Why I returned my OX Stomp after two days

[markpaterson]

Decided to buy an OX Stomp to see if it could replace my OX Box. My intention was to use the Line Out from my Weber MASS into the OX Stomp, as I prefer the sound of the MASS attenuation over the OX Box.

Well, long story short, I returned it after a couple of days. Extremely disappointing.

WEAK OUTPUT LEVEL
The output from the OX Stomp is weak, never getting higher than ~50% on the input meter on my interface. I had the same weak output issue with the UA Dream and returned that for the same reason. By comparison, the OX Box Line Out will clip my interface unless I turn it down to about 8 or 9. It's a very healthy signal!

POOR EFFECT CONTROLS
The effects section, while not the main selling point of the OX Stomp, leaves a LOT to be desired. Sure, the quality is top notch, but only if you can control it because the UI is god awful. Sure, it looks boring as hell compared to the OX Box, but I'm talking about the functionality of it. Adjusting delay time for example is an exercise in frustration. It's literally just a slider with "0.14ms" on the left and "3 sec" on the right with NO indication what numerical value you are currently at! How is this even remotely acceptable? There's no way to simply type in a time signature or ms value. Good luck setting up a dual 1/4+dotted eighth sound! The OX Box is much better for this. While it's not possible to type in a value there either, at least it displays the current value. Also, on the OX Box, each effect has its own set of presets you can explore – this is completely lacking on the OX Stomp. You simply have the effect setting of the overall speaker preset and that's it.

CONNECTION ISSUES
The much documented bluetooth connection issues are very real. I think this is in part due to the enclosure being thick solid metal. It's essentially a faraday cage. It doesn't really lend itself to radio signals getting in or out. The base seems like plastic, but that's pointing at the ground and probably doesn't aid that much.

UA. DO BETTER!
I'm really starting to get pissed off at the parade of YouTubers that gush over the UAFX pedals and never say a bad word about the obvious and well documented flaws for fear of being put on the UA naughty list. UA are capable of some incredible technology, and their sounds are industry standard for a reason. But the company is not perfect. I love my OX Box, but there are things that could be improved (in terms of the delay effect alone I can think of three off the top of my head. (1) add a tap tempo button to the app. (2) have the ability to type in your ms value. (3) the ability to switch to bpm instead of ms. There's countless threads on this forum about how the OX Box could be improved. But I doubt we will ever see another firmware update for it. It is essentially an abandoned product. Prove me wrong, UA.

I'm now zero for two on UAFX pedals. I doubt I will be purchasing any more.

 

[markpaterson]

I agree that the OX Box sounds better.

I did an A/B test with the Box vs Stomp into Logic, running the same preset on both ("Thick Dux", if I recall). The Stomp is the top waveform, the Box is the bottom. Note how the Stomp looks way more compressed. No matter how I adjusted Stomp output knob, I just couldn't get the dynamics to look anything like the Box version. I think the screenshot speaks for itself!



I may end up doing the OX Box line input mod at some point. Maybe when the warranty expires. But for now I'll just make to with the attenuation sound from the OX.

So to your ears the RCA input is good? I seem to recall some people complaining of noise on that input, but that might be anecdotal.

WiFi connection on the OX Box is problematic too, but seems way better than Bluetooth own the UAFX. I just wish they would enable the USB input and let the Mac app use it. It's incredibly frustrating because surely they used this input for testing and development, and then just turned it off.

 

[UniversalAudio]

Wow, I'd do some investigating into the setup. Those waveforms look pretty suspect to me.

If I can carve out some time (not sure) I'll do some experiments of my own.

 

[markpaterson]

Wow, I'd do some investigating into the setup. Those waveforms look pretty suspect to me.

If I can carve out some time (not sure) I'll do some experiments of my own.

Thanks! In terms of waveform height, I could never get the Stomp more than what you see in the screenshot. I could get it slightly less compressed looking if I dialed the output knob way down, but that also reduced the volume even more than it was already.

I also ruled out that it was the Weber MASS causing the compression by recording the MASS direct into Logic. It looked and sounded normal. The line output on the MASS is as basic as it gets, and I even had its tone stack switched off (the switch in the center of the 4 knobs). I didn't save this, but I'm happy to re-record the MASS to provide a screenshot of this too, but it's currently packed away in a moving box (in the middle of moving for the next week or so).

 

[UniversalAudio]

Thanks! In terms of waveform height, I could never get the Stomp more than what you see in the screenshot. I could get it slightly less compressed looking if I dialed the output knob way down, but that also reduced the volume even more than it was already.

I also ruled out that it was the Weber MASS causing the compression by recording the MASS direct into Logic. It looked and sounded normal. The line output on the MASS is as basic as it gets, and I even had its tone stack switched off (the switch in the center of the 4 knobs). I didn't save this, but I'm happy to re-record the MASS to provide a screenshot of this too, but it's currently packed away in a moving box (in the middle of moving for the next week or so).

