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Future Impact V4

bholder

bholder

Affable Sociopath
Gold Supporting Member
Supporting Member
Sep 2, 2001
32,357
87,039
Vestal, NY
Disclosures
Received a gift from Sire* (see sig)
#1
I just received this from the FI creators:
​
Dear beloved Future Impact user,

We are more than happy to announce our greatest-ever news during the product's lifetime, Future Impact V4, shipping from now.

As you probably know since 2015 we took a fantastic journey of setting the standard for the bass guitar synth pedals together with our enthusiastic community and with a long line of great artists.

Now wo go ahead and introduce Future Impact V4 which is a completely new hardware platform with so much enhancements that is hard to list.

Just check some of them here:

- 32-bit ultra-low-noise analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog converters,
- new, app-based software architecture so in the future you can enjoy using different applications from the same pedal,
- vastly advanced pitch tracking based on our 30+ years experience,
- CV/Gate output to drive analog synthesizers with guitars,
- Hard Sync between oscillators to open new sonic worlds,
- sturdier knobs from metal provides longer life cycle,
- on-pedal edits can be saved into program memories,
- total compatibility with all previous Deep Impact and Future Impact patches.

Future Impact V4 is the guitar synth platform for the next decade. While we continue supporting v1, v2 and v3 units, due to the advanced hardware we introduce now, it is not possible to upgrade previous units with firmware upgrade.

You can find the product page here:
bass guitar synthesizer — MIDI products by pandaMidi

A short video with some new sounds:


And you can order a unit here for 329 EUR instead of the regular 359 EUR:
Future Impact V4 — MIDI products by pandaMidi

Best regards
Gabor Gerenyi
pandaMidi

FI4side.jpg
 
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#8
I ordered one over a week ago and was told it was shipping by end of last week then I was told it was shipping today but have you heard back yet but I think it's past 5pm in Hungary now. A little disappointed I must say. Cost me 500 CAD without import taxes and fees so I thought it would have been shipped immediately.
 
#9
I just got one today and I am really impressed. Playing bass since two years my technique isn't very clean but the tracking is really good even for me as a beginner. Coming from a background in producing electronic music I have to say that I am really impressed by the sound of the internal synth engine, I was thinking of placing my minitaur next to the future impact but now I might not need it that badly.
I didn't have time to check the editor yet, after stepping through the presets I have to say that those are not that great. There are some really nice ones but most are just standard monophon synth basses, I believe that there should be more possible.
Anyway, it is great how well it reacts to how hard the string is pulled, plugged etc. most of the time this parameter is mapped to envelope depth or cutoff (?) which can be controlled reasonably well by that.
Tomorrow I will connect it to my eurorack and fire up some breaks from my mpc.
Really nice this pedal, everything else I tried was not really useable as it glitched and just wasn't nearly as tight as I would want it to be.
A pitty that there isn't a usb port for editor communication but also to act as a midihost. On Aliexpress there are ridicolously cheap midi controllers but most of them use midi over bluetooth or connect just by using usb. It would have been nice to have a small midi cc 4-8 knobs always connected and mapped to the most important parameters.
So I am going to look at other threads to get as much input as I can.
 
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#10
Yentzee said:
I just got one today and I am really impressed. Playing bass since two years my technique isn't very clean but the tracking is really good even for me as a beginner. Coming from a background in producing electronic music I have to say that I am really impressed by the sound of the internal synth engine, I was thinking of placing my minitaur next to the future impact but now I might not need it that badly.
I didn't have time to check the editor yet, after stepping through the presets I have to say that those are not that great. There are some really nice ones but most are just standard monophon synth basses, I believe that there should be more possible.
Anyway, it is great how well it reacts to how hard the string is pulled, plugged etc. most of the time this parameter is mapped to envelope depth or cutoff (?) which can be controlled reasonably well by that.
Tomorrow I will connect it to my eurorack and fire up some breaks from my mpc.
Really nice this pedal, everything else I tried was not really useable as it glitched and just wasn't nearly as tight as I would want it to be.
A pitty that there isn't a usb port for editor communication but also to act as a midihost. On Aliexpress there are ridicolously cheap midi controllers but most of them use midi over bluetooth or connect just by using usb. It would have been nice to have a small midi cc 4-8 knobs always connected and mapped to the most important parameters.
So I am going to look at other threads to get as much input as I can.
Click to expand...
How long did it take from when you ordered until you received and where are you located. I'm in Canada and ordered 10 days ago and hasn't been shipped and no response to emails for the last two days.
Thanks
 
#11
I ordered Friday from Musicstore Cologne / Germany to Berlin and it arrived on Tuesday.
I didn‘t realize V4 just started shipping. Saw a youtube video on V1 and just ordered. Suppose I was lucky ordering a unit with the new architecture.

edit: just woke up and tried the editor. Unfortunately it crashed numerous times on OS X 10.15 and the time it didn't it did not communicate with the pedal using a usb midi interface :(
Will try my studio computer later with a proper midi interface but the software doesn't make such a great impression. Also the GUI seems a bit odd / resizes very weirdly on my (very small) laptop-screen. A pitty that communication is done using midi which probably means there won't be any sample uploading in the future to use with the great sounding synth architecture. I used an Akai S950 and did sample transfer via midi back then but it is a hassle. But on the other side I suppose it isn't a big deal to connect an iphone with midi i/o and use that or as intended connect to other studio gear.
 
