MOD Device (Dwarf/Duo/Duo X) owners' club - Tips, Ideas & Patches

[Woodinblack]

6 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

The docker instructions of yours build on the PC today - although obviously I couldn't run the docker shell scripts as windows can't, and its wsl can't either and my limited experience on docker means I can't persuade it to run interactively - even though I can get other stuff to go.

Will try it on the mac later.

 

Tried it on the mac, it worked as described, so thanks for that, it helps loads. So now, when I do get my plugin I can build it.

Not going to get a chance I don't think tonight, I will test the tuner and have to make some mounting holes for my lit sign. Basically trying to get more of my own stuff done these days!

[rwillett]

Hi all,

 

Just had a quick play with the Mod Dwarf and my iPad. Somewhat embarrassing this is a technical question and I can't think of the answer, to be honest it's more than embarrassing but I can't work out the issue.

 

1. iPad is connected to Mod Dwarf using the USB B port and goes via the iPad camera connector which has a USB A port and a lightning cable power connector.

2. iPad is also connected via headphone port (3.5mm) to input 2 of the Mod Dwarf.

3. iPad is running a simple drum beats program that I can hear through the headphone port. It is not MIDI.

4. Bass guitar into input 1.

 

 

Pedalboard is prettty simple.

 

If I play the drum tracks I can hear them in the headphones connected to the Dwarf. I can hear the bass guitar as well in both ears.

 

If I disconnect the iPad USB connection I lose the drum tracks (connected via headphone socket) to the dwarf.

 

I cannot see why the audio that goes via the headphone socket needs the USB cable to be plugged in.  If I unplug the cable from the headphone it stops, I can hear it from the speakers, I plug my headphones into the iPad and can hear drums.

 

Basically, I cannot play the iPad output through the headphone socket to the Input 2 port unless the USB is plugged in.

 

Any suggestions?

 

Thanks

 

Rob

[Woodinblack]

 I am not sure but there are different modes depending on what you are doing. if you are editing a patch like the one above, and you haven't saved it anywhere, all the time you are in the desktop like that, you are in local editing mode. As soon as you unplug the USB interface, you are then back in whatever patch is / was active before you started. Maybe this other patch hasn;t got the right layout.

 

Seeing as that patch is called Untitled:default, that would seem to be the case.

Save that patch as something, unplug the USB and make sure the patch name you saved is selected on the dwarf panel.

[SamIAm]

Very odd as the USB and Audio are unconnected.

 

What @Woodinblack suggests sounds sensible.

 

I'm not sure whoich audio out the headphones replicate ... 1 or 2 or both.

 

Other wise I'm afraid no suggestions of any value  

 

S'manth x

[rwillett]

9 minutes ago, Woodinblack said:

 I am not sure but there are different modes depending on what you are doing. if you are editing a patch like the one above, and you haven't saved it anywhere, all the time you are in the desktop like that, you are in local editing mode. As soon as you unplug the USB interface, you are then back in whatever patch is / was active before you started. Maybe this other patch hasn;t got the right layout.

 

Seeing as that patch is called Untitled:default, that would seem to be the case.

Save that patch as something, unplug the USB and make sure the patch name you saved is selected on the dwarf panel.

Ooohhh, thats interesting and I hadn't thought about that, will check,

 

I;ll check, thanks @Smanth

 

Rob

 

[Woodinblack]

6 minutes ago, Smanth said:

I'm not sure whoich audio out the headphones replicate ... 1 or 2 or both.

 

Left = 1 right = 2.

Not sure if that can be changed, but that is what it is when I try it. Which is unfortunately really as I put my keys out of 2 and my bass out of 1!

[rwillett]

It actually looks like an earthing problem, if I pull the lightning connector out, the audio stops. If I put the lightning cable in but at an angle just so an electrical connection of some sort (at an angle) is made, I get audio.

 

Going to check the 3.5mm headphone cable to 1/4" cable as I suspect my adapters are the wrong thing to do.

 

Rob

[rwillett]

It was a cable problem. I had used a 3.5mm to 3.5mm cable and then stuck a 1/4" adapter on the end and plugged that into the Dwarf. Moving to a proper 3.5mm to 1/4" cable (not sure what proper means, but it was one I brought) and it all worked fine with or without the lightning cable plugged in.

 

That confused me, thanks for all the help

Rob

[MrDinsdale]

14 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

 

Left = 1 right = 2.

Not sure if that can be changed, but that is what it is when I try it. Which is unfortunately really as I put my keys out of 2 and my bass out of 1!

Na, unfortunately that's at a hardware level according to FalkTX, I have a similar issue as I use the channels as an FX loop so channel 1 goes between my pedals and preamp and channel 2 goes between the preamp and DI.

 

Seems like a pretty big oversight considering how many use it for multiple instruments or vocals + guitar etc. You can remedy it with adapters I guess though. 

[SamIAm]

So ... my Dwarf is amazing!  The number of configurable items blow my mind ... and therein lies my problem.

I don't believe that I am getting anyway near the best out of it!

