Universal Audio's UAFX OX Stomp Dynamic Speaker Emulator Stereo Pedal delivers most of the OX Box in stompbox format

At the upper echelons of load boxes you kind of have the Universal Audio OX Box (Amp-top Box) as the Reactive Load / Load Box reigning champion - with the Boss Tube Amp Expander as its main challenger. Obviously Universal Audio has a lot of pedigree and experience in this area, and have put all of that extensive knowledge to great use in a new stompbox format - which covers most of what made that utility so great.

It has to be noted that his is specifically a Dynamic Speaker Emulator and Effects devices - and doesn’t have the corresponding amp emulations / simulations of current sector /  niche leaders - Strymon’s Iridium, Boss’s IR-200, and Walrus Audio’s ACS1 - not to mention perennial favourites from TwoNotes, and DSM & Humboldt. Universal has already launched a variety of Amp Emulation pedals - Dream, Ruby, and Woodrow - so I guess the intention is that you use one of those, or another varierty of preamp pedal to generate the actual core Amp tones. This pedal is really about the Speaker / Cab output portion - so Power Amp + Speaker Stage and it therefore needs another pedal to provide the main amp flavour.

So the one thing the OX Stomp very much is NOT is what is one of the main features of the OX Box - or the core Reactive Load / Output Attenuation function.

Otherwise the two devices roughly cover the same sort of territory - Mic, Cab and Speaker simulations with a vast variety of added outboard effects, and various placement and spatial variables and parameters for those core elements.

Anderton’s overview covers the key features very succinctly :

• Universal Audio Quality - The most authentic sounding speaker, cab, mic, and room tones ever emulated in a pedal!
• Massive Library of Speaker Emulations - Authentic speaker modeling including speaker breakup, drive, and cone cry. Over 100 curated RIGs perfect for any amp emulator or genre for endless inspiration
• Studio-quality effects - This includes genuine UA 1176 compression, plate reverb, EQ, and stereo delay (dual, crossover, ping-pong) for perfectly produced tones
• UAFX Control app - for fine-tuning mics, effects, and footswitch configurations – This makes it easy to have full control in an easy-to-use amplifier
• Dynamic Speaker Modelling - The pedal includes 22 speaker cabs, six vintage microphones, and full-featured studio-quality reverb, delay, EQ, modulation, and 1176 compression effects via the UAFX Control app
• Dynamic Room Modelling - A complete selection of room mics with Dynamic Room Modelling. Feel the authentic experience of pushing air while recording your cranked amp in a world-class tracking room, delivering fantastic tonal quality

When you go to the various pedal shows - you see a lot of people using the Strymon Iridium and similar - some headphone amps - but always something which delivers the amp and output simulation at the end of the pedal / signal-chain. Where with the UAFX OX Stomp - you’re always going to need one more device - and your $399 is already taken where you’re still missing an essential part of the output! Where most other vendors give you Amp and Cab Sim + IR’s - all in the same box - for the same price as the OX Stomp - not like for like necessarily - but it certainly makes for a significant shortfall.

Obviously Universal Audio is the market leader in this overall area - and there will be numerous UAFX Amp pedal fans that will jump at the chance of snapping one of these up. But for most of those I know - I think they will continue to seek out the Iridium and similar more all-in-one devices!

The pricing on this devices seems mostly eminently fair - and there is some significant added granularity and several more options in certain areas of the solution - but there is a lot of competition for this type of pedal in the sector already - for connecting to Headphones and DAWs and other Audio Interfaces - front of house / PAs etc. 

It will interesting to see who goes for these - I guess we’re basically saying this is a 2-box solution where most of the currently sectors leaders have a singular all-inclusive box solution! Of course the UAFX OX Stomp is already at all major dealers!

$399 is definitely the magic number for these kinds of boxes, while the Boss IR-200 is currently available for as little as $349.

Should UAFX have included amp emulations / sims here too - as that is already pretty much industry standard?

What say all of you?