even has a good guitar synth built in. So if you can get one cheap, check it out.


    Oh, and CK: Copy that step-flanger and -phaser for the KPA please ;)

    Yeah, its studio attitude also came from the fact that it was easily conceived for being used with guitars and basses as well as line-level devices. It was perfect for SOHO studios ^^

    Quote from mba

    For studio you will find all you need today in your DAW or with plugins IMO.
    I found that Ableton has really nice effects.


    I have pretty much every plugin on earth in my DAW (that comes from collecting them since 1996 ;) I do have a nice VST version of the Roland CE-1 and Dimension D for my UAD card, but trust me, there is no such thing as a 40-stage phaser, a 32-voice chorus or a step-flanger for VST. Not even U-He has one ;)


    The recent Eventide plugin might be able to do such things but I haven't gotten my feet wet with this plugin yet.

    Quote from Garrincha

    I have pretty much every plugin on earth in my DAW (that comes from collecting them since 1996 ;) I do have a nice VST version of the Roland CE-1 and Dimension D for my UAD card, but trust me, there is no such thing as a 40-stage phaser, a 32-voice chorus or a step-flanger for VST. Not even U-He has one ;)


    The recent Eventide plugin might be able to do such things but I haven't gotten my feet wet with this plugin yet.


    lol
    That's what you need :
    http://bram.smartelectronix.com/plugins.php?id=5


    In case someone would trust you, the Ultra has a 4 voices chorus and 12 stages phaser.


    Want more? 23 stages phaser here http://bram.smartelectronix.com/plugins.php?id=1

    I got the Ultra in.


    I put the Kemper in an effects loop in the Ultra. The Ultra's menu and interface are pretty intuitive, I was surprised, considering the trouble I've had with others in the past.


    It sounds great through the Ultra, and the effects work with it flawlessly. One thing that surprised me is having the authenticity of the Kemper tones, I didn't find the Ultra in any way unpleasing or so fake I was turned off. I found many of the amps to be "usable" in a recording sense for my needs. I probably won't use many of them, and currently I turn off AMP and CAB in the ULTRA so it doesn't color the Kemper tones, but I was surprised.


    For example, after getting the Kemper, the 11R to me was like garbage sound. Harsh digital crap. The Ultra is anything but harsh or crap. I figured going a step below the FX-II might be markably worse, but if the FX-II is remarkably better than the Ultra, it's not because the Ultra sux. Good product.


    So now I have a first class tone in the Kemper, and a very versatile effects rack. Time to sell pedals!


    The KPA sounds much better, to my taste, with the Ultra in the loop of the KPA. The Ultra adds a dull homogenized color to the KPA signal, rendering them more like second class tones. All subjective of course.

    Do you use the Kemper's "ALT" as the second return for the effect's stereo?


    I did it my way because the ULTRA has stereo I/O and the Kemper appears to have only MONO, but I think a recent OS upgrade allows for the ALT to be a stereo return?


    If so, I can do it that way.