Uberschall Ultra vs Hell Razor

  • Thread starter Thread starter Influenza
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Yeah I saw that, and helps me get the gist.

But I haven’t seen a close mic one on the hell razor yet or heard a clip. Uber ultra they’re all over.

Ah gotcha. Yeah, if there’s any out there that’s news to me too.

I wish Rick would get somebody to demo his amps and include clips on the site, but that will absolutely never happen. Dude knows he can put 0% effort into marketing and be fine.

After I bought my hybrid I emailed him to ask what his take was on the contour control, since I could hear the difference (high frequencies) but couldn’t really conceptualize it. Guessing it was affecting The point in the EQ curve where the high end “started”, sorta like a parametric EQ. Especially since there is a presence control as well, so it is something different. Rick responded “the contour affects the high end” and that was it.
 
What I’m noticing is that if you’re downtuned it’s not prominent but if you play is D standard or above there’s an odd spiked mid response that’s very narrow in frequency that exists on quite a few UU recordings. I didn’t originally notice it until I was comparing them to other amplifier recordings. It’s almost like having a single slider on a 30 band EQ way too high. It’s so narrow that in the room I don’t think anyone is noticing but under a microphone it’s very apparent.
Gotcha, yeah I’ve micd mine up a handful of times. Definitely has that to cut through a dense mix without additional eq. Solod can be annoying, but in context of a mix works great. Especially for lower tunings. It’s like the ringing of a snare solod vs in a mix.

I think just moving the mic is enough to tame it. If not a touch post eq dip. The thing I really like about the Uber ultra micd up is the low mids are really mix ready. You don’t have to cut all this honkiness out that ruins a mix like several other amps do. And the less post eq for guitars the better. Can really introduce a lot of weird phase issues.

Room recordings are really tough to get a grasp on things. I mean Matt’s hell razor there sounded damn near identical to my hermansson recto on an iPhone lol. Especially the mid range. Super tough to tell.
 
Gotcha, yeah I’ve micd mine up a handful of times. Definitely has that to cut through a dense mix without additional eq. Solod can be annoying, but in context of a mix works great. Especially for lower tunings. It’s like the ringing of a snare solod vs in a mix.

I think just moving the mic is enough to tame it. If not a touch post eq dip. The thing I really like about the Uber ultra micd up is the low mids are really mix ready. You don’t have to cut all this honkiness out that ruins a mix like several other amps do. And the less post eq for guitars the better. Can really introduce a lot of weird phase issues.

Room recordings are really tough to get a grasp on things. I mean Matt’s hell razor there sounded damn near identical to my hermansson recto on an iPhone lol. Especially the mid range. Super tough to tell.


The mids are different on the HR I had compared to UU. The UU is a little more aggressive. Both have more gain than you'd ever use. Much more than the MTL. On all wizards, the brights have a big impact on the gain. I tend to run them high and the amps get more aggressive. The HR has 2 brights impacting 2 different gain controls. It's hard to balance things just right without the gain getting out of control.
 
I honestly hear an odd frequency that sounds off on the UU when compared to the hell razor. It actually makes me want a hell razor. Still not enough gain on tap for my preferences but that’s what a good boost is for, plus the UU has built in boosts doing the same exact thing. The hell razor does sound like it has more gain on tap than a MTL?
The HR has more gain on tap than I think one would need (without any pedal involved). I said that earlier in this thread. It is though unusually open and defined for how much gain is there, so maybe it can be perceived as cleaner. It’s not an amp that plays itself like the Cameron’s, 5150’s or marks, but it does something else: more hard hitting punch and definition than those amps. I think it’s something to try in person and see what you think. The clips don’t really show it very well imho
 
Matt has a comparison video.


To me, that clip sounds like the UU has a slight hi cut or low pass filter at the very top of the spectrum compared to the HR which sounds like its highs extend slightly farther up the frequency spectrum. However, on the UU, the Density control is at noon and the Presence is at 3:00.

I bet if he turned up the Density to scoop out some mids, and turned up the Presence (which to my ear on the UU behaves more like a low pass filter than a traditional Presence control) to 4:00 or 4:30 , that mid hump and more subdued highs in the video that makes the UU sound relatively darker and stuffier than the Hell Razor would clear right up.
 
