Future Impact v3 and now V4

[Quatschmacher]

Perhaps I need to append my second post with a massive RTFM! 🤣

Edited November 13, 2019 by Quatschmacher

[MrTea]

Don't worry my tail is firmly between my legs.

I updated through the editor with so much excitement I just assumed that Firmware update would include the patches. I can see it makes sense it doesn't. Thanks for putting me back on the right track.

[AxelF]

Does anyone have any recommendations for a suitable expression pedal? Preferably mini or even micro size? There are lots of small options available but I'm not sure if there's a specific impedance or connection type required? 

[Quatschmacher]

Just now, AxelF said:

Does anyone have any recommendations for a suitable expression pedal? Preferably mini or even micro size? There are lots of small options available but I'm not sure if there's a specific impedance or connection type required? 

Moog EP-2 or EP-3 works fine. 

[AxelF]

👍Thanks. Any idea if it would work with anything with a smaller size though, like the AMT EX-50 which is about the size of a boss pedal. Anything larger isn't going to fit on my board and so will inevitably not get used! 

Edited November 16, 2019 by AxelF

[Quatschmacher]

1 hour ago, AxelF said:

👍Thanks. Any idea if it would work with anything with a smaller size though, like the AMT EX-50 which is about the size of a boss pedal. Anything larger isn't going to fit on my board and so will inevitably not get used! 

What will you be running the expression pedal through? There aren’t that many expression pedals that work as a stand-alone unit.

[Al Krow]

6 hours ago, Quatschmacher said:

Moog EP-2 or EP-3 works fine. 

I'm guessing if these both work then the Valeton EP-2 should also work, and it has a very small footprint.

@AxelF I have a vgc EP2 I'm going to be moving on at some point, as I'm thinking of getting a bigger footprint / more high end pedal (something like one of the Mission Engineering ones). If you might like to nab mine before I put it on the FS, please PM me.

Edited November 16, 2019 by Al Krow

[Dubs]

Hi all, need a bit of help... I've been trying to update my FI to v3.0 having never updated it before. I've bought this cable but I can't seem to get the FI to connect to the editor:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/USB-MIDI-Cable-DigitalLife-Out/dp/B07TNFDH5L/

Is it me or the cable?

Cheers in advance!

[Leonard Smalls]

5 minutes ago, Dubs said:

Is it me or the cable?

From the Panda support page:

Future Impact patch editor - MIDI interfaces we tested

Panda-Audio midiBeam - works perfectly
Steinberg UR22 - works perfectly
Roland UM-ONE MK2 - works perfectly
RME Fireface UC - works perfectly
M-Audio Fasttrack-Pro - works perfectly
M-Audio Midisport 4x4 - works perfectly
M-Audio Firewire 1814 - works perfectly
Behringer UMC404HD - works perfectly
Presonus Firepod - works perfectly
Bespeco BM USB100 - works perfectly
Focusrite Scarlett 8i6 - works perfectly
Focusrite Scarlett 18i6 - works perfectly
Audiobox USB - works perfectly
RME UFX - works perfectly
ESI M4U XL - works perfectly

Edirol UM-1S - works in 90%, sometimes errors experienced, but useable

Alesis USB MIDI cable - does not work
any unbranded USB MIDI cable - does not work
Akai EIE, EIE-PRO - does not work
Miditech Midilink-mini - no sysex implementation at all, not useable

 

It may well be the cable!!! I use a 2nd hand Focusrite Scarlett 8i6 (£50ish) with bog standard midi-midi cables and that works fine.

[Dubs]

9 minutes ago, Leonard Smalls said:

any unbranded USB MIDI cable - does not work

Ah crap, yeah looks like it's the cable then. I'll send that back to Amazon and get one of those Roland ones.

Cheers.

[Leonard Smalls]

41 minutes ago, Dubs said:

Ah crap, yeah looks like it's the cable then

I bought a Gear4Music one that didn't work, but strangely, it did work for a set of Alessis e-drums!

[Quatschmacher]

2 hours ago, Dubs said:

Hi all, need a bit of help... I've been trying to update my FI to v3.0 having never updated it before. I've bought this cable but I can't seem to get the FI to connect to the editor:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/USB-MIDI-Cable-DigitalLife-Out/dp/B07TNFDH5L/

Is it me or the cable?

Cheers in advance!

Probably the cable as some cheaper cables can’t handle large data streams. 

Edited November 16, 2019 by Quatschmacher

[AxelF]

5 hours ago, Al Krow said:

I'm guessing if these both work then the Valeton EP-2 should also work, and it has a very small footprint.

@AxelF I have a vgc EP2 I'm going to be moving on at some point, as I'm thinking of getting a bigger footprint / more high end pedal (something like one of the Mission Engineering ones). If you might like to nab mine before I put it on the FS, please PM me.

