Fryette Pittbull Ultralead II

[RockyStar]

My point was if he made the Ultra Lead in a head format and like everybody is claiming they want, it would cost significantly more (and in this day and age you all know that it would) then people would be upset at the price he would have to charge to make such a product.

 

[7704A]

That's my biggest concern too, for the people that actually shell out 4k for this thing - at least IMO there's a big difference between a 1k kemper or axefx and a 4k for this as far as designed obsolescence

If I understand you, I think I agree. Steve has been bitten before by digital going sour (I think the GP3) in the long run, and has mentioned that. He's also talked a big game about not releasing stuff that will be obsoleted when technology moves forward. Given that, and his usual build quality, I hope he's on top of the issues we mention. But it doesn't immediately inspire confidence.

If you guys think the new cool kids are going to pay 4k for a 2 space rack amp i've got beachfront property in wyoming you might be interested in

Wyoming was always my favorite Hawaiian island. Sign me up.

Yeah. I doubt he would, but they come by the booth and play it and post it on their channels is the insinuation

Maybe it's pay-to-play with them? Why do for free what someone will give you a coily cable for?

 

[TheGreatGreen]

I think s lot of people are missing the point. It's just a analog amp. The only thing digital is the switching system. GEQ and IR.

Seems for many the issue is it is rackmount instead of a head.

Personally I could careless about any of this stuff. I'm mostly interested in the sound. The voice.

The format is actually more practical for my use. I've been meaning to rebuild the Voodoo Lab and simpler Boss ES-8 rigs.

I haven't decided. But definitely interested.

It's an analog amp, but the core tone is sent through a digital EQ, so you get an instance of AD/DA conversion in the chain. I'm not sure it's been mentioned whether it can be switched off such that you can get a core tone out of the amp without any conversion steps or not. Hopefully you can turn that stuff off.

Something else that stuck out to me is that in the video, Steve talked about "zero lag" IR technology. That's impossible. Not "that would be tough to do so I have trouble believing it" but literally impossible. IR's are digital which means your tone must go through digital conversion for them to work. Personally I think IR tech is cool and useful so it's not that I have a problem with IR's, it's that I have a problem with how Steve said "lag free IR's" because that's not how IR's work.

I'm not necessarily saying Steve was being deceitful either. To give him the benefit of the doubt, when you generate an IR, there's usually some leading silence, which it's possible to trim off the front of the IR, so in that way you might be able to have a lag free IR within the already digitized signal, but you'll still always have the conversion lag in there. But, to say "lag free IR processing" implies this entire element of the chain is as lag free as analog components, which is not true.

This is concerning to me because it means Steve might not inherently understand the tech, which means there could be yet another link in the chain (specifically, whoever he contracted to understand this tech for him and integrate it into the unit) that also needs to get involved in the event that anything goes wrong.

 

[TheGreatGreen]

Now it's time for speculation. Who do you guys think did the digital elements of the new amp? My money is on Fractal Audio.

The Fryette amp models in the Axe-Fx are some of the few models that keep their real amp names, which means they have a good relationship. Also Steve and Cliff highly respect each other, as they're both some of the most knowledgeable tube amp experts alive. Also, the UI looks Fractal-esque to me.

So in that sense, if something does go wrong with the digital parts of the ULII, if you can get Fryette on the phone (lol), I'd bet you're probably in good hands.

 

[HellraiserJohnny]

I think this new head shows the influences Steve had while working with Synergy. I use his Pitbull Ultra module in my Syn2 rack and it help me to develope a whole new way of building an amp. He also had a hand in the developemnt of the Syn50/50 (stereo 50/50 tube power amp which BTW- it has 4x6L6 tubes in a 1U rack and the thing can breath just fine). I love that I can get real tube preamps and a real tube power amp to try out without spending 4k each. No, I don't own "A Real" Pittbull Ultra but for me. . . it works. I love what he's done with the Synergy products.

 

[Piero the Guitarero]

Who do you guys think did the digital elements of the new amp? My money is on Fractal Audio.

My bet is Leonardo Polito. He already designed the Diezel VHX, the soldano Astroverb
and is also responsible fpr the Soldano X88IR (at least editor)

Is he affiliated with Fractal? I don't think so, he is a freelancer from Italy, but thats only a guess, so I don't know