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#15
After playing a while with it today I must say I am still really impressed by the low latency and accuracy.
Maybe I am just not getting it but the editor isn't super user friendly. Editing parameters is no problem but saving it into the unit seems rather complicated. Also it would be nice if there was a way to rearrange the patches within the unit or at least within the manager and then upload again but this didn't work for me but maybe I just havent found the right way.
Also I connected a moog minitaur with midi and am under the impression that there is a short but noticeable latency compared to the superfast response within the unit. It is a bit of a pitty as I have synths and sampler which I was hoping to connect. The internal synth sounds fine, very moogish, which is great but well a certain sound. I read that the version 4 has new internal components. Hopfully there is enough ram and a way to program a sample player so that the great synth engine could be used for a subbass and a sample could be layered on top just to give it a bit more variety.
I also listened to 75% of the sounds from their website. There are some nice patches in there but I was missing a bit more variety of sounds that are to be played on top, chorded pads etc.
 
#16
Yentzee said:
After playing a while with it today I must say I am still really impressed by the low latency and accuracy.
Maybe I am just not getting it but the editor isn't super user friendly. Editing parameters is no problem but saving it into the unit seems rather complicated. Also it would be nice if there was a way to rearrange the patches within the unit or at least within the manager and then upload again but this didn't work for me but maybe I just havent found the right way.
Also I connected a moog minitaur with midi and am under the impression that there is a short but noticeable latency compared to the superfast response within the unit. It is a bit of a pitty as I have synths and sampler which I was hoping to connect. The internal synth sounds fine, very moogish, which is great but well a certain sound. I read that the version 4 has new internal components. Hopfully there is enough ram and a way to program a sample player so that the great synth engine could be used for a subbass and a sample could be layered on top just to give it a bit more variety.
I also listened to 75% of the sounds from their website. There are some nice patches in there but I was missing a bit more variety of sounds that are to be played on top, chorded pads etc.
Click to expand...
Hooking up the Moog via CV will be faster- MIDI triggering requires converting the voltages to MIDI messages as well as triggering time (inherent to MIDI) which both add latency. This is true of all pitch-to-MIDI convertors on the market. CV is just voltage so doesn’t need the same amount of conversion time. I believe @Quatschmacher mentioned that the MIDI conversion also doesn’t utilize the same tracking tricks that the internal engine and CV can: ie- the fast tracking setting stays on current note and sends a note-on trigger until the new note is detected which helps mask pitch latency, and IIRC this doesn’t work in MIDI output for whatever reason. The tracking is fast enough on the internal sounds now that this trick is barely audible to me like it was on low notes with Future Impact v3. I’m wondering if the added MIDI latency puts it closer to the old FI (I still haven’t tried the MIDI out myself or done that update yet).

As far as chorded pads, I feel like the strength of the Future Impact is in mono synth sounds ala Moog so it may not be the right tool for a lot of the other stuff (of course you can get fixed interval chords due to the number of voices, but you’re not gonna get believable Juno-type chording from a mono synth)
 
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#17
Thanks for your answer. Mhmm a pitty as it just sends out a gate and a pitch CV right? it would have been amazing to get the signal of the envelope follower as well to mudulate env to filter parameter.
I have a eurorack so I could use that but I really liked the idea of having the minitaur maybe on the pedalboard as well.
 
#19
31HZ said:
I have a v2. Is it worth it to upgrade? I'm primarily wondering how much better the tracking is, but maybe there are other improvements that I won't realize until I play it!
Click to expand...
IMO the tracking improvements are well worth the upgrade. I found the v3 to be decent but with some distracting glitches if I didn’t play super cleanly and latency, while with v4 I don’t even find myself needing to think about how I play much at all to keep things clean and fast.
 
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#20
Yentzee said:
Also it would be nice if there was a way to rearrange the patches within the unit or at least within the manager and then upload again but this didn't work for me but maybe I just havent found the right way.
Click to expand...
There is. It’s detailed in the user manual section on the Manager. You read from the pedal, use the move/swap functions and then write back to the pedal.

Yentzee said:
I was missing a bit more variety of sounds that are to be played on top, chorded pads etc.
Click to expand...
I have uploaded chordal stuff, but they require specific MIDI CCs to dictate the pitches of the individual oscillators. I actually write very complex Morningstar MC8 presets to cover all common jazz, triad and slash chord types.


sunbeast said:
I believe @Quatschmacher mentioned that the MIDI conversion also doesn’t utilize the same tracking tricks that the internal engine and CV can
Click to expand...
Correct as doing the spitting out the previous note thing when using MIDI would result in two note-on messages in quick succession, which would sound awful.


sunbeast said:
you’re not gonna get believable Juno-type chording from a mono synth)
Click to expand...
Well, funny you say that. One of my suggestions, and one that the others are on board with, is to add paraphony to the synth instrument mode, so if playing 4-note block chords via a keyboard, you’d be able to get some Juno-style stuff (though it’d preclude the use of a sub oscillator).


Yentzee said:
Mhmm a pitty as it just sends out a gate and a pitch CV right? it would have been amazing to get the signal of the envelope follower as well to mudulate env to filter parameter.
Click to expand...
True. During development I had asked if if the envelope signal could be output over CV. Not sure if there’s code space for that to be added as an option in an update or not. @Andras Szalay would be able to say for sure.


31HZ said:
I'm primarily wondering how much better the tracking is, but maybe there are other improvements that I won't realize until I play it!
Click to expand...
Tracking is lots better in V4 and there are further improvements to it in development.


Also, it’s worth posting in the FI mega thread here as that’s usually where we discuss all FI stuff:

https://www.talkbass.com/threads/fu...ep-impact-reissue-interested.1115025/page-417
 
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