Vypyr Pro

[Rocco Crocco]

They can all be overridden.

[gt5150]

thanks !

[dalrymple]

Still not hearing much about these amps from the "pros" out there. Nearly all the comments we read on the forum regard glitches in the firmware, updates needed to get it to function properly, requests from players for pre-set sharing, problems and issues related to computers, browser compatability, etc. Even the Peavey folks are identifying and dealing with many of these issues, and I realize any new product so complex can be glitchy(certainly Vypyr series 1 had its share of firmware glitches, though none of mine ever has).

So where are the "pros" who are gigging these amps on a regular basis? Anyone having a blast without having it hooked up to a computer and fighting problems they uncover? Who swears by this baby? How does it compare tonewise with your other gigging amps? Can it be used as a grab and go, plug and play piece of gear you just cant do without? I still havent seen one out in public, even among the loads of gearheads I know, some of whom have Vypyrs they at least practice with. From what I read here, without a computer, it isnt all that the way they are coming out of the box. Is this baby just for the computer savvy? Is that because gigging musicians arent using them yet, or are they just too busy gigging with them to take the time to endorse the product? Too complex, too expensive, too glitchy, tone challenged or undependable, or just not arrived yet?

I admit I was disappointed in the fact Peavey chose not to have a tube powered version of this baby. To me, tubes are still what separates "Pro" gear from everything else, and I am only 1 of a couple of guys I know who gig and jam with Vypyrs. I only gig with my tube 60 because it outperforms the SS versions tone wise in side by side comparison(not just my opinion), but I grab and go to jams, teach and record myself and others regularly with my solid state 30's with impressive results. Nobody I know is a bigger fan of Vypyrs than myself, but am I mistaken in my impression that modeling amps in general are still considered by most guitar players as non-pro gear? Fascinating to fool around and practice with but not gig worthy?

Name aside, are pros tearing up clubs and making these new marvels pay for themselves at paying gigs, or are these mostly being used by hobbyists in bedrooms, home studios and in front of computers by those who dont earn their $$ playing music but can appreciate the versatility and fun offered by modelers?

Any gigging pros out there making $ with a Vypro? I hope so, because I am intrigued by the capabilities, but puzzled by the lack of glowing endorsements out there, and not convinced yet to plop down nearly a grand on one for myself. Is there confidence out there yet for the Vypro as a solid gig amp that will pay for itself in the real world of clubs and gigs? How does it hold up live against the competition, and your other amps? I look forward to hearing from you about your real world experience on stage with a Vypro.
Dalrymple

[Rocco Crocco]

dalrymple, I have had mine for a week. I have used it at two band rehearsals, but have not gigged with it. I also have a tube 60, and a POD HD500X.



The new amp is a killer. The amp models sound great. It's pretty hard to get a bad tone out of them.
Here's some bullet points...

I like that you can stack amps on presets (I have a patch with a JCM800 for the basic tone and just a pinch of Soldano to add balls).

The amp is very loud, and sounds good at volume. Not as much ummph as my Tube 60, but still pretty damn loud.

The Vypyr Pro is just as easy to use as the Tube 60, with the added benefit of editing, saving and (hopefully soon) sharing patches on the computer. The Line 6 POD HD500X that I own is way more versatile, but you can spend hours tweaking it just to get a decent sound.

The Sanpera pro has an adjustable boost switch. That might not seem like a big deal to some people, but for gigging, it is an incredible benefit, and saves you for having to switch to a higher volume patch during solos.

You can adjust the resonance, presence and master volume in deep editing for each patch. This is a game changer over the older Vypyr generations. Way more tonal options. However, if you never touch these controls, you can still easily get great sounds.

The XLR out to the PA sounds great, as does mic'ing the speaker.



Some cons...

I wish the modulation stomp boxes had mix controls. For example, the Phaser pedal is just too overpowering. No subtlety whatsoever. If I could control the mix, or volume of the phaser, the effect would be more usable.

The tuner is just meh. It is a slight improvement over the tuner on the Sanpera II, but my $10 clip-on tuner registers the notes faster than the Sanpera Pro.

It would be awesome to have the ability to run some blocks in parallel, rather than series. For example, I may want to use two amps in a patch, but add a Tube Screamer to just one of the amps, and leave the other unaffected. This is probably expecting too much considering the price point.

