Das Ubershall (SuperSonic in German) pre-amp from Synergy is for sure one of my favorite pre-amp modules that I own, and I have most of the Synergy line up. Though I have never owned an actual Uberschall, I have played through them as well as other Bogner amps and I can tell you that this is an honest avatar of the real deal. Being essentially a 1:1 version of the actual Uberschall pre-amp it 100% captures the searing hi-gain aggression that this amp is known for. Unlike a lot of the Synergy pre-amp modules the two channels on the Ubershall are unique and have slightly different controls that are tailored to each channel. Ch.1 is the TwinJet. It is "traditionally" used for heavy metal crunch and tends to be fairly bright on its normal settings, but this can be modified and since it still has TONS of gain on tap and gets chugging quite easily....like really easily. Independent tone-stack controls for each channel really lets you dial in two totally unique hi-gain tones. The SUPERhi-gain Ch.2 is the headliner. You might think that you have experienced hi-gain, but unless you have plugged into the SHG that's cranked on an Uberschall you really haven't. This captures the essence of that channel and all of the hot searing, face melting gain gain that oozes out of it. It has brightness control switch for adjusting how much top end spice you want, as well as a pre-EQ boost.....because of course you need gain on top of gain. It's difficult to describe the mojo of this channel, but the… read more aggressive nature and tonal contour give it loads of "cut" in the mix. It's like a hot knife in butter, you will never be overshadowed by a drummer. At the same time it has HUGE low end end and a sort of mid-focus that retains its presence even when you scoop the mids (as metalheads do).It is truly a great Synergy module and if you are a fan of gain it's a must have. The only drawback to this particular module is that it tends to get noisy when really cranked. This is not really a design flaw as much as it is simply the nauture of tube pre-amp design. It should also be noted that ALL really hi gain amps have this issue to some degree. The simple solution is a noise gain in the effects loop of your Synergy host. In the real amps that are ultra gain-y, almost all of them have a gate built into the pre-amp that can be adjusted via the back panel. I personally have used a decimator x pedal and boss noise suppressor pedal and both did the trick. This has always been my one suggestion for the Synergy system: Lose the less useful "SAG" control on the Synergy pre-amp docks and replace it with a built in noise gate. This would make the Synergy system literally perfect since a lot of their modules are dripping with gain.

Sound
The sound quality is amazing. Sounds very true to the real amp. Both channels as expected contain tons of gain on tap, but are quite versatile (not so much for cleans). It's a very aggressive, searing, full, and cutting German hi-gain sound. It's super tight and even though the saturation gets thick each note retains dynamics and can be heard clearly as articulate individual notes. Its very much the archetypical Euro metal sound.

Features
The most useful feature is the fully independent unique controls for each channel. By not sharing any of the control functions you can dial in two totally different sounds on each channel, but they are similar enough that it can still be used as a rhythm/boosted lead configuration.

Ease of Use
It's pretty easy to get good tones from this module. The biggest thing with this pre-amp is realizing that the controls are sensitive, have a wide range, and small tweaks yield noticeable changes (a little goes a long way). The other thing that is helpful to understand is that when they say this thing has gain, they aren't joking. Unlike a lot of more general purpose amps, the Uberschall will get you into you respective metal zone with the gain at about 2-3. It's best to think of it as a 100%-200% gain scale vs a 0%-100% gain scale. In other words you can choose to go hard or harder, there is no "chill" with this pre-amp. Might not be for everyone, but I LOVE it.

Quality
The entire Synergy ecosystem is super well made. All metal construction, premium electrical components, made in the USA, etc. I suspect that it will last a very long time.

Value
100% worth every penny.

Manufacturer Support
I have talked with Synergy several times, mostly with general questions and a technical question. Every time they were great. Really nice, smart people that are passionate about what they are doing.

The Wow Factor
The appeal is getting the Uberschall sound at not Uberschall prices!

Musical Background:
20+ years gigin', producin', and rockin'

Musical Style:
Various shades of hard rock and metal read less