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

[JackMinion]

You don’t need to do this every time. The last-used settings are stored from the previous session.

Mine doesn't. I have to do it every time I open the editor otherwise it says no communication with FI.

 

[bdplaid]

Working in design/media I think everyone needs to realise that “some videos” or online instruction is not a small or cheap job.
It’s whole synth and fairly complex - no amount of videos is going to make it less complex - but just maybe help you learn… but everything is set out and understandable in the manual - you just have to go slowly, read it carefully and get your head around it.

go step by step - use the contents or search and just get on with it!

Help you learn... That's the key and where I'd like help. I'm getting around the editor ok, but wouldn't seeing something that helps with writing a preset from scratch.

 

[Darko74]

Cant get my head around the setlist option. Would anyone know the midi channel for changing from Vm to Fm? Im going to try use a foot switch with the midibeam 4control

 

[Quatschmacher]

Found the FI editor bug, not related to set-list mode at all, it's a backed-in FM mode issue.

My OS: Windows 11 64bit
My USB to MIDI: Laptop USB -> 2m USB extension cable -> midiBeam 4Control (with BOSS EV-30 Expression Pedal and Hotone FS-1 Ampero Switch) MIDI I/O -> MIDI O/I on FI V4 VIP v4.5.

1. I use midiBeam 4Control to connect the FI v4 VIP v4.5 to my laptop with FI editor V4.5.
2. The FI v4 VIP is ON and in VA mode. Display showing "01"
(I can hear sounds from FI editor keyboard and my own bass when tracking)
3. Now In the FI editor we're in FM mode, example download FM in banks menu.
4. The display now shows "0.1"
5. Play the FI editor keyboard

View attachment 7471957
Pressing that piano key makes the note sound, but more importantly also turns the patch number down on the Pedal.
The display now shows "9.3" after pressing a few times.

Now Pressing this piano key:
View attachment 7471958
Makes the note sound, but more importantly turns the pedal on and off.

So it was not time based at all it's when playing these notes.

All other piano keys behave normally.

Loading a patch, so the pedal goes into connect mode and the display shows "--≡" makes no difference.

Also the FI editor still gets some GUI startup issue from time to time, so I have to completely uninstall and new install to fix. So far the repair never worked.

These issues might just be my specific setup with Windows 11 64bit and midiBeam 4Control?

The set-list mode on switching with FM patch is still that issue, but not an issue when in FM mode. I think it's still related to something specific in the new set-list mode. My guess it's not saving on/off states etc., so just forces the on state.

Thanks. I alerted Andras and he’s confirmed the bug and will investigate.

 

[Quatschmacher]

Help you learn... That's the key and where I'd like help. I'm getting around the editor ok, but wouldn't seeing something that helps with writing a preset from scratch.

There are tutorials in the manual on building a basic patch.

 

[Quatschmacher]

Cant get my head around the setlist option. Would anyone know the midi channel for changing from Vm to Fm? Im going to try use a foot switch with the midibeam 4control

If you mean the command, it’s bank LSB (CC32); 0 for VA, 1 for FM.

Setlist is really straightforward.

Put pedal into setlist mode (set parameter dial to Note Off level, long press encoder until number flashes, then release).

Use the program footswitch to navigate to whichever step in the list you want to alter.

Press the encoder to select between VA (no dot in display) and FM (dot in display).

Turn the encoder to select the sound you want to assign to that step.

Press the encoder (within 20 seconds) to store.

Rinse and repeat for the other steps.

 

[Andras Szalay]

If you open the 4.5 addendum and read the opening bit, it tells you to use it in conjunction with the v4.11 manual.

(I know that’s a cludge but life has been throwing so much crap at me that I didn’t have the time or energy to integrate all the new stuff into a full revision of the manual. This is unfortunate for such a big update, but it’s magnitude is also part of the reason it was difficult to tackle.)

All necessary documentation is built into the editor under the HELP tab.

There were two reasons why we did not (yet) integrate the 4.5 addendum into the manual. First, because for personal reasons Peter was not available, and we did not / could not want to touch his great work, the whole 4.10 manual. But there was another reason too. We realized that at the beginning every user of of the 4.5 software will be already an owner of a V4, and has at least some experience with it. In this case it is much easier to see separately what is new, rather then trying to grab out the news from the huge manual what Peter wrote. I think this is reasonable enough. Later we will integrate (Peter should do that), for new users it could be better to have the whole description in one manual. But first we make yet some bugfixes and minor upgrades.

 

[Andras Szalay]

To me, the MXR was easy to get started with, but frustratingly limited after that. The frustration curve is kind of reversed with the FI, so I’d suggest sticking with it, it will get easier.

This is a very good point to describe the difference between the two devices. We shall do all what we can to minimize the initial frustrating curve. Therefore we will also prepare some short tutorial videos.

 

[Andras Szalay]

@Andras Szalay Thanks for all your hard work on the amazing pedal! Is there a possibility for a Midi CC that could turn External Midi on and off? This would make it much easier to send out notes without having to program each patch individually.

We think that activating external MIDI takes more than just turning it on. First of all, it is very critical to set the optimal possible pitch bend range which can be different for each hard/soft synth. Furthermore, you should also set the optimal octave range and PC. Therefore we provided four examples with different setting, but these are just examples, not meant to be used in an application that we do not know. These settings are important for optimal performance, and we do not want to ruin the quality of the tracking with using pitch bend range=0 as a general default.

 

[Bassheart365]

For those using the FI pedal on a bass pedal board with a compressor, do you have your compressor before or after your FI pedal?

