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

[bassvirtuoso]

Played 100+ gigs with my V1 and never had a single tracking issue that I couldn't over l overcome with cleaner technique, ymmv.

 

[Quatschmacher]

I agree with his statement: “But almost none of the sounds are actually useful for 'normal' synth bass playing in a working band context” I’m in an R&B cover band (eg Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Bruno Mars, Whitney Houston, etc) and none of the 99 presets are useful in this context, whereas the MXR bass synth, with only 8 presets has at least 3 that cover classic bass synth lines from my band’s song list. I know the FI is capable of classic bass synth lines, and would probably sound even better than the MXR, but they should be baked into the pedal.

That’s luckily an easy fix.

 

[sunbeast]

@sunbeast has written some excellent posts on how different brands have solved the tracking & latency issues - dunno if you have come across them, but made for very informative reading.

Not sure the tracking comment is unfair: if folk are saying the tracking on the v4 "is hugely improved" then you can easily work backwards to figure how good it was perceived as being before. The glitchiness / tracking issues was a major reason for many bassists not holding onto their FIs; a lot of us are in successful bands, so we can't all be bass players with poor technique?

Great that the screen thing has been raised. Would it make a significant cost difference to the product to have a Boss style display? Tbf it seems it's only Boss who have incorporated it into their synth pedals - but their relentless focus on what actually makes a pedal useful to the gigging musician is a huge reason for their success IMO.

If you are talking about the Boss pitchshifter thread, I was specifically contrasting the latency of a pitchshifter algorithm (sample and computation-based latency, doesn’t need to identify the input pitches but needs a sample buffer to adjust the pitch of somehow and to pull dynamic info from for stitching samples back together) vs a pitch-tracker algorithm (which actually has to identify the input pitches then trigger some internal sound engine at the correct pitch, which in most cases requires at least a full fundamental waveform for the pitch-identification plus processing time so the lower you play the longer the lag is).

I found the later v3 updates of the FI to be really good for a pitch-tracker- probably faster than the C4 but sometimes maybe a bit less stable in some instances (while earlier FI software had much less stable tracking), while the v4 FI is definitely a step above any other pitch-tracker I’ve tried. Given the designer has been the brains behind most of the faster pitch to MIDI hardware units out there (including the Fishman TriplePlay, which is generally considered the fastest hardware pitch to MIDI option around, but sadly never made to track the bass register), I have no doubt that he knows better than nearly anyone how to implement these kinds of algorithms and that there is likely even better tracking in the pipeline considering how much it has been improved with each generation of new software.

 

[drewphishesp]

That’s luckily an easy fix.

Just make sure to remember us v3 guys when it is fixed!

 

[Bassheart365]

That’s luckily an easy fix.

Load it with usable classic bass synth presets, obfuscating the need for a computer, midi cable and synth programing, put a demo on YouTube like Ian Martin Allison did and the FI will outsell the MXR bass synth, which is already a synth pedal phenomenon!

 

[Al Krow]

Load it with usable classic bass synth presets, obfuscating the need for a computer, midi cable and synth programing, put a demo on YouTube like Ian Martin Allison did and the FI will outsell the MXR bass synth, which is already a synth pedal phenomenon!

Anyone would think from your post, us bass players want to spend our time becoming better at bass playing and not necessarily becoming software experts? Ah, surely not?! There must be another reason the MXR is flying off the shelf?

 

[Bassheart365]

Exactly!

 

[Quatschmacher]

obfuscating the need for a computer

Do you mean “obviate”? (Presumably you’d like us to remove the obfuscatory stuff.)

 

[Bassheart365]

Do you mean “obviate”? (Presumably you’d like us to remove the obfuscatory stuff.)

Obviate

 

[jbybj]

I’m a big fan of the “Ignore” feature on TB. Every once in a while I’ll read a response to content that I’m Ignoring, and just from the response I can tell I made the right choice.

 

[jbybj]

I wish there was a way to know how many ignore list I was on. It’s like a badge of honor.

 

[bruno40gr]

Maybe put the usable synth tones that all mxr lovers are craving for inside one of the factory preset banks?
Then maybe use USBC midi and bypass the dependency on 3rd party devices.

Everything else is gold. Honestly think people are sleeping on the hardware controls that let you control a lot of parameters without having to plug into a computer.

 

[Quatschmacher]

Maybe put the usable synth tones that all mxr lovers are craving for inside one of the factory preset banks?
Then maybe use USBC midi and bypass the dependency on 3rd party devices.

Everything else is gold. Honestly think people are sleeping on the hardware controls that let you control a lot of parameters without having to plug into a computer.

We do plan on revising the factory presets on the next release to address this.

USB-C would require a hardware revision; not sure how likely that is.

The panel controls allow a reasonable amount of adjustment; there are a few more that would be welcome additions. We have had some firmware discussions around this but I’m not sure if it’ll result in a viable change.

 

[Luke the Fluke]

We do plan on revising the factory presets on the next release to address this.

Order: 1x Future Impact v4 vip

Please choose your factory default option from:
- Classic Future Impact
- QM Bass synth Essentials

postage to….

