Darkglass Vintage Ultra Users: Help with Identifying Different Versions

[Rycebag]

Hi All,

I'm searching for a Darkglass Vintage Ultra pedal and am curious as to how many different versions were made. I did some looking and I could only find two versions. Is there any more than that? Also, was there a newer version made after Darkglass sold? And if so, did anything change with the pedal?

 

[crguti]

there are only 2 versions of the Vintage Ultra. The current in V2.

 

[Achtelbeat]

V1: without cab sim
V2: with cab sim
"V2.1": with cabsim and aux in

 

[Rycebag]

V1: without cab sim
V2: with cab sim
"V2.1": with cabsim and aux in

Ahhh! Ok I searched for a few pics to see which ones are which. Hopefully someone can correct me if I’m wrong here:

V1:

V2 (with cabsim written on faceplate):

V2.1 (cabsim, direct output, and ground lift not written on the faceplate. Picture from the current DG website):

 

[Parzival]

Just look at the top of the pedal for the extra aux input and headphone input. I have heard that this is the one you want because the two earlier models were more prone to getting noise from the DI.

 

[Rycebag]

Just look at the top of the pedal for the extra aux input and headphone input. I have heard that this is the one you want because the two earlier models were more prone to getting noise from the DI.

View attachment 7199491

Ahhh...good to know!

 

[sunbeast]

Yes I believe the early pre-Aux Ultra pedals used a different digital processor with lower digital headroom/ higher noise. I had one of the original AO Ultra pedals and found the DI to be relatively noisy and easy to clip with the cab-sim turned on (only the cab sim and headphone output use the digital part of the circuit). The X Ultra was the first Ultra to get the Aux-in and upgraded digital section and when I compared the two the X Ultra was noticeably cleaner and less noisy when using the DI or headphones with cab-sim. If you don't ned cab-sim, the v1 Ultras are solid and totally analog- I had a v1 Vintage Ultra and loved it (I just ended up preferring the older Vintage units with the Era control, which the Ultra version never had)

 

[Karlo.kc]

Yes I believe the early pre-Aux Ultra pedals used a different digital processor with lower digital headroom/ higher noise. I had one of the original AO Ultra pedals and found the DI to be relatively noisy and easy to clip with the cab-sim turned on (only the cab sim and headphone output use the digital part of the circuit). The X Ultra was the first Ultra to get the Aux-in and upgraded digital section and when I compared the two the X Ultra was noticeably cleaner and less noisy when using the DI or headphones with cab-sim. If you don't ned cab-sim, the v1 Ultras are solid and totally analog- I had a v1 Vintage Ultra and loved it (I just ended up preferring the older Vintage units with the Era control, which the Ultra version never had)

Oh, so analog part of the circuit is the same in AO Ultra v1 and v2? I have AO Ultra v1 and love it, sometimes I use headphones out but the DI never. I read somewhere that the EQ sliders on v1 contribute to some noise (I don't hear any noise when playing AO Ultra through my amp), so I was thinking maybe upgrading to v2, but it seems that would be unnecessary!

 

[sunbeast]

Oh, so analog part of the circuit is the same in AO Ultra v1 and v2? I have AO Ultra v1 and love it, sometimes I use headphones out but the DI never. I read somewhere that the EQ sliders on v1 contribute to some noise (I don't hear any noise when playing AO Ultra through my amp), so I was thinking maybe upgrading to v2, but it seems that would be unnecessary!

Actually I believe in the case of the AOU that the EQ part was upgraded alongside the upgrade to the digital section. The AOU was the first DG pedal to have that graphic EQ section and Doug from DG mentioned on TB that it had an inherently higher noise floor when some AOU users mentioned the noise level (I remember mine had a distinct hiss not present on my smaller Alpha Omicron even through an amp and with distortion turned off- not enough to bother me actually, but definitely audible!). The same graphic EQ on the later released X Ultra was noticeably quieter than the AOU v1. I can't confirm for sure that they swapped out the EQ for the AOU v2, but suspect they would have since they would have no reason not to use the same upgraded circuit in the X Ultra. This EQ noise was distinct from the digital section noise/clipping that could be heard when toggling the cab-sim on and off