ISP Theta Pro DSP

[shred-o-holic]

I just got my Theta Pro DSP last night. I played with it for a couple hours just through headphones. Honestly when I first started going through all the presets I thought I was using a processor from 1990
So I immediately just grabbed one of the ones I liked the most, and saved it to a new preset slot and started tweaking, first of all disabling all the effects! Way overkill!

I absolutely love my Theta Preamp Pedal, but when I started dialing in the DSP Pro preamp, I felt it didn't quite sound the same as the core tone of the pedal. Maybe the previous Theta head/rack preamp/combo is different, but my Theta pedal sounds very much like a modded EL34 Marshall, while the Theta Pro DSP preamp seems to have a more 5150 grind to it. I'll have to play them side by side to really compare but sounds different to me. I didn't try the clean preamp much yet, but it is super clean, like direct-to-board clean. I think to get some breakup you need to use the Theta Vintage preamp in the preamp distort side.

Didn't use many effects yet but the reverb was super nice sounding and transparent. The best out of the box reverb I've ever heard.

The main cab sim is a 4x12 Greenback which sounds really really good, even for metal, but I was a bit surprised there were very little other choices. There is a 1x12 creamback, and what seems to be clean based speakers such as a fender deluxe, twin, bassman. A bit shocked there was no v30 option at the very least for the metal side. Of course you can disable the speaker sim and use your own IRs in your DAW or a Two Notes device. But at this price point I expected more. At first glance, there doesn't seem to be a way to update the firmware, such as a USB port. I wonder if there is another method because I would like to see more cab sims added in the future.

No tuner option either which is a bit strange for an all-in-one floorboard and one more thing you'll have to carry with you.

Today I'm going to try it in a real test through my Stealth power amp and Marshall 4x12 and do some comparisons with my Theta Preamp Pedal.

Will do a lot more tweaking but my first impression was mixed. I love my Theta Preamp pedal core tone, and unless you like that core tone and ability to really shape it, I can't see this appealing to other people used to Line6 where there's more variety and bang for your buck.

This is a nice solid unit though, nice hard metal all around and U.S. made of course. It uses high quality metal foot switches, nothing plastic here except the few knobs.

Will give it a better go today and see if I can tweak it closer to my Theta pedal. There is a lot of pre and post EQ shaping you can do and I have to get used to it. Will give another update today. You guys who have yours already, let me know your tips and tricks.

Nice straight forward honest impressions. Which mirror my overall concerns. Although you did say it was only thru headphones so I will wait to see how the cab/power amp work out. Looking forward to your further opinions/experiences. Please let us know. Oh and modded EL 34 Marshall has a nice ring to it. I really want to check out the Theta preamp even more so.

 

[Findthetone1]

I've had mine for a couple of weeks and it's going back. I'm using through a stealth power amp and the tones sound sub par compared to all the clips of the original Theta preamp I've heard. The effects are very nice, the cleans are great but I can't get a satisfying crunch or high gain tone to save my life. The low end sounds like crap no matter how long I mess with the EQs. I was really hoping this would do it for me

 

[nigelpkay]

Yeah I tried it again today with my Stealth power amp and Marshall 4x12, and couldn't get it to quite sound like my Theta Preamp pedal. It's not that it sounds bad, it sounds good, but it sounds a bit more 5150 to me than Marshall. I kept switching them back and forth to see if I could get it close, but there's more of that grind and built-in "waaahhhh" tube-screamerish gain in the Pro DSP.
For example, with the Theta Pedal I could get Loudness, with the Theta DSP Pro I get Loudness as covered by At The Gates

Wish it had more built-in cab sims that the 4x12 Greenback, really needs a vintage 30 in there as well for variety, even a G12T75. I haven't got around to trying it with other IRs. I primarily bought this to get a good direct recording sound with the Theta pedal sound, and now I'm finding they are slightly different preamp sound. I'm thinking maybe I should have sprung for a Torpedo instead. I'm just wondering if they plan on updating firmware as they go.

The effects are nice, not too many parameters and you can dial it in heavy or barely perceptible as you like it.

 

[McLeanAB]

Sorry your experience with the Theta Pro has not been awesome...

