Universal Audio releases UAFX Max Preamp and Compressor pedal

April 1, 2023 · 3 sources

Universal Audio revealed the Max Preamp & Dual Compressor as part of a set of three new UAFX pedals announced for NAMM 2023, alongside the Del-Verb Ambience Companion and the Galaxy '74 Tape Echo and Reverb¹. The $349 pedals were available at the time of the announcement¹.

The Max is a digital pedal that combines a preamp based on UA's 610 tube preamp with emulations of three compressors: the Teletronix LA-2A, the 1176 Peak Limiter and the MXR Dyna Comp¹². MusicRadar described it as offering some of UA's most popular plugins in pedal form for the first time¹. The pedal has six knobs, two or three mini toggle switches and two footswitches; compression 1 and 2 are assigned to the footswitches, the red knob controls the preamp and the toggles switch between compression models². The LEDs also act as compression meters, changing from green to yellow for medium compression and red for heavier compression².

The UAFX Control app adds serial and parallel routing options and a sidechain bass filter, and UA said at the time it was working on a dual mono mode to run a different compressor on each side, to be added later¹. The pedal requires a 400mA 9VDC power supply¹.

The Max arrived weeks before Origin Effects announced its DCX Boost and DCX Bass, two analog pedals also inspired by the UA 610³. Guitar World noted that the Max is based on a digital emulation rather than an all-analog build like the DCX, and that it costs $349 against $319 for the Origin pedals³.