Talk me out of buying a Source Audio C4

[prowla]

1 hour ago, NicoMcJ said:

Nothing is impossible, you just need to believe!!!

Maybe winklepickers would work.

[2pods]

Quote

Maybe winklepickers would work.

 

Are they not for kicking the eyes out of Spiders ?

😉

[matybigfro]

Just to update I pulled the trigger on a 2ndhand C4 sans box but for a steal and am not regretting it a bit

 

Like its no brainer I have something that gets me so close to a MF-101, a EHX Bass MicroSynth and basic bit crushing emulation in one box let along all the other stinky poo it can do. 

 

Is editing a pain sure, especially as I only have a Chromebook so haven't got running with the full desktop editor yet. In reality there was no way to get access to all the edibility of this pedal in a workable easy access format so I can live with it. Even with the mobile editor I have a workflow that works for me and I can see working in practice spaces for editing with the band. I can't see this going anywhere anytime soon.

 

Excited to hook up an expression pedal and midi foot controller when money allows, I'm considering building my own MIDI usb host and picking up a old Digitech Seven midi foot controller from the local cash converters for lots of preset access and mid/i song switching.

 

Can't see my OC-2 going anywhere anytime soon but probably gonna shift on the Ricochet as I wasn't using the whammy affects really for anything other than Morello lols mid practice. Very excited to play more with the distortion and overdrive engines in it too.

 

 

Edited May 10, 2022 by matybigfro

[mcnach]

On 10/05/2022 at 22:25, matybigfro said:

Just to update I pulled the trigger on a 2ndhand C4 sans box but for a steal and am not regretting it a bit

 

Like its no brainer I have something that gets me so close to a MF-101, a EHX Bass MicroSynth and basic bit crushing emulation in one box let along all the other stinky poo it can do. 

 

Is editing a pain sure, especially as I only have a Chromebook so haven't got running with the full desktop editor yet. In reality there was no way to get access to all the edibility of this pedal in a workable easy access format so I can live with it. Even with the mobile editor I have a workflow that works for me and I can see working in practice spaces for editing with the band. I can't see this going anywhere anytime soon.

 

Excited to hook up an expression pedal and midi foot controller when money allows, I'm considering building my own MIDI usb host and picking up a old Digitech Seven midi foot controller from the local cash converters for lots of preset access and mid/i song switching.

 

Can't see my OC-2 going anywhere anytime soon but probably gonna shift on the Ricochet as I wasn't using the whammy affects really for anything other than Morello lols mid practice. Very excited to play more with the distortion and overdrive engines in it too.

 

 

 

 

I got one too last week and you got me at "Is editing a pain sure,"

 

Mine is used too, so after trying the presets the previous user had I reset it to factory settings... and I haven't used it since! I thought I would get a couple of sounds I wanted in the original presets, but nope. I really need to sit down, plug it into my PC and explore it properly. I used the Neuro app with a SA Aftershock and I much prefer a full screen to deal with all these menus and options. 

 

 

[matybigfro]

Yea i'm about ready to beg my housemate to install the neuro app on his PC but mostly for better visual on all parameters at once. I think it'll be essential once I have a midi pedal to essentially set up presets for multiple presets for use in different songs.

 

Using the mobile neuro app other than that isn't really too hard once you work out how to edit the community uploaded presets, that took me a while to work that i needed to slide on presets to access that. 

 

The only thing I'm really disappointed in really is the polyphonic pitch sounds, the latency makes it kinda unusable for me but tbh the monophonic will probably do for most of the applications where the lag bugs me.  Probably means I'm gonna try out a the OC-5 once there's actually stock about to see if it'll replace my oc-2.

 

Next challenge is to decide on where to put it in my chain. I'm thinking after the oc-2 before fuzz and drives but also wondering about once I have a midi controller setting the C4's dual outputs as a effects loop and running them in the loop.

 

[NicoMcJ]

10 hours ago, matybigfro said:

Yea i'm about ready to beg my housemate to install the neuro app on his PC but mostly for better visual on all parameters at once. I think it'll be essential once I have a midi pedal to essentially set up presets for multiple presets for use in different songs.