I love mine... I'm also very fond of the Lowpass Filter EQ almost more so than the Greenback and Creamback cab sims... I'm also mainly using mine running direct rather than into a cab.

I have another quick and dirty demo of some low gain stuff...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Txf-fAfxx0

 

[nigelpkay]

Thanks Adam, that new demo sounded really nice.
Hopefully I'll get more time to play with it today. My main disappointment was that it isn't quite sounding like the Theta Preamp pedal I have, and the cab selection was really limited (do you know if the firmware is upgradable somehow, in case they want to add new features/cabs etc..?)

 

[McLeanAB]

^^^^^

I don't think the firmware is updatable, but I could be wrong... since there is a MIDI port on the side, I know you can dump presets to another Pro or to the computer to store, but I have no idea if there will be updates, or if it has to be an actual physical chip with updates that has to be installed? Buck at ISP would know...

I'm working on another quick demo, but I think my ears are fried and, like we all do, gotta spend some time with the wife and the dog!

I hope you get some good stuff out of your Pro!

 

[chumbucket]

I haven't gotten a chance to play one of these Pro DSP's yet but I love the Theta pedal unit. It sounds great with all sorts of pedals/effects in front of it or behind it. The Theta in conjunction with a Two Notes Torpedo is also a great combo. As Nigelpkay was saying, the Theta has got a modded Marshall feel to it and it roars through a good Marshall type IR. I've found a number of Ownhammer 4x12 IR's that kick ass with it.
I've been pretty much doing the same thing as the Pro DSP but just not in as small of a footprint.

 

[McLeanAB]

^^^^
Even though I love my Theta Pro, I'll never get rid of my Theta Rack Preamp or Combo... There's just something about 'em!

 

[chumbucket]

^^^^
Even though I love my Theta Pro, I'll never get rid of my Theta Rack Preamp or Combo... There's just something about 'em!

What are the differences between the rack and the pedal?
I wished the rack didn't have a weird pedal input or else I'd already own one. It would have ruled if it had 1/4" switch jacks or even better - MIDI.

 

[McLeanAB]

I think the only difference between the rack and the pedal is the XLR cab sim out on the Rack (and Head and Combo). Otherwise, I think the circuitry is the same.

I'm not sure about a "weird pedal input?" It's only got the two line outs, XLR outs and effect loop in/out.... oh! You mean the footswitch controller? Ah...

 

[McLeanAB]

Alright... the wife has HAD it!!!!

I burned a lot of 'good husband' points, and set aside class preparation to throw these out... this is going to be a tough week of teaching, but alas it was fun!

These were all quick and dirty as they come, so enjoy the raw nature of them, because this is all I can do for a while!!!! I'll try to check the forums to answer any other questions, but the week promises to be long with rehearsals and faculty meetings abound...

Thanks for listening everyone! I know on the heavier tunes the Lowpass Filter EQ is not everyone's cup of tea, but I totally dig it.... Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBSv9LJQJzA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hx7-ms2fA8g

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgSqRJAMQoE

 

[nigelpkay]

Thanks for all the demos Adam, yeah I don't know why you use the low pass filter cab sim either but to each his own

I spent another afternoon playing with the DSP, and the distortion character, even though it's a little different from the Theta pedal, is growing on me, it gets much gainer than the pedal (more saturated) while retaining clarity and not flubbing out. I liked the "Dio" preset, and made some small adjustments to it for my own gear and ears.

It's a bit tough changing the global settings when you switch to a cab, you have to kneel down twiddle knobs etc.. before you get it right. I had to dial it in much differently for the stage out and my Marshall !960 G12T75 cab than playing direct through the IRs as they mostly seemed to geared to the Greenback sim. I think it might be easier in the long run to save "recording" presets and "live" presets so you don't have to fiddle in between them with the EQ.

I will email ISP and ask about the firmware/cab sim updates. I think they really need some more modern 4x12s in there, at least a Celestion V30 and G12T75 option on top of the greenback. The Creamback isn't bad, but as a 1x12 it seems more meant for those middle gain tones. I really didn't want to rely on third party IRs for recording, it's just one part of the equation I didn't want to deal with.

