Future Impact now available!! WAS: deep impact reissue!!! interested?

[Feral Feline]

If you've got the patience for spelunking, the rabbit hole is deep and many-branched.

Yes, a veritable warren...

 

[Quatschmacher]

I posted this on the FB group last week but it’s worth sharing here.

I tried a new setup approach which works for everything except firmware updates (for that I have my UM-One Mk2).

I have my Morningstar MC8 set as both the output device and the FI input device in the editor.

I turned on cross MIDI Thru in the MC8 (so signals on the 5-pin connection get sent to the USB and vice versa).

I then hooked up the 5-pin MIDI out from the MC8 into the FI’s MIDI in.

I connected the FI’s MIDI out to my Source Audio Hub’s MIDI in.

I set the Hub to MIDI Thru.

I connected the Hub’s MIDI out to the MC8’s MIDI in.

I was able to load and write patches to the FI and read patches from the FI.

I’m hoping I can keep this as a permanent setup.

 

[cosmicevan]

I posted this on the FB group last week but it’s worth sharing here.

I tried a new setup approach which works for everything except firmware updates (for that I have my UM-One Mk2).

I have my Morningstar MC8 set as both the output device and the FI input device in the editor.

I turned on cross MIDI Thru in the MC8 (so signals on the 5-pin connection get sent to the USB and vice versa).

I then hooked up the 5-pin MIDI out from the MC8 into the FI’s MIDI in.

I connected the FI’s MIDI out to my Source Audio Hub’s MIDI in.

I set the Hub to MIDI Thru.

I connected the Hub’s MIDI out to the MC8’s MIDI in.

I was able to load and write patches to the FI and read patches from the FI.

I’m hoping I can keep this as a permanent setup.

Essentially just plugging your pedal board into the computer from the MC8 via USB?

 

[Charlie Tuna]

Essentially just plugging your pedal board into the computer from the MC8 via USB?

I hope @Quatschmacher doesnt mind me answering but “yes”. No more plugging and unplugging MIDI cables to connect to the computer. Just use the USB port from the MC8. (Except for firmware updates of course, as Q states above, but it sounds like the code is maxed out so I doubt we will have any more updates anyhow).

 

[Quatschmacher]

Essentially just plugging your pedal board into the computer from the MC8 via USB?

I guess so, though ordinarily I wouldn’t feed anything back into the MC8 5-pin MIDI in. The beauty of this arrangement means that the MIDI will still work whether the editor is active or not; previously I was using the editor’s keyboard input option to route my MIDI signals, which meant it only worked when the editor was on. Or I was having to hook the MC8 MIDI out to the FI when the computer was off and unplug and connect to the Roland UM-One Mk2 every time I needed to write patches to the pedal via the editor. This new arrangement works even if the computer is switched off (if you also power the MC8 via the regular 9V socket).

The only pitfall is that the FI (by design) doesn't pass CC6 via MIDI Thru, which means that my Source Audio pedals which use that won’t receive it. I could swap the order of FI and Hub, but the Hub has been known to lock up when trying to pass on big chunks of data such as continuous expression sweeps and the FI’s parameter information when loading a new patch.

 

[Adamixoye]

I guess so, though ordinarily I wouldn’t feed anything back into the MC8 5-pin MIDI in. The beauty of this arrangement means that the MIDI will still work whether the editor is active or not; previously I was using the editor’s keyboard input option to route my MIDI signals, which meant it only worked when the editor was on. Or I was having to hook the MC8 MIDI out to the FI when the computer was off and unplug and connect to the Roland UM-One Mk2 every time I needed to write patches to the pedal via the editor. This new arrangement works even if the computer is switched off (if you also power the MC8 via the regular 9V socket).

The only pitfall is that the FI (by design) doesn't pass CC6 via MIDI Thru, which means that my Source Audio pedals which use that won’t receive it. I could swap the order of FI and Hub, but the Hub has been known to lock up when trying to pass on big chunks of data such as continuous expression sweeps and the FI’s parameter information when loading a new patch.

Is CC6 set to anything particular on the SA pedals or is it just one of the assignable commands?

 

[Quatschmacher]

Is CC6 set to anything particular on the SA pedals or is it just one of the assignable commands?

The latter, so it could be skipped if necessary.