There are some glitches as you have pointed out. It looks like Peavey staff are working hard to correct them and their customer support have been extremely helpful to me ironing out a couple initial problems, one of which happened to be an issue with my computer, and not the amp.



Look, I like gear. I probably buy more stuff than I need. If you are happy with your Tube 60, then congrats. I love mine, too. I dig my HD500X as well. I have too many guitars and too many amps , but I am enjoying the simplicity and editing capability of this amp.

[dalrymple]

Finally a useful review from someone who has the same basis for comparison I do, the Tube 60. Glad it rocks, and your cons dont sound like huge obstacles, nothing insurmountable. The Vypyr tuners are generally not much use, and outdoors, totally useless because you cant see them in bright light. Clip on for me too.

So let me ask, overdriven in particular, my Tube 60 spanks the ss versions. How about the Vypro? Do you wish there was a Tube version on the horizon?
Also, I am not a computer guy; does the computer give you that much more control or can the amp fly on its own without computer intervention?
Dalrymple

[treewiz]

Here is my Re-review of my submissission awhile back: Well it has been two weeks of owning the Vypyr Pro and upon testing it at a gig and rehearsals, it has been a bit of a struggle with getting my desirable tones due to this new set up. Mainly because of the different variables of amp controls and parameters. I first thought hm? My presets I had made so quickly and easy, sounded great then in a live format, not so. They either got lost in the mix, sounded fizzy, or just not the right amp for the song. The power sponge, pre-gain, post-gain, presence and resonance are the key factors to make this amp sound good and that takes a bit of experimintation. In reality this is not a turn it on and sound great amp, then again, what is? Just like everything else out there that is new and high tech, you have figure it out to tweak it. I am certainly getting there and because I do like this set up alot compared to all the other gear I have owned or do own, I have decided stay in there and keep the "VYP" I love the sanpera Pro pedal for it's logical set up and functions and transporting convienence along with the 1x12 combo amp all in one format, three cords and your good to go, true grab and go! I know with alittle more experience with this unit I'll achieve my goals for a Grab and Go rig with satisfying tones and practical functions. So this is my latest review of this good product.

[pvampmgr]

[/quote]It would be awesome to have the ability to run some blocks in parallel, rather than series. For example, I may want to use two amps in a patch, but add a Tube Screamer to just one of the amps, and leave the other unaffected. This is probably expecting too much considering the price point.[/quote]




FYI, they do run in parallel, not series. If your model slots are Tube Screamer>amp>amp, then only the first amp will be affected by the Tube Screamer. You can easily test this by going to the first demo preset in U-1. When the 3120 is off, even though the compressor is on, if you turn off the Bogner, there is no sound until you turn on the 3120. When you select an amp, it's a new signal chain unless there is a stomp right in front of it.

[pvampmgr]

but am I mistaken in my impression that modeling amps in general are still considered by most guitar players as non-pro gear? Fascinating to fool around and practice with but not gig worthy?

Actually, there are a lot of guys out there these days, major touring acts, that are using both modelers and profilers with solid state amps. The old H&K's are still very desirable for whatever reason, for instance.

I wish you could sit in a room and listen to Hartley talk about Transtube and how it was conceived. A consolation would be to download and read his white paper on it, which is on Peavey.com on the support tab. It's really informative. Years ago, we took a Bandit to Nashville and did a double blind test with a bunch of the pro session guys up there. There was the Bandit, a Rivera, Fender Bandmaster and several other boutique tube amps. The guys were told they could ask for any tweaks except reverb, since the Bandmaster didn't have it, and to pick which of the bunch was a solid state amp. Only 2 of the guys selected the Bandit as the SS amp, the other 10 or so selected a variety of the others, although the funny thing is that most selected one in particular, which is a pretty high dollar amp. I won't say which one here and several of them were actually endorsers of that brand!

What's cool about the Vypyr Pro's Transtube with the Power Sponge is that you can do your tweaking at home with the master volume where it will be on stage and use the power sponge to lower the power to a manageable level for tweaking at home. When you get to the gig, raise the Power Sponge up to stage level, then your patches will sound just like they did at home. It works and it's a great feature.