 

Using the mobile neuro app other than that isn't really too hard once you work out how to edit the community uploaded presets, that took me a while to work that i needed to slide on presets to access that. 

 

The only thing I'm really disappointed in really is the polyphonic pitch sounds, the latency makes it kinda unusable for me but tbh the monophonic will probably do for most of the applications where the lag bugs me.  Probably means I'm gonna try out a the OC-5 once there's actually stock about to see if it'll replace my oc-2.

 

Next challenge is to decide on where to put it in my chain. I'm thinking after the oc-2 before fuzz and drives but also wondering about once I have a midi controller setting the C4's dual outputs as a effects loop and running them in the loop.

 

Ok that sounds weird.  There should be little to no “latency” on poly sounds.  I’m playing full chords with no issues.

 

There is a button on the full editing to switch between faster tracking or most accurate tracking - more reason to beg your housemate I think!!!

[mcnach]

11 hours ago, matybigfro said:

Yea i'm about ready to beg my housemate to install the neuro app on his PC but mostly for better visual on all parameters at once. I think it'll be essential once I have a midi pedal to essentially set up presets for multiple presets for use in different songs.

 

Using the mobile neuro app other than that isn't really too hard once you work out how to edit the community uploaded presets, that took me a while to work that i needed to slide on presets to access that. 

 

The only thing I'm really disappointed in really is the polyphonic pitch sounds, the latency makes it kinda unusable for me but tbh the monophonic will probably do for most of the applications where the lag bugs me.  Probably means I'm gonna try out a the OC-5 once there's actually stock about to see if it'll replace my oc-2.

 

Next challenge is to decide on where to put it in my chain. I'm thinking after the oc-2 before fuzz and drives but also wondering about once I have a midi controller setting the C4's dual outputs as a effects loop and running them in the loop.

 

 

 

The ability to download presets is what reassures me that I will use this pedal. I think it will be a lot easier to find presets that are close enough to what I want and then just do some relatively minor editing. Full editing from scratch won't be for me, I suspect.

[Jakester]

7 minutes ago, mcnach said:

 

 

The ability to download presets is what reassures me that I will use this pedal. I think it will be a lot easier to find presets that are close enough to what I want and then just do some relatively minor editing. Full editing from scratch won't be for me, I suspect.

That's exactly what I do. Search by song or artist to get a sound I want to approximate, then tweak to get it exactly how I want on the desktop app. 

[fretmeister]

1 hour ago, mcnach said:

 

 

The ability to download presets is what reassures me that I will use this pedal. I think it will be a lot easier to find presets that are close enough to what I want and then just do some relatively minor editing. Full editing from scratch won't be for me, I suspect.

 

 

This is what is making wonder about buying one. I'm not sure I can be arsed about hooking it up to a computer for deep editing. I never have a computer near where my amps are set up.

 

The odd time to just download presets might be ok, but other than that... nah.

[NicoMcJ]

1 hour ago, fretmeister said:

 

 

This is what is making wonder about buying one. I'm not sure I can be arsed about hooking it up to a computer for deep editing. I never have a computer near where my amps are set up.

 

The odd time to just download presets might be ok, but other than that... nah.

As I said in an early reply - if you’re not prepared/willing to spend some time at a PC with it it’s not worth spending £250 on one. You’ll just get fed up with it pretty quickly I reckon.

[prowla]

1 hour ago, NicoMcJ said:

As I said in an early reply - if you’re not prepared/willing to spend some time at a PC with it it’s not worth spending £250 on one. You’ll just get fed up with it pretty quickly I reckon.

I couldn’t imagine trying to program one without a PC. 
(Well, I suppose could imagine it, but it would be a thankless task!)

[matybigfro]

I haven't touched mine with a computer yet and I definitely think it is worth it. The mobile app is definitely a usable interface for editing sounds via input two.

 

I think I read somewhere that connecting a phone via USB gives two way midi functionality over the mobile app now too so I'm excited for my usb-c OTG adaptor to arrive now.