Yeah, it's not about the height, it's the lopped off transients.

There is for sure something not right here beyond direct differences between OX and OX Stomp.

 

[Eric Dahlberg]

If I can carve out some time (not sure) I'll do some experiments of my own.

If possible, please post some similar comparison files. I might borrow an Ox Box and do it, too.

 

[Doug Byf]

Decided to buy an OX Stomp to see if it could replace my OX Box. My intention was to use the Line Out from my Weber MASS into the OX Stomp, as I prefer the sound of the MASS attenuation over the OX Box.

Well, long story short, I returned it after a couple of days. Extremely disappointing.

WEAK OUTPUT LEVEL
The output from the OX Stomp is weak, never getting higher than ~50% on the input meter on my interface. I had the same weak output issue with the UA Dream and returned that for the same reason. By comparison, the OX Box Line Out will clip my interface unless I turn it down to about 8 or 9. It's a very healthy signal!

POOR EFFECT CONTROLS
The effects section, while not the main selling point of the OX Stomp, leaves a LOT to be desired. Sure, the quality is top notch, but only if you can control it because the UI is god awful. Sure, it looks boring as hell compared to the OX Box, but I'm talking about the functionality of it. Adjusting delay time for example is an exercise in frustration. It's literally just a slider with "0.14ms" on the left and "3 sec" on the right with NO indication what numerical value you are currently at! How is this even remotely acceptable? There's no way to simply type in a time signature or ms value. Good luck setting up a dual 1/4+dotted eighth sound! The OX Box is much better for this. While it's not possible to type in a value there either, at least it displays the current value. Also, on the OX Box, each effect has its own set of presets you can explore – this is completely lacking on the OX Stomp. You simply have the effect setting of the overall speaker preset and that's it.

CONNECTION ISSUES
The much documented bluetooth connection issues are very real. I think this is in part due to the enclosure being thick solid metal. It's essentially a faraday cage. It doesn't really lend itself to radio signals getting in or out. The base seems like plastic, but that's pointing at the ground and probably doesn't aid that much.

UA. DO BETTER!
I'm really starting to get pissed off at the parade of YouTubers that gush over the UAFX pedals and never say a bad word about the obvious and well documented flaws for fear of being put on the UA naughty list. UA are capable of some incredible technology, and their sounds are industry standard for a reason. But the company is not perfect. I love my OX Box, but there are things that could be improved (in terms of the delay effect alone I can think of three off the top of my head. (1) add a tap tempo button to the app. (2) have the ability to type in your ms value. (3) the ability to switch to bpm instead of ms. There's countless threads on this forum about how the OX Box could be improved. But I doubt we will ever see another firmware update for it. It is essentially an abandoned product. Prove me wrong, UA.

I'm now zero for two on UAFX pedals. I doubt I will be purchasing any more.

Markpaterson, Totally agree with you on the built in effects. I have had the Stomp for about three months and Slowly,slowly I have been replacing the built in effects with separate effects that I already had such as a Boss DD500 and the like. The external effects sound better and are easier to manipulate.

I first bought the Dream 65 then thought the Stomp would be a nice addition-WRONG! if I had to do it over again I would not have bought the stomp.

 

[UniversalAudio]

There's a VERY easy way to test the direct difference between OX and OX Stomp. Keeping it apples to apples.

Take your head and plug it into OX Amp Top Box. Record the out of a modeled speaker via the line out.

Then set OX to direct out, no cab in the app, and then send that line out to OX Stomp set to the same/similar cab.

This is the direct way to compare the two doing the same thing to the exact same signal.

 

[klong]

I haven't tried the Stomp, but I was under the impression that the ouputs of UA FX pedals are probably somewhere between mic and instrument levels, as a LINE level signal would not be suitable to plug into another pedal nor to sent to front oh house via a DI box.

So I'm not sure the complaint of the output level specifically is warranted?

 

[LesBrown]

Ox Stomp Specifications
Input impedance 500 Kilohms (Mono In), 1 Megohms (Stereo In)
Output impedance 500 Ohms
Maximum input level 12.2 dBu
Maximum output level 12.1 dBu

https://help.uaudio.com/hc/en-us/articles/13621362465300-UAFX-OX-Stomp-Dynamic-Speaker-Emulator-Manual#h_01HB77FXEWFFKJTEC6X1VQ0Z45

Levels of Different Input Types

Input Type	Maximum Input Level - at Minimum Gain
Microphone	+9dBu - 18dBu
Line	+22dBu - 26dBu
Instrument	+12dBU - 14dBU

https://support.focusrite.com/hc/en-gb/articles/115004171025-Differences-between-Mic-Line-and-Instrument-level

 

[Gary D]

Decided to buy an OX Stomp to see if it could replace my OX Box. My intention was to use the Line Out from my Weber MASS into the OX Stomp, as I prefer the sound of the MASS attenuation over the OX Box.

