Ultrawave Multiband Processor Pedal Review

Updated review!

Okay so I have finally had more time with this pedal. I think I can give a more detailed analysis of why this pedal has blown my mind. First I want to cover what another reviewer complained about. He said that it did not stack well with his other pedals. I don't doubt that he is having this problem however I have found no such problem. Sometimes you have to work with your other… read more pedals when you introduce another family member. I go from the Ultrawave into an LA Lady and into an EQ 2, all of which are Source Audio pedals. Then I go into some other pedals for modulation reverb and delay. Not only does the Ultrawave combine beautifully with my LA Lady, it also plays well with the second channel of my amp which is a crunch setting. It also sounds fantastic with my Strymon Deco boost function. the distortions on this pedal are definitely different. You have to work with it to find more traditional distortions that are pleasing. It's platform seems to be built around synthesized sounds. However,, when you work with it you can achieve some unbelievably transparent six string chords... Even diminish, augmented, minor and major 7 chords all ring out with no grind or odd harmonics. This is not something that has ever been accomplished by any other pedal, not with this type of transparency. Having said that, it is still not my favorite stand alone distortion pedal ( The LA Lady with my amp is) but blended with others, it is incredible! The synthesized features like I pointed out in my first review are not that much my thing, but are nice to have on hand when you want them or need them. However like I pointed out in the first review the compressor is staggeringly good. The signal to noise ratio on this is like nothing you can buy anywhere. The amount of squash available without noise is insane. And if that wasn't enough, of course it has a Mix function for parallel dry signal, but it also has a soft knee function. 0 db, 3 db, 6 db, 9 db, 12 db, or 15db curve. This allows you to increase squash without the hard percussive effect for those of us looking for a more logatto style of attack. I think that if Source Audio would market this compressor as a standalone and include EQ, it would literally have no competition. The Ultrawave pedal also comes with two on board EQs. If I could rate this Compressor 10 stars I would. Overall, you get great distortion if dialed in correctly, you get synthesizer type sounds, you get the best compressor I know of. You get 2 EQs, noise gate, tons of control including midi presets and more. The compressor by itself could sell for $700.00 or $800. And by the way for those that do want the real percussive Chicken Pickin, it does that as well with a noise floor unmatched, ultra quiet! Good grief, thank you Source Audio and thank you Sweetwater. Very Happy Customer

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No give or take.

As a stand alone unit, this pedal is fantastic! Tons of sounds, tons of options, tons of control. However it stacks horribly and that's the reason I had to return it. The goal was to put it in the middle of all my other dirt/fuzz pedals and have it be the wonder that it is. So that would look like Dr Scientist The Elements>Blackout Fix'd Fuzz Deluxe>Ultrawave>EQD Palisades>BAT Pharaoh… read more Supreme. But the Ultrawave doesn't send or receive very well. When stacking into the Palisades and Pharaoh, you have to cut the volume and high end off the Ultrawave to levels that are so low, you can't use the chosen setting as a stand alone setting because the volume and tone are both cut back so much. If you don't do this the Ultrawave will give your signal a huge boost and the high end would make Jay Mascis whence a little. When you try to stack into it, it makes the digital aspect of the Ultrawave very obvious. The sound becomes a kind of warbly and discombobulated. This is a huge disappointment for me, because I wanted the Ultrawave to fill several shoes on my board, that it could potentially fill. But if it can't stack, then it won't work. I play mostly Post Rock/shoegaze stuff and stacking is life. I will restate that as a stand alone pedal this thing is brilliant! Source Audio has done a fantastic job with this, and if you don't plan on stacking it, it's a solid purchase that will give you a ton of options, and a level of control that will satisfy all of your super specific needs. Sweetwater was easy to deal with, and pleasant. They take the return shipping out of my refund, which is kinda lame, but the staff were polite, understanding, and helpful. It's also not on them that their company shanks you for return mailing. Okay then. There ya have it.

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Fantastic Pedal!!! But!!

When I first initially bought this, I bought this for the distortion side of it. It does offer multi band distortion which allows you to get rid of grind on chords..I like using the single band the most because it is the most guitar like.. if you are into synthesizer effects, which I am not, you will also like this pedal. It also has a great EQ on board as well as a TREMOLO feature… read more and a lot of control over each of these that is assignable with an additional slave pedal.... it does all of those things real well, however the star of the show is the compressor! I have been trying forever to find the right compressor. Plenty of squash without noise. I think I will die if I hear another compressor video talking about parallel compression and how not to use too much squash and how chicken Pickin is all that people seem to ever talk about. However, compression can be used and should be considered a lagatto tool as well. What happens when you don't want all that percussive nature on the pick.... that's where the smoothness of the compressor can come in. I have never seen in a single pedal a compressor that even comes close to this one. The compressor is worth the price of admission. It is going to replace my Maxon tube compressor.. it is unbelievably quiet and powerful and Suttle if you want it to be, or strong as hell and remains natural and quiet. And with Midi capability, it takes this pedal to the next level... there are some decent distortion sounds that you can get that sound natural, even though nobody seems to demo those. But the best tool on board is the compressor... At least that's my opinion.. I wish that source audio would pair this compressor with the LA Lady. Then I could get rid of one pdeal... Anyway you cut it this is huge advance forward. Thank you Source Audio and thank you Phil S. at SWEETWATER who always does an outstanding job for me!

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