Quatschmacher

Also, firmware version 3 is complete (though the editor isn’t yet ready).

They are available for less than that.

I used the Nik West one.

There are plenty of good ones up there. I’m pretty pleased with some of mine too.

Indeed you do. You haven’t even scratched the surface until you’ve had a play around with the editor. Get up to speed with it now then you’ll be in a better position to appreciate the delights the update will offer.

I saw this a while ago and didn’t find it particularly interesting.

The Big Bang is a compact size.

How long is a piece of string? He said the software will be finished in early April but gave no date for the new editor (the completion of which the full release depends). When I asked him in that thread he said the new release will be out “not before April”. Also, in another post I read from him, it seems that part of the update will be an improved tracking algorithm. I’m also pretty excited by that. Editor interface should be much improved as regards transferring patches to the pedal, in contrast to the very convoluted current method.

Many audio interfaces have MIDI ports and thus are dual function audio interfaces and MIDI interfaces. Some Focusrite models do this and some are on the list of verified, tested units for FI.

Just took delivery of a Source Audio Gemini from Ieuan today and it’s in exactly the condition described. Communication was prompt, friendly and polite throughout and the pedal was sent as soon as humanly possible after payment was sent. Another hassle-free trade. Many thanks!

Tweaking is possible to an extent on the pedal itself too.

That’s what I use. There’s a list of known compatible devices on the Panda website. Also, if you have an audio interface with midi ports, it may work too.

Could be the micro tubes causing a problem. I’d try to give the FI Impact a really clean signal. I’ve never used compressor with it so can’t say what effect that might have. Do you encounter the problem when all your other pedals are off? Do you have the same problem when just running straight into the FI? How about if you have it hooked up in your chain but all other pedals are bypassed?Maybe hook up your chain and remove one pedal from it and see if that changes it, if not, replace it and remove the next one until you isolate the source of the problem. for any patch you can boost its overall volume on the pedal by using the “level” parameter and turning the encoder clockwise to increase from 5. Press the encoder to save the new value. Further volume tweaks can be done in the editor. Have you tried adjusting the FI’s input and output knobs? What stock patch is this happening on? From what I’ve heard, the Enzo has the opposite problem in that it has no volume trim and has a huge output.

I sold Steve a set of Chromes. Transaction arranged and payment sent really quickly. Absolutely hassle-free. Prompt and friendly communication too. Many thanks.

Seriously do it sooner rather than later. There is a wealth of user-created patches which are far superior to many of the stock patches. I think, in the end I kept only two stock patches on the pedal (and I modified those to my taste) then eighty are my own, the rest are by others. You can get a lot of variation out of the presets just by tweaking the onboard parameters. (Worth noting that there’s a bug which means that adjusting the pedal’s attack parameter has no effect in patches created with the “new” (non-deep-Impact-emulating) filter. This is a known bug and will be fixed with the next firmware update.

Editing on the pedal only gets you so far. Basically you turn the parameter switch to whichever parameter you want to adjust (cutoff, resonance, etc.). The “data” digit (right-most digit in the display) will show a 5 which corresponds to the stored preset value in the editor (eg a cutoff of 45). Then you turn the encoder dial to adjust either positively or negatively from there. The dot in the display flashes to indicate a change has been made. If you wish to save the change, you need to press the encoder dial. The dot then stops blinking. Repeat for other parameters. It needs to be noted that adjustments on the pedal are always relative to the value of the stored preset as created in the editor. That is, a value of 9 on the pedal isn’t the same for each preset, rather it is a ratio of the original parameter value from the preset as created in the editor. I can’t remember the ratios off the top of my head. Further to this, if the preset created in the editor had a resonance of 0, this would be the value corresponding to 5 on the pedal and dialling in 1, 2, 3 or 4 on the pedal would have no effect whatsoever as resonance can’t go below zero. (Changing to values above 5 on the pedal would have an effect.) The stuff about editing on the pedal is most likely in the quick start guide which isn’t repeated in the bigger manual. Editing on the PC is where the real magic happens as you have complete control over all the oscillator levels, waveshapes and tons of other goodies. You really must hook this thing up and download some other user patches and create your own to get the best out of this pedal.

You can connect MIDI via a USB-MIDI adapter or MIDI interface (which is what you need to transfer presets on it). I don’t think it transmits MIDI out to other MIDI gear from what I remember from talking to András; I wanted to know if playing notes on bass would output the MIDI data somone could control external synths. The answer was no. MIDI out on the FI is just for taking to the editor. MIDI in is for both editor and playing via MIDI data. I guess sending MIDI data from the MIDI out port on your soundcard to the FI’s MIDI in port would allow you to trigger from a MIDI sequencer.

I reckon you had bad luck. The first 9 patches are exactly the same as the 9 DI patches. Tracking is dependent on several factors: clean monophonic technique, pickup type and position, string type, input volume, etc. There are settings to control input level, note on level and note off level. I agree the lack of detente positions on the selector knob is annoying but not insurmountable. To be honest, 2/3 of the stock patches were not to my taste. When I first loaned one, I wasn’t that into it. It was only when I bought one and programmed my own patches and loaded some other users’ patches on it that I really saw and heard what it was truly capable of.

So, are you getting one?

In fact, you can plug in both bass and keyboard and it’ll automatically switch from MIDI to audio control depending on what signal it detects so you could mute your bass (to avoid accidental audio triggering) and play on keys then unmute and switch straight back to bass should you so desire.