Well, long story short, I returned it after a couple of days. Extremely disappointing.

WEAK OUTPUT LEVEL
The output from the OX Stomp is weak, never getting higher than ~50% on the input meter on my interface. I had the same weak output issue with the UA Dream and returned that for the same reason. By comparison, the OX Box Line Out will clip my interface unless I turn it down to about 8 or 9. It's a very healthy signal!

POOR EFFECT CONTROLS
The effects section, while not the main selling point of the OX Stomp, leaves a LOT to be desired. Sure, the quality is top notch, but only if you can control it because the UI is god awful. Sure, it looks boring as hell compared to the OX Box, but I'm talking about the functionality of it. Adjusting delay time for example is an exercise in frustration. It's literally just a slider with "0.14ms" on the left and "3 sec" on the right with NO indication what numerical value you are currently at! How is this even remotely acceptable? There's no way to simply type in a time signature or ms value. Good luck setting up a dual 1/4+dotted eighth sound! The OX Box is much better for this. While it's not possible to type in a value there either, at least it displays the current value. Also, on the OX Box, each effect has its own set of presets you can explore – this is completely lacking on the OX Stomp. You simply have the effect setting of the overall speaker preset and that's it.

CONNECTION ISSUES
The much documented bluetooth connection issues are very real. I think this is in part due to the enclosure being thick solid metal. It's essentially a faraday cage. It doesn't really lend itself to radio signals getting in or out. The base seems like plastic, but that's pointing at the ground and probably doesn't aid that much.

UA. DO BETTER!
I'm really starting to get pissed off at the parade of YouTubers that gush over the UAFX pedals and never say a bad word about the obvious and well documented flaws for fear of being put on the UA naughty list. UA are capable of some incredible technology, and their sounds are industry standard for a reason. But the company is not perfect. I love my OX Box, but there are things that could be improved (in terms of the delay effect alone I can think of three off the top of my head. (1) add a tap tempo button to the app. (2) have the ability to type in your ms value. (3) the ability to switch to bpm instead of ms. There's countless threads on this forum about how the OX Box could be improved. But I doubt we will ever see another firmware update for it. It is essentially an abandoned product. Prove me wrong, UA.

I'm now zero for two on UAFX pedals. I doubt I will be purchasing any more.

What interface are you using ? and more importantly what are your input settings ? I cannot begin recognise to your findings referencing output levels as once set at the correct line in level the signal will be as hot as you like it to be ( at +4 you will be pushing output to the max, at -10, you a have a hell of a lot of headroom ) Your comparison screenshot just shows up something very wrong with those Stomp wave forms not relatable to input levels at the same settings ( don't you think they might actually be smaller and not totally clipped compared to the Box wave form ? ) There is something else going on there.

( edit to say that it looks like you already had the whole input level thing explained to you in your 65 Dream post )

As for the FX side of the Stomp, it's fine if taken within the context of the whole. With a couple of seconds work I seem to be able to get something workable, but then again I would rather post process or use dedicated FX as part of the chain.

Regarding the BT connection, no issues here as an every workaday user. I would assume that different devices ( especially being used for other applications , which may break the contact ) have issues, but your experience is not everyones.

The OX box is also a great piece of hardware / software to have around, so be happy use what you have and try to figure out what you were doing that did not work for you, but works fine for many others.

 

[Julien M]

I plug my UAFX into the DI input of my preamp, and I don't need to turn up the gain in my case, and the dynamic is very good. (Neve88M preamp).
Plenty of gain too when plugged into the line input. But I prefer the DI input of my preamp, it sounds slightly more "alive"

 

[SimonA]

German website bonedo also compared the sound of ox box to ox stomp https://www.bonedo.de/artikel/universal-audio-uafx-ox-stomp-test/2/
and they also write that it sounds different. To my ears also ox box sounds considerably better in this comparison.

In addition German website Amazona strongly criticized OX stomps app in comparison with OX box, despite extremely close ties to Thomann https://www.amazona.de/test-univers...ektpedal-fuer-gitarre/#so-klingt-der-ox-stomp

I like how my OX stomp sounds but controlling it via app is really no fun, especially the FX part (agree 100% with the OP) and I still can’t believe that UA put out such a premature product.

 

[hotspot]

To my ears also ox box sounds considerably better in this comparison.

I‘ve read and listen to that comparisons too and came to the same results.
It’s still a bit apple vs oranges.