From a techie perspective I can build a Dwarf emulator on a Pi, I can (almost) write LV2 plugins, I can play with the UI and setup great configurations.  But I just don't seem to be able to get it to sound as I would like!  At times I will just yank out my Zoom B1Four as it is so simple and sounds OK.

 

I'm certain the problem is rooted in my lack of pedalboard building/tweaking experience ... I've only been using a pedaloard for a couple of years and I dove straight into the Multi-FX approach, I had a HX Stomp and could get great sounds, but just didn't like the UI.  I loved the HX Effects I had, but it was a bit large (and it was lost in my fire).

 

So I am looking for guidence to an approach to build/configure a nice sounding Dwarf bass pedalboard.  How to set input/output gains, how to ensure that when I turn on fuzz that my volumes do not shoot all over the place.  Is ordering important?  Does the compressor go at the start or the end or both?  Almost an idiots guide to setting up a Dwarf Bass Pedalboard.

 

Any tips/pointers/suggestions/links greatly appreciated!

 

S'manth x

Edited July 22, 2023 by Smanth

[Woodinblack]

47 minutes ago, Smanth said:

So ... my Dwarf is amazing!  The number of configurable items blow my mind ... and therein lies my problem.

I don't believe that I am getting anyway near the best out of it!

 

Unfortunately that is the way and one of the major pedalboards with flexability - trying to get what you want. When I started, you could only get pedals, and they were expensive so you didn't get many, so you made do with what you had, and made what you had do what you wanted - you also experimented more because you had to. Now with modern multifx you know you can basically get every sound you want if only you found the right one.

 

Choice is the enemy here. 

 

I say one of the best ways of getting your sound could be to do the same. I haven't got many pedalboards on my dwarf (I have 3 - 2 are for specific songs and 1 is for everything else), I have others to play around on.

Pick a number of effects - like one distortion, one echo, one chorus, one other effect, connect them up and just force yourself to get the sound you want in your head by fiddling with those for a period of time, even if there is a temptation to change them. stick all the knobs from the effects on the front panel and see what you can get. Move them round, change the order.

 

As for order, that makes more sense when you think about the signal itself, like if you have an envelope effect, do you want to reduce the envelope (like with an overdrive or compressor) before you use the envelope? probably not. Do you want to distort a modulated signal, or do you want to modulate a distorted signal - they sound very different.

 

There is no real science to this, its just how it sounds to you and only you are going to know what works, but you can't do it with all the effects on the dwarf, there are too many, just do it with the restricted set.

 

Then finally when you know what you are not getting, start changing the pedals one at a time until you get what you want. 

 

As to your specific statements:

 

1) input gains - set them as high as they can go without overloading anything when you go crazy. Thats the easy way

2) The only way is to try it at gigging level - when you turn a fuzz one the level is going to change, and the perceived level will change, but also the eq - it depends on your equipment how loud that is. Keep the level on a front panel control until you know it (in fact I keep those levels on a front panel control)

3) ordering, compressor at the front / back. Where on a guitar I would always put it on the front, there are equally valid reasons for both sides  - again, try it see what works, and why it works.

 

There are no right ways (although I guess there can be wrong ways!)

 

Not very helpful I know, but these things are so personal that its hard to say.

 

[MrDinsdale]

Start simple would be my suggestion and where possible aim for keeping unity gain throughout. 
 

First up check that you have your input levels right on the Dwarf.

 

I usually start with getting an IR if I'm not playing through a physical amp. There are some excellent free bass ones from Shiftline that I use over all the premium ones I've acquired over time.

 

Next up I'd usually get a preamp added. I had to put all the preamps in a line and audition them all one at a time. When you find one you don't like just remove it until you've narrowed it down.

 

I often check signals by turning stuff off and on and checking there's no significant change to loudness.

 

Once I've gotten a core tone with preamp and cab sim in place I'll start on adding always on stuff. Compression is subjective, personally with physical compressors I favour it up front rather than last. For digital boards you don't have the same physical constraints so you can easily play around. I'm a big fan of very light compression at either end  although my valve amp adds a little squish anyway. PS the Molot compressor in the beta store is excellent, just pop on the bass preset, drop the ratio a little and go. 

 

Drives are tricky, I've not found any on the Dwarf which quite do it for me. I've taken to blending two and then EQ them on a separate channel so I can quickly switch between.

 

As for modulation and delays/reverb thats an area way out of my comfort zone so I'm still finding out what works for me. Same approach though, lots of auditioning of different fx and creating a shortlist of ones I like.

 

It's really subjective and while I'd suggest take any suggestions with a pinch of salt a lot of the rules make for a good starting point.

 

The Dwarf ecosystem is incredibly overwhelming, anything you can do to slim down the number of plugins is worthwhile. I personally uninstalled loads I wasn't keen on.

[MrDinsdale]

Currently trying to weigh up options to extend the Dwarf foot switches and adding an expression.

 

Things I've considered are:

* Boss EV-1- WL midi expression with the option to connect a footswitch to it later.

* a midi footswitch with an analog expression pedal jack.

