Universal Audio UAFX Dream '65

Would be great, if it didn't have a low-headroom frontend that clips, introducing nasty digital artifacts. A lot of the point of a Deluxe is slamming it with pedals; can't really do that here. With an active pickup guitar, I couldn't actually get it to be clean.

Also, UA's terms of service means that they could revoke my access to the necessary app because they don't like this review. Won't matter to me - I refuse to give them any further money while such an egregious policy is in place. The pedal - when it was approached gently - does sound great. My original review is below, untouched. :)


Original continues below.

Better than the real thing? Eh, who cares: it's delightful, sounds and feels great, and allows for classic cranked California sounds without reaching volumes that will explode household pets.

Reverb sounds right.
Tremolo sounds right.
Feels responsive.
Even has the same overpowering bass response when cranked (cutting lows before hitting the amp is recommended: but the result is a sludgy grunge tone that would make your flannel shirts proud)

It's quite good!

The whole idea of controlling a guitar pedal with an app on your phone is on its own inorganic and bad, but it is something you can look past… If only it worked. Four out of five times I can’t connect the pedal to my phone. I’ve updated the firmware and have the latest version of the app, but almost every time I try to connect it’s not successful. I get prompts along the lines of “restart the pedal and try again”. For the last two days every time I try to connect the pedal the app just crashes and quits. It’s the buggiest worst app from a major reputable company I’ve ever used. It’s like it’s been developed by a low budget startup and not Universal Audio. I hate it. Another infuriating thing is the fact that this pedal cannot be controlled by midi, even though it has the necessary hardware. It has a usb c port, but you can’t use it to switch through presets via midi. Why? Universal Audio’s official response to this limitation is something along the lines of “we’re trying to keep it classic”. Why are we using an app to control the pedal then? I don’t have access to the presets that I have stored because the app doesn’t work. Honestly I’m contemplating returning the pedal just because of the app. It sounds amazing and has great build quality but the downsides to the issues I mentioned above shouldn’t be underestimated.