OX Amp Top Box
Customer Reviews
OX Amp Top Box
Only registered users can write reviews. Please, log in or create an account.
J. Bennett
Unreal
If you don't feel like reading the whole review, I'll save you the time, BUY IT.
I have always sworn that you can hear the "digital" in other cabinet emulators, even the expensive Torpedoes and Kempers. If you like that, great, I personally hate that digital aliasing weirdism junk that happens in their tones.
Along comes this thing. I'm a huge UA fan, and I believe that Universal Audio has the best analog emulations on the market, period. So naturally, when I heard they were putting this baby out, I was intrigued.
I work on a lot of metal stuff. So I was a little sketched out the entire time I was waiting for the preorder, because out of all of the videos I found on this thing, NONE of the guitar players were playing anything remotely metal, or even hard rock-type stuff. So I was definitely a little uneasy about it.
I got it before the app came out, apparently Sweetwater accidentally shipped a week early. I saw one of the default presets was a greenback 4x12. I've always preferred vintage 30's to greenbacks but I said what the hey and plugged my EVH 5150 III into it and took the line outs directly into our console.
You guys ever hear a piece of gear and your eyes just go wide and you get the "holy ****" feeling? This was one of those. This greenback 4x12 cab emulation sounded better than any cabinet I've heard in person to date. It was insane.
Then the app comes out. I messed around with the mics, EQ, reverb and delay, and I got some insane tones. The user interface is incredibly smooth and easy to use, a musician that isn't used to dialing in studio gear could use this thing no problem. I also think the build of the unit itself is just gorgeous.
The parameters are so cool, like you don't get the unlimited mic movement like you do the torpedo and some other emulators, but these are more than impulse responses, these are true emulations in the usual UA fashion that we've come to know and love, down to descriptions of exactly how the mics were placed in the room in relation to the cab.
Don't have your guitar player sit too close to it (within two feet), it will feed back a little, but that's very avoidable.
So that's about it. An easy-ish way to put it is, you know how you hear your amp go through your favorite cab, and it sounds amazing, so you mic it up and add some EQ here and there to capture that tone? This thing sounds pretty much exactly how I want my guitars to sound without having to mic a cab or process much of anything at all. And it goes without saying that this thing is great for reamping.
I honestly was a little disappointed at first when I found that there were no V30 emulations, and I still kind of hope that they come out with new emulations as time goes on, but at the same time I just don't care, this thing is a work of art. Buy it.
I have NOT tested this out as load box into a live cabinet, I've only used the balanced line outputs.
V. Kourkoutas
WOW
Universal audio nailed it once again! One of the best pieces of gear I have ever purchased. Both sides of the OX are pro level sounding, taking into account the real amp feel that we guitarists always seek. Having owned all similar products of this category, after buying the ox, they all sound plastic and artificial. It is a must have for every guitarist and every studio owner.
J. Williams
Fan-Bloody-Tastic
Absolutely unreal! Love it. Sounds amazing with all my amps. Killer box!
A. User
OX Captures The Soul Of My amps & Saves My Ears
I have to say the OX is just incredible. I have yet to record anything to Logic that doesn't sound great.
In the past, I usually get slowed down with dialing in a great sound. For example, while the Kemper has the potential to sound great, it's way more time consuming to find the sounds you want as you basically have to find a profile (out of hundreds/thousands) that fits what you need. The other closest competitor, Two Notes Studio, in may opinion blows chunks compared to the OX.
Lastly, I can crank my amp while keeping volume well under control. This is good for my ears. Lots of guitar players eventually get Tinitus (ringing in ears) due to playing in front of cranked amps for hours at a time.
So with the OX, just plugin into the amp I want and get a perfect sound fast. Then just add some plate reverb and done!
Oh happy day
D. Case
Love the OX!
I'm in an environment where I can't get my amps up loud and stick mic on them, so I've tried a number of solutions in the past to mixed results. Software amp emulators are ok for some things, but not all... I've tried reactive load boxes with IRs and that was just a hassle. Previously, I had asked UA to provide an IR loader plugin so I could use a reactive load and get real-time UAD monitoring of the amp tone to no avail. I know there are workarounds with that, but it wasn't a smooth workflow.
Well, I got my OX on the day it was available and I've found my solution - it lets me use my greats amps in their sweet spot (a Suhr Badger 30 and an old Fender Princeton Reverb), attenuate the signal in the room or the club, and utilize speaker modeling which - to my ears - is so much more flexible and better sounding than IRs.
I gave it 4 stars because of the lack of a Windows client (I'm on a Mac, but Windows should have ben there at launch) and the other items (foot switch, USB ports, internal sample rate) which should be addressed later as the product is in market for a while. If UA provided messaging about those features, it would have been 5 stars.
For my needs, OX is absolutely stellar! It's changed the way I record guitars, practice and play live.
UAD User
Le top du top
La meilleure loadbox/attenuateur que j'ai jamais utilisé! Très facile d'utilisation !application Oxfam amp très simple et très intuitive!j'adore!
B. Oaks
Tubbs sold me
Saw Shawn's video and that was it. Bought it.....
K. Gleason
Way better than software emulation
Every single software amp either overly sags or sounds unnaturally compressed when the amp is pushed. Touch sensitivity feels artificial and the clean break up is way off. This changes all of that. Real tone with very good speaker emulation. Take the room out if you want the best sound out of this box. This is a must buy and having an attenuator too boot makes this a very good deal. Price tag is well worth it.
M. Liebig
awesome
Thank you so much for the OX Box. Now it´s so easy to record my Git Parts in a professional way .....it´s party in my hands :-))
M. Karnblad
Unbelievable!!!!
Then I first heard that UA was going to make this I thought nice, this must be good as everything is from UA!
The OX was not just good, it is the must sounding in its category! Everyone that is critical about products like this was really impressed by OX.
The only negative aspect is that I now really want to buy a lot of different amps
D. Corwin
Finally
I just got mine this week after waiting a few months. Worth the wait. For my situation, where I can rarely be noisy at home, it is the perfect electric guitar recording/practice solution.
The realism and variety of the tones that it allows is incredible. I actually have been using it for practice with headphones more than for recording. The first time I turned it on I had my headphones on and thought I had accidentally run through the combo's speaker. Nope. It just sounds that real.
It seems like a hefty price tag until you realize the range of tones you can achieve from even one of your amps. The software is great, too. I wish they'd make the app for Android, also, so I could control it from my tablet. In the meantime, the desktop app suffices just fone.
If in doubt about purchasing or on the fence, just do it. I'll never sell mine. Well done, UA.