Chunk Systems Octavius Squeezer

[ped]

...just bought one. Should be fun to play with... I have just looked at the manual and it all looks logical enough, and tbh I much prefer not having to use the computer for things like that.

 

Two main reasons for buying - it sounds amazing and runs on batteries, even with a 'save battery life' mode... seems like a great design and should be interesting to compare to my Future Impact.

 

I wondered if anyone here has had one (I seem to recall someone has?)

 

Cheers

ped

[Quatschmacher]

53 minutes ago, ped said:

...just bought one. Should be fun to play with... I have just looked at the manual and it all looks logical enough, and tbh I much prefer not having to use the computer for things like that.

 

Two main reasons for buying - it sounds amazing and runs on batteries, even with a 'save battery life' mode... seems like a great design and should be interesting to compare to my Future Impact.

 

I wondered if anyone here has had one (I seem to recall someone has?)

 

Cheers

ped

@carlitos71has one and @Bo0tsy.

Edited May 5, 2022 by Quatschmacher

[Bo0tsy]

Congrats, these are fantastic pedals Ped, one of my favourite pedals, I've had mine for several years. The gated fuzz and filter in particular sound especially amazing on their own, or when combined, and a lot of the standard presets are very usable and tweakable on the fly. There's sounds in the Squeezer that you definitely can't get out of a Future Impact or other synth pedals and the filter circuit from the Chunk 00Funk is one of the best filters around. (Very different from your Mu-Tron).

 

On the flipside, there's a few design flaws though in my opinion:

 

Be prepared to spend a LOT of time with it, the manual is actually well written, but the software interface is quite complex to say the least.

 

The ADSR retriggers/tracks too slowly IMO to be really usable.

 

Be warned there are no save errors on the Squeezer - you also have to be sure to unlock all settings and allow presets to be overwritten in the setting parameters to update or overwrite a preset.

 

If you are going to use an SD card use a really cheap lower capacity one, higher spec cards don't seem to work.

 

If you haven't already seen it there's a great site from Gastric, a TB user, with lots of good custom patches and last released v11 of the firmware:

 

http://www.cgraham.com/chris/music/bass/octavius_squeezer/

 

Enjoy it though, the sounds you can get out of these are unbelievable.

Edited May 5, 2022 by Bo0tsy
.

[ped]

17 minutes ago, Bo0tsy said:

Congrats, these are fantastic pedals Ped, one of my favourite pedals, I've had mine for several years. The gated fuzz and filter in particular sound especially amazing on their own, or when combined, and a lot of the standard presets are very usable and tweakable on the fly. There's sounds in the Squeezer that you definitely can't get out of a Future Impact or other synth pedals and the filter circuit from the Chunk 00Funk is one of the best filters around. (Very different from your Mu-Tron).

 

On the flipside, there's a few design flaws though in my opinion:

 

Be prepared to spend a LOT of time with it, the manual is actually well written, but the software interface is quite complex to say the least.

 

The ADSR retriggers/tracks too slowly IMO to be really usable.

 

Be warned there are no save errors on the Squeezer - you also have to be sure to unlock all settings and allow presets to be overwritten in the setting parameters to update or overwrite a preset.

 

If you are going to use an SD card use a really cheap lower capacity one, higher spec cards don't seem to work.

 

If you haven't already seen it there's a great site from Gastric, a TB user, with lots of good custom patches and last released v11 of the firmware:

 

http://www.cgraham.com/chris/music/bass/octavius_squeezer/

 

Enjoy it though, the sounds you can get out of these are unbelievable.

Thanks! Yeah it looks complicated but I don’t mind learning how to navigate complex menu systems (vbass user!) and I’m looking forward to getting stuck in. I’ll probably not change any settings or saves for a while but I guess I’ll reset and update it when it arrives (how do I check current firmware and is updating easy?) 

 

I’ve got loads of old 2gb cards as my favourite camera (Epson RD1) uses them so that should be ok 👍🏼 

 

I’m sure I’ll be asking you lots of questions! Have you used yours on batteries? What’s the life like? 
 

 

[ped]

3 minutes ago, ped said:

Thanks! Yeah it looks complicated but I don’t mind learning how to navigate complex menu systems (vbass user!) and I’m looking forward to getting stuck in. I’ll probably not change any settings or saves for a while but I guess I’ll reset and update it when it arrives (how do I check current firmware and is updating easy?) 

 

I’ve got loads of old 2gb cards as my favourite camera (Epson RD1) uses them so that should be ok 👍🏼 

 

I’m sure I’ll be asking you lots of questions! Have you used yours on batteries? What’s the life like? 
 

 

I’ve just read the firmware update bit so that’s answered my own question!! Sounds easy enough 

[Bo0tsy]

Yep, when you switch it on it'll tell the firmware version. 

 

An old 2gb card should work fine.

 

I haven't used mine on batteries for a vey long time, from memory I probably got about 14-15 hours max, but I could have that wrong.

[carlitos71]

3 hours ago, Quatschmacher said:

@carlitos71has one and @Bo0tsy.

Thanks for mention, indeed have one and looking to sell it…

[NoirBass]

I tried one of these and whilst it sounded great I found it really awkward to program. Good luck, I’m sure with patience you’ll have some great results.

 

I also have the VB-99 which in comparison is a doddle. 

Edited May 9, 2022 by NoirBass

[ped]

On 09/05/2022 at 18:18, NoirBass said:

I tried one of these and whilst it sounded great I found it really awkward to program. Good luck, I’m sure with patience you’ll have some great results.

 

I also have the VB-99 which in comparison is a doddle. 

It arrived today so I’ve had a literal 10 minute whirl through some patches and it sounds fantastic so far. I find the menu system ok to be honest, I’ll probably modify existing patches rather than build my own from scratch at least for a while. I’ve been a VB99 user for years and love mine to bits but I don’t really use it as a synth, more as a Swiss Army knife pre/interface and multi fx. It’s got the best compressor in I’ve ever tried (including cali big box and FEA). Awesome thing, and I love the form factor. But with that many buttons it’s easy to work of course. 

[ped]

I spent a little while last night setting a default envelope filter sound. It’s great - by setting a higher VCF attack speed you can get it sounding really bubbly and squelchy. 
 

Can anyone tell me how to add a clean blend, is it to do with the premix settings? (Ignore me, found it)

[NoirBass]

15 hours ago, ped said:

It arrived today so I’ve had a literal 10 minute whirl through some patches and it sounds fantastic so far. I find the menu system ok to be honest, I’ll probably modify existing patches rather than build my own from scratch at least for a while. I’ve been a VB99 user for years and love mine to bits but I don’t really use it as a synth, more as a Swiss Army knife pre/interface and multi fx. It’s got the best compressor in I’ve ever tried (including cali big box and FEA). Awesome thing, and I love the form factor. But with that many buttons it’s easy to work of course. 

Yeah, VB-99 is a great price of kit. I recently got a SY1000 and whilst in some areas it’s a step forward, in many others; form factor, poly effects, etc. it’s a bit of a step backward.

 

Sorry for the thread derail, enjoy the Squeezer.

[ped]

[Kev]

So I've just become a member of the rather dwindling Octavius Squeezer club!

 

 

Have to say, I'm absolutely loving the sounds I'm getting so far.  The UI isn't as bad as I thought, just getting my head around the signal chain at the mo.

 

Does anyone still use it, and does anyone have any settings to share?  I've got a spreadsheet going to keep track of setting changes (thanks to TB for that) but would love to try some more, will help me learn it all!  OSX files would be cool too, once I've found an SD card that works!