UA Dream vs Fender 65 Deluxe - Ultimate shootout! Lollar/Fralin/Novo & Universal Audio OX Comparison 

I mentioned that the Dream '65 sounds the most like Ch. A (Normal) on the Deluxe, which may be true for the Reissue '65, but UA states in the manual: "The Dream '65 models only the Vibrato channel of the classic '65 amplifier. The Normal channel is not modeled." So, I feel like the Vibrato Channel on the reissue is too bright to be like the pedal, but the vintage amp they used must have been the happy medium of the two, and further explains some of the differences between the Dream pedal and the Reissue '65 amps. Anyone with some experience with the actual pedal feel free to elaborate! Thanks!

One of the best comparison videos I've seen. Not only of the amp and pedal but also of those guitars and pickups. Thank you!

Honestly it’s so cathartic to hear you talk about the difference between tremolo and vibrato; this has been an absolute pet-peeve of mine for years! Thanks for pointing this out :)

One thing iv immediately noticed with my Dream '65 compared to my original Fender '65 Reverb (bought in 1977 with my late father) is how harmonically rich the pedal is!....of all the demos I have seen ...its never really mentioned at all. You did an exceptional task demoing it !!! ...Congrats!!! ....when I stacked a Euphoria pedal (by Wampler) in front of the Dream '65 ...it just opened up like nothing else!!!! ...it bloomed !!! ...I think the Euphoria pedal , with its 3 unique voicings, is one of the greatest pedals in the last decade!!! ...I have well over 100+ stomps ...been at this game for a very long time - the Dream '65 is heads higher then any pedal - amp pedal- anything similar!!!! ...its brilliant!!!!...be safe + superhero strong!...great job!

Thank you so much! First video I saw that is not tainted with reverb/delay and I can hear the sound clearly.

For the price, assuming you’re a recording guitarist, the dream is by far my favorite amp alternative. I also have a Iridium, but pales in comparison to the Dream. (To my ear)

The amp may have slightly more presence, but they sound incredibly close. The Dream is impressive, nuff said.

Another great demo from Scott. High end modeling in now well within the variance of actual vintage amps. In fact, lots of vintage amps--either from being used/stored in different environments or having been "repaired" with various replacement components--sound less similar to each other than the UA pedal does to Scott's personal amp. Th ethree different boosts can easily replace a EP3, a tube screamer, and a Klon or Klone, if money and/or pedal space is an issue.

Theres a subtle but noticeable different in the attack and release of the pedal when comapred with the amp. The amp responds in a much more musical way. But im sure a good compression pedal in front of the dream would solve that problem

I have a Dream ‘65 coming soon. I like how the TPS channel talks about that the digital emulation is just that - it’s not trying to be the amp itself. If it were, they’d just sell you the amp. Anyway, we’ve been using Iridiums in our band with great success. I’m excited to see what the UA stuff has to offer. TY for the excellent video.

I've just bought a UA Dream, Lovley! I hear a difference in the depth Fender 65 seeming to have a bit more presence but I also noticed that the bass and treble levels on the UA seem different to the Fender. It would be interesting to put an audio analyser on the amp and also the UA, set both bass and treble to flat and compare. Still.... it is the first time I've ever been able to put my amp into my guitar case 😀

Cool rendition of Black Hole Sun!

To my ears on clean stuff, they sound somehow similar although the deluxe has a fatter eq. From the edge of break tone onwards the Deluxe is in a league of his own. I think UA has a done a fine job, but as with many of the other modelers they don't seem to able recreate the softness of tubes when they began to "break". BTw very good video.

Super pedal for use it with pedalboard into PA! Sold my Fractal AX8 and buy it! Perfect!

What threw me off the most in the beginning with using the Dream was exactly the EQ behaviour you describe: Turning up the treble affects way too many frequencies above the normal guitar frequency spectrum. I found my sweetspot now with bass/treble around 9 to 10 o'clock, otherwise it's just too scooped and bright. In addition, I am on the lead mod with a tiny amount of boost, so the modeled bright cap is removed. I much prefer a less scooped and darker tone as my pedal platform.