 

[Andras Szalay]

Question about portamento: I set my Morningstar and exp pedal to control Portamento On/Off and the exp pedal to time/rate. On many patches, I didn't notice a change. Does portamento need to already be on in the individual patch for these midi cc's to do anything?

In the VA patches there is no ON and OFF, simply if Portamento Time is set to 0 then it is OFF. MIDI control of Portamento Time (CC5) will control the time between 0 and the preset value. So, if you want to use portamento, then you have to set explicitly the maximum required time in the patch, and you can decrease this with MIDI CC5.

 

[Andras Szalay]

So gents with the huge success and sell out of the first run of VIP's, how do you feel about......

- orientation training via zoom ?
- youtube basic training on Pc/pedal connectivity, Basic user interface ?
- additional chapters on creating new sounds using the synth interface. ?

I would absolutely be comfortable paying a fee to become adept at all this pedal offers. A live webcast would be very helpful, and I would venture to guess attendance will be substantial.

As wonderful as this pedal is, I have still not found it to be as intuitive and easy to connect and manage via PC vs offerings from ZOOM, Line6, Singular Sound, amongst others.

I WANT to be a master of manipulating the features of this wonderful pedal, and would be willing to pay for that ability.

Does Panda Audio have an interest in a paid training model?

I am sorry to say, but we have absolutely no free time to make individual training sessions, we are 100% occupied with development work, but we will make tutorial demos videos. Maybe Peter can help you.

 

[Andras Szalay]

For those using the FI pedal on a bass pedal board with a compressor, do you have your compressor before or after your FI pedal?

I recommend to use it after the FI, but you can experiment with it as you like.

 

[bdplaid]

For me, the FI isn't just about learning the pedal, but about learning modular synthesis as well as granular settings on midi. Coming from composition using synthesis in the 80s, I felt pretty good about tweaking synths and the like. But Oh boy, the FI is so many levels above what I knew. It's right down to the inception level of synthesis. Like going from the 70s to today in one unit. Man, what a piece of work, and I mean that in the best possible way.

I'm more of a visual learner than textual, hence my whining about videos. It's all good. I'll stretch my brain.

 

[pb9717]

Working in design/media I think everyone needs to realise that “some videos” or online instruction is not a small or cheap job.
It’s whole synth and fairly complex - no amount of videos is going to make it less complex - but just maybe help you learn… but everything is set out and understandable in the manual - you just have to go slowly, read it carefully and get your head around it.

go step by step - use the contents or search and just get on with it!

I think more of a focus on initial connectivity, loading presets, arranging setlists, the “workingmans” solutions would be a smart starting point. Getting into the minutia of synth manipulation would be beneficial certainly, but not until I can load presets, and arrange the pedal to be optimal for live performance.

 

[Quatschmacher]

Also the FI editor still gets some GUI startup issue from time to time, so I have to completely uninstall and new install to fix. So far the repair never worked.

Do you mean that clicking on the program icon doesn't launch the editor? If so, there's a bug I've found with the config file. You can get it working by either deleting the offending text or deleting the file altogether:

Go to C:\Users\yourusername\AppData\Local\FIEditor45

right-click the "settings" file and open with Notepad. Likely culprit is the bit that says "lastfile=" only has a filename but no folder pathway. Delete everything from "[program]" onwards and save the file. Close the Notepad. The editor should launch now. (If it doesn't, delete the settings file entirely. When you launch the editor, Windows installer will ask you to allow it to make changes; let it as it will restore the settings file.)

 

[golem]

Do you mean that clicking on the program icon doesn't launch the editor? If so, there's a bug I've found with the config file. You can get it working by either deleting the offending text or deleting the file altogether:

Go to C:\Users\yourusername\AppData\Local\FIEditor45

right-click the "settings" file and open with Notepad. Likely culprit is the bit that says "lastfile=" only has a filename but no folder pathway. Delete everything from "[program]" onwards and save the file. Close the Notepad. The editor should launch now. (If it doesn't, delete the settings file entirely. When you launch the editor, Windows installer will ask you to allow it to make changes; let it as it will restore the settings file.)

Yes...

Currently still working:
settings.ini
"
[gui]
guiscale=1.300000000000000
background=space
manager=true
[midi]
indev=Panda-Audio midiBeam 4Control 1
inBdev=off
outdev=Panda-Audio midiBeam 4Control
"

I will post when it eventually stops loading GUI again.

 

[Bassheart365]

So I have my FI V4.5 pedal up and running. I'm looking for user-created VA programs. I've been perusing the FI User Database, but they all appear to be files created for V3 (.pr3) I know V4.5 is backwards compatible and they work, but it would be nice to have V4 programs (.fi4). Is there a source for V4 user created programs on the internet?

 

[JackMinion]

So I have my FI V4.5 pedal up and running. I'm looking for user-created VA programs. I've been perusing the FI User Database, but they all appear to be files created for V3 (.pr3) I know V4.5 is backwards compatible and they work, but it would be nice to have V4 programs (.fi4). Is there a source for V4 user created programs on the internet?

I might have read somewhere that it converts them to V4 files but not 100% sure.

*Sorry I misread I meant for 4.5

 

[Quatschmacher]

So I have my FI V4.5 pedal up and running. I'm looking for user-created VA programs. I've been perusing the FI User Database, but they all appear to be files created for V3 (.pr3) I know V4.5 is backwards compatible and they work, but it would be nice to have V4 programs (.fi4). Is there a source for V4 user created programs on the internet?

If it really bothers you, download them and run the batch convert command in the file menu. Don't see why you'd need to bother though as the editor converts them automatically upon loading.