That sounds like a good option thanks, assuming I've not misunderstood the below entirely... 

7 hours ago, Quatschmacher said:

What will you be running the expression pedal through? There aren’t that many expression pedals that work as a stand-alone unit.

I thought that expression pedals differed from volume/wah pedals in that they just change the parameter(s) of whatever pedal you plug them into, I didn't think you had to run them through anything have I got this totally wrong? 

I have a Wonderlove that has an expression pedal input socket, and the FI manual says that you can plug an expression pedal into one of the midi sockets and use it to change one of the parameters - I'm guessing you need something like this to connect it? Are you saying I need another unit in between the expression pedal and the FI to make it work though? 

Edited November 16, 2019 by AxelF

[Quatschmacher]

2 minutes ago, AxelF said:

That sounds like a good option thanks, assuming I've not misunderstood the below entirely... 

I thought that expression pedals differed from volume/wah pedals in that they just change the parameter(s) of whatever pedal you plug them into, I didn't think you had to run them through anything have I got this totally wrong? 

I have a Wonderlove that has an expression pedal input socket, and the FI manual says that you can plug an expression pedal into one of the midi sockets and use it to change one of the parameters - I'm guessing you need something like this to connect it? Are you saying I need another unit in between the expression pedal and the FI to make it work though? 

The FI accepts only 5-pin MIDI input. An expression pedal has a TRS connector. You need a piece of equipment to choose which MIDI CC message the expression will control and which has a 5-pin MIDI output. A cheap solution is the Source Audio Hub (and a good choice if you have a Source Audio pedal in your setup). Otherwise there are plenty of other choices from Boss, Disaster Area, Line 6, Morningstar etc that will serve your needs. If you don’t need it to be foot controlled, you could simply use an iOS or Android device with a MIDI app and control changes via the touch screen. 

[Al Krow]

On 27/10/2019 at 23:23, lee650 said:

Does the v3 still have the tuner if you hold down the  program switch as per the previous update?

One point that is not immediately obvious, but came up on another thread, is the following which is hidden in page 14 (of 70) of the manual:

"If you update your FI's firmware to 3.00 from an older version...then the tune base will not be at 440...You must reset the tune base" (otherwise the tuner is out).

No idea why no one thought to make A = 440Hz the automatic reset on updating the firmware, but it is what it is. How to reset things are set out at page 13 of the manual.

[Quatschmacher]

1 hour ago, Al Krow said:

One point that is not immediately obvious, but came up on another thread, is the following which is hidden in page 14 (of 70) of the manual:

"If you update your FI's firmware to 3.00 from an older version...then the tune base will not be at 440...You must reset the tune base" (otherwise the tuner is out).

No idea why no one thought to make A = 440Hz the automatic reset on updating the firmware, but it is what it is. How to reset things are set out at page 13 of the manual.

440 is the default. Basically the “problem” occurs due to the restructuring of the program code between v2 and v3 (same reason why you need to wipe all 99 preset slots and overwrite them with v3 presets before doing anything else). There are more lines of code so certain parameters got shifted to different line numbers. Once it’s been done, the problem won’t come up again.

Also, it is obvious if people read the manual as it is mentioned in no less than three different places. At the very least, I’d urge everyone to read the FAQs at the very end of the manual.  

Edited November 17, 2019 by Quatschmacher

[Al Krow]

1 hour ago, Quatschmacher said:

440 is the default. Basically the “problem” occurs due to the restructuring of the program code between v2 and v3 (same reason why you need to wipe all 99 preset slots and overwrite them with v3 presets before doing anything else). There are more lines of code so certain parameters got shifted to different line numbers. Once it’s been done, the problem won’t come up again.

Also, it is obvious if people read the manual as it is mentioned in no less than three different places. At the very least, I’d urge everyone to read the FAQs at the very end of the manual.  

You need to bear in mind that some folk don't have time or inclination to wade through 70 pages of manual to spot a glitch!

Personally I think something like this should be spelt out on the page dealing with uprating the firmware to 3.00, that would seem the obvious place rather than buried in a footnote on page 14? I certainly wouldn't have spotted this other than the fact that it came up on another unrelated thread.

Just one further point for the manual for the next update. On page 13 you are advising to turn the PARAMETER dial to "Note Off Level" to get to "tBS". Fine so far, but we're left hanging there and actually need to move the dial back to "Note On Level" to identify and edit the note frequency. Maybe an obvious thing but if you are "RTFM" then you expect the manual to give you the right order of steps when correcting a glitch.

All good though Peter, you've done an amazing job on updating the manual which is a zillion times better than the original. And as with any product updates - just take the feedback that's coming through and include any useful or recurring points in the next update of the manual.

