Great video - thanks. I've been rebuilding my whole setup around the Lion for the last couple of months. You mentioned a great point at the end - once you get to know the pedal there are different ways to use it. I've been having success using it reasonably clean as a pedal platform and running (for example) Solar Chug into it. The Chug has super-powerful EQ and gain fine-tuning but I quickly discovered using the Chug and Lion together and rolling off (guitar) volume they clean up very nicely together (Adam Jones style cleaning up) in a way I've never been able to do with any other setup. I'm already running delay, reverb, EQ and a Mooer Radar IR loader/eq if I need something other than the Lion cabs. I suppose if I'd have started without any of those the OX Stomp would have made a lot of sense. Totally agree with what you say about the Lion modes/presets - because I use it in different modes (sometimes into a Katana power in) it's so clunky switch between different presets and live mode ... or even worse have the live set for a powered with no cab sim running and then accidentally run that into my studio .... ouch.
Nothing wrong with Summer of 69...just depends on how old you are. Great video, you obviously have a lot of experience under your belt with gear, much appreciated!
Nice thorough review. I think the Lion/OX sound killer as a combo. I have that, as well as the Ruby & Dream ‘65 - and the OX Stomp works great with all of them. And the variety offered is more than I’ll ever need. I mean, there’s so much subjectivity to tone…especially when you get to certain quality pedals, but I do prefer the UAFX pedal quality over all the big modelers for pure replication of the originals. But what I like, you may not, and vice versa. Love this channel…sometimes there’s WAY too much nerdy overthinking…but I can also appreciate that! 🤓🤣
HAH It's easy for me to overthink stuff but I try to take a more exhaustive approach to gear because just about everything I own goes on stage with me. The bar is set really high in my brain but what has happened quite a few times is a new piece of gear rolls in and I may struggle with it in the studio to really find a sound I like but then on stage, everything just works. The Mesa Badlander was a perfect example of this. It didn't really do it for me at home but sat in the mix perfectly on stage. I try to approach my reviews with a more thorough understanding of what it is/isn't and what it can/can't do and how it handles being on stage and getting to that point just takes time that I think a lot of other youtube gear reviewers don't have as they probably have a higher volume of products to work through and get videos for. Since I don't rely on youtube for income, I don't have that pressure on me to crank out numerous reviews a week. You don't really get to know a piece of gear in that small amount of time (at least I don't) and our band doesn't play every weekend so some gear just has to wait for it's review until I get to take it on stage.
Really nice review. I've paired the Dream 65 with the Ox stomp and I haven't turned my Deluxe reverb on in months. It's an amazing pairing. The Bluetooth connection is much improved. It's still not perfect but it's loads better than it used to be.
That's good to hear about the bluetooth. I'm still on factory firmware just because I don't want to chance it. Did they add any new features or improvements with the updates?
I also had the Lion and OX stomp. My issues was first the app and then I think the sound was a bit fizzy. Matter of taste of course but I preferred the sound with the greens just on the Lion but then missed the reverb and delays from the OX.
I think it would be a redundant product if you already have the OX Box. The OX Box has an internal line in RCA jack that guys on the UA forums have started using with modelers by just cutting an RCA cable and soldering the 2 wires onto a standard guitar input jack, drilling a hole in the back of the OX box and mounting the jack there. Only reason I'd consider having both is if I didn't want to take the OX box on stage and didn't plan on using a speaker cab on stage.
@@FastRedPonyCar I do not like the OX as an attenuator which is why I use the PS. Im aware of the internal line however an easier way to to do that is using a palmer cab merger ($40) to run through both the PS to my cabs and then to the OX through Di so I have both operating at the same time and sounds pretty great. That being said, I just ordered the stomp so I’m expecting it to replace the OX box altogether.
I’ve got the lion and Friedman Ir-x right now. I’m likely getting an ox stomp shortly and returning the lion. The lion has a great squishy feel and tone, but the irx reacts and sounds better with drive pedals. Both are great. The difference between them I think is the cab sims. I think the quality of the lion I like is from the cabs and will transfer to the irx with the ox stomp. When I ran the lion with cab off and irs it lost some mojo. I was debating getting an fm3 to run post irx for all irs and time effects with xlr outs and built in interface, but sound quality is #1 for me. I think you swayed me to keep the ox in the picture.