 

[Quatschmacher]

Order: 1x Future Impact v4 vip

Please choose your factory default option from:
- Classic Future Impact
- QM Bass synth Essentials

postage to….

I appreciate the sentiment, but that would be a pain from a factory programming perspective.

We have taken onboard the success of the MXR as regards preset choices and will make a new factory set that uses some of the classic stuff I’ve already shared and some others from the list that I made from the poll I ran in the Facebook group.

 

[Bassheart365]

We do plan on revising the factory presets on the next release to address this.

USB-C would require a hardware revision; not sure how likely that is.

The panel controls allow a reasonable amount of adjustment; there are a few more that would be welcome additions. We have had some firmware discussions around this but I’m not sure if it’ll result in a viable change.

I will buy that revision in a heartbeat.

 

[Luke the Fluke]

So yesterday I was kindly allowed into Chateau Quatschmacher and try the FI4 VIP ...

my background, I'm not an amazing player- but not awful and have messed around with synth type stuff in various Zoom multiFX then HX, H9 then the classic octave-fuzz-envelope thing... I've owned a C4 (twice) and sold it each time... One use which is a bit different to the normal synth bass/keybass type sounds is a pad sound I've used to fill in songs while playing at church (small church by US standards so sometimes only 2-3 musicians)

My thoughts on the FI4

- Really premium enclosure - it's really nice metal box.
- The tracking is amazing. I've got fairly good at playing clean and slightly before the beat from owning the C4 ... this you don't need too - it's so so fast and seemingly accurate
- It can do rhythmic sounds - and works - you can add that little muted thump as a part of the rhythm and works - doesn't trigger the whole sound
- a bit of a learning curve but you can choose how it reacts with your fingers - if your next note triggers the envelope again, or just glides to the next. (this has got a proper term in synth land)
- The presets... like obviously you can build your own... but from what's available on the top it gives you edits from the preset! ... so rather than an absolute release time for example, it lets you fine tune from what's there! This makes so so much more sense
- the sounds are really good. Im pretty sure if you wanted the sounds of the fashionable MXR synth pedal it would do them...
- But most importantly - the C4 feels like you're playing a pedal- and the sounds are good enough to do that. The FI4 makes it sound like your bass sounds different. it's feel and how it reacts is so so natural feeling and musical. Honestly it was astounding - I had pretty much given up on synth bass and was going to go buy a wee synth and learn to play it... but now I'm rethinking.
- I didn't scratch the surface of everything it could do!

Short version: The very low latency makes it feel like a musical extension of your instrument. I like

 

[Al Krow]

So yesterday I was kindly allowed into Chateau Quatschmacher and try the FI4 VIP ...

my background, I'm not an amazing player- but not awful and have messed around with synth type stuff in various Zoom multiFX then HX, H9 then the classic octave-fuzz-envelope thing... I've owned a C4 (twice) and sold it each time... One use which is a bit different to the normal synth bass/keybass type sounds is a pad sound I've used to fill in songs while playing at church (small church by US standards so sometimes only 2-3 musicians)

My thoughts on the FI4

- Really premium enclosure - it's really nice metal box.
- The tracking is amazing. I've got fairly good at playing clean and slightly before the beat from owning the C4 ... this you don't need too - it's so so fast and seemingly accurate
- It can do rhythmic sounds - and works - you can add that little muted thump as a part of the rhythm and works - doesn't trigger the whole sound
- a bit of a learning curve but you can choose how it reacts with your fingers - if your next note triggers the envelope again, or just glides to the next. (this has got a proper term in synth land)
- The presets... like obviously you can build your own... but from what's available on the top it gives you edits from the preset! ... so rather than an absolute release time for example, it lets you fine tune from what's there! This makes so so much more sense
- the sounds are really good. Im pretty sure if you wanted the sounds of the fashionable MXR synth pedal it would do them...
- But most importantly - the C4 feels like you're playing a pedal- and the sounds are good enough to do that. The FI4 makes it sound like your bass sounds different. it's feel and how it reacts is so so natural feeling and musical. Honestly it was astounding - I had pretty much given up on synth bass and was going to go buy a wee synth and learn to play it... but now I'm rethinking.
- I didn't scratch the surface of everything it could do!

Short version: The very low latency makes it feel like a musical extension of your instrument. I like

Excellent review thanks Luke!

We do plan on revising the factory presets on the next release to address this.

What's your best guess on the timing of the next release?

 

[qugino]

I appreciate the sentiment, but that would be a pain from a factory programming perspective.

We have taken onboard the success of the MXR as regards preset choices and will make a new factory set that uses some of the classic stuff I’ve already shared and some others from the list that I made from the poll I ran in the Facebook group.

I'm the proud owner of an FI-V4 VIP, #0027
a couple of days ago I asked to join the Future Impact synth pedal user group, could you please accept my request?

 

[bruno40gr]

Figured I'd share it here,
Covering some Tool with the FI VIP in the loop of the Anagram. At the 3:15 minute I play some sinthy stuff with a Exp pedal controlling the FI impact resonance through MIDI.