 

I don't have a huge amount of space to play with the morningstar 3 switch is a pretty good fit and a dunlop mini dvp would help save space.

 

The Boss one sounds great on paper and I could connect to my laptop to control vst stuff etc but apparently it's a nightmare to setup and has loads of usability issues.

[Woodinblack]

I have a USB expression pedal - maybe I should try connecting that. Its actually more as it has and audio interface in it too. But ignoring that I would think it could be useable.

Except I am not sure of anything I would express on the bass!

[MrDinsdale]

2 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

I have a USB expression pedal - maybe I should try connecting that. Its actually more as it has and audio interface in it too. But ignoring that I would think it could be useable.

Except I am not sure of anything I would express on the bass!

Fuzz! I want to experiment with blending drives in plus we have a few tunes where a volume would be super handy. Also playing with delays and modulation and binding the expression to different parameters can give you some pretty cool sounds.

[MrDinsdale]

Right, I've ordered a Disaster Area Midi Baby 3, its the right size, shape and features I need. Has Exp options too. Think it should fit in nicely with the dwarf 🙌

[rwillett]

Has anybody managed to get their mod_dwarf providing digital input into something like GarageBand on an iPad.

 

Looked at this page https://wiki.mod.audio/wiki/Audio_Through_USB#Using_USB_Audio_Gadget and added the appropriate files via ssh. I resisted the temptation to wander up and down the file system seeing what was there Rebooted etc.

 

I used the same USB cable (USB-B in the Mod Dwarf to USB-A on the iPad via a USB Apple Camera Adaptor that I used for the ssh connection, so I know that the cable works) to connect the MD to the iPad. Can't see any connection there, if I replace the USB connection with an iRIG, Garageband notes that it is there.  I can feed the Mod_Dwarf output into the iRig and feed that into the iPad and that works, but that adds yet another D->A and then A->D conversion.

 

I've done the update on the mod_dwarf twice just to check and got the same result each time.

 

If anybody has done this, be grateful to know.

 

Thanks

Rob

[MrDinsdale]

Finally had a go modelling with AIDA-X!

 

First couple of captures using the Jad Freer Capo - https://forum.mod.audio/t/jad-freer-capo-bass-preamp/10379

 

Also got some captures of a couple of drives - https://forum.mod.audio/t/eae-halberd-v2-and-longsword-v4/10383

 

And here’s a comparison of one of the pedals compared with the captured version - 

I opted for really thick high gain because they were the ones I was really struggling to nail down but results are pretty close!

[tauzero]

V1.13.3 has just been released. Old Duo has to be updated manually. https://forum.mod.audio/t/release-1-13-3/10353

[tauzero]

Oh, and for any Duo owners - the manual update wipes all user data, contrary to what it says in the guide.

[Woodinblack]

Very confused about the dwarf the other day at a gig. I have an organ sound for chords in brick in the wall with a 12 step. Used it for many gigs. Changed to the patch to test it on the last gig, all fine, set up the levels, when it came to the song, changed to the patch, hit the chords and nothing, completely quiet. No idea why it was not responding.

Will test it later as I have just had a new arrival for my pedal board!

 

 

Almost forgot as I ordered this in June!

[rwillett]

1 hour ago, Woodinblack said:

Very confused about the dwarf the other day at a gig. I have an organ sound for chords in brick in the wall with a 12 step. Used it for many gigs. Changed to the patch to test it on the last gig, all fine, set up the levels, when it came to the song, changed to the patch, hit the chords and nothing, completely quiet. No idea why it was not responding.

Will test it later as I have just had a new arrival for my pedal board!

 

 

Almost forgot as I ordered this in June!

 

Power distribution board?

[MrDinsdale]

6 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

Very confused about the dwarf the other day at a gig. I have an organ sound for chords in brick in the wall with a 12 step. Used it for many gigs. Changed to the patch to test it on the last gig, all fine, set up the levels, when it came to the song, changed to the patch, hit the chords and nothing, completely quiet. No idea why it was not responding.

Will test it later as I have just had a new arrival for my pedal board!

 

 

Almost forgot as I ordered this in June!

You weren’t running AIDA-X at all?

 

They patched it since but there was a bug when you bypassed AIDA-X it muted the chain.

[Woodinblack]

8 hours ago, rwillett said:

 

Power distribution board?

 

Nope, a long power supply for the harley benton pedalboards. It forms part of the board, has an IEC mains socket on one side, and lots of power outputs on the other.

 

2 hours ago, MrDinsdale said:

You weren’t running AIDA-X at all?

 

They patched it since but there was a bug when you bypassed AIDA-X it muted the chain.

 

No, haven't tried aida yet

[MrDinsdale]

AIDA-X is pretty cool, being able to capture your favourite amp or pedal is a game changer. Great way to just download and try other gear too.

 

At the same time though I’ve managed to get a really similar Capo tone using a mix of the Alembic preamp, Calf saturator and Tube sim which uses a fraction of the CPU. It’s not the same but it sounds great.

 

Are most people using the Dwarf as their entire rig or integrating with an existing board/amp?