 

[Andras Szalay]

Dear Friends,

over the past several months we have been hard at work on some fantastic new features for the Future Impact. While there is not much more to do on the FI itself due to lack of further processor resources (although future surprises can still happen), Zsolt Rammer and Peter Kenney made a wonderful work on extending the Editor with amazing new features, and update the documentation. We are proud to present these to you now in v3.60. The features are all contained within a new subsection of the Editor Suite:

The Manager
This powerful new tool has been created in order to simplify patch management on the FI, which is something that FI users have been requesting for a very long time. It is designed to be easy to use and utilizes an intuitive drag-and-drop interface.
With the Manager you can now quickly and easily do the following actions, all directly within the Editor Suite:

● Display and rearrange the patches currently stored on your pedal;
● Add or remove individual patches;
● Rename patches and change their category;
● Create copies of patches;
● Browse, audition and edit patches stored on your computer;
● Browse, audition and download patches uploaded to the FI Online Program Database;
● Upload your own patches to the online database.

One small feature has been added to the Editor: it is now possible to set the MIDI channel that the onscreen keyboard outputs on. This means it can still trigger notes when the FI’s MIDI channel is set to something other than ALL or 1.

As part of this release, a lot of work has also been put into overhauling the FI’s user manual; as a result, the document is now even clearer and easier to use. The main changes are as follows:

● There is a new section devoted to the new Manager function and the section on the Editor has now been restructured to incorporate this;
● Duplicated and unnecessary technical information has been removed;
● Some parameter descriptions have been rewritten as the previous versions were too unclear - some of these were as a result of user feedback;
● The order of certain sections has been rearranged;
● The quick-start guide has been rewritten to include useful information that was previously located in the main manual;
● There are now dedicated sections covering firmware updates, the instrument modes and resetting parameters;
● All the MIDI functions have been grouped together and discussed in a dedicated section;
● The screenshots of the Flexi pop-up windows and alternative Editor skin have been moved out of the appendix and now appear in the relevant sections of the main text;
● The FAQ section has been updated with further questions we have received;
● The table of contents now has links to items that were previously more difficult to locate.

We hope that you’ll find the new features useful and fun to use. Please do read the manual in order to learn how to get the best out of them.

Andras Szalay

 

[Quatschmacher]

Here's the new manual layout:

 

[Quatschmacher]

And here's the new Manager feature:

 

[Gsnorgathon]

<3

 

[drewphishesp]

awesome I def cant wait to use the manager

 

[Quatschmacher]

It’s all available now - head over to Support — MIDI products by pandaMidi

 

[Charlie Tuna]

Wow! This is a game changer! Finally an easy way to move and organize patches. Great job @Quatschmacher @Andras Szalay THANK YOU BOTH

 

[drewphishesp]

is there a way in themanager or editor to see what the edited values of the patch are in the FI or is the only way to view it on the FI and copy down

 

[Quatschmacher]

Wow! This is a game changer! Finally an easy way to move and organize patches. Great job @Quatschmacher @Andras Szalay THANK YOU BOTH

Thank you to you too for being a great sounding board when I was thinking out the new manual structure and for your 11th-hour Mac testing and bug finding!

 

[Quatschmacher]

is there a way in themanager or editor to see what the edited values of the patch are in the FI or is the only way to view it on the FI and copy down

If you mean the edited values using the Edit and Parameter dials, then no, not currently, but it’s on the radar.

If you mean the stored values of the patch file, then yes. Read the manual screenshots above to see how.

 

[maisbass]

And here's the new Manager feature:
View attachment 4304148 View attachment 4304149 View attachment 4304150 View attachment 4304151 View attachment 4304152 View attachment 4304153

Wow! Simply incredible! It never ceases to amaze me how you can make an amazing product better and better... and each upgrade has been free. What a class organization. Love this.

Thank you @Andras Szalay and @Quatschmacher for all of the hard work you to do to bring us the best Bass synth pedal ever created.

 

[Quatschmacher]

Wow! Simply incredible! It never ceases to amaze me how you can make an amazing product better and better... and each upgrade has been free. What a class organization. Love this.

Thank you @Andras Szalay and @Quatschmacher for all of the hard work you to do to bring us the best Bass synth pedal ever created.

You’re welcome. Hope you enjoy it. This is really going to make a big difference to the user experience and I hope it results in more people who were previously daunted by the FI to dip their toes in the water and discover all the cool stuff it has to offer.

 

[AlexanderB]

Having read the latest news, I will place an order for a FI this weekend.