As it is accurately modeled after a real 1965 DR, the UA/FX Dream '65 sounds much better to me than the re-issue DR "Vibrato" channel which is too thin and bright as you said. You mentioned getting more bass and treble from the Dream '65. than on the reissue DR. That is because the "Q" of the real 1965 DR's tone controls, which the Dream '65 is modeled after, is quite broad and extends farther than those of the reissue DR. This is true of virtually all Fender amps from the '50s tweeds to the late '60s Silverfaces. Using Fender tone controls properly is not always intuitive, but they are very versatile and effective once their quirks are learned. These days my fave guitar tones are "twangy", mostly clean and with as much character as I can get from my stuff. I'm a light-touch player and I mostly play a Gretsch Duo-Jet (Harrison model with Dynasonics), a 60th Anniversary '58 reissue Jazzmaster, and a real '62, thick-curve fingerboard Strat. I use always-on dual compression in series (Cali 76 into Xotic SP), and dual boosts in series, (Xotic EP into Nocturne "Atomic Brain"). I also occasionally use a Wampler Spring Reverb, a Catalinbread Bell Epoch Deluxe and a Tech 21 Q-Strip to tweak the tone to where I want it. These guitars are strung with very thin flatwound strings (.008 - .039, plain "G") which are terrific in every way, and which bring out the natural chime and sparkle of these guitars. I just bought a UA/FX "Rub" (Vox AC-30 modeler) and I'm loving it a lot. I am thinking of getting a Dream '65, but I can already get very Fenderish sounds from the Ruby with some EQ magic, so... Thanks for a very nicely done vid.

hmmm I almost prefer the sound of the pedals on most of the demos personally.. thank you for doing this

Really nice video. I'd think the Dream would be slightly easier to accommodate in a mix but both sound fantastic.

The tone is very similar between pedal and amp…however I find modelers to be very “plucky” sounding and the amp sounds much smoother with a softer and more natural pick attack. This pedal seems pretty good though. I had iridium and needed to process the heck out of it to get it sounding good. Got a Princeton reverb instead

I can hear digital distortion in the ua pedal. Still is the best digital amp plugin i've ever heard.

Thank you for the effort and thought you put into your comparison videos, Scott! My ears are similar to yours; I like dark guitar tone so much it gets lost in the mix.

I just bought the Dream 65. It’s going to work for me, but there are things that are different than I expected. I have owned a 1963 Vibrolux, 1967 Princeton and early 1970s Twin Reverb. There is hardly any clean head room on the pedal. It starts breaking up at 2 on the volume. Does a real Deluxe Reverb do that? I want it to be clean longer. I sure wish the tremolo had a separate knob like a real amp. I wish there weren’t so many features like the boost and speaker IRs. Simpler is better. But the sounds are great. Several awesome presets in the app.

The pedal sounds mix-ready against the amp. Also killer guitar collection 😮

Thanks. Waiting for the comparison of iridium vs UA Dream!

Thank you for this really great demo! I know at my age it'll be more convenient to have a pedal rather a 15 or 20kg box to carry... But ! Defenetly the Amp some so great

Nice video, I just made one with the 3 UAFX amp pedals, what I hear here is more depth and body in the actual amp.

Great comparison.Thanks. To me pedal sounds brighter and thiner. With amp I had a feeling of fullness and roundness in sound.

I bought and tried the Walrus ACS1, the Strymon Iridium and the Dream '65. I kept the Dream '65 and returned the ACS1 and the Iridium. It wasn't even close.

This was so helpful. Extremely well done demo. Thanks Scott!

I have a 1974 Silverface Deluxe Reverb that is just the best sounding amp. It's had a cap job and it has a WGS G-12C/S. Every time I play it out at least one person tries to buy it from me. I think the Dream is actually closer sounding to my amp than the real tube DRRI. The DRRI is so scooped it almost sounds more like a "direct" signal than the Dream. I actually bought a UA Ruby first but am not enjoying it that much. The quirkiness of those 60's voxes is I guess their charm and they certainly got the quirkiness in the box. But at the end of the day I guess I'm just a fender guy. This was a helpful demo, thank you.

Beautiful guitars , awesome comparison demo!

Hi Scott, nice comparison. I really enjoyed all the riffs and wee tunes..

Best side by side comparison ever - thanks!

Great shootout. It sounds to me that a slight EQ adjustment to the Dream would make them essentially indistinguishable from each other.

Honestly there is barely any difference, I think the pedal is the way to go, more practical, cheaper… In a world with increasing inflation and uncertain times we need good gear at affordable prices. Many cannot afford to drop thousands on a real amp and many are not in a position to turn their amp up to where it sounds good. I’d take the dream any day of the week.

Thank you so much for taking the time to do this proper comparison. You did an excellent job matching the tones. Instant sub.

Hey, thank you so much for this. Great with a review without endless blues riffs. Superb choice of guitars and songs all the way. Have you tried to, or have you seen anyone, put the Dream '65 through an fx loop on an amp with the four cable mode?

Excellent video and playing Sir

Great video!

