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 fully 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

 

[CarlF]

He should’ve just came out with an Ultra Lead preamp.
Why would a head version cost 7K? The transformers? Then why isn’t this new piece of shit 7K with the same transformers?

 

[Eazy-ESP]

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.

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

Didn’t he say in the clip that he hired an intern and put him through college because the kid did a thesis on his zero latency IR? I thought that guy was doing it.

 

[stephen sawall]

He's been talking about building a combo. Maybe it will have a Ultra Lead channel on it.

I think he mentioned building a preamp a few times. Not recently. The GPDI-IR might have been that evolution.

 

[TheGreatGreen]

Didn’t he say in the clip that he hired an intern and put him through college because the kid did a thesis on his zero latency IR? I thought that guy was doing it.

Could have, I don't remember that part but it was a long video. It's fun speculating though whatever the answer might be.

However, again, true zero latency IR's are impossible because IR's live in the digital realm and they depend on AD/DA conversion, which always introduces lag. It's an unavoidable, inherent component of what happens when digital and analog signal processing are combined.

The only way it would be possible to do actual zero latency cabinet emulation would be to pre-program an analog EQ to exactly mimic the EQ curve of a speaker cab, but at that point it ceases to be an Impulse Response and becomes something else entirely, namely a really sophisticated EQ.

 

[7704A]

The only way it would be possible to do actual zero latency cabinet emulation would be to pre-program an analog EQ to exactly mimic the EQ curve of a speaker cab, but that that point it ceases to be an Impulse Response and becomes something else entirely, namely a really sophisticated EQ.

I think this is probably more exotic than what we're likely to find in the ULII, but something like this may be able to pull that off:
https://okikadevices.com/

I haven't used and don't know the limitations of these devices though.

 

[ZEN Amps]

Could have, I don't remember that part but it was a long video. It's fun speculating though whatever the answer might be.

However, again, true zero latency IR's are impossible because IR's live in the digital realm and they depend on AD/DA conversion, which always introduces lag. It's an unavoidable, inherent component of what happens when digital and analog signal processing are combined.

The only way it would be possible to do actual zero latency cabinet emulation would be to pre-program an analog EQ to exactly mimic the EQ curve of a speaker cab, but that that point it ceases to be an Impulse Response and becomes something else entirely, namely a really sophisticated EQ.

Yep seems pretty odd.

I stopped caring about latency when IR loaders got down to <5ms, which is equivalent to standing ~5ft from your cab. Mixing wet and dry could be a problem, but besides that it's all pretty academic. Many are in the 1 to 2ms range now, which is imperceptibly low - not sure why 0 is something worth chasing, even if it was possible.

Also the analog cab thing you mentioned. Steve talks about this independently of the IR loader, but whilst discussing the DSP features? Achieving this accurately in the analog domain is an interesting idea I haven't seen done, and would require dozens of bands of EQ to even compete with digital.

Should probably just wait until the thing is released, many burning questions.

 

[ZEN Amps]

Ok just rechecked that NAMM video. When talking about the analog cabs he says you can "control them here", referencing a 3-band EQ on the laptop. He can't get it working, but presumably it's an analog sim circuit (perhaps like in the Synergy gear) with a simple EQ for sweetening.

Also I don't think there is a reactive load onboard - he says for recording you can just turn off the power section.

 

[Kelly]

He should’ve just came out with an Ultra Lead preamp.
Why would a head version cost 7K? The transformers? Then why isn’t this new piece of shit 7K with the same transformers?

Steve said the same thing about the Mesa Mark IIc. They'd never reissue it because it'd cost $7K. Then they fired Randall Smith and reissued it anyway.

 

[midnightlaundry]

The whole Graphic EQ thing from back in the day was only intended for Combo models to help fill things in.. People think they needed it on the Head and because it's there, you need to use it.. You don't

 

[Eazy-ESP]

I

Yep seems pretty odd.

I stopped caring about latency when IR loaders got down to <5ms, which is equivalent to standing ~5ft from your cab. Mixing wet and dry could be a problem, but besides that it's all pretty academic. Many are in the 1 to 2ms range now, which is imperceptibly low - not sure why 0 is something worth chasing, even if it was possible.

Also the analog cab thing you mentioned. Steve talks about this independently of the IR loader, but whilst discussing the DSP features? Achieving this accurately in the analog domain is an interesting idea I haven't seen done, and would require dozens of bands of EQ to even compete with digital.

Should probably just wait until the thing is released, many burning questions.

I think the analog cab will be the same as what he has in his power load IR.

 

[Eazy-ESP]

Ok just rechecked that NAMM video. When talking about the analog cabs he says you can "control them here", referencing a 3-band EQ on the laptop. He can't get it working, but presumably it's an analog sim circuit (perhaps like in the Synergy gear) with a simple EQ for sweetening.

Also I don't think there is a reactive load onboard - he says for recording you can just turn off the power section.

Yeah he spoke about a 1watt power tube for loading.

 

[7704A]

Also I don't think there is a reactive load onboard - he says for recording you can just turn off the power section.

He also mentioned (forget which video) that there is a 1W power amp inside driving a 1W reactive load, which is used for the IRs. In that context I think he said you can just shut off the big boy power amp. And, that you can alternatively use the big boy power amp to drive the IRs instead if you have a cab connected.

 

[7704A]

Blug, Fryette, and Joe did a live-stream where some more details were mentioned. If I understand correctly, the unit shown at NAMM was not playable. Also, Steve threatened to straighten everyone out in a week or two on The Malcontents. ULII stuff near the end.

 

[Eazy-ESP]

Blug, Fryette, and Joe did a live-stream where some more details were mentioned. If I understand correctly, the unit shown at NAMM was not playable. Also, Steve threatened to straighten everyone out in a week or two on The Malcontents. ULII stuff near the end.

He also enjoyed all the forum uproar. You’re welcome Steve!