Compact UAFX Pedals Review: Orion, Heavenly, 1176 & Evermore.
3,3 / 5,0 | 
We look at the new UAFX pedals Heavenly and Evermore reverb, Orion delay and 1176 compressor. This new, compact series of UAFX pedals, aims to bring the sound of full-size UAFX pedals in a smaller, more affordable format. Has UA succeded? It’s time to plug up these pedals and see what’s what…
Compact UAFX Pedals
Well, well, well, what do we have here then? I’ve been a big fan of Universal Audio‘s full-size range of UAFX pedals. Universal Audio’s “amp in a box” pedals such as the Ruby, Woodrow and Dream offer some of the best amp sims in the industry. Equally, their range of modelled classic effects, such as the Galaxy ’74 and Del-Verb offer some of the best reverb and modulation effects you’ll find in a medal format.
I was, therefore, exceptionally intrigued when UAFX released this new quartet of pedals, in a smaller, simpler and more affordable package. How much more affordable? On average, each of these compact UAFX pedals will save you around $150 on their full-size equivalent. That’s knocking on for half the price of the full-fat, full-size UAFX units; does half price mean half the quality though?
Reviewed at: $240 Heavenly, Evermore, Orion. $225 – 1176
First Impressions
Undoubtedly, in many ways, the compact pedals are very literally, half the pedal. You get mono inputs and outputs, a single footswitch and only a single effect per pedal. So, if you’re into the concept of feeding a stereo signal into a lush stereo delay followed by a deep stereo reverb, you’re going to be disappointed from the start. Equally, the pedal enclosure itself is much simplified from the beautiful, die-cast enclosures of the full-size pedals.
With all of that said, if you’re a guitarist, those omissions may not be an issue. If you’re running pedals in mono on a pedalboard, then the simplicity, smaller size and lower cost may be appealing. And hey, if the pedals are sitting at your feet on a darkened stage, who cares what they look like? They’re probably going to get covered in beer and sweat after a few dozen gigs anyway, right?
You won’t find a deep dive or Bluetooth editing option on these pedals, nor can you save presets. But if you’ve come from a stompbox school mentality, that’s probably no big deal. Additionally, these compact pedals only need 250mA to power them, which is much more pedalboard-friendly. Each pedal offers a true-bypass option too, if you can do without reverb and delay tails (for example).
So far then, these all seem like reasonable compromises for a gigging guitarist looking for top-notch tone at a reasonable price. But do these compact UAFX pedals still sound like their bigger brothers? I grabbed my trusty Telecaster, flipped the switches on my Marshall head and patched in these UAFX pedals to see what’s what…
1176
Let’s start with the 1176, a digitally cloned version of the legendary UREI 1176 compressor/limiter. To be most accurate, the 1176 pedal recreates two 1176’s in certain modes, but more on that in a moment! I found the 1176 to be super intuitive to set up thanks to features like the status LED changing colour to indicate compression level. A clever touch!
The fast character of the 1776 really suits electric guitar and I was quickly able to dial in my perfect level of compression. Unlike a lot of dedicated guitar compressor pedals there’s a lot of versatility here. For example, UA has made it easy to recreate the unique “Black Dog” overdrive tone, created by cascading 1176s into each other. Simply flip the mode switch to DUAL mode and crank the input gain. “Sustain” does exactly what it says on the tin and emulates series linked 1176 compressors. Sustain mode is a real eye-opener for clean-picked parts, lending a unique feel and tone to clean guitar tones.
I actually prefer the 1176 to the full-fat MAX compressor offered by Universal Audio. I think the 1176 is a perfect compressor for guitar applications and the slimmed-down, more intuitive layout is a positive benefit for guitarists.
ORION
The Orion aims to recreate the sound and feel of a Maestro Echoplex EP-III tape echo unit, complete with its preamp. To get the full echoplex experience, I’d recommend running the Orion with the “preamp” setting on and putting it at the front end of your amp. I was surprised how much of a difference this made, with the recreated preamp adding a lot of fatness and compression to the signal.
Once engaged the Orion instantly gives that raunchy, rock ‘n’ roll vibe. Set the delay time low, record level high and you’ll feel your hair start to restyle itself into a quiff. UA has always excelled at tape simulations. Juggling the tape condition switches realistically emulates old and worn tape and adds a definite analogue character. Overall a hugely enjoyable pedal to play through.
HEAVENLY
Moving onto the Reverb pedal offerings we have the Heavenly plate reverb. This pedal aims to give you the experience of playing through a classic EMT plate reverb but in a compact pedal. A three-position switch gives you access to three preset plate types, with varying tonal characters. I found the controls to be fast and intuitive and you can quickly dial in a decent plate reverb sound.
Noticed I said “decent” rather than “breathtaking” or “spectacular”. I carried out a back-to-back comparison to the EMT Plate setting on the full-size UAFX Del-Verb. The difference was, I’m afraid to say, like night and day. The Del-Verb was considerably more “3D” in comparison, having much more depth and warmth.
Heavenly offers a modulation option; the idea is to “subtly increase dispersion and reduce ringing, and make the reverb tail noticeably thicker with more movement”. In practice, I found that rather than sounding like a classy shimmer it rather feels as if you’re simply dialling in an additional chorus effect.
EVERMORE
Finally, we move on to Evermore, which is based on a classic Lexicon digital delay algorithm. I’ll cut to the chase and say this was my least favourite of all the pedals here. My criticisms are, I’m afraid to say, much the same as those I made for Heavenly. This just doesn’t sound or feel like a pedal should at this price point.
As an example, I found the modulation function to behave very strangely and not in a particularly musical way. Rather than adding shimmer or movement, it added a significant slap-style echo. Very strange indeed.
UAFX Orion, Heavenly, evermore: Half the Price – Half the Pedal?
The concept of a slimmed-down, paired back and cheaper version of Universal Audio’s full-size UAFX pedals is appealing. But does the reality meet expectations? My experiences suggested it’s a bit of a mixed bag…
The 1776 and Orion are the standout pedals in this review. 1176 offers possibly all the compression options you could ever need for guitar or bass in a reasonably priced and easy-to-use package. Equally, Orion offers the sound and the feel of an Echoplex in a simple, robust, great-sounding pedal. It’s a thumbs up on those units from me!
The Heavenly and Evermore however fall short of the standard I’ve come to expect from Universal Audio. Comparing the algorithms to the full-size Del-Verb, they simply don’t stack up in terms of playability, sound quality or tonality. For less than the price of the Heavenly and Evermore combined, you could buy the Del-Verb; you’d get more options, more models and a much-improved tonality.
In this instance, Universal Audio’s main competition is their already superb full-size pedal range. Could a firmware update help these compact pedals shine in the same way? Only time will tell…
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- UAFX Compact board copy: Universal Audio
- UAFX 1176: Universal Audio
- UAFX Orion: Universal Audio
- UAFX Heavenly: Universal Audio
- UAFX Evermore: Universal Audio
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