There's actually a lot more guys over at TGP doing reviews than here for whatever reason, and they are almost all really good. I've gotten several loyal Axe-FX guys that have reached out to me that say the Vypyr Pro's models are actually better. Of course the AF does have more power for effects and routing, which is what most guys really use them for, but the VP's models are great. You can actually see most of the amps we rented and spent a week with each one on www.loncohen.com. Not all the amps came from there, but most did. They have a great selection!

[Rocco Crocco]

Finally a useful review from someone who has the same basis for comparison I do, the Tube 60. Glad it rocks, and your cons dont sound like huge obstacles, nothing insurmountable. The Vypyr tuners are generally not much use, and outdoors, totally useless because you cant see them in bright light. Clip on for me too.

So let me ask, overdriven in particular, my Tube 60 spanks the ss versions. How about the Vypro? Do you wish there was a Tube version on the horizon?
Also, I am not a computer guy; does the computer give you that much more control or can the amp fly on its own without computer intervention?
Dalrymple

The overdrives sound great on the new Vypyr. I would say on par with the tube 60. I would not say the sound is better. I probably wouldn't buy a tube version now that I have this one, but I certainly wouldn't object to it. My wish-list for a Tube Vypyr Pro would probably be to have a 20-30 watt version.

The computer doesn't really give you more control over sounds, as all the parameter adjustment functions are available using the amp's controls. What it does is it gives you the ability to save patches and entire banks onto my computer, and will allow for easy sharing. Plus, it's fun to use. The on-screen layout for the editor app is pretty cool.

I wouldn't have bought this amp, but I got a good price and a two week window to return it if I wasn't happy. Peavey support's willingness to fix glitches and using the amp at rehearsal made it an easy decision for me to keep it.

[Rocco Crocco]

It would be awesome to have the ability to run some blocks in parallel, rather than series. For example, I may want to use two amps in a patch, but add a Tube Screamer to just one of the amps, and leave the other unaffected. This is probably expecting too much considering the price point.[/quote]




FYI, they do run in parallel, not series. If your model slots are Tube Screamer>amp>amp, then only the first amp will be affected by the Tube Screamer. You can easily test this by going to the first demo preset in U-1. When the 3120 is off, even though the compressor is on, if you turn off the Bogner, there is no sound until you turn on the 3120. When you select an amp, it's a new signal chain unless there is a stomp right in front of it.[/quote]



Good to know. Maybe I should have read the manual

Do all the stomps only affect the next amp in the chain?

[dalrymple]

Now we're cooking with grease!
Dalrymple

[Jsnstanley]

Received my 1st VP and within a day I lost speaker output. Running for a little while and heard a pop when in standby. Only headphone out afterward. Sent the amp back and was exchanged. New amp arrived today. I do the firmware upgrade, plug in and play, sounding great. Come back shortly to plug in again, I find the jack seems loose. I hear what seems to be a talk radio station playing through, very odd. Pull my cable, and the entire Jack insert falls apart. The barrel with nut and washer are laying on the floor, the rest somewhere inside the chassis.

[pvampmgr]

Received my 1st VP and within a day I lost speaker output. Running for a little while and heard a pop when in standby. Only headphone out afterward. Sent the amp back and was exchanged. New amp arrived today. I do the firmware upgrade, plug in and play, sounding great. Come back shortly to plug in again, I find the jack seems loose. I hear what seems to be a talk radio station playing through, very odd. Pull my cable, and the entire Jack insert falls apart. The barrel with nut and washer are laying on the floor, the rest somewhere inside the chassis.

Wow! I haven't heard of any issues like that. I'll have someone get with you asap.

[Jsnstanley]

Received my 1st VP and within a day I lost speaker output. Running for a little while and heard a pop when in standby. Only headphone out afterward. Sent the amp back and was exchanged. New amp arrived today. I do the firmware upgrade, plug in and play, sounding great. Come back shortly to plug in again, I find the jack seems loose. I hear what seems to be a talk radio station playing through, very odd. Pull my cable, and the entire Jack insert falls apart. The barrel with nut and washer are laying on the floor, the rest somewhere inside the chassis.

Wow! I haven't heard of any issues like that. I'll have someone get with you asap.

Thanks. Someone has contacted me. Although I’m not sure how they can be of help at this point. I’ve been lucky to have the seller send shipping labels and exchange without hassle. It’s just been a very crappy inconvenience on my end. Thank you again.

[pvampmgr]

Do all the stomps only affect the next amp in the chain?

Yes, that is correct.