Edited November 17, 2019 by Al Krow

[Quatschmacher]

43 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

You need to bear in mind that some folk don't have time or inclination to wade through 70 pages of manual to spot a glitch!

Personally I think something like this should be spelt out on the page dealing with uprating the firmware to 3.00, that would seem the obvious place rather than buried in a footnote on page 14? I certainly wouldn't have spotted this other than the fact that it came up on another unrelated thread.

Just one further point for the manual for the next update. On page 13 you are advising to turn the PARAMETER dial to "Note Off Level" to get to "tBS". Fine so far, but we're left hanging there and actually need to move the dial back to "Note On Level" to identify and edit the note frequency. Maybe an obvious thing but if you are "RTFM" then you expect the manual to give you the right order of steps when correcting a glitch.

All good though Peter, you've done an amazing job on updating the manual which is a zillion times better than the original. And as with any product updates - just take the feedback that's coming through and include any useful or recurring points in the next update of the manual.

The part about where to put the knob in order to see the parameter value is covered twice - in the “editing the parameters” section in both the quick start guide and the main manual, but probably worth mentioning explicitly in the part dealing with tune base in the FAQ section at least.

The page you quoted does indeed tell users to turn the dial to see the parameter value, contrary to what you claimed:

 

Edited November 17, 2019 by Quatschmacher

[Al Krow]

Yup - fair cop on that point. I'll edit my post above accordingly.

[Quatschmacher]

2 hours ago, Al Krow said:

Personally I think something like this should be spelt out on the page dealing with uprating the firmware to 3.00, that would seem the obvious place rather than buried in a footnote on page 14? I certainly wouldn't have spotted this other than the fact that it came up on another unrelated thread.

Also, again, this is clearly mentioned in the section of the manual on updating the firmware:

 

[Al Krow]

34 minutes ago, Quatschmacher said:

Also, again, this is clearly mentioned in the section of the manual on updating the firmware:

 

Fair - but that is not the page that is linked in your OPs and the instructions you advised us to follow? (And no mention of this glitch as something to be aware of in your OPs or in the otherwise very helpfully provided Online v3 Firmware Updater).

Online v3 Firmware Updater

If you do not want to or do not need to back up your old v2 files, then you can simply update your firmware and load the new factory soundset using this handy tool (Google Chrome only).

IMPORTANT: If you don’t already have your v2 programs backed up but want to, then, rather than using the online updater, you must instead update to v3 using these instructions.

Edited November 17, 2019 by Al Krow

[Quatschmacher]

47 minutes ago, Al Krow said:

Fair - but that is not the page that is linked in your OPs and the instructions you advised us to follow? (And no mention of this glitch as something to be aware of in your OPs or in the otherwise very helpfully provided Online v3 Firmware Updater).

Online v3 Firmware Updater

If you do not want to or do not need to back up your old v2 files, then you can simply update your firmware and load the new factory soundset using this handy tool (Google Chrome only).

IMPORTANT: If you don’t already have your v2 programs backed up but want to, then, rather than using the online updater, you must instead update to v3 using these instructions.

True, it could probably be added there too, though there is limited space for information. The idea of the updater was to make it short and clear. Even now some users have overlooked clear information. I’ll see about adding it to the instructions document though.

It is mentioned in 3 relevant places in the manual including the FAQs.

[Al Krow]

37 minutes ago, Quatschmacher said:

True, it could probably be added there too, though there is limited space for information. The idea of the updater was to make it short and clear. Even now some users have overlooked clear information. I’ll see about adding it to the instructions document though.

It is mentioned in 3 relevant places in the manual including the FAQs.

I think if you just mention it in your OP,  you will have fully covered the basses, maybe something along the lines of:

"If you do not want to or do not need to back up your old v2 files, then you can simply update your firmware and load the new factory soundset using this handy tool (Google Chrome only). Please be aware that you will need to separately reset the tuner which is covered at pages 13 & 14 of the manual"

Edited November 17, 2019 by Al Krow

[GisserD]

I really think this is nit-picking.

Take a step back a second and really think about how silly this all is....

It mentions it 3 times in the manual FFS

Rant over

[Al Krow]

9 minutes ago, GisserD said:

I really think this is nit-picking.

Take a step back a second and really think about how silly this all is....

It mentions it 3 times in the manual FFS

Rant over

You really are ranting quite a lot these days! 🤣

I'm just sharing my experience as a user just as @AxelF did earlier in the thread, before he had his head bitten off for having the temerity to share his thoughts. Not everyone has the time or inclination to wade through a 70 page manual!

Step back a bit and consider this: if our discussion improves the experience for other users (and avoids Peter having to deal with numpties like me going forward) then that's gotta be a good thing, right?