Help Me Choose a Synth Pedal! (C4 vs G5)

[fivestringgecko]

I got the c4 last month and it is awesome and overwhelming and inspiring.
I love testing out the different presets in the cloud and experimenting with my own. I have only a whisper of a clue at what I’m doing, but I can still make some interesting sounds.
If you don’t end up using synth every song, you can still program in some different filter or fuzz that you need for other ones.
I highly doubt you’ll regret the purchase.

I agree about not regretting the purchase. The C4 has to be one of the best "bang for your buck" purchases out there. Plus it's just plain fun. (see below for just a little more about what it can do)

A couple of pro tips to help get you started programming your own patches:
1) Youtube has a wealth of knowledge to help you get started with synth... That's how I got started with making my own patches on the Future Impact, and the knowledge carried over to the C4. Search for things like "synth tutorial" or "synth sound design" to get started down the rabbit hole. Also handy to know: "ADSR synth tutorial" (Attack Decay Sustain Release). Most videos will be synth KEYBOARD related, but you can transfer the concepts to the Neuro Editor pretty easily.
2) Start by checking out each voice, one at a time. Get to know what each one sounds like and how it behaves. That'll give you a good head start, and then you can start mixing and matching.

I’ll add that the main bummer with my G5 is the bypass isn’t great.
The G5 has an awesome octaver. The tracking is fantastic.
Put a OC2 in front of all the fuzzed our settings in a G5 and the fun really begins.

This is a good point about the C4: It's not "just a synth." It's an multi-voice envelope filter, it can do the standalone OC2 sound quite convincingly, has some nice dirt options, and I think there are some people that have figured out some nice phaser type sounds too. To be fair, the Future Impact has some really great "not just a synth" options in it as well, too.

How do you only choose 6?!

My C4 is probably my "if you could have only one" pedal. Synth, envelope filter, OC2 (and other octaver sounds), and dirt options... I don't think I could ever narrow down to just 6 patches!

It hasn't been mentioned yet in this thread, but the C4 can also load envelope filter patches from the Source Audio Spectrum as well, so that's even more patches to play with from the Neuro.

I currently have 56 of my own patches loaded (for various cover band songs or just for fun), and another 40 or so from the Community to "check out later." Not counting the curiosity patches from the Neuro, I could probably cull the herd down to 15-16 patches. lol



5sg.

 

[Standalone]

How do you only choose 6?!

When you’re gigging on a regular basis, some simplicity is welcome. Get out there!

 

[Standalone]

the C4 is a blast. This was a recent live improvised jam

 

[Fredrik Janacek]

I haven't had the opportunity to try the C4, but I have been a happy owner and user of the G5 since it came out on the market in the 90's. I love the sounds you can get out from it: The sawtooth monsters, envelope filters (which makes it almost lika a auto-wah) and the talkbox simulating sounds! The octaver is ok, but a decent OC-2 does better and mainly, the combination of an extra octaver with some of the sounds of this pedal is astonishing! The possibility of controlling the filters with a connected volume pedal gives another perspective. Here's a track where I used the sawtooth, it's a long track, so the effect starts at 7:33:
And here is an example of the talkbox-thing on the bass in the choruses:
Like said and written, the bypass of the G5 is poopie, so you need a loop for it. Another sensitive item of the gear is the switches, I have changed some of them a couple of times, which also gives the bonus to switch the effect on through a loop pedal. I've got it built in heavy duty in a hardcase pedalboard and connected through a loop pedal together with my recently purchased Boss OC-2. My other effects, which are true bypass (Tech21 VTbass & Strymon Flint) go directly from instrument to amp.

 

[TOOL460002]

FWIW that last thing I need is more synth yet the C4 seems very, very neat. The FI is a fantastic pedal, and I will say that one thing about size to consider is the jack placement and extra tap switch. Haven't measured it, but I doubt the final footprint would be much different. The FI might be smaller when you add the SA C4 control switch. And, while likely unhelpful, I always have to throw in the Octavius Squeezer. Smaller than any of those. Kept it over the FI, but personal preference is personal.

 

[Chickenwheels]

I’ll add that the main bummer with my G5 is the bypass isn’t great.
The G5 has an awesome octaver. The tracking is fantastic.
Put a OC2 in front of all the fuzzed our settings in a G5 and the fun really begins.

Important discovery with G5: I recently starting using a high ma 1Spot power supply and this has drastically improved the G5’s performance. The bypass is working cleanly now, too. I’ve started gigging with it again, even on quiet ballad-type stuff (think Stevie Wonder’s Moog). Super pleased!

 

[willddd]

How do you only choose 6?!

I'm new to the C4, thought I'd pick 2 or 3 choice patches and be sweet, but then checked out the community patches. Only got as far as page 20 sorted by popularity and amongst the 80 or so I've downloaded, at least 50 are 'oh I can't do without that one'. Mr fivestringgeko seems to be responsible for quite a few of them