HAHA I had the IRX for a couple weeks and for me, the experience was the opposite. I thought the pedal itself sounded outstanding and appreciated the completely separate channels but to my ears, the IRX lost it's mojo with the cab sim off and I thought maybe I could run it into the FM3 first and bypass the amp block and just use it for effects and either an IR loader or use it's Dyna-cab block but none of them sounded as good as just the pedal. The OX stomp was the hail mary purchase to try and save the IRX and although it was better than the FM3 or my two notes CabM+, it still just didn't quite sit right to my ears the way just the pedal with it's built in IR's sounded and I even tried the Freidman TwoNotes dynamic cabs on the CabM+ which is what the IrX's built in IR's are made from and it was just... okay. the one thing I haven't gotten to try with the OX Stomp are the Synergy modules. Them being tiny, if I can get a great sound from maybe that rack unit, with a pair of really different modules.
@@kojak345 I honestly miss my Kemper sometimes. I had mine since I think early/mid 2012 and ended up selling it a couple years ago to help pay for an AxeFX 3. Of all the modelers, the kemper felt the best.. felt the most amp-like. It lacked all the high quality effects of the Fractal stuff, the in/out routing of the AxeFX 3 and Quad cortex and required an expensive floor controller to use live (if you didn't just buy the floor unit itself) and honestly, there were a lot of growing pains for the early Kemper adopters. There was a TON of potential but it took Kemper a while to fully realize the potential and deliver the full feature experience that Helix and Fractal owners had been enjoying for years. I am seeing those same growing pains and slow development with the Quad cortex (which is why I haven't bought one - but our singer and bass player have been enjoying them for over a year now so I've spent quite a bit of time with them at my studio). I think whenever the next generation kemper comes out, I'll definitely be interested in giving it a try.
It was a pretty inexpensive bookshelf I found on Amazon. If I were buying again, I'd have gotten a different one. I think the "Tribesigns 71 Inch Industrial Bookshelf" is pretty nice looking for the money. Reason I'd get a different one is because the top shelf is constrained in width by the two metal frame rails that are too narrow for a normal amp head to fit. A smaller amp like a Mesa Mark or a mini amp would work though but the boards are just a cheap thin particle board with a wood sticker applied to them. I'm planning on building one similar to what Fluff built for his studio. He recently did a video discussing his amp rack, the cost, materials, design philosophy, etc. You can also buy the nice hardwood industrial looking bookcases on Etsy but they're much more expensive than the amazon china bookshelves but for that extra cost, you get real wood and they all will build custom length/width shelves if you're wanting something specific. The back of my shelf has some Govee GRBIC LED lights.
I think the LION sounds great and since i do not own it yet i guess my only question is can it replace a Marshall Super lead in a at home lower volume setting? Just looking to have the Marshall super lead tone for messing around doing some covers and some of my own stuff. I seen your first video with it and I did heard some very convincing Marshall Plexi tones when you were dialing in different things, at one point in that first vid when you were just checking the LION out you momentarily nailed the "Drop dead legs" tone so that impressed me.👍 I was screaming at my screen, STOP! what are those settings!🤣 Jk, its all on video for me to freeze frame.
Honestly, I feel like this is the better home solution for a plexi/superlead sound unless you have the option to run the real deal at VERY loud volumes. I had a master volume modded superlead clone and even with the master volume, it still had to be pretty loud to get a good sound. I mean.. it sounded good even at low volumes but it wasn't "THAT" cranked marshall sound. A lot of the sound we hear in our head and on recordings are those marshalls with the power section being driven really hard and with a master volume, you remove that. I tried recording with my superlead quite a few times and never got a recorded sound as good as what just the lion by itself running DI (let alone through the OX Stomp) can do.
@@FastRedPonyCar Thank's for the reply! 👍 I will be 100% on the level with you what has kept me from just buying one is i have been holding out for the AMP X from Bluguitar by Thomas blug. that thing is going to be a game changer! The only issue is there is no set date for it's release although at NAMM Thomas did say by mid 2024 he will release it. He is trying to do this the right way and make absolute sure it is ready for public sale and everything about it is 100% right which is why it has not been released yet. so i respect that.
With the lion and ox, how could you run FRFR to FOH and have a cab with something like the SD Powerstage? I don’t think it’s possible but maybe I’m missing something. This is the best demo on the Lion I’ve seen. I have the IRX but this demo gets the plexi sound I’m after.