Great video. First of all, the reverb on the pedal is indeed a lot brighter than the amp. I was wrong. But I don't find that it brightens the sound, maybe the real amp makes it a little darker in comparison. The thing with the low end I agree. The amp sounds almost like it has a HP filter, while the pedal sometimes need a HP filter. The thing you've said about the eq interaction I don't understand very well, especially since the eq on a Deluxe Reverb is absolutely dependent one band from another, and the pedal is mimicking that, otherwise it would sound completely different. Now, overall I still think the pedal sounds spot on and it does that with any guitar and pedal, and with any dynamic you play. Sure, it's not 100 percent, but it's for the first time I've heard in a modeler, reacting and saturating like the real deal.

Awesome demo. Nice job!

Your actual DR’s normal channel sounded much brighter than the Dream (which is an old vibrato channel). Maybe these two just aren’t that comparable. Both sounded very nice tho, even if I had the itching to turn the Dream’s treble up a notch at times… Cheers, great work - I know it ain’t easy!

Much more natural low end and bloom on the real amp. But hey, its to be expected. The pedal is not bad at all though.

Excellent Demonstration 🎶🎸❤️

Is there something wrong with my dream? If I have the volume knob over 12 like he has, it would be distorting quite a bit, and not in a very pleasing way.

Really well done video. Great audio quality audio!

this is the best demo I have seen on this.

I think on drive amp is way better. As a plugin buyer (S gear + Mixwave Benson Reverb) I wonder if it's a better choice to buy a tube preamp instead the uad device, because this object is very good stand alone but if have already got some good digital gear (as many people got) I think it's better choice to buy a more synergic device. (just bedroom player observation)

Great comparison. Seems to be a good piece of gear that "pedal". Good sounds thru different pickups. So interesting. And great to remember "Honey Bee"! Thanks a lot!

Wow! Amps really do sound more 3d with full depth. Dream sounds nice!

Great video man. I'm planning on getting a dream 65 just so I can record my 65 reissue and the Dream in stereo!

Scott, you did a good job 👍

Well done video Scott. What are those pickups on that Jazzmaster? They sound amazing, love it! Steve

UAD sounding very close to fender deluxe… only AMP is sounding more smooth mid sections. Which I have felt .

nice comparison! and sweet guitar!

Hi, sound is great but how is the dynamic under the fingers ? That's is the big problem without a normal amp unfortunately.. I'm looking for something that can solve the problem without amplifier....

That Jazzmaster sounds quite nice

It'd be kinda neat if the trem arm *did* actuate volume, not pitch somehow. Just to see what you can do. The UA stuff gets me wondering what else they'll make. Now a marshall thing, if that's your idea of good sound. Probably a Boogie MK4 sooner or later.

thanks ,,excellent demonstration...I can't choose for a long time ,,,today I decided in favor of Dream...I will order...with respect,,,subscribing to your channel.

Great video and comparison. Would love to hear how they take pedals in front of them as well!

The differences are very minimal. If you went out and got 3 or 4 Fender Deluxe amps, they would all sound slightly different from each other. I have a Quilter Superblock and it is close to a Fender amp too. In a recording, you could tell someone you used a Princeton or Deluxe and none would be able to tell.

Nice demo!! The first thing i noticed was how clean the Dream stayed for you. Current owner of the Dream and mine will break up if i have the volume knob around 9o’clock. Using p90 lambertones ristrotto. Could it be the interface we’re using. Im using the UA volt 276 preamps all the down. Maybe its also the finger picking vs strumming.

Great comparison thank you. Unlike another comparison I saw, here it seems the pedal and amp are on a level playing field in terms of the mic choice and placement. Of course the mic choices and placements can massively effect the tone. I am not aware if you mentioned what mic you used but it seems something that the comparisons I am seeing are not mentioning. Did you make an effort to emulate the emulator so to speak? i.e. fiddle with the micing to get it to be like the pedal? Anyhow, really helpful, I'll most probably get the pedal when I have a bit of cash to spare.

드림으로 리얼앰프와 비슷한소릴 내려면 드림에 포함되어있는 부스터를 적절하게 사용해야 합니다.

The Dream sounds amazing... I have to get one

I've been playing one of these for several months now, and i think the major issue with the dream seems to be that ua must have tamed the low mids in post... which is good to know, makes it less usable for recording without knowing... and not really usable live in many situations where you could use the fender. my speculation is it must have been a post decision of what it "needs" to make it plug and play on an amateur session.

How is your Dream on like 8 and barely breaking up? Mine starts breaking up at like 2 without any boost on. Are you rolling off the volume on the guitar? I'm playing a Jazzmaster and when I roll my volume off it feels like I lose a lot of tone.