Perhaps OXstomp could be a good springboard for new OX users.
If UA would like to develop the OX box further.

 

[FastRedPonyCar]

While I do absolutely agree with you on needing better controls in the app for the effects (I've specifically discussed this in my YT review videos) and the desperate need for a desktop software control of these pedals, I didn't experience the low output when running my amps though my Captor X line out.

The OX Stomp wave forms look like what your OX box waveforms look like. Tons of dynamics, where as, skipping the OX stomp and just using an IR from my Captor X or the dynacabs from the Captor X are much more compressed.

Totally possible that you got a bad unit. FWIW, I run both mic's pretty much full volume and set like that, once I get the master output beyond 75% on the slider, it's blowing out the input on my Focusrite so I usually keep it maybe a little past half way or right at half way to give me some headroom.

Lastly, the first OX Stomp I got was damaged and I updated the firmware. After updating the firmware, bluetooth refused to work properly. When I got my replacement, I didn't touch the firmware and it's been 100% reliable connecting. Something with the firmware breaks BT. I would have to go into the iphone bluetooth menu and forget the device and then re-pair with it EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.

My Lion has had zero BT connectivity issues and you're forced to do an initial update to register and get the 3 extra cabs before you can actually use the UAFX app on that pedal.

So yeah, that's my 2 cents. UA have a great platform with this stuff but it ABSOLUTELY needs to mature on the software side considering how much we are paying for these. I was also pretty frustrated that basically none of the YT "influencers" mentioned any of this stuff in their reviews and I had to find out the hard way. I know I have a tiny channel and no sponsors or anything like that but after spending hours with these units in my studio and, more importantly, several shows on the stage, I have tried to address both the flaws and the strengths of these units for whoever may stumble upon my videos.


Edit: I ended up getting frustrated at the lack of control or precision with the app for the Stomp's effects that I bought a Del Verb. Much better. All the physical controls I want, more sounds and the $50 price cut didn't hurt either.

 

[Julien M]

I was also pretty frustrated that basically none of the YT "influencers" mentioned any of this stuff in their reviews and I had to find out the hard way. I know I have a tiny channel and no sponsors or anything like that but after spending hours with these units in my studio and, more importantly, several shows on the stage, I have tried to address both the flaws and the strengths of these units for whoever may stumble upon my videos.

Influencers want gear for free, and so they don't adress the flaws.

 

[FastRedPonyCar]

Influencers want gear for free, and so they don't adress the flaws.

I also think a lot of them will just spend a few minutes, show a few sounds and be done and off to the next piece of gear. I dont actually review gear on my channel until I've either spent a good bit of time with it in my studio or (and this is most often the case) I've actually used it on stage because in my experience, the stage is what separates the men from the boys.

I don't buy gear unless I'm going to make money with it and i get that a lot of consumers only need gear for practice, studio work, jamming casually at home so some of my concerns can easily be taken with a grain of salt but if there's something that I really like or dislike about gear when using it on stage, I try to specifically address it.

 

[Eric Dahlberg]

Ironically, the cheap consumer products often times have fantastic apps.

 

[Julien M]

If you are a decent player with some playing milages you will find the 'flaws' yourself. I don't need others to tell me whats wrong with a product as I'd rather find out for myself. UA gear sounds great but its the non musical tech stuff that is getting in the way of making it a pro product (the men) or just another 'gimmick product' (the boys). All those consumer level wireless trash and phone apps are nice as a gadget but thats in the end what it is, a gadget.

Thats why I prefer companies like Strymon, they really keep things simple but just features like the led turning to red when dialing your own or factory preset to green when you found the 'hot spot' on their big box pedals is just very clever. No hidden features or other secret sauce as everything is tweakable from the pedal instead of a flaky app.

I play with the UAFX for 3 months now. I didn't like the connected technology at the first use, and never use it.
Last week while working on a recording and searching for a good guitar sound, I tried to use the presets inside the app, and I found that process very interesting in my workflow,especially with my Woodrow and Astra pedals. I just had to tweak the output level and that's it. I really enjoyed and found the perfect sound for my project. It was faster than tweaking between cabs and gain knobs.

 

[flantrax]

Yeah, the app is ridiculously bad. Especially the effects parameters. Like others have said it's nearly impossible to dial in the delay time with the slider. It's also is glitchy and jumps around under your finger.

It's shocking such a great company put out such a sub par control app. What's makes it even worse is the pedal is pretty much useless without it. There's no way to adjust many of the parameters on the pedal.

it's a shame because the cabs/mics sound great. UA got the hard part correct. I mean, you're up in Silicon Valley...you can't find someone to design an app that works properly? It's insane they would release that into the world thinking it's where it needs to be or is on par with the competition(Two-Notes, Eventide, SA, ect)

Come on UA...step up your game.