You CAN. The only catch is that in the OX stomp, you can only run 1 microphone if you want to do this. One mic would be set to whatever one you like and you pan it hard to left or right. The other mic, you select the DI signal option in the mic menu and pan it hard the other way. Now you have 1 output on the pedal that is 100% mic/cab mix and the other output is 100% DI with no cab/mic simulation. One goes to the house and the DI one goes to any power amp/cab on stage. I have used a powerstage 200 this way with the OX stomp and it sounds pretty good. Nothing like 100+ watts of cranked EL34's but plenty loud.
I’ve had my Lion since it was released and I’ve been struggling with solo boost and reverb. The built-in boost just isn’t fantastic, and of course if you add boost to the high gain sounds it just gets muddy. I’m now thinking the Ox Stomp would be a great solution for both of these issues. I know you said you still use the Spark, but I think I would be good just using the A/B presets with one being louder.
Yeah the spark is great but it's super sensitive. I wouldn't mind finding another option to replace the spark honestly. It's too much dB. If they could make the total dB boost sweep of the knob like half what it is, it'd be a lot better. Using the OX Stomp preset trick is nice but if you need to adjust how much it boosts the signal live, you'll be forced to use the phone to maybe get connected to the pedal with bluetooth. If I only used this stuff at the house, I'd be fine with that but I can't risk it playing live. I ended up getting the UAFX DelVerb because I wanted more control and options for the reverb and delay and now that they're $50 off, it made it more appealing and I'm really happy with it. I'm going to do another video showing it with the other two UAFX pedals but for what I play, I don't do much crazy stuff which made other combo pedals like the Keeley Caverns and Collider a bit too "out there" into the more ambient stuff than what I use. The DelVerb is a more traditional delay/reverb unit.
@@FastRedPonyCar Haha yeah, I'm always wondering who is using the full 20dB of boost! I have the tc electronic Rush Boost, and I have A/B'd with the Spark Mini and there is no difference. I can't even put it at 9:00, it's so loud. The Delverb is on my list. I'm currently running a Walrus Fathom after the Lion, and while I love the options, it's just not enough of a "normal" delay for me. Great for ambient stuff, but, like you, I'm in a 90s/2000s band. I just need some nice plate or hall stuff. So I think the Ox Stomp's built-in stuff will be enough for me right now until I can swing the Delverb (and find room on my board for it!). Thanks for the reply. Just subscribed, and I look forward to your further experiments!
It depends on a couple of things. The reverb and delay in the stomp are good but basic. You aren't going to find any of that shimmery synth type reverbs and the delay is simple but gives you control over time, decay type, mix, low cut and high cut. Again, very basic but for most rock players, it's 100% adequate. The DelVerb looks awesome but also expensive for what it is. I'm sure it sounds fantastic but as a rock player, it looks like a very expensive version of my NUX Atlantic pedal which also sounds great and gives the average rock/metal guitar player all the reverb/delay options they want with none of the weird ambient stuff like something like the Keeley Caverns or the Strymon stuff. I had a Strymon cloudburst and it was incredible but waaay expensive for the very basic reverb sound I dialed in with it. I also have a Dig V2 I'm trying to sell on Reverb. Again, insanely good delay pedal but does way more than what I need a delay to do which is just very basic slap back. The NUX Atlantic does all that and more if I want something with options but the OX Stomp gets the basics of reverb/delay exactly right in my opinion.
Great video Congratulations..! You tested the Marshall 4x12 box that it has, it looks good, you didn't like it, if you didn't like it, what was the reason!? I intend to get one of these Uaxf Pedals for Cover's Live the 'Lion-Ruby-dream' to use together with a 'Hotone ampero 2' but only its effects which one would you recommend!?.. The sounds I like are Metallica Guns N Roses, rock pop 80s-90s-2000s thank you and very good work
The lion’s 4x12 cab doesn’t sound bad at all. It’s totally usable. The difference with the ox stomp is the ability to make big changes to the sound of the 412 with different mic choices, more reverb options, delay, etc. The lion’s built in cabs can’t be changed or tweaked so while they may sound good, if you want to make any changes to the sound, you’d need to put an EQ pedal in the signal chain somewhere. The lion with a chorus pedal and ox stomp would be a great compact pedal setup. For the same money though, you’d get way more flexibility from a Fractal FM3.
