AMT U-2 Pangaea Ultima

The AMT U-2 Pangaea Ultima, announced by AMT Electronics as new for 2020, is a preamp and multi-effects unit in the company's Bricks series¹. It pairs an analog preamp section with clean, low gain and high gain channels, virtual power amps, an IR cabinet simulator, a compressor and a set of modulation effects¹. Pedal of the Day reviewed it among a wave of units that "offer just about all the algorithms you could want or need"².

The unit is designed to work both on its own and as part of a larger rig. It has an interface connector for operation as part of the AMT Bricks Pedalboard, and it complements the wider AMT Bricks series of preamps and effect pedals³.

What it does

The Ultima's analog preamp gives three channels, clean, low gain and high gain, and the digital side adds a compressor, a power amp section with virtual power amp types, and an IR cabsim that loads one IR for both the left and right channels per preset¹. Pedal of the Day grouped its capabilities into firmware sets: IR CabSim FX with the three-channel preamp, Modulation FX with compressor, filter, flanger, chorus, delay and tremolo, IR Stereo CabSim, and Pre/Post FX, which turns the Ultima into a pre/post effect processor².

The modulation block covers the familiar ground: compressor, filter, flanger, chorus, delay and tremolo, with the noise gate handled separately as a global setting²¹. For practice and monitoring there is an AUX IN, a TRS mini stereo 3.5 mm jack for connecting an additional audio signal such as a backing track⁶.

Controls on the unit include CLIP/TAP CONFIRM and ESC/EDIT⁷.

The signal chain: gate, compressor, preamp, power amp and cab sim

The core chain runs from a global noise gate, through the compressor, into the analog preamp, then the virtual power amp section and the IR cabinet simulator. The Pre/Post FX firmware makes this split explicit: in the pre section sit the Noise Gate (a global setting), Compressor, Phaser, Resonance Filter (wah-wah and similar) and PreOut; in the post section sit the IR cabsim, a Parametric Pre/Post EQ, Hi/Low pass filters with Presence, and Delay or Reverb³.

In this chain you can use any preamp, whether a one-channel or a multi-channel unit, and a two-preamp mode connects AMT Bricks preamps with TRS 3.5 mm to TRS 3.5 mm cables³.

The power amp section

The [PA] PowerAmp block launched with 9 types of virtual power amps¹. Firmware 01 v.1.2.2 added 6 new types, and the product page now lists 15⁸⁵:

• PP 6L6, a standard push-pull amplifier with 6L6 tubes
• PP EL34, SE 6L6, SE EL34
• AMT TC-3
• California, based on the Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier
• British M, British L, Default
• Calif mod, Calif vint
• PVH PR0RS0, PVH PR5RS5, PVH PR8RS7, PVH PR9RS8, based on the Peavey 6505 with Presence/Resonance settings of 0/0, 5/5, 8/7 and 9/8 respectively⁸

The cabinet simulator

The stock IR cabsim uses one IR for both the left and right channels per preset¹. The IR Stereo CabSim firmware expands this to two IRs per preset, one WAV impulse response for the left channel and another for the right⁸.

Firmware and versions

AMT has developed the Ultima through successive firmware sets, and the unit's feature set depends on which firmware it runs²⁸. Pedal of the Day's review describes the firmware sets as distinct modes: IR CabSim FX, Modulation FX, IR Stereo CabSim and Pre/Post FX².

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