[mcnach]

21 hours ago, fretmeister said:

 

 

This is what is making wonder about buying one. I'm not sure I can be arsed about hooking it up to a computer for deep editing. I never have a computer near where my amps are set up.

 

The odd time to just download presets might be ok, but other than that... nah.

 

 

I thought the same for a minute but then... you can store 6 presets on the unit that you can recall without any additional equipment. Once a given preset is stored, and teh control knobs assigned to whatever relevant functions you want for that specific preset, you won't need a computer.

 

I see the process like this (I hope I'm not wrong!

 

- sit with a nice cup of coffe or six in front of the computer, bass on my lap, C4 plugged in.

- spend however much time I can be bother with checking various presets online, and deciding which ones I want to store

- store chosen presets, tweak to taste, ensure the control knobs are assigned to useful functions for each preset

 

go away and play the thing: you can still tweak certain parameters at the pedal itself just like with any other pedal.

 

From time to time I'd get rid off presets I don't use/need and save different ones...

 

I don't plan on using any additional controlers or anything, the synth FX would only be used here and there and not very heavily used so I don't need to be able to switch between 4 presets in a single song or anything like that.

 

It's what I do with my Aftershock. I stored 6 presets and I've never gone back to edit anything: I choose the preset I want to use and I tweak gain or whatever at the pedal itself. I use two different overdrive pedals for different sounds, and the Aftershock to provide whatever else I can't get from the others... sometimes it's a heavy fuzz, sometimes a gritty overdrive...

 

I would prefer if the C4 had 27 physical knobs and 12 switches but it would be the size of Pluto.

I used a EXH Microsynth a lot over the years. I loved its simplicity. It was just a shame it could not store presets. The C4 does a million more things, but the controls are hidden. We need these two to have a baby!

 

 

 

 

[mcnach]

10 hours ago, matybigfro said:

I haven't touched mine with a computer yet and I definitely think it is worth it. The mobile app is definitely a usable interface for editing sounds via input two.

 

I think I read somewhere that connecting a phone via USB gives two way midi functionality over the mobile app now too so I'm excited for my usb-c OTG adaptor to arrive now.

 

I haven't used the Neuro app with the C4 yet, but it was pretty easy with the Aftershock.

I still prefer a PC, I like the large screen, but to tweak presets beyond what the physical knobs do it comes quite handy and it is intuitive.

 

 

 

 

[SumOne]

I found the SA Gemini and Aftershock are well suited to the One Control housing: 6 presets of modulation or distortion is enough so after a Laptop session getting the right ones saved I rarely felt the need to re-connect. The hardware controls are also intuative for the effects parameters and are the main one's you'd want to adjust.

 

I didn't find the housing worked so well for the C4 though. Input/sensitivity don't really need adjusting once set to your Bass so that's a bit of a waste of a control.  And Control 1/Control 2 can control completely different parameters on different presets so it's difficult to change something playing live and be sure what it's going to actually change. The Aftershock is fine live to adjust drive/tone/clean/level that's most of what you'd want and is obvious what controls what, C4 is different story if your synth is sounding like it has too much low-end resonance or the envelope filter frequency needs changing  - perhaps you happen to have set those parameters to control 1&2 and you remember how they are assigned, that wasn't usually the case for me though. Also, as it's so good at doing different synth, envelope filters, and octavers 6x presets is frustrating (especially when you know the pedal actually stores 128 and just needs some simple way top scroll through them).

 

I know I've posted this a couple of times before but:

 

 

 

 

 

[NicoMcJ]

2 hours ago, mcnach said:

 

 

I thought the same for a minute but then... you can store 6 presets on the unit that you can recall without any additional equipment. Once a given preset is stored, and teh control knobs assigned to whatever relevant functions you want for that specific preset, you won't need a computer.

 

I see the process like this (I hope I'm not wrong!

 

- sit with a nice cup of coffe or six in front of the computer, bass on my lap, C4 plugged in.