Great comparison.... thanks

Loved the Son Volt! :-)

Demo is very well done. Thanks for posting. I have a Dream coming soon. It's not clear to me exactly how this was recorded and what we are hearing. Was the Dream plugged into a DAW? Was the amp miked? Are we hearing this through monitor speakers? Obviously, I'm not familiar with the recording process.

(Portuguese) - gostei dos vídeos, dá para notar que o dream 65 é praticamente idêntico ao reissue 65 amp, porém, notei que o reverb e tremolo no reissue têm mais presença, mais harmônicos .. e a frequência do agudo se destaca mais do que do dream 65. Também gostei que mostrou a sonoridade em guitarras diversificadas, principalmente as que não tem captadores humbucker, pois geralmente quem faz vídeos de fractal, quad cortex, tonex, normalmente está com guitarra com humbucker.

What are you playing the Dream 65 through? Does it work as a Direct input?

Did you connect thr dream 65 straight to your audio interface? If yes, which interface are you using?

Honestly, I think you get the same sound of the pedal from something like the Eleven Rack, with hundreds of extra models/features/effects, for the same price or maybe less. Not as compact and portable as the pedal, though.

Awesome comparison! Listening through RU-vid I had a hard time telling the difference. Maybe in person would be different, but wow! BTW, I have a Deluxe Tonemaster - I would like to know how those compare. I'm thinking I could ditch the Tonemaster with this pedal. The thing I wish it had is a headphone jack, that would make it killer for me to practice with. I'm just not sure the best way to use this to practice with. If I run it into an amp it will get colored and running it into the DAW is a pain if I just want to practice. Seems like I would need to get some kind of headphone amp. One thing I found confusing in the video was your use of the term channel A, channel B, etc. Would have made more sense if you had just called it "Normal" and "Vibrato" channels. BTW, what is that patch cord going from Normal to Vibrato on your Deluxe? Is that a mod?

I tried tonex and dream. Playing at home it’s all good but in a band setting the real amp Is the way to go for me… Its to bad cause I’d rather not carry my heavy amp around but hey..

Some really nice tones here (and playing)! Was kinda surprised how high you have the VOLUME on the dream 65 and it's staying clean and you're not getting any break up?? Low output pickups or did you turn down the guitar volume? I have an AVRI tele, so vintage pups and I get break up from 10 o clock. Maybe it's the OX that keeps it cleaner?

Can always tell when someone doesn’t usually plays dirty..lol No one who likes to rock and play a Fender would set the EQ like that with a humbucker when turning it up. You have to lower the bass and turn up the treble on a Fender if you want to not have a dull, flubby mess. Deluxes can be pretty decent hard rock amps if you set the EQ right.

Maaaan sounds siiiick, but question, this in compare of the simplifier (the new one) what would be better?

The best review

I subbed because of your version of Black Hole Sun!

I love mine, enough that I got the 68 lion

First of all great demo. In my honest opinion I can really hear the difference, UA Dream is a good pedal but the Deluxe 65 shines in this demo, dream sounds bright and thin while the 65 reverb is full and has more clarity. Dream pedal is a good option for someone who don’t have the vintage 65 deluxe. I own a vintage Fender 66 deluxe reverb and I’m absolutely happy.

Scary close 🤯

What preamp are you using? My Dream’s output is super low so I run it into my Audioscape 1290 and it sounds freakin amazing.

It sounds great man ( both ) . I wonder how the dream sounds through a powered monitor ( frfr ) for live . Will it gives you the live feel as playing through a real deluxe amp ?

Subscribed!

NIce work!

On another note: which PUs are in that Novo? Sounds sweet 👌

black hole sun 🖤, instant like

Great video! I might have to pick up the Dream! I’m using a 2x12” Pro Reverb right now, and it is way too much amp. The Dream might be the way to go. What kind of recording interface are you using?

Hi! Can I just plug in the dream direct to Apollo, will it sound good? Thanks! By the way this is the firsy demo that uad dream sounds decent 👍

Tone controls are subtractive on the amp. Why set them each to 3? You’re limiting the output of the amp. Try starting at 10 and subtract your achieve a balance.

I prefer the pedal...

Hi Scott. How are you? Hope it's not a dumb question and pls excuse my english. Where does the sound coming from when you play the Dream 65? what is the output? Monitors? Amp? Thanks.

The tube sounds enough better to justify the difference to me. I'd stick with the real deal. It'll appreciate, the pedal I doubt will.

This is used how? As an effects pedal or only as a DI to a computer or mixing board?

Uncle Tupelo, right?

Is comparing it to a reissue a fair comparison? I don't think so.The reissue does not sound like a real mid 60s Deluxe.

Son Volt!