To me, that clip sounds like the UU has a slight hi cut or low pass filter at the very top of the spectrum compared to the HR which sounds like its highs extend slightly farther up the frequency spectrum. However, on the UU, the Density control is at noon and the Presence is at 3:00.

I bet if he turned up the Density to scoop out some mids, and turned up the Presence (which to my ear on the UU behaves more like a low pass filter than a traditional Presence control) to 4:00 or 4:30 , that mid hump and more subdued highs in the video that makes the UU sound relatively darker and stuffier than the Hell Razor would clear right up.

I did that video fairly early on after I bought the Uber. Since then I tend to run it as you said with the Density near all the way up and the presence fairly high. I do like it better that way.
 
The mids are different on the HR I had compared to UU. The UU is a little more aggressive. Both have more gain than you'd ever use. Much more than the MTL. On all wizards, the brights have a big impact on the gain. I tend to run them high and the amps get more aggressive. The HR has 2 brights impacting 2 different gain controls. It's hard to balance things just right without the gain getting out of control.
I remember you telling me about the brights when I got my first wizard from you. Truly the ticket to sculpting an aggressive tone on them.
 
Actually, I like it better on channel 1. Much more open sounding. This video is channel 1....




That does sound really good. Love that either channel is usable for a great metal tone.

Is this one a keeper for you?
 
I honestly wish we had an UU vs Bogner Pandora vs Hell Razor recording.

Yeah if the hell razor is super tight I probably won’t like it at all. I prefer the fluidity of bogners and 5150s. I don’t like an amp fighting me.

I still think I’d prefer an Engl SEFE. I’m going to hold out for one.
 
I honestly wish we had an UU vs Bogner Pandora vs Hell Razor recording.

Yeah if the hell razor is super tight I probably won’t like it at all. I prefer the fluidity of bogners and 5150s. I don’t like an amp fighting me.

I still think I’d prefer an Engl SEFE. I’m going to hold out for one.
Man, granted I haven’t played a new Engl SE, but the old one was nowhere in the same league as any bogner or wizard I’ve played. Just my opinion there though. Especially for that 4k tag Engl is trying to get out of it, so not worth it IMO. I will disclose I’m not an engl fan though and think their stuff sounds super synthetic. I think their best offering is the fireball.
 
Man, granted I haven’t played a new Engl SE, but the old one was nowhere in the same league as any bogner or wizard I’ve played. Just my opinion there though. Especially for that 4k tag Engl is trying to get out of it, so not worth it IMO. I will disclose I’m not an engl fan though and think their stuff sounds super synthetic. I think their best offering is the fireball.
I love Engl for desth metal . Shocked you don’t like them
 
Actually, I like it better on channel 1. Much more open sounding. This video is channel 1....




Me too, I've come to like channel 1 more than channel 2 as well. To my ears, channel 1 is a bit brighter and spankier, more "Marshally" than channel 2, even though channel 2 has the Metamorph control which can tighten it up to an absurd degree.
 
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Man, just can’t get into it. They just sound so sterile. The only record I’ve loved the guitar tone on with an engl was dimmu borgir puritanical.
Dying fetus Descend into Depravity is killer tone . To me engl is the death metal amp . Especially savage
 
Man, just can’t get into it. They just sound so sterile. The only record I’ve loved the guitar tone on with an engl was dimmu borgir puritanical.
I know what you mean about the ENGL sound. Some of them do have a strange "plastic" sounding low mid thing going on.

Dimmu's PEM album is also the best I've ever heard an ENGL sound, and man what a sound. Just fyi if you're looking for another example of good ENGL tone, Hammerfall also has some great sounding records done with ENGLs. I think their Legacy of Kings album is all ENGL and it sounds awesome. Even though Dimmu's PEM album sounds better overall to my ears, that Hammerfall album is kind of the benchmark Euro Metal ENGL sound.

Either way, thankfully it seems like if you have a mixing guy who knows what they're doing, the weird plastic part of the ENGL sound can be mixed out while the more distinct ENGL character can be emphasized.
 
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