- spend however much time I can be bother with checking various presets online, and deciding which ones I want to store

- store chosen presets, tweak to taste, ensure the control knobs are assigned to useful functions for each preset

 

go away and play the thing: you can still tweak certain parameters at the pedal itself just like with any other pedal.

 

From time to time I'd get rid off presets I don't use/need and save different ones...

 

I don't plan on using any additional controlers or anything, the synth FX would only be used here and there and not very heavily used so I don't need to be able to switch between 4 presets in a single song or anything like that.

 

It's what I do with my Aftershock. I stored 6 presets and I've never gone back to edit anything: I choose the preset I want to use and I tweak gain or whatever at the pedal itself. I use two different overdrive pedals for different sounds, and the Aftershock to provide whatever else I can't get from the others... sometimes it's a heavy fuzz, sometimes a gritty overdrive...

 

I would prefer if the C4 had 27 physical knobs and 12 switches but it would be the size of Pluto.

I used a EXH Microsynth a lot over the years. I loved its simplicity. It was just a shame it could not store presets. The C4 does a million more things, but the controls are hidden. We need these two to have a baby!

 

 

 

 

This is exactly how I use it.  I use 2 proper synth sounds, 2 auto-Wah type filters and one weird fuzz Wah sound. This does me for two bands and a combined set list of over 100 songs.

[Bigwan]

If anyone is looking rid of a C4 give me a shout. Have a wanted ad up but don't know how many folks look in there... 

 

Edit: just watched Zach Rizers in depth demo... Wow! 

Edited May 20, 2022 by Bigwan

[krispn]

My recent experience with the C4 is if you need a synth sound on a song but don’t need to be flipping between presets during the song a C4 would be fine preloaded with your 6 preferred sounds. Simply have it ready to go and then flick to your preferred sound before each song. It’s not ideal

for on the fly changes without investing in midi kit. 

[prowla]

1 hour ago, krispn said:

My recent experience with the C4 is if you need a synth sound on a song but don’t need to be flipping between presets during the song a C4 would be fine preloaded with your 6 preferred sounds. Simply have it ready to go and then flick to your preferred sound before each song. It’s not ideal

for on the fly changes without investing in midi kit. 

With a Disaster Area mini switcher you can step up and down through patches/programs.

However, it does then increase the effective footprint of your unit.

[Bigwan]

Result! Bought a used C4 off reverb with a cheeky offer. I'm not REALLY a deep dive kind of effects user, but I WILL build myself a midi controller to happily flick between presets other people have uploaded to the Soulrce Audio app! 

[matybigfro]

Tasty

 

I'm waiting for some parts from PiHut turn up so build a USB Midi Host and link up the Digitech seven I picked up to it. Part of me wishes I'd seen the midi controller build first although tbh I think all together this will be a cheaper simpler option. For now at least. 

 

Which reminds me need to hastle my housemate to download the desktop editor. I'm hoping once I've upgraded the firmware that'll get the mobile app working over usb.

[Quatschmacher]

On 12/05/2022 at 08:55, NicoMcJ said:

Ok that sounds weird.  There should be little to no “latency” on poly sounds.  I’m playing full chords with no issues.

 

There is a button on the full editing to switch between faster tracking or most accurate tracking - more reason to beg your housemate I think!!!

There is definitely noticeable latency on polyphonic pitch detection, especially if using a bass. It’s acknowledged by SA. If playing on a guitar, it’s obviously less as the wavelengths are halved for equivalent positions on the fretboard compared to on bass so the detection time is halved. 

[LukeFRC]

On 23/04/2022 at 11:18, stewblack said:

the second hand price has collapsed so spectacularly

I know this is from a few months back but what’s the going rate secondhand these days? 

[stewblack]

1 hour ago, LukeFRC said:

I know this is from a few months back but what’s the going rate secondhand these days? 

Not seen one for sale lately 🤷‍♂️

[prowla]

Buy one - they're fun.

The downside is that you'll be needing to invest some time to get it set up and will likely need ancillary kit to make it usable beyond the simplest settings (ie. a MIDI switcher and a Neuro Hub).