 

[nigelpkay]

Just confirmed with Buck at ISP that future firmware updates are coming with improvements based on feedback!
He said they wanted to concentrate on the core sound first for the initial version. I asked for more cabs and a tuner

Now that I did some more comparisons today, and tweaked for my rig, I'm super happy with the core tone now. There is uber-gain available but it is very clear with perfect pick attack and tracking. Something that the Kemper didn't quite do for me, even though it's a great unit.

I would say the core tone of the Theta Pro DSP is halfway between a 5150 and Marshall.

Just hope they really expand the cabs available. The 4x12 Greenback is really good though, I would say it's most likely based on an EVH 5153 4x12 from my experience. That's what it sounds likes it as I used to have one.

 

[McLeanAB]

Thanks for all the demos Adam, yeah I don't know why you use the low pass filter cab sim either but to each his own

I spent another afternoon playing with the DSP, and the distortion character, even though it's a little different from the Theta pedal, is growing on me, it gets much gainer than the pedal (more saturated) while retaining clarity and not flubbing out. I liked the "Dio" preset, and made some small adjustments to it for my own gear and ears.

It's a bit tough changing the global settings when you switch to a cab, you have to kneel down twiddle knobs etc.. before you get it right. I had to dial it in much differently for the stage out and my Marshall !960 G12T75 cab than playing direct through the IRs as they mostly seemed to geared to the Greenback sim. I think it might be easier in the long run to save "recording" presets and "live" presets so you don't have to fiddle in between them with the EQ.

I will email ISP and ask about the firmware/cab sim updates. I think they really need some more modern 4x12s in there, at least a Celestion V30 and G12T75 option on top of the greenback. The Creamback isn't bad, but as a 1x12 it seems more meant for those middle gain tones. I really didn't want to rely on third party IRs for recording, it's just one part of the equation I didn't want to deal with.

HOW DARE YOU!!!!!

I love the Lowpass filter... it was the first non-IR cab sim I heard when I got my Theta Rack Preamp back in '08 or so... loved it then, and love it now... I dig the Greenback, but I might like the Creamback better... depends on the style of stuff I'm jamming on... I know not everyone likes filter cab sims as opposed to IR, but the realistic sounding stuff just doesn't do it for me all the time... maybe my formative years in the 80's ruined me!!!

I'm using my Pro for pretty much direct recording and playing... but man it sounded good at Gearfest and NAMM through the ISP cabs and subs. I'll fiddle with mine some more this coming weekend through the Vector cab and the effect return on my combo and see what I can get... I've been having so much fun with going direct!!!! And having the Combo and the Vector I just haven't bothered to do "live" stuff with it through actual cabs yet...

Just confirmed with Buck at ISP that future firmware updates are coming with improvements based on feedback!
He said they wanted to concentrate on the core sound first for the initial version. I asked for more cabs and a tuner

Now that I did some more comparisons today, and tweaked for my rig, I'm super happy with the core tone now. There is uber-gain available but it is very clear with perfect pick attack and tracking. Something that the Kemper didn't quite do for me, even though it's a great unit.

I would say the core tone of the Theta Pro DSP is halfway between a 5150 and Marshall.

Just hope they really expand the cabs available. The 4x12 Greenback is really good though, I would say it's most likely based on an EVH 5153 4x12 from my experience. That's what it sounds likes it as I used to have one.

Glad you are getting more out it!!!! And that you got your suggestions to Buck... that's awesome.

Keep us posted... I live mine, but I'm biased as hell since I got my Theta Rack Preamp back in the day...

Oddly, I thought too that the Preamp section of the Pro sounded a bit different, but with the Lowpass Filter, it's about as close as can be doing A/B comparisons with the Rack XLR cab sim and the Lowpass on the Pro. Can't tell any more...

Don't forget to zero out all the Preamp EQ and the Post EQ and throw in a semi-hollow or acoustic... sounds amazing! Same with some new sounds... zero out a setting and build from there...

Post some demos if you have time and opportunity... I'd love to hear what other folks are doing with it.... I'm about to bother the snot out of Ethan Brosh to see if he'll do some... he wrote the first several presets.... the Van Dirty preset is quite nice....