So of course I understand, really from the videos the Lion Cabs are very cool for sure.. And watching your video you are already the second person who talks about this 4k frequency adjustment that you feel in need of... I saw that you use an XLR adapter for p10 which I also used like this, but unfortunately just adapting it is no use to obtain the signal in XLR and it is necessary to use a 'Di' direct box..With the P10/XLR adapters the signal is not complete unfortunately of the 'XLR' type!..With the 'XLR' signal, the 100% complete design with the 'DI' direct box, the signal opens up a lot and readjusts the frequency level and may be pleasant to your ears and you don't need to use an equalizer.
@@igorbassi3470 I’ve run 1/4” cable out from both the lion and ox stomp as well as the XLR adapters and there’s no change in signal quality or sound quality. I’ve tested this both with my recording interface and my FRFR.
Do you notice any latency using the stomp vs using the lion by itself? Love my lion, considering the stomp, but don’t want to affect how it feels to play. Thanks!
I’m not sure. I haven’t actually used one of those yet. The size and capabilities do have me interested but already owning the FM3 kinda has turned me off modelers/profilers as it does everything really really well.
There's no link to the backing tracks like you mentioned. They are beyond elusive to find because I have no idea how they are marketed through a major retailer.
I've been contemplating the ua lion and ox stomp.... I've got the FM3, and the millions of options in there makes me hesitate. Will I really get a better tone out of the ua than the FM3. On the other hand, do you think the ox stomp is worth using together with the FM3? If so, would you put it in the loop, would the tone quality differ from putting it right between the FM3 and the soundcard? I'd rather use the loop for reamping purposes when recording.... Then again, it's a bit annoying you can't load your own IR's into the ox stomp. Even though the Ox cabs are good it would be nice to have that option....
This is long winded but after spending a couple weeks with them, I feel like I have a good grasp on the talking points. Ok so I’ve got a phrase I use for all the digital modelers and that’s “they are ‘good enough’ convenience machines”. They are jacks of all trades and masters of some but none of them are masters of real amps. The UA pedals are the opposite. They don’t try to do a lot of things “good enough”, they do one or two things incredibly well. You have to think of the Lion/Stomp as a superlead half stack shrunk down into a pair of pedals and you get delay/reverb as a nice bonus from the stomp. For most players, that reverb and delay are totally adequate and anything fancier would need a bespoke pedal or modeler (even the little L6 HX effects or HX Stomp would give you a huge palette of effects to use with the lion/OX Stomp.) I’ve used an AYB pedal with my FM3 and lion side by side going to the OX Stomp and after about an hour of tweaking I got the FM3 close. Not necessarily worse sounding but not as real or authentic a feel or reaction vs the Lion. Is it “close enough”? That’s up to you. The lion is a zero compromise unit. If you are ok with close enough, you get all the built in effects, other amps and all the other capabilities of the FM3. All of my reply also applies to the OX Stomp vs FM3 cabinets. Most people only use 1 or 2 cabs or IR’s so having a limited but zero compromise selection may be the better choice. I would recommend at least giving them a try. The worst that could happen is you’d be out a small restocking fee. Running the lion into the FM3 for effects and a cab block does sound good but none of my IR’s or fractal dynamic-cab blocks sounded or felt nearly as good and real as the ox stomp.
@@FastRedPonyCarThanks! I've always felt cabinets are the most important factor to the tone. I might start out with trying the Ox Stomp in the FM3. All the reports about the app is discouraging though. I don't have an ipad or tablet. My phone is the latest Samsung Android which I got from work, so to hear that each time the screensaver turns on you'll have to reconnect is really bad. I can't change my screensaver settings because of work policy. So every 30 seconds or so I would have to struggle with connecting again... How is it possible they didn't make a desktop editor, especially since so many functions are not available on the unit itself? Well, I'll think about it. I did send the question to UA support, but I don't expect an answer. If there was one I'm sure I would have seen it somewhere by now...
@@ztevie.j Do NOT update the firmware on the OX stomp. If you leave it at the stock firmware, the connection is pretty reliable. On the first one I got that was damaged in shipping, once I updated the firmware it was a nightmare to use. The replacement is at the factory firmware version and works perfectly. They know about the connectivity issues but no idea if there is a fix in the works. I think we’ll eventually get desktop software but no idea when. I’ll eventually cave and buy an OX box but that’s just a huge chunk of change. I’d have to sell some stuff to justify that.
Ok thanks. Good to know... I guess an update sooner or later is inevitable anyway. I'm on the latest Android 14 right now and as other software upgrades the chance gets bigger for incompatibilities. It's sad they haven't got this already, I think UA miss a lot of sales just because of this.