Dream '65 Reverb Amplifier Reviews

I've been using this as the amp for recording a lot of electric guitar and violin for several different people's music, and it's great. I only plug in my (actual) Princeton Reverb on occasion! I use it with pedals into it, trying to keep the amp settings with less distortion—to be honest, most of these amp sims are distortion boxes—but the reverb, trem and speaker controls are excellent. for tuning things in.

That said, there are a couple things that kept this from a 5-star review. One is, I'd just like more volume headroom. My 1972 Deluxe Reverb and the Princeton are pretty clean till you get up to 4 or 5. The Dream '65 gets dirty pretty fast. Some of the distortion tones are good, some are sort of too fizzy when it gets hot.

I'd love a way to control the wave shape of the trem more, but maybe that's less authentic? I'm used to a different sounding trem shape from my (newer?) amps.

And, man would it have been helpful to be able to use this device as a audio input to the computer rather than cabling it into the Apollo! That wouls kick ass, especially for on-the-go stuff.

When I first plugged in I was impressed by the tone... it promises so much more than other "Jack of all trades" pedals. And then you start playing around and realise just how far short this pedal is of delivering those promises.

Pros:

- In a home setting the tone is impressive

- It looks nice?

Cons:

- The first major stumbling block is the existence of an app. "Why does a pedal need an app" I hear you say. Good question! Why have so many features been hidden behind an app? Which leads me on to...

- App connectivity. Managing to get the app (I am on Android) to connect to the pedal via bluetooth is more hit than miss

- App quality. Why can't you just get a live view of the current settings?

- Inescapable vibrato. The pedal has two main modes - Amp and Alt. Alt gives you access to the vibrato/tremelo effect. The problem is that when I switch into Alt mode, the vibrato remains even when I switch back to Amp mode. The only way to escape the vibrato is to reset the pedal from the dreaded app - it's not like I can even turn off vibrato from the app, because... well... why would you want to do that? Hopefully I never want to use vibrato on a whim, or accidentally catch the Alt switch.

- Maybe related to the above problem, but when I "Store" my current settings in a preset, I never seem to be able to unstore the vibrato setting. I'm starting to think I have a dodgy pedal.

- Bearing in mind all of the above - the cost is eye-watering

In conclusion, the pedal has a decent sound, but…

I've finally found a modeller that feels and sounds like a real amp!! This is is the best Fender Amp model I've played to date. Finally a model as good as a real amp (but better because it's light, maintenance free, and has a wider range of sounds... THANK YOU!!

BUT!!! PLEASE!! PLEASE!! PLEASE!!!

I want to use this in parallel with the Ruby. To do so it needs a phase switch in the app controls. It would;dn't be hard to add to an update. This amp is authentically out of phase with the AC30.

And while adding features. PLEASE Allow for a delay of up to 15 ms on the output for stereo step ups. Adding a post mic EQ would make this a finished product. Any user could build mono and stereo amp rigs just UA amps at the end of the chain.

If you're ever making a MKII, add midi compatibility for preset switching and this WILL replace 10X more amp sim pedals than it currently does.